What legacy will you leave your children?  Parents, who take the time out to vacation and include their kids in the travel plans, build impressive lasting memories.  For a kid to say, “I’ve been there and we did….” is an image booster as well as placing a love of travel and history into your young person.  With so many kids buried in multimedia games, mind numbing videos, and ear-splitting music, they rarely grow up with world-wise experiences except what they learn in their own back yard.  To emerge as a young adult with travel experiences seeing the world’s ports and cultures, is an education all its own!  Knowledge is power.  Having the advantage of travel experiences will open doors of endless possibilities as your child begins to seek his/her life’s pathway.  (Disney Cruise picture)

Don’t be alarmed by the negative reports you hear on board the cruise lines regarding “kids and cruises.”  Most usually these troublemaking kids are the ones whose parents are trying to get away from parenting them.  Any child without the appropriate age level of supervision is destined for destruction no matter where they are – land or sea!  Why even some adults exhibit destructive behaviors when they let themselves go and drink far too much, or find themselves in a seemingly non-accountable environment.  Seems to me, we all need a little supervision.  Society and its mores (Latin meaning:   morally binding habits of a particular culture or group) do a fairly good job on most people.

Surveys from thousands of cruise vacationers have shown that the world’s society enjoy traveling with their children.  Cruise lines which do not support children on cruises find their revenues running a little lower than those of family oriented cruise lines.  Historically, even some non-kid oriented cruise lines have closed.  Royal Caribbean International leads the surveys when it comes to hosting children and their families.  Carnival and Disney cruise lines are bow to bow following RCI (Royal Caribbean International).  Families tend to love Royal Caribbean International lines for many reasons.  Cruise counselors are available to the youth and children teaming up with excellent facilities geared toward the youthful mindset.  Food, activities, and youth staff are excellent.  Considering the overall family vacation, there is something for every age on Royal Caribbean cruise lines. (Disney pool picture)

For parents of very small people (infants and toddlers), Disney Cruise Line comes out on top.  Disney, at this time is the only cruise line offering group facilities and nursery care for these little rug crawlers.  Of course reservations are required and there are separate fees to be considered for sitter services.  Disney thinks of everything!  The boys and girls in diapers have a splash pool designed with a special filtration system which allows even the tiniest tot to enjoy a water activity   without  contamination                                                                        fear of poopy diapers, uh, in case of    accidents!   

Carnival cruise lines offer some babysitting hours during day and evening for fee, however, much less than Disney.  Royal Caribbean (picture to right) will put into place new and free infant and toddler activity sessions.  I understand these will run approximately just under an hour daily, and Royal Caribbean does maintain that there are private sitter services on board.  (www.cruisemates.com)

Are your children safe on a cruise ship?  They are as safe as being in your own neighborhood back home.  Boundaries are limited to the ship; however, no one would just let a young child wander alone among thousands of strangers.  To insure that each child and adult experience the vacation of a lifetime, plan, plan, plan ahead!  You know your child’s personality and what he/she is in tune to.  Planning ahead and filling your child’s day full of activities will help each of them get through a fun-filled day with some resemblance of organization and structure while exhausting them for peaceful nights of sleep!  Parents of teens should understand the fine balance between being involved in your teen’s on board experience and the difference of suppressing their inquisitive natures versus no accountability for raucous behavior.  Again, sitting down with your teen and assisting with their daily activity plans will help facilitate the teen’s positive cruising experience.  Should your child miss out on special treats such as having a personalize birthday cake delivered to your dining table, it’s because you didn’t plan.  Most good experiences happen because someone took the time to plan ahead with consideration for everyone’s special needs and desires.  Cruise with kids on board?  Absolutely.  There is no other experience on Earth like seeing the oceans and seas, and huge expanse of starry skies!  Happy Traveling!  (Photos courtesy of Royal Caribbean, Disney, and Carnival Cruise Lines, and stock xchange members photo:  http://sxc.hu/) .