Cruising With a Three-Year-Old: A 9-Day Celebrity Equinox Mediterranean Review
“Can you really enjoy a luxury Mediterranean cruise with a toddler?”
You’ve dreamed about a sophisticated Mediterranean itinerary; Italy, France and Spain, beautiful hotels, excellent food, and days exploring some of Europe’s most iconic destinations..
But then comes the question: What happens when you add a three-year-old?
Will dinner become stressful?
Will sightseeing work?
Will your child enjoy the ship?
Will you actually get any time with your spouse?
And perhaps most importantly: will this still feel like a luxury vacation?
If these questions have been holding you back from cruising with a toddler, our experience may change your mind. Traveling with our son is not new to us. He boarded his first plane at three months old, was beachside in Anguilla by six months, and spent the holidays in the South of France, all before turning three. But when we decided to spend a month in Europe, we knew that constantly changing hotels and flying to new destinations would become hard on our son. So, we opted for some consistency on a Celebrity Cruise, having cruised with the brand once before.
Let’s break down the details:
9 days from Rome to Barcelona with stops in Naples, Portofino, an overnight in La Spezia, Nice, Marseille and two days at sea
Celebrity Equinox: 2,850 passengers, 1,426 cabins, last refurbished in 2019
Three-year-old traveler: Highly active, very talkative, likes to try new food, loves music
Full itinerary for Europe: one week in Rome, one week in Malta, overnight in Civitavecchia, 9 night cruise, three nights in Barcelona
What worked: Private excursions at port, some booked well in advance and some booked 1-2 days before for ultimate flexibility
What didn’t: Two sea days seemed nice when we considered the itinerary, but the pools are too small and the pool deck felt very crowded both days
What you would do differently: Find a more contemporary ship with a larger pool and book concierge level cabins
1. Why We Chose a Cruise for This Trip
Because we were going to be moving so much during our trip, we wanted one portion of our time abroad to feel a bit more settled and structured. Even after reading reviews that said “don’t bring your toddler on a Celebrity Cruise ship”, we reviewed the amenities and felt like it was a good match for our travel style. We also wanted to bring our parents with us for extra support, and they enjoy cruising and were excited to experience Celebrity for the first time.
Then there are the practical reasons cruising works so well for families:
Unpack once
Multiple European destinations
No changing hotels every few nights
Predictable home base
Food readily available
Built-in entertainment
Easier logistics than a land itinerary
Ability to return to the cabin for naps
Parents can experience Europe without constantly packing and unpacking
Perspectives Travel Takeaway:
A cruise can actually solve some of the logistical problems that make European travel with a young child exhausting.
2. Why Celebrity Equinox?
This was the second Celebrity cruise that we’d done, but the first was in 2019 and it was a Caribbean itinerary, so it was a drastically different trip. We typically don't book or personally sail on ships with more than 3,000 passengers. Yes, this means that you give up amenities, but our son is also too young to enjoy a zip line, race track, or waterslide, so going with a smaller ship suited us better. The smaller size made the ship easier to navigate and less overwhelming with a toddler.
Another advantage was that because we’d previously sailed on Celebrity, we knew the vibe of the brand, the general layout of the ship, dining options, and entertainment choices. There was also a very specific window that we wanted to cruise, and we wanted to see destinations that we hadn’t previously explored on land vacations. The itinerary was ultimately the deciding factor and having an overnight in a port was something new to us that we liked and thought would be helpful for what we wanted to do in La Spezia.
But honestly, the most important consideration… the kids’ club. This is the first kids’ club experience that our son has been old enough and potty trained for, so we wanted to make sure that we had the option to either take him and stay or drop him off for a bit. Celebrity emphasizes a robust program for kids and since it’s not a typical family cruise line, we were hoping that the club wouldn’t feel too crowded or under supervised.
The decor and aesthetic of the ship was less important to us for this particular cruise than making sure that our family was able to explore new destinations, our son would be able to interact with kids his age, and we had the opportunity to have some additional childcare options, if we needed them.
Perspectives Travel Takeaway:
Celebrity isn't a children's cruise line, and for some families, that's precisely the appeal. There are no character breakfasts or waterparks, and that can be exactly what some parents want.
3. The Three-Year-Old Test: What Was the Ship Actually Like?
If you have a highly active toddler and are wondering if you’ll feel stir crazy on a ship, we had the same thought. The truth is that the Equinox was the perfect size to give our son a bit of freedom while still feeling comfortable that we always knew exactly where he was.
