have you been on celebrity s class kids club

[bill turcotte]

We will have are 5 year olds with us . Whats the pro and con of the s-class kids club . Can we get off the ship while they are on the ship ?

[junglejane]

We have only been on the M-class but have had great experiences with the kids' program on Celebrity. Look at some of Scrapchick's posts. She has been on Equinox and Eclipse, I believe.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=26933337

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=25462903

 

And yes, you can get off the ship while your kids are in the Fun Factory.

[Scrapchick]

Thank you JJ.... I did respond to the same question directly on the Celebrity board, so hopefully the OP will read it over there....

[sargenet]

Thank you JJ.... I did respond to the same question directly on the Celebrity board, so hopefully the OP will read it over there....

 

Scrapchick:

Sounds like there are good children's programs on both Princess and Celebrity. We are trying to decide whether to cruise Ruby Princess or Solstice/Eclipse in March.... I was wondering if you could compare Celebrity vs Princess for parents?

 

The reason I ask is because we just got off the Navigator of the Seas. Although my 7 year old loved Adventure Ocean.... the "parents" were really disappointed in the food in the dining room and especially room service. My husband is not picky and he was also very disappointed! (we loved Chops and Portofino)

 

This was my 16th cruise...but I took a break from cruising when I had my son. So my cruises on both Celebrity and Princess were 10 years ago. I have cruised more on Royal but after this last cruise I want to go back and try either Celebrity or Princess.

 

Princess goes to Princess Cay on their 7 day, and we do like port days! But my biggest concern is great food and a good children's program. It also seems like Princess has smaller cabins...

 

Right now pricing is about the same for both for the week. If you had to pick..Ruby Princess or Solstice/Eclipse with a 7 year old... which would give you the best overall experience? Thanks!!

[Scrapchick]

Well, I'm very flattered you want my opinion, so thank you for that.

 

As for the comparison... So hard to say... I've been on the Ruby and the Eclipse. Let me tell you what I can and you can ask more from there...

 

Ruby advantages... We always get a mini suite because the cabin is more spacious and the sofa bed makes up for DD. The cabins are comfortable for three and have very adequate storage space, plus a bath tub as well and a deep balcony. I'd give them the edge over Celebrity S class ships for this. A standard S class cabin is very narrow and cramped with poor storage space, and no bath tub. However, the fabulous modern design and feel of the cabins makes up for that to some degree. Princess wins on space, Celebrity wins on design. Overall, I think Princess ships are comfortable and very attractively designed but Celebrity ships are far more modern and with a contemporary feel to them. They have a real 21st century feel and are spectacular.

 

Food.... I think both lines are fairly equal in the main dining rooms. We're happy on either. I think Celebrity buffets are far superior in terms of layout and design, food selection, presentation and taste. My DD loved the various stations and the way she could go up and order her own pasta and sauce just the way she wanted it, and then go back for a bit of garlic bread. I think Princess buffets are much better in the evening than during the day. I am a huge fan of the Oceanview Cafe on the S class ships. I do give the edge to Celebrity here. And I never have a problem finding a seat on Celebrity, whereas the buffet is ALWAYS busy on Princess! If ice cream is a factor for you, then Celebrity has a dozen flavors freshly made each day and their sundae bar is extremely popular. Princess only does a couple of free flavors. A definite hands down to Celebrity on that. Both ships have burger bars but I rarely bother with them as the other dining options take care of business for me!

 

While it's not really a kid thing, Celebrity also has several specialty restaurants and they're all fantastic. Princess just has the Crown Grill steakhouse and Sabatini's, both of which are excellent. However, again, I give the edge to Celebrity on those. I LOVED Silk Harvest on the Equinox and Qsine on the Eclipse. I've never experienced anything like that on a ship before. Princess does a pub lunch English style several times a voyage, with things like fish and chips on the menu. Celebrity has Bistro on 5 for fresh crepes and lighter fare. It also has a gelato bar, for a small price and I thought it was reasonably priced and absolutely delicious. I definitely think Celebrity gives more food options and does it with great flair.

