Have you sailed Celebrity with a small child?

[dalitos]

We are going on the Summit at the end of April with our 23 month old son. I would imagine there won't be many children on since Celebrity is not the most kid friendly line and besides it's not during holidays or spring break.

I am fine with this sinceour son is too young to need many children around (as long as he's with us he'll be happy!) and I'm not planning on leaving him on the ship activities, he'll be with us at all times.

But I am just wondering if overall we will see some other children around? Will the staff be friendly and accommodating? Will other passengers get annoyed at us (he's very well behaved, but a toddler still)?

How was your experience sailing with kids on Celebrity?

Thank you.

[coopersmommy]

I took my then 13 month old son on a 2 week cruise to Hawaii on Celebrity Summit. He did really well. The staff absolutely adored him and actually knew his name and would play with him at lunch and dinner. The housekeeping supervisor even found us in our room to visit him. Needless to say, they were wonderful. Now, most of the passengers were fine, but some were a little rude to us. It just goes along with sailing on Celebrity or HAL (notoriously known to cater to an older crowd). I do not think the small amount of rudeness affected me though. You will probably have more children on your cruise if it is shorter.

[dalitos]

Thanks! Hope we have an experience as good as yours, even with the (so out of place) rudness. :)

[Scrapchick]

We did Constellation twice and Summit once with our DD when she was under 5. She was 15 months on Connie the first time and 4 on Connnie the last time.

 

The staff were wonderful and treated us all very well. We had no problem with other passengers at all and rarely do on any ship we sail on.

 

At that age, you can't use the kids club unles the staff will let you go in and play with your child, but you can't leave them there without you and the pool is out too for kids in diapers, so it does make it hard for parents when there is no outlet to keep their children entertained.

 

On our last cruise on the Connie (and our last Celebrity cruise) in 2005, we did a transatlantic crossing and DD was one of 2 kids on board. They could both go in the kids club but were very dependent on the other to show up to play all the time, so it was a bit challenging and the disappointment factor was high for both of them. The staff were fantastic.

 

HTH.

[chickipoo21]

We will be going on the same cruise as you with our 10 month old daughter. It's nice to know we won't have the only little one on our cruise. My nephew went on a Celebrity Cruise at 17 months and was showered with attention by the staff.

[cantw8togo]

We took out 2 DS's, then ages 4 1/2 & 15 months on Millie several years ago. We had a great time and of the four cruiselines that we have been on, Celebrity is our favourite. The Kid's club had a bin of toddler toys that you could sign out to play with in your cabin, but it wasn't that great although that could certainly change. We were there during President's Week and there were quite a few kids on board. The staff was great and I don't recall the other passengers making any negative comments.

 

We have been on both HAL and Celebrity and we liked the overall feel of Celebrity better. Both are refined and elegant, but 'X' has a slightly younger feel about her. You'll have a great time.

[dalitos]

Thanks for your comments, I'm glad you had good experiences with Celebrity and I'm sure it should be the same for us.

Chickipoo21, glad you'll be there too! Please say hello if you see us around, I will do the same. :)

[sarahmac]

After cruising Celebrity 5 times before having kids, we took our then 8 month old on a Pacific Northwest cruise on the Millie last September. It was AMAZING! Every single crew member we encountered were so friendly to him and bent over backwards to make him smile. We brought him up to the toddler room often, and we borrowed toys (which was great). He was well behaved in the MDR for the most part, and those fellow passengers sitting around us came by to say hello and compliment him on his behaviour! We rarely had rude comments or looks from fellow passengers (I had been anticipating that). Teddy was one of only 8 children onboard.

 

We are taking him on a Transatlantic in three weeks, and we can't wait!

[dalitos]

Sarahmac, glad you had such a great time, and thanks for your comments! The 1 of 8 children is discouraging, but even if our cruise comes to that it shouldn't be that bad.

What do you mean by 'we rarely had rude comments or looks from fellow passengers', did you have any at all? :eek:

Hoping we have a good experience as well, and you have a great time on your upcoming cruise.

[brazilgirl]

I have only had excellent experiences on Celebrity with my kids. No dirty looks or rudeness. The crew is extremely kind and goes out of the way to make kids feel welcome.

On our last cruise , in January , our waiter discovered my youngest son like chicken wings. From that day on , huge plates of chicken wings were brought nightly to his delight.

On our 1st Celebrity cruise , our youngest was 4. There have never been huge amounts of kids on board , but we do long cruises (14 days) and there have never been less than 30 kids on board , even in May , which is not during school break.

You will have a marvelous time. Celebrity is excellent.

Kim

[dalitos]

Kim, thank you, we are looking forward to our X cruise, and hope it really is great. I'm sure either way we will have a wonderful time, but hope the line/ship will also make it wonderful, I am optimist that it will be so!

[mel77gap]

I've sailed Celebrity many times and have always seen kids aboard the ships. I think Celebrity is one of the BEST cruiselines out there(:

[TexasMommy]

We sailed Celebrity when our son was 1 yr old. It was not a postitive experience overall. We did enjoy the kids club somewhat for our older daughter who was 6...and always participated in the family activities. We thought the staff outside of the kids club staff was cold and even rude....like a little one his age was a bother. We did NOT feel welcomed or wanted...by staff and guests somewhat with the little one in tow.

 

We also never were able to take advantage of the in cabin sitting. Front desk was also rude.

 

 

Turned us off of Celebrity. Prob won't return.

 

That said, it all depends on the ship and the crew. It sounds like many here have had a great experience on celebrity.

 

On our sailing there were hardly any kids on board but we did make friends with a family that also had a 1 year old on board...so we'd meet up and have play dates some.

 

 

We sailed DCL with him with much better luck. He sailed DCL at 5 months old and at about 1 and a half and also at 2 yrs old. They doted over him in the Flounders Nursery and he loved the entertainment, toddler area, etc.

 

I'm sure you'll have a good cruise though. Just go with a flexible attitude and enjoy your vacation.

[dalitos]

Thanks Texasmommy, your post certainly lowers my expectations, which is a good thing actually. I hope we have a better experience than you. I will let you know after we return.