Celebrity with Toddlers (twins!)

[CruiserRev]

It's difficult, anytime responding on forums like this, to articulate your thoughts without being misunderstood. My response was, clearly, not to the OP, but to some of the opinions that had been offered. Many were quite constructive, and offered points of view that would be valuable for the OP to consider. One person's posts I felt were a bit more vicious and selfish than that, and prompted my previous post. In an odd way, it all symbolizes both cruising and heeding the advice on forums like this--the choice is still left up to us whether or not to choose to cruise with young ones, and the variety of posts helps us understand that we'll be embraced or shunned by fellow cruisers. Sometimes you're shunned for the mere fact you brought a child--without any "difficult" behavior on their part to merit it. When people suggest other vacation choices, some do out of a warm heart or personal experience. Don't discount the fact, however, that some (and I don't think the two respondants to my post fall in this category) do so because they think that "people like us" belong somewhere else. That's the attitude that I find reprehensible, and the type of person for whom my post was intended. No offense intended towards all the well-meaning opinion offerers!

[dkjretired]

 

 

 

 

 

And then there are lines like Celebrity which advertises to be a more traditional, more formal line, with no rock climbing walls, ice rinks, water parks and all the other kid/family friendy attractions. While they do have a great kids club starting at 3 and up it is more to keep the kids OUT of everyones hair, not to promote familiy friendy cruising. and third and fourth passenger are at a set rate. A single person travelling with a child is charged 2 full fares. In essence if you want to travel with your children they pay the same price as anyone else.....this is meant as a deterrant.

 

 

Dave:eek:

 

I usually agree with you Dave on many items but could not disagree more with the above comment. Just because a cruise line doesn't have a rock climbing wall doesn't mean they don't cater to children. They have great children's prgrams in dedicated childrens spaces built for that purpose. They also have th new Leapfrog program and prior to that had some type of scientific component to their childrens activities. Almost all cruise lines charge the same as Celebrity so that is really not an issue. I would hazard a guess that if Celebrity didn't have these facilities and programs over the past few years they would have gone under. As someone who has taken my kids on numerous Celebrity cruises, I just don't see it.

[dogsrule]

Okay-I'll say it....I don't wish to cruise with children or babies-that is why I choose more of an adult oriented cruise line. I would be very upset to pay top dollar for a cabin and have a "screamer" next door or down the hall. Its not like being in a hotel with more room to spread out and buffer the noises. By the way, I am a proud great aunt to a six month old nephew-he's darling, I love him, but I don't want to cruise with him.:p

[FinelyCruising]

To the OP...it's hard to forget how great cruising is and I can easily understand why you would want to cruise again with your twins now that they are part of your family.

 

While you have gotten alot of feedback here, some unnecessary digs, and some valid points to consider, I am sure you are more than capable of taking multiple considerations into account as you plan the best vacation for all of you.

 

Congratulations on your twins...I see that you are finally at a point of getting out from under! :)

[BB5953]

OP - Only you can make the call as to if this is the right vacation for you - you know your child! If someone in the DR doesn't like being next to a child (who is behaving as well as any child would on a vacation of anytype) they can easily move same for the cabin. Their desires are just that theirs - only you know what is right for your child.

 

I don't have children yet but plan to in the future and I will have them with me!!!

[MrsKinsey]

First let me say that DH and I don't have children but are definitely NOT anti-kids.

 

Second, has anyone read some of the posts that the OP has made? She is obviously concerned about her fellow cruisers. This leads me to believe that she would be a considerate mommy onboard. Bottom line is, if your babies are pretty easy going and you don't think they would be a bother to other passengers, by all means, bring them! If I were on board, I would definitely have to visit them myself.

 

However, if you know your babies get cranky at dinner or wake up at 3 am and cry for an hour, then maybe it would be best not to bring them until they are a little older (if not just to avoid the disapproving stares or complaints of some people who are unable to deal with ANY disruption to THEIR vacation). But keep in mind, even older children can have temper trantrums or cranky moments.

 

I wouldn't be surprised though, if the OP never returns to this post with all of the bickering going on. I would take a well behaved child over a cantankerous adult any day.

 

Celeste

[claud925]

....we choose longer cruises, just like you do, because there will be fewer kids.

 

Forgive me for asking, but why is it that you like cruises with fewer kids?

[bububr]

I respect your comment.

