Cruising is a Great Family Vacation

Cruises are lots of fun for singles and couples without kids - quality couple time, luxurious spas, excellent food (usually), interesting ports and tours, dancing the night away and more.

But it's also great for families. Most of the ships offer some type of children's programs so you can have couple time while they're off making new friends and enjoying new adventures. Imagine a squeal of delight from your little ones as they watch the ship first sail away from land or watch the passing scenery. It's also a great educational experience for them.

In most cases, unless stated otherwise, children are charged the third and fourth person rate when sharing a cabin with two parents. This is typically about half the adult rates. Please double check with your travel agent or the specific cruise lines.

Lots of other families will be joining you on your cruise. CLIA (Cruise Lines International Assoc.) says almost 10 percent of traveling cruise passengers are families with children.

You'll want to find a ship with most of the following - a full day of supervised activities for both at sea and port days - these will be groups split up into age specific groupings, after hours supervised playroom and/or babysitting in your stateroom, pretty spacious playrooms and safe outdoor play spaces and child-friendly menus.

Here's the lowdown on some of the best ships to travel on with kids -

Disney Cruise Lines

What kid doesn't dream of having breakfast with Donald Duck and the gang? But in addition to that, their ships offer the largest playrooms and the most extensive teen hangout areas at sea. Supervised activities are free until midnight, sometimes later. Better yet, they're the only ships having special wading pools for diaper-wearing toddlers. They also dock at their private island Castaway Cay in the Bahamas so you don't need to bother with tendering back and forth. They also offer free unlimited fountain sodas. Group babysitting starts at 3 months (additional fee applies.) (Visit disneycruise.com for more details.)

Carnival (Specific ships offer different programs so please check with your travel agent or the cruise line. )

Aboard Carnival's newest class of ships, the playrooms are very large and bright. There is a giant video arcade with air hockey tables and an adjacent ultra-cool teen club. Out on deck there's a simple kids wading pool; but there is a giant corkscrew waterslide at the main pool. Their supervised activities are broken up into 4 age groups starting from 2 - 17. At night there is only group babysitting until about 3am (4 mos. - 12 years, extra fees apply.) There is also babysitting on port days for ages 4 mos. - 2 years. (extra fees apply.) Most of the ships have strollers, bouncy seats, etc. for rent. (Visit carnival.com for more information.)

Celebrity Cruises (Specific ships offer different programs so please check with your travel agent or the cruise line.)

A big plus is each of the Millennium class ships has an indoor/outdoor playroom complex including a fenced-in outdoor soft-surface jungle gym and a wading pool. Teens have their own separate center. For toddlers under age 3 (in or out of diapers), parents can accompany their kids to the playroom. The supervised activities are broken up into 4 age groups 3 to 17. Group babysitting, 10pm - 1am and private stateroom babysitting is available 8pm to 1am (extra fees apply). (Visit celebritycruises.com for more information.)

Cunard
QM2

This ship is extremely friendly to families. The bright and cheery British nanny-staffed playroom has a great ball pit and just outside on deck is a climbing gym, wading pool and spray fountains. Complimentary activities and care offered until midnight. Supervised activities for 4 ages groups start from 1 year to 17. There is a separate nursery with cribs and cots and a separate dining area in buffet venue with special children's menus. Visit cunard.com for details.

HAL - Holland America (Specific ships are different; please check with your travel agent or the cruise line.)

When sailing sail the in the Caribbean/Bahamas, the line's private island, Half Moon Cay is a terrific spot for families. A kids' aqua park on the beach has slides and water cannons, plus excursions range from horseback riding to snorkeling with stingrays. For way cool teens, the private outdoor sun deck area called Oasis aboard the Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Volendam, Zaandam and Statendam class ships include lounge chairs, a waterfall, snack machines and a music system. The playrooms for the under 12 set are biggest and best equipped aboard Vista class. Supervised activities are broken up into 3 groups between 3 - 17 years. Group babysitting, from 10pm - 12m is offered along with in-cabin babysitting starting at 8pm. (extra fees apply.) (Visit Hollandameriica.com for more information.)

NCL - Norwegian Cruise Line (Specific ships are different; please check with your travel agent or the cruise line.)

On some ships there is a kiddie pool area with giant cartoon figures amid wading pools and slides. They have a giant climbing maze and other cool kids "stuff." Some ships have a separate part of the buffet restaurant outfitted with pint size table and chairs. They break their supervised activities into 4 age groups starting at 2 years of age to 17. They offer group babysitting (no in-room babysitting) until 1am starting at age 2 to 12 (additional fees apply.) As of this writing, kids under two travel free. (Check out ncl.com for details.)

Princess Cruises (Specific ships are different; please check with your travel agent or the cruise line.)
On the Grand Class ships their top feature is the roomy fenced-in outdoor space for toddlers adjacent to the playroom. It's stocked with three wheelers and a mini-basketball set up. Children under 3 can use the spaces with their parents (unusual, many lines don't allow this). Teenagers on specific ships have their own sunbathing deck area and hot tub. The supervised activities are broken up into only 3 groups from 3 to 17. At night, from 10pm to 1am there is group babysitting only available (additional fees apply.)

Royal Caribbean
Freedom Class: Freedom of the Seas

This is one of those new ships from RCCI's Freedom Class ships and it's (currently) the largest ship cruising the oceans. It's really a floating theme park. Kids and adults alike will enjoy the huge top-deck water park and its Flowrider surfing machine. When you tire of that, there is a rock climbing wall and an ice skating rink. For the younger set, there is an enormous playroom, a huge video arcade and impressive teen complex that includes a private sundeck. Specifically for kids, they break the supervised activities into five age groups from 3 to 17 and offer 45-minute playgroups from parents and babies/tots between six month and 3 years of age. There is group babysitting at night until 1am and private stateroom babysitting also until 1am (extra fees apply.) (Visit royalcaribbean.com for more information.)