Parents, how is the Celebrity kids program when there are not a lot of kids?

[mommykim]

Hello all,

I am just wondering how good the kids program is when there are not a lot of kids on the ship? My son is dead set on cruising Celebrity when he is off school in the beginning of November. We are looking at the 11/2 Mercury sailing but I am more than a little concerned he'd be the only 11 y/o on the ship and there is no covered pool. Has anyone sailed when there were not a lot of kids onboard?

[DallasTX]

On our 12 day Northern Europe cruise last week there were 15 or 16 kids under the age of 13 on board. About 7-9 of them seemed to use the Fun Factory with any regularity, including my two. There were always at least 2 staff members on hand and I did like that they got the kids doing crafts and stuff and it wasn't just parking them in front of the computers.

 

The older kids really enjoyed regular scavenger hunts where they competed for ship bucks that they could use at a Fun Factory auction on the last day for things like T-Shirts, Mugs, and caps.

[warmwinds]

When we took our Panama Canal cruise there were exactly 3 kids on board - a 10 year old girl, 8 year old boy, and one infant. I talked to the mother and the 10 yo girl on one of the shore excursions, and they said she LOVED the kids program, it was fun getting all the attention, and it was very fun/science and interesting (which she happened to like, some kids might not).

[maureenk]

I think it depends on the child. My older daughter loves times like that, cause she's more into the crafts and projects and likes the attention from counselors. My younger daughter goes to the kids club really only to socialize with other kids. She wouldn't be asking to go if there wasn't anyone else there. My girls have very different personalities from one another. The Celebrity kids program is good. I would make a decision based on what you think your son would like.

[Drew B]

Hello all,

I am just wondering how good the kids program is when there are not a lot of kids on the ship? My son is dead set on cruising Celebrity when he is off school in the beginning of November. We are looking at the 11/2 Mercury sailing but I am more than a little concerned he'd be the only 11 y/o on the ship and there is no covered pool. Has anyone sailed when there were not a lot of kids onboard?

 

Mercury has a covered pool. It's aft of the buffet/casual dining area. It's different from the Thallassotherapy pool in the spa for which they charge a fee.

[rebeccalouise]

There will be some kids on board and I think that kids have fun on almost any cruise. I was on Oceania in January. There were three kids on board. A 13 year old boy and two 9 year old girls. They had a great time!

So, if your son likes Celebrity- do the cruise. You'll have fun with each other- even if there aren't too many kids.

[CAPRI]

We had a good experience with Fun Factory onboard Summit a few weeks ago. Only about 15 kids total , with maybe 8 or 9 using Fun Factory much. My 2 boys ages 5 and 8 had a great time, and were always asking to go more and even stay for slummber party. This was to Alaska so the pool wasnt really an option

[trcori]

we've been in this situation a time or two, most recently spring 2006 on a 12-night Panama Canal cruise on Galaxy. couple dozen kids. Our son, now 11 and about to go on his eighth cruise, prefers the smaller crowd. More personal attention, less noise, etc. However do be aware, when it's a smaller group, they may combine the age groupings - our son was honked off once when he was in the 7-9 group and they were combined with the younger kids (he couldn't even stand little-kid stuff when he WAS a little kid) -- TR

[rebeccalouise]

One of the nice things for families is that when there are only a dozen kids they do combine age groups (3-6,7-9) and the older siblings are with the younger siblings. In the case I witnessed- this seemed to be pleasing to the 4 and 9 year old boys I was traveling with. The older kids can fixate on videogames and the little kids love to be chased by the older kids- tag. I saw them interacted and it was really fun and they do get great one-on-one with the counselors- who, by the way, are so friendly and caring.

[BCHappyGal]

The 1st cruise we took our Grandsons on was the Infinity and they loved the "Fun Factory" in fact were not even in a hurry to leave to go to the pool with me.

 

Our next 2 cruises with them have been on Princess and they want to go back to what they call the "Better" ship.

[GORDONCHICK]

Our DS was 3 1/2 when we first cruised on X's Galaxy. It was a 12 day Panama Canal partial transit during the school year. DS and another 9yo girl were the only children that voyage in the Fun Factory. They basically got their pick of what they wanted to do, and as another poster stated, there were always a minimum of two counselors (though sometimes 3) with them. DS got to participate in the scavenger hunt, and he wouldn't have if the kids' area had been full.

