Porthole magazine
November 1, 2009
Kids at the Helm

Things sure have come a long way in the last 15 years or so ago when playrooms on ships were an afterthought. In those days, a counselor or two guided kids through board games and pipe-cleaner crafts in corridors and un-used lounges. Fast forward to 2009, the way cruise lines cater to kids you’d think the cruise executives were actually puppets being controlled by 10 year olds. Sure, it’s all a big marketing ploy --- the cruise lines schmooze your kids so they’ll become tomorrow’s cruise fanatics --- but hey, that’s ok. If schmoozing means great ocean-view playrooms on top decks, a ton of activities, on-the-ball counselors (some lines, like Royal Caribbean and Holland America, require youth staff have college degrees), and awesome toys like rock climbing walls, water playgrounds, mini golf, surfing simulators, and bowling alleys, then bring it on! From Wii tournaments to t-shirt painting, pizza making, treasure hunts, movies, science projects, and arts and crafts, good luck getting much face time with your kids, they’ll never want to leave the playroom. Most big ships will mind your young’ins through dinner too some evenings, so you can have an adult meal while your offspring heads to the buffet with the counselors. Programming is typically complimentary until about 10pm, when an hourly fee of $5 to $6 per child per hour kicks in until as late as 3am (on Carnival of course!); a few ships offer private in-cabin babysitting too, including Royal Caribbean, Celebrity, Crystal and Holland America. Though it’s mostly the big mega-ships that cater best to families with children, there are several exceptions in the luxury market. Regent Seven Seas, for instance, has the Ambassadors of the Environment programs in Alaska and Tahiti that features special shore excursions for kids, from whale watching in Sitka to snorkeling in Bora Bora (better yet, kids sail free for most of the Alaska season when sharing a room with two full fare paying adults). Likewise, predominantly during summers and holidays when more families travel with them, Crystal has supervised activities for ages 3 to 17 and offers a video arcade and a playroom with Sony PlayStation® 2, Nintendo Wii™ and Xbox 360TM kiosks and large-screen TVs; even baby food, high chairs and booster seats are available on request. Don’t write off the small adventure ships of lines like Star Clippers and Windstar, they can be great for teenagers who enjoy watersports and the thrill of traveling aboard a sail ships.


1. Disney Cruise Line (www.disneycruiseline.com)

Against the backdrop of these classy old-worldy ships with all those great characters, Disney courts families in its signature over-the-top way. Supervised activities in giant spaces are offered for 5 age groups between 3 and 17 --- completely free of charge until midnight --- plus there’s a nursery for wee ones between 3 months and 3 years old. A new service let’s you pre-order baby supplies like diapers, formula and wipes and have them waiting in your cabin when you board. The teen spaces are sequestered places that include cool stuff like guitar hero and the wii. Besides the main deck’s three pools, there’s a diaper-friendly toddler splash pool with interactive fountains and twisty water slide. The great rotation dining system means families can sample the ships’ three fun restaurants, and when it comes to entertainment, the family-friendly production shows that are hands-down the best at sea. Did a mention the ships boast the best family cabins --- the majority have two bathrooms—a sink and toilet in one and a shower/tub combo and sink in the other. Even in port, on the line’s private Bahamian getaway, Castaway Cay, there are not only supervised activities, but extras like bike rentals and a playground.


2. Royal Caribbean (www.royalcaribbean.com)

This line wrote the book on family-friendly sporty stuff, from rock-climbing walls geared to ages 6 and up to miniature golf, basketball, and on its newer ships, ice-skating rinks, in-line skating tracks and poolside “spraygrounds.” Supervised activities are offered for five age groups between 3 and 17 in super spacious digs, and include science- and theater-oriented stuff, plus good old fashioned ball and board games. Always keeping things fresh, Royal Caribbean is introducing a new nursery care program for the 6-months to 3-year-old set, in addition to the line’s parent-and-child play groups. There’s also the new “lunch and play” program on sea days --- for $7.95 per child, ages 3 to 11 can eat with counselors between noon and 2pm and enjoy movies, cartoons and playtime while mom and dad do their own thing. Either that, or take the whole family for burgers and shakes at the Johnny Rockets diners many RCI ships have. The new Oasis of the Seas offers unbelievable firsts for families, with a real live carousel featuring 27 hand-carved animals, an aqua theatre for diving shows and synchronized swimming, two rock climbing walls and two surf simulators, plus, yes, an indoor zip line for ‘tweens on up.


3. Carnival (www.Carnival.com)

The fun-ship line caters to kids and adults alike, with supervised programming for four groups between age 2 and 14, plus there’s a teen club for the 15 to 17 set. There are some great activities with an educational slant, from art projects using papier-mâché, oil paintings, and watercolors, to music appreciation, science projects where kids can make their own ice cream and create minihelicopters, and fitness classes. Generally, the newer the ship, the more amazing the offerings. The Carnival Splendour as well as the Conquest-class vessels, has computer stations, a climbing maze, a video wall showing movies and cartoons, arts and crafts, and tons of toys and games, plus great water slides out on the main pool deck. Upping the ante, the brand-new 130,000-ton Carnival Dream outshines with its whopping 19,000 square feet of spaces for kids, ‘tweens and teens, including the Carnival WaterWorks aqua park with the industry’s longest water slide at 303 feet in length and four decks high. Stuff to do includes PlayStation2 and Wii linked to the latest plasma TV screens, karaoke, air hockey and foosball tables. There’s also an 18-hole miniature golf course and Carnival classics like 24-hour pizza and ice-cream.

