Celebrity Silhouette - with kids?

[nayuval]

Hi,

 

we were wondering if the Silhouette will be ok with kids? I read that Celebrity is mainly for older cruisers, however, we were thinking to take a cruise next year, we have 3 kids, ages 6, 12 and 17.

We were cruising on Royal's Symphony of the seas and MSC Seaview,

I saw there are some activites for kids, I was wondering how will be the atmosphere in the ship, while they are really not noisy, I don't want them to feel uncomfortable going throught the ship.

Just to add, it is planned next August, if that matters.

 

Thanks in advance.

[mahdnc]

32 minutes ago, nayuval said:

Hi,

 

we were wondering if the Silhouette will be ok with kids? I read that Celebrity is mainly for older cruisers, however, we were thinking to take a cruise next year, we have 3 kids, ages 6, 12 and 17.

We were cruising on Royal's Symphony of the seas and MSC Seaview,

I saw there are some activites for kids, I was wondering how will be the atmosphere in the ship, while they are really not noisy, I don't want them to feel uncomfortable going throught the ship.

Just to add, it is planned next August, if that matters.

 

Thanks in advance.

 

Your kids should not feel uncomfortable.  We certainly never felt it when we took our kids.  Sailing in August means that there should be families aboard.  Celebrity runs a good kids program--excellent counselors and good facilities.   By the time our kids turned 17, they weren't interested in doing the structured programs of the kids club as they were too cool for that.  

[kwokpot]

41 minutes ago, nayuval said:

Hi,

 

we were wondering if the Silhouette will be ok with kids? I read that Celebrity is mainly for older cruisers, however, we were thinking to take a cruise next year, we have 3 kids, ages 6, 12 and 17.

We were cruising on Royal's Symphony of the seas and MSC Seaview,

I saw there are some activites for kids, I was wondering how will be the atmosphere in the ship, while they are really not noisy, I don't want them to feel uncomfortable going throught the ship.

Just to add, it is planned next August, if that matters.

 

Thanks in advance.

TBH I would stick with those two lines. Is there a particular reason you want to sail Celebrity with your Children? Celebrity is a 'make your own fun' cruiseline. Besides the kid and teens club there literally is nothing on the ship that's geared towards kids. No water parks, rope course, rock climbing walls, no kids pool, no arcade, no merry go round, no aqua theater, no flowrider, not even a basketball court. After cruising the Symphony and Seaview for your kids the Silhouette will be a major downgrade and TBH a quite boring cruise. You know what your kids did on those cruises. If they took advantage of all those amenities, your choice should be quite clear, since none of those amenities exist on the Silhouette.  

Edited August 11, 2022 by kwokpot

[kwokpot]

19 minutes ago, kwokpot said:

TBH I would stick with those two lines. Is there a particular reason you want to sail Celebrity with your Children? Celebrity is a 'make your own fun' cruiseline. Besides the kid and teens club there literally is nothing on the ship that's geared towards kids. No water parks, rope course, rock climbing walls, no kids pool, no arcade, no merry go round, no aqua theater, no flowrider, not even a basketball court. After cruising the Symphony and Seaview for your kids the Silhouette will be a major downgrade and TBH a quite boring cruise. You know what your kids did on those cruises. If they took advantage of all those amenities, your choice should be quite clear, since none of those amenities exist on the Silhouette.  

I looked at your post again and realized you'll be sailing a Europe itinerary. That changes everything, so a European cruise is more about the ports than the ship. Having said that I would first decide which ship, of the ones you're considering, has the best itinerary, since a European cruise is all about that. Then you have to look at pricing and the kinds of cabins you're considering. 

 

The Silhouette will be a bit more sedate than either Royal or MSC. I think your kids will be fine since the Ports of call will be the important feature here, but no the main pool deck won't be filled with the sounds of children playing and running around. But my comments above about the absence of amenities still stands, and again it will depend on whether you think the absence of them will cause them to have a lesser vacation experience.

[MarKay525]

I am one of those older cruisers and I enjoy seeing children on the ship. I do expect them to be well behaved enough to not push all the elevator buttons or not run through the Solarium, but I would expect the same of a child at a land based resort. Call me old fashioned.

 

As mahdnc said, summer brings more families, so more kids. The late August sailing might have fewer children as it seems like some schools start mid-August these days. IMHO, if an older cruiser (which is not an accurate description of the Celebrity clientele to begin with, again-my opinion) doesn't want to sail with kids, they shouldn't be on a cruise in August! 😁

Edited August 12, 2022 by MarKay525

[jelayne]

To me the question would be the 17 yr old.  We have seen and talked with children who are participating in the Children's Club and they loved it.  They said it was great, different than the other ones and more interesting. 

 

On our cruise in April I saw 2 boys probably 15 or so, the only kids I saw all week at the Retreat Sun Deck.  They were with parents in a Suite and spent every sea day bored to death at the Sun Deck.  They couldn’t go to the main pool,  where there were quite a few families with kids, unless with the parents and the parents would leave the Retreat.  Probably not a good vacation for those 2 young guys.
 

