Cruising From A Kid’s Perspective

Guest post by Arran Godfrey

People often wonder what children think of cruising and hesitate when booking a cruise because they are unsure if their children will enjoy it or not. I have been on over 100 cruises and I am an Oceans Gold member. I am currently 14 years old and I want to talk to you about my experiences onboard cruises.

I first started cruising when I was less than one-year old so I don’t really remember much from my early years of cruising, however when I got to about the age of 3 or 4, I started to realise what cruises were. For a child of that age, they were everything you could possibly want. For example, the food was absolutely amazing and to be honest, I don’t think that I have ever tasted food better than that on the cruise ships. Also, there are loads of on board activities which I really enjoy. My favourite on board activity, is when we are at sea for the day, and they get the dolphins out and start dolphin racing. I am always a jockey for one of the dolphins and it’s so fun for children to do. The highlight for me was always the kids clubs. It was a place where I could meet new people my age, making friends during the cruise and some I have even seen again on other cruises!

The staff onboard are always really caring towards everyone, especially younger children. Because I have been on so many cruises, the waiters often recognise us which is always nice and really adds to the friendly atmosphere.

The food onboard is amazing. Lunch and breakfast on cruises are always my favourite because you can either sit with other people on the cruise, or just sit with the people that you are onboard with. The food served is either a buffet or there is a menu you can choose from instead which the waiters will bring to you. My favourite is the buffet because it is instant to go and get, it is unlimited and it is included in the cruise price, so there is no need to worry about paying extra for what and how much you eat.

For me, it does not matter where the itineraries go, the places are always so beautiful and fun, with lots to do! In certain places, you have to get the tender boats into port because the cruise ship is too big to be able to get in. I like it when this happens because it is very different to normal and adds to our adventures. I think my favourite place I remember going to was St. Petersburg, it was absolutely amazing. This was because it was a long way from home and therefore very different. We went to a palace where all of the statues were made out of gold, and the whole area was an extremely rich and out of this world area. My favourite part about it was just discovering a new place, so different to what I am used to and that is what cruising is all about.

The main facilities on board and the designs of the ships are what I am really interested in when going on a cruise. A couple of my favourite facilities on board ships are things like; the ice skating rinks on board Royal Caribbean ships. It’s just the small things like that, that make cruising so much more attractive, and you can’t forget the water slides because almost every single child loves water slides and where better to have them, than on a cruise which has everything you could possibly want! Also, I really like the idea of the sky diving simulator, it is a totally new and different thing on board ships but I would never have thought that any of these things would be on cruises nowadays.

My favourite cruise ship has to be the Ventura because the lifts have bubbles as the view in the windows. All the interiors onboard are amazing and the facilities are great, for example the pools and the play areas and children’s clubs. I feel like these little things make the cruise more memorable.

My parents would leave me there, with the kid’s clubs leaders whilst then went ashore whilst I had the time of my life playing games with other children who were my age. so it became very convenient when my parents could leave me onboard in good hands with the children’s club leaders whilst they went ashore and had a really good time, so in that sense cruising with young children is very fitting to suit all the family’s interests

It’s fair to say that I love cruising. The number of children and friends that I talk to who have been on a cruise have said that it was amazing, and the number of friends my age who would love to go on a cruise is incredibly high too. It’s perfect for the whole family, with access to kids clubs me and my fellow younger cruisers are in safe hands while our parents are onshore, and there are plenty of other facilities and excursions that we can enjoy as a family together. I think that cruising is adapting more towards the younger generation especially cruise lines such as Royal Caribbean which I will be going on, for the first time ever, very soon!