Millennium 7/8--not pleased with Celebrity

[bethcollins]

This was my 15th cruise overall, with it being my second on Celebrity. I have three children who have cruised with me since they were very young. Because of school schedules we frequently have to cruise during the summer, the holidays, and over spring break. I have had a lot of experience in dealing with ships loaded with children, and have never once complained because I know that by choosing to cruise those times of year it goes with the territory.

 

The 7/8 MIllennium set sail with approximately 490 children. From the very first day we were treated to children screaming in the hallways at all hours of the night, children in the casino constantly, children running through the buffet and leaping over chairs and into passengers, children with water guns in the hot tubs wrestling each other--the list goes on and on. I tried to ignore it for a couple of days, but after my daughter had her tray knocked from her hands in the buffet, I decided to say something to the waiter who was standing by watching. He informed me that he was not allowed to say anything to these children because it was a "parent's problem". Okay.....I decided to let it go. That evening I watched four young children sitting in the floor of the Cova Cafe pour their sodas on the carpet. I asked the wait staff if they realized what the kids were doing. They went over and looked and then came back and shrugged. So I went to the casino, and there were kids running EVERYWHERE in there. I asked one of the casino employees why were these children being allowed to stay in the casino. His answer was that it is a cultural thing--Italian and hispanic parents take their kids everywhere with them. What????!!!!! I must have missed out on the special rules for some guests section of my ticket contract. At that point I had had absolutely enough and went to guest services. I was told once again that it is up to the parents to control their children, and that if they refuse to do so then there is nothing they can do. I asked why if that was the case, have I seen parents and their kids put off Royal caribbean ships when the parents refused to comply. Their answer was that they serve a different segment of the population, one that wouldn't like it if they tried to tell them how to parent.

 

I am still stunned that Celebrity would allow the behaviour of these kids to impact so many other guests. At every dinner table, on every shore excursion all you heard was people complaining about the uncontrollable kids. I had planned on booking a Med cruise on the Galaxy for next summer, but I have switched to the Grand Princess. There so many features on the Millennium that I loved, but I can't overlook the lack of response from them regarding this situation.

 

I plan on following up with a letter to Celebrity. By the way, I am not looking for any kind of financial compensation from the cruise line--just want to be heard.

 

Beth

[sueclark]

This same sort of post has come up every year about the mid-summer Med cruises that have a large number of Europeans. A good TA should have steered you in the right direction. There is a cultural difference that we will not overcome by complaining. I think in this case Princess (and maybe some other lines) have the right idea in limiting the number of children onboard for any sailing.

[rbrighin]

[by choosing to cruise those times of year it goes with the territory.]

 

You said it yourself.....

 

Exactly the reason I don't cruise during the summer, holidays or spring break.

[Boo's Mom]

Hi Beth.

 

Wow. That sounds like a bit of a nightmare!! :mad:

 

I am very sorry that you had such an experience with Celebrity.

 

I'm with you..... cultural differences are fine, but cruiseline rules come first.

 

Do write to Celebrity.....as they need to hear the feedback.

[TWOFERTWO]

Beth, you have my deepest sympathy. I would have done the same as you. This is one of my biggest fears, stuck on a ship with uncontrolled childern! The same goes for any group that is of out control. :mad:

 

My sympathy also applies to the large number of parents that have, and have raised well behaved and responsible childern. You don't get enough recognition, with all the bad! :)

 

This is the main reason we choose to vaction while school is in session. It is too bad that you don't have the same luxory

 

CELEBRITY! TAKE NOTE!! :mad:

[CruisingChick]

Beth,

 

This happened on our Med cruise last August, except that I did not see children in the casino and there were none, at least on our floor, running around at night. The Pool area was a disgrace and we acutally HAD to have 2 Celebrity Security people at the pool.

 

I did write a NICE, LONG letter to Celebrity last year as soon as I got home. While they called me twice to discuss the letter, obviously, I was not offered any kind of compensation.

 

Also, not only did we have unruly children, but there parents were no better, if not worse. A fight almost broke out on one of the shuttle buses in Barcelona. I hate to say it but all the kids causing the problems were French. The ship was LOADED with French and Spanish and the Americans were in the minority, big time.

 

All in all it did not ruin my cruise, I had a great time, but Celebrity desperately NEEDS to start enforcing their rules and regulations (this being at least the 1000 time I said that). I'm afraid if they don't they are going to be a very sorry cruiseline. It might not happen this year or next year but people will stop booking if it continues.

