Longer sailings and children

[JinxyB]

Hi all, I am an experienced cruiser but have only sailed Celebrity once in 2008 to the Med (which was fabulous in every aspect). I am looking at sailing one of the 10-day Equinox Caribbean cruises Jan 2016 and am considering taking my child, who will have just turned 5.

 

I have read great thing about the kid's club on X, but I need to know if they run the kids club on these longer cruises. I would not bring him if there was no club he could participate in. I would imagine the amount of children is less on these type of sailings vs. a 7-day cruise, but will there be at least a few kids onboard?

 

A co-worker of mine took her 15-month old on a 7-day Celebrity sailing in Dec and told me she was made to feel very unwelcome by fellow passengers. She told me several groups of elderly people in the dining room publicly scolded her for bringing her child on the cruise. For example, her child was fussy at dinner and she was removing him from the dining room and a few tables started to clap loudly and told her a cruise is no place for a baby. I find this behavior unacceptable from fellow guests. I have no reason not to believe her account of the issues she encountered.

 

So....since it has been a while since I have been on X, I am wondering if I will be ridiculed or chastised for bringing my child on a 10-day sailing? Granted, a 5 y/o is much different from a toddler, but I obviously want to have a pleasant time and not feel like I'm under a microscope. My son loves the kids clubs on the cruises he has been on, so he would spend at least a few hours per day/night there.

 

Thanks for any input. I will also post over on the family board.

[Queen of Oakville]

I can't directly address your question as I haven't taken my kids now 7/9 on a 10-day sailing nor did I sail with them with they were that young.

 

There will be posters respond here who will tell you to take a Disney or Royal ship because X is no place for a child.

 

Ignore them.

 

If you think your child will fit well in that environment even if there are no other/not many kids on board then go for it. The counsellors are excellent at engaging children and your child will be all the more spoiled while on board.

 

ETA: as long as your child is well behaved, has good manners etc. I would have no qualms about taking your child to MDR. My kids were 2/3 on their first cruise (I think) and they have only ever dined in the MDR. They follow the dress code, use good manners and are respectful of their fellow passengers. When the kids were 3/4 we sailed Eurodam and encountered some rudeness from those pax who think children have no place on a cruise; but we also encountered numerous pax who took the time to engage and interact with our kids (probably those pax who were missing their own children/grand children).

Edited March 25, 2015 by Queen of Oakville

[melsdt]

Hi all, I am an experienced cruiser but have only sailed Celebrity once in 2008 to the Med (which was fabulous in every aspect). I am looking at sailing one of the 10-day Equinox Caribbean cruises Jan 2016 and am considering taking my child, who will have just turned 5.

 

I have read great thing about the kid's club on X, but I need to know if they run the kids club on these longer cruises. I would not bring him if there was no club he could participate in. I would imagine the amount of children is less on these type of sailings vs. a 7-day cruise, but will there be at least a few kids onboard?

 

A co-worker of mine took her 15-month old on a 7-day Celebrity sailing in Dec and told me she was made to feel very unwelcome by fellow passengers. She told me several groups of elderly people in the dining room publicly scolded her for bringing her child on the cruise. For example, her child was fussy at dinner and she was removing him from the dining room and a few tables started to clap loudly and told her a cruise is no place for a baby. I find this behavior unacceptable from fellow guests. I have no reason not to believe her account of the issues she encountered.

 

So....since it has been a while since I have been on X, I am wondering if I will be ridiculed or chastised for bringing my child on a 10-day sailing? Granted, a 5 y/o is much different from a toddler, but I obviously want to have a pleasant time and not feel like I'm under a microscope. My son loves the kids clubs on the cruises he has been on, so he would spend at least a few hours per day/night there.

 

Thanks for any input. I will also post over on the family board.

 

Wow, that kind of behavior is totally inappropriate. I have found the Celebrity boards to be far more intolerant of children than the actual passengers. I brought my 14-month old on a Celebrity cruise last year, and he was warmly received by the crew and passengers. I never even so much as received a dirty look or eye roll, which I was totally expecting after the way children are discussed on this board. The experience was so positive that we are bringing him back to Alaska in May.

[stipmom]

Whether or not they run the kids club depends on how many children are onboard.Ten day cruises do not tend to have a lot of kids during the school year. You might have more children on a cruise the first week in January as Canadian schools are still closed at that time.

 

 

 

 

 

Remember, there are two sides to every story.He might have been fussy for an inappropriately long time before your co worker decided to remove him.. Most of the older passengers have grandchildren and would find a toddler cute.The fact that it was several tables makes me wonder if it was more than normal "fussy"

[cle-guy]

Wow, that kind of behavior is totally inappropriate. I have found the Celebrity boards to be far more intolerant of children than the actual passengers. I brought my 14-month old on a Celebrity cruise last year, and he was warmly received by the crew and passengers. I never even so much as received a dirty look or eye roll, which I was totally expecting after the way children are discussed on this board. The experience was so positive that we are bringing him back to Alaska in May.

