Just back from Summit to Bermuda w/ 1 year old

My wife and I (5th Celebrity Cruise) just got off the Summit with our 1 year old (his first cruise). It was such a great vacation for both my wife and I, and our son AJ.

I know, from reading the boards on here prior to our sailing, there isn't a ton of info for families with young kids, so I'm happy to answer any questions anyone might have.

Anyone who thinks kids shouldn't sail on Celebrity, no need to respond to this thread stating that (no offense, just no need to clog up the thread with any type of those comments :D)

We sailed in March on the Equinox with my 1 year old grandson and it was such a lovely, perfect trip for him and for all of the adults. He was spoiled by staff everywhere he went, and he loved the food in the buffet and the freedom of running on the grass lawn. He slept soundly in a portable crib each night (they did hang a dark shower curtain up as a barrier between his crib and the bed, and that worked like a charm) and would nap most days during a stroll in his stroller. I highly recommend Celebrity if anyone is thinking of cruising with small kids.

Glad you had a great time!

Hi! We're planning to do the Summit to Bermuda with our then 8 month old in July! I know at that age babysitting isn't an option, but did they have any little kid activities? Were there places that you seemed to hang out more than others - both on and off the ship? How much beach gear did you end up bringing/using? I picked up a little bucket and shovel combo, and I convinced my husband to splurge for an RS, so I got the baby a mini blow up pool for the balcony [emoji4] I'm sure I'm way over doing it, but first family vacation with first baby, I'm sure that's expected lol.

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Hi! We're planning to do the Summit to Bermuda with our then 8 month old in July! I know at that age babysitting isn't an option, but did they have any little kid activities? Were there places that you seemed to hang out more than others - both on and off the ship? How much beach gear did you end up bringing/using? I picked up a little bucket and shovel combo, and I convinced my husband to splurge for an RS, so I got the baby a mini blow up pool for the balcony [emoji4] I'm sure I'm way over doing it, but first family vacation with first baby, I'm sure that's expected lol.

 

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- Babysitting is only for 12 month+, so you're right there (though we got VERY lucky and got the babysitting for every night except Day 1, which we were told is very unusual --- useless for you this trip, but good to know for future haha)

-They open up a room in the FunFactory (kids club) for most of the day for open-play - adult must stay with child, but its a nice open space with a bunch of toys and things to play with. IIRC, it was only closed from 12-2.

-In that play-space, they allow you to "check out" any of the toys your child likes. They had a ton of cups/shovels/buckets, so we checked out a few on Day 2, and returned them on Day 7. No charge, just had to return before end-of-cruise to avoid some fee.

-We brought our son a blow-up pool/tub, and he used the toys we checked out while playing in that. We brought the tub up to the Pool deck, plopped it next to our loungers, and filled it with water from the pool showers. He was happy for a bit just playing in that. We also set it up on the Veranda a few times and used the shower to fill it up. Good purchase with that, you will love having it.

-We had the Family Veranda -- HIGHLY SUGGEST IN THE FUTURE FOR YOU -- though I'm sure the RS will be equally spacious/divided. The Family Veranda though, has a massive balcony and door dividing the living room/bedroom area.

-Re: favorite spots, our son is pretty social, so he was happy to just be anywhere near people/action. We brought him to the Sunset Bar every morning for breakfast and evening for (his) dinner. During the day, we made sure to keep him on his nap schedule and brought him back to the room for those; usually I'd go back, put him down for nap, and relax on the balcony. Mid-way thru his nap, my wife would make her way back to the room (from the main pool, spa, solarium, etc) with a couple of drinks, and join me on the balcony until he woke up.

Hope this helps -- if you have more specific questions or general thoughts on how we did things, feel free to ask.

For reference, we drove down from Boston on the morning of Embarkation, so we "overpacked" knowing we wouldn't have to lug stuff around airports or anything. Even brought his own pack-n-play since we had no real "luggage constraints", and he slept 13 hrs a night (literally, every night...normally does 11-12 at home, so this was even better haha).

- Babysitting is only for 12 month+, so you're right there (though we got VERY lucky and got the babysitting for every night except Day 1, which we were told is very unusual --- useless for you this trip, but good to know for future haha)

 

-They open up a room in the FunFactory (kids club) for most of the day for open-play - adult must stay with child, but its a nice open space with a bunch of toys and things to play with. IIRC, it was only closed from 12-2.

