Family Cruises

Family cruises are a fun filled adventure with ships specifically designed to facilitate every single person on board, the only hard decision you have to make is which of these ships do you choose for your family cruise holiday?

Family Cruise Holiday

The most popular cruise lines that cater for family cruises are; Disney, Royal Caribbean, P&O, NCL, Princess and Carnival, but you will come to find that most cruise lines do have family friendly facilities. Just a few of the facilities you can expect to find on these ships are; swimming pools, rock-climbing walls, surf simulators, ice-skating rinks, game rooms, mini-golf courses and age appropriate children’s clubs to ensure that you really do get the most out of your family cruise holiday.

There‘s a lot to take into account when it comes to Family cruises, but whether its children‘s menus at dinner, baby-sitting services during the evenings, spacious accommodation or child safety, these cruise lines have got it all covered for your family cruise holiday.

Dining on these family cruising ships tends to offer the freedom with plenty of places to dine, and no time restrictions either. There are also special menus designed the youngsters, with all the kiddie favourites and appropriate portions. Many cabins on these cruise ships have connecting rooms to offer space and comfort and most provide cots as well.

Safety is always of the uppermost important during family cruises, and you can be safe in the knowledge that your children are being looked after by fully qualified staff, so if you wanted to take advantage of their babysitting services then you can, giving you some time to enjoy a romantic dinner for two on your family cruise holiday.

Disney Cruise Line

When it comes to family cruising, Disney cruise line is a perfect match. Their age appropriate kids clubs cater for children aged just 3 months right the way up to teenagers.

The ’Flounders Reef Nursery‘ and it‘s a ’Small World Nursery‘ is the place for the tots who will be looked after by qualified staff. ’Quarter Masters‘ and ’Arr-cade‘ is where you will find a whole host of videogames and air hockey tables, ’Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique‘ is the place for the youngsters to dress up in all their favourite character outfits, and ’Vibe‘ and ’Edge‘ are the exclusive hang outs for the teens.

The Disney fleet also provide 3D shows of all the latest Disney films, a meet and greet with your favourite characters, Broadway style musicals, video arcades, swimming pools, slides and nightclubs based around different themes, making sure you have the perfect family cruise holiday.

Carnival Cruise Line

Family cruising on the ‘Fun Ships’ as they are appropriately titled, offer outstanding age appropriate children clubs to ensure that they have non-stop fun on their family cruise holiday.

Camp Carnival is dedicated to the 2-11 year olds and they get their own space where they can play games, be creative and most of all – have fun and make friends with people of their own age. They even get their own children’s menu and can take part in activities including; finger painting, dance parties and talent shows.

Circle C is for the teens aged 12-14 where they can hang out with like-minded people and take part in activities including; board and card games, video games, dance parties, sports and pool parties.

Club O2 is designed especially for those aged 15-17. Your teens can hang out here and do as much, or as little as they like including; watching a film, playing computer games, join in with karaoke, play sports or enjoy pool parties.

Royal Caribbean

Family cruising with Royal Caribbean offers an Adventure Youth Programme for children aged 3-17 and split into five different age groups to ensure they get the most out of their family cruise holiday.

The Aquanauts are for those aged 3-5 and offer a fun-filled educational programme. They get to take part in activities including; face painting, arts and crafts, games, sports and even science experiments.

The Explorers are for those aged 6-8. These youngsters can go on scavenger hunts, take part in arts and crafts, karaoke parties, talent contests and even learn how to make their own sweets.

The Voyagers are those aged 9-11 where they can go on a backstage tour, take part in arts and crafts such as making pottery, Crayola art projects, create kites and mask making.

The Navigators are all about entertaining the teens. They get their own exclusive lounge where they can hang out or play games. Activities for the teens include, bingo tournaments, rock-climbing, ice-skating, surfing on the Flowrider or dancing in their teens only night club.

Norwegian Cruise Line

NCL have teamed up with Nickelodeon to offer non-stop family cruising entertainment all included in the price. Your children can take part in interactive game shows, eat breakfast with SpongeBob SquarePants and sing and dance at Dora’s Music Party. Not only will the grown-up kids love the waterpark with slides and tubes, but they get their own lounge area where they take part in Wii and Xbox challenges, team building challenges and sports activities. NCL doesn’t stop there either, new to 2011 they have introduced The Blue Men group as part of their world-class entertainment shows, ensuring that they really do offer the perfect all-round family cruise holiday.

P&O Cruises

The P&O family cruising ships are the Aurora, Azura, Oriana, Oceana and Ventura and have been specially created to ensure that you and your family enjoy a fun-filled family cruise holiday. They each have their own fully qualified youth staff called the Reef Rangers and offer an age appropriate kids programme split into four different age groups.

Splashers is for the 2-4 year olds, Surfers is for the 5-8 year olds and Scubas is for the 9-12 year olds. These groups will love the fantastic entertainment programme which features appearances from Noddy and Mr Bump. There is also an extensive activity programme to match with games, karaoke, quizzes, parties, circus training and arts and crafts.

H20 is for the 13-17 year olds where all the teens can chill out in their very own exclusive pad and they can enjoying playing game consoles, parties and late night discos. The Ventura ship even has a DJ mixing station and Rock school which has become a firm favourite with the older kids.

Princess Cruises

Family cruising on the Princess ships offer youth centres for children aged 3 to 17. They have been split into age appropriate groups and each have an extensive entertainment programme to suit. Activities include; arts and crafts, pizza parties, karaoke, talent shows and discos to name just a few. The teens get their own exclusive hang-out filled with video games, giant TV screens, ping pong tables and juke boxes. There are plenty of swimming pools on their ships to suit every family member and Princess also offer children an educational programme where they can learn whilst they play. Princess also has a special kids dining programme so the junior cruisers can enjoy dinner without their parents and enjoy a fun-filled family cruising holiday.

These are just a few of the cruise lines catering towards family cruises. To find out more call us on 0800 072 8981 and speak to our award winning Cruise Concierge who will help create the perfect family cruising holiday for you.