Celebrity with Kids

[SheriffJoe]

All of this has made me remember and think of dear ole Folgy, a long time poster here on CC who passed years ago. He always led the charge on the anti kids threads and if you ever saw a thread about kids in swim diapers in the pool you could be SURE Folgy would be there ranting about kids in the pools wearing their "Fecal teabags" :eek: :p :p :p :p :p

[cruisead]

I gave my opinion based on our four boys. They liked Celebrity when they were younger, but once they got to be 11 or 12, things changed and they much preferred RCI or Carnival. They found X rather boring.

[dkjretired]

All I can say is Wow!

 

My children are grown but not enough for me to be a grandparent yet so I have no

 

plans to bring kids.

 

However, I have no problem when others bring theirs.

 

Quality family time is far more important than a few water slides or characters on board.

 

You better stick to longer cruises that have less kids on board.

 

Pretty sad isn't it, really sad thing is that post is mild compared to what used to be on this board. What this individual doesn't realize is if it weren't for families with their kids cruising, Celebrity most certainly wouldn't be around, long ago defunct. I'd rather run into a dozen kids on board than people like this.

[cruiser77]

Pretty sad isn't it, really sad thing is that post is mild compared to what used to be on this board. What this individual doesn't realize is if it weren't for families with their kids cruising, Celebrity most certainly wouldn't be around, long ago defunct. I'd rather run into a dozen kids on board than people like this.

 

Agreed!!:cool:

[groryjm]

Pretty sad isn't it, really sad thing is that post is mild compared to what used to be on this board. What this individual doesn't realize is if it weren't for families with their kids cruising, Celebrity most certainly wouldn't be around, long ago defunct. I'd rather run into a dozen kids on board than people like this.

 

Wholeheartedly agree :)

[bouhunter]

stick to characters and waterslides...

 

celebrity is for adults....

 

wishful thinking on my part...

 

everyone here knows my views on people who bring kids on celebrity....

 

I do my best to sail when the darlings are at school...but even that is NO guarantee....

 

one kid on board, is too many....

 

have a couples cruise and keep your marriage healthy, your kids will be happier that you did.....

 

Pathetic. Our daughter is 16 and will be on Reflection in a few months. She is already more mature and intelligent than whoever posted this.......:rolleyes:

Edited October 21, 2014 by bouhunter

[parallax]

I hope that one day that Celebrity puts a water slide on each one of its ships and get some Nickelodeon character to walk around. This will then satisfy the requirements for some that Celebrity is kid friendly.

 

For the time being, I will continue to go against popular opinion and cruise with my daughter on Celebrity. I know that by taking her that some believe that she will suffer psychologically because she will not be afforded that opportunity to rock climb, go down water slides or do other crazy activities. I guess she will have to wait for summer camp to do these things. I wonder why she isn't bored on Celebrity?

[caladezi]

If you would read my post, I said usually have never taken their kids on Celebrity ships and I stand by that 100%. In the case of the individual that I cited, I know for a fact that that poster has not been on any cruises with their children and have actually only been on two Celebrity cruises. Remember that people can ascertain things from previous posts which are readily available on this board.. I actually do have a good IDEA and am posting from past experience on this board.

 

If you look over all of the other threads on the X site you will see that the poster you refer to considers herself to be well versed on almost every topic even though she lists only two cruises. I guess some people are experts on everything without much first hand knowledge.

Edited October 21, 2014 by caladezi

[SheriffJoe]

OK, now that this had been beaten to death, someone posted about the crazy things that used to be seen here on this subject.....if you have some time and REALLY want to be entertained with some fun reading on this subject from years gone by do a search on the word Folgy or fecal teabag to find some of the threads he for so many years entertained many people here on. :p Don't blame me if these threads offend you....you have been warned!:eek: LOL

[GOLDENBONNY]

stick to characters and waterslides...

 

celebrity is for adults....

 

wishful thinking on my part...

