They are REALLY pushing Kids Sail Free. Too Bad.

[Cruise Junky]

I'm not sure how we compare what an average Celebrity cruise has as child behaviour to a promo that kids sail free.  That will bring a lot of new cruisers to Celebrity. We also like Celebrity for it's relative calm, no guarantee of that with this promo.

[dkjretired]

6 minutes ago, Willow1213 said:

We chose Celebrity for this cruise knowing we were leaving our 5 year old home with grandparents. Yes, kids do sail free but I do not feel like X ships are geared towards his age group. There seems to be lots for older tweens/teens with STEM activities etc but it would not be my choice for kids activities for the under 8 set. I won’t mind seeing other children on the ship, I’ll just gear my activities in the other direction if it starts to bother me for any reason. The solarium and casino it is! 

 

Celebrity’s children’s programs for the younger kids are excellent, better than their programs for teens my kids grew up on them. Especially good for kids with special needs.

Edited March 13, 2019 by dkjretired

[Fogfog]

12 hours ago, MDTrip said:

Too bad Celebrity is really pushing "kids sail free."   Less kids is one of the reasons I choose Celebrity. They might be ruining this. 

 

Will be interesting with the reclassification of staterooms from 4 to 3 or 2.

Aqua is 2 per room but that doesn't mean families can't work that out between multiple staterooms.

 

Our kids are adults now though we have sailed with them since they were in kindergarten. I can say that many years ago on a southern caribbean holiday sailing... while we kept a tight rein on our kids--there were a bunch of kids running the halls and throwing ice cubes down the stairwells. They were not american kids... nor english speaking and there was no way for me to say something as I was almost pelted with ice...

 

On our Baltics sailing there were young kids (elementary school age) running and jumping from chair to chair in the far fwd lounge/bar while mom/dad were engrossed in the iphones. (asian)  It was more than aggravating and the servers didn't handle it.

 

Fast fwd and I find I am far less tolerant of parents not controlling their children whether it be in lounges or unsupervised ...

 

Am equally less  tolerant of smokers in non smoking places/smoking at the aft bar or on balconies. Or other bad behaviors 

 

So I am an equal opportunity "fun sucker".     🤣      If your fun encroaches on my fun/breaks the rules... I'm calling staff. JS

 

 

 

[dkjretired]

1 hour ago, Alsmez said:

 

Yes, we will absolutely consider Virgin going forward. However, as others on this thread have mentioned, preferring a child-free vacation doesn't mean we are child haters. It simply means we prefer not to vacation with a lot of them (or their parents, who quite honestly are often a bigger problem than the kids). IMO it is rather short-sighted of Celebrity (and its parent company) to alienate its historical target demographic to try to attract families, given that that will undoubtedly mean stealing business from Royal. They are two separate products and I am happy to have a choice when cruising - I would hate to see Celebrity turn into "Royal lite" just as I'm sure Royal cruisers would hate the reverse.

 

They did kids sail free 25 years ago, I know because I took advantage of it, nothing new and this was way before Royal bought out Celebrity. I would contend that if they had not done it, Celebrity would have folded like other lines. Someone at Celebrity and later Royal foresaw the future.

[Dreamcruise27]

17 minutes ago, Fogfog said:

Will be interesting with the reclassification of staterooms from 4 to 3 or 2.

Aqua is 2 per room but that doesn't mean families can't work that out between multiple staterooms.

 

Our kids are adults now though we have sailed with them since they were in kindergarten. I can say that many years ago on a southern caribbean holiday sailing... while we kept a tight rein on our kids--there were a bunch of kids running the halls and throwing ice cubes down the stairwells. They were not american kids... nor english speaking and there was no way for me to say something as I was almost pelted with ice...

 

On our Baltics sailing there were young kids (elementary school age) running and jumping from chair to chair in the far fwd lounge/bar while mom/dad were engrossed in the iphones. (asian)  It was more than aggravating and the servers didn't handle it.

 

Fast fwd and I find I am far less tolerant of parents not controlling their children whether it be in lounges or unsupervised ...

