Kids on Equinox

[davekathy]

Looking into bringing an 8 an 12 year old on the Equinox, and would love to know if there is enough to do for kids on there for them. What is the Wet Zone, for instance?

We don't have kids but have seen plenty of things to keep a kid entertained. And if not I'm sure you can come up with ideas to keep them entertained.

[Vacationdreamer<><]

My kids would not enjoy X or Princess, etc. They loved NCL and we enjoyed DCL. Next up is MSC.

We hope to try a CCL or RCCL soon.

(I’ll never get anywhere in a loyalty program....)

I don’t think we are boring, but we like a lot of activity.

 

 

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[cruiser61262]

My daughter is an only child and started going to the kid's club when she was 4 and we could not get her to leave at times. By the time she was 7 she preferred X cruises over Disney World. When she was 13 she informed us that she was too old to go up to people in the pool and ask, "do you want to be friends?" She was very bored on the sea days and stated that unless she could bring a friend she would prefer that we cruise without her. To be honest, I was leery about her hanging out with teenagers that I did not know. The teen club would not allow the friends she did make to hang out in the club without participating in the preplanned activities even though they had video games and hang out areas. That is unfortunately why you see bands of teens hanging out at the basketball courts or other common areas.

I have to agree with others, I love Celebrity, and I liking seeing well behaved children enjoying themselves, but I would choose RCCL over X if the kids are the priority

[keesar]

I have to agree with others, I love Celebrity, and I liking seeing well behaved children enjoying themselves, but I would choose RCCL over X if the kids are the priority

 

I second your statement. If you want an enjoyable experience for all, then the odds are better choosing RCCL over X. There will be those that will only cruise on X and see that line as the only line. View their opinions guardedly.

 

We have travelled with our child on RCCL and it was a great vacation for all. Higher energy level and more options for all of us. A true family vacation.

[Mynki]

I have to agree with others, I love Celebrity, and I liking seeing well behaved children enjoying themselves, but I would choose RCCL over X if the kids are the priority

 

I love Celebrity, and I liking seeing well behaved adults enjoying themselves, but I would choose HAL or Saga over X if the kids onboard are unwanted.

[mvaughan]

My kids had a great time on the Reflection last year. They were 8 and 6. They preferred it to The Disney Fantasy the year before

 

 

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[Can'tstopcruising]

I love Celebrity, and I liking seeing well behaved adults enjoying themselves, but I would choose HAL or Saga over X if the kids onboard are unwanted.

I wouldn't pay too much attention to the posters against kids. Out of all the pax on a given cruise, I doubt there are many who don't like kids. Most likely one would never come across them anyway!

[dkjretired]

Let me clarify what I meant Don by my use of the word assumption. In your previous post When you wrote

 

“ You will find that those who complain about kids on Celebrity, have no experience taking children on a Celebrity cruise.”

 

 

I took that to mean that you are “assuming” posters who complain about children on X have no experience taking children on a celebrity cruise.

 

From past experience, most don't and I stand behind that. Sorry I didn't use the word most in my original post.

[keesar]

Looking into bringing an 8 an 12 year old on the Equinox, and would love to know if there is enough to do for kids on there for them. /quote]

 

As you can see, there are some individuals who have real strong opinions and will never see two sides to a discussion. No convincing these "experts. What you should do is to review the activities available on each ship you are considering and see if it is a good match for you and your children. You are paying with hard earned savings and you want that week to be enjoyable for everyone.

[Mynki]

From past experience, most don't and I stand behind that. Sorry I didn't use the word most in my original post.

 

Don

 

You and other parents who have a lot of experience cruising on X with kids should work on a post detailing the pros and cons of kids on X and have the hosts sticky it.

 

Parents contemplating an X cruise will be able to find this easily and then be better informed as to whether the Celebrity cruise suits their own families dynamic.

[in2up2]

Looking into bringing an 8 an 12 year old on the Equinox, and would love to know if there is enough to do for kids on there for them. What is the Wet Zone, for instance?

 

Ignoring the should you or shouldn't you (my kids have all sailed X at those ages FWIW and loved it), to answer your more specific questions -

 

There is a kids activity program/club that is divided by age, but on many cruises they lump the sub-preteens together because there just aren't that many kids. For the 8 yr old, there will plenty of organized activities - arts and crafts, video games, movies (on a small TV in the kids club), scavenger hunts, family bingo, a kids talent show, etc. Very camp like. My 9 yr old loves sailing on Solstice class ships such as Equinox. There is also an arcade, a basketball court, a few ping pong tables around the ship, and the pool. There are no other kid-specific activities - no rock climbing, bumper cars, ice skating, rides, etc. And the movies shown in the theater will largely not be G rated. Earlier shows will not be inappropriate, but may not be of interest either. Later comedians are often not family friendly.