 

-In that play-space, they allow you to "check out" any of the toys your child likes. They had a ton of cups/shovels/buckets, so we checked out a few on Day 2, and returned them on Day 7. No charge, just had to return before end-of-cruise to avoid some fee.

 

-We brought our son a blow-up pool/tub, and he used the toys we checked out while playing in that. We brought the tub up to the Pool deck, plopped it next to our loungers, and filled it with water from the pool showers. He was happy for a bit just playing in that. We also set it up on the Veranda a few times and used the shower to fill it up. Good purchase with that, you will love having it.

 

-We had the Family Veranda -- HIGHLY SUGGEST IN THE FUTURE FOR YOU -- though I'm sure the RS will be equally spacious/divided. The Family Veranda though, has a massive balcony and door dividing the living room/bedroom area.

 

-Re: favorite spots, our son is pretty social, so he was happy to just be anywhere near people/action. We brought him to the Sunset Bar every morning for breakfast and evening for (his) dinner. During the day, we made sure to keep him on his nap schedule and brought him back to the room for those; usually I'd go back, put him down for nap, and relax on the balcony. Mid-way thru his nap, my wife would make her way back to the room (from the main pool, spa, solarium, etc) with a couple of drinks, and join me on the balcony until he woke up.

 

Hope this helps -- if you have more specific questions or general thoughts on how we did things, feel free to ask.

 

For reference, we drove down from Boston on the morning of Embarkation, so we "overpacked" knowing we wouldn't have to lug stuff around airports or anything. Even brought his own pack-n-play since we had no real "luggage constraints", and he slept 13 hrs a night (literally, every night...normally does 11-12 at home, so this was even better haha).

Hello - as you stated that you drove down and presumably parked at the terminal, just wondering if you were able to park in the garage - or the surface lot across the street from the garage? Any comments on the parking situation would be greatly appreciated as there are now two other large ships departing from there as well. Glad that you had great time. Thank you in advance.

Hello - as you stated that you drove down and presumably parked at the terminal, just wondering if you were able to park in the garage - or the surface lot across the street from the garage? Any comments on the parking situation would be greatly appreciated as there are now two other large ships departing from there as well. Glad that you had great time. Thank you in advance.

We showed up around 1PM, so the garage was full, so we parked in the surface lot. I would actually recommend that over the garage, since we literally had the Porter bring luggage to the lot, and we were out of the complex instantly. I imagine parking on the 5th floor of the garage, there'd be some delay with traffic trying to get out of the garage. The surface lot was great.

Getting down there, we hit some traffic on the GW bridge, but other than that, very uneventful driving there/back. Parked at 1:15PM, and was in the OV Cafe by 1:40PM. Literally.

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-We brought our son a blow-up pool/tub, and he used the toys we checked out while playing in that. We brought the tub up to the Pool deck, plopped it next to our loungers, and filled it with water from the pool showers. He was happy for a bit just playing in that. We also set it up on the Veranda a few times and used the shower to fill it up. Good purchase with that, you will love having it.

 

We were on this sailing and I saw that while walking around the deck and thought that was the cutest idea. I had wondered if you bought it yourself or if somehow the ship provided it.

Mender45,we enjoyed meeting you and your family on the first cruise night at dinner. I have to agree that AJ is very social and a real cutie. Hope you enjoy lots of future cruises together.

We showed up around 1PM, so the garage was full, so we parked in the surface lot.

There are 3 ships in Cape Liberty this summer Anthem, Adventurer and Summit. Both on May 13th and yesterday when we got off the garage had a signed it was closed. On another thread someone said they called the cruise port and Cape Liberty has decided to have the garage closed for Summit passengers. We are not happy about this as we usually take 2 Summit cruises a year from here and to pay $20 a day to park in that horrid open lot exposed to all the elements not to mention being across from Bayonne Dry Dock.

We were on this sailing and I saw that while walking around the deck and thought that was the cutest idea. I had wondered if you bought it yourself or if somehow the ship provided it.

