Non Holiday with a child

[mic123]

I know this is a hot topic, however, input would be appreciated.

My mom and I are taking my 9 yr old daughter on the Reflection the week before Christmas break. I realize she may be one of very few, if any, children. She enjoys the club on her own, so not worried about that.

 

I am just questioning how welcome she will be as I see many people complaining about kids on board.

 

We have done Disney and Princess and interestingly enough, she prefers Princess. She is very well behaved, and does not run through the corridors screaming or anything like that.

 

Would like to hear from anyone that travels with their kids during non-holiday times.

Thanks

[rebeccalouiseagain]

I've cruised with my son 10 times on Celebrity (twice during the school year) and we have both had a great time. Don't worry- the passengers are all nice and appreciate well-behaved kids. You and your daughter will have a great time. Try Bistro on Five and Qsine they are great!

[bplazo]

I would think that everyone would be ok with a well-behaved child.

[Alg63]

I dont think anyone has a problem with well behaved children and since we all know most children will try to misbehave, I have no problem as long as the parents know how to take care of the issue which would remove the child from the public area and back to their cabin if necessary until the child has calmed down.

 

Sadly many parents don't even see/hear their children misbehaving and everyone around them has to just "accept it"

[mic123]

Thank you all.

Not saying mine does not misbehave, but she will only do it around me and in private. In public she wouldn't think of it. :rolleyes:

[mayabandu]

I know you're asking for feedback from people with kids. However, I don't have kids and I can tell you that if she's well-behaved there shouldn't be any problem. I think the problem usually lies with people who have several kids and those groups of kids just horse around with little to no supervision. Don't worry - go and have a great time :)

[firemanbobswife]

I know this is a hot topic, however, input would be appreciated.

My mom and I are taking my 9 yr old daughter on the Reflection the week before Christmas break. I realize she may be one of very few, if any, children. She enjoys the club on her own, so not worried about that.

 

I am just questioning how welcome she will be as I see many people complaining about kids on board.

 

We have done Disney and Princess and interestingly enough, she prefers Princess. She is very well behaved, and does not run through the corridors screaming or anything like that.

 

Would like to hear from anyone that travels with their kids during non-holiday times.

Thanks

 

Are you going on Reflection or Constellation? Only reason I ask is your countdown clock says the Connie.

 

We will be on the Reflection Dec 15. My boys are 16 and 14, but we have been sailing the S-Class ships for what will be the 5th year, all the week before Christmas. There are definitely less kids, but they prefer it that way. They easily make friends and enjoy just "hanging" out.

 

Frequently we found that a lot of the scheduled activities were cancelled due to lack of participation, but they always had a great time. If she gets bored easily, this may not be the ship for her. But if she's OK with playing and getting to know a few kids well, she should be fine.

 

My boys have always behaved themselves since the time they were little. We did not and do not tolerate any kind of disturbances from them. Nothing gets my goat more than a little hellion running amok or talking back to their elders. With that being said, we have been complimented numerous times on their manners and once people see that they are polite and acting appropriately, they are generally glad to share their space with them. I commend you on the proper upbringing of your child. There are far too many spoiled little brats today. Of which I, and most people who sail Celebrity, have no desire to have anything to do with on our vacation.

 

You shouldn't have any issues with having your daughter onboard. Those that may give you evil looks for bringing a young lady to experience the finer side of cruising are more than likely people that you wouldn't want to talk to anyway. As they say - you catch more flies with honey than vinegar.

[dkjretired]

You will not have a problem on Celebrity with your child. As a matter of fact the staff will treat your daughter like a little princess. You have to understand there are some who post on this board who simply don't want children on cruise ships much less on a Celebrity ship god forbid.

 

Just off the Summit, hardly saw the kids but there were some really annoying adults on board.

[Miss SeaBee]

I think a lot of people cruise non-holiday times to avoid lots of kids, but I don't think anyone expects there to be NO kids, no matter what week it is. I am sure it will be just fine for all of you. :)

[mic123]

Are you going on Reflection or Constellation? Only reason I ask is your countdown clock says the Connie.

 

We will be on the Reflection Dec 15. My boys are 16 and 14, but we have been sailing the S-Class ships for what will be the 5th year, all the week before Christmas. There are definitely less kids, but they prefer it that way. They easily make friends and enjoy just "hanging" out.

 

I am I the process of changing to that very booking :)

She likes when there are not a lot of kids because she gets more attention from the kid's staff. I just told her she may be the only child and how would she feel?

She said, "well, it would be a little weird, but I am ok with that." She cracks me up.

[mic123]

Thank you all for your kind and informative replies.

We are planning the 12/15 Reflection. I would love to go over the holidays, but do not want to pay double. Would rather book another trip!

[firemanbobswife]

I am I the process of changing to that very booking :)

She likes when there are not a lot of kids because she gets more attention from the kid's staff. I just told her she may be the only child and how would she feel?

She said, "well, it would be a little weird, but I am ok with that." She cracks me up.

 

That's awesome. Make sure you join our Roll Call!

[cruise kitty]

To the OP:

 

The fact that you care enough to ask means you (& your child) will be fine.

