FrancescaH

It's just 6 days till we sail on Liberty.

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My husband and I were 26 on our first. Our son's first cruise was in my belly, but the first one that counted was when he was 11 months old. He's a diamond in his own right now at almost 12.

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I have not been in a non accessible junior suite on Freedom, but I have visited a grand suite in my Jazzy power chair. I could get in but felt very uncomfortable with how packed that space was. I don't know that regular junior suites have doors as wide as the grands.

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So they put the mini golf on a deck that requires doing stairs, yes? The mini golf used to be one of the only truly wheelchair accessible activities on the sports deck. It's a huge deal as my 11 year old son loves to play as a family. I guess I will have to risk stairs and not have my power chair.

We cruised last year on Royal Caribbean with our son and my parents. Since we had officially put him in my parents' cabin, we bought a buy all photo package on board and they went ahead and threw in their cabin so we got our son's individual photos. You might just want to talk to them on board. I got the impression that as many Celebrity cruisers are of an age where they don't care about professional photos, the folks there are desperate to take photos and sell packages.

I'm in a chair and was often approached as we came in by a waiter asking to help carry my plate. I suspect it won't be hard to get help.

We went with smart casual, but one of the dining room staff told us to feel free to wear shorts there. I don't think I noticed anyone actually in shorts the night we dined there.

We had ten cruises with Royal Caribbean (diamond) before we tried our first Celebrity cruise on the Silhouette a few weeks ago.

First, the ship just has a different feel if you are used to the Voyager or Freedom classes, but not in a bad way. The decor has a different vibe being elegant yet modern. We liked it. The storage in the cabins seemed a bit lighter but it was at least manageable. There are not constant announcements or activities like you would be used to. The daily wasn't nearly as packed leaving us feeling like we could participate without feeling run to ground. If you need the outside activity, you can play bocce or croquet. The food may be a touch better on Celebrity in the MDR but far better elsewhere. With buffet vs buffet, Celebrity easily won. If you are the type that needs to be constantly busy, I don't think Celebrity is for you. If you want your cruise to give you a chance to unwind between ports, give it a try. We liked the differences enough that our next cruise is on Celebrity.

If you decide to decorate on your own, OXO magnetic mini clips work great on the walls to hang streamers. We hung red streamers during our Valentine's cruise.

We tip enough to the staff that each member can buy a drink on us if our son spends a significant time in the program. It's a lot cheaper than babysitting at home.

My son is in an older age group at age 9. We just got off the Silhouette last weekend. He enjoyed the Fun Factory a great deal... So much so we felt like we barely saw him. He actually skipped dessert every night in the dining room to ensure he didn't miss a thing. My husband ran him up between entrees and desserts.

There was a family bingo, a family disco, and a family scavenger hunt in which parents could participate plus a talent show with family as the audience. There was some crafting type activities plus a lot of table tennis, etc. for his age group. The younger kids seemed to be having just as much fun when we saw them.

Intro

We are a family of three. We are experienced cruisers with the Royal Caribbean line, ten sailings for the adults and seven for our nine year old. I am in a powerchair for a physical disability I've had since birth while my son is somewhere on the ADHD/Asperger's end of the autism spectrum. We cruise much more for the ship than the stops due to my mobility issues.

I had wanted to try Celebrity for years and finally talked my husband into it. We were able to take advantage of a 1-2-3 Go deal, which we enjoyed as we are not heavy drinkers but enjoyed a glass of wine or two with dinner.

Pre-cruise hotel

We stayed at the Renaissance Fort Lauderdale Cruise Port on 17th Street. We loved the location and overall experience, but as an older hotel it was a bit behind on accessible bathrooms in the rooms. The bathroom was quite small on the accessible scale and the toilet was quite low. We had a lovely view of the Silhouette from the 12th floor elevator bank window as we went down for breakfast.

Embarkation

As is the case for most ports, there is a specific entrance for wheelchairs that avoid the lines. It is at the rear of all the standard lines. We quickly got through the scanner for my guys and the pat down for myself. We were quickly checked in. If you are familiar with this terminal, you know the steepness of the gangway. For this reason, they allow wheelchairs to board from deck two. Unfortunately they said minors were not allowed to board that way. We were separated before we could get the Welcome Aboard photo. While this may be a minor issue, we pre-buy the photo package so it's a bit sad to lose that opportunity as a family. I boarded quickly and waited on deck ten for my guys as they waded through the line of passengers boarding. Cabins were opened a bit late around 1:30.

Cabin

We were in Concierge Wheelchair Accessible 1028. It was a decent size for the three of us but we felt the loss of all the storage in the RCCL Freedom class accessible junior suites. I did far prefer the ramp onto our balcony, the auto door into our cabin, and the use of space in the bathroom compared to our past experience. Our cabin attendant Martin was certainly present but did not impress me. Past attendants certainly put in more of an effort to make sure our wine had ice, and make sure we had all we need.

