Celebrity Galaxy with two young children -- any advice?

[huangichen]

Hi --

I've reserved a cabin on the Celebrity Galaxy's March 26 sailing out of San Juan. It's an 11-night cruise that will take us to the Southern Caribbean. I've reserved an oceanview cabin, mid-ship level, on the Continental Deck (one of the lower decks, right beneath the Grand Foyer and the dining room). However, I may just switch to an inside cabin, on the Vista Deck, and that one would be higher up and on the same level as the Children's Pool and where the kids' activities take place. My husband and I are taking our two kids (ages 7 and 4) with us on this cruise, so perhaps the Vista deck location may be more ideal?

Here's the catch -- the oceanview cabin will actually cost $100 LESS than the inside cabin. However, I'm wondering if the location of the inside cabin would make the lack of window worthwhile. Any thoughts?

Also, any comments re: the children's program on Celebrity? I've cruised in the past, but never on Celebrity, and while I love kids, my husband and I are staying away from the Carnival and RCL cruise lines, where there may just be too many kids, kwim? This cruise will not take place during "peak" vacation time, so not sure if a kids program will even be available on the cruise.

Thanks for any/all comments. I'm sure I'll have more questions as the departure date gets closer upon us ...

Linda

[Rev22:17]

Linda,

Originally Posted by You

I've reserved a cabin on the Celebrity Galaxy's March 26 sailing out of San Juan. It's an 11-night cruise that will take us to the Southern Caribbean. I've reserved an oceanview cabin, mid-ship level, on the Continental Deck (one of the lower decks, right beneath the Grand Foyer and the dining room). However, I may just switch to an inside cabin, on the Vista Deck, and that one would be higher up and on the same level as the Children's Pool and where the kids' activities take place. My husband and I are taking our two kids (ages 7 and 4) with us on this cruise, so perhaps the Vista deck location may be more ideal?

Here's the catch -- the oceanview cabin will actually cost $100 LESS than the inside cabin. However, I'm wondering if the location of the inside cabin would make the lack of window worthwhile. Any thoughts?

The location of the cabin is not that big of a deal because everything on a cruise ship is pretty close by -- within 1,000 feet and an elevator ride -- anyway. The higher location might be a little more convenient when at sea, but the lower cabin will be equally more convenient during the ports of call. Thus, I don't see any benefit to changing cabins.

Originally Posted by You

Also, any comments re: the children's program on Celebrity? I've cruised in the past, but never on Celebrity, and while I love kids, my husband and I are staying away from the Carnival and RCL cruise lines, where there may just be too many kids, kwim?

Celebrity's children's program and youth program seem to work very well, with lots of activities for each age group that the participants really enjoy. Your children will have a great time!

Originally Posted by You

This cruise will not take place during "peak" vacation time, so not sure if a kids program will even be available on the cruise.

Hmmm....

The patterns of school vacation actually vary considerably across the country, and sometimes even in neighboring states. Here in Massachusetts, for example, most school districts have vacation during the week of President's Day in February and the week of Patriot's Day (a major state holiday commemorating the Battle of Lexington and Concord that marked the beginning of the American Revolution) in April, but our neighbors in New Hampshire have vacation one week later. In other parts of the country, schools may have a week off sometime in March or, in the South, either "Holy Week" (the week fo Good Friday) or "Easter Week" (the week beginning on Easter Sunday). The practical reality, therefore, is that almost every week from the middle of February to the end of April is school vacation somewhere, so the "peak" time for cruise vacations to warm destinations like the Caribbean and the Mexican Riviera apans this whole period. If you check cruise pricing, you'll notice that cruises are a lot cheaper between, but not including, the week of New Year's Day and the week of President's Day and in May than during this peak period.

That said, there are two other realities.

>> 1. Celebrity has more formality, with "informal" evenings in addition to the "formal" evenings and sometimes more "formal" evenings as well, than most other lines. As a result, many parents decide that Celebrity is not a good choice for their families.

>> 2. Celebrity's itineraries of eleven nights operate from Monday of one week to Friday of the next week, so they don't fit into very many school vacation schedules. As a result, this itinerary will not be one of the more popular choices for families with school-age children.

Overall, you probably will find that there will be some children but not as many as on seven night cruises at this time of year.

And Celebrity does operate the children's and youth programs so long as there are participants on ships that have children's and youth centers, as MV Galaxy does.

Norm.

[nbevins]

we have done 40 cruises and have learned to avoid rooms under public roms-dining casino theatre etc..Noise can be a problem

[gavbazzy]

Hi,
We just returned from an 11 night Southern Caribbean cruise on the Galaxy. We had our five year old with us. There was a children's program onboard. The counselors were very good with the children but the program was not promoted well on the ship. There were 400 children onboard and at any given time there were maybe 10 children in the Fun Factory. The children's program was not promoted well at all.

Also, we were very disappointed with the condition of the ship and the attitude of the staff. This was our seventh Celebrity cruise and it was by far the worse cruise we have ever taken. The itinerary was great but the ship is tired and in dire need of refurbishment. We were given torn sheets and a torn dust ruffle. Our room was not cleaned well and we found someone else's pills under the sofa bed. Luckily we found them and not our five year old! We had many other issues with the staff as well.

We usually do not complain about cruises and the age of the ship normally does not matter to us however this cruise ship is worth letting people know about before they board her. We were on the Horizon and loved it. The staff was great which is part of what makes a good cruise.
The cruise director left after the first few days of the cruise supposedly due to a family emergency however we heard he was asked to leave. He had a major attitude problem. He was never replaced and his staff just did not do a decent job in the absence of a cruise director.

I would not sail the Galaxy again until we were reassured that it was refurbished like the Century and that the attitude problem of the staff was dealt with.