Is Celebrity Cruises the right fit for your family?
Cruising continues to soar in popularity with family travelers. It’s hard to argue with the convenience that a cruise offers, with varying price points and exotic ports of call around the world. With a few dozen cruises under our belt, we’ve learned that not all cruise lines are the same, not even close. Each cruise line has different amenities, activities, and vibes.
Celebrity Cruises provides a more upscale cruise vacation. For families choosing to sail with Celebrity, especially on the newer ships, expect a more chill cruise experience. Celebrity is quite different from its sister company, Royal Caribbean, when it comes to families. You won’t find water slides, zip lines, or rock walls, at least not on the Edge class ships.
My 10-year-old son had previously sailed with Disney and Royal Caribbean. He recently joined me for an adventure on the Celebrity Beyond. It’s one of the company’s newest ships, debuting in 2022.
We knew going in that the ship would be less kid-oriented. Would my son have fun? We had 7-nights to find out. Here’s what we experienced.
Cabins on Celebrity Beyond
As with any cruise, you’ll find a variety of cabin choices on Celebrity Cruises. We stayed in a Concierge Class Veranda stateroom.
It was, by far, the nicest cruise cabin we’ve experienced. It was bright and modern. We loved that the infinite veranda, with floor-to-ceiling windows, made the room feel much larger. Although there are doors that can close off the veranda, leaving them open provided significantly more square footage. The veranda windows open halfway down if you want to let in some sea air. And at night, a shade can be lowered with the touch of a button on a control panel. The shade provides almost black-out conditions in the room, which is great for sleeping, but challenging when waking up.
Our cabin slept 3. Most Beyond staterooms have a king sized bed, and a sleeper sofa. For a larger family, you’ll need to book a suite or adjoining cabins. For just the two of us, the cabin felt quite spacious.
The stateroom had lots of storage including a dresser, a closet with drawers, and extra storage cabinets inside of the wall cabinetry. There was enough drawer space to unpack for the week, and stow our suitcases under the beds.
Cruise bathrooms are typically cramped and awkward. Not this one. Design elements like the glass walled shower made it feel big. Something I’ve never said about a ship bathroom before. It had plenty of convenient shelving and storage spaces, too.
KidTripster Tip: Celebrity Cruises Concierge Class includes extra services and amenities. There’s a special Welcome Aboard Lunch and Destination Seminar. It includes Sparkling Wine upon request and daily in-room treats.
[ Related: What to Expect on Your First Royal Caribbean Cruise ]
Onboard Activities on Celebrity Beyond
Daytime Activities
On sea days, the action occurs on the resort deck. The pool is the place to be. There’s one large central pool, and a few smaller pools and hot tubs. If traveling with younger kids, know that there aren’t any slides or splash areas. This space feels more adult, although kids are welcome. Throughout the day, there might be planned events or activities taking place around the deck, like dance lessons, or group workouts.
We enjoyed spending one of our sea days inside a cabana. There’s limited seating around the main pool, so it was nice to have a cabana to retreat to. Drink and food service is available in the cabana. Cabana rentals also come with a complimentary alcoholic beverage (choice of six pack of beer, bottle of champagne, etc) and a fruit tray.
Evening Activities
There’s a lot of activity on the Beyond in the evenings, some exclusively for adults (the casino, comedy shows, etc) and other events for all ages.
The Grand Plaza is in the center of the ship and a glitzy gathering spot, particularly in the evenings. The lighting changes throughout the evening. At the martini bar, bartenders don’t just mix drinks, they do fancy tricks set to music. There are dance parties here, including a silent disco event that’s a lot of fun. Kids are allowed in this space, although you might not see many roaming about. (Camp at Sea is open late in the evenings to keep kids entertained.)
There’s top-notch entertainment available each evening – ranging from Cirque-inspired stage shows to magicians. My son left the magic show truly inspired, even buying a deck of cards, autographed by the magician himself. He spent the rest of the cruise trying to teach himself card tricks.
KidTripster Tip: Be sure to refer to the app while on-board. This is a very broad overview of available activities. There are so many activities each day.
