How many children on Celebrity during school holidays?

[dingdong70]

Hello

I'm looking at booking a last-minute Celebrity Edge Med cruise for the last May bank holiday week but have just realised that this week is half-term school holiday.
Will the ship be overrun with kids?   Is Celebrity popular with families?

I'm keen on avoid screaming kids as much as possible these days so wondering if I need to change my dates  🙂

Thanks!

[Sunshine Bob]

Whilst no one can give you a definite answer to exactly how many kids there will be it safe to say two things...

 

(1) there will be more on board than the weeks either side of the one you have booked as the kids are off school that week.

(2) there won't be as many as there will be on comparable more "kid friendly" cruise ships like Royal Caribbean,  Princess and Disney.

 

If you want kid free then you need to look at 18+ cruise ships like virgin. If you just want to mitigate the liklihood of lots of kids then you should travel outside school holidays.

Edited May 11, 2023 by Sunshine Bob

[RMac713]

I "heard" during our spring break cruise (week before Easter) that there were 400 kids on board a full ship.  Only a few were in the retreat.  On the last night we did see kids in the teen club having an activity around the pool and ping pong table but nowhere near the numbers we saw when we cruised Disney.

[bigbenboys]

Is this bank holiday in the US or in Europe? Less children on cruises longer than 7 nights. We really dont see that many children on Celebrity. Seem to be more children on the Caribbean sailings. We dont cruise the Caribbean anymore.

[Pickels]

Kids on a cruise should never be a problem, UNLESS, they are not supervised or told how to behave by their parents.  Some parents simply let their kids run wild on a ship; that's when the problem happens.  We've been on several cruises since 2003, and when the kids behave and/or when the staff provides activity for them, it's never a problem.  

[Loracpin2]

5 hours ago, dingdong70 said:

Hello

I'm looking at booking a last-minute Celebrity Edge Med cruise for the last May bank holiday week but have just realised that this week is half-term school holiday.
Will the ship be overrun with kids?   Is Celebrity popular with families?

I'm keen on avoid screaming kids as much as possible these days so wondering if I need to change my dates  🙂

Thanks!

Then choose a cruise line that does not cater to FAMILIES!!!!!!!!!!!!

[upwarduk]

4 hours ago, bigbenboys said:

Is this bank holiday in the US or in Europe?

UK.

[Orator]

I would prefer screaming kids to adults who wanted to get full value from their drink package. General rule is that the shorter the cruise more kids and drunk adults.

[odyssyus]

All of them...

[Oxo]

Just got off the Equinox. Six day Cruise to Western Caribbean.

417 kids. Running thru main areas on Deck 5. Two ship officers just sat there and watch them do it.

 

A young child\girl about 4 or 5 gets on elevator by herself. We asked her if she was OK and knew where she was going. No reply. Got off at next deck.

 

Parents, wake up! 

[mom says]

On 5/11/2023 at 5:21 PM, Loracpin2 said:

Then choose a cruise line that does not cater to FAMILIES!!!!!!!!!!!!

Why do you feel the need to shout?

 

Celebrity is not known as a line that caters to families, although they do provide child activity centres.

The OP is apparently concerned with the second UK bank holiday at the end of May. If the cruise is longer than a week, there likely won't be many children on board. But you might see if you could go earlier, between the 2 bank holidays, or on the cruise immediately following the second.

 

[upwarduk]

13 hours ago, mom says said:

If the cruise is longer than a week, there likely won't be many children on board.

Uk summer school holidays now, so who knows how many children will be on board.

There were plenty on our Mediterranean cruise last July / August.

[chemmo]

In our experience if you look for a cruise 8+ nights child numbers drop even during school holiday periods.

[LadyL1]

I wrote this after a week on the Silhouette in May half term (UK) this year.

Probably at least 300+ children on board, and the ship was heaving. This was a 3 generation family trip, and myself, in the oldest category. Never again. I am afraid some parents seem to switch off from child responsibility!

However, we had sailed Celebrity before and now looking forward to a September cruise on the same ship. Just choose sailing dates according to what you know you will feel comfortable with.

 

[Esprit]

Currently on Reflection and there are 500 under 18’s on board. You wouldn’t believe it wandering around the ship. No kids loitering on the stairs either which I’ve often seen on previous cruises.

Whilst we can choose the time of year we go I prefer the summer holidays so there is a varied mix of passengers.

My fear would be to have only coffin dodgers on board!

[MISTER 67]

We cruised on the Reflection this past Easter and the ship was 400 over capacity with all of them being kids as 3rd and 4th passengers in a cabin. They were pretty well behaved with no craziness like pressing all the elevator buttons that I have seen on other cruises.

[NorthStarStateCruiser]

19 hours ago, Oxo said:

A young child\girl about 4 or 5 gets on elevator by herself. We asked her if she was OK and knew where she was going. No reply. Got off at next deck.

Little do you know that you encountered a ghost.

[mahdnc]

1 hour ago, NorthStarStateCruiser said:

Little do you know that you encountered a ghost.

 

redrum?

[phoenix_dream]

On 5/11/2023 at 12:04 PM, Pickels said:

Kids on a cruise should never be a problem, UNLESS, they are not supervised or told how to behave by their parents.  Some parents simply let their kids run wild on a ship; that's when the problem happens.  We've been on several cruises since 2003, and when the kids behave and/or when the staff provides activity for them, it's never a problem.  

That's not the point of the question.  Some people prefer to sail on more adult cruises.  Kids are kids and even well-behaved ones result in a different vibe on the ship.  You can't expect them to act like mini-adults, even if they are behaving well.  I know, some adults cause more issues than any kids.  Again, not the point.  And I am not anti-kid.  I have three, and I sailed with them as youngsters as well.  

[CaribbeanBound]

Typically, a 3-5-7 day Caribbean cruise during a school holiday will have the potential to host a lot more kids than a cruise almost anywhere else and/or cruises of longer than 7 days.