Children and Celebrity

[strawberrygirl]

Hi

I am considering a Celebrity Cruise on the Millenium for Feb 4, 2007. We have cruised before on Royal Carribean with our two boys, 6 and 10 and had a great time. How have people who have used the children's program liked it? Did you feel that children were welcome on this line?

Thanks for any info you can provide.

Katie

[mahdnc]

Our kids have traveled 5 times so far on Celebrity. Each time they have thoroughly enjoyed the children's program. The programs are well organized, well staffed, and have very good facilities (particularly on Millennium and her sister ships). It is one of the primary reasons we keep coming back to Celebrity.

[no_wake]

All kids are different. And so are adults. My kids are well travelled and know how to behave in social settings.

 

Once on an international flight from San Francisco to Tokyo in First Class, as my family which included 4 kids under 15 years old at that time were boarding, the flight attendant had the nerve to say to me, "I hope your children know how to behave in First Class." I replied "They should - they've been flying First Class longer than you have."

 

Go ahead and take your kids. You will give them the gift of knowing how to behave in different social settings which is a gift that will serve them well through their lives.

[brigittetom]

 

Once on an international flight from San Francisco to Tokyo in First Class, as my family which included 4 kids under 15 years old at that time were boarding, the flight attendant had the nerve to say to me, "I hope your children know how to behave in First Class." I replied "They should - they've been flying First Class longer than you have."

 

:D :D :D Good for you. I once had a flight attendant tell me that my two year old would have to sit in a different section.

Sorry, OT

[Arubalisa]

Take the kids and enjoy! My foster daughter's first vacation was a cruise on Holland America. She did not have anything to compare it to, so of course loved it. Mom and Dad were not as impressed with their kid's club staff. HAL's clientele (staff overalll was fine with kids) and their treatment towards children even on a Christmas cruise, was not welcoming whatsoever.

 

In comparison, when our daughter cruised with us this past December on the Galaxy, families were more than welcome aboard. The kid's club was excellent and we felt very assured dd was in capable hands. If it seals the deal, the Galaxy had Playstations in their kid's club plus an arcade...

 

If you have any other specific questions or want an idea of activities, feel free to email me.

[trcori]

he's 10 and has been on seven X cruises since age 6. most of the time, he clamors to spend as much time in the kids' program as we will allow. our cruise last month was a new milestone for him, as kids 10 and up are allowed to sign themselves into and out of the program, so we no longer were expected to escort him to and from the Fun Factory -- he enjoyed this tiny taste of freedom. Keep in mind the kid count may be low if you are sailing outside major school break periods -- on Galaxy last month, our son was one of about 40 kids under 18 on board -- OTOH, both times we've sailed to Alaska in the late summer (Mercury and Infinity), there were hundreds. (He prefers the smaller crowds.) And if your kids are fans of the Royal Caribbean features I've heard about, rock walls and ice rinks and whatnot, be sure they are well aware that Celebrity does NOT have those things -- there's a basic "sports deck" area with basketball/ping pong etc. where the kids spend some time, but that's it. (Again, my guy doesn't mind because he's not terribly sporting.) Hope you have a great time! -- TR

[strawberrygirl]

Thanks everyone. I am a little concerned about the possible lack of other children since we are cruising at an off time (our school has days off for teacher conference).

As I understand it, on nonvacation weeks, the children are grouped together rather than being separated by different ages. We'll have to think about this one.

I was very proud of our kids getting complements from our table mates and the head waiter for their table manners. We have some work to do at home though as their chairs at our kitchen table seem to have invisible "eject buttons" that occasionally land them on the floor:)

[Texed]

Our 8 YO loves it.:)

[ghgeckos]

We are going on our 1st trip with Celebrity next feb. The kids will be 11 and 8 does anyone have a copy of the kids program schedule online so I can get an idea of the activities on board. The kids have been on 4 cruises and enjoy being at the kids center on sea days previously.

[mahdnc]

Thanks everyone. I am a little concerned about the possible lack of other children since we are cruising at an off time (our school has days off for teacher conference).

As I understand it, on nonvacation weeks, the children are grouped together rather than being separated by different ages. We'll have to think about this one.

 

We sailed on Infinity on Feb 2nd (same time of year as your cruise) but back in 2002 and there were less than 50 kids on board with about 20 of them active in the children's program. The kids were not all grouped into one group. Instead there were about 3 different age groups that were created based on the kids that were there. Here is a link to our photos of the Infinity Children's Program with additional detail on what the program was like: Infinity Kids Program

[mahdnc]

We are going on our 1st trip with Celebrity next feb. The kids will be 11 and 8 does anyone have a copy of the kids program schedule online so I can get an idea of the activities on board. The kids have been on 4 cruises and enjoy being at the kids center on sea days previously.

