Cruise with 4yo and 2.10yo time together?

[J0Y0US]

We have two kids a 4 year old and a 2 year 10 month old at time of cruise.

 

Is there any combined play time anywhere for them on the Edge? I understand the age limits for drop off are strict but wondering if there is open houses or anything where they can have combined play (where we supervise) or even paid babysitting where they can be combined.

 

We are still up in the air if we skip a cruise for now. I understand waiting until the youngest is 3 is the "best" option but more so getting feedback on going with a child almost 3 and holds their own already, talks fine, and can go potty by themselves.

[cruisestitch]

There is paid babysitting.  You must wait until you were on the ship to book it, it couldn’t be pre-booked. They send two sitters.  Crewmembers sometimes do this as a way for them to make extra money, so availability of crew is a limiting factor.

[1025cruise]

Babysitting might not be offered right now due to Covid policies.

 

[SusieV]

I wouldn't take a child who is so close to the minimum but not allowed to join the kids club yet. I think that would be very frustrating for him/her not to be able to stay and play. You can't just bring them anytime, there are only specific times for the under 3s to be there with supervision.

Why not just wait the extra 2 months?

[cruisestitch]

There have been so few children on Celebrity since the restart of Cruising, I don’t suppose if there is a definitive answer to whether babysitting is currently being offered, and it might be a ship by ship thing.   I wouldn’t be surprised if babysitting services have been suspended but I expect that they will return eventually if they have been.

[Arizona Wildcat]

Would not take a child not eligible for kids club.  With Covid you cannot count on babysitting being available.  There is also the issue of whether ALL passengers must be vaccinated thus excluding some young children.  Today the rules change often

[Stricks08]

We were on the Apex in Oct and went to check out the kids club to see what they were offering - we have 2.5 year old twins ourselves so was curious on options when we take them on the Beyond in April. 
 

They were not offering babysitting due to Covid (also note that you have to be in a suite to be able to take advantage of that offering when it is available). They do have a separate play area for the under 3 group of kids that you can use. They usually have it open for parents to bring kids to but the parents have to stay and supervise. It had books, slides, toys, etc. It was a nice area. I believe it’s available whenever the kids club is open but we haven’t used it ourselves as our twins were only 9 months on their first cruise before we paused for Covid. 

[cruisestitch]

In the past babysitting was not limited to suites.  Going forward, who knows?

[Stricks08]

2 hours ago, cruisestitch said:

In the past babysitting was not limited to suites.  Going forward, who knows?

 Yeah, I think they changed it right before covid hit - it is one of the reasons we've booked suites on our next few cruises with the kids. Its unfortunate it is being limited in that way.

 

https://www.celebritycruises.com/blog/cruise-with-a-toddler

 

 

[Guppy99]

4 hours ago, Stricks08 said:

 Yeah, I think they changed it right before covid hit - it is one of the reasons we've booked suites on our next few cruises with the kids. Its unfortunate it is being limited in that way.

 

https://www.celebritycruises.com/blog/cruise-with-a-toddler

 

 

Would not take children who cannot be vaccinated yet, but just my opinion.  Also, in order to join a kids club, the child has to be toilet trained. When cruising last Dec and this past July, there were no visible children on board, except one in a stroller who was traveling with parents and grandparents.

[rM3panno]

Pre Covid babysitting was offered and sometime in 2019 they started moving it towards a suite only offering. We had used it for several years prior and it was a great service.

 

As of right now with Covid as the cited reason, there is no in stateroom babysitting. 
 

Celebrity’s kid’s club known as Camp at Sea is a great program but the minimum age is 3 years old and the child must be potty trained. Our 6 year old has been going since he was 3 and our 2.5 year can’t wait to go. Our next trip is an April TA and while there won’t be many children the Camp at Sea staff always are so great with our son and he has a great time whether there is 1-20 kids in the session.

 

Daily hours for standard Camp at Sea are typically

9am-12pm

2pm-5pm

7pm-10pm

 

the kids can stay for slumber party u til 1am daily for a nominal charge.