Celebrity Solstice to Alaska with children - one year late review

[brekat1]

KETCHIKAN: unfortunately, I didn't get a single picture of our time in Ketchikan :( It was pouring rain at this port and so we decided to leave the kiddo's in kids clubs for the day and hubby and I just went out shopping on our own. We roamed the whole town in about 3 hours including adorable Creek Street, which was where I found the majority of unique souvenirs that I loved, including a handmade necklace pendant of the outline of the state of Alaska. I don't have too much to say about Ketchikan as we did not do an excursion here and well, it was pouring rain lol. We spent the afternoon warm and dry on the ship just relaxing.

 

 

Well, that's it for ports, if anyone has any further questions on the ports or what we did there, I will be happy to respond :)

 

I think I will wrap up my report with a final note on the staff as they deserve their own special mention and then end with my final conclusions on the whole first cruising experience and Alaska with the family...

 

STAFF: we personally fell in love with so many of the staff members on this cruise, taking time to talk to and get to know some of them was a real highlight for me of the whole experience. The crew way of life is quite fascinating and the hard work and insane hours with NO DAYS OFF!!! just blows my mind, and yet they mostly stay pleasant and helpful the whole time you are there...

 

 

This was our favorite MDR waiter Michael, he was from India and had a daughter back home whom he rarely gets to see :( He was great with my children and so friendly to talk to , he would make the kiddo's little animals out of the cloth napkins and became like an instant friend.

 

 

Magno and Whyan, from the Phillipines and Indonesia. Magno had kids back home as well and was one of the loveliest humans I have ever met. I felt really sad when we left that we wouldn't be able to see them anymore!! If you end up with him as your room steward then you are very lucky!!

 

 

and finally, three of the wonderful girls from the Fun Factory... these ladies helped make this holiday one of the most special times of our lives.

 

Getting to meet these people was a real highlight for me of this vacation, they are all so interesting and they work so very hard, I would see people on the cruise behaving beyond rudely to some of them , particularly the buffet staff, as if they were beneath us or something because they are staff and it filled me with rage as honestly, it sounds cheezy but some of these people were so lovely that they reminded me that humanity can be so beautiful. I loved the human interaction element of cruising which leads me into my final conclusions on our first cruise....

[brekat1]

Final conclusions: Cruising to Alaska with our kids ended up being the best experience I have currently had in my life, we loved it so much that I can't picture vacationing any other way now lol. I felt so good about it for so many different reasons - obviously, the way its set up with kids clubs allows for it to be a great time for everyone with time alone and time together, but like I said in the staff section, cruising helped me feel a real appreciation for people again... something you can forget to feel in daily life as you get kind of jaded and weary of dealing with people day in and day out. The people you meet on the cruise (for the most part and at least, on this particular cruise) were all so kind and friendly and from all over the world - I loved being exposed to so many different nationalities and for my children to be exposed to so many different people from all over, something that I can imagine would be difficult to duplicate in any other holiday setting. The kids left the fun factory with little friends from Australia, Greece, Japan and the US... I shared a hot tub one evening with a chinese lady from England and we just talked and talked for almost two hours, I would not have met her in any other setting... Also, Alaska itself was unbelievable and even just being on the ocean, the cruise experience and staring out at all that wilderness and vast water reminded me of how small we are and how big and beautiful the world is, I don't know of anyone faith beliefs but being someone who personally believes in God, this cruise reminded me of how awesome He is!! Thank you for reading this report and if you are planning to take your kids on Solstice, I hope you will have as awesome of a time as we all did :)

 

[Ladytee47]

I really enjoyed your review of the Solstice, I am planning a trip for me and my DH for June 2016. We have not booked yet but from reading your review I am trying to book something soon. I do believe in GOD myself and Yes he is awsome!:)

[brekat1]

I really enjoyed your review of the Solstice, I am planning a trip for me and my DH for June 2016. We have not booked yet but from reading your review I am trying to book something soon. I do believe in GOD myself and Yes he is awsome!:)

 

Thank you for saying that - God is awesome! and you could just really feel so close to Him and in awe of Him in Alaska. I loved that. I loved Alaska so much that last week I just booked us on our second Alaskan cruise for May 2016, we are going to do the 8 day northbound cruise on Celebrity Millennium this time, its our 10 year anniversary so no kiddo's on the next trip but I am already so very excited!! If you book with Celebrity right now they have a pretty awesome promotion going on called Big Bigger Best or something like that.

