Kids on celebrity

[ozziebound]

Hi everyone

We'll be on equinox in October with our two boys.

 

They will be four and seven then.

 

Any thoughts to share about their kids club and activities? We haven't been on celebrity with our kids before but love celebrity on our own!

we've done royal with the kids and they loved the "kids camp" as they called it there.

 

Links to good threads are welcome

 

Thanks!

Adam

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[hcat]

Cruise Critic has a search feature...excellent but tricky!

[mahdnc]

When our two kids were that age, they very much enjoyed the kids club and the Fun Factory.  When we took them away from their (dinner time or a shore excursion), they would be nagging us to take them back there.

 

They are adults now and during our Solstice cruise last month, I caught them reminiscing over dinner about the fun times they had back then.

Edited January 16, 2020 by mahdnc

[Covepointcruiser]

Children in the U.S. are in school in October so there should be no crowds in the kids camp.   When do Canadian children go back to school?

[georgiaguy]

I worked in the kids program about ten years ago and the main difference between Royal and Celebrity will be the number of kids. That said, I loved the low season with less kids because we got a lot more individual attention and could really shape the activities around the kids. If they have enjoyed it on other cruises they should have a good time. 

[Want2Cruise 701]

2 hours ago, georgiaguy said:

I worked in the kids program about ten years ago and the main difference between Royal and Celebrity will be the number of kids. That said, I loved the low season with less kids because we got a lot more individual attention and could really shape the activities around the kids. If they have enjoyed it on other cruises they should have a good time. 

Exactly.  My children, all grown now except for one, always loved the Fun Factory.  It was the smaller numbers that made it more enjoyable for them.  They always wanted to go and never wanted to leave.  I felt it was well organized because of the fewer children as well.

[GastroGnome]

DD's experiecne with the kids club was as a teen so nothing direct. (Loved it though) But from experience on a recent cruise - they do close the club in rough weather. One recent rough cruise had sea sick kids all over decks 4 & 5 when the kids club closed (fair enough - its on deck 15 forward on the S class so not a good place to be in poor weather).  But also a fair number of disgruntled parents who wanted someone else to deal with sea sick kids!

[turtleko]

This past October was my daughter's second time in the kids club and she loves it. Since kids are in school in many countries, there were very very few kids on the ship and fewer in the kids club, maybe 10 total ages 4 to 12.

 

The 4 to 9 year olds had organized activities that were crafts, games and contests in the kids club area. Some were quiet artistic, thinking or creative activities but many were quite active. They could earn points to redeem for souvenirs at the end of the cruise. The staff was very flexible on activities, probably because there were so few kids, and when most of the kids weren't interested in an activity they picked something else to do. They did go as a supervised group to the buffet for snacks or to the sport court for more physical activity some afternoons. One time a chef brought them special freshly made cinnamon rolls to "taste test" (they appeared in the Oceanview at lunch the next day) All ages worked on a talent show for the parents.

[Mwgw]

My nephew was around 7 or 8. He enjoyed the kids club on Celebrity.

[OCruisers]

Our grandchildren always enjoyed the kid's club on Celebrity.

[Crowls]

On 1/16/2020 at 3:31 PM, ozziebound said:

 

Hi everyone

We'll be on equinox in October with our two boys.

 

They will be four and seven then.

 

Any thoughts to share about their kids club and activities? We haven't been on celebrity with our kids before but love celebrity on our own!

we've done royal with the kids and they loved the "kids camp" as they called it there.

 

Links to good threads are welcome

 

Thanks!

Adam

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

 

22 hours ago, Covepointcruiser said:

Children in the U.S. are in school in October so there should be no crowds in the kids camp.   When do Canadian children go back to school?

 

Canadian schools all start around Labour Day (Sept long weekend) however that said many Canadian schools (my kids included) have a "fall break" that will be around Canadian Thanksgiving. (Which is in October).  I haven't been on a cruise around then however some family members have been and noted while there aren't the number of kids seen on spring break cruises there will be other kids and certainly other Canadians that time of year.  

 

My older daughter is an introvert so doesn't love kids club - but my younger one?!?!?!  We honestly can't pull her out of there...she is there as much as possible!  For an idea of kid's club activities I posted some of the kids itineraries in this post:

 

 

 

[ozziebound]

Thanks for all your responses... 

