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Cruises For The Family
The days when cruise ships were almost exclusively for the wealthy and elderly are long gone. Nowadays, cruising is a holiday the whole family can enjoy, and the latest generation of cruise ships have children's facilities better than most resort hotels
- Dedicated play areas
- Activities ranging from face painting and quizzes to treasure hunts and talent shows
- Kids’ clubs, operating day and night
- Discos, games rooms and activity clubs exclusively for teenagers
- Fully, qualified supervision
- Child friendly dining rooms
- Safe & secure environment
Featured cruise lines and their children’s facilities
Celebrity Cruises
- Introduction
- There's so much for your children to do in the Celebrity X-Club to keep them engaged and having a great time in an environment designed just for them.
A Welcome Aboard Orientation will fill you in on all the details of the X-Club.
You're invited to stop by the Fun Factory with your children on the first day of your sailing for an Open House. They can explore all the possibilities and you can get answers to any questions you may have. You can also go ahead and get them registered for the activities that excite them.
From teen-oriented explorations and entertainment to special opportunities for toddlers and their parents to interact with each other, the X-Club is designed to make sure your children enjoy their Celebrity experience as much as you do. You can even join your children for X-Club Family Events like Karaoke, Family Disco, Bingo and more.
The five-tiered programme includes:
Toddler Time (under 3 years old)
Ship Mates (ages 3-6)
Celebrity Cadets (ages 7-9)
Ensigns (ages 10-12)
Admiral Ts (ages 13-17) - Fun Factory
- This is where the magic happens and the fun starts. A place exclusively for junior cruisers.
Open from 9:00am until 10:00pm each and every night, entertaining every child and teen onboard the vessel with crafts, games, toys, arcade games, music, karaoke, a ball pit and much much more.
Cunard
- Queen Mary 2
- Queen Mary 2 welcomes families to The Zone, a beautiful nursery and children’s centre full of toys, games, and activities. This area, located on Deck 6, is supervised daily by fully trained nannies and youth staff.
Older children will enjoy activities offered by the Youth Staff at The Playzone such as sports, discos, video games, scavenger hunts, and arts and crafts.
Queen Mary 2 also offers a family pool area so families can enjoy the outdoors together.
Please note that children must be a minimum of one-year-old to participate in the Nursery without parental supervision. Children under one-year-old are welcome, provided they are accompanied by a parent/guardian at all times.
Complimentary group child-sitting in the children’s centre is available in the evenings. - Queen Elizabeth 2
- The Nursery, run by qualified nannies and youth counsellors is the base for the children's programme on QE2. The largest nursery at sea, parents may drop off their children in this fun and exciting centre to enjoy a host of activities to suit children of all ages from arts and crafts, board games, sports, discos and parties. The Nursery is equipped with a mini-cinema, play area as well as a private sleeping area.
The Youth Chill Out Room accommodates older children where they can meet and enjoy supervised sleepovers, parties and discos. Club 2000 provides a video games room with seven video consoles. - Queen Victoria
- Children can have a whale of a time in Queen Victoria's Children's Programme on 10 Deck, run by qualified nannies.
For younger guests, these facilities feature both inside and outside areas dedicated to children ages 1-12. Parents may drop off their children at this fun and exciting centre, to enjoy a host of activities from arts to crafts, board games and sports.
Princess Cruises
- Introduction
- Junior cruisers aged 3 to 17 can enjoy a boatload of exciting onboard activities. Dedicated youth centres are staffed by trained counsellors, who are ready to ensure that young sailors stay happy all day long.
You'll find completely equipped Youth & Teen Centres. There's everything from arts and crafts corners, games tables, movies, and splash pool area. - Dining
- As part of the Princess Kids programme, Junior cruisers will be able to participate in two special dinner evenings designed for each age group.
Younger passengers will enjoy dinner without parents and in the company of newfound friends and counsellors in one of their ship's many eateries.
For teens, one of the two evenings will feature a special get-together in one of the main dining rooms, complete with group photograph and a night out to enjoy Princess' many evening offerings. - Kid-Sitting
- Group kid sitting for children ages 3 to 12 years is offered from 10:00 p.m. to 1:00 a.m.
- Port Day Activities
- Youth and Teen Centres are open while in port from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. A supervised, complimentary lunch service is available with parental consent.
- TV Programming
- TV programmes appropriate for children, including cartoons, movies and award-winning programmes. may be shown on the in-cabin television during the early morning hours, midday and early evening. Youth and Teen Centres are also equipped with giant screen TVs for late-night movie gatherings, featuring the latest kids & teen films.