 

everyone here knows my views on people who bring kids on celebrity....

 

I do my best to sail when the darlings are at school...but even that is NO guarantee....

 

one kid on board, is too many....

 

have a couples cruise and keep your marriage healthy, your kids will be happier that you did.....

 

Just in case you missed some

http://www.celebritycruises.com/htmlpage/family-fun-cruise#&panel1-2&panel2-2

[fellesferie]

We are taking our kids (10 & 5) on the Baltic cruise next May. It's a port intensive itinerary, but I am not concerned about their behavior or enjoyment in the least. They'll have a wonderful time.

 

We have already had a few discussions about what they should expect and what we will expect from them!

[villauk]

We are taking our kids (10 & 5) on the Baltic cruise next May. It's a port intensive itinerary, but I am not concerned about their behavior or enjoyment in the least. They'll have a wonderful time.

 

We have already had a few discussions about what they should expect and what we will expect from them!

 

I pre-prepared a journal for our kids (and our friends' DS) to complete when we sailed the Baltics on Constellation a few years ago. Throughout the book, for each port and sea day, there were typed questions, space for photos etc. and they would complete the relevant pages whilst waiting for their dinner in the MDR each evening (kept them more than occupied). The front cover had a picture of the ship and the first couple of pages were probing questions about the ship (e.g. number of elevators), waiter (e.g. which nationality), assistant waiter (e.g. how many ships had they previously been on) etc.

 

I had posed questions which I knew they would be able to answer after a day exploring a certain port (prior to the cruise, as I was sourcing information for us as adults, places to visit and why etc, I used this knowledge to set questions for them e.g. Where in Copenhagen are gardens that you will you enjoy?). However, I also included personal questions such as: what had been their favourite ride of the day or which mocktail had been the best on this cruise? This then made it individual to them ;).

 

After the cruise they were able to print out their photographs and add them to the relevant pages.

 

As well as being a fantastic educational tool to see what they had actually learnt about each port, it was a also wonderful memento to keep as a memory of our voyage to this particular area of the world. They didn't see it as a chore to complete, more of a challenge to see which of them was the first to answer all the questions correctly. It became a high talking point of each evening, with the staff joining in the conversations :).

 

Additionally, they were able to take the journal into school for 'show and tell' and let the other children see some of the things they had experienced ;).

[cruiser77]

I pre-prepared a journal for our kids (and our friends' DS) to complete when we sailed the Baltics on Constellation a few years ago. Throughout the book, for each port and sea day, there were typed questions, space for photos etc. and they would complete the relevant pages whilst waiting for their dinner in the MDR each evening (kept them more than occupied). The front cover had a picture of the ship and the first couple of pages were probing questions about the ship (e.g. number of elevators), waiter (e.g. which nationality), assistant waiter (e.g. how many ships had they previously been on) etc.

 

I had posed questions which I knew they would be able to answer after a day exploring a certain port (prior to the cruise, as I was sourcing information for us as adults, places to visit and why etc, I used this knowledge to set questions for them e.g. Where in Copenhagen are gardens that you will you enjoy?). However, I also included personal questions such as: what had been their favourite ride of the day or which mocktail had been the best on this cruise? This then made it individual to them ;).

 

After the cruise they were able to print out their photographs and add them to the relevant pages.

 

As well as being a fantastic educational tool to see what they had actually learnt about each port, it was a also wonderful memento to keep as a memory of our voyage to this particular area of the world. They didn't see it as a chore to complete, more of a challenge to see which of them was the first to answer all the questions correctly. It became a high talking point of each evening, with the staff joining in the conversations :).

 

Additionally, they were able to take the journal into school for 'show and tell' and let the other children see some of the things they had experienced ;).

 

 

I absolutely love this idea!! I will do that when my kids get little older and can write them selves.:)

[Queen of Oakville]

Glad this thread is taking a more positive spin!!!

