Celebrity Cruises kid programs

[jlbl4902]

Hi Everyone,

Could someone tell me how the ages are broken up on Celebrity? We are going on the Summit in November and my son will be 6 and I was just wondering what it will be like for him. Will he be with little kids or the big kids? He has been on Carnival and NCL and Holland

Not to sure he will have any time to go into the program with almost port of call almost everyday. :)

Thank you for any advice or help!

[kitty9]

The information is on Celebrity's website with a lot more information that just the age groups, but here are the ages: 3 to 5, 6 to 8, 9 to 11, 12 to 17. If you're cruising when school is normally in session, they will combine groups. Celebrity doesn't tend to attract as many kids in the "off season" when school is in session, as other lines do, and they are known to limit the program if there are very few kids. I've been on many Celebrity cruises and kids can be scarce if you cruise during school time. If you cruise during school vacation, there will be quite a few kids on board.

[jlbl4902]

Thank you Darcie! We are going while school is in. My son will be a first grader in a 12days is a has a break during a week in November so we thought it was a great time to enjoy some nice family time! :) Plus we got a great rate.

Thank you again!

[kr1st1nm]

My son will be 4 when we cruise with Celebrity in Oct. So far there are no other kids in our "Roll Call" and I'm starting to worry that there won't be any activities for him! They still have to offer some sort of daily schedule, right? And a dinner option as well I would assume... We have 4 sea days and I was banking on this program!

[smoothy]

My son will be 4 when we cruise with Celebrity in Oct. So far there are no other kids in our "Roll Call" and I'm starting to worry that there won't be any activities for him! They still have to offer some sort of daily schedule, right? And a dinner option as well I would assume... We have 4 sea days and I was banking on this program!

 

They will still have the program. Last summer on the 2nd leg of our b2b, there were IIRC 8 kids in the (combined) 3-8 y/o group and 4 counselors. They still ran the full program including suppers (most of the kids seemed to go every night, even on the $6/hr at-sea supper nights).

 

With Celebrity, keep in mind, they have a 4 hour rule- the child cannot sty in the club more than 4 hours without a 1 hour break. On sea days we would drop off after breakfast, pick up for lunch, drop off after lunch, pick up around 4:30 or so and drop off for supper at 6pm just before we went down to the MDR. They start supper charge at 5pm but don't actually bring the kids to eat until 6pm, so it saved us $6 per DS each sea day by keeping them out that first paid hour (and also reset the magic clock). Dropping off at 6pm let the boys stay until the end of the free program at 10pm (after that it is a paid service)

[toonye]

With Celebrity, keep in mind, they have a 4 hour rule- the child cannot sty in the club more than 4 hours without a 1 hour break.

 

Hi!

 

I'm very interested by your thread as we were considering testing Celebrity for a future cruise vacation.

 

We've only sailed RCI and Princess yet and have founded the flexibility of the RCI's kids club far better

 

The facility is essential to us and we thought Celebrity would match our desire for a better service but with an excellent kids club as well.

 

Could you explain this 4hr rule to me?Does it mean you cannot leave your child onboard and go on a land excursion that lasts more than 4 hours?

 

Toonye

[kr1st1nm]

Thanks for the info. I was not aware that you had to "pay" for the dinner hours. They certainly don't mention that on the web site! We're only looking for a few hours here and there so the 4 hr limit shouldn't be a problem. I'm just hoping my son likes it and wants to stay!

[smoothy]

Toonye, the 4 hour rule means that you cannot leave your child in the club for longer than 4 hours at a time without signing them out for an hour's break. It is designed to stop people from dumping kids there from 9am till 10pm, basically a way to force parents to check up on the kids. Sorry, I can't find my fun factory sheets from the cruise, but IIRC, if you have a shore excursion over 4 hours they will allow that (we took the kids on the shore excursions so I don't have any direct experience on that issue).

 

kr1st1nm, DW told me I had the days backwards, we paid the $6/hr for supper while in port, at sea supper party was free. She also said there was no lunch party at sea, only in port (again, I can't find my sheets to verify that, but DW being DW, she is probably correct ;) )

 

If I can find my package of sheets, I'll confirm this info

[toonye]

It is designed to stop people from dumping kids there from 9am till 10pm, basically a way to force parents to check up on the kids.

 

Hi,

 

Thank you very much for this explanation, that does make sense.

 

I do not "dump" my daughter at the kids club but she's more than happy to escape us and meet friends;)

 

However, she probably never stays longer than 4 hours at a time while at sea

but on port days, she regularly prefers to stay on board and sometimes stays from 8 to 5 for ex.

 

Although we do not intend to let her there for 12 hours each day, we love the flexibility to have the opportunity to go whenever she wants

that's what we like at Adventure Ocean /RCI

 

so we'll probably stick to RCI for our future family cruises

 

But thank you very much for the information, this website is invaluable as this is the kind of information you will never get from the cruiseline or your TA and you might be disappointed once onboard...