[GOLDENBONNY]

Why not? Celebrity is mass market cruise line and family orientated . They have nice kids club with lots of activities . 17 years old will annoy you on an cruise line lol so no worries.

[Esprit]

I'd ask the kids what they would prefer. If they choose Celebrity then great, but they need to fully understand it's nothing like a Royal Caribbean or MCS ship with are geared up much more for youngsters.

We choose to cruise in July/August and prefer the wide demographic compared to being on a ship full of coffin dodgers! 

[nayuval]

Thanks all for your valuable inputs.

@kwokpot, the reaaon we were thinking of Celebrity is that it fits our point of interest (we wanted a Northern Europe cruise) and fits also the dates perfectly (we wanted it to be special for one kid's special event. We actually were thinking about the new MSC ship sailong on those dates, but the Yacht Club non refundable deposit is quite high in my opinion for 2 suites that we need, not that we plqn to cancel bit will all that is going on, we would prefer to have this option up to 3 nonths of the cruise. Since this is a route that we would be out almost every day, the attractions on the ship are less important. 

9 hours ago, kwokpot said:

TBH I would stick with those two lines. Is there a particular reason you want to sail Celebrity with your Children? Celebrity is a 'make your own fun' cruiseline. Besides the kid and teens club there literally is nothing on the ship that's geared towards kids. No water parks, rope course, rock climbing walls, no kids pool, no arcade, no merry go round, no aqua theater, no flowrider, not even a basketball court. After cruising the Symphony and Seaview for your kids the Silhouette will be a major downgrade and TBH a quite boring cruise. You know what your kids did on those cruises. If they took advantage of all those amenities, your choice should be quite clear, since none of those amenities exist on the Silhouette.  

@MarKay525, no need to insult off course), this is only from what we read;). I believe almost all parent say that about their children, but ours are really well behaved;) and I agree with you about the land based resort, so I am old fashioned as well;)

9 hours ago, MarKay525 said:

I am one of those older cruisers and I enjoy seeing children on the ship. I do expect them to be well behaved enough to not push all the elevator buttons or not run through the Solarium, but I would expect the same of a child at a land based resort. Call me old fashioned.

 

As mahdnc said, summer brings more families, so more kids. The late August sailing might have fewer children as it seems like some schools start mid-August these days. IMHO, if an older cruiser (which is not an accurate description of the Celebrity clientele to begin with, again-my opinion) doesn't want to sail with kids, they shouldn't be on a cruise in August! 😁

 

Again, thank you all, we will think again about the options we have and pros and cons.

 

Have a wonderful day and weeekend.

[LGW59]

3 hours ago, nayuval said:

Thanks all for your valuable inputs.

@kwokpot, the reaaon we were thinking of Celebrity is that it fits our point of interest (we wanted a Northern Europe cruise) and fits also the dates perfectly (we wanted it to be special for one kid's special event. We actually were thinking about the new MSC ship sailong on those dates, but the Yacht Club non refundable deposit is quite high in my opinion for 2 suites that we need, not that we plqn to cancel bit will all that is going on, we would prefer to have this option up to 3 nonths of the cruise. Since this is a route that we would be out almost every day, the attractions on the ship are less important. 

@MarKay525, no need to insult off course), this is only from what we read;). I believe almost all parent say that about their children, but ours are really well behaved;) and I agree with you about the land based resort, so I am old fashioned as well;)

 

Again, thank you all, we will think again about the options we have and pros and cons.

 

Have a wonderful day and weeekend.

Enjoy the cruise, Northern Europe itinerary is fantastic and it sounds from what you’ve said, your kids will enjoy it.  I’d say go for it, there will be plenty to do for your kids, both on and especially off the ship, great learning experience and such a great way to spend quality time together!

[keesar]

We finally got through a discussion of children on a Celebrity ship and failed to get a comment like. "Celebrity is my 3 year olds favorite cruise line".  

[cangelmd]

I’ve thought about this a lot, although I missed the chance for personal experience, so take my thoughts with a grain of nacl.

i think it depends on the kids. My kids at 6 and 10 loved camp and organized activities and were introverted enough to prefer smaller groups and less noise. They would miss the pool slides and ice shows and mini-golf, but wouldn’t have cared much about the other bells and whistles. I agree that the 17 year old might be the issue, although with all the ports, the 17 could well be happy to chill on the sea days. My husbands nieces and nephews might well have hated it.

[MarKay525]

7 hours ago, nayuval said:

<snip>

@MarKay525, no need to insult off course), this is only from what we read;). I believe almost all parent say that about their children, but ours are really well behaved;) and I agree with you about the land based resort, so I am old fashioned as well;)

<snip>

 

Please accept my heartfelt apologies. I did not intend to offend - just expressing my opinion. I will choose my words more carefully in the future.

Hope you and your family have a wonderful cruise. Kay

[nayuval]

52 minutes ago, MarKay525 said:

Please accept my heartfelt apologies. I did not intend to offend - just expressing my opinion. I will choose my words more carefully in the future.

Hope you and your family have a wonderful cruise. Kay

My appologies. I meant I am sorry if I called you older cruiser....not that you were offending. On the contrary, you were very helpful in your answer.