 

Kids clubs.... Both lines offer an excellent program. We have no complaints about either. I think Celebrity's program is slightly more educational rather than merely entertaining. Their staff are superb. The Fun Factory is light, bright, freshly designed. One thing I have found they do differently than Princess is to be a bit more flexible on ages and which group your child goes into. Our DD was clearly better suited for the older group on the Eclipse, even though her birthday was during the voyage. Princess would have kept her in the younger group until her birthday with no flexibility. Celebrity looks at the big picture a little bit more and works with the parents to find the best fit for the child where possible. I really liked that approach. Princess is very rules oriented when it comes to age and which group the child is, and birth date determines everything for them. The Fun Factory also stays open all day with no big break for lunch and dinner. The only stipulation is the child must leave for at least one hour every six hours and cannot spend all day there. Princess kids club hours are more traditional, with 2 hour breaks for lunch and dinner. Princess takes the kids for afternoon ice cream and holds dinners for them in the buffet on formal nights so the parents can go to formal dinner alone if they want. Celebrity will do lunch and dinner parties if there are enough kids and also takes the kids to the theater for shows.

 

It's such a hard choice... I don't think you'd be unhappy with either. I think Princess overall has a more family feel to it, whereas Celebrity is more sophisticated and upscale and adult oriented. However, we've seen tons of kids on Celebrity so families do go for it and are welcomed. I do feel the Fun Factory is more geared to the parents wishes and needs whereas Princess has their program and that's the way it is. My DD loved the pools on Princess, especially the covered one when it was cold. The covered pool on the S class ships is for adults only and the center pools are very small for the size of the ship. However, the S class ships also have the Lawn Club and there's a lot of activities for kids up there. They also have the hot glass show, which is fascinating and educational. The kids club takes the kids to see that as well. On the Eclipse, DD's design got picked and one of the glass artists made it into a piece of glass. it was an ice cream sundae. She got to take it home at no charge and now it's in her bedroom.

 

When I'm on Princess, I think it's the best cruse line for me and when I'm on Celebrity I feel the same way. You can't go wrong with either and both are great for a 7 year old. I do feel that Princess is more traditional overall and Celebrity is more progressive and contemporary. I'm sure my DD would love all the bells and whistles that RCL offers, but Hubby and I also want a cruise that we enjoy, so we go for lines like Princess, HAL and Celebrity and we don't feel we've missed out on anything.

 

Does any of this help at all??? Please let me know if there is anything else you want to know!

[alj1208]

Scrapchick...... You are becoming the "authority" on S-Class kids clubs! You are the only poster I have seen (maybe I missed someone) who has reviewed Eclipse with kids in mind. I have some questions, too, which might be useful for this thread.

 

*What is there to do on Eclipse when your child is not in the Fun Factory? The pool is an obvious one, but are there other things families can do?

 

*Does the Fun Factory (or the library) have children's books you can check out and bring to your cabin? What about toys? Can those be borrowed for the cabin?

 

*Does the Fun Factory have any playground-type equipment, such as a slide?

 

*How crowded does the Fun Factory get? Are they able to provide individual attention for children who may need a little extra help getting used to the situation?

[sargenet]

Scrapchik:

Thank you for your wonderful reply to my question. I think I also have the same questions posted by ALJ1208.

 

My son is 7 and it looks like he would be with the 3-7 year olds on Princess. Not sure if that is good or bad to be quite honest! My son is a bit immature so it shouldn't be a problem but I don't want him to be bored! I noticed on our Navigator cruise they did lots of structured activities. Not a lot of free time. I couldn't believe they were playing dodge ball at 9:30pm at night! I heard there were 900 kids on our cruise! Mostly older than my sons group (tons of teenagers!!). There might have been 30 kids max in his age group in one setting but the facilities on Navigator are quite large so it didn't seem crowded.

 

I looked at the minisuites on the Ruby and we noticed that they are on the dolphin deck and totally exposed. We just got spoiled on a corner aft on Navigator and loved the privacy. The balcony was very large. Not sure if a bigger balcony or more privacy is our first goal. We loved sitting out under the stars at night after we put my son down to sleep. So that is a consideration too! 2 nights we feel asleep in our loungers!!