Camp at Sea on Celebrity Beyond
Celebrity Cruises offers a robust camp program for ages 3-17. The Beyond, has two large, dedicated spaces for kids. Kids are divided by age groups. There’s a large space for younger kids, and a separate hangout spot for tweens and teens.
With hundreds of available activities, the program is catered to the kids on each particular sailing. During our cruise in mid-April less than 20 kids were on-board (compared to a few hundred during the previous week over Easter break). The crew adjusted the program offerings based on the ages and interests of the handful of campers on-board the week we sailed.
There were scavenger hunts, video game tournaments, sports activities, and even an eating contest.
Over the course of the week at Camp at Sea, the tween boys made cardboard swords and armor for an epic battle. This was my son’s favorite activity.
If that’s not all, S.T.E.M. at Sea offers activities that engage and inform kids on topics such as marine wildlife, ecological conservation, and nautical exploration.
Be sure to visit Camp at Sea on your first day to tour the spaces and get your kids signed up for the program. A schedule of camp events will be in your cabin, or you’ll find it posted outside the door at Camp at Sea.
Dining on Celebrity Beyond
What’s the best thing about dining on a cruise? Someone else does the cooking – and the dishes!
But seriously, cruise food has come a long way over the years. Bland buffets are a thing of the past. We’ve had some of our best meals on-board cruise ships, the Celebrity Beyond being no exception. There’s an astounding array of dining choices aboard the Beyond.
You won’t go hungry on Celebrity Cruises – or become bored with your dining options. Beyond has four main dining rooms, multiple quick serve locations, plus several specialty dining restaurants. Guests can choose from several restaurants at each mealtime. And there are snacks and desserts available around the ship, day and night.
Dining Details
At dinner, you’ll have an option of early, late, or anytime dining. With early and late dining, you’ll have a designated dining time and location. Diners will rotate among the four dining rooms. Anytime dining allows guests to dine at any main dining room, at any time, based on available tables. You’ll select your preferred dining option (early, late or anytime) when you book your cruise.
Reservations are required at specialty dining restaurants. Be sure to make reservations in advance of your cruise. You can also check during your cruise to see if additional reservations become available.
Meals in the main dining room and buffet are complimentary. Dining in a specialty restaurant comes at an additional per person cost, which varies upon the venue. Meals for kids 12 and under are considerably discounted.
KidTripster Tip: If traveling with a food allergy, be assured that you’ll be well-cared for on Celebrity Cruises. The buffet and the dining menus are marked with allergen information. You can ask for a chef to walk you through the buffet to point out safe choices. Wait staff will help determine your dining options based on your allergy.
Breakfast Choices
For breakfast, the Oceanview Cafe offers a buffet. It has multiple stations serving standard breakfast fare along with made to order omelets and Egg Benedict’s. One of the main dining rooms is also open for breakfast each morning. We’d recommend dining at Eden, which is a gorgeous space with al fresco dining.
There’s also a coffee shop that serves pastries and specialty coffees. And a juice bar.
Continental breakfast items can be delivered to your room, free of charge. For a fee of $9.95, you can order more hearty breakfast items like french toast, bacon and eggs.
Lunch Choices
When you’re hungry for lunch, you’ll be able to dine buffet-style at the Oceanview Cafe or have a meal at one of the main restaurants.
Additional dining options are also available on deck at places like the Mastview. This quick serve option has burgers and hot dogs, with your choice of toppings like grilled onions, bacon, and sauerkraut. You can also get fries and soft-serve ice cream here. Eden is open for lunch as well.
KidTripster Tip: Be sure to visit the buffet at the Oceanview Cafe during the farewell lunch. It’s a massive seafood spread served on the last sea day of your cruise.
Dinner Choices
There are four main dining rooms to choose from for dinner. You’ll rotate among the restaurants during your cruise. The Beyond has Cypress, Tuscan, Normandie and Cosmopolitan. Each space is so pretty, and different from one another. You’ll feel like you’re dining at a gourmet restaurant. The buffet at Oceanview Cafe is also open for dinner.
