Cruises - A Family Affair
How Old Do Kids Have to Be to Go On Cruises?
Every year at least 30% of holiday cruise deals are taken by families having children. Many companies provide special supervised fun goings-on for kids, especially during school breaks. Children loving sports, swimming, movies, music, games, and making new friends will be right at home on a MSC cruises ship. Young people have no trouble at all adapting to life on board, and parents don’t have to worry where they are every five minutes. Specially trained and specifically assigned staff on these cruises will keep the kids under control and having fun all day long. And best of all, children usually get to travel at a greatly discounted price. A few companies welcoming families may have restrictions as to the minimum age of the very youngest passengers even when traveling with their parents or grandparents. They specify that infants must be at least twelve weeks old to get on board, and even older for cruise deals that are to more exotic locales. On some ships, the children are required to be at least three years old to take part in the organized programs held for children. Other lines, like princess cruises, restrict the number of children of any particular age allowed on each sailing, especially during school holidays. And a few cruise lines prohibit any passengers under the age of seventeen. Since there are so many variations, the best thing to do is to check with the web site operator about the regulations for the voyages about which you are thinking.
Ventura on it's destination
"This was our first cruise holiday and we were very satisfied with the experience. The main bonus for us on board was that the ship offered excellent entertainment in the evenings (the Headliner theatre company productions were exceptional) whilst the baby was looked after in the night nursery." - Hislop, Edinburgh on 20th Jun 2009 (P&O Cruises)
Taking your Little Sailors on Holiday
Amenities specifically designed for families with children can differ greatly. Some cruise deals are tailored just for them and they might even have children’s rates according to their age. In other cases, the child's fare is calculated based on the type of cabin being booked. Higher end cruises may not allow a third or fourth person in the same cabin or offer a reduced price for extra passengers sharing. Most cruise lines like s might require that young people traveling without parents be at least twenty-one years old. The exception to this is, of course for married couples, but even in that case, if one occupant of the stateroom is under twenty-one, the other must be older than 24 years of age. And regardless of whether you are married or not, on caribbean cruises you must be at least twenty-one years old to legally drink beer, wine, champagne or alcoholic cocktails on most ships. It is often possible for children under twenty-one to have their own cabin if their parents have the immediately adjoining cabin or one directly across the passageway. If the cruises you are looking at won’t allow that, you can book one child and one parent into one cabin, and book the other parent and second child into another cabin, and then switch once you are board and the trip has started. However you arrange the stateroom occupancy on celebrity cruises, having the whole family along for the trip will be a fantastic vacation for everyone.
Restful lawn club
"We sailed from newcastle a bit apprehensive as we had never cruised with thomson before. however we were not dissapointed, the entertainment was exceptional jim bowen was absolutely wonderful and his wife phyllis were very approachable." - Millward, Wrexham on 20th Jun 2009 (Thomson Cruises)
Taking the Littlest Sailors
Back in 1998 Disney got into the industry by creating cruise deals specifically tailored for the youngest passengers. Their big red boats had a nursery, larger cabins with bath tubs, and curtains to split the room in half to give the parents some privacy. They even put shops on board their cruises that carry products that are targeted for infants and toddlers, like diapers, handy wipes and baby sunblocker. During the past decade there have been other lines like Royal caribbean cruises introducing child-friendly family staterooms and toddler kindergarten. In 2005, they publicized a joint venture with Fisher Price, starting two 45-minute playgroup gatherings every day for parents to go to with their children, and run by trained child-care specialists. For six to eighteen month old toddlers on these cruises, there are musical instruments to play and artwork to create in a variety of shapes and colors. The eighteen month to three year olds can dress up as pirates or princesses, sing songs and play with toys. Children on these P&O Cruises who are three years old or older and potty-trained can spend at least a few hours every day in the Adventure Ocean program which has been designed for five different age groups from three to seventeen years old. On other days the youngest kids can drive a Barbie Escalade or small scale Jeep at the new Power Wheels Track on the company’s private island. And there are some other very interesting activities available on all cunard cruises.
Water spa on board of QV
"My husband and i have recently been on the Independence of the Seas round the med in May 2009. We thoroughly enjoyed it, what a wonderful ship." - Abramson, Lowestoft on 20th Jun 2009 (Royal Caribbean Cruises)
More Fun for Kids
Cruise deals catering to especially for children have included almost every kind of fun activity that the kids might enjoy on land at home or in school. There are all their favourite games like bingo, or red light – green light at which the kids can win prizes. There is finger painting, colouring books and crayons. At scheduled times during the day there are puppet shows, story telling and kids’ movies. And there are even special dance parties for the little kids’ with costumed mascots to lead the fun. Most, but not all, NCL Cruises ships offer toddlers two years old and over the chance to play where they will find ball pools, jungle gyms, tunnels, and Leap Frog Learning Toys. Some cruise deals have a children-oriented water park area with water slides, water pistols and splash zones for kids to swim without a diaper. The kid’s meals available on certain cruises offers kid-size tables and chairs, plus a smorgasbord of kids’ favourite foods but that include plenty of fruits and veggies along with the hot dogs, French fries and cookies. After dinner, there are night time babysitting rooms for kids aged two to five without the clamour of the older, noisier children maybe decorated with posters of all the kids favourite movies. On some cruises the parents of toddlers less than five years old are given a pager should staff looking after their kids need to contact them quickly. Cribs are provided gratis on fred olsen cruises for in-stateroom use.
Whirlpools out on the sun deck"The ship was lovely and the ports of call the best we have been to. Greece was beautiful people very friendly less commercialised than spain." - Shields, Northwich on 20th Jun 2009 (Thomson Cruises)