 

I think there are pluses and minuses of cruising with few or many children. As a parent, I like it when there are fewer children. DS is now 6 and we will be on board Mercury in September for Alaska. Because it is after school has started, I expect there to be fewer children than in the summer, and the ones there I would guess would be younger. In any event, DS is a happy traveler and won't care either way. He has a way of having a wonderful time no matter where he is or who he's with.

[Drew B]

I think there are pluses and minuses of cruising with few or many children. As a parent, I like it when there are fewer children. DS is now 6 and we will be on board Mercury in September for Alaska. Because it is after school has started, I expect there to be fewer children than in the summer, and the ones there I would guess would be younger. In any event, DS is a happy traveler and won't care either way. He has a way of having a wonderful time no matter where he is or who he's with.

 

 

Well, you know he'll have at least ONE playmate...

 

What are the counselors like? Where do they tend to be from (do they speak English clearly? We've seen some waiters and cabin stewards who don't)? Are they almost always women? What age? Do you know if they have any special training or qualifications?

[trcori]

or "cancelers" as our son charmingly mispronounced it until a few years ago :)

 

Many Canadians. A few Americans. Smattering of Europeans. (Keep in mind, we have only cruised in this hemisphere, so I don't know if it's different for the Europe cruises.)

 

95% of those we've encountered (seven cruises in the past five years, all with our son, now 11, along) have spoken English clearly. Most are in their 20s. The occasional 30something. I've never seen anyone 40 or up. Usually about two-thirds female.

 

I'm not sure what qualifications they require.

[GORDONCHICK]

Well, you know he'll have at least ONE playmate...

 

What are the counselors like? Where do they tend to be from (do they speak English clearly? We've seen some waiters and cabin stewards who don't)? Are they almost always women? What age? Do you know if they have any special training or qualifications?

 

When we were on Galaxy in 11/2004, there were two Americans, two Canadians, and the director was from Chile (her name was Macarana - no lie). All very nice, and this was my favorite group of counselors from the three cruises we've done (other two were other lines). Everyone spoke English clearly and made Aaron feel very special. I know they are certified in CPR and other first aid, and I think they have some educational background as well. We thought they were very professional.

 

When there are few children on board, they will usually ask if you will be bringing them back after dinner (Aaron always eats in the dining room with us) or if he'll be there during port time. I've only seen women, but I cannot say if that is ALWAYS the case.

[melika091900]

we were on infinity on the week of easter and the next and there were about 30 kids ages 2-9 ... maybe more

I think there were alot since alot of kids were out of school that week,

 

 

 

didnt pay attention but there were some teenagers also ..

 

 

My daughter who is 6 LOVED THE FUN FACTORY...

 

she wanted to stay there instead of seeing hawaii....

 

 

she still talks about it ..

 

melissa

[Host Anne]

When our daughter was 8, she was the only child on a ten-day Princess cruise. She had a kids counserlor all to herself and it was absolutely wonderful because they went and did things you can't easily do with a group of kids. They'd go visit the captain on the bridge; they'd go back stage for rehearsals of the evenings' show; she got to be on stage where the headliner one evening sang Thank Heavens for Little Girls. All in all, it was probably one of her most memorable kids programs (she enjoyed all of them over the years). We have even been on another cruise with her counselor (Joy) from that cruise....so much fun to catch up.

 

So I think kids can have fun in any situation - lots of kids or few kids - with good counselors and I think most of the ships have good counselors!

 

ENJOY!

[fsdorado]

Well, you know he'll have at least ONE playmate...

 

What are the counselors like? Where do they tend to be from (do they speak English clearly? We've seen some waiters and cabin stewards who don't)? Are they almost always women? What age? Do you know if they have any special training or qualifications?

 

Drew,

 

Our 11 year old son LOVED the Fun Factory. There were about 50 kids onboard but only 20 or so participated in the kid's program. There were five councellors, three men and two women. They were all in the 20's. Two were from Canada, one from Estonia, one Bulgaria and one guy from somewhere in Eastern Europe who went by "G" because nobody could pronounce his first name :) . They all spoke very clear English. I'm not sure if they had special training, but they really were wonderful. Each of them truly loved being with the kids. Our son said that the Celebrity program was much better than the Princess program.

 

 

Frederick