 

Am equally less  tolerant of smokers in non smoking places/smoking at the aft bar or on balconies. Or other bad behaviors 

 

So I am an equal opportunity "fun sucker".     🤣      If your fun encroaches on my fun/breaks the rules... I'm calling staff. JS

 

 

 

 

I'm sorry, but I don't understand your need to point out that the parents were "Asian"

 

[PTC DAWG]

11 hours ago, jaapie said:

We are not children haters, we have children who are now adults. I have plenty of patience with teenagers doing stuff like pushing all the elevator buttons, etc. (I have sons and remember what they got up to when they were that age). What we can't stand is when we are trying to have a nice meal in the evening and a baby or 2 or 3 year old is having a hissy fit and screaming and spoiling the evening for dozens of people while the parents often just let the children carry on crying and whining, the parents should have the consideration to leave the dining room and take the children to the buffet or put them to bed (the kids are probably tired anyway) and then getting room service for themselves in the cabin. 

+1000

[Fogfog]

13 minutes ago, Dreamcruise27 said:

 

I'm sorry, but I don't understand your need to point out that the parents were "Asian"

 

Spend time around the world in other nations-- parents of different cultures have different parent styles

 

If you choose to be offended that is your problem

 

I also pointed out the the other kids  on the southern carb cruise were not americans--shall I mention they were hispanic and from PR.--There ya go

 

knew there had to be one in the bunch to make an assumption about intent

 

Regardless

ALL are supposed to monitor their kids regardless of nationality, ethnicity, culture and parenting style...

 

as smokers are supposed to follow the rules...

 

 

[Bo1953]

34 minutes ago, Dreamcruise27 said:

 

I'm sorry, but I don't understand your need to point out that the parents were "Asian"

 

Valid observation you have made here.

 

I Am sorry to say that I do, the retort maybe innocuous and evade your observation to place blame where it does not belong, on individual parenting styles vs 'cultures'...

 

bon voyage

Edited March 13, 2019 by Bo1953

[Rob the Cruiser]

1 hour ago, TeeRick said:

In general Celebrity ships do not have a lot of kids compared to the only other line I have sailed (RCCL). If the OP does not want to sail with a lot of kids on board (their vacation choice which does not imply they hate kids) then the solution is to sail a longer destination itinerary particularly during the school year.  When we have done this we could count the kids on one hand.  Usually the problem is non-attentive parents and not the kids.

 

Non-attentive parents usually result in unruly kids. It doesn't matter if the problem is with the parents. Very few people would mention to parents that their well behaved little darling isn't so well behaved.

 

BTW - I'm not a child hater but I'll go out of my way to avoid non-attentive parents with unruly children. I do the same with smokers, drunks and rude adults.

Edited March 13, 2019 by Rob the Cruiser

[Bo1953]

14 minutes ago, Fogfog said:

Spend time around the world in other nations-- parents of different cultures have different parent styles

 

If you choose to be offended that is your problem

 

I also pointed out the the other kids  on the southern carb cruise were not americans--shall I mention they were hispanic and from PR.--There ya go

 

knew there had to be one in the bunch to make an assumption about intent

 

Regardless

ALL are supposed to monitor their kids regardless of nationality, ethnicity, culture and parenting style...

 

as smokers are supposed to follow the rules...

 

 

Do not know where you are from, yet I would like to point out that here in the U.S. we have a wide range of cultures and a wide range of parenting styles, that overlap too, which IME do not correlate to culture.

 

That is if I have not studied it more closely as opposed to observed.

 

Go figure...

 

bon voyage

[Tapi]

I don’t think that any Celebrity loyalist has anything to worry about. Not all kids (or adults) are the same. I’m going to cautiously say that the average cruiser that Celebrity attracts tends to be more traveled and mindful of social protocol. I bet that they are teaching their young ones how to behave in a cruise environment and abide by more stringent expectations as well. 

 

To anybody with visions of 1000 kids running rampant all over the ship, taking over hot tubs, throwing food across the table at the MDR, wearing Fortnite t-shirts and gym shorts to formal night, or running down hallways at all hours of the day and night unsupervised, and pressing all the buttons in the elevator (as I have seen on more “family friendly” cruise lines), rest assured that those visions will most likely never materialize on Celebrity. The product and price point are just not aimed at that segment of the market.

 

My 7 and 9 year old have taken 10 cruises across 5 different cruise lines. From a cheapie, quick cruise out of Mobile, AL, to a Mediterranean cruise to 5 countries in a Duplex Suite, from Carnival to Holland America, they have learned what’s expected of them and they behave accordingly. You won’t need to worry about kids like mine on Celebrity. They know how to play the part. And I bet that most families with kids that Celebrity will attract will know how to play the part as well. 

[Fogfog]

2 minutes ago, Bo1953 said:

Do not know where you are from, yet I would like to point out that here in the U.S. we have a wide range of cultures and a wide range of parenting styles, that overlap too, which IME do not correlate to culture.