 

My kids do a smashbook. You can buy them at Michaels.

 

 

 

My son likes to write out his thoughts on journal pages. My daughter prefers to type them on her ipod. The keep various mementos of the trip and take photographs with their ipods. When they get back, they clip from the daily newseltters, print their photos and use other mementos to create their smash book. They always bring their smashbook, so they can plan out the pages. Sometimes, they will ask the waiters to sign it like an autograph book too.

 

Basically, it's a mini scrapbook, done on the fly.

[fellesferie]

I pre-prepared a journal for our kids (and our friends' DS) to complete when we sailed the Baltics on Constellation a few years ago. Throughout the book, for each port and sea day, there were typed questions, space for photos etc. and they would complete the relevant pages whilst waiting for their dinner in the MDR each evening (kept them more than occupied). The front cover had a picture of the ship and the first couple of pages were probing questions about the ship (e.g. number of elevators), waiter (e.g. which nationality), assistant waiter (e.g. how many ships had they previously been on) etc.

 

I had posed questions which I knew they would be able to answer after a day exploring a certain port (prior to the cruise, as I was sourcing information for us as adults, places to visit and why etc, I used this knowledge to set questions for them e.g. Where in Copenhagen are gardens that you will you enjoy?). However, I also included personal questions such as: what had been their favourite ride of the day or which mocktail had been the best on this cruise? This then made it individual to them ;).

 

After the cruise they were able to print out their photographs and add them to the relevant pages.

 

As well as being a fantastic educational tool to see what they had actually learnt about each port, it was a also wonderful memento to keep as a memory of our voyage to this particular area of the world. They didn't see it as a chore to complete, more of a challenge to see which of them was the first to answer all the questions correctly. It became a high talking point of each evening, with the staff joining in the conversations :).

 

Additionally, they were able to take the journal into school for 'show and tell' and let the other children see some of the things they had experienced ;).

 

Those are wonderful ideas!! I copied & pasted this to my husband so that we can work on something like this for our kids.

 

Every trip we take, they each get a trip binder. It's divided by day, and there are worksheets, games, questions, and words of the day. The worksheets are age appropriate and take less than 10 minutes to complete. The words of the day are something related to what they'll see ("cow" or "windmill"). They get to exchange worksheets for nominal amounts of spending money.

 

But I would have never thought to turn each binder into a journal or scrapbook. I love this idea!

[fellesferie]

Glad this thread is taking a more positive spin!!!

 

My kids do a smashbook. You can buy them at Michaels.

 

 

 

My son likes to write out his thoughts on journal pages. My daughter prefers to type them on her ipod. The keep various mementos of the trip and take photographs with their ipods. When they get back, they clip from the daily newseltters, print their photos and use other mementos to create their smash book. They always bring their smashbook, so they can plan out the pages. Sometimes, they will ask the waiters to sign it like an autograph book too.

 

Basically, it's a mini scrapbook, done on the fly.

 

That sounds fun! I think I'd like to combine your kids' ideas of asking waiters for autographs with villauk's idea of asking the waiters a few short questions.

 

We just got back from a week at Disney World, and we had some fantastic conversations with cast members. My kids really enjoyed that. And since my kids tend to be more charming with strangers than they do with me, I really enjoyed it, too. ;)

[Texed]

I pre-prepared a journal for our kids (and our friends' DS) to complete when we sailed the Baltics on Constellation a few years ago.

 

Jen,

 

You sound like a great mom. ;)

[Blankcanvas]

My kids are aged 8 & 11 and they also love Celebrity.

 

In the last few years we have sailed with several cruise lines including Disney and twice with Celebrity (Equinox in the Mediterranean and Reflection in the Caribbean).

 

The Celebrity Kids club is excellent. The variety of activities are well thought out and the older kids get to do stuff all over the ship. The staff are well trained, professional and relate well to the kids they work with.

