Family Cruises with Kids

Make Sure Your Cruise is Family Friendly

by Vickie Oddino

My image of a cruise usually did not involve children. I pictured romance and adventure. But when a neighbor's family asked me and my kids to join them on a cruise, I quickly rethought my preconceived images. I was ready to give it a chance. And it was better than I imagined.

So in case you're thinking about cruising with the kids, here's what I learned:

Kids' Club

Many of the activities are really best for parents to do without children: gambling in the casino, dancing in the disco, bidding on fine art, or a romantic walk on deck. So most cruise lines offer a kids' club where parents can drop off their children for supervised play. Even though there are times when the club is closed, it does offer a kid-friendly dinner so parents can dine alone.

However, some kids may like the club more than others. For one thing, the children are divided into age groups. My son was in the 6-8 group, and my daughter in the 9-11. But my children like to be together. Had we not been with their good friends who are the same age, separating them would have been highly traumatic. Also, the 6-8 age group did a lot of arts and crafts. My son is decidedly not an arts and crafts person and was often bored. His friend, however, absolutely loved it and cried whenever he had to leave.

Walkie Talkies

These proved invaluable, for keeping track of not only children, but also friends. Chances are your group will split up periodically. You might have to choose between karaoke, bingo, a comedian, the pool, or another meal. But you will probably want to be together at times also. Hoping you run into each other is risky, so the walkie talkies save the day.

Also, children nine and over can check themselves in and out of the kids' club. The crew might think that is ok, but I was not ready for my nine-year-old to wander the ship at her leisure. So we set ground rules. She was not to check out without first calling me on the walkie talkies.

Onshore Excursions

Cruises offer onshore excursions for an extra fee. And although many looked quite interesting, I chose not to purchase any. Many had minimum age limits and others we simply weren't interested in. And this was fine. We had a great time on shore without spending the extra money, so it is certainly not necessary to take these.

Shopping

Most kids are not big shoppers. However, I gave my children $20 each for souvenirs, so we did want to do some shopping. But I encountered an unexpected problem.

In the first shop, my son spotted his desire - an onyx chess set. The store owner dropped the price a bit, but not enough to satisfy me. So I said,"No thanks," and walked out. My son dutifully followed me and then collapsed in a heap of tears.

He wanted to spend his money on the chess set, and I had said ok. So why wouldn't I let him get it? I tried to calm him down to explain the concept of bargaining, but he wouldn't hear any of it.

In the next shop, I once again started the negotiations. I got a better deal, but this set was not as nice. So I walked out. Again, my son looked at me, horrified at my cruelty, and collapsed on the ground.

I dragged my heartbroken child into shop after shop. Finally, I bought a classic black and white set for a fraction of the original price. I had done well. But an explanation of shopping in Mexico beforehand probably would have headed off his agony.

Rather than drag the kids along to the stores all day, when they got restless, we explored the port cities.

Other Onshore Activities

We ate lunch at restaurants deemed "safe" by the cruise ship, walked through local parks, and viewed beautiful churches. We stopped at an artists' fair to view handiwork, we strolled along boardwalks, and most importantly, at least to the kids, we went to the beach in each port city. They played in the waves and built sand castles while I sat on the sand, occasionally bought from the vendors selling their wares, watched the tourists parasailing, and drank Pacifico beer.

All in all, it was a great vacation, and we were all sorry to see it end. I still don't think I would take my kids by myself on a cruise, but if an opportunity arose to go with some friends, I would jump onboard. As far as my kids go, they have decided that this should now be a family tradition.