Best Cruise Lines for Families

Are you thinking of a family cruise vacation and want one with the best programs for your kids and a good range of standard cruise amenities – pool, spa, good dining, evening shows and a range of destination – for all family members? Following are my suggestions for the best cruise lines programs for kids:

Disney Cruise Line

Disney Cruise Line remains my number one choice for best cruise lines for families, especially for those with children – or adults – who love the Disney characters. An experience on a Disney cruise is total immersion into the world of Mickey and Donald and Minnie and all the other family favorites. The Disney Wonder and Magic are top-rated cruise ships with luxurious features and a full-range of amenities for every age (including adults’ only areas for those who need a break from the excitement).

Offering 7-night cruises through the Caribbean and 3 or 4-night cruises with an optional stay at DisneyWorld, Disney is a premium family cruise vacation experience.

Royal Caribbean

For families with active, older children – those for whom the Disney characters have disappeared into depths of overfilled closets – who are eager for extreme experiences, I suggest Royal Caribbean’s fleet. Featuring rock-climbing walls, ice skating rinks – even wave /surf simulators on the newer ships – plus the Adventure Ocean program for ages 3 through 17, a cruise with Royal Caribbean provides a great setting for an active family cruise vacation.



Families can join together while learning to scuba dive in the pool; kids can join Adventure Ocean’s daily activities or join their new friends in the teen-only nightclub in the evenings; adult family members can explore the daily onboard activities, lounge at the pool, indulge in the spa or just relax with a good book.

Each evening, the mini-golf course provides a place for families to unwind after the meal. And whilst mentioning meals, I learned at the Boston Travel Show last week a fleet-wide priority is to improve the food. This is good news and promises increased quality and diversity for dining.

Carnival Cruises

Carnival has been working hard to change its image from the “Party Animal” cruise line to one that is family-oriented. As part of this initiative, Carnival offers a diverse kids program that is especially beneficial for families with children in different age groups.

Camp Carnival offers activities for kids between the ages of 2 and 11 years old in three separate age groupings. A range of fun activities are scheduled so kids can join others their age or take a “day off” to be with their family.

A separate program – Circle "C" – offered for kids ages 12 to 14, features daytime activities designed for teens. Every night, Circle “C” members get together in their “private” club to dance and mingle with new friends.

Club O2 is designed for teens from ages 15 to 17 and features group sports activities (basketball, volleyball) with a mix of movies, pool parties and on some ships, a special lounge only for Club O2 members. Carnival also offers a choice of teen-only shore excursions that teens can enjoy with their friends.

To celebrate its 36th anniversary, Carnival announced earlier this week its “Funtennial Celebration” -- special promotions and savings on all cruises booked during March. Each week offers different special – including cabin upgrades and onboard credits. Every guest who books a cruise will be entered into a weekly contest with a grand prize of a free cruise for two in the Owners Suite aboard either the Imagination or the Inspiration.

If you’re planning a family getaway for later this year or next, March is a good time to choose Carnival. The details are “highly confidential” and each week’s offerings will be announced on the preceding Saturday. Give me a call toll-free at 1-888-825-4529 or send an email to learn about the special of the week.

Small Cruise Ships

The best large cruise lines provide a wide range of activities for family cruise vacations. If, however, you’re looking for a more personalized family vacation experience that combines on-the-ground adventure in different ports with educational exploration, come back for my next posting on the best family cruise vacations on small cruise ships. Read more...

Best Cruise Lines for a short winter escape

Did I say the best cruise lines for a short escape? Determining the “best” may be by default because the choices are so few. I decided earlier this week that 3 or 4 days in warmth and sunshine sounded really appealing to break up the frigid temperatures and mounds of snow that will soon be upon us.

In my quest for the best short cruise, I found, with only a few exceptions, short 2-night escapeaways are almost non-existent and the choices for 3-night cruising getaways from Florida are limited to the Bahamas.

Royal Caribbean and Carnival sail two ships each from Florida to the Bahamas. Both Royal Caribbean’s Majesty of the Seas and Carnival’s Fascination sail from Miami; in northern Florida, Royal Caribbean’s Sovereign of the Seas and Carnival’s Sensation sail from Port Canaveral.

All the ships have 3 and 4-night itineraries every week; some include stops in Freeport, a private cay (island) for a day in the sun or Key West in addition to a full day shopping or beaching or snorkeling in Nassau.

What is the difference? Really not all that much. These are not the “best” ships in either fleet. Royal Caribbean has upgraded both the Majesty and Sovereign (photos are of Royal Caribbean's Majesty and Sovereign) with new features, flat screened TVs, comfy bedding and enticements where you can spend your money, but the ships are the older ones.

While there may not be any entries for Best Cruise Lines among these ships, they can provide a good time for relaxing, getting away from life's hecticity and short chance to escape.

In terms of pricing, they’re all about the same, depending on the date and which cabins are available. The least amount I would spend for my 3-night cold-weather escapeaway, for an interior cabin in the bowels of a ship is about $260 per person including taxes and port fees. Check it out -- with the recent refurbishment of the Majesty, the lowest-cost interior cabin really looks pretty good! --

The most luxurious of the short cruises is with Disney’s Wonder – Disney Cruise Lines is a frequent member on all the elite Best Cruise Lines lists. In the 2007 Travel + Leisure “World’s Best” awards, Disney was rated as number 4 in the Best Large Ship category; earlier this year, it received honors with the Conde Nast Traveler Gold Awards and ranked in the 10 in the “Top 80 Ships in the World” award.

A 3-night cruise to Castaway Island and Nassau in February is about $120 per person more than the fare with Royal Caribbean or Carnival, but the difference in total quality is…. priceless.

The Wonder departs every Thursday afternoon from Port Canaveral (a simple flight to Orlando and quick transfer and I can be onboard the ship!) and returning early Sunday morning. The schedule works well for a long weekend, and this is sounding really good -- but…. a weekend with families, kids and Mickey isn’t quite how I envisioned relaxing in the sun and warmth.

Having said that, however, one of my life goals’ checkboxes is to have a family reunion – with kids and grandkids and great-grandparents, aunts and uncles and cousins, too – surrounded by Goofy and Mickey and Friends. I imagine the ecstasy of small children with the wonders and delights of Disney afloat will be contagious…. but I’ll save that adventure for a time when I can gather our family together so we can all enjoy the experience.

The bulk of the 2008 “short” cruises are 4 or 5-nights; choices are plentiful between Royal Caribbean, Carnival, Celebrity’s Century and NCL’s Jewel. While Royal Caribbean’s Empress of the Seas has a few (very, very few) 3-night sailings, they depart from San Juan… and that’s a bit too far to fly for a quick getaway to warmth.

All I want is to sneak a few days into a long weekend and be able to feel the ocean breeze blowing through my hair, to smell the salt in the ocean, and to look up and see the twinkling stars in a wide-open sky, with a few lights from buildings far, far away in the background. I don’t have the time to cruise down to the Panama Canal or even to take a short 5-night cruise over to Grand Cayman and Cozumel.

I haven’t quite exhausted my quest for the best cruise lines for my brief winter escapeaway. A different experience awaits me in Fort Lauderdale….. Read more...