 

We have scans of some of daily kids schedule from our cruise last year aboard Horizon (our kids were 9 and 12 yrs old at the time). It will give you a good idea on what kinds of activities occur. If you want them, send your email address to me. My email address is my CC nickname with @yahoo.com appended to it.

 

In the mean time, here are some photos of the Horizon Kids Program that I took: Horizon Kids Program

[kitty9]

During the time you plan to cruise, don't expect many kids on board and consequently there will be a limited kids club. We've cruised Celebrity quite a few times during February and there were less than 10 kids on board, and that number included toddlers and infants. On one cruise on Summit, there were exactly 2 school age children on board,from Germany, and they didn't run a program. So be prepared for programs to be much less than what you'd normally find during non-school times, and less than what you'd find on RCCI.

[woodofpine]

All kids are different. And so are adults. My kids are well travelled and know how to behave in social settings.

 

Once on an international flight from San Francisco to Tokyo in First Class, as my family which included 4 kids under 15 years old at that time were boarding, the flight attendant had the nerve to say to me, "I hope your children know how to behave in First Class." I replied "They should - they've been flying First Class longer than you have."

 

Hmmm... Whose manners were worse, the flight attendant's or the passenger's?

 

You're almost certain to be more impressed with the Kid's Club staff than either of the above.

[strawberrygirl]

Kitty9,

Thanks for your response. I think we'll need to reconsider.

Katie

[trcori]

we have cruised a couple times during nonvacation weeks (as mentioned above) and a couple times during vacation periods. During the "few kids" times, the program was NOT limited, and the kids were NOT all grouped together. The only challenge was that there may be very few kids in a certain age group -- on Galaxy last month, there were never more than four kids in my 10-y-o son's group -- but they kept up the program anyway. (At that age, you really can't group them with younger kids OR the teenagers.) They are always fully staffed with at least half a dozen counselors, and the hours are exactly the same -- basically 9 am till 10 pm for free (except for "lunch parties" on port days) and 10 pm-1 am slumber party for extra cost (except the last night) -- TR

[Desertbelle]

trcori is correct. We have also cruised Celebrity during low children times and the children's staff were excellent.

 

On our Century cruise last November there were only about 5-6 kids in the children's program and it looked like they were having a good time. We had a toddler with us who was under 3 but they let us take him into the play area if we stayed with him and they gave us toys to take back to the cabin for him.

 

Since the numbers were low, the kids that were there got a lot of attention. I would see 2 counselors and 2 kids doing things around the ship a lot....you can't get that kind of personal attention when there are 100 kids in the program. :)

[snowmouse]

Do the Kid's activities continue to run on port days? What about at lunchtime, is there an option for child care if we take an all day excursion without our dd10? I hope to have her with us most of the time on our Med cruise next summer,but realistically, I think she may get 'ruined-out' and stay onboard occasionally. Will this work?

[Arubalisa]

Do the Kid's activities continue to run on port days? What about at lunchtime, is there an option for child care if we take an all day excursion without our dd10? I hope to have her with us most of the time on our Med cruise next summer,but realistically, I think she may get 'ruined-out' and stay onboard occasionally. Will this work?

Yes, yes, yes. My dd is the same age and she loved the Club X.

Programs always run 9 am to 1 am- at sea and in port

Days in port--

There is a charge for:

lunch time 12 Noon - 2 pm $6/hr

Dinner, 5 pm to 7 pm, $6/hr

 

Each night (in port or at sea)--

Nightly Slumber Party 10 pm to 1 am $6/hr

 

Days at sea--

Hours as above, 9 am - 1 am

NO lunch, club is open 12 Noon - 2 pm, but the child needs to leave to have lunch, the staff will not take them to the buffet as they would on a port day (which you would then in turn have to pay for)

 

If you have any other questions, please feel free to email me.

[Texed]

Our little guy loves the kid's program very much also.:)

[snowmouse]

Thanks, arubalisa. That is great to know that I can leave her on the ship if she prefers a couple of days. I think she will really burn out otherwise. On previous cruises we have always had a hard time getting her out of the club and on land for anything. Hopefully now that she is a little older she will at least partially get the significance of seeing some of the European sites (well, at least I can hope)!

 

BTW , Aruba is our favorite island, too. One of these days, we are going to try to see it on a land vacation, but my cruise affinity makes that sooo difficult.