Traveling with Children

[margsipie]

Hi all,

 

We are trying to plan a cruise with my husband, mom, and my 12 month old son.  My son is not vaccinated (we are).  I reviewed Celebrity's website and spent 40 minutes on the phone with them today.  Even they are not 100% clear on their own policy, so I'm curious if anyone has first hand experience.  It seems that unvaccinated children can only leave the ship on Celebrity shore excursions.  What seems to be unclear is the policy for the family traveling with the child.  

 

If you have been on Celebrity recently with an unvaccinated child, were you able to leave the ship (leaving your child behind with another family member) and explore on your own?  Or were you also required to only go on a Celebrity shore excursion?  Thank you!

[cruisestitch]

Where are you Cruising and when?

[margsipie]

Aiming for the Caribbean in September.  Not sure on specific ports yet.

[Ferry_Watcher]

I think the ship has to respect whatever the visiting port-of-calls' local public health requirements are.  If you were cruising to Alaska (and a stop in Victoria, BC), everyone would be welcome in all the ports.

It's not surprising that the folks on the phones couldn't give you a definitive answer. 

[kathynorth]

What you are allowed to do off ship will depend on the regulations of the ports you visit. We recently cruised to Bermuda with a not yet fully vaccinated 5 yo. Bermuda regulations state that unvaccinated children 11 and younger can get off the ship if they are traveling with vaccinated adults. Since we are fully vaccinated we were able to go off ship on our own with or without our 5yo while in Bermuda. It can get a bit confusing while visiting multiple ports in the Caribbean, so you'll need to check the visitor regulations for each port you plan to visit.

[Jeremiah1212]

Directly from the website today:

 

All vaccinated guests may go ashore on their own in ports where it's permitted.

Please be aware that as destination conditions change, you may be required to go ashore on a shore excursion provided by Celebrity Cruises. This will help to keep you safe and healthy for the rest of your vacation.

 

Unvaccinated guests and families with unvaccinated children may only go ashore on a shore excursion provided by Celebrity Cruises.

 

Shore excursion guidance is listed below. We will continue to monitor and update as any changes to local requirements occur.

 

Excursions provided by Celebrity Cruises are required in: 

• Bridgetown, Barbados
• Castries, St. Lucia

In St Lucia and Barbados, fully vaccinated guests may also choose to visit the enclosed port area to enjoy the shops and in that area can also purchase an approved independent tour provided by the local government. Please note that these tours are unaffiliated with Celebrity.

[Homosassa]

Don't worry about excursions yet.

 

What is more important is that you be aware of Celebrity's vaccination requirements for your cruise. Your son may be required to be vaccinated in order to cruise.

 

Please read this from their website:

 

https://www.celebritycruises.com/healthy-at-sea/travel

[cruisestitch]

The child is 12 months old. I don’t think there’s a vaccine available for one so young

[Homosassa]

4 minutes ago, cruisestitch said:

The child is 12 months old. I don’t think there’s a vaccine available for one so young

Sorry, need another cup of coffee. I read 12 year old.

[seabeew]

21 hours ago, margsipie said:

Hi all,

 

We are trying to plan a cruise with my husband, mom, and my 12 month old son.  My son is not vaccinated (we are).  I reviewed Celebrity's website and spent 40 minutes on the phone with them today.  Even they are not 100% clear on their own policy, so I'm curious if anyone has first hand experience.  It seems that unvaccinated children can only leave the ship on Celebrity shore excursions.  What seems to be unclear is the policy for the family traveling with the child.  

 

If you have been on Celebrity recently with an unvaccinated child, were you able to leave the ship (leaving your child behind with another family member) and explore on your own?  Or were you also required to only go on a Celebrity shore excursion?  Thank you!

We were on the Apex in March. We met a young couple with an under two year old. When they tried to get off the ship without a shore excursion , they were stopped by security . The parents had done their research found out that families with children under two could get off the ship without an excursion. Security scanned the child’s card and off they went.

[UnorigionalName]

2 hours ago, cruisestitch said:

The child is 12 months old. I don’t think there’s a vaccine available for one so young

 

Are you in the US? Both moderna and pfizer have pediatric shots approved for 6 months and older.

[Kate8888]

3 hours ago, seabeew said:

We were on the Apex in March. We met a young couple with an under two year old. When they tried to get off the ship without a shore excursion , they were stopped by security . The parents had done their research found out that families with children under two could get off the ship without an excursion. Security scanned the child’s card and off they went.

 Does anyone know more about this? Or have a link to a policy document or anything?

We have a cruise on the Apex booked in August (Norway) with our 12-month-old, and do not want to go on excursions. We just want to explore the ports by ourselves for a bit in between his nap times. I was not aware of this rule and would have never booked with celebrity if I had known this. So hopefully it really is their policy that with children under two you can get off the ship without an excursion, but so far I can't find anything about it.

[mandream]

22 minutes ago, Kate8888 said:

 Does anyone know more about this? Or have a link to a policy document or anything?

We have a cruise on the Apex booked in August (Norway) with our 12-month-old, and do not want to go on excursions. We just want to explore the ports by ourselves for a bit in between his nap times. I was not aware of this rule and would have never booked with celebrity if I had known this. So hopefully it really is their policy that with children under two you can get off the ship without an excursion, but so far I can't find anything about it.

 

This would more likely be dictated by the policies of each country in question rather than Celebrity.