What Cruise Lines have to offer Families

It is no doubt that cruise ships are family-friendly and have extensive facilities for children of all ages from babies to teens.  Kids clubs once upon a time were a room tucked away on the ship without much facilities, to now WOW being well designed venues with a child in mind, with the most full on amazing programme to keep them occupied.  Lets have a quick look at what some of the more mainstream cruise lines have on offer to keep its littlest passengers happy. 

DISNEY CRUISE LINE - when you think kids, where do they all want to go, Disneyland and whats the next best thing (without the rides) but still all the fun, Disney Cruise Line. Disney is everything you imagined and more, they live for all things kids. Whether you're a Marvel, Pixar, Mickey & Minnie or a Star Wars fan, there is something for every fan, big and small. They have dedicated nurseries for babies starting from 6 months through to youth clubs to cater for kids all the way up to 17 years old. 

Disney Cruise Line offers interactive learning activities while having fun, from our favourite character performances, storytelling sessions, movie nights, larger than life play areas and dress up opportunities. 

Disney has 4 ships with its 5th due to be launched very soon, the theme and design varies from ship to ship but they all have something in common, the sense of wonder and happiness. 

PRINCESS CRUISES - they bring the fun, while you bring the kids with their Camp Discovery, Discovery Channel and Animal Planet -branded kids’ and teens’ clubs. Unlike the thrills and spills of adrenalin, Princess brings more of an enriching and immersive once in a lifetime experience into their age specific clubs that the whole family will never forget. 

Activities for the youngest cruisers, include arts and crafts, movies under the stars, T-shirt colouring, dance parties, kids-only dinners, kids splash pools and even Science experiement activities developed in association with Discovery Channel. 

For the teens onboard, they have access to their own lounge (NO parents allowed), teen-only deck parties, dance classes, karaoke, DJ workshops, pizza and mocktail social events. Evening activities include dance parties and late-night movies. 

Princess Cruises also has an extra special friend onboard whom is ready to make new friends every voyage and steal a cuddle or two along the way, Meet Stanley! Guests of all ages interact with Stanley throughout the whole voyage, from photo opportunities, bear games, crafts and even story times and enjoy the great story about how this once Alaskan Bear came to live onboard Princess Cruises.

ROYAL CARIBBEAN INTERNATIONAL - have the largest ships in the world amongst their fleet and take the word fun to the next level with All Day Play. They have so many action orientated activities onboard their ships, it will keep kids of all ages entertained. Everything from Ice Skating Rinks, Skydiving Simulator at Sea,  Rock Climbing, Dodgem Cars as well as the Flowrider Surf Simulator just to name a few. 

The Adventure Ocean programme is for kids aged 3-17 years plus a separate option for children 6 months to 3yrs in their Royal Babies and Tots program.  They also offer the option of group babysitting and in-cabin Sitters at Sea. 

For the Aquanauts kids (3-5yrs), it is age appropriate activities such as finger painting, block building, as well as animal, colour and shape versions of bingo. The Explorers program (6-8yrs) indulge in pirate nights, backstage tours and talent shows, while the Voyagers group (9-11yrs) can sing the hours away with Karaoke, sports tournaments and scavenger hunts.

As the kids move into their teens (12-14yrs), they engage in pool parties and sports tournaments, video games and dance parties. The older teens (15-17yrs) also have pool parties, a cool den to hang out in and train to be DJ's. 

On the biggest of the Royal Caribbean ships, they contain Ziplines and Carousels, Northstar pod, Skypad Trampolines, as well as a 10 story high slide the Ultimate Abyss and Perfect Storm - WOW!

CARNIVAL CRUISE LINE - they are known for colourful interiors and creating a sophisticated and fun atmosphere for kids of ALL ages, big and small. They have their own kids clubs based on the different age groups, Camp Ocean for 2-11yr olds, Circle "C" for 12-14yr olds and Club O2 for the older teens, this is as well as the Night Owls programme which is late night babysitting. Carnival has also formed a partnership which includes Seuss at Sea as well as Build-A-Bear Workshop at Sea. This means your kids can hang out with Cat in the Hat, participate in Seuss-a-Palooza Parade or Story Time and even enjoy Green Eggs and Ham for breakfast.  Build-A-Bear gives kids the experience of bringing to life their own new stuffed friend to take home.  Onboard there are also mini-golf courses, ropes courses, arcades, the waterpark aqua park and Dive in Movies in the pool. 