What fascinated our three-year-old
Ship exploration - Being able to let our son explore ahead of us without worrying about cars or busy sidewalks gave him a sense of independence while allowing us to relax a little
Ocean views - A cabin with a balcony is a must and being able to have snack time on the balcony looking at the ocean was one of our favorite things to do
Pools - While our son would have spent every day in the pool, the family pool was a bit small and often felt crowded
The Lawn Club - Our son loved that there was a putting green, real grass for him to take his shoes off and run around on, and that they were showing the World Cup on a big screen television
Food - The kids' menu at dinner went beyond the traditional nuggets and fries, but our son could also get a cheese plate or hot dog on demand when he needed comfort food. The food options are endless for all types of eaters
Entertainment - After dinner we spent every night enjoying the live entertainment and even though they weren’t shows specifically designed for kids, our son thoroughly enjoyed all but one
Ports - We purposely planned an itinerary that didn’t just stop in city centers. The nice thing about our itinerary is that we were able to have beach club days and private boat days that gave our son time to enjoy the destination from outside of a stroller
Kids’ programming - Our son quickly felt comfortable at the kids' club and was very proud of the crafts that he made at each visit
What didn't
Long meals - The dinner timing is paced really well, but we typically sat down at 6 or 6:30pm and with the show starting at 7:30pm, it meant that one of us had to eat quickly in order to get our son to the show on time
Certain shows - Out of all the shows we saw, there was only one that we had to leave. Again, these shows are not designed for kids, so an Elton John tribute may not be the best option for a three year old
Too much tendering - Some of our ports required tender boats and because they don’t depart until they’re full they can get hot, which is tough for anyone, but especially a toddler
Camp at Sea Kids Club
Age Eligibility - Camp at Sea is for ages 3-12 and they separate the kids by age group, so our son was with 3-5 year olds
Potty-training requirements - Kids must be potty trained and able to pull their clothes up and down to go to the bathroom
How registration worked - On embarkation day, there is an open house where you can see the camp. While there you can register your child and also add any adults who are authorized to pick up your child
First impression - It was a typical day care style layout and the staff is from all over the world. There are water fountains and bathrooms within the club, and you can bring your child’s water bottle or they have cups. There are appropriately sized tables and chairs and a sign in sheet for when you arrive, although they log your child in electronically
What activities were available - Crafting, story time, free play, and what we liked the most is that there were no televisions
How long our child wanted to stay - There is a morning session and afternoon session with a break mid day for lunch. We typically utilized the afternoon session, so our son was there for a max of 2 - 2.5 hours
Whether parents could actually leave - Yes! We would ask our son if he wanted to go and when he did, he ran off to play before we could even say goodbye
How much adult time this created - Just enough to feel recharged! Because we used the afternoon session, we had our son out in the destination during the morning or at the pool on sea days before lunch and nap. Those couple of hours at the kids club gave us the opportunity to have some quiet time, go for a swim in the adults only pool, or participate in some of the on board programming
Perspectives Travel Takeaway:
Take advantage of Camp at Sea. It gives your child an opportunity to spend time with other children while giving parents a valuable chance to recharge
4. The Cabin, Dining & Shore Excursions
Here’s what I would prioritize when booking a cabin, dining, and shore excursions with a three-year-old.
Cabin
We opted for a cabin with a balcony/veranda because having previously cruised, having private outdoor space was extremely important to us
The balcony is especially nice if you want a space to relax while your child naps or after they go to bed
For a family of three in a balcony room, they will convert the couch to a bed, which was the perfect size for our toddler, although I did put some pillows on the floor in case he rolled off (he didn’t!)
There is no separation between the bed and the sleeper sofa, but there are bedside lamps that we could turn on without waking our son
Definitely bring a white noise machine because the cabin doors are loud when they close, you’ll hear other passengers talking on their balconies, and there are announcements made in the halls when you reach port that will wake up a light sleeper
Don't count on the ship's Wi-Fi to support a baby monitor or camera. We brought our Nanit, but never used it
There was only a shower and no tub, which was fine for our son, but may be challenging for younger kids
There is plenty of storage, and we highly recommend unpacking on your first day and then storing all suitcases under the bed
Dining
There are two options for breakfast, a sit down option and buffet. We opted for the buffet all but one morning, since we were doing the sit down dinners every night
The wait staff does a great job of getting the kids food out first, so our son never got to the point where he was fussing about being hungry
There is a snack stand open starting at 11am that has grilled hot dogs, hamburgers and fries
The buffet options changed daily, and there was always something new to try. This was nice because our son could sample different cuisines, without committing to a full order of a dish
Yes, there is an ice cream stand, and yes, they have sugar free ice cream!
We never used room service as we didn’t want to really dine in our cabin outside of snack time
We were always asked if our son wanted juice, which we don’t give him at home, so we ended up giving him a half juice/half water mix more than we would have liked, but it was his vacation too!
