Celebrity Beyond and young teens.

[CruiseJunky48]

We just got back from and RCI sailing on Harmony. We booked a future cruise on Celebrity Beyond for the ABC Islands in June 2024,  and think we have made a huge mistake. I wish I had done my homework first. The ship does not even appear to have a ping pong table on it. The boy's, ages 12 and 14 do not like the "kids clubs" and would rather spend time with mom and dad and us, their grand parents, but we are really concerned they are going to be bored to death. The ship looks nice, but is it even a good option for them? They are not into sports, but love ping pong, arcade games and enjoyed the mini golf on Harmony. I am not sure if we should stay on this sailing or do something else.

[mitz18]

2 minutes ago, CruiseJunky48 said:

We just got back from and RCI sailing on Harmony. We booked a future cruise on Celebrity Beyond for the ABC Islands in June 2024,  and think we have made a huge mistake. I wish I had done my homework first. The ship does not even appear to have a ping pong table on it. The boy's, ages 12 and 14 do not like the "kids clubs" and would rather spend time with mom and dad and us, their grand parents, but we are really concerned they are going to be bored to death. The ship looks nice, but is it even a good option for them? They are not into sports, but love ping pong, arcade games and enjoyed the mini golf on Harmony. I am not sure if we should stay on this sailing or do something else.

We did not see a ping-pong table on the Beyond and she is really not designed for kids (imho).  Celebrity tends to aim more towards adults and the beyond is no different.  There is a rooftop garden which is a great place to have a glass of wine and read a book, but no mini golf.  I don't remember seeing an arcade room but to be honest, did not look for one. I don't even remember a basketball court, but could have missed it.   We've been on many RCL and X voyages and can only say if I had young teenagers, I'd probably stick with RCL.   But that's just me.  Only you can decide what your kids will think.  Have you looked at the YouTube video overview of the beyond? Might help & you should be able to find it on X page via this link.. Good luck

https://www.celebritycruises.com/cruise-ships/celebrity-beyond

 

 

[NMTraveller]

You could book a trip that goes to Coco Cay.  It is a private island that has a waterpark and waterslides.  Perhaps that would be more in line with what they would like.

 

There are no bumper cars,  flowriders, skydiving, or waterslides on Celebrity ships.

 

Do they like pickleball?  Some of the Celebrity ships are bringing that on board.

Edited July 16, 2023 by NMTraveller

[jelayne]

There is a teen hangout area on Deck 2 called the Basement but I don’t know what it there, never travel with children.

[Tyler414]

There were ping pong tables in January on Beyond, in the same spot there located on Apex, so unless they permanently removed them they should be there. There is no arcade or mini golf.  They do typically have ‘bags game” aka corn hole set up at the roof top garden. 

Edited July 16, 2023 by Tyler414

[CruiseJunky48]

58 minutes ago, NMTraveller said:

You could book a trip that goes to Coco Cay.  It is a private island that has a waterpark and waterslides.  Perhaps that would be more in line with what they would like.

 

There are no bumper cars,  flowriders, skydiving, or waterslides on Celebrity ships.

 

Do they like pickleball?  Some of the Celebrity ships are bringing that on board.

They would LOVE pickleball. My grand-kids are more mature, and love family time. They did not like the water slides, or kids clubs, We played cards onboard, and did shore excursions. They just need a few things to make them happy. They loved Coco Cay, but that was wave running and canoe. They love going to ports and doing new things, but no problems, not the type to run around a ship.

[CruiseJunky48]

11 minutes ago, Tyler414 said:

There were ping pong tables in January on Beyond, in the same spot there located on Apex, so unless they permanently removed them they should be there. 

THANK YOU that will make them happy!!!

[lostchild]

2 minutes ago, CruiseJunky48 said:

THANK YOU that will make them happy!!!

We were on Apex and 2 ping pong tables were on deck 15 I think.  But there is also ping pong table in the Basement Deck 2 where the teen club is located.   Every day there is a teen club schedule from like 9am to 11pm at night.   Our 17 years old were hanging out with about 25 of his friends every day.   We don't see him whenever we were back on the ship after a port day.   

[CruiseJunky48]

Was there things like air hockey, or arcade? From what I have searched, it appears that the basement has those things for the older kids, 12 up. There are gaming tournaments as well? Anything you can tell me is greatly appreciated.

[CruiseJunky48]

3 hours ago, lostchild said:

We were on Apex and 2 ping pong tables were on deck 15 I think.  But there is also ping pong table in the Basement Deck 2 where the teen club is located.   Every day there is a teen club schedule from like 9am to 11pm at night.   Our 17 years old were hanging out with about 25 of his friends every day.   We don't see him whenever we were back on the ship after a port day.   