 

We like port days so I like the fact that princess has a visit to their island. I am a little worried that 3 days at sea might be a bit much on the Eclipse. My son didn't do anything on our last cruise except kids club, a dip in the pool, and one time golfing. If we weren't in port he wanted to be in the kids club. Since Eclipse doesn't have a lot of other attactions will he get bored?

 

Food: This is a biggy for us! We would definately go to at least 2 specialty restaurants during our cruise. We tried to take our son to dinner the first 2 nights in the dining room... then he went to buffet the rest of the time. Too long for him to dine at this age.... so which ever ship we pick we will do "anytime" dining. We will feed our son in the buffet and take him to the kid's club then go to dinner on our own. We loved the speciality restaurants on the Navigator but the dining room was a huge disappointment. First time ever I have experienced that on a cruise.

 

This is where Celebrity may have an advantage (dining). It sounds like they have better hours. Sometimes it was hard on our RCCL cruise to wait till their buffet opened (6:30pm)... then the kids club opened at 7pm. My son is used to eating before 6:30pm.

 

We don't have family that lives close by and we don't often get to have a meal alone. So for us going to dinner by ourselves is HUGE and we like it to be a special...or at least the food be good and memorable.

 

My son also has special dietary needs, which complicates everything. He needs to avoid corn and soy. Both make him very jittery and hyper. Weird I know...but it took us 2 years to figure it out. I had a special request needs form in with RCCL for our last cruise. They told us we needed to dine in the dining room. What a mess. When we got to the dining room and mentioned it they looked at us like we had horns! Guess since corn isn't something they normally deal with it was overwhelming for them. I just did my best to order. The restaurant manager helped us plan the next night's meal. He was wonderful and had a special desert made without corn syrup for my son.

 

I really didn't need anything special made, just wanted to "avoid" certain things. I wanted to be able to know if their bread had corn syrup or not. Could get no answers.. I did find out all their ice cream had corn syrup so we avoided that.

 

Turns out if was just easier for us to take our son to the buffet! I brought my own salad dressings, ketchup, syrup, bagels!! He ate a lot of fruit and plain meat with no dressings etc! That all being said... buffets are important to us! Especially having a lot of variety each night...

 

It has been 10 years...but I did anytime dining on Princess and then realized that the buffet seemed to have almost all the same stuff from the menu plus more! Not sure if that has changed or not!

[Scrapchick]

Scrapchick...... You are becoming the "authority" on S-Class kids clubs! You are the only poster I have seen (maybe I missed someone) who has reviewed Eclipse with kids in mind. I have some questions, too, which might be useful for this thread.

 

*What is there to do on Eclipse when your child is not in the Fun Factory? The pool is an obvious one, but are there other things families can do?

 

*Does the Fun Factory (or the library) have children's books you can check out and bring to your cabin? What about toys? Can those be borrowed for the cabin?

 

*Does the Fun Factory have any playground-type equipment, such as a slide?

 

*How crowded does the Fun Factory get? Are they able to provide individual attention for children who may need a little extra help getting used to the situation?

 

Wow... Thank you... I never considered myself to be an expert at all:D.

 

I do tend to find this particular board is highly dominated by Carnival and RCCL cruisers, lines we tend not to go on, so if my experience can be helpful to others, then I'm happy to share.

 

To answer your questions....

 

1. What is there to do on Eclipse for kids?

 

Well, obviously there is the Fun Factory and also the pool. By the pool there is a fountain, which s a big square area of jets that shoot up in varying patterns and order out of the floor. It's great for little kids to sit in and play in. At the Lawn Club area, the back third of the ship is covered with real grass and it's a lovely area to run around on or laze away the afternoon on. There are things like ring toss and other games going on up there and it's very casual and informal, with lots of comfortable chairs. There is also the hot glass show there, with daily shows going on as well. The stateroom TV's are all interactive and flat screened with a huge list of free movies on demand, with a decent selection kids films too. On the Equinox the Captain came around and met with all the kids and took pictures with them and read to them.

 

2. Books and toys to borrow...

 

I'm afraid I don't know about that. My DD is 9 now. I do remember being on the Constellation when she was 4, which is am M class ship and they did have games and books you could borrow. I'm not sure about the S class. The Fun Factory is divided up into separate areas within the same enclosed master area and I haven't been into the little kids area. I would think that yes, you could borrow things, but can't swear to it. The library does not have kids books, but I don't think I've ever been on a ship that does, Princess included. I haven't relied on a ship's library for books of any kind for a while. We take a portable DVD player for DD with her favorite movies, plus books and a small selection of toys when we travel. It's a bonus if a ship has anything for her but we never expect it.