 

'Cadets' are for 5-8 year olds and 'Ensigns' are for 9-11 year olds. The 'free' program typically runs 9am-12noon; 2pm-5pm and 7pm-10pm. You can pay $6 per hour per child extra to have them in the club over the lunch and dinner times. On formal nights they usually do not charge for the dinner time (and yes the counsellors do take them to the buffet area for food).

 

They offer a VIP Club which you pay extra for which includes unlimited lunch and dinner supervision. It also offers exclusive tours of the bridge and behind the stage along with a 'goodie' bag. We never did this as we wanted to have meal times with our children.

 

Compared to Disney we find the Celebrity Kids Club to offer much more personal attention in small groups. Our kids like the fact that they get to know the counsellors well and find it easy to make new friends with the other kids. On the Disney Dream the Kids Club was massive and I don't think we saw the same counsellor twice. They obviously cater to way more kids and consequently the experience is different.

 

My kids love the Celebrity Kids Club and this is measured by the fact that they never seem to want to leave and are always keen to go back. Admittedly Celebrity has little else that is specifically geared towards children but this doesn't make it unsuitable for a family. We have found all the Celebrity staff, across all departments, to be very friendly and welcoming to us as a family and towards our children.

 

In terms of ships we have only sailed on the newer 'S Class' vessels and have no hesitation recommending them. The Kids Clubs are forward up on Deck 15 with lots of windows and next to the sports court (which they use a lot).

 

When choosing our Celebrity cabins, on the deck plans we look for both the square (convertible sofa) and triangle (pull-down bunk) signs. This provides for a bunk bed type arrangement that the kids like best. Cabins with just the square can sleep 4 but note that one child will be on the sofa and the other on a pull out trundle bed. When out, the trundle bed almost completely blocks access to the balcony as well as to the storage drawers, mirror and chair adjacent to it. As far as I can tell none of the concierge rooms have the pull down bed option and are no bigger than standard balcony rooms. In terms of location we prefer to be on the middle 'hump' where every other room has the pull down bunk. Although these rooms are interconnecting we did not notice any noise from the neighbours.

 

For those considering Celebrity with kids, our experiences have been nothing but positive. It allows us to have a great time together as a family and we feel confident using the kids club when we want some 'adult' time. We are travelling again with Celebrity over the Holidays and have more cruises booked for the future.

[VK3DQ]

I love kids on Celebrity.

 

But I cannot eat a whole one :D

 

 

Regards

John:p

[villauk]

Jen,

 

You sound like a great mom. ;)

 

Hi Tex,

 

Thank you for your kind words; I do try to make it fun :).

 

Hope you and Jacquie are well? You were very kind to our children on Infinity. Even though you were not travelling with kids, you still made them very welcome (especially providing the cabin crawl sodas :D) - thank you both ;).

[Queen of Oakville]

Does anyone know what the VIP package costs?

 

We'll also have all our meals together as a family, so we would not use it for that. It sounds like there area a few extra perks and that it also includes the sleepovers.

[mtn_couple]

I'm taking my 4 year old on Solstice next month to Australia and New Zealand. I'm sure (hope) he will like the kids club more as he didn't like RCL or Carnival kids clubs at all because there were simply too many kids. In fact he only went to 2 x 3 hour sessions to each one over 9 night cruises.

 

Does anyone have a copy of the kids club programs for my 4 year old's age group? I'd love an idea of some of the activities.

 

I love the journal activity idea! I think he's a bit young for that yet, but I will definitely keep that in mind for when he get's older. At the moment, I take an iPod loaded with games to occupy him during the wait in the MDR or if he comes to talks/events/shows with us - keeps him entertained during boring waiting times.

[Texed]

Hi Tex,

Hope you and Jacquie are well? You were very kind to our children on Infinity. Even though you were not travelling with kids, you still made them very welcome (especially providing the cabin crawl sodas :D) - thank you both ;).

 

Glad all had a good time. :)