 

That is if I have not studied it more closely as opposed to observed.

 

Go figure...

 

bon voyage

Exactly

Bad parenting is an equal opportunity employer

 

We chose to not complain about either of those incidents I mentioned... chalking it up to parenting style/culture. The couple in the far fwd lounge --along with the nanny allowed the kids to run amok... despite parental-local

The children throwing ice in the stairwells had no parental supervision either...God only knows where they were on the ship

 

So the question IS ---when it impacts others-do we ignore it? Report it? Chalk it up to parental style/culture ?ho 
FOX AMERIKENYA.

[Tapi]

40 minutes ago, Fogfog said:

 

I also pointed out the the other kids  on the southern carb cruise were not americans--shall I mention they were hispanic and from PR.--There ya go

Last time I checked, all Puertoricans are Americans....

Edited March 13, 2019 by Tapi

[mfs2k]

 

Suggest we all take a step back from discussions about Race, Creed, Religion, National Origin etc on this thread. 

 

In 2019, no one will succeed in "educating' anyone else on what's ok or not ok to say. 

 

And if someone finds another offensive, it's pretty easy to block/ignore a person on Cruise Critic if you go into your account settings. 

[Bo1953]

28 minutes ago, Fogfog said:

Exactly

Bad parenting is an equal opportunity employer

 

We chose to not complain about either of those incidents I mentioned... chalking it up to parenting style/culture. The couple in the far fwd lounge --along with the nanny allowed the kids to run amok... despite parental-local

The children throwing ice in the stairwells had no parental supervision either...God only knows where they were on the ship

 

So the question IS ---when it impacts others-do we ignore it? Report it? Chalk it up to parental style/culture ?ho 
FOX AMERIKENYA.

No, we need not ignore, especially if there are no parents around or paying attention!

 

I would speak with the children and explain the issue in terms that they would understand.

 

For example, on our Alaska sailing, there were a number of tweens having fun at midnight near Al Bacio and I asked them:

 

1) are you enjoying your sailing? All responded in the affirmative; and,

2) do your parents know that you are not in the cabin at this hour? All responded in the affirmative.

 

I had no reason to not believe them.

 

There were a group of older teens who were yelling/screaming around 9p near the OVC, all in fun, but after asking them to continue to have fun but in a lower tone, they were respectful and complied for the time frame I was around... in fact, I sat with them in the OVC to chat and find out where they were from and what school they were in and some of the things they were enjoying on the sailing. We were fast friends for the rest of the sailing. Very impressed.

 

I Am not suggesting that everyone do this, because not everyone will or need not to. Yet, just saying something in a non-confronting way to the children about behaviour, I have found to be positively accepted and reacted to positively.

 

I know some individuals are reticent about such approaches, but not me.

 

bon voyage

[Doug & Cindy Scrap Hunter]

Don't you all get it? Get them hooked young and they'll be back for decades with their own children.

 

[Alsmez]

1 hour ago, Tapi said:

I don’t think that any Celebrity loyalist has anything to worry about. Not all kids (or adults) are the same. I’m going to cautiously say that the average cruiser that Celebrity attracts tends to be more traveled and mindful of social protocol. I bet that they are teaching their young ones how to behave in a cruise environment and abide by more stringent expectations as well. 

 

To anybody with visions of 1000 kids running rampant all over the ship, taking over hot tubs, throwing food across the table at the MDR, wearing Fortnite t-shirts and gym shorts to formal night, or running down hallways at all hours of the day and night unsupervised, and pressing all the buttons in the elevator (as I have seen on more “family friendly” cruise lines), rest assured that those visions will most likely never materialize on Celebrity. The product and price point are just not aimed at that segment of the market.

 

I generally agree that the average Celebrity cruiser we have encountered up to this point has been more "mindful of social protocol" than what I experienced on my one Carnival sailing, but we have seen our share of poorly-behaved (and/or poorly parented) children on Celebrity, despite our best efforts to sail at non-family friendly times of year. Unfortunately, it only takes a small number of unruly children and/or inattentive parents to ruin a relaxing onboard experience. Furthermore, I know many adults who have plenty of social graces themselves but have not bothered to teach their children to behave in the same way, or are more permissive than they otherwise might be because they are also on vacation and don't want to spend their own down time watching their children like hawks (which in turn makes their children everyone else's problem).