 

Please do write a nice letter to Celebrity. Please include any positive points about your trip that you can and also the negatives. Please stress that this kind of behavior is not only distruptive to people but also could be dangerous.

[polodad]

I can sympathize. I'm not sure if it is cultural or just bad parenting. We were on the Century in April in the Caribbean. One of the last 2 nights on the cruise (It had to be a formal night cause I was in a tux) there were a bunch of kids (5-10, probably ages 10-12) run amok. One of these nice young men got into an elevator with me, he & I were the sole occupants and he proceeded to press every floor's elevator button & then jumped off on the next floor after he got on. I politely inquired as to exactly what he was doing and his response was "I'm hyper" as he ran down the stairs.

I like to think I'm fairly liberal about people's behaviors; driving, smoking, generally screwing around. I pretty much don't care unless it IMPACTS ME DIRECTLY. This one did and diminished the value of my vacation experience & expense. I would hope our kids wouldn't do that & I wouldn't allow them the opportunity as it was around 11 pm. and at that age we tried to know where they were & what they were doing.

[1stimekruiser]

How awful! I can't imagine that kind of behavior is acceptable in ANY culture.

I most definitely agree that you write a letter. Another thing I don't understand is why the staff did nothing about those children pouring soda on the carpet. Isn't that destruction of property?

[Artemis]

Beth,

 

We were on the Millie Med cruise 6/2-14. I think because it was so early in the season that many kids are not out of school, our cruise was only marginally populated with kids, and none out of control. We had ours with us, 11 and 13, and they were pretty disappointed with the kid turnout. This was their 10th cruise, 1st on Celeb, and they now have the idea that Celeb isn't good for kid cruisers based on this unique (Med isn't exactly a hot spot for kids to begin with) cruise experience. (Of course, I'm sure all of the anti-kid cruisers are delighted to hear me say our family won't be jumping up and down to cruise Celeb!)

 

Sorry to hear of your negative experience. However, I just wanted to share ours in contrast in case you would prefer Celeb next year and had the flexibility to go earlier--the timing in the summer is everything. We're just like you, travel only during school breaks, and because our schools are out by the end of May, we are invariably traveling by June 1 and then do summer camps and fun in July to mid-August (when we go back to school--that's the trade off for the early release!) But, no matter the destination, we have observed fewer kids in early to mid-June (and fewer tourists than during peak summer generally). Of course, the flip side of fewer kids is that if your kids like the social aspect, they may be disappointed, as ours were. We had a great time in spite of that, of course--as you know, there is not much time for kids program on those port-intensive destination cruises in any event.

 

Good luck with next summer's plans!

[G_Man]

Parents don’t crack down on kids enough these days. I have an 11 year old and he knows what will happen if he steps out of line. I found being trapped on a ship for a week was not the vacation for me. I like the option of being able to leave an uncomfortable place and search for another. On a ship your option is to swim.

 

Horizon 3/’03

[bethcollins]

I just mailed my letter to Celebrity, and will let you know what, if any, response I get. I did include the many things we enjoyed about Millennium, but this was just such out-of-bound behavior that I would not book again on any cruise line that would condone it.

I forgot to add earlier that I told my 15 year old son and his friend to walk in the casino and see what happened. The boys were asked very firmly to leave immediately!

 

Beth

[1stimekruiser]

Amen G Man!

Too many parents these days let the children control the situation.

[chessbriar]

I read these posts and it really makes we want to stick to my winter cruising and stay away from Europe.

[BB5953]

I am sorry but I was reading this and not planning on adding anything but I had to when I heard someone encourage being physical with your children as a way of punishment. If you rasie your children that way that is your decision and your business but please don't encourage others to do so. IMO that is just irresponsible. There are ALWAYS other options!

[1stimekruiser]

I don't think anyone is encouraging spanking. That's a personal choice and I will not go there.

If this was directed at me, let me say that I was simply agreeing that many parents today do not control their own children nor teach them proper behavior. It's out of control!

[BB5953]

I apologize if I sounded harsh or critical but G Man's title was Spanking OK and then encouraged others to "crack down" when I saw you reply Amen I took that as you agreeing. Again I apologize I just have a soft spot for children especially when parents think it is easier to smack them rather then tell them what they did was wrong, explain why and then give a punishment that fits the act which in my opinion is never physical.