- Kids Club - 3-12 years - Fun Zone Activities
- Princess Fun Zone Activities are divided into two age groups:
"Princess Pelicans" (ages 3-7)
"Shockwaves (ages 8-12)
The Princess Pelicans and Shockwaves programmes offer activities such as:
• Arts and crafts • Discos • Movies and Cartoons • Exclusive Kids Only Dining • Video Games • Edutainment programmes • Scavenger Hunts • Karaoke and talent shows • Afternoon Ice Cream Parties • Pizza Parties • Hall of Fame Tournaments • Shipboard Olympics • T-shirt Colouring • Pyjama Parties • Theme parties - Kids Club - 13-17 years – Teen Centre
- The astounding Teen Centres are packed with Playstation 2, the latest movies & music, Karaoke, giant screen TVs, card games, board games, ping pong tables and juke boxes.
We also offer our teen-age passengers a wide range of activities such as: teens-only dance parties, the Dating Game, T-shirt painting, sports tournaments, Karaoke and talent shows, Casino night, pizza parties, mocktails, hip hop dance classes, and teen dinners
P&O Cruises
- Introduction
- With excellent children’s facilities on Aurora, Oceana and Oriana, a P&O Cruises holiday caters for passengers of all ages. Take the stress out of family holidays – P&O really have thought of everything. There are clubs, games and activities suited to specific age ranges and a special children’s tea every day. An enthusiastic and well-qualified Youth Crew bestows the very best of care. A night nursery and an in-cabin listening service ensure your peace of mind so you c an enjoy your evenings to the full . Cabin accommodation presents a range of choices for the family, from inter-connecting cabins to cabins with extra beds or sofa beds.
- Children’s Dining
- Meal times are an important time for families to come together. Normally, children sit with their parents at breakfast and lunch. Since even the most affectionate parents may look forward to dinner on their own, P&O lay on a special children’s tea on board Aurora, at about 5.15pm.
The children’s menu features all the food that children love: sausages, fish fingers and pizza to name just a few. In addition there are many healthy options, such as salads, soups, fruit, vegetables and pasta. For toddlers a selection of pureed food is always available. And for little mouths with more sophisticated tastes, there’s even a choice of main course from those on the adult menu! - After Dark
- To enable Mum and Dad to make the very most of their evenings P&O have made a number of provisions:
• Cabin listening facilities, available through the telephone system
• Night Nursery, from 6pm - 2am, offers a babysitting service for children aged 6 months to 5 years.
• For older children there are discos and activities on board which run late into the night. - Cabins
- On board, you will find cabins are well-equipped for the needs of the whole family. Many have additional beds and you will find your accommodation comes with everything to make your stay as comfortable as possible. A TV, telephone, refrigerator, tea making facilities and plenty of drawer and wardrobe space come as standard. In the majority of twin cabins with additional beds, the extra beds are upper Pullman berths. These beds fold down from the ceiling or out from the wall, a little like bunk beds. In staterooms, mini-suites and suites, the extra beds are sofa beds. If you would like more space and privacy but like to have your children close by, some cabins on Aurora are adjoining.
‘Family Savers’ on Aurora, Oceana and Oriana offer generous reductions for children up to the age of 16. On certain holidays, children even go free. It is advisable to book early if you are booking as a family as only a certain number of extra beds will be available for sale on each cruise. - Safety
- All of P&O’s youth crew have extensive experience. All are practised in the planning and facilitating of a wide range of play and leisure activities for children aged 2–17 years. Relevant qualifications for youth staff working with the under eights are NNEB/CACHE Diploma in Nursery Nursing, BTEC National Diploma in Early Childhood Studies, CACHE/OCR/EDEXCEL City & Guilds Certificate in Childcare & Education and/or a Teaching Certificate.
