I am sad about this. I love them as they are.

I am considering Seabourn for the PanCanal cruise but the pricing differential vis Windstar (for larger suite) is sufficiently large so as to give me pause. I don't mind spending the bucks but I am desirous of quid pro quo. The cost of our Regent and Silversea voyages was entirely egregious when compared with what was delivered. So, I'm leaning toward Windstar yet again.

Looking to book for December or January.

Short of having the funds to charter a truly luxury yacht I’d say Seabourn, Silversea, Regent, and a couple of others are about as close to luxury you’re going to get. Maybe it’s a comparison thing and it might be argued there really isn’t a truly luxury line.

Hard to answer or advised you. Generally speaking “kid friendly” and “luxury cruise line” are mutually exclusive. It’s not that luxury lines are anti-children as much as it is they simply don’t have the space on smaller ships to provide dedicated child friendly facilities or programs. Because of that they don’t really market themselves as fun for the whole family. Now I think up this thread somebody posted that they were on a luxury cruise line, I think Seabourn, on an Alaskan cruise and the ship cobbled together a “children’s program” because of the number of children. Good for the cruise line but this probably the exception rather than the norm. Crystal might be slightly different as they were a premium line with bigger ships that recast themselves as a luxury line and have more space.

Without getting into the debate about what lines are really premium Celebrity might be a better match at least for children venues and programs. At 129,500 tons Celebrity Edge has enough room to do that. Of course you’re also on a ship with 2,900 other passengers which is enough to make me run for the exit.

A word about Med cruises in general that may or may not impact your choice. With few exceptions Med cruises are port intensive itineraries with very few sea days. We’ve cruised exactly 100 days in the Med in the past six years and have had a total of five or six sea days in eight cruises meaning two or three cruises have had no sea days at all. Unlike the Caribbean few of the Med ports are destinations in and of themselves so you find yourself traveling sometimes substantial distances and away from the ship for hours. That might make ship venues and programs a little less important.