The Alexanders demystify taking a cruise as a family

Penny Alexander, author of Alexander Residence was the chosen one of BritMums 2013 to spend the year as the Carnival Cruise Lines Funniest Family and here she fills us all in on her first experience of cruising with the family.

Many people struggle to move past the stereotype of a cruise as men in tuxes, and woman in cocktail dresses, having dinner with the captain or listening to talks about history in the library. Putting small children in that kind of picture can seem very daunting. But as Carnival Cruise Lines Funnest Family, my family and I tried a cruise, loved it and found cruises are a whole lot more fun, and family orientated.

We took a 12 day Mediterranean cruise on board Carnival Sunshine. We spent the first few days with a film crew making a series of short fly-on-the-wall films about our first cruise experience. Take a peek at episode one here, which really captures our feelings before we set sail:

Why a Cruise?

I don’t know if I would ever have considered a Cruise before this, but I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it as a great way to see the world as a family. Over on my blog I have answered all of the questions my readers asked me, so today I thought I would sum up the benefits!

See the world without the hassle

Cruising enabled us to see a huge chunk of Europe that would probably have gone unseen or required a lot of mini holidays, or a lot of driving or train travel to reach. Every port was full to bursting with incredible potential for adventure. Venice, Athens, Dubrovinik. Izmir, Rome, Sicily, Naples, Tuscany, Marseille, Barcelona. We haven’t stopped talking about what we saw.

Have a bit of everything

Cruising combines the best bits of lots of holidays, sun lounging, swimming, playing games, culture, entertainment, sight-seeing, gourmet food from around the world, city breaks, summer sun, sea, the magic of a sea voyage.

Foodies’ paradise

The food was incredible and the best bit was it was all inclusive. There were so many dining options too, from a burger bar, to a salad counter, 24 hour stone baked pizza takeaway, a self-service bistro, a formal dining room. From vegetarian, to raging carnivore, to fussy eater, to budding gourmet, all our family was catered for simultaneously.

Guilt free grown up time

It didn’t take long for our children (age 4 and 7) to fall in love with Camp Carnival. The childcare was high quality, well structured, amazingly well resourced and educational. The kids made a giant 3D volcano after our day in Sicily, did weaving following our visit to a carpet weaver’s’ in Turkey, drew a gondola after Venice.

The kids begged to go to the parties, movie nights and games each evening, which in meant we had lots of guilt free quality time as grown ups. We loved putting in requests at the piano bar, dining in style and making the most of the spa.

Full on fun

The entertainment on board the ship meant we were always having fun, from mini golf, to water slides, to films, to musicals there was always something exciting to do.

Feeling at home

Our stateroom was really comfortable and well planned, like one of those IKEA shop display homes, so that all our luggage and bits and pieces vanished into cupboards. The staff are incredibly attentive and coming back to a tidy room, and a towel elephant, rabbit or dog puts a big smile on your face. Waking up as the ship sailed into a new port most mornings was a real highlight for me.

Space out

It was surprisingly easy to lose the 3000 other passengers, on such a big ship there is always somewhere peaceful to be, from the Serenity adult only lounge, to the various bars, restaurants and decks. And no, we didn’t get the slightest bit seasick.

Look out for the episodes, coming out once a week over at Carnival Cruise Lines and if you have any more questions I am pretty sure have answered them here.