 

3. Fun Factory equipment...

 

The Fun Factory connects to the basketball court out on the sports deck. There are no slides or ball pits in the Fun Factory on the S class ships. They did have a fantastic climbing structure and ball pit inside the Fun Factory on both the Constellation and Summit several years ago and DD loved them when she was younger. I don't know if they still have them. There was some talk of removing them because of hygiene requirements. EVERYTHING gets wiped down at the end of the day and cleanliness was an issue there. I hope they left them, as I thought they were just brilliant and the kids loved them. I am going on the Millenium in April and will check that out then. That's a sister ship to the other M class ships. However, there are no play frames on the S class ships.

 

4. Crowds in the Fun Factory...

 

I've never seen it overcrowded in there. The staff seem to be able to manage the groups very well. Not all kids on the ship will go, and not all the kids who go will go all the time either. We only get to travel during school vacations now and there are always 100 plus kids on board. In my experience, as kids get older they spend less time in the kids club because they take on other interests and don't need to be entertained as much. I've seen DD go from having to be dragged out of the kids clubs to now being choosy about when she goes and how long she stays for. I think it's natural for that to happen as kids age. Don't under-estimate that finding new friends on the ship is a major factor in how much the kids enjoy the voyage. One new, special friend who wants to hang out at the pool is worth 10 play structures in the kids club if there's no-one special to play with.

 

So Celebrity does not have the rock walls and ice rinks that RCCL does, but we find there is plenty to do and never enough time to do everything we want. We love sea days and enjoy the not having a plan and seeing how the day unfolds aspect of life at sea.

 

Does that help?? Fire away if you want to know anything else and thank you for your kind words.

[sargenet]

Wow... Thank you... I never considered myself to be an expert at all:D.

 

Does that help?? Fire away if you want to know anything else and thank you for your kind words.

 

Thank you. This has been a wonderful post and lots of helpful information. Makes me wish I had booked the Eclipse instead of the Navigator for our Thanksgiving vacation! Right now I am leaning more towards Celebrity vs Ruby Princess....one big reason is the non-smoking issue! I am extremely sensitive to smoke and perfumes so I like the idea of not having to worry about the smoke issue on Celebrity

[alj1208]

Thanks for the detailed info, Scrapchick. Very helpful. I'm hoping X S-Class turns out to be a good choice for our family. We are looking for a low-key but quality experience.

[Scrapchick]

Scrapchik:

Thank you for your wonderful reply to my question. I think I also have the same questions posted by ALJ1208.

 

My son is 7 and it looks like he would be with the 3-7 year olds on Princess. Not sure if that is good or bad to be quite honest! My son is a bit immature so it shouldn't be a problem but I don't want him to be bored! I noticed on our Navigator cruise they did lots of structured activities. Not a lot of free time. I couldn't believe they were playing dodge ball at 9:30pm at night! I heard there were 900 kids on our cruise! Mostly older than my sons group (tons of teenagers!!). There might have been 30 kids max in his age group in one setting but the facilities on Navigator are quite large so it didn't seem crowded.

 

I know the Sapphire and Diamond Princesses have larger kids club facilities and more space and are able to break down their age groups more, like 3-5, 6-8 etc which is better for kids who are like your son, aging out of the younger group but not really ready for the 8-12 group either. The Ruby does not, as far as I recall, have this option. However, depending how many kids are on board, Princess has been known to break down the ages into smaller groups to manage the numbers better. As I said earlier, I think Celebrity is more flexible about which group to put a child into and don't go strictly by birth date. We were on the Equinox 4 months before DD turned 9 this year and the manager said she could tell DD was mature for her age and an experienced cruiser and would be fine in the older group and she was willing to allow it if we were okay with it. Princess will not do that. Both lines have full activities planned but it depends on how many kids show up. They will often let the kids choose an activity or have free play if there are only a few there. 900 kids is too, too much for me... There were 500 on our summer Ruby sailing and THAT was too much as well. I like enough playmates of the same age for DD without being overwhelmed. I like kids, but not that much!