One odd story to share.. I designed a couple of magnets for our door. I designed an Olympic magnet to share our support for the USA team. The other was a Valentine's Day themed one and included a quick marker sketch I did of my family cut into a scalloped heart placed over Valentines paper. I thought the Olympic one might take a hike but was okay with that. It never left, but on Friday night our personal keepsake one disappeared from our door. My husband realized it as we left for breakfast. After breakfast, we split up and checked both halls on our deck with no luck. We reported it to guest services in case a passenger turned it in as I suspected it was a prank and just moved. Later that day we found it on the floor in front of our door partially rolled like someone was going to take it home but had second thoughts so returned it. The whole thing was quite strange.

Dining

As a wheelchair user, you can imagine how hard some tables are to get to in the dining room. We attempted to prevent this issue with a call in to the Special Needs desk a week out to make sure I could easily reach our table. They tried to place us at an accessible table, but unless you've done time in a chair you usually don't get it. We had to wait in line to be reassigned a table. We ended up in two merged tables for two next to a first time cruising older couple who had the same issue. She was a retired teacher and had grand kids so enjoyed conversing with our son.

The food quality felt on par with our experience in the dining room on RCCL. There were a few more interesting choices, but we did not consider it remarkably different. The desserts actually felt lacking compared to RCCL.

We did think the Oceanview Cafe food was of a higher quality than RCCL's buffet. I enjoyed the many options including stations to custom have stir fry or pasta dishes. The ice cream was quite good with an appealing option daily. We also appreciated how much easier it was to find a nice table, including outside, to have our meals.

The area in which Celebrity shines in comparison would be the specialty dining. We enjoyed the Bistro on Five for a breakfast and lunch. Our special hangout spot was the Cafe al Bacio. The coffee and both hot or cold teas were a great way for my husband and I to just sit and talk. The little sweet munchies to accompany our drinks didn't hurt. The 1-2-3 deal made it simple. Our favorite there was Milca who was always quick to get our order and greeted us as Ms. Francesca and Mr. David by week end.

I had read here on Cruise Critic how great the Lawn Club Grill was for kids so we pre-booked it. Our son was really looking forward to it as I told him about the pizzas. He loves Hawaiian pizzas, but the necessary ingredients weren't part of the salad bar. So did we get something else? No, they actually sent downstairs to get the ham and pineapple. The chef let our son work the dough and build the pizza. I beamed as any mother would watching their son really enjoy a new experience. He kept repeating "This is awesome!" The pizza really was quite good. The waiter and chef later approached our table as we finished the pizza to ask him if he wanted to help with the entrees. He was so excited he started to jump up so they reassured him they would get him after he finished his pizza. My ribeye was quite tasty as was the shrimp and scallop skewer. Our waiter Corsino even ordered up an extra two skewers for my husband and I to share. We all ordered the cookie for dessert plus a slice of cheesecake to share. The cookie was far better but so rich my husband finished mine. At the end of the evening, they sent us on our way full and happy with our son's Lawn Club Grill apron in tow. The next morning I wrote a note to the Food and Beverage Manager to make sure he knew how much we, especially my son, enjoyed it. On Saturday he sent us some chocolate strawberries in our cabin to say thank you. As we were walking by him on deck five getting ready to depart Sunday morning, he actually approached me by name to thank me again for writing the note. I found that very impressive.

Entertainment

This cruise was not so much about the entertainment for us. We were there to enjoy the peace and quiet away from everyday life. We did enjoy the guitarist playing on the Lawn as we finished dinner at the Grill. The Smart Casuals played nightly in the Atrium area so it was pleasant background music to our nightly outings to Cafe al Bacio. We enjoyed the Broadway style production, but the cirque style shows are not our cup of tea.

We did not attend many of the evening events but we did enjoy the Battle of the Sexes on Valentine's Day.

As for day activities, we had a couple of occasions where staff never showed to host both poolside and up on the lawn. This could be improved, but we enjoyed the overall slower pace.

Fun Factory

I was quite sure I would enjoy Celebrity, but I was concerned about my son. He's not the typical kid though so we went into it with an open mind. There were 62 minors on board, and only a handful of kids attended the Ensigns in Fun Factory. We were pleased to find they are much more hands on in activities. They built little robots, and tried to encase an egg to be dropped a deck with best results earning more Fun Factory bucks. On RCCL, I think the counselors fell back on their Dreamworks partnership too often and kids watched movies. We took advantage of the VIP Pass which got him a bag of goodies, plus tours of the bridge and theater. We enjoyed not having to worry about extra costs past 10PM or when we let him do lunch with the program. On RCCL they had maybe one give away but on this trip it felt like the staff was looking for excuses to shower the kids with stuff like little stuffed Stellas (their mascot), beach towels, beach balls, fabric frisbee discs, etc.. My son actually skipped dessert all week at dinner to ensure he got there on time to not miss a thing.