At first we thought the daily sit down dinners would be too much for our son. For the past year, every Friday we’ve gone out for dinner, so he is used to being at a restaurant. However, the restaurants we typically choose usually have a faster pace of service than the service on the ship. With that being said, our son really did well at the dinners, but we also had no expectations of making it through a three course meal with him every night. We always ordered quickly, his food always came out first, and then one of us would eat rather quickly, so that we could take him to the nightly show. It meant that we didn’t all get dessert every night, it meant that sometimes only half of our entree was eaten, and it often meant taking a glass of Pinot Gris to the theater. But it was still an enjoyable dining experience and we wouldn’t change it for the ease of the buffet.
Ports
The ports and itinerary were extremely important to us as we decided on a cruise. The factors that made us book this itinerary were that it was to mostly new destinations, and they weren’t all busy city centers
Keep in mind that you’ll want to know if you have tender ports (taking a smaller boat from the ship to shore), how far the port is from main attractions, and how much time you’ll have at each port
Naples was our first stop and while we had a great shore excursion (more on that below), we should not have walked the 20 minutes from the port to the meeting point. It was extremely hot that day, most of the walk was uphill, and since Naples is a busy city it was crowded. We did have our son in a stroller for the walk to the meeting point, and he decided to walk back after.
Portofino was next and it is a tender port. The area itself is absolutely beautiful, but it isn't particularly stroller-friendly.
We spent two days at the La Spezia port, which is about 1.5 hours from Florence. We opted not to go to Florence because of the travel time and on the first day, we took the required shuttle from the ship to the cruise terminal. At the terminal there is a tourism deal where we asked for directions to get to a beach club.. Make sure you have cash for taxi rides, which are located right outside of the terminal and a map was also helpful.
The second day in La Spezia, once we got to the cruise terminal, we walked about 20 minutes to the marina on a nice pedestrian path that was easy to navigate with a stroller. This day we chartered a private boat to explore the port and to have an opportunity to swim.
Nice was a little complicated because we took the train from the port into town and in hindsight, we should have just taken an Uber to get to Old Town. Using a stroller was fine, but with the older streets, it was a bit bumpy.
Marseille required a bus from the cruise into the main town area, but if you have a private transfer, they can also pick you up at the cruise. Strollers are common here but there are some hills to navigate.
Shore Excursions
Private guides - While we didn’t do any private walking tours, the ones that we considered were led by private guides who are familiar and comfortable with leading tours with toddlers.
Shorter tours - This was a key consideration and all of the activities that we booked. From a private pizza making class in Naples to a private boat charter in La Spezia, all of our tours were a maximum of two to three hours.
Private drivers - Besides Uber, we made sure to download apps like FreeNow and Bolt so that we had access to easy transportation when we didn’t have private drivers booked. And while we requested car seats in advance, we also travel with a travel car seat, as they are not always guaranteed, and cannot always fit our 99th percentile child!
Beach time - Our son loves the water, so factoring in time at a beach club in Italy was very important to us. There is a specific site for booking beach clubs, and we didn’t book in advance, which we do regret because by the time we got to some of the clubs, they were already full.
Parks - There is an awesome park with a water feature in Nice that we stopped at, and if we saw a playground, we usually stopped there too so our son could run and meet local kids.
Gelato stops - Ask for a half a scoop! While we loved stopping for Gelato, between the heat and the pace that toddlers eat, a full scoop will end up being a melting mess. Ask for a half scoop, or split a full scoop between two cups.
Flexible itineraries - We didn’t book anything that we would be too devastated that we missed, because traveling with a three year old is extremely unpredictable. This wasn’t the trip for bucket list experiences, and we knew going into it that there were going to be some days everything went according to plan, and possibly some days we never left the port.
Perspectives Travel Takeaway:
Avoid long group excursions and time your touring in a way that you can return to the ship before your child is too hungry, tired, or antsy. Another tip is to enjoy the ship in the morning when it’s less crowded and then head to town in the afternoon when there are shorter lines to leave the ship.
5. What We Would Do Differently
If We Did This Again We’d…
Book the concierge level cabin - Because of the amount of time we were on board we decided to send our laundry out. What we thought was going to be an overnight turn around turned into 36 hours with no laundry, trips to guest relations, and phone calls with management. While it was a minor inconvenience (luckily, we hadn’t sent all of our clothes out), it was something that could have easily been handled by the concierge and we wouldn’t have needed to spend time dealing with it. .
