Hi,<BR>I am so torn between the class, food and size of the ship of the Century and wanting to make sure that my 10 and 12 year olds have a great time. The Explorer is considerably more expensive. What would you recommend?

I've cruised on RCCL and last month trieed the Celebrity Mercury with my 10 and 13 year old sons. My kids had a great time on both ships, but then we sailed over Presidents week, when there were 300+ kids on the ship. <BR><BR>The food is better on Celebrity, but I'd give the kids programs on RCCL a slight edge. As far as class, I'm not sure how you mean that. It you think Celebrity is more upscale than RCCL Explorer-think again. Yes the service is better, but the parssengers are pretty much the same in terms of socio-economic levels. This is contrary to what many die-hard Celebrity fans would like you to believe, but it's true. Celebrity might be slighter higher on the average age scale.<BR><BR>If the Explorer is much more expensive, I'd go with the Century. You're kids will still have as much fun, especially if you're sailing when school is out.

Thank you Nina. What I meant by class is that the Century is supposed to be a premium class according to the ratings I have seen and that the service is supposed to be better than average. Did the kids participate in the kid's clubs or did they stick together and do their own thing?

The service on Celebrity is really great. The kids went to the kids programs, but didn't always stay for all the activities since some didn't interest them. That was fine though, since they met lots of other kids to hang out with. They also played basketball, shuffleboard, ping-pong, swam, went to movies, played cards, Risk, video games, etc. Plenty to do outside of the kids clubs too.

Thanks Nina,I'm thrilled that the kids will not get bored and that we'll be on a smaller more servicable line.