Skigal

Hi all,

 

Mr. B. and I (and two single friends who did not know each other before the cruise) were on the April 7th cruise. There were many more Jewish participants, and the Jewish Heritage tours included between 24 and 30 guests (most but not all Jewish). I'll post more later, or you can email me at msa1289 at yahoo dot com.

 

I highly recommend Uniworld.

Thank you for posting! This is exciting to read. Was it, by chance, a Generations cruise? Our sailing in August is designated as such, since it's during the summer school holidays, but your week was (in some places) a Spring Break week--so I am curious. Was 30 days in advance preregistration required, for all the Jewish Heritage tours, or just some?

We have sailed RCCL once, Celebrity four times, with a fifth booked for 2/13/16. The first three cruises were B.K. ... before kids. We have found the food and service on Celebrity to be excellent (superior to RCCL). Everything we've read (and experienced) is that Celebrity is the best/highest-end of the mass market lines that are a good fit for families with young children (ours are 11 & 7). The fantastic specialty restaurants are a draw for us. Truthfully, We've become find of the suite life--our kids have a little privacy and so do we. And while we don't have any recollection of waiting in lines before we started booking suites, the added perks with the suite really make a difference to us. Other pluses: Our kids love the Fun Factory; we like the conviviality of the dining and cocktail venues. Lots of people on the boards seem to be unhappy with the fact that Reflection's main dance venue is in the atrium, but it creates a festive atmosphere (and, admittedly, awesome people watching). Also, there are nightclub "pop-ups" each night, karaoke in one of the lounges, wine and martini tastings each afternoon, and more. We take a lot of trips throughout the year (camping, family visits, business travel) but only one resort-style vacation, and the "modern luxury" vibe suits us for that particular trip. Hope this helps!!!

It was offered on Reflection as recently as our 2/14/15 sailing :)

....and we just disembarked this morning - to say the construction is unobtrusive and a non-issue is an understatement. We ate lunch every day in MDR & never had a wait, or a crowding issue.

Thank you all for your input. The itinerary for the Disney cruise is not as appealing as the itinerary for the Celebrity Infinity. Also, Disney would cost almost twice as much (for the week we're travelling) for 5 of us squeezed into one cabin as Celebrity would cost for 2 cabins.

 

 

 

The cruise is relatively port-centric so we will be spending a lot of time off of the ship anyway. I was just looking for an idea of the types of activities that the Fun Factory would host. Crafts? Alaska-specific activities? Organized sports for the older kids? Do they have a naturalist on board (not kid-specific, but would interest all of our kids)?

 

 

 

Skigal - Did your friends travel in the summer?

 

 

 

Thanks!

Yes, they traveled in the summer. I have other friends who have sailed with kids in summer on Celebrity and had a great time. I hope you get some responses from others who have done a Celebrity cruise in AK with kids, as it's on out list to enjoy!

I have second-hand information from friends who cruised celebrity to Alaska with their twin boys, then age 9, a few years ago. I apologize in advance that I don't have a ton of details, but on their sailing there were scarcely any kids, the Fun Factory was quite limited, and therefore the cruise was not so great for the kids. Hopefully, others can give you more concrete feedback, but I thought I'd pass this along. Apparently, a Disney cruise ship sailed the same day --the family watched it pull away, water slide, tons of kids, and all. (sad trombone music, here) ...good luck!

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We cruised Reflection last February (and are gearing up to sail on Reflection in a couple of weeks) with our kids. the VIP package was great--it included all the "late night parties," some great behind the scenes tours, and some other cute perks—overall, we felt it was well worth the expense.