Celebrity Reflection Kids Programming - Have your kids done it?

[spart02]

I'm looking for honest, and accurate descriptions of Celebrity's kids programs, specifically for kids ages 9, 13 and 17. I'm especially interested in the Reflection. We have sailed Disney several times and love their programs. We just sailed via Royal over Christmas and their programming was just awful. Here's what I'm looking for answers for:

 

1. Do the kids all have to do the same thing at any given time, or are there different options available to the kids at one time? For example, if they are playing Gaga Ball, is there another choice if the kids aren't into that game?

 

2. If you do the VIP package, is your kid the only one that is doing this, or are there several others that take advantage of the late night programming? I'm worried that if we do this that our kids will be the only one doing it. We are planning on sailing in mid-March in 2017, so hopefully there will be quite a few kids on board.

 

3. What kinds of things did your child do in the kids area? I'm looking for teens as well.

 

Thanks in advance! We really aren't sure if we should cancel this cruise or if we should continue with Celebrity after our experience with Royal.

[floridianny]

We've been on the Reflection twice and love it. Last time we had our two boys who were 17 and 11 at the time and my 9 year old nephew. The two younger boys did a few activities at the Fun Factory during the week. They enjoyed the scavenger hunt and gaga ball, I remember. They had no complaints about being there but it really isn't my kids thing. I did post the daily activities schedules for the different age groups after we returned. If you put in the search box "fun factory dailies Reflection" the posts with the pdf files will come up and you could get an idea of the activities. I will say the staff are very nice always and its very organized. It also was never too crowded in our experience. Hope that helps a bit.

[ladylemondrop]

Hi, Reflection has a fun factory for younger kids, and then a teens area, (where no parents are allowed), for older kids, with playstation/X box games, table tennis, etc. There is also a sports deck area, small, but has a basketball hoop, and a ball to kick around. Just nearby is a gaming arcade.

 

The younger kids program is kind of set, they do scavenger hunts, they make boats out of junk then sail them in the pool in a competition, they watch movies, play games etc, but I am not sure about options to do different things to the schedule. We did not find many were on the VIP option, and let me just tell you - the kids are no fools, when it says "slumber party" on the program, it means, sit still and watch a movie, while your parents have fun in the bar. There was no party for them...

 

My children have always enjoyed Celebrity, but they tend to holiday the same as we do - excursions during the day, then a swim/sunbathe (wifi) then just dinner and show. The ship is beautiful, the food is fabulous, you should have a great time but do remember it is more low key fun - no rock climbing, bumper cars, ice skating or zip wiring like on RCL.

 

My blog has loads of photos from our cruises. My boys are 12 and 17.

[gatorJeff]

We sailed on the Silhouette a couple of weeks ago on Dec 13 sailing. We have two boys 4 and 8. THere were less than 100 kids on board due to school still being in session (I know, bad parenting taking our oldest out of school, lol). We have sailed primarily Carnival and Royal. Our boys really loved the Fun Factory. Because there were so few kids in the program they combined a few groups. So the 3-8 year olds were together. After the first day they asked if it would be ok to move our 8yo up to the next group with the 9-11 yo's since most of the group were 3-5 yo. He loved it. The counselors were great. Due to the small numbers they really got a lot of attention from the counselors. They enjoyed the scavenger hunt. As for the VIP, we actually signed them up but never really kept them past 1030 and most of the time it was just them. When they did the bridge tour is was just our two boys!!!!! They loved having a private tour of the bridge and got to meet the captain. Our youngest loved that he got to sit in the captain's chair - AND wear his hat.

 

They did say that for the the nexts weeks' cruise they were expecting almost 700 kids for the Christmas and New Year's cruises.

 

We actually booked a week cruise on the Reflection for the end of March for our kids' spring break and the boys are looking forward to it.

 

Let me know if you have any other questions I can answer.

[flacs1028]

can someone tell me if the Fun Factory is opened to drop off the kids on the first day and at what time? 7:00pm??

[RCKM43]

can someone tell me if the Fun Factory is opened to drop off the kids on the first day and at what time? 7:00pm??