 

I was raised with parents that did NOT expose us to things until we were ready. While in the 60's and early 70's this included lots of family vacations that included LOTS of activities for us, and a bring along relative or babysitter. We never flew till we we older toddlers maybe 4 or 5 . Most of the vacations were beach oriented where my dad and mom would drive for almost 20 hours from MA to FL. They also took seperate vacations to Hawaii and left us with our grandparents relatives because they thought it would be too much for us as well as they wanted to get away from us for a while.

 

My first cruise with them included going to the mens department of a now defunct dept. store and buying a suit. At that time VERY few children cruised. the next cruise I was able to pick out my own tuxedo...BTW we we NOT rich, just middle class.

 

We were always expected to act a certain way, and if not we were punished.

 

Thats my back ground.

 

So to sit on a plane for 3 or 4 hours and listen to an infant cry ...really makes me irritated.

 

But to go on a cruise ship and see parents not making sure their children are acting accordingly makes me really pissed.

 

I really don't care if times haver changed or not. If I go on an adult oriented cruise I expect the very few loud mouth obnoxious passengers that I may see, I don't expect the children that are dragged along because mom and pop need a vacation.

 

And YES I did state that X has an excellent childrens program, but being said what kind of a family vacation is it when you drop off your kids so you can enjoy the money you are spending?

 

X is NOT a Family with children Vacation. and although it is becoming one because of the selfish irresponsible parents...it was not set up to be that way . RCCL was.

 

X has NEVER and will NEVER advertise itself as a family cruise line. It will always be more of an adult experience. However with the ME ME ME generation coming into cruising things are changing.

 

There are more children on X, you see parents putting portable DVD players in front of their kids..( which I feel is tottaly RUDE ) and you see parents saying I paid for it so just accept my kids.

 

I just cruise RCCL, an d although the rules for the hot tubs said " NO ONE UNDER 16 and no diapers or pullups ALLOWED" it was claer that parents felt they were above the rules!

 

So its not the kids I have aproblem with, its the incohearant, non compliant parents that feel they have a right to break the rules just becuse they have kids. BTW: no one forced them to have children to be ridiculed.

 

Dave:eek:

[CruiserRev]

Fair question Claud....I suppose I'm even looking forward in saying that. We don't cruise to be surrounded by a plethora of people our age, and if we're fortunate enough to continue cruising as the family grows and grows up, we won't choose cruise lines that have programs that allow for families to have separate vacations. We travel as a family. We like a quiet, elegant vacation as much as the next person, and much prefer lines like Celebrity which aren't as casual or party oriented as other lines. It's nice to go on longer cruises during off-peak times....the deals are great. I agree with bububr about the DVD players--we'd never dream of doing that--but honestly, if the percentage of selfish, inconsiderate parents on a cruise is the same as the percentage of selfish, inconsiderate older adults, we'd all be in bad shape. It's an issue of class and consideration rather than age, and I've certainly witnessed more adults than children behave abominably on a cruise--they just whine more articulately.

[woodofpine]

We LOVE celebrity cruises - at least we did 2 years ago and before back when we cruised as a couple.

 

Now we have two kiddos who are almost a year old and I am trying ot convince my husband that a cruise would be the "perfect" vacation for our little family.

 

Any advice - good or bad? :p

 

 

Everyone's entitled to their opinions... and when they correspond with mine, they're RIGHT! :)

 

To Mom of Twins' husband:

 

DON'T LET HER DO IT!!!

 

Oh boy... and I usually bash the kid bashers, I've got 4 but...

 

Cruises are confined. Maybe your kids are out of the crying when hungry, crying when soiled, crying when stressed period. If they are not, then they should stay ashore for sure. If they are out of that stage, then it is your choice - but there are better choices. X in particular is less well suited as a cruise experience in that the dining experience is more formal than most cruise lines and kids that age can't be and shouldn't made "formal". I suppose you can do room service cabin confined, but what's the point? You're in that 'paying dues' period (suck it up).

 

Just my opinion, if you go for it - good luck!

[CruiserRev]

Woodofpine,

 

Thanks for an opinion that really was an opinion, not a judgment. May your tribe increase!

[woodofpine]

IAnd YES I did state that X has an excellent childrens program, but being said what kind of a family vacation is it when you drop off your kids so you can enjoy the money you are spending?

 

X is NOT a Family with children Vacation. and although it is becoming one because of the selfish irresponsible parents...it was not set up to be that way . RCCL was.

 

X has NEVER and will NEVER advertise itself as a family cruise line. It will always be more of an adult experience. However with the ME ME ME generation coming into cruising things are changing.