I don't expect any child to behave perfectly all the time, I'm not so concerned with a kid having a meltdown, as I am with the parent who does not immediately remove a child when he's having a meltdown... sounds like you'll have it covered. :) Have a great time.

[navyrotorhead]

Just off the Summit, hardly saw the kids but there were some really annoying adults on board.

 

Say in ISN'T so!!! :D

[travel gal 1953]

we traveled on Rc last oct in europe and kids can now go into places reserved for uite guests for a drink.the parents left the little darlings on their own and also they took up all the seats so we had to take our drinks back to our room.i wont cruise with them again since kids do not act the same when they are out of sight of parents.i babysit aND can tell you first hand..my 5 year old says words i didnt hear till i was an adult!

[rebeccalouiseagain]

I went to one function for elites on Celebrity (Summit with 400 kids onboard). There were zero children at the event. In fact, I was at the event early and was asked to leave because they were prepping for it (I am an elite). When I came back for the afternoon shindig- the crew was checking room cards to see the elite status and it was a bit of a formal affair. I don't believe that a group of unattended kids could come to such an event- absolutely not. If there were kids at an elite event- they would be with an adult. I don't believe the previous post.

[phoenix_dream]

Don't let a few crabby posters throw you off. I have taken my son on close to 20 Celebrity cruises beginning when he was around 5 years old. Never, ever have we had any issues whatsoever with other passengers. If she loves being treated like a princess she will have a great time.

[cruzeluver]

If your child is well-behaved then anyone who would look down their nose or make a snide comment about a child on board is the one with the problem.

[mic123]

Thanks all,

I definitely feel better now. I happened to read this comment on the roll call:

"The beginning date is too early for MOST schools, but there are some people who REALLY don't care about education so they take children out early and tell the schools the child(ren) will have a learning experience and do homework while aboard (meaning SOMETIME during real Xmas break.):rolleyes:

We're like you NEVER travel when school is not in session..."

 

I normally do not pull mine out of school, but it was twice the price over Christmas and I really want to take her on an Alaskan cruise next summer so I figured saving money would help. Plus, I am a VERY involved parent, and she will be doing her work. I am one of those moms that makes her do homework and reading all summer long too.

[patty1955]

my 5 year old says words i didnt hear till i was an adult!

So did mine, once. After that they knew better

[firemanbobswife]

So did mine, once. After that they knew better

 

Ditto.

[elena7seas]

Thanks all,

I definitely feel better now. I happened to read this comment on the roll call:

"The beginning date is too early for MOST schools, but there are some people who REALLY don't care about education so they take children out early and tell the schools the child(ren) will have a learning experience and do homework while aboard (meaning SOMETIME during real Xmas break.):rolleyes:

We're like you NEVER travel when school is not in session..."

 

I normally do not pull mine out of school, but it was twice the price over Christmas and I really want to take her on an Alaskan cruise next summer so I figured saving money would help. Plus, I am a VERY involved parent, and she will be doing her work. I am one of those moms that makes her do homework and reading all summer long too.

 

We normally cruise Celebrity without children, at times when school is in session. However, there are always some children on board, including children of school age. In some twenty cruises, I have never seen any badly-behaved children, or even evidence of poor parenting. People always have responded well to the children on board, and as many have said, the crew is WONDERFUL with children.

 

As far as missing school is concerned, I think most thoughtful, involved parents know their children and the school curriculum well enough to know when removing children from school for a week or so would be acceptable, and even, dare I say, educational. I'm sure that it is always advisable to check with the child's teacher to see if there is any classwork that should be covered while away on the trip.

 

We took our two adult daughters and our 4-1/2 year old granddaughter on the Solstice on a Eastern Med cruise last summer and it was a fabulous experience for everyone. Even a year after that cruise, my granddaughter can still tell me the cities and countries of our itinerary, and can point them out on a globe. Ever since the cruise, she has been tremendously interested in travel and geography, and will even sit with me and watch Rick Steves' travel shows, relating back what she sees to our experiences in Barcelona, Rome, the Greek Isles, Turkey, etc.

 

It's sad to say, but there can be a few cranky people on these boards where children are concerned, but I have never ever met anyone on board that was grumpy or unkind to children or their parents.

 

Don't worry about the grumblers that hide behind their computer screens, and enjoy planning for your wonderful family vacation.

[mic123]

We took our two adult daughters and our 4-1/2 year old granddaughter on the Solstice on a Eastern Med cruise last summer and it was a fabulous experience for everyone. Even a year after that cruise, my granddaughter can still tell me the cities and countries of our itinerary, and can point them out on a globe. Ever since the cruise, she has been tremendously interested in travel and geography, and will even sit with me and watch Rick Steves' travel shows, relating back what she sees to our experiences in Barcelona, Rome, the Greek Isles, Turkey.

 

Thank you elena7seas, I love to share my travel experience with my daughter just as my parents did with me. I took her to France for two weeks last summer even though my mom said she would stay with her. I never once regretted it. She appreciated everything about it. The culture was so interesting to her. She never even complained about anything. She even learned quite a bit of the language as we did not encounter any English speakers for one week of it.

 

Now she is a cruiser just like mom and grandma :). I wouldn't dream of taking one without her!