Celebrity in Europe with kids?

StarSeven7

DIS Veteran
Joined
Nov 13, 2017
We just got back from our first cruise a month ago, on the Disney Wonder, and we loved it! We're thinking of doing a Mediterranean cruise in the summer of 2021 to celebrate my 40th birthday (combined with a land trip). I'm not interested in DCL for this trip because 1) it's way too expensive and 2) we're not particularly interested in the DCL ports since we've done most of them on our own already. I found a cruise on Celebrity that I'm interested in that has more unique ports that are all new to us. I would not hesitate to book it if it were just DH and I but we will be traveling with our kids - DD will be 11 at the time and DS will be 8. My kids absolutely loved DCL and they love all things Disney but they really enjoy other non-Disney vacations that we take as well. They're generally well-behaved kids but they're pretty high energy so I'm a bit worried about them being in a more adult-focused environment like Celebrity. Will there be a decent amount of kids on a summer Mediterranean cruise? I'm worried I will feel stressed if people are looking down on our kids if they're not always perfectly behaved. I know the kids clubs won't be like the Oceaneer's Club but I think they would be fine - my kids generally like any activities. How are the kid's meals on Celebrity? They're both fairly picky eaters but if there are a few kid-friendly options we should be okay. I'm not sure we would do a lot of the sit-down dinners, we would probably end up at the buffets most nights. It looks like there are later stays at some of the ports and we prefer to not have super long dinners. We don't need rock-climbing walls, ice skating rinks, etc to keep our kids entertained and DH and I love to sit outside and/or listen to relaxing music. It feels like Celebrity would be a good fit for us if we felt confident that the kids would be okay! Can anyone provide any feedback? Thanks!
 
We are doing a Europe cruise (Baltic) in 2021 with our kids. They will be 9 and 7 when we go. We have done Celebrity before but not with kids. We were on the Eclipse when we did Alaska in the summer a couple years ago. There weren’t many kids on the ship. I think they said less than 100 so not sure if that is normal or not. I’m sure others will have different experiences but we felt that we wouldn’t bring kids on a celebrity ship. The vibe was different. As adults we absolutely loved the cruise and would sail with them again. Again, we didn’t bring our kids on that trip so we don’t have first hand experience it was just how we felt based on what we saw. I can’t speak to the kids clubs though.

One thing about non-Caribbean cruises is that they are generally more port intensive so for us it’s more about the ports and less about the ship. If the ports are what you want I would focus on that more than the activities on the ship.

have you looked at NCL or Royal? We have our cruise booked with Royal for next summer and got a great deal through our TA. We paid 6k Canadian for 2 connecting inside staterooms for a 9 night Baltic cruise. We originally had an ncl cruise booked as they have some nice family rooms but the two inside rooms were about 1500+ cheaper for almost the same itinerary. our Kids love the royal kids club so they’ll head there for the 2 sea days.

most importantly though, especially with Europe, pick the itinerary you want and dont worry too much what others think. You’ll likely spend way less time on the ship anyway.
 
We are doing a Europe cruise (Baltic) in 2021 with our kids. They will be 9 and 7 when we go. We have done Celebrity before but not with kids. We were on the Eclipse when we did Alaska in the summer a couple years ago. There weren’t many kids on the ship. I think they said less than 100 so not sure if that is normal or not. I’m sure others will have different experiences but we felt that we wouldn’t bring kids on a celebrity ship. The vibe was different. As adults we absolutely loved the cruise and would sail with them again. Again, we didn’t bring our kids on that trip so we don’t have first hand experience it was just how we felt based on what we saw. I can’t speak to the kids clubs though.

One thing about non-Caribbean cruises is that they are generally more port intensive so for us it’s more about the ports and less about the ship. If the ports are what you want I would focus on that more than the activities on the ship.

have you looked at NCL or Royal? We have our cruise booked with Royal for next summer and got a great deal through our TA. We paid 6k Canadian for 2 connecting inside staterooms for a 9 night Baltic cruise. We originally had an ncl cruise booked as they have some nice family rooms but the two inside rooms were about 1500+ cheaper for almost the same itinerary. our Kids love the royal kids club so they’ll head there for the 2 sea days.

most importantly though, especially with Europe, pick the itinerary you want and dont worry too much what others think. You’ll likely spend way less time on the ship anyway.
Thanks for the response! Ports are definitely our main priority! That’s the only reason we are even considering a cruise in Europe - to get to certain ports that would be difficult to add onto our land vacation otherwise. We have priced out Royal and NCL as well and the prices are all similar but the NCL cruise includes perks and the others don’t. I’m leaning towards the Celebrity cruise the most because those are all new ports for us and the NCL and Royal Cruise have some repeat ports for us (although they would be new to our kids). I do get the vibe though that Celebrity caters mostly to adults even though kids are allowed. I just don’t want to feel like we stick out!
 
We haven't sailed on Celebrity but we sailed to Alaska on an adult (geriatric) cruise line and it has been my kids' favorite cruise ever. They loved that there weren't that many kids because it allowed them to bond with the few kids on board, and the counselors in the kids clubs were able to really engage with them. They have hated the Disney and Royal clubs which are a total madhouse and the counselors are herding cats instead of talking to the kids.

Did people "look down" on my kids? Probably, but I don't care. They are kids. They were 12 and 14 at the time and weren't unruly or anything. The old people on the ship were far worse than any of the kids. One guy sat in the lounge clipping his toenails. ***? I'll take some kids running around over that any day!

We are sailing Celebrity to Europe next summer and while the kids will be older (15 and 17) I am looking forward to a more grown up experience. I don't enjoy being awakened by kids running up and down the halls or screaming in their rooms. My kids never acted like that (really, they didn't) so I really don't appreciate that sort of thing in other people's kids.

As said above, a Med sailing isn't about the ship, it is about the ports. You'll hardly be on the ship. I'd book it in a heartbeat even if my kids were younger.
 


We haven't sailed on Celebrity but we sailed to Alaska on an adult (geriatric) cruise line and it has been my kids' favorite cruise ever. They loved that there weren't that many kids because it allowed them to bond with the few kids on board, and the counselors in the kids clubs were able to really engage with them. They have hated the Disney and Royal clubs which are a total madhouse and the counselors are herding cats instead of talking to the kids.

Did people "look down" on my kids? Probably, but I don't care. They are kids. They were 12 and 14 at the time and weren't unruly or anything. The old people on the ship were far worse than any of the kids. One guy sat in the lounge clipping his toenails. ***? I'll take some kids running around over that any day!

We are sailing Celebrity to Europe next summer and while the kids will be older (15 and 17) I am looking forward to a more grown up experience. I don't enjoy being awakened by kids running up and down the halls or screaming in their rooms. My kids never acted like that (really, they didn't) so I really don't appreciate that sort of thing in other people's kids.

As said above, a Med sailing isn't about the ship, it is about the ports. You'll hardly be on the ship. I'd book it in a heartbeat even if my kids were younger.
Thanks for the great reply!
 

GET A DISNEY VACATION QUOTE

Dreams Unlimited Travel is committed to providing you with the very best vacation planning experience possible. Our Vacation Planners are experts and will share their honest advice to help you have a magical vacation.

Let us help you with your next Disney Vacation!





Top