Why Princess Cruises Are Good For Families

Not many holiday destinations can match the offerings of cruise ships when it comes to their ability to cater for the needs of young children, teenagers, parents and grandparents – at one all-inclusive low price.

Ships are geared to multi-generational holidays and in many ways, Princess Cruises (especially with its partnership with Discovery Communications) is one of the best when it comes to catering for the complex modern family.

Generally speaking, families scattered to all different parts of the ship during the day and come back together at meal times.

Princess’s Princess@Sea Messenger service (just like Facebook) allows parents to stay in touch with the whole family and also updates you on changes to the schedule of daily activities and events. It works without signing up to the internet service, so that’s a plus as well.

Princess has world-class kids clubs that your children will actually want to immerse themselves in. When it comes to on-board entertainment, Cruise Passenger voted Princess Cruises as the best at sea in 2015. They also picked up the award for the best ocean cruise line overall as well, so they must be doing plenty of things right.

Here’s five reasons why Princess Cruises is coming up trumps for family holidays.

Outdoor movie nights

Grab the popcorn, drinks and lounge chairs, and enjoy family movies under the stars. Pacific nights are perfect for sitting out after dark and watching new release cinema in the balmy air. Why not make a party of it and add some award-winning pizza (Princess was voted by USA Today as making the best pizzas at sea) or indulge your sweet tooth with a scoop, or two, of New Zealand natural ice-cream.

Teens-only lounges

Teenagers often need their own space – and that’s exactly what Princess Cruises provides in its Teen Lounges, which are exclusively for children aged between 13 and 17. The lounges are packed with PS2/PS3 and Wii games and there are plenty of events like dance parties, late-night movies, talent shows and DJ Workshops to get involved in. Once registered, teens can come and go from the lounge as they wish. If your children aren’t quite yet teens, don’t despair because Pelicans caters for kids three to seven and Shockwaves entertains those between eight and 12.

Dining just for kids

On selected nights, Princess Cruises offers kids only dinners in a section of the main dining room. While parents enjoy some “us” time, the kids – under the supervision of Youth staff - get to dine with their new mates and make a party of it.

Gaze at the stars

Princess Cruises has partnered with Discovery Communications to create Discovery at Sea. At night there are epic stargazing activities that are both fun and educational. Don’t share that fact with the kids though. There’s also Mythbusters – yes just like the TV show – where you get to test theories with some pretty cool experiments. The Discovery at Sea program also extends to onshore immersive excursions designed to engage the whole family.

Upgrade to a family suite

It may cost a little more, but Princess Cruise ships have 56m2 family suites. The suites are two self-contained staterooms that are connected by a large living room. Family suites can sleep up to eight people making it perfect for your extended family.