 

I also don't necessarily agree that the average Celebrity cruiser today will be their average cruiser in the future. Celebrity's product may still not include waterslides and belly-flop contests, but the price point is generally competitive with lines that do. They are clearly targeting a younger demographic with Edge and the modernization of the rest of the fleet, and it seems to be having the intended effect - we were mid 30s on our first X cruise on Equinox in 2011, and we were two of just a handful of people our age, with most being 70+. On Silhouette last year (in our early-mid 40s), I would say half the passengers were around our age (say 35-50), with the remainder being older but more 60+ than 70+. If they continue to offer incentives like Go Best and children sail free, who knows how that will affect the brand down the line.

Edited March 13, 2019 by Alsmez
clarity

[Algebralovr]

Back in about 2015, we did a B2B on Reflection in February in the Caribbean.  The NE of the US was being hit with a lot of snow.  A significant number of families were on board.  We happened to do an excursion in St. Thomas and a bunch of them were on that excursion.  They were all complaining about the lack of things for their kids to do.  They wanted to know where the water slides, climbing walls, etc were.  

My gut feeling is that any families that book on less port intensive cruises are going to be complaining like those families were.  

[Alsmez]

4 minutes ago, Algebralovr said:

Back in about 2015, we did a B2B on Reflection in February in the Caribbean.  The NE of the US was being hit with a lot of snow.  A significant number of families were on board.  We happened to do an excursion in St. Thomas and a bunch of them were on that excursion.  They were all complaining about the lack of things for their kids to do.  They wanted to know where the water slides, climbing walls, etc were.  

My gut feeling is that any families that book on less port intensive cruises are going to be complaining like those families were.  

 

Agreed. I find it astonishing how many people book a cruise without doing ANY research on the cruiseline, ship amenities, etc. We chatted with two couples on our last cruise who normally cruised Carnival and they were terribly disappointed at the lack of pool games, late-night entertainment, etc. It seems like a LOT of money to spend on something you know nothing about!

[dkjretired]

30 minutes ago, Doug & Cindy Scrap Hunter said:

Don't you all get it? Get them hooked young and they'll be back for decades with their own children.

 

 

Yup, after our cruise in June son becomes E plus.

[tallnthensome]

1 hour ago, Tapi said:

My 7 and 9 year old have taken 10 cruises across 5 different cruise lines. From a cheapie, quick cruise out of Mobile, AL, to a Mediterranean cruise to 5 countries in a Duplex Suite, from Carnival to Holland America, they have learned what’s expected of them and they behave accordingly. You won’t need to worry about kids like mine on Celebrity. They know how to play the part. And I bet that most families with kids that Celebrity will attract will know how to play the part as well. 

Same here, I dare say my kids are young but a bit more polished when it comes to what I expect of them in regard to their behavior and manners on board . I spend good money I have them for 12 nights in a family veranda coming up and I assure everyone that my kids are by our sides at all times and we will not allow them to disrupt or be disrespectful to any fellow cruisers. They are well aware that as fast as I can book a cruise with them I can also cancel their cruise and leave them with grandma while we go.

Edited March 13, 2019 by tallnthensome

[Bo1953]

56 minutes ago, Alsmez said:

 

Agreed. I find it astonishing how many people book a cruise without doing ANY research on the cruiseline, ship amenities, etc. We chatted with two couples on our last cruise who normally cruised Carnival and they were terribly disappointed at the lack of pool games, late-night entertainment, etc. It seems like a LOT of money to spend on something you know nothing about!

I refer to that as learning curve, too fast too late!

 

Apparently, they did not know or did not want their children to participate in the Camp...

 

bon voyage

[cruise kitty]

3 hours ago, Dreamcruise27 said:

 

I'm sorry, but I don't understand your need to point out that the parents were "Asian"

 

 

I thought he was pointing out that their iPhones were Asian ;)   

 

Edited March 13, 2019 by cruise kitty
just to clarify, that was sarcasm :)

[STLCRUISIN]

We just came off the Millennium Asia cruise on March 4 and were surprised to see as many children on this ship. Still not a lot but the most we've ever seen on our 37 or so Celebrity cruises. One day in the OVC the Kids Club was heading through with about 15 or so in the group.

 

The kids on this cruise (teens and younger) were all well behaved from what we saw. I don't think Celebrity will see a huge influx of children sailing with them since they don't offer all the bells and whistles that would attract them. But I think with the new Edge Class ships and the "Revolution" of its other ships the company's vision of attracting a younger clientele includes families with children so these promotions will most probably continue.

[cruise kitty]

2 hours ago, Tapi said:

Last time I checked, all Puertoricans are Americans....

 

I wish I could "like" this more than once :)  👏👏👏