Should I be worried about my kiddos?

[schittenden]

1 hour ago, TeeRick said:

I am not commenting or judging anybody's parenting with their kids.  That is not my intent. It is difficult as I said before.   But I am making a personal observation.  And wondering what others are observing in their areas.  In my limited part of the planet and the USA,  the vast majority of kids under 12 do not wear masks indoors or outdoors.  It is very noticeable compared to a couple of months ago.  When the CDC relaxed the mask rules for vaccinated adults it seems to now be translated by practice to unvaccinated kids. 

You’re absolutely correct. I am routinely annoyed by children in restaurants and other areas without masks (other than when eating obviously). Lots of people don’t follow the recommendations. 

[lobsternight]

Switching back to Kiddos on Celebrity, the whole reason we now cruise Celebrity is because of a 12 yr old kid.  My old mother really wanted a vacation so I offered to send her on another Alaska cruise, along with my eldest son as a companion.  I did some research, and at that time Celebrity allowed 12 yr olds in the teen club, I believe the only line at the time.  He was going to be just shy of 13 so teen club would be a bonus for him.  Up to that point we were strictly sailing with NCL.

 

When they got back my son was over the moon about Celebrity and their ship, I think it was the Century.  It was like oh Dad you have to go on this ship, I had so much fun, I want to show you around ISP, DAd I had crispy frog legs and they were so good, so on and so on. Grandma liked it too.  The next year I took us on the Infinity,  the kid was right, been on many Celebrity cruises since.  My youngest son also loves the kids club and everything about the ships.

 

As far as behavior goes, the boys know my expectations, and there has never been an incident. I use the MDR as a lesson in manners and proper social behavior.  Now my eldest son, about to be 21, appreciates this as he takes girlfriends out on dinner dates.  The boys understand how the table is set, how to use the utensils, how to be polite to waitstaff, and so on.  On our next cruise I will take my eldest to Murano to step things up, I hope the sommelier with work with him on pairing and tasting the wine.

 

My kiddos love the MDR for dinner, and they can buffet the rest of the time if they want.  So is my plan working? Last cruise I picked up my youngest son from the kids club.  We were already dressed for dinner, but he looked just fine.  I said to him we are just going to go to the MDR right now.  He looked me straight in the eye and said Dad, I have to change my shirt, we are eating in the dining room.

 

Sorry for the long post, but from our end Celebrity has been a good choice for our boys. On a final note, my youngest is developmentally delayed, the staff do a wonderful job working with him, and he is happy.

[gauchotex]

On 7/7/2021 at 2:02 AM, Unlvswezel said:

So I have 2 AQ rooms booked for the Edge on 7/24. We have taken our boys (14 and 5) on HAL twice and actually found the passengers to love on our boys. After reading some of the reports I’m worried about bringing my boys on board. We’ve never hit Celeb and I’m worried about the judgement, particularly in a post COVID cruise world. Any Celeb parents able to provide some encouragement?

 

TIA for suggestions and support!

 

I know I'm coming to the thread late and will likely be the contrarian view, but I missed this since I was sailing on the Summit this past week. What I will say is that as a parent to a 3 year old, after going on the Summit without him last week, I'm looking forward to booking a Celebrity cruise and bring him along over the next few months. So I'm sure you will have a great time with them!

Celebrity's rules for unvaccinated children under 12 are the easiest to manage, since there's fewer testing required than RCL's and more activities open for them than Carnival. We stopped by to check out the kids club and it had a lot of activities planned, with very few kids on the ship, meaning a LOT of individual engagement from the staff (since our son is a toddler, this is a plus, though if he was older he might miss having other kids to play with). Additionally, unlike other cruise lines masks are "recommended" for children, which once again takes away the stress of trying to keep a mask on a 3 year old.

 

Not sure how long sailings will be at such reduced capacity, but the amount of people onboard were so few, that in most cases you get a VERY large area of the ship to yourself when people want to socially distance... At the same time, it's important to admit that we're not fans of excursions that cram people into buses and normally prefer to stay on the ship, or go off on our own someplace we can walk from the ship, so that also minimizes our interactions with other people in confined spaces.