[hcat]

Silhouette is our fav S Class ship..tied with Equinox

Cruise will be more about the ports and family time...

I would not worry

[Silent Penguin]

5 hours ago, cangelmd said:

i think it depends on the kids. My kids at 6 and 10 loved camp and organized activities and were introverted enough to prefer smaller groups and less noise. They would miss the pool slides and ice shows and mini-golf, but wouldn’t have cared much about the other bells and whistles. I agree that the 17 year old might be the issue, although with all the ports, the 17 could well be happy to chill on the sea days. My husbands nieces and nephews might well have hated it.

Well said.   We have taken our 3 children-who are all in their 20's now- on a number of cruises on different size ships on different cruiselines.  The last cruise we took as a family, they were 13, 16 and 18.   Sea days and evenings were  a bit of a drag for my 18 year old son.  Like a lot of 18-year old boys, it was a hard age for him in terms of familial relationships. While he didn't want to be alone, he also wasn't too keen on hanging with us.  Furthermore, he also was too old for the teen club and too young to enjoy the bar scene.  

 

 

[LMHSRN]

On 8/11/2022 at 7:34 PM, kwokpot said:

TBH I would stick with those two lines. Is there a particular reason you want to sail Celebrity with your Children? Celebrity is a 'make your own fun' cruiseline. Besides the kid and teens club there literally is nothing on the ship that's geared towards kids. No water parks, rope course, rock climbing walls, no kids pool, no arcade, no merry go round, no aqua theater, no flowrider, not even a basketball court. After cruising the Symphony and Seaview for your kids the Silhouette will be a major downgrade and TBH a quite boring cruise. You know what your kids did on those cruises. If they took advantage of all those amenities, your choice should be quite clear, since none of those amenities exist on the Silhouette.  

They will be bored.......the only thing of interest to them would be Pizza!

[D. B.]

As a Coffin Dodger I look for ships with no rock-climbing wall or waterslides for Most of my cruises. 

 But Well Behaved Children are always a pleasure to have onboard.

[snowballs mom]

We took our daughter (now an adult) on the 14 night Baltic itinerary when she was 13. We either booked an excursion or toured on own at every port, so we were really busy on those days. She really enjoyed the teen club even though there were less than 20 kids (the age range was 13-17).

[Cap_D]

Something that rarely goes said when comparing lines and traveling with kids is that Celebrity tends to have far nicer rooms and food as compared to Royal. Does anyone else find annoying and is inclined to take Celebrity, but wants some children's geared stuff, find that Royal Carribean rooms often look like 1995, utilize curtains for everything, and seems gimmicky or vice versa?  My view is Celebrity could use just a bit more for kids, or Royal could use a bit more upscale options.   The risk is families turn to Norwegian for the Haven, which has rooms with bedrooms with walls, etc.

[cyntil8ing]

My kids, now 19 and 16, have been on about 10 Celebrity cruises since they started cruising at 5 and 3. They also have about 10 on Carnival and a couple on Royal Caribbean. They have never been made to feel unwanted or unwelcome on Celebrity. Based on Cruise Critic responses, I was a little worried before taking them the first time, but the onboard experience has always been wonderful.

 

We just came off of a Northern European cruise on Carnival Pride that was awesome. The ship is old and dated, but the itinerary more than made up for it. Food and service were great. Entertainment was lacking, but we were so busy during the day it didn't really matter. I guess my point is that with a great itinerary, the rest doesn't matter as much.

[SusieV]

My 12 year old is a foodie and not into the active amenities on other ships. He loves Celebrity.

[Cruising7in2017]

We are going on the Edge with our 9, 11 and 12 year old out of Barcelona this Saturday. We have cruised on RCL with the kids before, they know that this cruise is about the itinerary. We involved them in every step of the planning (excursions are geared towards them, i.e. tuk tuk tour Valencia & aquarium, snorkeling in Corsica, kid focused private guides in Florence and Rome) Also, our kids are pretty sophisticated and into food, live entertainment, history, etc. I think it depends on the kid, they know not to expect Universal Studios when traveling to Europe. I think it is also different when going to the Caribbean, where I feel it is more about the ship than the itinerary, I guess also itineraries with more sea days need more onboard kid friendly activities and rock climbing wall, etc. Happy cruising!

[D. B.]

My first choice is always Celebrity BUT I also like RCCL's Oasis Glass (BIG) Ships for the Entertainment. 

 Those ships have something for Everyone of any age.

 I'm too old for the Flow Rider but I Love watching people ride it.

 I can watch the Kids in The pool side Kids Zone and wish there had been something like that when I was their age.

 

[newtocruiseinblue]

We did the Reflection Mediterranean this summer with our 16 year old and she loved it!! 
She met tons of new friends on board and they all still keep in touch with a group chat. Her favorite things to do were the pool, trying new foods/drinks/desserts, trivia with Dad, teen activities, silent disco for teens, she loved the coffee shop and the spa cafe. In fact, we still say to one another, “Meet me in the spa cafe” 😁 We wish we could every morning. Her favorite part was the ports and fun shore excursions!!