[G_Man]

I believe in the three strikes and your out rule. With my son he was warned once about misbehaving, then he was warned again, the third time he got his little butt spanked with three firm swats. Now after three warnings (which he seldom needs) he gets grounded or I take away his allowance. It’s no different as an adult. Go into a bar and misbehave, by the third warning you will be bounced out on your ear. Refuse a cops instructions three times and you are looking at pepper spray and or a nightstick. Last but not least, some states have the three time looser law. Three felonies and you are locked up for life. I have seen the youth of today run a muck. If punishment does not get tough at home, it will get tough on the outside eventually.

 

Horizon 3/'03

[BB5953]

I know this is completely off topic but you can't compare an impressionable child dealing with his parents to that of a criminal dealing with the police. A criminal might need that to comply however I child never needs it. There are other options. I know that nothing anyone says will change you mind and again it is your decision how you want to raise your children but I just ask that you don't encourage others to do so.

[winediva]

Beth -

thank you for sharing your unfortunate experience. This is exactly the kind of info that you don't get from a cruise line or travel agent that can really affect your experiece. Precisely, why I read these boards. I prefer not to travel with a large population of children, which as I learned from these boards, means booking when school is in session. Actually, I quit using a travel agent once expedia was launched. I just find that the major travel sites offer the best prices to folks willing to research. So for those of us booking everything on line - your comments are very helpful. Let me know if you get a response from Celebrity to your letter. Curious to hear what they say....

[1stimekruiser]

BB,

No hard feelings ;) I should have been more specific, I completely missed the "spanking ok"

[TWOFERTWO]

IMO that is just irresponsible. There are ALWAYS other options!

 

BB5953

What options and how would you apply then to the topic! This IMO is just that, yours. This sounded like the ship was over run with kids that the options just wern't working for, or perhaps not tried. Celebrity was using a hands off policy, this is the topic.IMHO.

[HP_Lovecraft]

When we were first looking for a cruise, the "kid-factor" was an issue.

 

We choose September since it seem like the one month of the year that most kids CAN'T miss school. Sure, September has hurricanes, and hotter then "heck" temperatures, but.... everything in life is a trade-off.

 

Personally, I don't object to spanking, though I don't spank my kids since I think its counter-productive. I use the "count to five method, then take something away if they don't listen", and ALWAYS follow through. Usually works.

 

Parenting is always a touchy issue. I think the above post was correct that Celebrity assumes it has a "richer-then-average" customer base, and doesnt want to offend somebody. But if thats the case, then they should limit the number of kids. If anything, a boat load of kids certaintly takes away from the image that Celebrity tries so hard to create.

I expect to find a boat-load of unruly kids on Carnaval or Disney. Everyone does. But people don't expect that from Celebrity (and Princess). Heck, most people consider them "NOT kid friendly" due to the limited number of under-18 activities.

 

nick

[mmp13]

Interesting podt. We ran into the same problem many years ago on a South American cruise! It was summer and many south american families had their children with them. Because of culteral differences there were many children at late seating and at all the adult activities. Some of the activites seemed totally inappropriate for young children but they were there. We avoid summer cruises for this reason .

[amanda blake]

I think most of us have had our nightmare cruise...we are no exception...

 

when we were on the Century, totally overun by kids who were destroying the ship, a number of us marched into the manager of guest relations office...

 

we demanded compensation.....

 

it is only when it begins to actually cost cruise lines dollars will they begin to do something about enforcing the rules...

 

demand financial compensation.....otherwise you are wasting your time writing letters....

 

there were 4 couples....we did this as a unit...and encouraged others to do the same....

 

a refund arrived of 200 per cruise to use towards another celebrity cruise....and we were not alone...they had to dish out plenty for that one.....

 

things will change only if we all demand the 5 star billing that Celebrity boast of.. ..when rules are not upheld it is anything but 5 star....

[Tatka]

I read these posts and it really makes we want to stick to my winter cruising and stay away from Europe.

Why do you want to stay away from Europe ? :confused: IMHO it's a huge mistake!

 

We were cruising in Med last May and had only 20-30 kids on board...all of them were very well behaved, at least we hadn't noticed anything inappropriate.

 

French Revere and Italy are beautifull regions and not to be missed. :)