Cruises provide impressive vacation value for families: accommodation, food, activities and transportation to faraway places at a set price. All major cruise lines have activities for children catering to everyone from kids to teenagers. Therefore, the kids are happy with a never—ending line-up of activities while the parents have the option of relaxing if they choose to.
Check out our top 3 picks for the most exciting family cruises:
- Disney Cruise Line: Like its land-based theme parks, Disney Cruise Line caters impeccably to kids and kids at heart. Every minute of aDisneycruise is crammed with parties, character-autograph sessions, Broadway-esque musicals, classes, tours, movies, games, even a 1,800-foot water play area on the 4,000-person Disney Fantasy. You’d think that would be enough, but the children’s and teen programs are the best of any cruise line, thanks to extensive activities (think princess parties, animation lessons and science classes).
Royal Caribbean: Not to be outdone by Disney, Royal Caribbean has gotten into the Hollywood-style cruise business, too. The line has contracted with DreamWorks -- creator of the films like Madagascar, Shrek and Kung Fu Panda -- on 5 of its ships. Parades, shows, 3-D film showings and meals with characters are among the allures. Even without these add-ons, Royal Caribbean has a fine program for children. Rock-climbing walls and surf simulators make the ship attractive to teenagers.
- Norwegian Cruise Lines:Norwegian Cruise Lines has perfected the best concept for families: “free-style” cruising. That means you can do what
you what, when you want, including eating dinner. So if your little one is having a “moment,” there’s no need to stress that you’ll be late for your dinner seating. In addition to a youth program that features Cirque du Soleil-style activities, arts and crafts and video games, the teen program offers 20 team sports and themed nighttime events. The Norwegian cruise lines also incorporate characters from the Nickelodeon network.