 

Hope you have a great time on your cruise with your family!

[Unlvswezel]

9 minutes ago, gauchotex said:

 

I know I'm coming to the thread late and will likely be the contrarian view, but I missed this since I was sailing on the Summit this past week. What I will say is that as a parent to a 3 year old, after going on the Summit without him last week, I'm looking forward to booking a Celebrity cruise and bring him along over the next few months. So I'm sure you will have a great time with them!

Celebrity's rules for unvaccinated children under 12 are the easiest to manage, since there's fewer testing required than RCL's and more activities open for them than Carnival. We stopped by to check out the kids club and it had a lot of activities planned, with very few kids on the ship, meaning a LOT of individual engagement from the staff (since our son is a toddler, this is a plus, though if he was older he might miss having other kids to play with). Additionally, unlike other cruise lines masks are "recommended" for children, which once again takes away the stress of trying to keep a mask on a 3 year old.

 

Not sure how long sailings will be at such reduced capacity, but the amount of people onboard were so few, that in most cases you get a VERY large area of the ship to yourself when people want to socially distance... At the same time, it's important to admit that we're not fans of excursions that cram people into buses and normally prefer to stay on the ship, or go off on our own someplace we can walk from the ship, so that also minimizes our interactions with other people in confined spaces.

 

Hope you have a great time on your cruise with your family!

Thanks, the feedback on this post has swung on both sides of the pendulum. I appreciate your pragmatic feedback and for sharing your experience. 

[schittenden]

2 hours ago, gauchotex said:

 

I know I'm coming to the thread late and will likely be the contrarian view, but I missed this since I was sailing on the Summit this past week. What I will say is that as a parent to a 3 year old, after going on the Summit without him last week, I'm looking forward to booking a Celebrity cruise and bring him along over the next few months. So I'm sure you will have a great time with them!

Celebrity's rules for unvaccinated children under 12 are the easiest to manage, since there's fewer testing required than RCL's and more activities open for them than Carnival. We stopped by to check out the kids club and it had a lot of activities planned, with very few kids on the ship, meaning a LOT of individual engagement from the staff (since our son is a toddler, this is a plus, though if he was older he might miss having other kids to play with). Additionally, unlike other cruise lines masks are "recommended" for children, which once again takes away the stress of trying to keep a mask on a 3 year old.

 

Not sure how long sailings will be at such reduced capacity, but the amount of people onboard were so few, that in most cases you get a VERY large area of the ship to yourself when people want to socially distance... At the same time, it's important to admit that we're not fans of excursions that cram people into buses and normally prefer to stay on the ship, or go off on our own someplace we can walk from the ship, so that also minimizes our interactions with other people in confined spaces.

 

Hope you have a great time on your cruise with your family!

Thank you for the report. This is the first I’ve heard from someone about the kid’s club status. 

[phoenix_dream]

On 7/10/2021 at 11:33 AM, Spif Barwunkel said:

Parents who want to cruise with their children – up to age 18 – and provide enjoyment, entertainment and a good fitting vibe for their children, will not choose Celebrity. They will choose X because of their own selfish reasons and the fact that they do not want to cruise on ships that cater to the young folks. It’s that simple.

 

If you want to cruise on Celebrity ships, leave the kids at home. If you want to cruise with the kids, Royal, Carnival, Disney and NCL will be a much more enjoyable vacation for them. Again, with children, the cruise is not really about the parents. Make all the excuses and comments you want, if you cruise with your kids on Celebrity you are not thinking of them at all.

 

My cruise line of choice is Celebrity. However, when taking grandkids along it’s Royal and Carnival, because that’s what they want and like. My enjoyment comes from watching them enjoy and have fun, so much more of that for children on cruise lines other than X. Pre-Covid, post-covid, it makes no difference.

