Children and Celebrity Cruises vs. Carnival Glory

[bill124]

First time cruiser. I am thinking of the Century in August and will be travelling with children -- 11, 10 and 4. Haven't read much about childrens' programs with Celebrity. Any ideas on how they will like it compared to say the Carnival Glory? How will adults view this compared to Glory? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[Danno]

I will probably be roasted here for saying this but...if your goal is to have the best holiday for your kids I would choose Carnival. If you are choosing a great holiday for you and your wife, and you want to have the kids still have a good time, pick Celebrity.

Just remember...Celebrity is really not a, get on the ship and forget about the kids for a week, type cruise line.

Dan

CenturyX1,GalaxyX2,HorizonX5,VolendamX1,

Zenith to Bermuda Oct/04
Century to E.Caribbean Feb/05

**email mrtnb(at)efni(dot)com

[42trvl]

Having just cruised Celebrity with our kids (11 & 9), I can tell you that we all had a great time. It depends how much you want, but we found Disney cruise too much activity (even our kids...), and tend to shy away from things that are too heavily targeted to kids/families. Even the kids don't enjoy that. Having said all that, there was still enough for them on Celebrity, if like the previous poster said, you're not looking to get rid of them all week. During a school break there are enough other kids to keep them company. And if you enjoy spending time with them or them with each other, there are games and activities that you can all enjoy when they are not in the organized kids program. And all this, while as adults, we still enjoyed a wonderful cruise experience.

[jezzdogg]

while I may be roasted for this I would opt for a Voyager class ship of RCCL. These ships offer more to do for the kids/pre-teen than Celebrity(not sure about Carnival) and great things for adults also. What they say in their "just get out there" i true, esp for your age children, rock climbing wall, inline roller, ice skating, 9 hole put course, pools for kids, families and adults only, Johnny Rockets etc. We have travel Celebrity, Princess and RCCL and if I had kids(mine are both grown) we would stick with RCCL.

norm

[RM]

jezzdogg I was thinking the same thing about the Voyager class ships. My daughter just loves them and RCI has an excellent kids program.

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[nealberk]

It depends on the kids. If the kids enjoy dressing up for formal night (and some really do) and being treated as adults during these times, lean toward Celebrity. If they strictly want to be kids, go with RCCL. Carnival is more of a party ship for both adults and kids. Some families will love it, others will hate it.

If you would like to see what is offered to the kids on Celebrity check out my website [url="http://www.celebrity-century.com"]www.celebrity-century.com[/url]. It has examples of the kids programs, kidzone play area, and will give you a good idea of what the line expects to do for the kids. You might also like to check out my cruise picture section. There were not a lot of kids on our cruise, but they seemed to have fun.

Another note, we had 35 kids on the really off season (a week after school started). The previous week the Century had 200 kids. The Glory had over 1000 kids the previous week.

[jglass]

According to my son, currently 13 and he's been cruising since he was a baby, Celebrity has an excellent program with first class councellors and a great schedule and variety of activities. He did not find the activities as interesting with Carnival, though their facilities are extensive. He liked the Celebrity program much better. I think I've spoiled my kids, now they prefer the level of service and food on Celebrity as much as I do.

jglass

[Tatka]

My 11 years old son (although without RCI and Carnival) experience loved Century cruise.

They have wonderfull kids room with PS games etc. He participated in basketball games, swimming competitions, some other games. He doesn't like to be supervised all the time so sometimes he just played with the other kids not necessarily in the program.

During 2 formal nights kids had pizza party and were entertained til 1 AM.

I know couple of families with younger kids who LOVED the program.

I understand that RCCL ships with ice-rink, rolley skating, climbing wall are probably more popular with the kids...but I also heard horror stories about how much time it takes to tender 3000+ passengers off the ship. We also preffered much more Celebrity's food and service.

I don't know about quality of hamburgers on Voyager class but on Splendour they were horrible while my son loved them and fries on Century.

I would like to try Voyager class once but not sure if it will be a better experience for all our family.

