Decent (not great) experience overall. Definitely avoid traveling with young kids or with individuals with special needs. If you’re not going to visit the specialty restaurants the food will be pretty repetitive at the buffet after a few days so you might want to maximize the visits at the Eparnay dining room where the do vary the food items daily. The highlight of the trip is definitely the stop at Los Cabos. Ensenada doesn’t have much to offer in comparison. Puerto Vallarta is decent but you really need to know where to go.
Hope this helps!
Embarkation
5 out of 5
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
3 out of 5
Servers were friendly, efficient and cordial, however, whereas other cruise lines change the entire buffet every day Celebrity only varies the food options in the main dining rooms but the options on the buffet are practically the same during the entire course of the cruise, after a few days it feels pretty repetitive. Also, the quality of the food varies greatly between the main dining room and the buffet, e.g. we ate tiramisu on both the one in the main dining was pretty decent and the one on the buffet was frankly tasteless
Onboard Activities
2 out of 5
The pools and hot tubs were okay, however, this is by and large a cruise line catered to adults, couples, solo and retired travelers. There were multiple people having their drinks INSIDE the pool and they complained about our kids playing in it. There is more than 1 pool and even a pool that’s exclusive for adults but because there are so few children on board adults feel entitled to do whatever they want wherever they want and push children away... It was frankly infuriating. Perhaps Celebrity should advertise itself as a cruise line really apt for adults and families with older children, and definitely drop the “Autism friendly” stance from their promotional materials, it really isn’t.
Last but not least, there’s a game room in deck 15 with a hockey table and arcade games, everything was off. After we reported it a lady came in to tell us that effectively, nothing was working and then showed us another Wii-like console in deck 5 and then she disappeared. The game kept asking us to press buttons on a remote but no remote was available, really disappointing
Entertainment
4 out of 5
Decent overall. There were a couple shows that should be either repurposed or cancelled. The rock, R&B, broadway show and the illusionist were pretty decent. There was a comedian that was supposed to be family friendly that really wasn’t and a show that intends to be a mix of classical and modern that’s poorly executed and frankly weird at times.
Children's Programs
1 out of 5
Activities for kids were practically nonexistent and the schedule for such activities was rather limited. We only left our kids once but there was only 1 lady to take care of 12+ kids of all ages. Since our children have special needs she basically told us that they didn’t have the necessary staff to take care of him. Celebrity advertises itself as an Autism friendly cruise line, IMHO such stance is disingenuous and deceiving.
Service and Staff
5 out of 5
Our servers were very cordial, friendly and efficient
Ship Quality
5 out of 5
Cabin / Stateroom
5 out of 5
Ship tip
Don’t travel with young children or with individuals with special needs
I've only been on one Celebrity Cruise; but based on the general reputation, I wouldn't pick them for a cruise with kids. Check out Gary Bainbridge's recent video about Celebrity moving to a younger clientele with children on their new ships. He also said the older ships like the Solstice were still for codgers.
I would assume you are correct that Celebrity doesn't cater to kids. Especially kids who need a lot of organized activities to have fun. But Celebrity never has advertised as being that so I wouldn't count that against them.
Most ships I have been on state between 7 and 8:30AM for vacating rooms, an hour wait is actually a rather short time that could have been spent in the buffet. Not that many kids on board and the ship was at 50% on a week that most kids are in school. I saw several kids in the two aft pools, especially the shallow one. And frankly, the forward adult pool was a bit on the chilly side. Only ate in the buffet for lunch, I found it to be at least half different every day.
Honestly, I understand your frustration but I don’t see cruises being family friendly at all unless you are on a Disney cruise. Any other cruise line is aimed at adults.
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