Cruise Ship Trips and Kids: Ship and Shore Activity


by Elaine Lince - Date: 2007-02-27 - Word Count: 506 Share This!

What could be more fun than taking your kids on a Caribbean or Alaskan cruise? There will be all sorts of activity and shore excursions for them. Many of the cruise lines have children and teen programs with lots of specialized age appropriate activities. The phrase "there's nothing to do" will never be heard.

You can feel safe to leave them in a supervised atmosphere, and enjoy some time for yourself as well. Some cruise lines also offer babysitting service if you want to take advantage of it. Remember that your children need passports too. And you will need a notarized note from any absent parent with permission to take them on the cruise.

Let's look at some of the cruise lines and see what they have to offer:

Holland American offers Club HAL for children and teens. The kids can enjoy an ice cream or pizza party, storytelling, or mini-golf, for example. The privately owned island, Half Moon Cay, has a "kids-only" section.

Norwegian Cruise features the Kid's Crew program and a Teen Club. The younger kids enjoy circus play, painting, pizza parties, and the kid's pool. Teenagers (13-17) can attend a teen social, watch videos or movies; enjoy the teen disco and afternoon dance. They can have pool parties and attend the final "Farewell Frat Party."

Disney offers age specific programs. For younger children there is Mousketeer Training, the Ocean Lab, Regatta Races, Science and supervised beach fun. Teens have their own private club. There are computer games, a large screen TV. They can take the island trek on the private island Castaway Cay.

Costa Cruise lines have the Costa Kid's Club for 3 to 17 year olds. Costume parties, board games, treasure hunts, video games are all part of the action. Don't forget the pizza. Costa has a Parent's Night Out and the kids are treated to private dining and activities.

Camp Carnival on the Carnival Cruise lines had 450,000 attendees in the year 2004 and it keeps growing. They have a special wading pool and waterslide. Regular pizza parties are part of the fun. They have turn down service just for kids, too. For the teens, there are talent shows, photography, sport, and movies. There are also teen only excursions.

Princes Cruise line has a program called Pete's Pals that teaches children about endangered animals. They also have art and crafts, a kid's pool, parties, cartoons, and other supervised activity. It's a private disco, Olympics, karaoke, pizza and movies for the teenagers.

On the Royal Caribbean the kids can attend the Adventure Ocean program. There is science themed activity, Pirate night, Olympics and talent shows. The teen program for those 12-17 is less structured, but they have their own private club, pool parties and dances and activities that can last to 2 am.

A family cruise looks like a perfect vacation to me. Time to share and make family memories, time for the kids to explore and learn and play on their own as they gain experience and independence, and last but not least some private parent time. What could be better?


Related Tags: cruise, kids, activity, trips, ship, and, shore

Using the internet is a great way to find the best cruise prices available with the least amount of effort. You can book your cruise at any of the major cruise lines and get the cruise you've always dreamed of. Don't forget to check out all the fun activities and excursions to enjoy on your perfect cruise vacation.

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