4. Holland America (www.hollandamerica.com)

The line’s 14 ships each offer the Club HAL program with activities for the 3 to 12 set in colorful, fanciful rooms with kids Olympics, t-shirt tie-dying, arts and crafts, pajama parties and storytelling for the younger ones, while the older kids love the air hockey, foosball, Karaoke, Sony Playstations, dodge ball and theme parties. For teens ages 13 to 17, the adult-free hang-out zone called The Loft offers music and games like Dance Dance Revolution and karaoke. Most ships also have the totally cool Oasis sun-deck, a teens-only patch of sun deck sequestered off in a private area of the ship with a juice bar, wading pool and music. Other fun stuff for all ages includes 45-minute cooking classes to make cookies, scones, soft pretzels and more. Special programs for family reunion parties include not only discounts, but perks like fountain-soda cards, one family photo per cabin, and lunch for the entire brood in the Pinnacle Grill Restaurant.


5. Norwegian Cruise Line (www.ncl.com)

Aside from offering super fun supervised activities for kids age 2 through 18 for four age groups all day long up until 1am, there’s great family-friendly flexible dining, kid-sized furniture in the buffet restaurants, and lots of large cabins like the two-bedroom Courtyard Villas. Aside from the splash pools on most of the ships, your kids will flip over the jungle gyms, ball pits and tunnels aboard the Norwegian Epic, Gem, Pearl, Jade, Dawn, Star, Spirit, Jewel and Pride of America. Better yet, fleetwide you’ll find the super popular Wii™video sports games in the atrium and other public rooms. New programming includes a "FreeStyle Free Play" where all age groups can socialize and play together during designated times every day.


6. Princess Cruises (www.princess.com)

Parents of toddlers LOVE the large piece of fenced-in outside deck for toddlers, and another for older kids, with a wading pool, aboard the Grand-, Diamond-, and Coral-class ships. Accommodating kids between the ages of 3 and 17, each ship also has a spacious children’s playroom and teens have private clubs with computers, video games, and a sound system --- the ones on the Grand-class ships even have teen hot tubs and private sunbathing decks. Extra special fun stuff includes the Jr. CHEF@Sea program, where kids join hands-on cooking workshops with the chefs in the main galley to make pizza and sushi rolls, or decorate cakes. A lectures series for kids is offered on a handful of cruises and features expert speakers on relationships, fashion, entertainment and other stuff. The California Science Center’s “Science on the Seas” program focuses on port-focused science projects that range from coral reef studies to racing sailboats, squid dissection and chemistry experiments. There’s also yoga for ages 3 to 17, and in Alaska, the Junior Ranger/Teen Explorer program incorporate interactive games, activity books and presentations by park rangers. Along the same lines, the Pete’s Pals program teaches kids about endangered species like humpback whales and sea turtles.


7. Celebrity (www.celebritycruises.com)

Celebrity’s pretty ships pamper kids just like they do adults for four age groups between 3 and 17, offering everything from behind-the-scenes ship tours of the theater and galley, to ice-cream-sundae-making parties, karaoke, computer games, masquerade balls and sports competitions. The facilities include the works, from ball bins to slides and wading pools; the Millennium-class also has outdoor jungle gyms. No teen will sulk when they see their own clubs are stocked with Xboxes, Nintendo Wii, and PlayStation PS3s, plus arranged activities from talent shows to karaoke, pool games, and trivia contests. For some genteel family time, the new Celebrity Solstice and Equinox have top-deck lawns with real grass for picnics, croquet and bocce ball.


8. Cunard (www.cunard.com)

Kids get the royal treatment aboard the QM2 as much as their parents do. The impressive kids’ program starts at age 1, with a team of nannies and youth counselors on hand to diaper, fed and rock little ones to sleep, and organize fun games and activities for older kids. Just outside the playroom on deck is a small family pool and sprinkler for kids, plus some climbing frames. There’s even a special daily children’s teatime that’s perfect as an early dinner and a dog kennel you can peak in on at the top of the ship. The icing on the cake: the children’s programming is free of charge until midnight daily.


9. Lindblad (www.expeditions.com)

Considering this outfit is all about learning, it makes sense the small, cozy ships of Lindblad Expeditions would offer some family friendly trips with an exciting educational angle. As the ships ply the off-beat waterways, islands, fjords and/or harbors of the Galapagos, Greece and Alaska, special activities for kids might range from scavenger hunts to painting and story writing depending on the age of children on board. There are also wonderful port experiences for the whole family, from frolicking with fearless seals on the beach in the Galapagos to seeing humpback whales, orcas and sea lions up-close from a zodiac craft in Alaska. .As a bonus, there’s a “Bring Your Kids” discount of $500 off the double-occupancy rate for kids under 18.


10. Costa Cruises (www.costacruises.com)

With their more international clientele compared to the other big-ship lines, your child gets to mingle with kids from Europe and around the world, while enjoying costume parties, Italian-language classes, and lots of the other fun stuff for four age groups between 3 and 17. Theme nights are big in the Squok Club playroom and range from animals, when kids get their faces painted or wear animal masks, to the Carnival theme night, when kids make their own costumes and parade around the ship with staff. On Caribbean itineraries, the Roman and Pirate theme nights speak for themselves and are always super popular. The coolest stuff is on the newest ships: aboard Costa Pacifica there’s a music studio and music lessons are offered, while on the Luminosa, the 4D cinema and roller-skating track are fun; both ships have Playstation 3 consoles and a Grand Prix race car driving simulator.