Double check the beverage package before boarding - If you’re traveling with a toddler, then you know the importance of a drink package! It wasn’t until we were on board and tried to order a drink that we realized our drinks had a cap of $9. So, we needed to upgrade our beverage package on the first day, which was possibly more expensive than if we’d booked it in advance.
Pre-book beach clubs - As travel advisors, this is the advice we give our clients, but of course we didn’t take our own advice.
Don't expect to depend on baby monitors or cameras - The ship WiFi is not super reliable and you can only have one device linked at a time, so we never used our Nanit camera.
Bring water shoes for the pool deck - The deck can get extremely hot, so while we were able to just slide on flip flops, for our son it either meant carrying him to the bathroom or putting on his Crocs while he urgently reminded us that he had to go to the bathroom.
Never even consider walking to the port and would have pre-booked our transfer in Civitavecchia - The blogs will tell you that you can walk, and technically you can. But you can also pay €10 a person for a car to pick you up at your hotel. That way you’re enot worry about lugging all of your stuff on the 10 minute walk to the bus that you have to take to actually get to the ship. We didn’t have a transfer pre-booked when we arrived, but our hotel encouraged us to arrange one and I’m so glad that they did.
Perspectives Travel Takeaway:
There honestly weren’t that many moments that we thought “if only we’d known…”, but our biggest piece of advice is don’t arrive to your destination on the day of embarkation. Give yourself a 1-2 day buffer for any flight delays or missed connections.
6. The million dollar Question: Was It Actually Relaxing?
Did we feel like we were on vacation?
We did! Maybe the most feeling like we were on vacation of the entire trip. Part of choosing to take your toddler on vacation is watching them discover new parts of the world. Witnessing our son see the shoreline disappear as we set sail, meet crew members from all over the world, try new foods that we don’t have at home, and realize that every day was going to be a new adventure made the trip feel like a vacation. You have all day to explore, but there’s a comfort in knowing that you’re going to be dining at the same table, seeing the same friends at the pool, and sleeping in the same bed each night and that routine is really good for our son.
Besides the perks of not having to do the tedious parts of parenting (no cooking, no cleaning, and no laundry!) once you’re onboard there’s no cell phone service, so you don’t feel that tug to check one more email or scroll through your feed. You can be fully present, have a variety of things to do, and you have the ease that comes with unpacking once and waking up somewhere new almost everyday. We still got to meet people who were local to each destination and learn more about their lives and culture. But we also knew that once we were back on the ship a chilled glass of champagne would be waiting for us on Deck 4, so that we could sit down and rehash what we just did. Cruising is a build your own adventure that let’s you decide your version of relaxation.
Perspectives Travel Takeaway:
Luxury with a three-year-old isn't about recreating an adults-only vacation. It's about designing the trip so that everyone gets something they value.
7. Who Should and Shouldn’t Book This Trip?
Celebrity Equinox is a strong fit if you:
Want a sophisticated Mediterranean experience
Don't need constant children's entertainment
Value excellent dining and service
Want multiple European destinations
Are comfortable adapting your schedule to a young child
Want a cruise that works for both adults and children
Want to sample a more traditional cruise before trying an ultra luxury cruise line
It may not be ideal if you:
Want extensive toddler-specific programming
Want waterparks and nonstop children's entertainment
Expect extensive childcare
Expect to be onboard with lots of kids and families
8. Final Verdict
Would We Cruise Celebrity Equinox With a Three-Year-Old Again?
Yes, but we'd do it intentionally.
The Mediterranean itinerary was the star, and we’d need to find one with new to us destinations in the 7 to 9 night range.
The ship makes the logistics easier than trying to visit multiple destinations at once, but we would still do a pre and post cruise stay.
Three is a surprisingly good age for introducing a child to cruising. The older our son gets the more he’ll want the zip lining and waterparks onboard, so this was a great age to get started without being on a ship that can accommodate more amenities.
Parents need to adjust expectations. If we got through half of what we planned, then it was a good day. Don’t expect your child to be perfect, and don’t feel bad if they have an epic meltdown, just have a plan to manage it so that you can both reset and manage your emotions.
Private excursions and thoughtful scheduling dramatically improve the experience. This is the best investment that you’ll make on a cruise. Finding guides and activities that are tailored to families at times that work with your toddler set you up for success before you even leave the ship.
Perspectives Travel Takeaway:
Luxury family travel isn't about eliminating compromises; it's about designing around them. And this is where Perspectives Travel shines. We’re right there with you navigating three-ager life and understand that the best family trips are the ones where everyone gets to relax and new memories are made. Reach out to Perspectives Travel when you’re ready to experience an effortless family vacation. As a Celebrity Preferred Partner, we’ve able to add complimentary VIP amenities to your next sailing while honoring the same rates you’ll see booking on your own.