 

I would think that if a kid gets so out of hand their parent decides they have to physically remove them from the dining room, the kid was most definitely misbehaving for an extended amount of time. I can't imagine that the kid would have had a single outburst and the parents would have removed him. If the did, this would be an indication the parents know the kid explodes all the time and they are trying to avoid the upcoming implosion.

 

It's also it possible this bad behavior had shown itself often and elsewhere on the ship.

 

I find kids always to be fine on ships, have no problems, have never seen a parent remove one rom the mDR. On a TA 2 years ago, one became kind of the ship's mascot, he was everywhere everyone knew his name, they even made him his own Celebrity staff name tag.

 

That these parents did remove their kid, there has absolutely got to be truth the the kid was very disruptive.

 

I would kind of agree that bringing a baby/toddler on a Celebrity (or most any but Disney) cruise is kind out of the norm. Parents should plan more appropriate vacations with kids of that age.

 

A 5 year old on the other hand, is fine to bring on, they can walk, should have manners, know how to behave.

[matt0148]

I am looking at sailing one of the 10-day Equinox Caribbean cruises Jan 2016 and am considering taking my child, who will have just turned 5.

 

We have taken our daughter on a number of Celebrity 10 day cruises and there has always been at least a few others in her age group. Having fewer kids on board is a bonus - more one on one attention from the kids club staff which she loved.

[midwestchick]

Whether or not they run the kids club depends on how many children are onboard.Ten day cruises do not tend to have a lot of kids during the school year. You might have more children on a cruise the first week in January as Canadian schools are still closed at that time.

 

 

 

 

 

Remember, there are two sides to every story.He might have been fussy for an inappropriately long time before your co worker decided to remove him.. Most of the older passengers have grandchildren and would find a toddler cute.The fact that it was several tables makes me wonder if it was more than normal "fussy"

 

 

I share those thoughts. I have seen some bad behavior go on for far too long before the child is removed from the MDR. It is not enjoyable and can ruin dinner for some.

I did not know there was a family board to post on.

Edited March 25, 2015 by midwestchick

[patty1955]

For example, her child was fussy at dinner and she was removing him from the dining room and a few tables started to clap loudly and told her a cruise is no place for a baby. I find this behavior unacceptable from fellow guests. I have no reason not to believe her account of the issues she encountered.

While I agree that the behavior of the fellow cruisers was rude, it's possible that they were just relieved to see parenting. Personally, I'm always very grateful when a parent removes a misbehaving/crying child and have been tempted to thank them.

[JinxyB]

We have taken our daughter on a number of Celebrity 10 day cruises and there has always been at least a few others in her age group. Having fewer kids on board is a bonus - more one on one attention from the kids club staff which she loved.

Thank you-so they do run the kids club on the longer cruises then?!

 

It's also it possible this bad behavior had shown itself often and elsewhere on the ship.

You must not have kids, LOL. There is a big difference between my 4 y/o displaying bad behavior and a 15-month toddler having 'bad behavior.'

 

Not that it matters, but my friend/co-worker said her child did great on the cruise and just had a few episodes of being cranky at dinner...they either left the dining room and ate at the buffet or just chose to do room service in those instances. She was so worried about him being disruptive and disturbing other guests-they are not to the type to let their child run all over the place and scream, etc.

[melsdt]

 

I would kind of agree that bringing a baby/toddler on a Celebrity (or most any but Disney) cruise is kind out of the norm. Parents should plan more appropriate vacations with kids of that age.

 

I am not sure if you are a parent Curt, but what qualifies as a more appropriate vacation for a baby/toddler? I travel quite a bit and cruising is probably one of the easiest ways to travel with a kid. In our case, its been a great multigenerational experience. Especially at the baby/toddler age, the kids club and ships activities that people often suggest (bumper cars-ugh) are irrelevant.

 

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[Lady Chew]

I share those thoughts. I have seen some bad behavior go on for far too long before the child is removed from the MDR. It is not enjoyable and can ruin dinner for some.

I did not know there was a family board to post on.

 

Well, a table full of adults clapping for the child being removed, and telling the parents that a cruise is no place for a child, is also bad behavior ... worse, in my opinion.

[cruisead]

We were on a 10 day Equinox cruise last month and on ours there were 6 kids total, other than a handful of infants. The program was not nearly as complete as it would have been with more kids on board. We've done the 10 and 11 day Equinox cruise a few times and every time there has been less than 6 or 7 kids on board---a few more if you count those under age 2. We hardly ever saw these kids, probably because there were so few, but when we saw them, they were always with their parents for some reason, and not with the kids club staff.

Edited March 25, 2015 by cruisead

[az_tchr]

There was a kids club program with about 12 kids on a 2 week cruise to South America. Kids all had a great time.

[Algebralovr]

We were curious, as was a friend, a couple of years ago, so upon boarding we went to check out and get a tour of the kids club. The representative was happy to give us a tour and explain what they had to us, even when we explained that we did not currently have children in our family that were age appropriate, but that we had a friend with a little one who was curious.

