teenagers on Celebrity?

[robinlynn]

We are thinking about taking our 16 and 12 year old grandsons on an Alaska cruise next year. Any advice if Celebrity has any activities for teens or if w would expect other young people on Celebrity?. It would be a June sailing, so school will be out.

I know RCL usually has more teens, but we are loyal Celebrity cruisers and Celebrity ships and service are, IMHO so superior to RCL.

The cruise we are looking at is the Solstice, which I understand has been recently refreshed, although it will be 10 years old by next year, and the RCL on the sailing we would be taking is over 20 years old.

Any thoughts from people who have taken teens on a Celebrity cruise?

Thanks

Robin

[pl281]

Robin - we are currently on Reflection doing Italy and the Greek Isles - there are A LOT of kids / teens on board - I think in part due to itinerary in part due to time of year....Alaska I believe tends to be a family trip so more than likely there will be stuff for the teens todo....also Alaska is something where you get off the ship in every port and go explorering

[cb at sea]

The kid's club will be right up the 12 year old's alley....the 16 year old will be unlikely to use the "clubs"...kid's that age generally find others in their age group and "hang out" on the sports deck, pool, etc....Most older teens aren't fans of "organized activities", unless it's some sort of sport!

[xRoadWarrior]

A 12 year old will not be allowed in the Fun Factory as it is strictly limited to ages 3-11. The X-Club is for 12 through teens and is very small with limited hours and programming.

 

I took my 2 twelve year old granddaughters on the Millennium to Alaska two years ago. I would guess 25-30 total teens on our voyage. On sea days my granddaughters found little little to keep them busy as the one or two scheduled X-Club activities did not interest them.

 

 

It was too cold in Alaska to use the outdoor pool or the sports deck, and the indoor pool was limited to adults only during the daytime and would open to families only from 4-6 pm, We did, however, have a great trip together, just we did not rely on Celebrity for activities or entertainment of the two grandchildren.

[Rala]

Well, it wasn't right up my 12 yr old grandson's alley. He said it was very "babyish" and kind of boring, and he preferred hanging with his slightly older (14-15) brothers and adults. Not all 12 yr olds are identical, you know! ;p

[tuffy0317]

We are thinking about taking our 16 and 12 year old grandsons on an Alaska cruise next year. Any advice if Celebrity has any activities for teens or if w would expect other young people on Celebrity?. It would be a June sailing, so school will be out.

I know RCL usually has more teens, but we are loyal Celebrity cruisers and Celebrity ships and service are, IMHO so superior to RCL.

The cruise we are looking at is the Solstice, which I understand has been recently refreshed, although it will be 10 years old by next year, and the RCL on the sailing we would be taking is over 20 years old.

Any thoughts from people who have taken teens on a Celebrity cruise?

Thanks

Robin

 

We were shocked at the high number of kids on the 4th of July Alaskan cruise we just got off. Kids on both sides of us in Concierge Class, including a 16 and 17 year old in a cabin by themselves next to us (!). Based on the amount of noise from giggling coming from next door, I think they were having a nice time :)

[cruisestitch]

Teenagers can occupy a cabin by themselves if their parents are in an adjacent stateroom or across the hall from them.

[riclop]

I would not take teens on X.

[14ersco]

What xRoad Warrior in post 4 said about age groups and indoor pool times is what we experienced on Celebrity. Last year in Europe in early June our kid was one of only two 12 y/o's registered for the kids area and was expected to be in X-Club, but there were so few kids for the Fun Factory (11 and younger) that the 12 y/o's were invited to drop down to the younger group. When you go in June may be a determining factor on the number of kids on-board since many east coast schools are in session into the third week of June.

 

Our kid keeps busy on Celebrity by reading, going to the gym, and catching up on sleep. So depending on your grand kids personalities they could be bored on Celebrity or find ways to keep entertained. When we were on the Solstice there was a glass show that our kid attended a few times. We are going to cruise Alaska with Princess, not for the kids club, but because of Glacier Bay. No RCI ship has a permit for Glacier Bay. After that cruise it is back to Celebrity.

[phoenix_dream]

My son sailed with us multiple times on Celebrity, including two cruises to Alaska when he was in his teens. As you already probably guessed as experienced Celebrity cruisers, there are not a lot of kids on Celebrity and not a lot of activities to interest teenagers. That said, it all depends what they expect. If they want a lot of flash and activities they will be disappointed. My son enjoyed having some chill time. He brought his laptop loaded with some video games, some reading material, and we brought some board games we could play as a family. If you think their personalities would be satisfied with a more laid back, family oriented sailing then they should enjoy it. If they want the entertainment like RCI would provide and will be complaining constantly about not having it, then that will be another vacation entirely. For your sake, I hope they are like my son:)

[mic123]

It depends on the kids. We only sail Celebrity and Princess (with one Disney exception), so this is all my daughter (age 13) knows. She has been on about eight or so cruises. She has enjoyed each and every one, including Xpedition with no kids her age. She just enjoys traveling and spending time with mom and grandma.

She always goes to the kids club the first night and see if she clicks with anyone. She has made great friends over the years and other times doesn't spend any time in the clubs.

If your grandsons are used to lines like RCL etc, it may be an adjustment, however, there will be plenty of kids their age since you are going during the summer. We also did Alaska in June a few years back and there were plenty of kids.

[texasgirl29]

My daughter is 17 and has sailed on Princess, Disney and twice on Celebrity. She looks forward to making new friends on the ship but our most recent (June 1017 European) trip on Celebrity was a little disappointing to her because there were no other teens on board, at least, none that she was able to connect with, despite going to the X Club several times to see if there was anyone there. She brought her iPad and had movies downloaded so she spent a lot of time in the Solarium or Cafe al Baccio watching them and in the gym. We only had 2 sea days out of 14, so there wasn't a huge amount of downtime anyway.

[maggie.1008]

I was on the Solstice to Alaska the last 2 summers. There were a lot on kids onboard. If you have good weather the kids will enjoy the ports. Know that SE Alaska weather can be cold and rain even in the summer months. If keeping the teens busy is important I would still go with RCL.

[muffy6445]

Just got off the Infinity with my two teens, 16 and 19. Lots of younger kids, but not too many teens. They didn't mind as they haven't been able to spend time together since my son has been away at college and a summer internship. There was a definitely larger international crowd than our last Alaskan cruise. Most of the teens we saw were not English speakers. A lot of multi-generational groups as well.