 

Dave:eek:

 

 

So they have an excellent children's program, but it is not a Family with children Vacation? Thank's for the example of incoherant! :D

 

"X has NEVER and will NEVER advertise itself as a family cruise line."

 

I guess you never saw the full page ad with the spike haired kid (maybe 10 years old) under the moniker CELEBRITY X...

[rebeccalouise]

Wow! That was uncalled for.

Generations of families sail on Celebrity. It does tend to be an older line and you will see multi-generations of families on board. Having sailed on Celebrity on five occasions I have yet to see unruly, ill- mannered children and if there were in your experience, it was the exception not the rule.

The Kids Program is fun for the kids. My son spends an average of six hours per day in the Fun Factory. He doesn't have a sibling his own age or even cousins his age. He loves the opportunity to play with other children. They do all kinds of arts and crafts, science projects, they put on shows. The go to the disco and have parties and scavenger hunts. It isn't a punishment for the child- far from it. That's why it is a great family vacation because the adults actually get a break during the day to do adult things. In fact, on Celebrity young kids don't have to dine with the adults if they don't want to. It is a win-win situation and fun for the whole family. And the kids I saw, including toddler were well behaved.

My son can't wait for our next two cruises- one on Royal Caribbean and the other on Millenium.

The crew on Celebrity loves kids and goes out of their way to help. Most of the crew miss their children and really enjoying seeing the kids on board.

[rebeccalouise]

The above response was meant for Dave.

I still stand by my opinion that traveling on a cruise with toddlers is a mistake. No fun for the parents.

[Pisces11]

I guess this entire issue revolves around peoples rights. Do I have the right to sleep at night vs does someone have a right to be in the room next door with a crying baby. Do I have the right to sleep at night vs an elderly hard of hearing person next door who has the tv volume turned way up. Do I have the right to sleep at night vs a group of college kids who have turned the room next door into party central.

We took our grandson who was 18 months old on a cruise on RCCL. First of all, there were a lot of other extended families on this cruise ship. Second, there were enough of us so everyone could have a good time. Our son, who didn't want to eat that early, came to the early dinner with us and as soon as our grandson was done eating, our son took him out of the dining room and chased him down the halls. Grandpa, who didn't want to go to any of the theater productions was more than happy to go to the room with our grandson and read while our grandson went to bed early. Our DD and SIL were able to go scuba diving because grandma and grandpa were more than happy to take our grandson to the beach and build sandcastles with him. It worked because the extended family made it work but I'm glad we were all on RCCL rather than Celebrity. I still think there is nothing wrong with people wanting to have an adult cruise experience. There are so many cruiselines to choose from when cruising with young children. After that experience with our grandson who really didn't cry or bother anyone, now that we have another grandchild, we will all gather at a land based resort until our grandchildren are older. Everyone will be happier not confined in a ship. I did spend an awful lot of time chasing our grandson up and down the hallways. The decks were too scary because of all the openings in the guardrails.

[Cachecara]

I love kids, so I hope this doesn't come out the wrong way.

But--you really don't know exactly how a child --more less twins-- are going to react in a cruise ship environment until they are there and that is going with the presumption that these kids are angels to begin with 90% of the time!

If the kids were mine, I would be nuts to the point of paranoia trying to keep them on the best behavior as possible at all times so not to annoy any other passengers. That's a challenge when you consider hallways are narrow, pools off limits and lounge areas, common areas, buffet areas--crowded and dangerous places for little ones! Little ones are constantly putting their hands and things in their mouths, I would fear even worse for them getting Noro!

And on the other end, if I was a passenger having to listen to an upset babe through thin walls at night or early morning on more than one occassion --well yeah, I would have empathy for the upset child, but --what's the likelyhood of me being able to switch rooms on a full ship??

Again, I do love children! And I realize that for every 10 kids out there --there may only be one that might not respond well to cruising. But that still doesn't make me any more willing to want to cruise with that one child!

[newmexicoNita]

Wow! That was uncalled for.

Generations of families sail on Celebrity. It does tend to be an older line and you will see multi-generations of families on board. Having sailed on Celebrity on five occasions I have yet to see unruly, ill- mannered children and if there were in your experience, it was the exception not the rule.

The Kids Program is fun for the kids. My son spends an average of six hours per day in the Fun Factory. He doesn't have a sibling his own age or even cousins his age. He loves the opportunity to play with other children. They do all kinds of arts and crafts, science projects, they put on shows. The go to the disco and have parties and scavenger hunts. It isn't a punishment for the child- far from it. That's why it is a great family vacation because the adults actually get a break during the day to do adult things. In fact, on Celebrity young kids don't have to dine with the adults if they don't want to. It is a win-win situation and fun for the whole family. And the kids I saw, including toddler were well behaved.

