12 year olds 1st cruise (and ours too !!)

[FiggyWig]

Hi out there.... always wanted to, now finally booked Aug 2009 Eastern Med on Celebrity Solstice. I know from reading these forums that some people would say that other cruise lines would cater better for kids than X, but the price and itinerary was to good to turn down, so we've gone for it.

 

Do other experienced cruisers on this forum think that X will offer our 12 year old enough to do? ... will he be accepted in the evening venues (bars/lounges/shows) ?..... Does he have to dress as formally as adults on formal evenings? ... are there any alternative dining venues on available on formal evenings that may not be quite so formal (may be too exhausted after daytrips to get all suited and booted):o

 

We already know our way quite well around greek islands/turkey so think the ports of call will be of great interest, so thought this would be the ideal opener for our hopefully 1st of many crusing holidays.

 

any tips or info very welcome.

 

thanks

Figgywig

[6rugrats]

You son will have to wear the same attire as adults; on formal night, he needs to dress formally. I have never sailed on your ship and have no idea about the dining venues, but assume, as with most ships, you can get room service, or there is a buffet somewhere if you don't want to utilize the dining room. Go to your cruiseline's webpage and you should be able to find this information.

[abitaturbodog]

Try asking this question on the Celebrity page here at Cruise Critic. Good luck!

[crusinmama06]

Try asking this question on the Celebrity page here at Cruise Critic. Good luck!

 

Yeah and then duck :eek: ;)

 

lol...sorry they aren't so accomodating about kids on all of the different main boards.

 

Figgywig - congrats on your first cruise! And what a great ship! I keep looking at the design of it and it looks beautiful.

 

Yes, on X he will be expected to follow the same dress codes as the adults.

 

But anyway, there are many families here that rate Celebrity kid's club as one of the best. I pulled this off of their web site describing what he can do in the club...

 

Ages 10-12 (Ensigns) Activities Include: Pool Olympics, Scavenger Hunts, Karaoke, Talent Show, Theme Parties, T-shirt Decorating, Sports Activities, Team Challenges, Initiative Games, Movies, Play Stations and Late Night Pizza Parties

[cavkc]

I am sure you will love X. We first took our boys on a Panama Canal cruise with them when they were 12 and they have been addicted to cruising ever since.

 

Interestingly we have taken them on Royal Caribbean also, however they prefer X. In their opinion, whilst RCI has more activities, they found that on several occasions, they would turn up and find no member of staff available, therefore the activity was cancelled. They felt that X was better organised and the activities more relevant to their age groups. That said we have forthcoming cruises booked with X and RCI with them.

 

X is more formal and generally more conservative than RCI, therefore they should dress the same as yourselves.

 

There is a casual dining restaurant which you have to book, as well as a buffet option and of course room service. When we were on Millennium and Infinity, there was a wonderful area at the back of the ship where you could sit outside listening to music, sip cocktails, eating pasta, pizza, wraps or sushi. Hopefully there will be something similar on your ship.