Alaska Cruise w/ 8 YR old - RCCL or Celebrity?

[byesner]

Hi,
We're in the process of booking an August 2007 Alaskan Cruise (August 07). We took our daughter on a Caribbean cruise 2 years ago on RCCL and she loved the camps. We are leaning towards the Celebrity Infinity over the RCCL Serenade but we are concerned about how "kid" friendly Celebrity is vs RCCL (Camps, activities, crowd etc). I've been on 3 RCCL cruises but looking to try something new? Can anybody offer any insights?
TIA

Bruce

[lfgaynor]

RCCL's Adventure Ocean youth program is tops in my book. Can't go wrong. We just got back from RCCL's Freedom of the Seas where my four year old would cry when we'd pick him up from the youth program!

Smooth sailing,
Luisa Frey Gaynor
Family Cruise Editor

[selctsys]

Totally agree, Royal Caribbean's kids program is much better than Celebrity. You may want to try Carnival as they also are known for their kids program. You probably can get a very nice cabin at an affordable price compared to Royal Caribbean.

I guess it really depends on what you are looking for. We have booked another Royal Caribbean cruise for next summer (our 4th). We know it isn't the most elegant line going, but it seems to have the best balance for our family right now given our kids ages of 11 & 13. It may be that our view changes another cruise, but for now it seems to be the best choice for us.

BTW - we really like the Radiance class ships

[dottiel]

We cruised Alaska on the Carnival Spirit last summer and our kids (then age 7 and 3) had a BLAST in Camp Carnival. Our 3 yr old daughter cried every time we had to pick her up

We had a suite (catagory 11) and had plenty of room and a balcony. DO NOT cruise Alaska without a balcony!!!!! You'll miss so much scenery if you do.

The cruise was very child friendly and the staff was wonderful.

We will be cruising with Carnival again in March 2007 for the Western Caribbean and can't wait. The kids are so excited about going back to camp, it's cracking us up!!!!

Good luck with your decision and enjoy the cruise

[nyrangerfan]

Also look into Princess. My daughter is 9 and loved both the Adventure Ocean and Princess kids programs. I find at their age it is more about the kids their age on board then anything else.