Ha, thank you! I actually read someone else's tip on CC to bring one, so we did --- the FunFactory had a pump that we used to fill it up -- a $12 purchase on Amazon paid big dividends haha! We saw another family bring a pool, but we specifically bought this duck minipool/tub (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000066665/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o09_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1) to use in the shower in case my son needed a bath like at home (the few times he tried the shower at home, he HATED it, but he didn't mine the one onboard, so we just brought him in and didn't need to use the tub as a tub, just as a pool :)

Mender45,we enjoyed meeting you and your family on the first cruise night at dinner. I have to agree that AJ is very social and a real cutie. Hope you enjoy lots of future cruises together.

It was so nice meeting you! Sorry we never got seated in that area any other night (though we only did MDR 3x this sailing, thanks in part to the babysitting service haha), hope you enjoyed yourselves!

We showed up around 1PM, so the garage was full, so we parked in the surface lot. I would actually recommend that over the garage, since we literally had the Porter bring luggage to the lot, and we were out of the complex instantly. I imagine parking on the 5th floor of the garage, there'd be some delay with traffic trying to get out of the garage. The surface lot was great.

 

 

 

Getting down there, we hit some traffic on the GW bridge, but other than that, very uneventful driving there/back. Parked at 1:15PM, and was in the OV Cafe by 1:40PM. Literally.

Thank you for the quick note back. Cheers

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My wife and I (5th Celebrity Cruise) just got off the Summit with our 1 year old (his first cruise). It was such a great vacation for both my wife and I, and our son AJ.

 

I know, from reading the boards on here prior to our sailing, there isn't a ton of info for families with young kids, so I'm happy to answer any questions anyone might have.

 

An often asked question on the boards is what to do with an infant or toddler in Bermuda. You have not said anything about what you did the three days in Bermuda. I am interested in hearing about that.

An often asked question on the boards is what to do with an infant or toddler in Bermuda. You have not said anything about what you did the three days in Bermuda. I am interested in hearing about that.

On the first day when we arrived, I took my son to walk around the Navy Yard area; he's not yet walking, so just pushed around the stroller. At this age, he's happy to just see the world, so he was content as can be just sitting in the stroller and passing by all the sights. For whatever reason, he really enjoyed watching the waves hit the seawall near the ship, so we sat there for a bit. I was happy just being in warm weather and staring at the beautiful water, so no harm no foul there!

On day 2, we took the ferry into Hamilton and walked around town for a few hours. We had lunch at the Fairmont Princess (my brother in law got married there a few years back, so it was nice to see it) -- we had considered doing the Aquarium, but didn't want to get in a taxi without a carseat, so decided to just stay on foot/ferry.

On day 3, we did the snorkel park area for a little bit, nothing special, but toes in the sand always feels good.

For this trip, our goal was simply relaxation and spending quality time together, which is exactly how it went. I don't know if I'd like to do a port-intensive EU cruise with a baby on board, but for a tropical relaxing getaway, I'd do it again in a heartbeat.

The only thing I wish we'd have done is St.George, and without a child, my wife and I would've done that on day 1 instead of hanging around the navy yard. Maybe I'm the wrong person to give input on the "what to do in Bermuda w/ a 1yr-old" since we weren't necessarily looking to "do" anything.

The only thing I wish we'd have done is St.George, and without a child, my wife and I would've done that on day 1 instead of hanging around the navy yard. Maybe I'm the wrong person to give input on the "what to do in Bermuda w/ a 1yr-old" since we weren't necessarily looking to "do" anything.

Thanks for the reply.

On St. George's. For anyone thinking about it I think St.George's would be easy to do with a one year old. It is a relatively compact area and should be easy to walk around with a stroller.

- Babysitting is only for 12 month+, so you're right there (though we got VERY lucky and got the babysitting for every night except Day 1, which we were told is very unusual --- useless for you this trip, but good to know for future haha)

 

-They open up a room in the FunFactory (kids club) for most of the day for open-play - adult must stay with child, but its a nice open space with a bunch of toys and things to play with. IIRC, it was only closed from 12-2.

 

-In that play-space, they allow you to "check out" any of the toys your child likes. They had a ton of cups/shovels/buckets, so we checked out a few on Day 2, and returned them on Day 7. No charge, just had to return before end-of-cruise to avoid some fee.