Anyone know if they cut down the hours of activities if there aren't a lot of kids onboard? 

And are there options for kids to stay late Night at fun factory like on royal? I think celebrity cut out in room babysittng recently right?

Adam

[Crowls]

Great questions - I just checked with the kids to see......they said that last summer there were a few times that there were only 2-3 kids at the club and they didn't close. That said I should note my youngest was 12 at the time so a little older (different part of the club?).  Not sure if they cut back based on the number of kids on board but I know from Carnival & RC they may just combine some of the age groups, not cut hours.  

There were later options at the club as well and there were PJ parties, etc (I want to say until midnight but I can't recall for sure). 

[Auburn1998]

Our 10 year old has done 7 cruises on Celebrity and loves it! Not having as many kids on board gives them more opportunities.  

[MarLieb]

8 hours ago, ozziebound said:

Thanks for all your responses... 

Anyone know if they cut down the hours of activities if there aren't a lot of kids onboard? 

And are there options for kids to stay late Night at fun factory like on royal? I think celebrity cut out in room babysittng recently right?

Adam

 

I can't speak to reduced hours as we've only sailed X during Christmas weeks when they are running full force in Fun Factory.  We were just on the Summit over Christmas week 2019 and they did have a "sleep over" after hours option which ran from 10:00 pm - 1:00 am.  If memory serves, it was $8 an hour for those hours.  I think the kids could stay even later, but the per hour price went up again after 1:00 am.  My son is older than your children, but he really enjoyed going to Fun Factory.  They always had a lot of activities going on and would even bring them to Oceanview for things like cookie decorating and the Solarium for water games.

[ozziebound]

This is all so useful thanks everyone! 

 

We've splurge on a celebrity suite so that we can try the suite perks and also have the kids in the living room and retreat to our bedroom! 

I'm told we'll never be able to go back after we try it! 😉

Adam 

[ywgckp]

My 8 year old son loved the kids club on the Edge - preferred it to the kids club on the Disney ships we've been on.

 

I think the crowds were smaller so he got to know the other kids better, and the staff better.

 

There are less family activities to do together outside the clubs than on Royal or Disney (no waterslides, etc).  But there was never a shortage of things to do, and overall we enjoyed Celebrity more than Disney.

[ozziebound]

On 1/19/2020 at 10:02 PM, ywgckp said:

My 8 year old son loved the kids club on the Edge - preferred it to the kids club on the Disney ships we've been on.

 

I think the crowds were smaller so he got to know the other kids better, and the staff better.

 

There are less family activities to do together outside the clubs than on Royal or Disney (no waterslides, etc).  But there was never a shortage of things to do, and overall we enjoyed Celebrity more than Disney.

That's great to hear about your eight year old! Our oldest will be 7.5 during our cruise so this is Certainly a good parallel. 

Amazing that you liked celebrity more than Disney. We love celebrity but we've heard so many good things about Disney... And it's so expensive!

[LouieT]

We brought our whole family 4-84 to Le petit chef dining. We all LOVED IT!

[MarLieb]

On 1/20/2020 at 12:52 AM, ozziebound said:

This is all so useful thanks everyone! 

 

We've splurge on a celebrity suite so that we can try the suite perks and also have the kids in the living room and retreat to our bedroom! 

I'm told we'll never be able to go back after we try it! 😉

Adam 

We done two cruises on X with our son, both in suites - we LOVE it!  Luminae is fantastic and the staff there and in the Retreat will treat your children like gold.  There is definitely no going back for us.  

[china1095]

Can anyone tell me at what time the kids club opens at night on the Edge on embarkation day?

[georgiaguy]

It should be the regular evening opening time so unless they have changed things that would be 7pm-10pm. 

[Syrreal]

Our last cruise with the kids, there were less than 10 kids under 16 on board and only about 5 of them ever used the kids club including my 2. Sometimes my 2 were the only ones there.  They loved the personalized attention and never once was an activity canceled because there were few children.  I think they may have even been able to do a few more things than they would usually do.  

[georgiaguy]

My experience was that typically, no matter how many or how few, 50% of the kids onboard will not participate. Anytime school is in session that means a lot more individualized experience.