 

Of course, parents, if you can’t take the high-energy, fast-paced environment of “young ships”, perhaps a land based vacation is more appropriate.

 

Mr. Barwunkel, you are way off base IMHO, in fact bordering insulting.  I cruised with my son on Celebrity probably close to 20 times or so from the time he was 6 years old until his current age of 35.  He loved it.  Not every kid is the same, just as not every person is the same.  He was not a big socializer and was very happy to enjoy some quiet time with his books and his laptop as he got older (loaded with video games and downloaded shows and movies).  We brought some board games from home and played them as a family.  We visited the pool each day we could which he loved.  The staff, particularly the MDR staff, treated him like royalty and he loved that.  Believe it or not he even liked dressing up in suit and tie when that was still a thing.  

 

Granted, the more family oriented lines did not have all the bells and whistles on them like they do now.  I'm sure he would have enjoyed those as well, and perhaps even preferred some of them.  But he had a great time and always looked forward to our cruises.

 

And last and not least, when as a family you only can afford one or maybe two vacations a year, you choose one that everyone in the family can enjoy.  That means the kids don't get the perfect vacation, nor do the parents.  But we all had a very good vacation.    It was not, nor was it meant to be, "the kids vacation" nor was it meant to be "the parents vacation".  It was a great family experience. 

[phoenix_dream]

5 hours ago, TeeRick said:

I am not commenting or judging anybody's parenting with their kids.  That is not my intent. It is difficult as I said before.   But I am making a personal observation.  And wondering what others are observing in their areas.  In my limited part of the planet and the USA,  the vast majority of kids under 12 do not wear masks indoors or outdoors.  It is very noticeable compared to a couple of months ago.  When the CDC relaxed the mask rules for vaccinated adults it seems to now be translated by practice to unvaccinated kids. 

I am finding that in the Chicago suburbs area as well.  I find it concerning for their own safety, most particularly indoors, as well as those around them.  Was at a speakeasy club last night (strange, but it did advertise as "family friendly") and there were at least a hundred people shoulder to shoulder in a fairly small room eating, drinking, and dancing.  Next to us was a table of six children, plus one infant, most of whom were under 12 years old so definitely unvaccinated.  Not one wore a mask.  Such an incredible amount of potential exposure for them, as well as to the rest of us (an older crowd so hopefully most vaccinated, but still vulnerable to an extent).

[TeeRick]

19 hours ago, ch175 said:

I think it is because most people realize that (1) data shows the risk to kids of severe illness is nearly zero and (2) a cloth mask really doesn’t do much.

 

Just look at data from schools that were open all last year. There were not any huge outbreaks reported. Look at all of the youth sports taking place. I’m not seeing widespread reports of entire teams being quarantined, or deaths among the athletes. The numbers just do not back up the armchair scientists who talk up the risks.

Risks are highly measurable for COVID since there is a huge amount of data now worldwide.  And expanded data in vaccinated vs. unvaccinated populations.  They can be explained in a factual way or dismissed or sensationalized.  It is up to the individual to understand them and make their own decisions at this point, including vaccinations, masks, crowded events.  It is up to parents to make these decisions for their younger children.  Yes it is data that supports that the risks are low for most children being exposed to COVID virus becoming seriously ill.  Agree with that.  And yes there were very few outbreaks in schools (but children had masks).  Everything you say is factual.  A cloth mask probably does a bit more than you think - but that is your evaluation of the data.

 

My previous comment relates to the question - what has changed in the evaluation of the risks in kids?  A couple of months ago it was rare in my area to see kids without masks indoors.  And many wore them outdoors.  Now it is very rare to see kids with masks in any situation.  Yes adults have become vaccinated.  That is the only relevant change in the equation.  Unvaccinated kids still carry some risk, albeit low, for becoming infected.  Less now with the virus in retreat (in the US).  But Delta variant is worrisome so CDC might still highly recommend masks for unvaccinated kids in schools and indoor crowd situations.