 

For the 12 yr old, there will be fewer organized activities. The preteens and teens tend to just hang out. So if your child needs activities, etc. they might well be bored. My teens are fairly introverted, and prefer to do things on their own or with one or two kids they meet early in the cruise, read a book, hang with the adults at the pool, etc. but I can well imagine others being bored.

 

So it really comes down to knowing what your kids like to do on vacation.

[illiniwahoo]

Besides the kids club, there are no child oriented facilities on board. No mini golf no rock climbing no splash pool. The indoor pool is adult only, but on cool weather cruises they often have a family hour to give the kids some time to swim. If your kids are more "make your own fun" kind of kids, celebrity is great. If they need constant stimulation outside of attending kids club or swimming, they might be bored. Equinox does have the glass blowing show. Im fascinated by it. Kids might be too. They have a lawn too. The equinox 5 years ago had great lawn games like boccee, but the silhouette two years ago didn't. Not sure if it is ship dependent, or a fleetwide elimination of games.

 

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[Talex831]

We will be on X cruise #4 in April with DS 11. He prefers X because there are less kids. He likes to read, play cards, swim, play basketball, and whip me in a game of ping pong. We’ve done 8 Disney cruises and 4 Carnival cruises. The only thing he missed was water slides. He prefers to eat at the finer dining restaurants onboard and has no problem hanging out to watch a movie in the cabin. I know he’s not like some kids who need to be constantly entertained, so X works for us, but it probably isn’t the best choice for kids who need do need constant activity.

 

 

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[dkjretired]

Looking into bringing an 8 an 12 year old on the Equinox, and would love to know if there is enough to do for kids on there for them. /quote]

 

As you can see, there are some individuals who have real strong opinions and will never see two sides to a discussion. No convincing these "experts. What you should do is to review the activities available on each ship you are considering and see if it is a good match for you and your children. You are paying with hard earned savings and you want that week to be enjoyable for everyone.

 

I see it from both sides and if you read my history, that is abundently. clear. I just resent those who come on this board and make blanket statements without proof or ever having taken a child on Celebrity cruises.i

 

You are absolutely correct that a parent should match up the ship to their kid. Only you know your children, make an educated decision.

[Cruise Raider]

I won't jump into the fire to recommend what you should or shouldn't do in terms of bringing your kids onboard. I do believe RCCL is much more suited for families with kids but you know what your kids enjoy ... we don't.

I can tell you of my experiences of sailing on Celebrity. In over a dozen cruises on this line, we've seen no more than two dozen children in total. However, we only travel when school is usually in session.

The S-class ships do still have lawn games set up and even competitions for bean bag toss, croquet, lawn darts, bocci, etc. I've only seen adults playing ... probably because I really haven't seen many kids onboard. They were welcome to play if they wanted to, though.

Most of the activities are geared towards adults ... wine and cheese on the lawn at sailaway while listening to live music, whiskey, wine or martini tasting, shopping, casino events, cooking demonstrations, galley or theater tours, etc. The early show when there is a comedian on stage will be toned down ....whereas maybe they will include some dirty jokes at the later show. They might enjoy the magician or comedic juggler shows. The solarium pool is open to families only during very limited hours, otherwise, it is for adults only.

They will definitely be spoiled rotten by the waiters in the dining room .... many of the staff have their own children they haven't seen in a while so will take joy in seeing your kids smile and have a great time. I wouldn't worry at all about food choices ... they will have food that kids like. I have yet to see any kids in any of the specialty restaurants on Celebrity. And, Aqua Class rooms only house 2 passengers per room so never have I seen any kids in Blu. I did see two kids in Luminae (the suite restaurant) on an Alaskan cruise last May. They were very well behaved and the staff was doting all over them. There are even afternoon and sometimes evening movies in a small theater onboard. I think I've even seen a ping pong table onboard.

With that being said, I was on a so called spring break cruise on the Infinity a few years back. It was anything but a spring break crowd, though. Of the very few kids onboard, there were a couple of pre-teen kids up in the lounge with their moms. These were their words ...so, take it for what it is worth. They were unable to use their phones while onboard .... to which they commented 'We are so bored! This cruise is INTOLERABLE'. OMG ... I just had to laugh out loud. Some kids would love it, some won't ... these ones obviously didn't love it. But again, you know your kids and we don't. It is just not a cruiseline that caters to kids with a lot of activities and venues like you will find on Disney, Carnival or RCCL. However, if your kids like family time and activities, I am sure you can find enough to keep them occupied and hopefully even have some fun.