------------------------------
<UL TYPE=SQUARE>
<LI>Zuiderdam 8/21/04 FLL - Key West - Cozumel - Grand Caymans - Half Moon Cay - FLL
<LI>Splendour of the Seas 05/15/04 Barcelona - Marseilles - Villefranche - Livorno - Chivitavecchia - Naples - Barcelona
<LI>Century 07/12/03 Eastern Caribbean FFL-San Juan - St. Thomas - St.Maarten- Nassau -FFL
<LI>Komarno(Volga)07/91 Moscow - Astrahan' - Moscow (honeymoon)
<LI>Komarno(Volga)07/90 Moscow - Astrahan'- Moscow
<LI>Admiral Nachimov(or Nakhimov) (Black Sea)04/1986 Odessa - Batum [/list]

GO BRUINS!!!!

[cruisegeek2004]

If it makes a difference to anyone ... My 3 nephews and niece really loved the Century and still talk about the crusie 2 years later ... And they actually sailed on Disney and had a better time on Celebrity ... Don't be fooled, the Celebrity KIDS program is truly wonderful ...I don't think you can go wrong with Celebrity, especially in August, with plenty of other kids onboard .. Good Luck!

Email me Questions:

[email]jakeryan85@yahoo.com[/email]

[markanderinsmom]

I think Carnival is best for family cruises...port hole magazine has rated their children's program number one year after year and best family cruise. I love Celebrity, but when kids are involved, Carnival it is. The Glory is a better choice....took my kids and they loved it; loved the water slide, the teen disco (seperate from the adults on this ship) etc. They have been on Celebrity and although Celebrity will always remain my favorite, Carnival is my kid's favorite. My kids like casual dining and they offer a ton of variety on the Glory....Pizzeria, Asian, Italian, Sandwich bar, burgers, salad, and a fish and chips bar where they loved the fried calamari. When they weren't doing camp carnival activities, they were with us out by the pool enjoying the slide. If your kids like gourmet style food, Celebrity is better. Also, unless you are on a newer Celebrity ship, the entertainment is better on Carnival for the kids I think. Take the kids on the Glory and then treat yourself only on Celebrity [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_biggrin.gif[/img]

[trcori]

As a few folks have said, it REALLY depends on the kid(s). Our son, now 8, has been on four X cruises in the past 2 years. He adored the kids' program, especially the relatively new addition "Celebrity Science Journeys." He would NOT enjoy the frenetic activity I've heard about on Carnival, RC, Disney -- while he can be playful at times, he's never been big on "typical kid stuff." For me, the word "refined" describes the Celebrity experience both for adults AND kids. Just a little more mellow and dignified. YMMV ...

TR
Millennium 12/12/04
****
Mercury 4/04, Infinity 8/03, Century 3/03 & 9/02

[cruiseorbust]

We have cruised often on Celebrity and have taken the boys since they were very young. They all prefer Celebrity and the class of service they offer. They have always had fun in their groups, and have met a lot of good friends that they still stay in contact with. They did not care for Carnival (it has been a long time since we have been on one of their ships). My 14 & 20 yr old did have a great time on the Mariner (RCCL),which we just got back from. When we all look at the whole experience, we usually end up with Celebrity. As far as activities go, RCCL would be our first choice.

My vote would either be Celebrity or RCCL. We liked both.

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[Guest]

Also have taken my children on a number of Celebrity Cruises. The kids loved the programs, you cannot go wrong with them. The programs are even better with the special science programs they are now running. As far as I know they are the only cruise line running themed Children programs. Yes, Celebrity is a little more formal but this also is a good lesson for the kids.

Don

[NitaBcruising]

Grandkids, ages 11, and 2 eight year olds, loved Century's kids' program! I highly recommend it! And the parents loved it, too! We had a family of 16, including the 3 kids, and had a great time! They joined us part of the time, and the kids' program many times, too. I had heard it was good, and it was! We were just on Century in Jan.

Nita

[Guest]

We have taken our 2 kids on 4 Celebrity cruises so far and the children's program has always been a big hit with them.

As far as comparing the kids programs between Celebrity and Carnival, I would assume that Carnival is going to be better based on what I have gleaned over the years. However I agree with Danno in that our goal has been in choosing a cruise line that is best for the parents and good for the kids.