Was there things like air hockey, or arcade? From what I have searched, it appears that the basement has those things for the older kids, 12 up. There are gaming tournaments as well? Anything you can tell me is greatly appreciated.

[kr00t0n]

This might help you

https://www.celebritycruises.com/things-to-do-onboard/camp-at-sea

[horseymike]

14 hours ago, CruiseJunky48 said:

We just got back from and RCI sailing on Harmony. We booked a future cruise on Celebrity Beyond for the ABC Islands in June 2024,  and think we have made a huge mistake. I wish I had done my homework first. The ship does not even appear to have a ping pong table on it. The boy's, ages 12 and 14 do not like the "kids clubs" and would rather spend time with mom and dad and us, their grand parents, but we are really concerned they are going to be bored to death. The ship looks nice, but is it even a good option for them? They are not into sports, but love ping pong, arcade games and enjoyed the mini golf on Harmony. I am not sure if we should stay on this sailing or do something else.

Your kids will have more entertainment options on RCL

[ScottC4746]

14 hours ago, CruiseJunky48 said:

We just got back from and RCI sailing on Harmony. We booked a future cruise on Celebrity Beyond for the ABC Islands in June 2024,  and think we have made a huge mistake. I wish I had done my homework first. The ship does not even appear to have a ping pong table on it. The boy's, ages 12 and 14 do not like the "kids clubs" and would rather spend time with mom and dad and us, their grand parents, but we are really concerned they are going to be bored to death. The ship looks nice, but is it even a good option for them? They are not into sports, but love ping pong, arcade games and enjoyed the mini golf on Harmony. I am not sure if we should stay on this sailing or do something else.

You are lucky at their age they want to spend time with the family and not the kids clubs.  X is a couple of notches above RCCL, yet the same company in my opinion.  I call X entry level luxury.  As others pointed out, if they are anti-kids club, X may not be the option.  There is no floating theme park as on some RCCL ships or NCL.  Just simple classic cruise ship design. 

[Whinenowine]

We first cruised the Edge when our kids were roughly that age.  It's not RCL or MSC, but our kids had a blast playing ping pong, doing selective kids club activities, swimming in the pool, smoothies at the Juice Bar and independently roaming the ship (quietly and respectfully, of course).  They're also readers, so they were happy finding a cool/secluded place and bringing their kindle.

[luv4cruises]

16 hours ago, CruiseJunky48 said:

We just got back from and RCI sailing on Harmony. We booked a future cruise on Celebrity Beyond for the ABC Islands in June 2024,  and think we have made a huge mistake. I wish I had done my homework first. The ship does not even appear to have a ping pong table on it. The boy's, ages 12 and 14 do not like the "kids clubs" and would rather spend time with mom and dad and us, their grand parents, but we are really concerned they are going to be bored to death. The ship looks nice, but is it even a good option for them? They are not into sports, but love ping pong, arcade games and enjoyed the mini golf on Harmony. I am not sure if we should stay on this sailing or do something else.

Not a good choice for teens.  Beautiful ship, but outside of the”teen” club where there may only be a few other teens cruising at your time there is nothing for them to do. Pickle ball is almost exclusively played by adults at very limited times as that was the case on the Apex. If I were you I would stick with Royal- best for families. 

[lostchild]

12 hours ago, CruiseJunky48 said:

Was there things like air hockey, or arcade? From what I have searched, it appears that the basement has those things for the older kids, 12 up. There are gaming tournaments as well? Anything you can tell me is greatly appreciated.

I will ask him if there is air hockey or arcade, but I don't think so.   We only passed by the Basement when on the way and back from the port and can peek inside.   I am sure they want us "boomers" walking into their hangout LOL.  Yes, they have different tournaments each day.  They even have a "casino night".  If your room has teen, the room attendant will provide the next day schedule for the teen club.   Our son is older so after he met the other 15 to 17 years olds the first few days in the club, they just exchanged room numbers and TXT each other's in the Celebrity Apps.

 

It was kind of funny because we boarded early the first day and our son went to the teen club to check in.  He said, in a doomed voice, that there IS NO ONE there and he was the only one checked in!   He is going to be so bored for the next 12 days with nothing else to do.   Then a day or 2 later, we don't even see him anymore.  He rarely even eats dinner with us because he was hanging out with his friends.   He and his friends later got a look at that list of kids on the ship and found out there were actually over 300 under 18 non-adults on that cruise.