My son can't wait for our next two cruises- one on Royal Caribbean and the other on Millenium.

The crew on Celebrity loves kids and goes out of their way to help. Most of the crew miss their children and really enjoying seeing the kids on board.

I have seen kids well behaved and not so well behaved on all lines: actually one year we cruised the Connie during Thanksgiving vacation; the kids (not little ones) were awful for the most part. They ran up and down the halls, were in the lounge way too late at night and once 2 were sleeping in the martini bar. Probably 80% or more were well behaved, it only takes a few to ruin it for everyone. The same problem with one cruise on NCL. In that case it was toddlers. I certainly didn't blame them, I blame the parents for bringing them on board. For all we know these may have been very well behaved kids but they were bored. NMnita

[FinelyCruising]

Wow...no matter what the day or month or time of year, those who feel no person under the age of 25 should be allowed on board is the voice to be heard the loudest.

 

For those who never got past their perfect parents and their pefect parenting and their perfect lifestyles, wow, guess we have moved in different times and you are stuck in them. Really stinks doesn't it?

 

My parents were perfect, and my children were the added benefit. They all showed me the way to find all the good things in life to carry me through to the day I finally die and wish for just a moment more to live any horrible moment I may have experienced in an effort to get past it to keep it going to enjoy all the good along the way....

 

Don't know about many of you, but we make all the good in our lives and wether we made it or not, embrace all the bad as well.;)

 

Let's get this thread closed, it provides no material information to the OP that hasn't been ask and anserwed a million times before or the gist has been provided for in these pages.

[bububr]

I haven't seen the ad.

 

But with what I saw on the last SHORT cruise I took on the Century I wouldn't be surprised if they were seeking a new demographic, especially on the 3, 4 and 5 day cruises...I guess $$$$$ wins out in the end.

 

As I said X does have a great kids program, on many of the cruises I have been on we have not seen, not heard many children with few exceptions, however the infants and the screaming tend to stand out.

 

Dave:eek:

[Host Anne]

It's unusual for me to jump into a topic that is debated time and again on Cruise Critic as there is no right or wrong answer on a subject such as this one. But having sailed with a child from a very young age, I felt I had to drop back in.

 

We began traveling with our daugher (now 20) when she was just 12 weeks old. It was a trip to visit my family for her first Christmas. She has been "on the go" ever since. When she was barely three, we did a California coast trip, including visits to wine country where we stopped at many wineries. I'm sure many would say why would you take a toddler to wine country? We still talk about that trip today. The wineries were awesome and started her on a "cork" collection as part of our touring. She was barely six (granted, older than the toddlers Mom of Twins is referring to) when we did our first cruise and has been cruising ever since. Not once did we ever avoid the dining room because she might now be well behaved. From our first cruise on, dining in the main dining room has been a highlight of each night on board.

 

When she recently applied to study abroad, she had to list the number of countries visited on her application. After our upcoming cruise, it will be 34, with the vast majority of those visits coming during cruises.

 

Suffice it to say we've been on quite a few cruises together. I've seen many wonderful children AND toddlers, even on Celebrity (we still talk about the two year old at a table next to us on Century a couple of years ago and how wonderful our waiter treated her...and how well behaved she was every night) and we've seen many that have been less than stellar passengers. But, I can honestly say the exact same thing about EVERY age group of passengers, even on Celebrity.

 

The worst outburst I've ever seen was an adult passenger berating a guest services staff member just after boarding for something the guest services staff member had absolutely nothing to do with.

 

After reading the posts of the OP, I think she's a very considerate fellow passenger who wouldn't want to inconvenience others. But in my opinion she shouldn't be told that Celebrity isn't child friendly or that she might not enjoy her vacation. I think we could say that about any vacation, anywhere, not just on a ship. The problem arises when you have irresponsible parents ... and I don't feel the OP would fall into that category.

 

In closing, the most annoying "noise" situation we ever had actually came from a crew party crossing going well past 3:00 AM as we crossed the Pacific. Talk about inconveniencing the passengers! I won't tell you what my reaction was ;) !

[woodofpine]

I agree with you completely... plus I've never seen kids hog loungers etc. Yes - we adults do tend to be holier than thou (and that's why teens resent us! hormones notwithstanding!).