- Kids Club - 2-4 Years
- Toybox (Aurora), Treasure Chest (Oceana) & Peter Pan’s (Oriana)
If your children are at that age when they are constantly on the go, don’t panic, there’s plenty to keep them occupied on board. They can get involved in imaginative play, singing, colouring & drawing and fun & games. They can play in the ball pools and splash about in the paddling pools. Playrooms are equipped with soft play areas packed with large balls and cubes, as well as toys, books and games such as ‘Match and Spell’ to keep the little ones amused. At the end of the day your children can snuggle down with a favourite movie. There are other activities in the outdoor play areas; climbing apparatus, rockers and wobble boards to walk on, climbing ropes to clamber up, Tricycles and little cars to get about on and sand pits to dig around in. From colouring competitions to glove puppet shows, dolls and stickle bricks, they’re sure to be left happy, smiling and content. - Kids Club - 5 - 8 years
- Jumping Jacks (Aurora), The Hideout (Oceana) & Peter Pan’s (Oriana)
These clubs offer your children imaginative play, singing, fun and games. They will also find Playstations, computers, a video corner, arts and crafts area, sport challenges, quizzes and much, much more. Children can be whatever they choose for the day with fun, face painting activities. In cookery corner they get to invent their own chocolate bars with weird and wonderful ingredients. For those with bags of energy there’s a range of things to do. They can skip to their heart’s content with skipping ropes, join in on 3-legged races around the ship, (while parents sit down to dinner), or challenge friends to a game of giant snakes and ladders. It’s always fun to dress-up, and on theme days such as ‘Mad Hatters’, ‘Circus’, ‘Indian Powwow’ and ‘Pirates’, young children get the chance to do just that! - Kids Club - 9-12 years
- Quarterdeck (Aurora), The Buzz Zone (Oceana) & Decibels (Oriana)
For children aged 9 –12 (or tweens!), the available facilities are up to date and appealing. There’s a jukebox so they can play the music of their choice and computers. or Playstations, with games such as Goldeneye, Rogue Agent and FIFA Soccer 2005. There’s also a video area showing a range of popular films. For the bright sparks, there are fun gameshows such as Who’s Bluffing as well as board games including Junior Monopoly and Junior Scrabble. Then there’s scavenger hunts around the ship, quizzes on music, films and general knowledge, and drama workshops. There’s also a variety of pool games and sports sessions – so they will never be short of something to do. - Kids Club - 13-17 years
- Decibels (Aurora) & Outerspace (Oriana)
Teenage passengers haven’t been forgotten. They have their own place to hang out and plenty to keep them occupied. So don’t be surprised if you see little of them! Entertainment such as music, videos, games, discos, computers or Playstations and interactive arcade machines, plus the opportunity to meet new friends, will keep them busy for hours on end. During the school holidays there are specialist activities such as sports coaching and they even have their own club DJ and disco in addition to the normal programme.
Royal Caribbean International
- Introduction
- Every year, more and more families are sailing with Royal Caribbean International. A cruise holiday gives families a chance to spend time together and create memories while exploring exciting new places. With so many cool activities onboard, "Are we there yet?" is a thing of the past. From Royal Caribbean classics, like the rock wall, to the Adventure Ocean and Fisher-Price kids' programmes, there's always something fun to do. And, when the ship is in port, the Explorations! shore excursions turn every destination into a family-friendly adventure.
- Eat, Drink and Be Merry
- For their youngest guests, Royal Caribbean offer a kid's menu featuring all their favourites: pizza, hamburgers, hot dogs, peanut butter, and Mac and cheese. Kids have their own beverage programmes too. The Unlimited Soda Package lets them purchase a fountain soda/juice package so they can enjoy as many fountain sodas and juices as they want.
On selected nights, youth staff hosts dinners in the casual restaurants. It's a great opportunity for kids to eat with other kids and for parents to enjoy a meal alone. - Time for Mum and Dad
- As a holiday for the whole family, Royal Caribbean also provides quiet time for Mum and Dad. That can be during the day, while the kids are at their own Adventure Ocean programmes, or at night, while the kids are with babysitters. Babysitting is offered both in a group setting, and individually in your cabin.
- Kids Club - Aqua Babies: Ages 6-18 Months
- Parents and babies enjoy special themes each day involving music, toys and learning activities.
- Kids Club - Aqua Tots: Ages 18-36 Months
- Delightful themes for parents and toddlers to share reinforce early learning and natural curiosity.
- Kids Club - Aquanauts: Ages 3-5 Years
- Potty-trained kids from 3-5 years of age can play games, colour, even become Certified Jr. Adventure Scientists.
- Kids Club - Explorers: Ages 6-8 Years
- Kids 6-8 years of age can join parties, compete for prizes, make kites and masks and even learn to make gummy candies.
- Kids Club - Navigators: Ages 12-14 Years
- Navigators 12-14 years of age can play games and sports, join parties and contests They can also hang out at Fuel, our teen-only club; The Living Room, a teen lounge; and The Back Deck, a private outdoor area for teens.
- Kids Club - Guests: Ages 15-17 Years
- Teens 15-17 years of age can play games and sports, join parties and contests. They can also hang out at Fuel, a teen-only club; The Living Room, a teen lounge; and The Back Deck, a private outdoor area for teens.
