Celebrity Beyond With Kids

[nyyhoneybee]

Will the kids hate it? They will be 12, 11, 8, 7 & almost 3. 

 

This is for my oldest daughter's birthday and she chose it but I'm now second guessing myself. 

[keesar]

38 minutes ago, nyyhoneybee said:

Will the kids hate it? They will be 12, 11, 8, 7 & almost 3. 

 

This is for my oldest daughter's birthday and she chose it but I'm now second guessing myself. 

 

Celebrity would not be my first choice with 5 children.  Beyond is an adult oriented ship and the focus are adults.  I don't expect your children will hate it but there is not much for them in terms of activities.  I would look towards Royal Caribbean where everyone would have a great time.

 

[nyyhoneybee]

7 minutes ago, keesar said:

 

Celebrity would not be my first choice with 5 children.  Beyond is an adult oriented ship and the focus are adults.  I don't expect your children will hate it but there is not much for them in terms of activities.  I would look towards Royal Caribbean where everyone would have a great time.

 

 

Royal has nothing that matches where we want to go and our budget during the two weeks we can go because of schools. Royal is our top choice but they are sorely lacking now. 

 

I think we are pretty flexible in what we do also. We just don't want to do ports that the oldest has done, eliminating Eastern Caribbean. Leaving from Florida is preferable, although we aren't against doing the northeast

Edited January 19 by nyyhoneybee

[Mrdell]

1 hour ago, nyyhoneybee said:

Will the kids hate it? They will be 12, 11, 8, 7 & almost 3. 

 

This is for my oldest daughter's birthday and she chose it but I'm now second guessing myself. 

I would seriously reconsider… Beyond is definitely not geared to this age group. Have you considered checking the itineraries of NCL … Beyond is a beautiful ship but I think children would enjoy a cruise that has more fun things to do … just my opinion 

[georgiaguy]

If it is when school is not in session there should be a good number of kids onboard. They also have the camp at sea program. 

 

Kids Club on Celebrity Beyond: Camp at Sea

Camp at Sea is broken out into two age groupings. Shipmates are between 3 and 5 and must be potty trained to participate. Expect activities to center around arts and crafts at the Creation Station, and age-appropriate learning activities.

Cadets are ages 6 to 9, and the line has a special nautical program that teaches the basics of sailing, including navigation, time and weather patterns. The Cadets are more likely to have activities in other areas of the ship, including the Rooftop Garden.

Tweens and Teens on Celebrity Beyond

Captains (10 to 12) have a less structured approach to Camp at Sea, with the ability to sign themselves in and out. Video games are in plentiful supply for this age group, thanks to a partnership with Xbox. You'll also find lots of sports activities, scavenger hunts and theme parties for this age group.

Teens have their special Basement area on Deck 2, with the ability to drop in and out. The Spa also has a teen menu, with an emphasis on teeth whitening, facials for sensitive skin, quick manis and pedis, and hair care. You can also schedule mother-daughter spa time.

[georgiaguy]

Also might want to read this review. 

 

[jelayne]

The camp at sea gets great reviews.  If your kids are interested in fun learning it could be great.  Many of the activities are a fun approach to STEM.   If they are expecting water slides, zip lines, rock walls they will be very disappointed. 

[PTC DAWG]

1 hour ago, keesar said:

 

Celebrity would not be my first choice with 5 children.  Beyond is an adult oriented ship and the focus are adults.  I don't expect your children will hate it but there is not much for them in terms of activities.  I would look towards Royal Caribbean where everyone would have a great time.

 

I second this

[nyyhoneybee]

10 minutes ago, jelayne said:

The camp at sea gets great reviews.  If your kids are interested in fun learning it could be great.  Many of the activities are a fun approach to STEM.   If they are expecting water slides, zip lines, rock walls they will be very disappointed. 

The older two will refer this and that’s who the trip is for 

[MartiniBarhooked]

In my opinion if you want to punish your children take them on a Celebrity Cruise.    

