Celebrity Cruises – Anturus Explorer Academy Kids Club

We love cruising!

In fact, despite numerous recent travels, if you ask the kids what their favourite ever holiday is, they will say their cruise, without hesitation.

A couple of weeks ago we were invited onboard the Celebrity Cruise Silhouette whilst it was docked in Southampton for a day of fun in the Anturus Explorer Academy Kids Club.

What sets their kids club apart from others, is that as well as fun and games, part of their kids club for 3 to 12 year olds focuses on STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths).

Don’t panic that the kids are going to be stuck in boring lessons whilst on holiday though. The Anturus Explorer Academy is the ultimate mix of education and entertainment, offering kids fantastic science experiences, live demonstrations and fun challenges that are all about provoking curiosity

The first activity they tried was The Recycle Game Show and Huw, the activity leader, divided the kids into two teams who had to sort through rubbish against a timer, putting it into bins – one for things to be recycled and the other was rubbish.

This was to highlight the issue of rubbish pollution in the ocean’s and sea’s, and what Celebrity Cruises are doing to help reduce the amount of plastic use onboard the ship.

The Science Show then went to the jungle, with a very brave Cathy from MummyTravels, volunteering to sample a locust. Eliza was more content to handle a 10 legged spider, albeit one that was preserved in a glass box.

The activities onboard are tailored to the places that the ship is visiting and perfect for mini-explorers. They also learn the different between a boat and a ship, the basics of navigation, time, weather and more. With each session they come one step closer to becoming a world explorer and learn about the science and technology behind exploration with hands on experiments and media.

Next it was time to make their very own ships from paper plates, bowls and cups, sticky tape and colouring pencils. Eliza did a similar experiment a couple of weeks ago on our family walking holiday and was convinced hers and Sebby’s design would win the challenge.

Once they were finished, we transported them out onto the deck, where they were put to the test in a jacuzzi. All started well until a storm whipped up (they turned on the bubbles) and I am sad to say that our design, The Jolly Deathstar, did not survive as it kept on falling over.

Huw, who developed the Anturus program, was more than happy to answer all the questions the kids were bombarding him with.

FUN FACT:

Anturus means ‘adventurous’ in Welsh.

The shows were in the theatre, but it was then time to head to kids club to look around the facilities for kids.

The Anturus Explorer Academy is part of the regular Camp At Sea programme, which is split into different age groups – 3 to 5 years, 6 to 9 years and 10 to 12 years. There is also access to part of the kids’ club area for younger children and their parents during the cruise. Activities include games, sports, crafts, music, karaoke, treasure hunts, theme parties, movies and much, much more.

For parents of teenagers, we all know they can be tricky to entertain, so Celebrity offers them the ultimate hangout place featuring social activities, the newest gaming consoles and titles, sports activities and even teens-only late night dances. All supervised of course.

Whilst the kids got to enjoy more of kids club, we got a tour of the ship.

Unlike our last cruise where they relied on impressive technology to impress you, Celebrity Silhouette has a real tree in its central atrium that appears to be suspended in mid-air and even real grass out on deck.

Celebrity Silhouette has two outdoor pools to enjoy and a separate indoor, adults only pool for those looking for some peace and quiet.

There are numerous bars, restaurants, clubs and a casino to please every taste and a spa and fitness area which offers beauty treatments, hair design and personal trainers available to put you through your paces in the gym.

There are also a variety of staterooms to choose from to suit every budget, although I definitely have my eye on this one with the hammock.

Although I would happily stay in any of them.

Travel is all about seeing the wonderful world that we live in and a cruise is a perfect way of taking a snapshot of many different cities and countries in comfort and a short space of time.

The Anturus Explorer Academy is the perfect extension to this, giving the kids the curiosity and enthusiasm to become real life explorers.

Would you like to take the kids on a cruise?