 

That particular cruise, they expected 5 children between age 3 and 8. They still had staffing and a program. They said they did divide up based on age. They also had a few younger children, and welcomed the little ones with a parent for a specific time each day.

 

In February, there were only a handful on board our 7 night cruise. We saw the Kids Club staff holding a tea party one afternoon with them - all little girls - three of them maybe? They seemed to be having a great time.

 

I would go ahead and take your child. Enjoy the time you have.

[MicCanberra]

Personally, I think there is a huge difference between a child of 15 months and a 5 year old.

OP, your child will be fine on any cruise length, the kids club is there and so are you, what more can they need.:D

[Aloha 1]

Whether or not they run the kids club depends on how many children are onboard.

 

Not true. The Kids Club runs every cruise regardless of numbers.

[miched]

The only time that it is aproblem is when they child is obnoxious, and throws tantrums and that is the usually the fault of the parents because they condone and ignore it.

 

Never had a problem with anyone taking a baby on board. I basically feel for them as they are tied down with the baby and can't fully enjoy the cruise.

 

On the Reflection we were in Blu and there was a couple that had a baby. The baby was well behaved and was actually better mannered that many of the passengers, and that included the family group that had a so called therapy dog that kept being passed among the family members.

 

Hope you and your daughter enjoy the cruise.

 

happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌞

[Aloha 1]

I have to add that our first X cruise was with children 14, 11, and 8 (twins). Our boys were well mannered, wore their sport coats and ties like proper gentlemen and nothing needed to be said to our daughters about behavior. IMHO, it all comes down to the parents and the upbringing they have instilled in their children.

 

If there are issues on board, I would first look at the parents, not the children.

 

Cruising with young ones is a fantastic way to introduce proper conduct and manners, especially at the table. No one else will teach them this in today's society. Our modern civilization rests on teachings such as these.

[JinxyB]

Thanks to those helpful posters who gave great advice-I am feeling better about taking my child on an X cruise. My son is very friendly and latches on to his favorite few counselors at the kid's club. We were on Oasis of the Seas the first week of March and I could not tear my child from that kid's club-that is all he wanted to do-forget the carousel, waterpark, and Dreamworks parade! He wanted to spend all his time at Adventure Ocean! He is well behaved, but I know his limits (and mine), so we would probably choose the buffet over the dining room most nights.

[norwegianwood57]

I will never forget how on our Mediterranean cruises there are always parents who have their small children in strollers and there they are over all those cobblestones. The kids , exhausted, bum-pity, bump, bump.

 

Shame on parents who drag their kids on cruises to make it convenient for themselves.

[MicCanberra]

Thanks to those helpful posters who gave great advice-I am feeling better about taking my child on an X cruise. My son is very friendly and latches on to his favorite few counselors at the kid's club. We were on Oasis of the Seas the first week of March and I could not tear my child from that kid's club-that is all he wanted to do-forget the carousel, waterpark, and Dreamworks parade! He wanted to spend all his time at Adventure Ocean! He is well behaved, but I know his limits (and mine), so we would probably choose the buffet over the dining room most nights.

 

Knowing the limits are good, but the limits need to expand sooner or later. Perhaps try him in the MDR at least once and test to see if he can develop and be well behaved for the odd occasion for a more strict dining outing.:D

[melsdt]

I will never forget how on our Mediterranean cruises there are always parents who have their small children in strollers and there they are over all those cobblestones. The kids , exhausted, bum-pity, bump, bump.

 

Shame on parents who drag their kids on cruises to make it convenient for themselves.

 

Have you considered that perhaps the children might enjoy cruises too? Perhaps seeing and trying new things might actually be fun for them? That families spending time together while exploring the world might be a good experience? I have been on Med cruises (before having children of my own, actually once while pregnant) and saw many families enjoying themselves. The children were playful and happy! As a side note, I wear my son in a carrier very often, especially when he was small which avoids all the bumps you seem so concerned about :D

 

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[Arubalisa]

I have to say that of all the cruises I have ever sailed on, the worst behavior :eek: I ever witnessed was that of the senior citizens on HAL PUSHING the little ones out of the way in order to get up front to see Santa Claus on Christmas morning. :eek:

 

Enjoy your family time together. :)

[CanadianDee]

I will never forget how on our Mediterranean cruises there are always parents who have their small children in strollers and there they are over all those cobblestones. The kids , exhausted, bum-pity, bump, bump.

 

Shame on parents who drag their kids on cruises to make it convenient for themselves.

 

To the contrary. We took our five year-old granddaughter with us this January - her first cruise. We all had a wonderful time and started planning our next cruise together as soon as we got back.

 

She and her grandpa got up every morning to watch the sunrise from our balcony.

 

Some families just like to share the good times. :)

[tweeks212]

We have taken our 8 year old on quite a few cruises, the first and second were Transatlantic cruises over 14 days. We never once came across anyone acting negative towards her, quite the opposite in fact. Especially the crew who gave her so much attention.

 

Enjoy your cruise, and your kids have as much right as anyone else to be on the cruise. :)