 

 

Usually the first day it is tours of the club for most of the day. The activities don't start until the 7-10pm block of time. It is usually a welcome/get to know your fellow kids type activities at that first nighttime block.

[flacs1028]

Thank You!!

[LemonNeko]

As for the VIP, we actually signed them up but never really kept them past 1030 and most of the time it was just them. When they did the bridge tour is was just our two boys!!!!! They loved having a private tour of the bridge and got to meet the captain. Our youngest loved that he got to sit in the captain's chair - AND wear his hat.

 

They did say that for the the nexts weeks' cruise they were expecting almost 700 kids for the Christmas and New Year's cruises.

 

We actually booked a week cruise on the Reflection for the end of March for our kids' spring break and the boys are looking forward to it.

 

Let me know if you have any other questions I can answer.

 

Do you remember the approximate cost of the VIP? I'm pretty sure we want to do the dinner parties but not sure that it would be worth it if we wouldn't use it after 10. My son is 4.

[villauk]

The teen club is a little different as there are activities, but many of the kids 'hang out' together playing on the X Box, table tennis etc. X organise a jacuzzi pool party and such like for the teens - their club times are slightly later than that of the younger children. Most appear to group in their appropriate age ranges, older teens sticking together etc. Also, there are quite a few sports competitions, scavenger hunts and talent contests organised. No adults are allowed in the teen area. Additionally, X provide free arcade time during each cruise ;).

 

The first night is usually signing in night and 'ice breakers' :). Hope some of this helps ;)?

Edited February 18, 2016 by villauk

[CanadianDee]

 

My children have always enjoyed Celebrity, but they tend to holiday the same as we do - excursions during the day, then a swim/sunbathe (wifi) then just dinner and show. The ship is beautiful, the food is fabulous, you should have a great time but do remember it is more low key fun - no rock climbing, bumper cars, ice skating or zip wiring like on RCL.

 

Our granddaughter is the same. We spend the majority of our vacation together, with occasional breaks in the kids' clubs on cruises.

 

With less than 50 kids onboard for our cruise, the Fun Factory was pretty flexible about the both the age groupings and the activities. We were even invited to participate in some of the craft activities, beyond the family activities. We did clay sculpting with our granddaughter and three other delightful young girls, ranging in age from six to twelve. The older girls were quite big-sisterly to our granddaughter. The counsellors were great. One was not really enthusiastic about her job, but the rest were just fabulous.

 

We were also told we could borrow toys and games for our room, but we never took advantage of that.

 

If you ask, they will loan out a pager so that you can be paged when/if your child wants to be picked up.

 

Her only other kids club was on a Carnival cruise last year and she didn't care for the kids club on Carnival.

 

Edited to Add: I think the VIP package was ... I wanna say $100.

Edited February 18, 2016 by CanadianDee

[Lily'sMum]

We've been on Reflection and Silhouette a few times in the last 2 years with our kids (now ages 11 and 7).

 

They really love the Fun Factory. The scavenger hunts are a must-do for the kids over 9 (I think?). She also loves the pool game night (boys v girls) and just playing video games, etc. My little one loves the talent show and gaga ball and the little craft activities. I don't think they are ever "required" to play anything, but if the whole group is going outside to play (and therefore all the staff are going outside- they may have to go with them and just watch.)

 

The teens have a lot more freedom. It seems like it's more of a gathering place... movies, video games, arcade... but I never witnessed the older teens really participate in organized activities. (I could be wrong!) They did participate in Talent Show... very cute.

 

We have never done the VIP thing. If you plan on being out late-late almost every night - it may be worth it. But we always just "pay as we go" and have never hit the cost of what the VIP would've been for 2 kids. (although we only have 2-3 late nights per week.) It's only like $6/hour per kid after 10pm, and they pro-rate after the first hour... so $1.50 (or so) for 15 minutes. And we have dinner as a family each night (barring one "date" in specialty restaurant.) So again, if you plan on having the kids do the "dinner party" many nights - the VIP may pay off. But certainly there are always plenty of kids who do use it. The staff do kinda push/recommend it on that first day.

 

From what I can recall - it's open around dinner time on the first night.

 

I think that covered your questions... ??