 

Cradle babies 3 months old and less tend to eat and sleep and sleep more than anything. In the period up to 12 months or so they go through the "wake up" which is enough to make anyone scream! :) then they settle down, toddle, cruise, become cruisers, angels, louts, kid lovers, kid haters whatever...

 

I remember being at the Ellis River House in Jackson NH with my 7-8 month old babe that was "waking up". We had active days and that child screamed - just screamed - without stopping or possible consolation from 6-9 PM every evening (her de-stress was our stress). I'd buy dinners and bring them back to the room, that was a trip! Fortunately, the Inn was amazingly sound proofed (that was just luck though). When we started cruising and our youngest was 3 and her brother 4, we were a family of 6 so we had, and always have had, our own table at dinner. Teaching manners was pretty much a full time job that I was very conscious of - but fortunately, not having to subject other table mates to... (I don't think I'd have cruised).

 

So yah - the OP is asking the considerate question and will work through it.

 

X is a family cruise line. Any line building ships with 1,500+ pax capacity absolutely have to be (even HAL now with the Vista class) and X has pointedly marketed the message "Mr. and Mrs. Cleaver, bring the Beav!".

 

Those that don't like it, either cruise smaller luxe ships or Suck It Up!

[newmexicoNita]

I agree with you completely... plus I've never seen kids hog loungers etc. Yes - we adults do tend to be holier than thou (and that's why teens resent us! hormones notwithstanding!).

 

Cradle babies 3 months old and less tend to eat and sleep and sleep more than anything. In the period up to 12 months or so they go through the "wake up" which is enough to make anyone scream! :) then they settle down, toddle, cruise, become cruisers, angels, louts, kid lovers, kid haters whatever...

 

I remember being at the Ellis River House in Jackson NH with my 7-8 month old babe that was "waking up". We had active days and that child screamed - just screamed - without stopping or possible consolation from 6-9 PM every evening (her de-stress was our stress). I'd buy dinners and bring them back to the room, that was a trip! Fortunately, the Inn was amazingly sound proofed (that was just luck though). When we started cruising and our youngest was 3 and her brother 4, we were a family of 6 so we had, and always have had, our own table at dinner. Teaching manners was pretty much a full time job that I was very conscious of - but fortunately, not having to subject other table mates to... (I don't think I'd have cruised).

 

So yah - the OP is asking the considerate question and will work through it.

 

X is a family cruise line. Any line building ships with 1,500+ pax capacity absolutely have to be (even HAL now with the Vista class) and X has pointedly marketed the message "Mr. and Mrs. Cleaver, bring the Beav!".

 

Those that don't like it, either cruise smaller luxe ships or Suck It Up!

The OP asked our opinions on cruising with twins; she even said she was trying to sway her DH. Obviously she is seeing the downside of this. Most of us are not saying we don't like kids or think kids and cruises down go together, we are wondering about cruising with twins at that age. As you said, you started cruising with your children when they were a bitl older. That makes good sense. NMnita

[florisdekort]

I am biased because I once took a 14-night cruise that was ruined by a toddler in the cabin next to me that cried 4 to 6 hours every night. I desperately tried to switch cabins but the ship was sold out. The mother kept appologizing like 'he never does this at home'... which might be true if for example the motion of the ship caused the toddler's misery.

 

Floris

[Luckyladym]

IMHO:

 

The question is:

 

Can this mother (the OP) enjoy a vacation cruising with 2 babies...not eliglble for the children's program...not able to use the pools...not able to control the motion of the ship...being uncertain as to whether the babies will sleep through the night....questiioning her own decision to as to the wisdom of this trip vs. her DH's objection.....being solely responsible (without a nanny or family member to help)?

 

If it were me...I would wait 2 years, so that I would not even have to ask on CC for opinions of semi-strangers as to whether it was a good idea or not.

 

As I said....only in my very HO.

 

Marilyn

[Smitty24]

Wow. I really didn't see any bashing going on until someone came in and accused others of doing it. The OP asked for opinions and she got them...good & bad. The best advice offered, I thought, was to maybe look into lines that are geared towards kids, like Disney. That way, the parents are ensured a cruising vacation.

I've been fortunate on my cruises to have only experienced well behaved kids on board. BUT, I always wondered about the parents with very young kids. To me, a cruise is a getaway from real life time. Visit exotic places, eat like you never do at home, stay up late and play without worrying about having to get up for work (be it an office or home). I don't want the responsibility of my kids for 1 week.

However, to each his own. If you think you'll all have a good time, bring them. Yes, the daytime will be spent running around after them and you won't really be able to enjoy the amenities of the ship, but at night they do offer the babysitting.