I looked at the minisuites on the Ruby and we noticed that they are on the dolphin deck and totally exposed. We just got spoiled on a corner aft on Navigator and loved the privacy. The balcony was very large. Not sure if a bigger balcony or more privacy is our first goal. We loved sitting out under the stars at night after we put my son down to sleep. So that is a consideration too! 2 nights we feel asleep in our loungers!!

Most of the mini suites are all on Dolphin deck and are all exposed, something I have never cared for. However, we were just on the Diamond in a balcony cabin on Baja deck with a covered balcony that overlooked everyone else and we were much further back from the water so at least you can look right over your railing at the ocean below on Dolphin deck. There are a few mini suites on Emerald Deck at the very Aft that ARE covered, but they sell out fast! Worth looking into.

 

We like port days so I like the fact that princess has a visit to their island. I am a little worried that 3 days at sea might be a bit much on the Eclipse. My son didn't do anything on our last cruise except kids club, a dip in the pool, and one time golfing. If we weren't in port he wanted to be in the kids club. Since Eclipse doesn't have a lot of other attactions will he get bored?

 

By the time we've got up and breakfasted and DD has spent a couple of hours in the kids club, it's time to check out the gift shop, browse in the photo gallery, grab a bit of lunch, watch a bit of cartoons on the stateroom TV, go to the pool, get some ice cream, play with new friends, shower and change for dinner and go back to the kids club till 9PM when it's cabin time and time to get ready for bed and read some stories before getting up the next day and doing it all over again... There's usually some special activity in the kids club like a craft, or Pirate Night, or movie night going on as well and worst case there's a bit of down time and chance to watch a movie in the cabin or play or do some coloring. There's never enough time!

 

Food: This is a biggy for us! We would definately go to at least 2 specialty restaurants during our cruise. We tried to take our son to dinner the first 2 nights in the dining room... then he went to buffet the rest of the time. Too long for him to dine at this age.... so which ever ship we pick we will do "anytime" dining. We will feed our son in the buffet and take him to the kid's club then go to dinner on our own. We loved the speciality restaurants on the Navigator but the dining room was a huge disappointment. First time ever I have experienced that on a cruise.

 

We do exactly the same thing, or we eat early and DD comes in with us till the kids club opens and then leaves. We like Anytime Dining on Princess for this. Their kids club opens at 7PM. Celebrity is more formal with fixed seating but they now offer Select Dining as well. We got for the early seating and DD leaves when she's ready. The Princess buffet is open 24 hours. Celebrity has pizza and pasta and salad all day long but their actual dinner buffet start at 5.30. The burger bar is open the whole day. Bistro on 5 is open all day as well. Both lines have kids menus in the dining room. Celebrity offers a full room service menu, Princess is more limited. The big negative on Celebrity is the cramped dining room. Too many tables and fabulous, gorgeous chairs that are heavy and clunky once you're sitting down. Hard to tuck yourself in and hard for the waiters to squeeze between tables. Design over function. Princess is elegant and functional but doesn't have the flair and style of Celebrity.

This is where Celebrity may have an advantage (dining). It sounds like they have better hours. Sometimes it was hard on our RCCL cruise to wait till their buffet opened (6:30pm)... then the kids club opened at 7pm. My son is used to eating before 6:30pm.

See above about dining hours and options... The specialty restaurants open at 5.30 on Celebrity and are absolutely superb. I would say all the specialty restaurants are more of an adult thing on either line.

We don't have family that lives close by and we don't often get to have a meal alone. So for us going to dinner by ourselves is HUGE and we like it to be a special...or at least the food be good and memorable.

 

Same here. We don't do fine dining at home ever. Cruise ships are our luxury treat.

 

My son also has special dietary needs, which complicates everything. He needs to avoid corn and soy. Both make him very jittery and hyper. Weird I know...but it took us 2 years to figure it out. I had a special request needs form in with RCCL for our last cruise. They told us we needed to dine in the dining room. What a mess. When we got to the dining room and mentioned it they looked at us like we had horns! Guess since corn isn't something they normally deal with it was overwhelming for them. I just did my best to order. The restaurant manager helped us plan the next night's meal. He was wonderful and had a special desert made without corn syrup for my son.

