Apex - Kids Camp at Sea

[Hafa2990]

We booked on the Apex for next spring and will be traveling with our 8- & 10-year-old children. I'm having a bit of buyer's remorse now -- had looked at some options on RC and NCL but all were older ships and the Apex just seemed so nice and elegant, and with an itinerary we liked better. But with 3.5 sea days out of, 7 I am getting worried that there won't be enough for kids to do on ship. The kids club is on deck 3 -- it looks nice, but I don't love the idea of the kids being in what seems like a bunker all day playing video games or watching movies when we're in the middle of the Caribbean! They will spend some time with us at the pool and they are big readers so I am sure they can find some cozy nooks, but I am worried now that there's no sport court or any other type of activities on board. 

 

Does anyone have direct experience with "Camp at Sea" on Apex? Do they let the kids out of that room at all? What kinds of things do they do, especially on a ship that seems more like a piece of art than an active resort!? I wasn't interested in a huge ship with waterslides and ziplines, but I fear that with the Apex I've gone too far in the other direction now towards adult chill cruise and I am not sure how the kids will do.

 

My kids have never cruised before, and it's been 18 years for the adults. Feeling overwhelmed already!

 

 

[mandream]

My two boys, now 10 and 12 have been on many Celebrity cruises and love it.

 

They have different personalities and my younger son (he's more social) likes Camp at Sea more than my older son.  They don't have to spend the whole day there - you can drop them off and sign them out when you want.  There are also a lot of activities around the ship on sea days that my kids like - Triva, game shows, etc.

 

We were on the Oasis in March and we asked the kids if they wanted to do it again next year.  They both loved it - but still decided to do Celebrity next March rather than the Oasis  because they didn't want to the exact same itinerary again and are super happy on Celebrity.

 

Obviously all kids are different.  I expect some might not be happy on Celebrity - but the kids program is great and their are other options as well.  I'm sure they will have a great time.

 

Mike

[mahdnc]

2 hours ago, Hafa2990 said:

We booked on the Apex for next spring and will be traveling with our 8- & 10-year-old children. I'm having a bit of buyer's remorse now -- had looked at some options on RC and NCL but all were older ships and the Apex just seemed so nice and elegant, and with an itinerary we liked better. But with 3.5 sea days out of, 7 I am getting worried that there won't be enough for kids to do on ship. The kids club is on deck 3 -- it looks nice, but I don't love the idea of the kids being in what seems like a bunker all day playing video games or watching movies when we're in the middle of the Caribbean! They will spend some time with us at the pool and they are big readers so I am sure they can find some cozy nooks, but I am worried now that there's no sport court or any other type of activities on board. 

 

Does anyone have direct experience with "Camp at Sea" on Apex? Do they let the kids out of that room at all? What kinds of things do they do, especially on a ship that seems more like a piece of art than an active resort!? I wasn't interested in a huge ship with waterslides and ziplines, but I fear that with the Apex I've gone too far in the other direction now towards adult chill cruise and I am not sure how the kids will do.

 

My kids have never cruised before, and it's been 18 years for the adults. Feeling overwhelmed already!

 

 

 

I think your kids will be just fine!  We have taken our two kids on Celebrity cruises since they were 7 mo old (son) and 3 yrs old (daughter) in 1996.  They have been on a total of 14 Celebrity cruises--many when the ships were brand new like Apex.  They absolutely loved the kids club which was branded as the Fun Factory, now Camp at Sea.  Many of their scheduled activities took them out of the Fun Factory itself.

 

Last month we took our first cruise without the kids--it was a 15 night Transatlantic cruise on Constellation.  Our cruise had only eight kids under 18 years old on board.  Here is a photo I took of the kids program that was scheduled for them:

 

 

 

Edited December 6, 2022 by mahdnc

[Whinenowine]

They'll be fine.  My kids loved Camp at Sea, as I think most do.  To be fair, much of that depends on (1) how many other kids of like age are on board, and (2) the quality of the staff.  But even when there were only half a dozen other kids their age on board they found a way to have fun. Generally there are lots of activities, though, my kids have always treated it as place to hang for 2-3hrs rather than an all day kind of thing.

[terrydtx]

We are taking our 12 year old granddaughter on the Equinox next June, we have 3 sea days but since she has never been on a cruise, she is so excited about doing this. We had looked at RCL Oasis of the Seas for similar itineraries, but my wife and I did not like what was offered with a suite. We are doing a SS on the Equinox and want all the retreat amenities for all 3 of us. Our GD may want to spend a couple of hours in the Camp on sea days which is fine. She also gets a $300 OBC, free premium Wi-Fi and the unlimited non alcohol drinks package since she is in the retreat with us. 

 

We took our then 10 year old grandson on an Alaska Cruise in 2019 and he loved the experience and found plenty to do in the Kids Camp, he liked going there after dinner to hang out while we went to the shows. He had been on a Disney cruise with his parents the year before but said he liked the Alaska cruise much better..

[rmalbers]

As some others have said, they will be fine.  Every cruise line has the kid thing figured out.   Kids are so much easier to keep busy than adults.  Not sure they do it all the time, but the end of cruise, kid performances, are really fun to watch.