[swjumbo]

My kids have adored every celebrity cruise they have ever done.

No need for slides and gimmicks. They have adult practitioners who enjoy spending time with them and allow them to learn and interact with others.

If your kids are less well behaved and easily distracted then perhaps Royal but we prefer a more engaging approach.

They have made many friends and are still in touch with some of them.

Your kids will have a ball!

[paulh84]

I can only judge based off traveling with my own family members, but absolutely not. That's a wide age range to satisfy. What was the appeal for a 12 year old? The kids program is about their only option. 

[hcat]

Could be a nice family cruise.. The Cartoon Le Petit Chef dinner will be fun. EDEN cafe..is like a mini buffet..cookies and desserts.

 

EDEN has wood  challenge puzzles. Bring ur own games and devices..  Solarium has  family hrs.   There are daytime activities in the Club.

 

I suggest Western Carib...If you do KEY WEST..lots of thing there.

If you do NASSAU theres a dig at Atlantis.  COZUMEL  has beach trips.

 

It's the family time that counts..not running wild with other kids!

[docsneeze]

     We took our 5 year old on Apex last year for a 12 day cruise.  He loved Camp at Sea and there were different programs for each day of the cruise.  Counselors were great and with fewer kids (10 on our cruise), they devoted more individualized attention to all of the kids there.  RCL and Disney can sometimes be overwhelming in their kids clubs.  He also liked the better food.  RCL is more gimmicky with slides, waverider, etc. but Beyond also has a larger pool then most RCL ships which will better accommodate their swimming activities. 

     I should also say that kids on Celebrity are generally well behaved and respect other guests.  I know that there are some individuals on these boards that would do anything to discourage children taking a Celebrity cruise.  From personal experience, I think both children and their families will have a great time.  Enjoy!!

[keesar]

22 hours ago, georgiaguy said:

If it is when school is not in session there should be a good number of kids onboard. They also have the camp at sea program. 

 

 

We travel when school is not in session and there are very few children on Celebrity.  

 

I would check out other lines that are more tuned into catering for children.  

[georgiaguy]

45 minutes ago, keesar said:

We travel when school is not in session and there are very few children on Celebrity.  

 

I would check out other lines that are more tuned into catering for children.  

I used to work for Celebrity in the youth program. I am not just making this up anecdotally. The ships have a standard staff of 4 to 5 youth counselors but for Presidents’ Day weekend, spring break, summer, and Christmas break they hire extra staff to come in. Can’t guarantee anything of course but it wasnt uncommon to go from 20 kids onboard to several hundred. Still not as much as other lines but enough that the kids program is very active at all ages. 

For more recent evidence the review I shared above mentioned there were over 300 kids on for a Dec ‘22 cruise.

Edited January 20 by georgiaguy

[gcornell]

Depends on the kids.  We started traveling to “adults mostly” destinations when ours were around 7 and have done it now at least 15 times.  Silversea cruises, 100’ scuba liveaboards, safaris, etc.  They loved every trip, still talk about them and usually they were the only kids on the trip.  In fact, in February we are bringing them on a trip that never has seen kids before. 

[Stricks08]

Dont even worry about it, you will all have a great time. We took our twins when they were 3.5 on a Beyond Transatlantic and they still talk about how much they love that ship. We just took them on the Edge reposition from Dubai to Singapore (they were 4.5) - they went to the kids club twice a day (they demanded we bring them because they had so much fun each time). We are taking them on the Ascent in March and Apex in June. Our kids love the Edge class of ship, especially the Beyond. They love the pools, the live music, and pool deck parties.

 

It also depends on your itinerary too - depending on how many ports you have, you may not be on the ship too much.  there is a pretty cool teen/older kid hang out club off of the destination gateway.  Le Petit Chef is a fun dinner thing to do with kids too, as is Rooftop Grill.