[Shmoooey]

Hi, we're going to be sailing on the Solstice in June 2016 with 11 and 8 year old girls. I was wondering, when you eat in the main dining room, do they have kids' menus? If they do, can the kids just order off of the main menu? My kids love to try new foods and really aren't the chicken nugget types.

[floridianny]

Hi, we're going to be sailing on the Solstice in June 2016 with 11 and 8 year old girls. I was wondering, when you eat in the main dining room, do they have kids' menus? If they do, can the kids just order off of the main menu? My kids love to try new foods and really aren't the chicken nugget types.

 

When we've sailed with ours sons and young nephew, they have never automatically given a children's menu. My younger son is an adventurous eater and loves to try new things. His favorite place to eat is Tuscan Grill. Loves the chioppino and risotto:) The wait staff have always mentioned that there is a children's menu and told us what was on it in the past. They will pretty much try to accommodate anyone. But your children are definitely encouraged to order from the adult menu..no worries.

[flacs1028]

was the fun factory opened on the first day of sailing, if so at what time could you drop off the kids?

[brekat1]

Hi there , the kids club officially opened up at 7 pm on the Sail away day :)

[ncmtnmamma]

Wonderful review! We too loved out Alaskan cruise and can't think about traveling any other way!

 

Magno was also our cabin steward and you are correct. He is absolutely wonderful!

 

Keep on cruisin'!

[brekat1]

That's so awesome that magno was your steward too ! It's funny how you can meet someone for such a short time but they leave such a strong positive impression on you 😊 We cruise Alaska again in May and I can't wait !!!😝😝

[flacs1028]

Thank you! Great review, I will be sailing in Solstice in June 2016

[brekat1]

So lucky ! You will have such a special time ! We are gonna try out millennium in May this time around , no kiddos though :( as its our 10 year anniversary but 2017 we will sail again with the kids !

[RCKM43]

Enjoy!

Edited February 2, 2016 by RCKM43

[mom02]

Thank you so much for taking the time to write a wonderfully comprehensive review about your experience with your young children on the cruise. Until I came upon your review, I had no luck finding information about what to do with younger aged kids. I have taken copious notes on your review about onboard activities and shore excursions. We will be cruising for the first time June 2016 (Howdy to all the June 2016 cruisers above!) and was worried we wouldn't be able to do much with our 5 and 2 yr old. This review has been immensely helpful - THANK YOU!

[brekat1]

Your so welcome ! I also couldn't find a lot before our cruise to help with small kids . I am sure you will have an absolutely wonderful time !!! Happy travels and God bless :)

[NanaChar]

This thread has made me feel so much better about taking our grandkids with us. We are going in September on the Infinity when school is back in session. (We booked the cruise way before we knew the little ones would be staying with us.). Does anyone have any idea if these cruises still have a decent amount of kids during the school year.

 

 

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[love2driveinct]

Thank you so much for your lovely review, brekat1. Your closing comments actually got me all teared up! The first time I went to Alaska was almost 23 years ago, but I've never forgotten how it made me feel. It is a truly awesome place.

 

I'm so happy that you made such wonderful memories with your family. My kids have come to love cruising with us for a lot of those same reasons. Each time we cruise they are a bit older and the experience is different. We have also cruised without them and that is fun, too. Enjoy your upcoming vacation!

 

(Oh, and one more thing, cruising with other couples/families makes it even MORE fun! Especially in the Caribbean!!)

[Clarea]

Just completed this, thanks for a very enjoyable read.

[RCKM43]

This thread has made me feel so much better about taking our grandkids with us. We are going in September on the Infinity when school is back in session. (We booked the cruise way before we knew the little ones would be staying with us.). Does anyone have any idea if these cruises still have a decent amount of kids during the school year.

 

 

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Unlikely. School breaks have a number of kids on board, but during school, you will likely have a handful, if that.

