By Michael Jones
When you have kids, it's easier to make them an active part of your vacation instead of trying to keep them locked away in the room all week. A cruise may not sound like the most kid-friendly vacation at first, but when you do your research, you'll find many cruise lines offer activities for kids as young as 2 years old. You will even find babysitting services so you and your spouse can spend a
romantic night out.
Carnival Cruise Lines
Carnival Cruise Lines offers kids of all ages tons of fun activities. Carnival's program for kids is called Camp Carnival. The program is run on every ship in the fleet and provides activities for children and teenagers between the ages of 2 and 15, like toys, games, puzzles and video games. Carnival strives to bring families together and the staff is filled with friendly counselors trained in CPR and basic first aid.
Toddlers will enjoy things like: Carnival's splash pool, cartoon time, little tykes toys, sponge painting, drawing contests, sing-alongs, face painting, arts and crafts and cookie decorating. Children from ages 6 to 12 can always have a fun time taking part in things like: talent shows, face painting, dance classes, ping pong, talent shows, volleyball and scavenger hunts. Teenagers will love the pool parties, teen dances, pizza parties and indoor beach parties. If that's not enough, every ship has a 15-foot water slide that kids of all ages love.
Carnival Cruise Lines
3655 NW 87th Avenue
Miami, FL 33178
(888) Carnival
www.carnival.com/
Disney Cruise Lines
For those who love Disney Land or Disney World, a Disney Cruise may be the perfect option. Disney ships devote almost an entire deck to kids, giving them tons of fun options each day. Children ages 3 to 7 love hanging out at Disney's Oceaneer Club and 8 to 12-year-olds chill at Disney's Oceaneer Lab.
All the Disney Counselors love working with kids, and they have created a wide range of age-specific activities that will suit everyone. Kids as young as 3 years old will love listening to stories like Peter Pan and Snow White. And children a little older will enjoy creating "flubber" and eating snacks at Goofy's PJ Party. Teenagers get to feel like grownups by planing their own activities and meeting with the counselors to create their own schedule for the day.
Disney Cruise Lines
Lake Buena Vista, FL 32830
(800) 951-3532
www.disneycruise.disney.go.com/
Celebrity Cruises
Celebrity cruises offers a great program, The Celebrity X-Club Youth Program, specializing in offering kids ages 3 to 17 tons of fun on their cruises. Children can learn with activities in the program centered around science and nature or they can relax and have some fun at a talent show or slumber party. Celebrity's Family Program also has several fun-filled options for everyone.
The programs are run by a dedicated staff of friendly, caring, trained counselors who make it their duty to make sure the kids are having as much fun as possible. They create a program of exciting and educational entertainment in a safe environment. The counselors are trained in the fields of child psychology, child development, education or recreation and have teaching experience, cruising experience and/or experience working with young people.
Celebrity Cruise Lines
1050 Caribbean Way
Miami, FL 33132
(800) 647-2251
www.celebritycruises.com/
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