13 year old on Constellation

[mom1965]

We are travelling on the April 7th 12 night cruise aboard the Constellation. Can anybody give me info on the Kids programs for that age. We travelled on R.C. last time and for his age he was left most of the time on their own, no structured activities. Wonder if Celebrity is better at scheduling for this age group.

[cruisebunny32]

I have experience with younger kids, but my SIL kids went a few years ago on the Millie (very similar) and her son was around 13...had a blast with kids his age. It depends on when you go as to how many kids are on board. Naturally if it is easter break then there will be a lot of kids. They were exspecting 200 last year.

[Rev22:17]

Mom1965,

 

We are travelling on the April 7th 12 night cruise aboard the Constellation. Can anybody give me info on the Kids programs for that age. We travelled on R.C. last time and for his age he was left most of the time on their own, no structured activities. Wonder if Celebrity is better at scheduling for this age group.

 

Like most major cruise lines Celebrity officially divides minors is divided into three basic age brackets.

 

>> The children's program is for ages 3-7.

 

>> The youth program is for ages 8-12.

 

>> The teen program is for ages 13-17.

 

Your child's age as of the first day of the cruise will determine his or her group for the entire cruise.

 

Practically, the counsellors adapt the programs according to the ages of the participants. When there are a lot of children aboard a ship, as typically is the case during school vacation periods, these age brackets will be pretty strict but the counsellors will split each bracket into smaller groups by age and maturity. When there are few children aboard the ship, the staff may well relax the age brackets because a couple seven-year-old would be better off goruped with a few eight-year-olds than with a few three-year-olds and four-year-olds and, conversely, a thirteen-year-old would be better gruuped with a couple eleven-year-olds and a couple twelve-year-olds than with a few sixteen-year-olds and seventeen-year-olds. The counsellors are seasoned professonals who have a pretty good handle on how to deal with such situations.

 

Most children seem to respond very enthusiastically to the programs. The counsellors organize activities are appropriate for the respective age groups with a good mix of active and educational events. About the worst situation that I have ever seen on any cruise line involved one little tyke who was very adamant that he wanted to go back to the children's center to play with the other tykes when his mother insisted that he get ready for dinner. For the most part, the prodigy have a great time and the 'rents have a real vacation.

 

Enjoy your cruise!

 

Norm.

[mom1965]

thanks for the info, i appreciate it, another small question, if 1 13 year old (not my son) wanted to go into the 12 year old group will they let her?

[Iamboatman]

This cruise will be extremely full, so some of the latititude may be a bit difficult. If the going to a younger group is to be a best friend or a sibling you should be fine. If it is just a comfort thing, probably not. I would not worry though, as there are sure to be other in exactly the same situation.

 

One of the things I love when I am cruising Celebrity (and I will be on the same cruise) is that in the later evenings you see children that age having a blast (and nicely) in one of the lounges with dancing, karaoke, etc. or just hanging out.

[mahdnc]

.......if 1 13 year old (not my son) wanted to go into the 12 year old group will they let her?

 

The best thing to do is to seek out the youth counselor supervisor and ask. I have seen these requests handled differently. On our last cruise, we inquired about the possibility of moving our son up an age group to keep him with his sister. The counselor supervisor said that she doesn't like moving kids up an age group as a rule (but moving down an age group was ok) and asked that we wait and see how things work out on the first couple of days of our 10 day cruise before making any decisions. Good advice, our son was pretty happy with his age group and we elected not to make any changes......

[JCLNJ]

Mom1965

 

We are also on the April 7th cruise. This is the first time my daughter will be in the older age group. She is 13 and I also have a son who is 11. We have taken them on Carnival and Disney cruises and hope they will enjoy Celebrity. With it being Easter break I'm hoping there will be alot of other kids on board.

[Iamboatman]

Don't worry. There will be lots of children of all ages.

 

Celebrity haas actually blocked quad cabins for bookings of 3 or more. (I booked a family and was required to put a child in the grandparent's cabin in order to keep the booking in that cabin.)

[mahdnc]

Mom1965

 

We are also on the April 7th cruise. This is the first time my daughter will be in the older age group. She is 13 and I also have a son who is 11. We have taken them on Carnival and Disney cruises and hope they will enjoy Celebrity. With it being Easter break I'm hoping there will be alot of other kids on board.

 

There were quite a few kids on our Horizon sailing during Easter break last year....

[cavkc]

We took our two 12 year old sons on a 2 week cruise on Infinity.

 

It was their first cruise and they absolutely loved it - so much so that any other holiday suggestion we now come up with just doesn't do it for them!!

 

It was a Christmas/NY cruise and as such there were approximately 250 children on board. This slightly worried me as my retired parents were also crusing with us and I did not want them to feel they were spending Christmas in a schoolyard. However, X had so many activities organised, I can honestly say we never saw or heard any children misbehaving.

 

Our boys shared an inside cabin, directly oposite our own and they certainly enjoyed the freedom this provided, but of course in a safe environment. They also thoroughly enjoyed the formal evenings and we hired them a Tuxedo onboard.

 

Whenever we saw the boys during the day, they literally could not stop as they always had 'something just starting'.

 

Have fun ....

[sowindct]

We will also be on the April 7th Cruise and bringing our 13 y.o. daughter and our just turning 16 y.o. son.

[sbh314]

I'll be joining you on the Constellation April 7! However, I was wondering if anyone could help me out. My parents are taking me and two friends on this cruise as a high school graduation gift..However, one friend and I will be 18 on the cruise, and one of our friends will still be 17. I'm worried we won't be allowed in the places our 17 y/o friend will be, and vice versa. Is there anything I can do at all? Thanks!

[mom1965]

my 17 (at the time) cruised with us in 2004, she had no problems getting in anywhere however she was with some that were older so that could be the reason, but she was in the casino and the disco with no problems. There really isn't much for 17 year olds, she found because the 13-17 group are really younger and she had a much better time with that age group when she cruised at 15. Hopefully she can just follow behind you without a problem.

[sbh314]

I'm basically just worried about the disco/dance club. On my last cruise which was Royal Caribbean, at 16, I got into the casino with no problem. However, the clubs onboard were very strict and checked cruise cards to see if you were over or under 18. Fortunately, my 17 y/o friend looks as old, if not older, than me, so maybe we won't run into an issue.

[CruiseQueen13]

My daughter has been on several cruises - she will be 12 next month. She loves the Celebrity/Princess kid programs and is an easy kid to please. However, NCL was the worst - if she spent 4 hrs there all week that was a lot. Celebrity programs are quite different. They don't require parental supervision for your child to participate in a water balloon toss or make pizza!!!!! You children will love it!

[mom1965]

my daughter at 17 got into the disco all the time but as I said she was with an older group so they never checked her card. Hope you don't have any problems, we had a blast in the disco about the voyager