Celebrity & Toddlers

[Branwen]

We're cruising with our son (17 mths at the time) in Feb/08 on the Galaxy. I've done some reading and I'm a little uncomfortable at how anti-children the Celebrity board seems to be.

 

My parents will be with us so there will be a lot of supervision and I have already learned many tips from this board, but how concerned should I be? This is our first cruise (my parent's 5th & 2nd on Galaxy) and I want it to be a fun, memorable experience for us. I understand that he will be much too young for the children's programs, and we really don't mind. What I'm worried about is rude, ignorant people.

 

Those of you who have travelled with small children on Celebrity, can you please tell me about your experience?

 

Thanks!!

[crusinmama06]

Don't worry, the people on CC are NOT the general concensus on cruiseships. Less than 1-3% of any cruise will be CC members. MANY parents here recomend celebrity as one of the best kid experiences.

 

Just do a search here for the word "Celebrity" and you will see many that love cruising celebrity with kids.

 

ONe poster that comes to mind is RebeccaLouise...look for her posts.

[rebeccalouise]

I started cruising with Celebrity when my son was 6 months old. They have incabin sitting- and I highly recommend it. The sitters were fantastic. They will walk your toddler around the ship- so he will have a great time if he is awake. They know what to do with kids. Don't hesitate to use them.

 

There are always people on the boards that simply don't want kids on their cruise- but they aren't the majority. Don't worry. I sailed Galaxy with my then 3 year old and it was wonderful. I traveled solo- and it was off season- and still it was great. No problems whatsoever. He was old enough to go to the kids club but even walking around the ship- the staff entertained him. The crew on all ships genuinely like kids and are so happy to see them.

 

I have since sailed on Millenium and Constellation and have never had a negative vibe with my child. In fact, many people talked to him.

 

Celebrity is laid back and the passengers are very nice.

[azbaby8062]

My son and I (and 20+ family members) sailed on the Zenith back in 2005. My son had just turned four. He had a great time and the staff were great with him. I wish I could tell you about the kids' program but since he refused to participate (my nephew was at another age level), I can't. However, even the staff in the dining room were great. Since he refused to go to the kids' program, he sat with us at dinner. We had the late seating. I had brought a portable DVD player with headphones to entertain him throughout the long dinner. I think they knew the entire movie by the end of the cruise. They would even ask why he was not watching it the few times would not use. Every night the staff had his chocolate milk ready and waiting for him. He was even a hit in the lounge areas where he danced around, sometimes the only person dancing. LOL

 

We are sailing the Golden through Princess and hope he has just a great of time. Even at four, he remembers so much of the cruise. I am glad he is going to have that experience at such a young age. It was my first cruise at 39. ;)

[Bababooey Land]

We just sailed the millie last month with a toddler. you have nothing to worry about. dont listen to the posters on here. The posters want an exclusive cruise with all adults, but that is not Celebrity. the crew was over the top nice to my son and we didnt get any bad vibes from any of the passengers. in fact, we got plenty of positive comments and smiles. have a great cruise!

 

Larry

[Keith1010]

When people ask me for advice on which cruise lines are children friendly, Celebrity Cruise lines is one of a few cruise lines that I recommend. So, don't worry about what reactions you received on the boards. You are always going to get different responses on the boards.

 

There are always a few rude people on any cruise ship, but the good news is that the majority are nice and no you won't have problems with the vast majority of the passengers.

 

So, plan to bring your child with you and have a wonderful time.

 

Keith

[Branwen]

Thanks everyone! I'm so happy that we have chosen to sail with Celebrity... it seems we picked the right cruise line.

[VPIcruiser]

I will just second what everyone else said. We had a great time last year on Celebrity with our DS who was 14 months old and my parents. The crew went out of their way to be nice to him. We had early seating for dinner and I took a lot of toys for him to play with at the table. On formal nights, we got a lot of compliments on his dressy vest and pants outfits that I got off of ebay. He really enjoyed walking around the ship and during the day we took him into the empty show lounges so he could walk up and down the aisles. He loved the live music and was often the only one dancing. We took turns staying in the cabin at nap times and bed times and we had a baby sitter two nights. She was the ship's librarian but we felt very comfortable with her staying with him.

 

No one was rude to us or to DS (and I was also worried about this prior to the cruise). We made sure he wasn't running around or screaming. The first couple of nights he had to have a break from dinner and my DH walked him around outside of the dinning room for a few minutes. Thankfully, DS soon got used to dinner and made it through.