Top Five Reasons to Cruise with Kids

When was the last time your family went on a vacation? Last year? Before your youngest was born? Never? The two most common reasons families avoid vacations are the expense and the time it takes to plan. When you cruise with kids, you can reduce your planning time, control your cost, and truly have a relaxing getaway!

While these three perks are definitely a bonus for the parents, there are so many reasons that kids will love to go on a cruise, too. Here are our top five reasons to cruise with kids:

1. Utilize Kids Club

We love vacationing with our daughter. Our first adventure was when she was just a few months old, and we’ve regularly taken road trips and flying vacations since then. 

While we love traveling with our daughter, we also love date nights. Going on a cruise with kids probably means you’ll have access to an incredible kids club – look before you book. As parents of an only-child, it’s nice to have a fun place for her to run around with kids her own age and enjoy being extra silly. 

We weren’t sure how much we’d use the kids club the first time we cruised. After an hour or so, we went back to pick up our daughter, but she waved us away and said we should come back later. Throughout the cruise, we’d bump into her new friends at the pool, during meals, and at different events. She loved it.

Happy kids = happy parents. 

2. There’s Something for Everyone

Whether you like watching a magic show or listening to cover bands, cruise entertainment offers something for everyone. Sure, some of the entertainment is pretty cheesy; but we’ve found with the right attitude and people, anything can be fun.

If you’re traveling with grandparents, options are key. Cruises allow everyone to go at their own pace. If your parents like eating dinner at 4pm, but you’d rather be out zip lining, that’s okay. If your kids are early risers and your adult siblings need to sleep in, that works too!

In fact, you might be surprised by the variety your cruise offers. Our daughter was so captivated with an ice show that she ended up starting lessons a few months after we returned home.

3. Enjoy the Soft Serve Ice Cream Machines

What says summer more than enjoying an ice cream cone while sailing through the ocean? You might be surprised by how much your entire family enjoys this daily routine! 

Mix it up by taking a few cookies from the buffet and making your own ice cream sandwich! Or, save some cereal from breakfast and use it as toppings.

4. Manage Your Budget

If one of the reasons you haven’t traveled in a while is money, a cruise may be a good option for you. There’s nothing worse than returning home from a week away to find a thick credit card statement.

While cruising isn’t the cheapest way to vacation, it does give you a clear picture of exactly how much money you’re spending. Before you ever set sail, you’ll have paid for your food, beverage package, on-ship entertainment, and excursions. Aside from souvenirs, you’ll walk into the vacation knowing exactly how much you’ve spent.

There are so many different ways to cruise with kids. Maybe you’ve always dreamed of the deluxe family suite, so you can be near cousins and grandparents. Maybe you plan to be exploring new destinations all day and would prefer the quiet darkness of an interior room at the end of a fun-filled day.

On our first cruise (Europe), we chose a balcony room. We wanted space to spread out. We also wanted to enjoy the views as we traveled along the coastline. What we didn’t consider was that the sun sets around 11:30pm in July. Whoops. Good luck convincing a four year old that it’s wayyyy past bedtime, even though the sun is shining bright as day.

The next year, when we booked our Caribbean cruise, we decided to try an interior room. The money saved on this type of room, compared to what we would have spent on a balcony, was enough to cover a nice excursion in every port. We knew the weather would be warmer on this cruise and we’d happily sit on the main deck when we wanted to be outside. After all, there’s no soft serve ice cream machines on the private balconies.

5. Cruise with Kids and See a Glimpse of the World

The hardest part of a cruise is that you don’t get to fully immerse yourself in the places you visit. A six to 12 hour stop in a city simply isn’t enough to gain a full appreciation for what a city, let alone the country, has to offer.

While slowly backpacking through Europe may have been awesome during college, kids typically have a shorter attention span and like to keep moving. A cruise gives them exactly that: time to do one or two things in a place they’ve never been – try new foods, watch a cultural performance, explore ancient artifacts, and so much more! Even if you went to one location for a week, you’d never get to see everything.

With just a little planning and a lot of excitement, a cruise with kids allows you to see so many places in just a few days.