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fryfrye

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Cool Cruiser (2/15)

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  1. Net20 + BOGO + OBC for the 2nd room -- I just asked, we needed two rooms since our kids (DS13, DD11) cruise with us and we don't like to bunk 4 in a room.
  2. Sorry, I just asked to book a 2nd room, it was booked at a casino rate -- the 2nd room is a Veranda, cruise only the rate was cheaper than the best published rate and promotion by a healthy margin, sorry nothing more than that...
  3. Just got comped into AQ on the Accent in March, was able to get 2nd room straight 50% off which is better than all of the current rates. Primary room is all inclusive with tips and classic drink package. I am amethyst level. Compared to the land-casino offer this seemed pretty great. Im not sure I understand the 10% free-play that will be loaded if that was based on coin-in or theoretical loss.
  4. I totally forgot this -- we are not coffee drinkers so we didn't goto the cafe very much (ok, maybe a few sweet treats), one of the staff somehow knew who our DD was and commented that she was a "frequent flier... and talker :)" -- I think hot-chocolate may have been involved.
  5. @docsneeze I know they had some younger campers in the program, when we visited that age group was doing what looked like fun activities for that age -- Im not sure if they get those kids out of the secure area like they do for the 10-12 year old group. We had the earlier MDR, and there was another family with a child that looked to be 5-6 who ate dinner each night with their parents and we wouldn't have known they were there!
  6. In February of 2023, our kids (DD10, DS13) asked if we could go on a cruise for their spring break in March of 2023. They are fairly well traveled (or were pre-covid) and have been on 9 Disney Cruise since they were old enough for the kids clubs. For parents reading this with kids of this age, you know that they are very well adapted to doing their own "research" on YouTube etc -- and we offered up three cruises to them to pick from (all 6/7 nights, all on new or newer ships from FLL or MIA on either the Norwegian Joy, Odyssey of the Seas, or the Beyond for them to research. We were somewhat surprised when they both came back (and this is a very rare occasion) and suggested the Beyond. We were planning to book two balcony rooms and fares were within $100 total per cabin for a cruise-only type fair (deselecting the "free at sea" offerings from NCL since we don't drink and prefer a traditional main dining room experience). After doing our own research (reviews of the Edge class with kids are pretty sparse), we decided to book to infinite veranda staterooms on the Beyond, a Concierge guarantee was actually cheaper than a regular veranda at the time we booked so we did that... and about 48 hours later we were assigned connecting staterooms on deck 11 aft. There are tons of great reviews on the ship, the rooms, the shows, etc.... this review is about Kids and the Beyond (and we suspect all the Edge class ships during appropriate times of the year). If you want to stop reading now and get to the point, here is the short points based review from DD10 (10/10), DS (7.5/10). When asked to think back to their last Disney Fantasy cruise with the same scoring system , the results for comparison were DD10 (8/10), DS (7/10). DD10 won the vacation -- we are pretty sure she had the best time ever -- and for parents with kids in this 10-12 range, I think Celebrity may be better than anything Disney has to offer. The small group experience was so much better than 100s of kids in the "the club" or 100s of kids in line experience she had on her previous cruises. The space in the club may be small in comparison, but the Camp at Sea staff do a fantastic job utilizing the whole ship for adventures including Scavenger Hunts, Egg Drop Challenges, Dodge Ball (or something like dodge ball), etc. On sea days, we would catch our daughter with a small group from the club out on these adventures. Crafts, Art, STEM, and physical activities challenges happen on a "customized" schedule -- and we noted that the staff adapted the activities for the types of kids that were in the program for our week... video games were played, but more often we saw jump-rope challenges, hunts, and trivia become more pronounced as the week went on. Outside of the club our DD enjoyed the main dining room menu, but was sure to be done with dinner by 7 to rejoin the camp at sea activities each night until 10. We offered her freedom to get lunch and snacks on her own, and on more than one occasion we parented from a distance to ensure that she was behaving. Swimming on ship typically happened late night and we were off the ship each port day for beach breaks and such. She was very proud to win the camp-at-sea overall challenge for her age group. We can honestly say that there were no negatives for our DD on this trip -- and we think she made a few friends that she will keep in touch with. DS13, rated the kids program lower than Disney by about 2 points. (7/10 vs 9/10), although he has never experienced