| There's no vacation quite like a vacation taken on | | | | tournaments, and can show off their vocal talents at |
| board a cruise ship. More than ten million Americans | | | | karaoke. For rainy day kid fun, Carnival has youth spa |
| now enjoy the luxury of a cruise each year, and the | | | | treatments and the H2Ocean science program which |
| majority of them travel with their families. Because the | | | | teaches kids how to make ice cream. |
| demand for family cruises has grown so much, in fact, | | | | Like Carnival Cruises, Disney Cruise Lines divides their |
| all the major cruise lines have revamped their ships | | | | under-12 activities according to age groups, beginning |
| with improved facilities to appeal to their customers | | | | with the infant and toddler nursery, the Flounder's Reef, |
| regardless of age. | | | | staffed by child-care specialists. Older kids can learn to |
| A few of the cruise lines have decided to target | | | | draw cartoon characters, or make their own pirate |
| families with children. Their efforts to provide | | | | flags to be judged by, of course, Captain Hook! They |
| affordable cruises which offer plenty of kid's activities | | | | can also practice their investigative skills as members |
| and clubs, and on-board areas reserves strictly for the | | | | of Goofy's Gumshoe Investigators, or watch a |
| under-12 set, along with all the amenities to keep Mom | | | | homemade volcanic eruption! Disney removes all the |
| and Dad comfortable and occupied, have earned them | | | | worry about traveling with your youngsters by |
| plenty of repeat business. Disney, Royal Caribbean, | | | | supplying you with pagers when you drop them off for |
| and Carnival Cruise Lines are three cruise operators | | | | their day's activities. |
| known for providing maximum kid value for your | | | | Royal Caribbean offers three age groups under 12 in |
| vacation dollars. | | | | their Adventure Ocean program, with activities |
| While the activities aimed at kids under twelve will vary | | | | scheduled for varying hours depending on whether |
| from cruise line to cruise line, here are some of the | | | | your ship is at sea or in port. They also include parent |
| more popular ones: | | | | kid activities like talent shows and scavenger hunts. |
| Carnival Cruise's Camp Carnival is divided in to four | | | | One feature which sets the Adventure Ocean Club |
| age categories, with programs supervised by trained | | | | apart is that your kids will be kept busy onshore as |
| counselors running throughout the day from 9:00 AM | | | | well as on the ship, with supervised beach parties, crab |
| to 10:00PM. Toddler activities (ages 2-5) include finger | | | | hunts, and sand castle building contests. |
| and face painting, storytelling, sand and Play-Doh art, | | | | If your reservation about taking a cruise vacation has |
| and Sony Playstation 2 activities. | | | | been that the kids would be bored out of their minds, |
| Junior level six-to-eight year olds can do what the | | | | nothing could be further from the truth. While the three |
| toddlers do but can also enjoy a pirate hunt, or | | | | cruise lines discussed here have excellent activity |
| compete in an ice-cream eating contest and a junior | | | | programs for kids under 12, they are by no means the |
| Olympics. Intermediate level nine-to eleven year olds | | | | only ones which do. So put away those reservations, |
| can try jewelry making or scavenger hunts. They also | | | | and book the cruise ship reservations which will give |
| have nighttime swim parties and ping-pong | | | | you and your kids the vacation of a lifetime today! |