Edited July 17, 2023 by lostchild

[CruiseJunky48]

21 minutes ago, lostchild said:

I will ask him if there is air hockey or arcade, but I don't think so.   We only passed by the Basement when on the way and back from the port and can peek inside.   I am sure they want us "boomers" walking into their hangout LOL.  Yes, they have different tournaments each day.  They even have a "casino night".  If your room has teen, the room attendant will provide the next day schedule for the teen club.   Our son is older so after he met the other 15 to 17 years olds the first few days in the club, they just exchanged room numbers and TXT each other's in the Celebrity Apps.

 

It was kind of funny because we boarded early the first day and our son went to the teen club to check in.  He said, in a doomed voice, that there IS NO ONE there and he was the only one checked in!   He is going to be so bored for the next 12 days with nothing else to do.   Then a day or 2 later, we don't even see him anymore.  He rarely even eats dinner with us because he was hanging out with his friends.   He and his friends later got a look at that list of kids on the ship and found out there were actually over 300 under 18 non-adults on that cruise.

 

[CruiseJunky48]

Thank you so much for letting me know. I can't find very much on the Internet about this so need to rely on previous cruisers. My teen, is on the younger side and likes to hang with his brother who will be 12, so 12 and 14, I hope they can stay together, even IF they will go to the camp. They, like most kids like video games, playing air hockey. One of the Celebrity sites claims they have that, but who knows. They like to hang with us, play cards etc. The ship looks so "mature" even for us. I hope no problems arise with adults who resent kids on the ship. We ran into that on one Celebrity cruise with our daughter and some guy said we should "go where we are wanted" WOW. Our kids do not run up and down hallways and are respectful. Since we did the onboard booking on Harmony, RCCL, we are kind of stuck. I look forward to any info you might have.

[jamessophie]

I am considering booking the same cruise travelling with daughter and her friend aged 16. Concerned there may not be enough for them to do. 

[Whinenowine]

41 minutes ago, jamessophie said:

I am considering booking the same cruise travelling with daughter and her friend aged 16. Concerned there may not be enough for them to do. 

I still think it's fine. You'll likely come across a few people who will be cranky about it, but the vast majority of your fellow passengers won't mind. Especially given it's the kick off for the summer vacation season--so kids are expected. I think a lot of it depends on how well they behave.  They may just enjoy having with each other, or they may meet other teens to hang with.  I think those are the most likely two outcomes. 

[paulh84]

14 hours ago, CruiseJunky48 said:

Was there things like air hockey, or arcade? From what I have searched, it appears that the basement has those things for the older kids, 12 up. There are gaming tournaments as well? Anything you can tell me is greatly appreciated.

 

This is The Basement which is the teen club on Beyond. Not a lot there.

 

 

[cw2go]

I have cruised ~X~ with my teenaged sons. They had a great time on an older class ship.

 

The pool on Beyond is fantastic and imo the best of the best when comparing between cruise ship class. Plenty of space to chill with family. I sailed in Feb and there were several kids onboard and they looked like they were having blast with family, tons of giggles and splashing about. Never heard any of them cry for a waterslide. Most tend to push RCCL for kids because of the amusement type vibe, my kids have enjoyed both. Just like adults different vacations bring different experiences. 

 

Some kids aren't thrilled to share slides with a zillion other kids, only you know what yours will enjoy. From reading your post, I can guarantee they'll have a great time in the ABC's, there will be plenty of areas for playing cards, the pool will be nice and refreshing and 100% without a doubt, in the month of June you will NOT be the only guests sailing with kids!

 

What ever you choose, enjoy your family time! 

Patty 

[PTC DAWG]

I choose Royal or NCL when cruising with yutes.

 

 

Edited July 17, 2023 by PTC DAWG

[CruiseJunky48]

2 hours ago, cw2go said:

I have cruised ~X~ with my teenaged sons. They had a great time on an older class ship.

 

The pool on Beyond is fantastic and imo the best of the best when comparing between cruise ship class. Plenty of space to chill with family. I sailed in Feb and there were several kids onboard and they looked like they were having blast with family, tons of giggles and splashing about. Never heard any of them cry for a waterslide. Most tend to push RCCL for kids because of the amusement type vibe, my kids have enjoyed both. Just like adults different vacations bring different experiences. 

 

Some kids aren't thrilled to share slides with a zillion other kids, only you know what yours will enjoy. From reading your post, I can guarantee they'll have a great time in the ABC's, there will be plenty of areas for playing cards, the pool will be nice and refreshing and 100% without a doubt, in the month of June you will NOT be the only guests sailing with kids!

 

What ever you choose, enjoy your family time! 

Patty 

 

[CruiseJunky48]

Thank you!!  I am feeling much relieved about this. I also spoke with my TA and she said that her kids had a great time as well. I can relax now.