Disney as a "teen". For this cruise, there were a healthy number (70) of teens in the 13-17 range, however only about 20-25 of them ever showed up to the Basement for organized activities. There were a good number of extended families traveling on this cruise with kids in this age group, and they mostly did their own thing. DS stated that the 15-17 year olds that came to the program grouped up and did things, and those teens were open to having the younger teens join them (and he did for a few things), but it was clear early on that hanging around outside of organized activities really wasn't his thing. He enjoyed the small group challenges like scavenger hunts, dodge ball, egg drops, gaga-ball, movie night, etc but it was clear that he was a little bored mid-day on sea days. Honestly, I think maybe I was a little bored myself on the last sea day 🙂. Our DS did enjoy his expanded freedom on this trip, ate dinner each night with us in the main dining room, but "met up" for breakfast and snacks with a few of the boys each day. Teens /vs/ Teens water volleyball on our last sea day was a nice activity, and the teen "basement staff" worked hard to try and find the right mix of activities. While our DD was too busy to join us in the theater, our DS did make a few of the shows -- and was enthralled by the technology in the theater -- and had a fun time with the magic act on the last night. So, did we book another cruise for next year on Celebrity? No, err.. not yet... ugh kids can be so difficult 🙂 on day 5 we asked each of them if we should book for the same week in 2024 -- DD --YES! , DS --yeah, maybe? So we asked them to talk with the other kids to see if they were on RCCL, NCL and how they liked it... not much surprise here, the 10-12 year olds were ALL having a blast on this cruise and while they missed a few other activities they all wanted another cruise on the Beyond -- the teens were a mixed bag with their reviews... one common theme that rang true with our DS from his experience on Disney -- which was "RCCL is cool, has lots to do, but you have to wait in line for almost everything including ice cream, pizza, etc" -- These were almost the exact phrases our kids used when they selected the Beyond. We talked to other parents, and they all said the same thing "Kids are having an amazing time, but we keep double and triple checking to make sure its true" As a parent, I will say that many of the other parents (that we met) were like us -- older (we are both in our late 40s) -- and I think this may be the niche that Celebrity is going after with their program. Ours kids aren't angels -- but they are generally well behaved -- and the kids on this cruise were also well mannered and behaved. In fact, the entire ship was well mannered and well behaved (and we can state for a fact that we've seen our fair share of not well behaved adults on our Disney cruises). So you are a parent reading this review and you're saying "dammit, this doesn't help." maybe these final parting thoughts will help: 1/. If you had kids later in life -- and you enjoy a more refined experience - book it,. 2/. If your kids hate lines, crowds, and noise -- book it. Seriously, book it. 3/. If your kid(s) don't mind bigger crowds of kids, and are looking for a themed experience -- skip it. 4/. If your ok with 800-1000 kiddos and you might want to ride the slide, drive the race cart, or experience VR on the ship yourself -- skip it. 5/ If you AND your kids can sit down for a 60-90 minute dinner and have a conversation without devices or gimmicks -- book it. 6/ If you have been there done that with Disney, RCCL, NCL, etc... and your looking for change of pace -- book it. 7/ If it's your first cruise or first cruise with kids -- you should likely skip it... (unless of course #2) I hope this review will help parents who are on the fence make a decision -- I suspect that at the top level of the Royal Caribbean Group, there is battle that is brewing between Celebrity and RCCL leadership on just how much Celebrity can go after the Gen X, Y parents has just begun -- and I think the Edge class is the start of that battle. I tend to lurk more than post, but if I have time I will try to answer any questions -- but I think I've covered most of it.
  7. Thanks for the info, we are on the Beyond in March with kids 10 and 13. It looks like more than enough to keep my kiddos happy on sea days. How was the pool scene for the kids? We like to hit the pool late at night while the MDR are going strong.
  8. We are on the Beyond March 26 cruise, and have two Concierge Guarantee rooms booked (Family of 2 adults 2 kids). We were assigned staterooms already and they are two doors apart from each other. I emailed the. "CEC" email address to request adjoining rooms (a dummy booking shows >50% open in this class). Did I email the correct person? Or is this a "better to call" situation. Our kids (10y,13y) picked Celebrity over NCL and DCL based on a lower-key kids experience, less lines, and the promise that we will take them to a water-park at one of the ports.... we are looking forward to trying X out after 10 cruises on DCL.
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