Any DCL fans been on Celebrity with kids?

[dmunsil]

I'll just say that we enjoyed Holland America very much, more than we expected to. The food was much better than we expected. I had some things in the MDR that I would have been happy to get at Palo (though nothing as good as Remy). The service was great; really on a par with Disney. The ship's vibe is less active, but there was still plenty to do and see. We all enjoyed it a lot and are planning more HAL trips. The decor involved a lot of the same elements that Disney uses - art deco and art nouveau, lots of faux wood paneling and subdued colors. Basically they're both trying to evoke the golden age of ocean liners but with a modern edge. Disney does it better, IMO, but HAL was very nice. For comparison, I feel like RCI's decor is mostly contemporary and generic, kind of like a nice hotel or upscale mall. Nothing bad, but certainly not super exciting.

As to kids, the HAL trip was a Christmas cruise on the Nieuw Amsterdam and there were plenty of children on board (though less than Disney, certainly). The kids clubs seemed pretty similar to the kids clubs we've seen on smaller RCI ships; basically just a playroom with toys and games. The staff were the usual young, enthusiastic people you see in kids clubs on any cruise. Our kids are older and don't really feel like doing the clubs, so I can't personally vouch for them, but we did look at the space and the list of activities, and it seemed like the same basic stuff every other cruise line does. I hear that the kids clubs on the newest biggest RCI ships kick it up a notch, but still nowhere near what Disney is doing.

Really, on most of these cruise lines, the kids clubs are perfectly fine, and roughly like dropping your kid off at the parks and rec day camp. Disney is like dropping your kid off at a really elaborate family fun center.

One insight that someone had about kids clubs on Disney vs. other cruise lines is that kids who like a more managed, structured experience may like the other cruise lines better, since they're oriented around everyone doing the same thing. Everyone does a craft, and then everyone plays a game, and then everyone visits the pool, etc. Disney is very open-ended with lots of innovative play spaces, so a kid who likes to go off on their own and explore might like that better. I think that seems about right.

 

[DnA2010]

I think the Oasis class are too big for us. Royal really didn't manage the number of people well on the Explorer so I can't imagine the zoo that more would involve. Looks like a number of the Celebrity ships are around 2800, which seems like a more reasonable size.

We've been on Oasis and the Fantasy- we actually found the Fantasy more crowded as Oasis seemed to spend the people out better, especially pools/pool deck

 

[hanscarlet]

I've been doing a lot of research and reading reviews, talking to friends, etc. I would try NCL next with kids. Have you checked them out?

Thanks for this, I just searched and finally a club that is from 3-12! Yes, I am in search of another family cruise line and was leaning towards RCCL but might have to try NCL instead. They were docked next to us in Tortola and had a lot of families on there.

 

[acndis]

ugh! I forgot to consider that this is one of those times where our small family is a bonus!

One other thing to consider--make sure you price out the excursions. They are VERY pricey in Alaska and that's what put our trip up in the ABD range. ABD ended up to be about $800 more when all was said and done.

What my travel agent told me though is that we would have had a great time on Celebrity. You will, too! Alaska just seems like an amazing place. I'd just find the best price and go for it!