Specialty Dining
Celebrity Cruises offers an array of specialty dining restaurants. You’ll pay an additional price per person at these locations. Reservations are required. If interested, make reservations before your cruise using the Celebrity website or app. You can also check during your cruise to see if additional reservations open up. That was the case during our cruise. Some of the options include Fine Cut Bistro, Raw on 5, Rooftop Garden Grill and Le Petit Chef.
The food was excellent no matter where we dined onboard the Beyond, from the burgers at the pool to the sushi at Raw on 5. If traveling with kids, make it a point to splurge on a meal at Le Petit Chef. 3-D characters come to life and prepare your food at your table. It’s one of the most unique dining experiences we’ve ever had. It’s not just for kids. The adult guests were wowed, too.
KidTripster Tip: Once on-board you can look up restaurant hours and menus in the app. You can check the tab “Hungry Now” to see what’s open when you feel like noshing. This is also where you can make dining reservations during your cruise.
Drink Packages
Drink packages are available on the Beyond. The best package prices are available prior to your cruise.
Juice, water and brewed coffee is available at no up-charge. Sodas, specialty coffee, and alcoholic beverages cost extra.
To give you an idea if purchasing a daily drink package is worth it: Cocktails ranged from $12-20, a glass of wine will cost around $14, sodas were $4. The benefit of having a drink package is that you can order whatever, whenever. But if you’re not a big drinker, it might not be worth it.
You can always order beverages a la carte. Just be mindful that they can add up quickly.
Excursions on Celebrity Beyond
Our 7-night Eastern Caribbean cruise included three ports of call: St Thomas, St Maarten & Puerto Plata. Because these destinations were new to us, we booked excursions for each port.
KidTripster Tip: We exclusively book excursions through the cruise line. Although they can be more expensive, booking direct provides some assurances … most importantly the ship won’t leave the port without you.
Celebrity Cruises offers a wide variety of excursions in all of its destinations, some may be better for older adults, others more suited for families. The hardest part is deciding which one to do. Otherwise, it’s easy to book in advance of, or during, your cruise.
KidTripster Tip: Be sure to review the excursion options in advance, and reserve prior to your cruise. Discounts may be offered for advance bookings. You’ll have the best available choices the earlier you reserve your excursions.
Philipsburg, St. Maarten
For our stop in St. Maarten, we booked two half-day excursions. In the morning, we did the “Destination Highlight: Island Tour and Open Air Market” and in the afternoon we signed up for the “Great Bay Beach Experience.”
For the morning excursion, we boarded an air-conditioned tour bus. The bus took us through both the French and Dutch sides of the island over the course of a few hours. A tour guide narrated along the route. There were a few scenic stops along the way, where passengers had the choice of getting off the bus. The final stop before returning to the port was the open air market. While I learned a lot about the island, my son didn’t find this excursion very exciting as it was mostly just sitting and listening. It was definitely geared towards older guests.
Fortunately for him, I’d also booked an afternoon excursion to Great Bay Beach. After getting dropped back at the port by the tour bus, we changed quickly into our swimsuits. Then we took a water taxi from the port to the beach. Our excursion included the round-trip water taxi fare and reserved beach chairs. The water here was calm and shallow, perfect for families. My son spent the day digging in the sand and wading in the ocean. We were able to return to the ship at our leisure.
Charlotte-Amalie, St. Thomas
Our next port was St. Thomas, in the US Virgin Islands. We booked an all-day excursion, the “Destination Highlight: Skyride, Drake’s Seat and Magens Bay” experience.
In the morning, we boarded an open-air taxi that took a small group of us along the scenic route to Magens Bay. This is a well-known horseshoe shaped beach, made famous by movies and tv shows. It’s consistently rated one of the top beaches in the world.
The taxi dropped our group off at the beach, with a pick-up scheduled for a few hours later. Several cruise ships were in port that day so the beach became crowded. Chairs were available for rent. There was a snack shack that served light food and drinks.
The beach had a few restrooms. Before our taxi returned, we cleaned up, changing into dry clothes.
