Traveling with the Kids: Best Cruise Lines for Familes with Young Children

Cruising with the kids can be an easy stress free vacation that allows parents to spend time with their kids and without them. A kid friendly cruise line will provide engaging activities for the children, have babysitting available, and have cabins that can comfortable accommodate families with children in a single stateroom.

Disney Cruises brings a little bit of Disney World magic to the water. Nightlife features kid-friendly shows featuring Disney characters and children have ample opportunities to see characters during the trip. Longer cruises also have character breakfasts and parents have access to babysitters for children as young as twelve weeks and older. Some staterooms even accommodate five people allowing families with three children the opportunity to avoid purchasing a suite. Ample activities are scheduled for children of all ages as well as parents so there is plenty to do for the whole family. Disney Cruises are accustomed to handling special dietary restrictions and allergies, particularly for children. Curtain sectioned rooms are available providing parents with privacy. Cabins and staterooms also feature tubs which are unusual on most lines.

Carnival cruises offer many children's activities and larger-sized staterooms making them a good choice for families. Carnival's large ships offer many options for children and have group children's activities as well as fee based babysitting.

Royal Caribbean offers six types of cabins that are suitable for families and many staterooms have curtains allowing mom and dad privacy. Kids' clubs have amenities that are age specific with each kids' camp in its own designated area. Younger children must be signed out of kids' camp activities while older children can sign out themselves.

Celebrity cruises have group activities for children as young as 3 and up to 17. Teen areas have dance floors while younger children have age appropriate activities including video games on some ships. Kids camp activities are offered on some formal nights for children who prefer to eat with their age group and not wear dressy dinner attire.

Princess cruise line has some ships featuring ice rinks and oversized movie screens near the pool. Kids' camps feature many activities including videogames, dancing, and more. Princess also offers educational activities geared for children.

Tips:

When cruising, ask whether kids activities are available when the ship is in port.

Most group babysitting is included in your price, but private babysitting and late evening group activities sometimes have a fee.

http://www.avoidingmilkprotein.com/disney.htm Disney with Food Allergies

http://www.cruisecritic.com/articles.cfm?ID=259 Best Family-Friendly Cabins

http://cruises.about.com/od/cruisingwithkids/tp/top10family.htm Most Popular Large Cruise Lines for Families