[love2driveinct]

Unlikely. School breaks have a number of kids on board, but during school, you will likely have a handful, if that.

 

This is probably true for Celebrity, but we have taken two Disney cruises during school and there were plenty of kids. I only mention that in case NanaChar has not made her final plans.

Edited April 29, 2016 by love2driveinct

[NanaChar]

We had planned and booked the cruise along with other couples well before we knew the grandkids would be staying with us. Otherwise it would not be during school time.

 

 

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[brekat1]

Just saw that I had all these new comments on this review, sorry for the late response! In regards to the question about kids outside of school holidays, there were 98 children on board this cruise for our may 8 sailing which was perfect , in my opinion. I had been very worried pre-cruise that my children would be all alone in the kid's clubs but they had just the right amount of kids that they weren't overwhelmed and easily made little friends to play with :) We return to Alaska for our 10 year anniversary in 13 days and I am being driven crazy with anticipation!!! I can't wait to be back in all that incredible beauty !!!

[brekat1]

Thank you so much for your lovely review, brekat1. Your closing comments actually got me all teared up! The first time I went to Alaska was almost 23 years ago, but I've never forgotten how it made me feel. It is a truly awesome place.

 

I'm so happy that you made such wonderful memories with your family. My kids have come to love cruising with us for a lot of those same reasons. Each time we cruise they are a bit older and the experience is different. We have also cruised without them and that is fun, too. Enjoy your upcoming vacation!

 

(Oh, and one more thing, cruising with other couples/families makes it even MORE fun! Especially in the Caribbean!!)

 

 

 

Thank you for your kind comment on my review!! I think you are a kindred spirit :) I get teared up when I think about being there again soon

[elena7seas]

Thank you so much for your wonderful and very well written review.

 

My DH and six other friends were on the same cruise with you, and I can agree with everything you said. It was a terrific cruise, and Solstice was an awesome ship. I am so glad you had such a great experience on your first cruise. Funny that I don't remember the first evening being so difficult, but I always travel with Bonine (Meclizine), sea bands, and ginger (I have a lot of difficulty with motion sickness), so I was well protected against the sea swells. I do remember the itinerary showing as going up the BC inside passage, and all of us were quite surprised to be turning out to sea.

 

I agree entirely with everything you said about the children's experience on Celebrity. I have a granddaughter who has just turned 9, and she will be going on her 5th cruise with me in two weeks. The Fun Factory personnel on Celebrity are amazing on every ship that we have been on. My DGD has been to Alaska twice, once on Celebrity, and once on Princess, and while Princess was good, Celebrity was just so much better. Princess was more like "babysitting with crafts" and Celebrity always offers a first-class programme, with great interaction between the children and the child-centred professionals. It is everything I would want it to be, and as a result, my grand-daughter loves to cruise more than any other holiday experience. (She has been to Disneyland and enjoys cruising more). Her first cruise was on the Celebrity Solstice in the Eastern Med when she was four-and-a-half and ever since she has had a wonderful outlook on travelling the world, seeing faraway places, and meeting others from around the world.

 

Again, thank you for sharing your experiences and I hope you and your husband have an equally wonderful time on your upcoming cruise.

[elena7seas]

This thread has made me feel so much better about taking our grandkids with us. We are going in September on the Infinity when school is back in session. (We booked the cruise way before we knew the little ones would be staying with us.). Does anyone have any idea if these cruises still have a decent amount of kids during the school year.

 

 

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Hi NanaChar:

 

My granddaughter and I were on the Infinity in the second week of September 2015 for the Pacific Coastal. There were 21 children registered in the Fun Factory on that cruise, and my granddaughter (8 at the time) had a wonderful time. 15 of the children were aged 5 and below, which was to be expected, but the Fun Factory staff do an exceptional job of integrating the age groups. There was one child older than my granddaughter, and four kids ages 6 and 7. Even with the low number of children, the Fun Factory offered a full programme, and did not cut any corners.

 

The Fun Factory youth workers on Celebrity all have four-year professional degrees in child-centred fields, and the quality of their training and their genuine interest in children shows.