Celebrity Reflection - VERY child friendly

Just returned from a 11 night cruise on Celebrity Reflection. It was the first one with our 7 months old baby.

I am SO grateful to both crew and other passengers for making our cruise 95% great and awesome! I would not hesitate bringing a baby on a Celebrity cruise again. Our little baby son only met friendly and positive persons during this cruise - a pure joy!

We ate all of our meals in the Seaview Cafe, just to be on the safe side in case our son turned tired&grumpy. Easy and good solution for both mom, dad and kid.

Very few other kids on this sailing.

A small apology to other passengers that might have gotten a bit annoyed by us beeing chair hogs during the two sea days. In our defence: our little son just LOVED that spot..

A great cruise all in all!

Very happy to hear that all of you had such a nice time. It sounds like you planned for this cruise too and there was mutual respect all the way around! So happy that your son enjoyed that particular spot and had such a great time; it was his cruise too!

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Glad you had a nice experience and found the ship to be child friendly.

Keith

Thanks for the positive words! We are cruising with our 10 mth old on the reflection in January! Any other tips?

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Don't be afraid to use the dining room...so much easier than juggling plates, utensils, food AND baby! Much easier to be served! The dining room staff loves babies!

Thanks for the positive words! We are cruising with our 10 mth old on the reflection in January! Any other tips?

 

 

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Our best advice: Our son loved his Ergobaby Easysnug. It was also very convenient for us. So easy to exploring ports without the stroller.. He felt safe, and fell asleep when he wanted. We also used it in the Seaview Cafe when both my wife and I ate at the same time.

Cruising with a baby didnt limit us very much, but of course we had to adapt to HIM - not the other way around.

Don't be afraid to use the dining room...so much easier than juggling plates, utensils, food AND baby! Much easier to be served! The dining room staff loves babies!

We didnt take the chance - would hate to ruin other cruisers dining experience. It was our first real* vacation with our son, so we tried basically everything for the first time. Step by step.

(Had a week in Latvia where his grandparents lives early June, so it was not the first time flying).

Did you order any baby food from celebrity in advance?

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Did you order any baby food from celebrity in advance?

 

 

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No. Brought with us everything from Norway. We had with us one suitecase full of diapers, formula, smoothies etc etc.

I wrote something like this on my Twitter account during the cruise: "Cruising Celebrity Reflection in the Mediterranean in October with a small baby is awesome! 1000 grandparents and 1 baby. That is A LOT of positive attention!!" :)

Was great seeing you guys and him last week :) Always fun to watch for baby smiles :) Glad it went well (what a great cruise huh?)

Was great seeing you guys and him last week :) Always fun to watch for baby smiles :) Glad it went well (what a great cruise huh?)

Great cruise indeed!

Hopefully we didnt disturb you too much! We tried to leave public areas as soon as he (and/or me) turned tired/bored/grumpy. Had a good chat with the guests in the neighbour balconies during the cruise, and asked them to tell us if he/we got too loud/annoying.

Did you use the celebrity provided crib/pack and play?

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Did you use the celebrity provided crib/pack and play?

 

 

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Yes. Not too good quality IMHO. We ended up bringing him into our bed half of the night..

Our (now adult) daughters grew up sailing on Celebrity. We started when they were 3 & 4 so they were old enough for the kids' programs but it never occurred to us to cruise when they were infants. Celebrity was always great with us, especially in the dining room. Because they had the opportunity to experience new and unusual foods, they are willing to eat anything. They also knew how to behave in a restaurant and, thankfully, our kitchen table.

! We tried to leave public areas as soon as he (and/or me) turned tired/bored/grumpy.

If everyone had the manners and caring approach on a cruise, there would be very few complaints. I am sure it would be a pleasure to sail with you. :)

If everyone had the manners and caring approach on a cruise, there would be very few complaints. I am sure it would be a pleasure to sail with you. :)

Thank you!

I believe this should go for all ages. If grumpy/too drunk/too tired etc - just leave public areas and deal with the issues in some place more quiet/private. Then you dont bother others, and others will most likely treat you well next time they see you :)

One last question about the pack and play... did you feel that it was old and in poor condition or just uncomfortable? We have a travel mattress we were planning on bringing but I am concerned about cleanliness and general condition. Thanks so much for all your feedback!

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One last question about the pack and play... did you feel that it was old and in poor condition or just uncomfortable? We have a travel mattress we were planning on bringing but I am concerned about cleanliness and general condition. Thanks so much for all your feedback!

 

 

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Not old or shabby, just not in a very good quality. Clean and okay conditon, but it was rather hard. A travel mattress would improve the whole situation a lot I guess.

Just a little FYI for the OP, make sure you save the sailing cards for your baby. I know it's far ahead but if you continue to sail on Celebrity when your child turns 18 they can be credited with all the cruises they took under 18. They can't join the Captains Club until 18 but I know people whose children are Elite or Elite plus once they turn 18.

Just a little FYI for the OP, make sure you save the sailing cards for your baby. I know it's far ahead but if you continue to sail on Celebrity when your child turns 18 they can be credited with all the cruises they took under 18. They can't join the Captains Club until 18 but I know people whose children are Elite or Elite plus once they turn 18.

I second that! If I hadn’t had their cards, my adult daughters would have been shorted 90 points each from childhood cruises. Captain’s Club had some, but not all, of their cruises.

I second that! If I hadn’t had their cards, my adult daughters would have been shorted 90 points each from childhood cruises. Captain’s Club had some, but not all, of their cruises.

Yes, computer systems change, especially over 18 years

Just a little FYI for the OP, make sure you save the sailing cards for your baby. I know it's far ahead but if you continue to sail on Celebrity when your child turns 18 they can be credited with all the cruises they took under 18. They can't join the Captains Club until 18 but I know people whose children are Elite or Elite plus once they turn 18.

Wow. I had no idea. I'm so glad I read this. Now I need to go through all our cards. I just assumed since they didn't have a loyalty program for under 18, they had to start from the beginning when they reached that age. Our son will definitely be Elite at 18. Good for him if the records are still there.

Accordning to his sea card he was Elite already on this cruise. Status matched with his parents.

He was the youngest Elite onboard, but not the youngest person on the ship. One of the crew members had his wife/partner their 4 months old baby.

*3 free laundry bags for us* :) And that was quite handy with a little baby..

Accordning to his sea card he was Elite already on this cruise. Status matched with his parents.

 

He was the youngest Elite onboard, but not the youngest person on the ship. One of the crew members had his wife/partner their 4 months old baby.

 

*3 free laundry bags for us* :) And that was quite handy with a little baby..

He will be Elite because he's travelling with an existing Elite in the same room.

Don's advice is for when he sails without his parents, so definitely worth doing.

P.S Genuinely pleased to read about your experience with children onboard. :)

He will be Elite because he's travelling with an existing Elite in the same room.

 

Don's advice is for when he sails without his parents, so definitely worth doing.

 

P.S Genuinely pleased to read about your experience with children onboard. :)

Probably. I just noticed that he got his own Captains Club number on the confirmation invoice in front of the cruise as well.

Still saving those sailing cards:)

..and I would not hesitate bringing my baby son on a cruise with Celebrity again. Already looking for cruises in 2019. (The 2018 vacations is booked already..).