[RCKM43]

Well this will be our kids 6 Celebrity cruise this spring. I have also been sailing Celebrity since high school in the early 90s. I have also sailed on other lines in the past but my children have only sailed on Celebrity. They beg to go on another every time we disembark. But it really depends on your kids. Mine have lots of energy and are pretty social, but find the kids clubs and pools to be more than enough. They also love dining in the main dining room. They are adventuresome. They are now 8 and 10 but started sailing on Celebrity when they were 2 and 4. We have done 2 Bermuda, 1 Alaska and this will be our third Caribbean cruise, second on the Equinox. We sail spring break or Summer when there are plenty of kids. The weeks we sail average 400-500 kids. My kids pick and choose which activities they enjoy and go to those. My older one loves the challenges. They get Fun Factory money over the course of the week by winning games, and team challenges. They can then shop with it at the end of the week for things like Fun Factory towels, bags, metal water bottles. My kids actually complain when we remove them at the end of a session. Some activities on the Equinox last year that were hits were....the camp fire on the grass. They set up teepees, brought light up hula hoops, made bracelets, face painted, a DJ played and they served s’mores. Kids danced and ran around on the grass and had fun. They has a silent disco night which was a huge hit. There were science challenges, scavenger hunts, Gaga ball or races on scooters out on the basketball court, etc. My kids have made friends they still message months later. They also like the more personalized kids club. They have had several counselors multiple times who remember them and go out of their way to make them feel special. No you won’t have rock climbing walls, water slides, but kids have told mine they have done those cruises and the food wasn’t as good, long lines at activities, and too many kids in the kids club that they did not enjoy it as much. 400-500 children on board is more than enough kids to meet a few and have a nice week. The key is to pick the family friendly times. Like Spring Break or Summer and 7 day cruises. Other times, other posters are correct you will find 2-20 kids on board. My family also regularly cruises Celebrity both with and without us. They say the passenger make up changes dramatically from their transatlantic and other longer cruises where the average age is considerably older, to the family weeks were many multigenerational groups are on board, so kids, those in the 40s, 50s and those much older. So I would not necessarily compare say a 2 week cruise in January to a 7 day during spring break or height of the Summer.

 

 

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Edited January 6, 2018 by RCKM43

[ginger123snaps]

My boys are now 9, 9, 8. They are not shy at all and very very active boys! EXTROVERTS for sure! They have been on two celebrity cruises, several royal carribean, carnival, NCL cruises. I have to say that celebrity kids club was by far their favorite!

 

They have a vip package that gets them backstage access to the theater and a captain's bridge tour...it also includes all of their late night parties. My boys absolutely LOVED it!

 

The basketball court is right off the kids club center...they LOVED this. They also held a lot of scavenger hunts around the entire ship which my boys LOVED! Lots of video games in the club. One night they had a camp out on the lawn with smores and a tent set up.....they played games and had so much fun (parents were invited to this). They had a silent disco party for the kids. The kids even put on a show for the parents.

 

They had so much fun that they did not want to get off the ship to see the ports! Seriously...it was a blast for them...don't worry and go! The slides are fun too...but they won't miss it.

Edited January 6, 2018 by ginger123snaps
want to add pictures

[in2up2]

I have yet to see any kids in any of the specialty restaurants on

 

 

 

We primarily only take our kids to the Lawn Club, but do it every cruise on Silhouette or Reflection. They love making their own pizza. I have also seen families in Qsine. I would not take children to Murano because I would not want to ruin anyone's romantic or special dinner there.

 

 

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[Can'tstopcruising]

Well this will be our kids 6 Celebrity cruise this spring. I have also been sailing Celebrity since high school in the early 90s. I have also sailed on other lines in the past but my children have only sailed on Celebrity. They beg to go on another every time we disembark. But it really depends on your kids. Mine have lots of energy and are pretty social, but find the kids clubs and pools to be more than enough. They also love dining in the main dining room. They are adventuresome. They are now 8 and 10 but started sailing on Celebrity when they were 2 and 4. We have done 2 Bermuda, 1 Alaska and this will be our third Caribbean cruise, second on the Equinox. We sail spring break or Summer when there are plenty of kids. The weeks we sail average 400-500 kids. My kids pick and choose which activities they enjoy and go to those. My older one loves the challenges. They get Fun Factory money over the course of the week by winning games, and team challenges. They can then shop with it at the end of the week for things like Fun Factory towels, bags, metal water bottles. My kids actually complain when we remove them at the end of a session. Some activities on the Equinox last year that were hits were....the camp fire on the grass. They set up teepees, brought light up hula hoops, made bracelets, face painted, a DJ played and they served s’mores. Kids danced and ran around on the grass and had fun. They has a silent disco night which was a huge hit. There were science challenges, scavenger hunts, Gaga ball or races on scooters out on the basketball court, etc. My kids have made friends they still message months later. They also like the more personalized kids club. They have had several counselors multiple times who remember them and go out of their way to make them feel special. No you won’t have rock climbing walls, water slides, but kids have told mine they have done those cruises and the food wasn’t as good, long lines at activities, and too many kids in the kids club that they did not enjoy it as much. 400-500 children on board is more than enough kids to meet a few and have a nice week. The key is to pick the family friendly times. Like Spring Break or Summer and 7 day cruises. Other times, other posters are correct you will find 2-20 kids on board. My family also regularly cruises Celebrity both with and without us. They say the passenger make up changes dramatically from their transatlantic and other longer cruises where the average age is considerably older, to the family weeks were many multigenerational groups are on board, so kids, those in the 40s, 50s and those much older. So I would not necessarily compare say a 2 week cruise in January to a 7 day during spring break or height of the Summer.