 

Both lines should be able to accommodate you if they know in advance and I would imagine the maitre'ds will be happy to help you plan the following day's meals with no problem. The buffets give you a bit more control. I think Celebrity has more of an emphasis on healthy food options and you can see this with their spa cuisine offerings. Princess tends to be a bit more traditional and stodgy, but Celebrity is more progressive in the food area, IMHO. DH wanted an Indian curry one night at the buffet but didn't find it hot enough for his tastes, so the following night they made him an extra hot curry specially. I also think Celebrity has more variety of food options for you to select from, including freshly made sushi every night.

 

I really didn't need anything special made, just wanted to "avoid" certain things. I wanted to be able to know if their bread had corn syrup or not. Could get no answers.. I did find out all their ice cream had corn syrup so we avoided that.

 

Turns out if was just easier for us to take our son to the buffet! I brought my own salad dressings, ketchup, syrup, bagels!! He ate a lot of fruit and plain meat with no dressings etc! That all being said... buffets are important to us! Especially having a lot of variety each night...

 

It has been 10 years...but I did anytime dining on Princess and then realized that the buffet seemed to have almost all the same stuff from the menu plus more! Not sure if that has changed or not!

 

I hope this helps you a bit! We've done 20 Princess cruises and are very comfortable on Princess. They're like an old shoe. We know exactly what we're going to get and it doesn't disappoint, but it doesn't blow us away either. Celebrity has their own style and they do things their way and they have the most gorgeous, modern ships with great use of glass and light and fabulous modern styling throughout. They're truly contemporary and unique. There are flaws to the S class design, which I detailed in my message last night, but overall they take way more risks with their ships and their product and their customer base loves it. We're going on the Millenium for Easter and the brand new Silhouette next August and I can't wait for either.

 

Anything else you want to know, fire away...

 

I do have a ton of Eclipse pictures that I'm happy to share via e-mail but I prefer not to post pics online any more.

[Scrapchick]

One more thing about the food on Celebrity...

 

It had TASTE. The food in the buffet had great variety, from fresh stir fries to hot, fresh waffles to salads and a wide variety of breads and fruits that were ripe and full of flavor.

 

That's what I remember the most about the buffet food on Celebrity... The selection and the TASTE. Food that actually had flavor and wasn't just mass produced, bland junk.

[sargenet]

One more thing about the food on Celebrity...

 

It had TASTE. .

 

That is great to hear! Thank you for the other anwers to my questions also.

 

Taste. I don't need a million choices, and I don't need to pig out. I just need things to be "tasty". We really liked the 3 day we took on HAL a couple years back...but don't want to take my son on a 7 day with them. But the food was always so good across the board on HAL. I can't believe the number of things we had on our Navigator cruise that didn't taste good...or even tasted BAD. Sure..there are things we order we might not "care" for....but we were surprised at the tasteless items we had in the MDR. And the room service food was nasty on a few occassions.

[Scrapchick]

The worst food we ever had was on Carnival. The worst buffet EVER. School canteen quality. Just AWFUL. We never went back. Unfortunately, I have no problem finding good food to eat on Princess or Celebrity. The freshly made waffles for breakfast are to die for on either line. It really is about quality and taste. I can taste the ripe cantelope melon in my mouth now... I could eat it by the bowl full, it was always so fresh and full of flavor... I definitely give Celebrity the edge on the food front and love, love, LOVE their Oceanview Cafe buffets...

[cdnliving]

Hi Scrapchick & Thankyou for your most informative and helpful posts! Reviews on activites for the kids on Celebrity are so few and far between and yet most any I have read give it high praise - perhaps its just the lack of them that has made us consider other lines in the past. Yet my husband and I are dying to try Celebrity!! However, if kids are happy it makes for a more memorable and enjoyable vacation. I would be most grateful if you could comment on the offerings and vibe for the teen crowd, from your experience/what you have seen. We are considering a cruise on the Ecipse over the March break period, so I am sure there will be more teens aboard, but wondered what offerings there are for them, and if they are well attended by this group. Love to hear your thoughts. Thanks so much!