Family Cruising with Royal Caribbean

Royal Caribbean makes family holidays easy, with spaces to stay and play for guests of all ages. Royal’s innovative fleet continues to push the boundaries and revolutionise the cruise experience with ample facilities on board, as well as a dedicated family program to make sure every guest has the best holiday imaginable (and perhaps even beyond the realms of your imagination!).

Royal Caribbean welcomes intergenerational families and caters to all ages. Infants from six months of age are permitted on most cruises, except on select sailings (like those that have three or more consecutive days at sea) when infants are required to be at least 12 months old.

With a family program designed to keep all your loved ones entertained, and plenty of facilities for you to have the holiday of a lifetime, Royal Caribbean should definitely make your family holiday shortlist.  

Here are just some ways Royal Caribbean is changing the face of family cruising.

Babies and Tots Program

If you are cruising with little ones, the Royal Babies (ages six-18 months) and Royal Tots (ages 18-36 months) programs offer fun interactive sessions hosted by trained youth staff. You and your littlest cruisers can spend time together having playgroup fun with other parents and little ones in a bub friendly space – a great way to meet other families with babies on board.  

Don’t worry about calculating how many nappies and wipes you will need for the cruise, you can make your life easier with the Babies to Go program that allows you to pre-order nappies, wipes, creams and organic baby food to your stateroom, ready for when you board and for the duration of the cruise. You might pay more for this service, but the convenience is priceless. You can also lighten your toy load by using the toy lending service.  

On most Royal Caribbean ships there is also a Royal Babies and Tots Nursery where parents can leave children (aged six-36 months) in the supervision of trained professionals for a reasonable hourly fee. There is limited space in the nursery, so it is important to reserve your preferred times. Royal Caribbean also offers a Sitters at Sea program with group or in-room baby-sitting available at an additional cost and subject to availability.

Adventure Ocean Youth Program

The complimentary Adventure Ocean youth program is designed to suit children of varying ages and delivers fun learning experiences in age appropriate ways.

Aquanauts sees three-five year old cruisers enjoying fun activities and creative crafts, the Explorers program is filled with themed parties and hands on pursuits to engage the young minds of children of six-eight years, and Voyagers is designed to put the ‘cool’ back into learning for those nine-11 years.

Activities for the ‘Almost Adults’

There are also plenty of activities on board for your older children who have outgrown the youth program, with pre-planned events designed for tweens and teens to join in throughout the day as well as teen-only spaces offered on many ships.

Stateroom and Suite Options

Families of all sizes can find accommodation choices to suit on board Royal Caribbean. Whether it is a spacious stateroom for four, interconnecting options to offer extra space and additional privacy, or the Ultimate Family Suite equipped with everything from a private cinema to an in-suite slide.

Dining Options for Every Guest

On every ship you can enjoy varied complimentary dining options that will satisfy the tastes of the whole family. The Main Dining Room offers exceptional, multi-course meals from breakfast through dinner and you will be pleasantly surprised with a new dinner menu daily.

You can choose your own dining time and table companions each evening with the flexibility of My Time Dining or opt for Traditional Dining which means you will have a set seating time and table daily.

If you are travelling with little ones, you can take advantage of Family Time Dining at the first sitting in the Main Dining Room. Family Time Dining allows younger children to be served swiftly before Adventure Ocean staff come to escort them for an evening of fun-filled activities.  

Beyond the Main Dining Room you can choose from casual eats and on the go choices or sit-down meals at an array of complimentary venues which vary by ship. Specialty dining packages are also available to add a range of fine dining and casual eats and for those days when everyone has had too much fun to head out for dinner, you can pay for the convenience of room service, just a quick call away.

On Board and On Shore Thrills

As well as family dedicated programs, Royal Caribbean’s ships have been designed to be bold and full of adventure for fun-lovers and thrill-seekers of all ages. Activities and facilities vary by ship but staples include pool areas for relaxation and fun, an epic rock climbing wall, an outdoor poolside movie screen, and a spa for some parental rejuvenation.

You’ll find a sports court on most ships and depending on which ship you set sail, you can find anything from a zip line soaring overhead, to a mini golf course, bumper cars or an ice-skating rink, a bungee trampoline, a skydiving simulator or surf simulator and plunging multi-storey waterslides (just to name a few!).

For onboard family aqua park fun look for ships that have Splashaway Bay or the H2O Zone. Splashaway Bay features endless water fun with its colourful waterslides, water cannons, fountains, pools and whirlpools for your tots to tweens (and you, the supervising parents).

On the other hand, the H2O Zone’s features have the littlest cruisers in mind, with lots of shallow water spaces for young ones to jump around in and climbable colourful sculptures dotting the area. It does have spray cannons, water geysers and one or two deeper pools (about 3.5 feet in depth) for bigger kids.

Select Caribbean itineraries also take you to Royal Caribbean’s private island in the Bahamas for a Perfect Day at CocoCay. This island oasis offers complimentary and packaged options on shore for everyone, from exhilarating water activities to relaxing cabanas. A perfect day filled with fun in the sun to top off an incredible family holiday.

Whichever cruise holiday you and your family decide to embark on, rest assured Royal Caribbean’s innovative fleet will surprise and delight as it whisks you away somewhere new and their award-winning service makes every member of your family feel right at home.