 

 

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Were there many kids on the Alaska cruise? We are going in July, so I hope there will be.

[Talex831]

We primarily only take our kids to the Lawn Club, but do it every cruise on Silhouette or Reflection. They love making their own pizza. I have also seen families in Qsine. I would not take children to Murano because I would not want to ruin anyone's romantic or special dinner there.

 

 

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My son requests to eat at the Lawn Club every night. We don’t usually eat in the MDR at all, but rotate through Qsine, Tuscan, and Lawn Club. Murano feels too formal, so we skip it too.

 

 

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[hcat]

Children can do well at the sea day luncheons in Tuscan and other specialty if offered......abbreviated menu( lower cost) , ..so less time to sit through...yet a very nice experience for all. Staff will dote on them...

[RCKM43]

Were there many kids on the Alaska cruise? We are going in July' date=' so I hope there will be.[/quote']

 

 

 

Yes, around 400. They met several kids from Hawaii, California etc. They did not want to go home at the end of the week. We want to do another but timing with their schedules has been tough. We went the second week in August. The kids got to swim outside too. It was warm enough at least 2-3 days. They had two family swims a day at the indoor pool. My kids actually enjoyed some of the naturalist presentations. He was extremely funny and his talks were enjoyable for both kids and adults.

 

 

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[Cruise Raider]

My kids actually enjoyed some of the naturalist presentations. He was extremely funny and his talks were enjoyable for both kids and adults.

 

 

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Was your naturalist Brent Nixon? He is amazing!

[LBeeE]

Lots of anti-kid responses eh? We will be bringing our 11 & 13 year olds on Celebrity for their first ever cruise in March. They're both quiet intellectual types. I hate to think the old people on this thread would be opposed to this HAHAHA! Oh well too bad. We have chosen Celebrity for multiple reasons, but in this particular case, because of life-threatening food allergies. My husband and I have cruised many other lines, and we corner the head of dining services on every cruise we've ever taken and grill them about their policies. I can tell you that Celebrity was the only line fully aware of/cautious of food allergies with proper protocols in place. The head waiter on RCCL tried on multiple cruises to force me to eat food I was allergic to. They also had no clue whether it was prepared in a safe area, nor did they know the ingredients. The food on Carnival was just plain gross. And while my food allergies are not life threatening, my daughter's are life threatening. The only line we feel safe taking her on is Celebrity. I very much appreciated the dining room customizing our food at every meal on Celebrity, and that was in both the MDR and Blu. And no we will not stay home/not cruise/not experience life due to food allergies, so don't even bother posting that type of a response. My kids have been begging to go on a cruise for years. So they're finally getting to go. And they will enjoy it regardless of their young ages, because that's the type of kids they are. My 13 year old is looking forward to the library, and my 11 year old is stoked about the glass show. So there ya go, age IS really just a number folks.

[Vacationdreamer<><]

Lots of anti-kid responses eh? We will be bringing our 11 & 13 year olds on Celebrity for their first ever cruise in March. They're both quiet intellectual types. I hate to think the old people on this thread would be opposed to this HAHAHA! Oh well too bad. We have chosen Celebrity for multiple reasons, but in this particular case, because of life-threatening food allergies. My husband and I have cruised many other lines, and we corner the head of dining services on every cruise we've ever taken and grill them about their policies. I can tell you that Celebrity was the only line fully aware of/cautious of food allergies with proper protocols in place. The head waiter on RCCL tried on multiple cruises to force me to eat food I was allergic to. They also had no clue whether it was prepared in a safe area, nor did they know the ingredients. The food on Carnival was just plain gross. And while my food allergies are not life threatening, my daughter's are life threatening. The only line we feel safe taking her on is Celebrity. I very much appreciated the dining room customizing our food at every meal on Celebrity, and that was in both the MDR and Blu. And no we will not stay home/not cruise/not experience life due to food allergies, so don't even bother posting that type of a response. My kids have been begging to go on a cruise for years. So they're finally getting to go. And they will enjoy it regardless of their young ages, because that's the type of kids they are. My 13 year old is looking forward to the library, and my 11 year old is stoked about the glass show. So there ya go, age IS really just a number folks.

 

 

 

I hope you have a blast!!!

I will also say that NCL Getaway did an amazing job on my son’s many life-threatening allergies if you ever want that experience. [emoji173]