 

Toonye

[jlbl4902]

Thank you to everyone who gave more infomation. My son always goes to dinner with me. I enjoy my time with him!!! I don't get enough of it at home so I make sure to take full advantage of it! LOL (plus he is 6 and for the most part mommy is still cool to hang out with) :cool: LOL

I just hope he has a good time when he goes! :)

[smoothy]

Thank you to everyone who gave more infomation. My son always goes to dinner with me. I enjoy my time with him!!! I don't get enough of it at home so I make sure to take full advantage of it! LOL (plus he is 6 and for the most part mommy is still cool to hang out with) :cool: LOL

I just hope he has a good time when he goes! :)

 

I have found supper can vary from trip to trip, last year both DS7 and DS5 (current ages) preferred to do all suppers at the kids club. The Oasis of the Seas cruise we just got back from, they each ate with us 5 times, only twice at the kids club (each chose different nights, go figure). If they are happy and having a good trip, thats all that matters to me :)

[themorrices]

We are just back from a cruise with celebrity on board the eclipse with 3 kids aged 3, 5 and 12. There was absolutely no 4 hour rule as my 3 year old daughter loved the club so much it was difficult to get her out of there.

Every day they had ran club from 9 am to 1 am with core hours 9 to 12, 2 to 5 pm and 7pm to 10 pm. There was a quiet time at lunch when sailing ( as the buffet was too busy to take them to lunch) and dinner club ever night from 5- 7 ($6 per hour when in port) and slumber party from 10 pm to 1 am ($6 per hour).

 

Hope this helps.

[toonye]

Hope this helps.

 

Hi The morrices,

 

Thank you for sharing your experience, that does help a lot!

 

Love CC, this forum is invaluable!

 

Toonye

[themorrices]

Hi The morrices,

 

Thank you for sharing your experience, that does help a lot!

 

Love CC, this forum is invaluable!

 

Toonye

No problem Toonye. Just submitted my review on the eclipse in the review section particularly referencing the kids stuff.

You are right, these boards were fantastic before we went on our cruise so I'm trying to offer my knowledge now!

[toonye]

Just submitted my review on the eclipse in the review section particularly referencing the kids stuff.

 

Just read your review and loved it! Great review of the kids facilities too, really enjoyed it as it's not usual to find that kind of information in the reviews.

 

So did I get it right, if you leave your children at the kids club to go ashore, you have to pay for their lunch and for the time between 5 and 7 also if the "all aboard" time is later?

 

Other question: you mentioned you had dinner at the MDR but do you remember if the buffet was also open for dinner ? how was the choice?

 

Toonye

[smoothy]

We are just back from a cruise with celebrity on board the eclipse with 3 kids aged 3, 5 and 12. There was absolutely no 4 hour rule as my 3 year old daughter loved the club so much it was difficult to get her out of there.

Every day they had ran club from 9 am to 1 am with core hours 9 to 12, 2 to 5 pm and 7pm to 10 pm. There was a quiet time at lunch when sailing ( as the buffet was too busy to take them to lunch) and dinner club ever night from 5- 7 ($6 per hour when in port) and slumber party from 10 pm to 1 am ($6 per hour).

 

Hope this helps.

 

I'm glad they got rid of the time rule. Our last cruise on the Oasis went just great without it. I got the paperwork from DW and I have to correct, the rule was not 4 hours but 6 (either way, just as well it is gone). Looks like they didn't change anything else in terms of timings.

 

Themorrices, how many kids were in the club on your cruise? How was the Eclipse with the children? I'm really interested in trying the Solstice class (We were going to do a trans-Atlantic on one next year, but I ended up getting on RCCL's Adventure Of the Seas for almost half the price of any of the Solstice ships)

[themorrices]

Dear Toonye,

Glad enjoyed the review! I emphasised the kids stuff as it was the kind of info I really wanted to know before I went so I reckoned that others might find it useful.

To answer your question, yes, if you are off the ship they will take the kids for lunch ($6 per hour per child) and dinner the same ($ 6 per hour between 5pm and 7 pm) but after 7 pm there will be no charge. Most of our sail off times were 5 pm so there wasn't a charge. The buffet was slightly limited until about 6 pm when they brought out a bigger range however there was plenty and they had sushi time until 9.30 pm too. Ice cream and all the sweetie toppings were available until about 11pm too ( as we often visited with he kids after kids club for a treat!). There was a also a pizza and pasta selection available almost all the time which was handy for the kids.

 

Smithy, we felt the eclipse was great with kids and I was delighted with their facilities. I was slightly apprehensive before as celebrity wasn't jumping out at me regarding their kids facilities, however It was great.... We were during school holidays though. There were about 400 kids on board but the cruise after there were only about 30 kids due on board as the schools had gone back.

 

Try solstice class, you'll love it.