The taxi then took us to the aerial tram. Our excursion included tickets for the St. Thomas Skyride. From top top of Paradise Point at 700 feet, we had great views of the harbor below. We had lunch at the rooftop restaurant before catching a ride back down. The taxi returned us to port in the late afternoon.
Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic
Our final port of call was in the Dominican Republic. This was a whirlwind stop, one we wished we’d had more time at. For our excursion, I booked the “Destination Highlight: Highlights of Puerto Plata and Playa Dorada Beach.”
We got a little bit of history in Puerto Plata which included meandering through the town square and then through the colorful umbrella street where we stopped to sample hot cocoa at El Rincon Del Cafe.
Then we had a fun afternoon at the beach in Playa Dorado. Our tour included a buffet lunch and drinks at a small resort. We brought along some sand toys and my son spent the afternoon peacefully digging in the sand. Other than the others in our group, we had the place to ourselves.
KidTripster Tip: The Taino Bay cruise port was wild. It opened a few years ago and has a pool, lazy river, and monkey island where you can get up close to squirrel monkeys. There are also several shops and restaurants. You could skip the excursions altogether and spend the day at the port.
[ Related: 6 Must-dos in the US Virgin Islands for Families with Teens ]
Overall Thoughts on Sailing with Celebrity Cruises
Although very different from our other family cruise experiences (with Disney and Royal Caribbean), my son and I enjoyed sailing with Celebrity Cruises. We had a very relaxing cruise. The Beyond is a beautiful ship.
My son missed some of the features he’s accustomed to on other ships (lots of kids, rowdy pool decks, waterslides, etc). If you’re traveling with a rambunctious little one, you might find yourself feeling a bit out of place here. Celebrity Cruises is quieter, and more adult-oriented. However, Camp at Sea provides a kid-friendly hangout area, and gives parents free babysitting while on vacation. Passengers seemed delighted (versus annoyed) by the kids on-board.
Port Advice when Sailing Celebrity
Our cruise sailed out of Fort Lauderdale’s Port Everglades. We advise arriving at least one day prior to your cruise in case of any travel delays, cancellations, or lost bags.
The Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (FLL) is the closest airport to the port. Be sure to pay attention to where your cruise ship departs from, it could be Fort Lauderdale or Miami..
There are lots of hotel choices near the port and around Fort Lauderdale. We stayed at two different hotels, before and after our cruise.
Martime Hotel Fort Lauderdale
Since we arrived late the night before and just needed a place to sleep, I reserved a room at a hotel close to the port. We stayed at the Maritime Hotel Fort Lauderdale Cruise Port. Our room slept four. It had a king bed and two pull-down bunk beds. There was a small kitchenette that included a coffee maker, microwave, fridge and sink. The hotel has a restaurant, gym, and small outdoor pool.
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The positives: The room was modern and clean as the hotel was recently renovated. There are some quick serve chain restaurants all within a short walk. The hotel was about 10 minutes from the Fort Lauderdale port. The hotel can arrange a shuttle for small fee per person. The negatives: Unfortunately the hotel sits next to some busy roads. We heard loud car traffic all night. It could have been just our room, but given the hotel’s proximity to the freeways I’m guessing the noise could be heard throughout the hotel.
Westin Fort Lauderdale Beach Resort
On the back end of our cruise we stayed at the Westin Fort Lauderdale Beach Resort, located on the beach, about 15 minutes from the cruise port. Our guest room room slept four, with two double beds. The room was large and included a fridge, and coffee maker.
The positives: The location was perfect. The hotel has a covered walkway leading right to the beach. Beach chairs are available for guest use. Umbrellas cost extra, though. For a busy stretch of public beach, it was pretty clean. If the beach isn’t your thing, there’s a decent sized pool with ample seating on the pool deck. The restaurant Lona Cocina & Tequileria was great. It was lively, with plenty of outdoor seating and colorful cocktails. As part of the resort free, a drink and dessert at the restaurant is complimentary. The negatives: We’re not fans of resort fees! Fees are $42 per night, per room. The pool area could use a refresh. It was a bit dingy, with just ok food and beverage options.
The author received a complimentary sailing on Celebrity Beyond for the purposes of this review. All opinions are her own.
