I don't normally take parenting advice from celebrities, especially when it's about how to be a better dad. But a few years ago, I heard comedian Rob Sitch interviewed on Hamish Blake's podcast. Rob and his wife Jane have five kids, which is, objectively, a lot. One-on-one time is rare, so when their kids reach a certain age, they have a tradition of taking each child on a solo trip.
Maybe it was the postpartum hormones — I had just pushed out my third baby and was deep in sleep deprivation — but I latched onto this idea. I've thought about it weekly ever since, every time I feel guilty that each of my three girls only gets a third of my attention. Two-thirds max, if my husband is around.
My eldest, Grace, is nearly seven, and I'd been looking for ideas for our first mother-daughter trip. Our entire extended family flew overseas earlier this year, and — not to be dramatic — but I'm not sure I'll be ready to get on a plane with kids for another decade. I wanted a short trip with minimal transit time, and one option kept popping up: a domestic cruise.
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Four nights, Sydney to Hobart, on the Celebrity Edge sounded like the perfect way for Grace and me to test the waters (pun intended) on our first one-on-one trip — and my first time cruising.
Celebrity Edge is a five-star resort at sea, with 15 stories of luxury and 29 different restaurants, bars, and lounges. This cruise promised things I never knew I needed but immediately wanted, like "infinite verandas that blur the line between indoor and outdoor spaces" and a Magic Carpet that "floats along the ship's side and offers panoramic ocean views while you sip a cocktail".
There was also a massive 22,000 sq. ft. spa and a kids club.
Despite this, I was nervous about the idea of a cruise. Being locked in with 2,000 strangers and forced to have organised fun wasn't exactly the vibe I'd envisioned for our one-on-one trip.
And there's still a stigma. People — yes, me included — tend to say things like, "I'm just not a cruise person" without even knowing what a cruise is like.
But it turns out that, while cruising is different from a holiday on terra firma, I am now absolutely, undeniably, 100 per cent a cruise person.
And Grace? She's 1000 per cent a cruise person. A week later, she's still wearing her Celebrity Cruises lanyard, and this trip has officially been crowned her "BEST holiday EVER". Sorry to her dad and two sisters who stayed home.
So, before I share my top recommendations of things to do and places to eat, here are a few things I learned that might change your mind if you're also "not a cruise person."
The holiday starts the second you get onboard.
If you love long queues and wasting hours in airport terminals, cruising might not be for you. But if you want to start relaxing and having fun straight away, it's ideal.
Our ship was scheduled to leave Sydney at 5 pm, but we were allowed to board from 10am onwards. Grace and I breezed through check-in, found our cabin, had lunch, explored the ship, took 300 selfies and even had a swim before the ship set sail. The moment we stepped onboard, the holiday officially began.
When we returned to Sydney, the ship docked at around 5am and Grace and I were up to watch as the Captain glided the ship into the harbour in the dark — we could literally see him at the controls, an incredible experience.
It's as active as you want it to be.
To know me is to know that I can't sit still. Cruising struck me as very passive: all-you-can-eat buffets, day drinking, and killing the hours in between lounging by the pool.
And while there's plenty of time to lounge if that's your thing, I was surprised by how active it could be. I decided we'd skip the elevator for anything less than five flights and so most days, I clocked nearly 20,000 steps and climbed about 60 flights of stairs.
Our ship had a massive fitness centre at the front with floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the ocean and a walking track that went all the way around the top deck (for fellow walking nerds: 2.5 laps = 1 km).
Braver souls than I competed in "Pool Olympics" and joined in on musical theatre dance classes. As a pilates girlie, I was thrilled to see daily mat classes on the schedule.
Don't stress about getting seasick — be strategic.
As a first-time cruiser, my number one worry was getting seasick. What if I spent the next four days violently ill? Not the core memory I wanted to create for Grace.
Fortunately, the cruise industry has thought of this. I learned Celebrity Edge's size and advanced stabilizers minimise the risk of motion sickness, especially in the middle, and lower decks. Our room was midship and I hardly felt any movement, even in open waters.
My other tips: stay hydrated (between cocktails), get fresh air and bring along motion sickness meds, just in case.
You're not going to do everything, and that's okay.
Celebrity Edge is built to keep its guests entertained for weeks. Her 2024/25 season includes 17 different itineraries, sailing to 26 different ports across Australia, New Zealand, and the South Pacific.
The longest cruise is 14 days and you could easily do something different every day. From cooking classes and dance lessons to sketch classes and an excellent Behind-the-Scenes tour, the ship had more to offer than we could fit into four days.
I met a "loyal cruiser" (the industry term for repeat customers) in one of the rooftop whirlpools, her advice was to focus on what I wanted out of the trip and prioritise activities accordingly. Wise words from the whirlpool woman.
For me, this trip was about making core memories with Grace — so here are the highlights from our time onboard.
Celebrity Edge cruise: Things to do.
Theatre shows.
Celebrity Cruises is known for its theatre productions, and these didn't disappoint. The main stage extended into the audience, so we were up close to all the aerial artists, dancers, and singers performing amongst rotating spiral staircases and 18 synchronized kaleidoscopic light projectors.
They put on a different show every night. We sang along with the pop bops, sipped our cocktails/mocktails and debated whether one of the performers was actually Taylor Swift "for real life mum". (Grace still reckons yes).
Camp @ Sea.
Celebrity's kids' club goes above and beyond a simple creche setup. With a STEM focus, most activities had a marine or conservation theme. As a "cadet", Grace joined a group of kids aged six to nine, quickly making friends. Sessions ran in three-hour blocks throughout the day, so we still spent plenty of time together but it meant that I could sneak off to the spa without any guilt.
The SEA Thermal Spa.
Made up of eight different rooms, including a steam room, salt room and float room, this was utter bliss. I spent a happy, and uncharacteristically still afternoon reading my book on the heated tile loungers.
Onshore excursion to MONA.
Everyone told me not to take a child to MONA, Hobart's famously provocative museum, but I couldn't resist. And thank goodness. I booked the excursion through the Celebrity Cruises app, and it was brilliantly organised, from the ferry ride to the museum tickets.
Grace loved the interactive exhibits, especially "The Grotto" (a sparkly installation she scrambled over), "Girls Rule" (a brass playground sculpture), and "The Trampoline" (a reward after climbing 99 stairs to the entrance).
We skipped the adults-only section, but she was suitably impressed by the Wall of Vulvas, though it didn't quite make her top three.
Celebrity Edge cruise: Where to eat.
I expected buffet central. But while there was one big buffet at the top —Oceanview Cafe, perfect for Grace's snacks — we tried to work our way through the other 28 full-service restaurants, bars, and lounges. Here are our absolute favourites:
Le Petit Chef.
Grace's favourite, a fun restaurant where a tiny animated chef "cooks" your meal using 3D projections on the table. After each animation, the real food is served, mirroring the show. Think modern French bistro meets VIVID installation — perfect for kids.
Eden Restaurant.
The most beautiful and tranquil spot on the ship, a triple-height glass atrium with lush greenery and an incredible ocean view. This was my favourite dining experience, with dishes like crab cakes and lobster casserole, surrounded by plants and natural light.
The verdict.
If you're planning your own solo kid trip, my top tip is to choose somewhere that lets you fully ditch the mental load.
At home, or even on other holidays, I'm usually juggling something: making a meal, cleaning up, handling a million small things.
What made our time on the ship so special was that I wasn't multitasking or managing anything — we were both able to be fully in the moment, having fun. And because of that, we made some truly unforgettable core memories.
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Feature image: Supplied.
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