Jubilee 1991 Solar Eclipse
Century FO 1996 E Carib
Mercury FO 1998 W Carib
Galaxy SS 2000 Alaska IP
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[i-m-ed]

The Voyager Class ships are awesome for families. However, on our Spring Break AOS cruise 2 years ago the Ice rink hours were limited at best so we only used the rink for 1/2 hour. We did one round of miniature golf and rarely saw anyone else on the course. My, at the time, 6 y/o did the rock climb several times and loved it, she's a thrill seeker at heart. I really liked the fact that the kids pool on AOS was covered, the kids could swim all day and I didn't have to worry about them getting sun burned.

Last Spring Break we sailed on Serenade of the Seas and the kids had a better time than on AOS, however, I found that I missed the Promenade of AOS and that AOS never felt congested and the Serenade did during sea days.

One problem on both ships was the waterslide hours were also limited. I guess I would expect them to be open most of the day on Sea days and not just from 3:00 PM to 4:30 PM.

We had an aft cabin on Serenade on our last cruise and were butted against Constellation's aft in San Juan. My kids were marveling at the quite visible play area on the back of her the whole time we were there. When we began discussing our next vacation a cruise and Constellation was at the top of their list of things to do. At this point I guess we'll see how Celebrity is next year.

As far as Carnival is concerned, my only experience with them was memorable but not great and probably would not deal with them again unless the price was unbeatable. Another issue I currently have with Carnival is that I was looking at their website for information and made the mistake of registering with them. I now get junk emails several times a week and despite all of my requests that they stop, by phone and email, they keep pouring in.

[nealberk]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by trcori:
As a few folks have said, it REALLY depends on the kid(s). <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>


Bulls eye. I think you have hit the nail on the head perfectly. Just like adults, kids have preferences and no size fits all. Some kids even like formal night!

[BCHappyGal]

Just got off a short cruise on Infinity with my 2 Grandson's ages 6 & 8. this was their first crusie experience and they loved it. Celebrity had an excellent kids program and area called "The Fun Factory" Now they did not go to all of the Fun Factory programs as they spent time with us at the pool.
I especially liked it as they had fun & Grandma had some time off!!! While they played in The Fun Factory I enjoyed the evening show. In the diningroom they even had a childrens menu if you have kids who are very picky (limited) eaters.

One of their favorite things to do was to order pizza thru room service at bedtime.

Your room key is also your crredit card onboard however if you go to the front desk they will take the credit card option off of the kids room key so that if they loose it noone finding it could charge anything to your account.

I would say pick the cruise with the itinerary you want and the kids will have fun.

[DENNAS]

Can anyone comment on the kids program on the Horizon or Zenith to Bermuda, during the summer months?
We are a large group (celebrating my parents 50th Wedding Anniversary) with perhaps 4 kids, ages 7-14, and we are wondering how these 2 ships kids programs compare to the newer Celebrity ships.
Thanks,
Denise

[DENNAS]

BUMP.....

[cruiseorbust]

Have not recently been to Bermuda, but we have been on the Horizon many times and Zenith once. We love Celebrity as well as our children. The children's programs were great (basically the same on all Celebrity ships no matter the size). My teens as well as my younger children have always enjoyed the groups. I think the key is to start them at group the first day, if you wait they will miss a lot. The children seem to always have the "first time jitters", the first night is always the ice breaker. After that...smooth sailing. Most of the time they are looking at their watches to see when they can go back to group activities.

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[DENNAS]

Thanks, that's what I want to hear !

[asheskat]

Thinking of trying the Century, does anyone know if this ship has a basketball court? My 16 year old can't live without one! Thanks for any info!

[pilewski]

yes, there is a 1/2 basketball on the sports deck port side

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[kyjd75]

We've taken two M class cruises in the past two years with our son who is now 13 years old (11 at time of first X cruise). He had two prior cruises on RCL at ages 7 and 9. Although we thoroughly enjoyed our X cruises, we really believe that the youth programs are better (much better) on RCL than on X. Our last cruise on the Summit this past March, there really wasn't any program for kids his age. The few activities listed never went off due to lack of interest and kids. X really is an "adult" cruise line. Now that our son is a teenager (hard to believe) we're going to migrate to the Voyager class ships for awhile.

Summit 2004; Millennium 2002; Splendour of the Seas 2000; Enchantment of the Seas 1998; Soverign of the Seas 1995; Nordic Empress 1991; Song of America 1990; Nordic Prince 1988