The iLounge

We took advantage of our free minutes as a RCCL Diamond recognition to Elite. We found the access faster than on RCCL. We had some extended family issues going on back on land so it was nice to stay in the loop. The only negative was when my iPad lucked into the rogue IP address that left me out till we finally got the iLounge guys working on it.

Debarkation

It was remarkably smooth compared to our experience on the Liberty of the Seas a year ago. Within an hour of leaving our cabin, we were in our car and on our way home. The only difficulty was the few porters to help with our too massive collection of bags to get through customs.

Conclusion

I was sold very quickly on the Celebrity style of cruising. My husband also was won over. We really only saw our son at meals and bedtime based on his choosing to be in the Fun Factory so it was a win there. We were scheduled to do the Independence of the Seas next year but went ahead booked the Silhouette for an eastern run next year instead. We were impressed by the presence of management everywhere on board. It was a pleasant surprise. They actually seemed to care more about the passengers than we were used to.

Perhaps you could find room to pack something like the Baby Bjorn Toilet Trainer. My son never had any other seat, and it fits right over a regular toilet seat. You just lift it on and off the seat by the handle.

Thank you, thank you, thank you! I have a nine year old with ADHD, and it helps when he can see what's coming so he's not too overwhelmed. Yesterday, he kept excitedly asking if there were more days available. We are just over two weeks out now from our sailing.

From the browser, choose the option to load the PDF into iBooks. It makes it quite easy to read.

Thank you! My family really appreciates it.

Add me to those looking to see a copy. We'll be on our first Celebrity Cruise in three weeks aboard Silly.

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I am a low key traveler in my late 30s who craves the opportunity to just relax. I cruise with my husband and nine year old son. We are trying our first Celebrity cruise as a change of pace from Royal Caribbean in about a month. The reputation of the kids club seems on par with RC as I suspect they are all trained by the same people. I just hope it is busy enough to keep my son, whose top vacation choice is cruising, as happy as I suspect I will be.

Merry Christmas from sunny yet cool Orlando, Florida!

I'm happy to hear that I won't be the only one. We are sailing Valentine's Day week so I was going to do heart themed magnets, one for each of the three of us, on our door.

I travel with my own personal powerchair, and a manual besides for ports. First, they have a specific spot for those in wheelchairs to wait as it reduces the need for elevator access. And at least on Royal Caribbean they are awful at remembering to warn us in advance of colors called which reduces its usefulness. Second, if you have never used a chair you will never understand just how difficult it is to maneuver around people not paying attention, especially the pushing and prodding in crowds such as you have for debarkation. And I will say that my powerchair can do serious harm to ankles of folks who unthinkingly step in my path so being near other folks in chairs means those around me are going to be aware enough to act cautiously, although usually we end up mingled in with walkers somehow. It is a stressful process, not the breeze the OP seems to think it is.

I was born with my particular condition and avoided a wheelchair for as long as I could, but needed one at least part time by age 20 and even more so now nearly twenty years later. The fact is that wheelchairs are not a convenience. They are a method of freedom of movement so we aren't a ball and chain to our loved ones around us.

I am in a wheelchair so I cruise for the ship and all that comes with it as ports aren't extremely accessible once you get away from the pier area. I like roll calls with the chit chat as the people are a big part of my cruise. My current cruise thread here on Celebrity is very much about excursions. To add on to that, we appear to be the only couple with a child along so I don't think I ever posted more than once.

On past cruises on RCCL, I have had chatty roll calls and gotten very involved including creating a little signature image for the group along with matching door magnets to help you find your door easier once on the ship. Those were fun cruises as you would run into fellows CC folks, and you take the time to smile and maybe chat about how they are enjoying their week because they are more than just another face.

We are going on our first Celebrity cruise in two months after years of cruising on Royal Caribbean. We certainly dress up with formal attire including my son. I think it is an excellent lesson in learning to dress to fit the circumstances. He's just turned 9 and in the first year of puberty already about 5'1" so he's between kids sizes and adult which makes his formal clothing a challenge. I had been thinking that I really need him in a full suit as we usually do, but now I think I shall do dress shirt and tie with dress pants and a suit vest. Hopefully no one will cringe at that option.

I'll second getting the passport. My 9 year old son has had one since he was a baby, and us along with him, as it is just so much easier than the birth certificate with photo ID that we started off using.

I'm in our fourth year of homeschooling our just turned nine year old son. We take a break but I created a cruise journal out of a composition book when he first learned to write. He has to journal daily while we cruise. It is fun for him because he can look at the old entries and remember previous cruises while realizing how far he has come in his writing. Otherwise we just discuss the places we are visiting.