Solstice Class and Kids Activities?

I would LOVE to try a Solstice class ship with our family, but I'm worried that our kids will not have much to do on these ships. We've done a couple of RCI cruises with them on Freedom and Voyager Class ships which have the mini golf, flow rider, rock climbing, ice rink, etc...

...but I'm just not seeing much for kids on these ships. Am I missing something?

I'm looking at a 7 night eastern Caribbean sailing around Thanksgiving 2017. Our kids like the finer things with cruising too, like the cuisine, common areas, pools, shows, etc, but they need something else too. ...if that helps with your response at all.

Thanks!!!

Dan

I would LOVE to try a Solstice class ship with our family, but I'm worried that our kids will not have much to do on these ships. We've done a couple of RCI cruises with them on Freedom and Voyager Class ships which have the mini golf, flow rider, rock climbing, ice rink, etc...

 

...but I'm just not seeing much for kids on these ships. Am I missing something?

 

I'm looking at a 7 night eastern Caribbean sailing around Thanksgiving 2017. Our kids like the finer things with cruising too, like the cuisine, common areas, pools, shows, etc, but they need something else too. ...if that helps with your response at all.

 

Thanks!!!

 

Dan

Hi Dan, I had the same concerns before our first Celebrity cruise but the kids really loved Solstice, and even preferred their kids' club to Royal Caribbeans. The Fun Factory staff are brilliant and offered an excellent programme. On the last Solstice cruise our boys were 6 and 9. The older one loved the scavenger hunt around the ship. The other nice thing about Celebrity is that if you book them in for dinner then they get taken to Oceanview with Fun Factory staff, which they loved. There is a small basketball court right by the Fun Factory. Otherwise, the activities within Fun Factory are similar to those in Ocean Adventures on RC. There is the usual talent show on the last sea day.

We got our kids the VIP pass the last two times, but completely not necessary... what it did give us was the freedom to use the lunch, dinner and slumber party (till 1am!!- we have only rarely used this option!) without extra charge and the kids got a bridge tour and backstage tour thrown in and a small backpack with a few things in it. It was $99 each from recollection for 8-9 night voyages. If you have teens, the Go-Pro video project sounds awesome!

Regarding the ship itself, one thing I love about S-class is the family pool which is just the right depth for our kids (and not too shallow for us unlike a lot of family pools), and the fountains nearby are good for cooling off too! Lawn Club is nice to picnic on. Kids enjoyed the glass blowing show. I was worried that other guests might not like kids on board on Celebrity, but everyone was great. Nice free ice creams in Oceanview as well!!

In summary- I would really recommend a S-class ship for a family vacation, and we didn't miss the rock climbing and mini golf one bit (actually, I did miss the mini golf but that didn't spoil my vacation!! Hee hee).

Feel free to ask questions, Calum

Thanks for the reply! Our kids don't make heavy use of the kids club, but they do use it, maybe an hour on average each day.

I'm just trying to figure out what else they would do. I mean, they like many of the same things that the adults do (minus the alcohol :) ), but it seems that these Solstice ships have almost nothing designed for kids other than the kids club.

Just trying to understand from others what their kids thought. Anyone else? Our kids will be 16, 13, and 10 at the time.

Thank you!

Dan

Thanks for the reply! Our kids don't make heavy use of the kids club, but they do use it, maybe an hour on average each day.

 

I'm just trying to figure out what else they would do. I mean, they like many of the same things that the adults do (minus the alcohol :) ), but it seems that these Solstice ships have almost nothing designed for kids other than the kids club.

 

Just trying to understand from others what their kids thought. Anyone else? Our kids will be 16, 13, and 10 at the time.

 

Thank you!

Dan

Have you been on your cruise yet? If yes, what did the kids think about the ship?

Was there enough for them to do.

Have you been on your cruise yet? If yes, what did the kids think about the ship?

Was there enough for them to do.

Thread starter is researching a Thanksgiving 2017 cruise, as stated in the opening post. :)

Personally, no kids btw, I would stick to Royal or NCL with kids. X does provide some things to do but isn't it much more fun for kids to meet others of their own age, have a choice of what to do (X is MUCH more limited), etc. etc.

I guess it comes down to on which place your kids stand when choosing a vacation; X is for the parents who bring kids, anything else is for the whole family. Or something like that. ;)

Our first cruise a few years ago was with our kids on the Silhouette. They were 4 and 6. We all had such a great time that we became hooked on cruising. We've since tried ships with more "kid activities" such as Carnival and NCL Breakaway, as well as a Celebrity Eclipse sailing. The kids are now 7 and 9 and we are returning to X and leave on the Reflection on December 17th. The reason: While rock climbing, mini golf, and slides are non existent, Celebrity Solstice class are far more superior in the things that as adults, are important to us: Food, Persian gardens (sauna, steam room and heated tile loungers with expansive views of the ocean), indoor, fresh water Solarium pool and Mixologists. As far as the kids go, they utilize the Fun Factory for an hour in the morning, sometimes an hour in the afternoon, and then before bed, around 8-10. The rest of the time, as a family, we are swimming, hot tubbing, playing card or board games in the hideaway, playing ping pong, or the kids play pick up basketball with other kids. The thing about the fun factory is the programming is awesome (they love the scavenger hunt which takes them al over the ship) and because there is not a lot of kids (but enough so that there are always new friends to play with), the staff know the kids by name! You can imagine my dismay when we tried carnival and there were 100 kids in there at once, with a pick up line, 12 parents deep. Not on Celebrity! They have the best kids club out of the other ships we've tried. Hope that helps!

We went on the Eclipse a few years ago and our kids were 13, 6 and 4. They had a Fabulous time and still say it was their favourite holiday ever. Kids club was great, they made good friends and they were looked after so well in the MDR. For that reason we have booked Reflection next year during the summer holidays. Can't wait!

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

If your kids enjoyed the extra activities on RC then they will probably be disappointed with Celebrity. If your kids didn't bother with rock climbing, skating, water slides etc. (and for those families who have not sailed ships with those things), then they will do well on Celebrity. There are great kids' clubs, beautiful ships, friendly crews, lots of excellent food choices --- but no adventure amenities. Only you know what will be important to them.

Thank you all. After looking into this some more, I think the Solstice class ships would be better for my wife and I to try alone first. I absolutely love the look of the common areas, the itineraries, the focus on the main dining room, and the elegance of the Sostice ships, etc...

...but right now were are looking at the NCL Escape versus the Carnival Magic. At this point it's much more heavily in favor of the Escape. There is a cruise on the RCI Freedom of the Seas that same week but it's only a 6 night. There are also 7 night options on the RCI Oasis class ships but our inlaws are going with and they aren't super mobile. We've been on the Oasis class, and while the ship itself is WOW, they are massive and there is a LOT of walking to get from place to place. Not to mention that there were crowds everywhere on those ships.

Dan