 

-We brought our son a blow-up pool/tub, and he used the toys we checked out while playing in that. We brought the tub up to the Pool deck, plopped it next to our loungers, and filled it with water from the pool showers. He was happy for a bit just playing in that. We also set it up on the Veranda a few times and used the shower to fill it up. Good purchase with that, you will love having it.

 

-We had the Family Veranda -- HIGHLY SUGGEST IN THE FUTURE FOR YOU -- though I'm sure the RS will be equally spacious/divided. The Family Veranda though, has a massive balcony and door dividing the living room/bedroom area.

 

-Re: favorite spots, our son is pretty social, so he was happy to just be anywhere near people/action. We brought him to the Sunset Bar every morning for breakfast and evening for (his) dinner. During the day, we made sure to keep him on his nap schedule and brought him back to the room for those; usually I'd go back, put him down for nap, and relax on the balcony. Mid-way thru his nap, my wife would make her way back to the room (from the main pool, spa, solarium, etc) with a couple of drinks, and join me on the balcony until he woke up.

 

Hope this helps -- if you have more specific questions or general thoughts on how we did things, feel free to ask.

 

For reference, we drove down from Boston on the morning of Embarkation, so we "overpacked" knowing we wouldn't have to lug stuff around airports or anything. Even brought his own pack-n-play since we had no real "luggage constraints", and he slept 13 hrs a night (literally, every night...normally does 11-12 at home, so this was even better haha).

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Thanks for the reply.

 

On St. George's. For anyone thinking about it I think St.George's would be easy to do with a one year old. It is a relatively compact area and should be easy to walk around with a stroller.

But it is a very hilly area down by the fort..we went to the little town area on our sightseeing bus tour.. a bit hilly as well but not too bad....just enough time to poke around and get a quick lunch..

Ha, thank you! I actually read someone else's tip on CC to bring one, so we did --- the FunFactory had a pump that we used to fill it up -- a $12 purchase on Amazon paid big dividends haha! We saw another family bring a pool, but we specifically bought this duck minipool/tub (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000066665/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o09_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1) to use in the shower in case my son needed a bath like at home (the few times he tried the shower at home, he HATED it, but he didn't mine the one onboard, so we just brought him in and didn't need to use the tub as a tub, just as a pool :)

Love the duck...our grandbaby is 2 1/2 .. so it .looks too small for him but going to buy one as a baby shower gift and fill it up with bath stuff...so cool..! Thanks for the link

But it is a very hilly area down by the fort..we went to the little town area on our sightseeing bus tour...just enough time to poke around and get a quick lunch..

The town area was what I was thinking of for strolling with an infant or toddler.

So not to get too logistical, but with the baby pool on the pool deck, where did you dump the water? I'd assume back in the shower area like I saw on an older baby pool post, but the haters that came out of the woodwork were crazy! As if adults don't pee in the pool. Did you encounter many baby-haters onboard? Or do they just live online?

 

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There was a wide drain that we were able to dump the water in without any issue or looks from anyone. If it was a larger tub where the water would be overflowing as we poured it out, I think it'd be more of an issue. But this was basically straight into the drain, and there was no visible pee haha.

We really did not encounter anyone who was mad/upset/grumpy that we had a 1yr old with us. Everyone stopped or waved to him as they walked by us, and we had multiple people who would come over daily to us and ask to hold him, give him high fives, etc.....The online world on the other hand, is a different story! haha

Which Family Verandah did you have? We have one for our cruise in October... it's not a corner one, but one next to a corner. Any other feedback? I'm glad you had such a nice cruise with your little one!

Thanks for the review.

2 more questions for today: When you boarded, did your little one get their own sea pass card? With their own picture? Also, when you went through security on and off the ship, how much "unpacking" did you need to do? Getting them out of the stroller, folding up the stroller, etc or is there more flexibility like there is for wheelchairs at the airport?

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Which Family Verandah did you have? We have one for our cruise in October... it's not a corner one, but one next to a corner. Any other feedback? I'm glad you had such a nice cruise with your little one!

We were in 7202, which was the corner...if you can somehow get onto a corner, I'd recommend it x100000 - it was absolutely massive and had a nice blend of covered and open area...along with vast views in multiple directions.