Yes yes, you might have been on waterslides before but have you been on the Green Thunder or Green Lightening which are the steepest waterslides at sea! The Carnival Spirit and Carnival Splendor, the two ships we have had based here in Australia over the last 10 years give you the adrenaline you need by free falling then being whipped around at 65km per hour and don't forget you even hang off the side of the ship. No matter what Carnival ship you sail on, anywhere in the world, prepare to have your breath taken away. 

There is also Cherry on Top, a lolly shop onboard for those to indulge whom have a sweet tooth. 

NORWEGIAN CRUISE LINE - offer a wide range of kids activites as part of their Splash Academy and Entourage programmes.  The Splash Academy for Kids is broken up into 4 age groups from Guppies for babies 6months-3years (parents required to stay) this is a sensory play, along with doing alot with music and movement for the bubs. Then they have Turtles for 3-5 years whey they get to do Arts, Craft and Painting, Story Telling, Treasure Hunts, Parades and even Circus School.  6-9 year olds are part of Seals, they do lots of Team-Building activities, have theme nights, continue on with Circus school and put on a show, but try a lot more advanced activities, such as plate spinning, scarf juggling and rope spinning to name a few.

Dolphins is for 10-12 year olds and includes Scavenger Hunts around the ship, Themed nights that can revolve around Survivor, Video games and challenges and then going into even more depth with the Circus Skills by walking on Stilts, ball juggling and trying the Chinese yo-yo.  Entourage for the teens is where there are no parents allowed, while they hang out with new friends, in the coolest lounge at sea which turns into the hippest dance club at night. 

Then from all the fun 'kids only' activites, you move into the fun and games for kids of all ages with fun in the ThrillPlex with Rock Climbing, aqua park (both kids and adults versions), mini golf, ropes courses and don't forget the speedway. 

P&O CRUISES AUSTRALIA - certainly knows how to bring out the bells and whistles when it comes to entertaining families onboard. From affordable family holidays with lots of room, an endless array of activities and food plus amazing entertainment. They are one of the only cruise lines to limit the number of children onboard, so they are treated very much like a VIP. Again with P&O Cruises, they split the kids up into 4 different groups, so they have a diverse range of daily fun activities specifically designed for the individual age groups. 

The youngest passengers from 1 year onwards, are welcome into the kids club at anytime but until they are 3 years old and fully toilet trained they require a parent or guardian to accompany them.

The Turtle Cove club entertains children from 3-6 years old, then onto Shark Shack from 7-10 years then HQ and HQ+ take care of the kids from 11-14 years and 15-17 years, where they can hang out in their own lounge and meet new friends.

Also onboard for kids of all ages is the P&O Edge Adventure Park and sports court, so if you want some extra Adrenaline you can embark on the Funnel Climb, Cross the Slackline or even Walk the Plank, or the family can hang out and play table tennis, deck quoits, lawn bowls or even participate in music lessons or the Talent Show.

CELEBRITY CRUISE LINE - hasn't been known in the past for offering a huge amount for kids onboard but you know what, neither did every other cruise line at some point, BUT they are finally making a move on the Family holiday market with their Camp at Sea Program and I look forward to taking my own tribe onboard to test it out when the Celebrity Edge heads down to Australia!  Celebrity offers 4 clubs onboard for their favourite passengers, all aged between 3 years to 17 years, yes I swear the kids have more fun than adults. Ship Mates is for 3-5 year olds, Celebrity Cadets for 6-9 year olds, Celebrity Captains for 10-12 year olds and Admiral Teens for 13-17 year olds.  They do also offer a programme called Toddler Time for children under 3 years old, but this is not a drop and go option, it's where parents can come and play with their babies with the toys provided by the cruise line.