Things for Kids to do on a Caribbean Cruise

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Things for Kids to do on a Caribbean Cruise

Things for Kids to do on a Caribbean Cruise - taking cruise is a great family vacation because of all the great things to see and do!

Taking a cruise is a great family vacation because of all the great things to see and do! We recently visited the Caribbean on the Regal Princess and had the time of our lives! We played, explored, relaxed, and even got a little exercising in. Here is what you can look forward to on your family vacation to the Caribbean with Princess Cruises plus some helpful tips if you’re traveling with younger kids:

1. Fun in the Sun

The Caribbean is beyond gorgeous with turquoise water, blue skies, and white sand beaches. Everything you imagine the Caribbean would look like is actually real. Sometimes I had to pinch myself because everything was so pretty! We are beach people and love going as a family. Tip: pack LOTS of sunscreen and extra hats. We found that no matter how much sunscreen we put on, we were always feeling extra sun-kissed by the end of the day. 

2. Fun Food

It’s no secret that food on a cruise is fun! This is especially true for kids. Princess Cruises not only has the ultimate fine dining for adults but they also have the ultimate fun dining for kids too. My kids enjoyed free pizza and the unlimited ice cream cones practically every single day (it was a party and they loved it!). 

This is where they got to swim up and ordered a virgin strawberry daiquiri in Amber Cover in the Dominican Republic (our first stop of the cruise!). 

We booked a poolside cabana as part of our excursion with Princess Cruises and it happened to come with an over-sized hammock that my kids wish we had at home:)

 3. Non-stop Activities Onboard

Our 7 day Caribbean cruise had 3 “at sea” days where we got to play all day on the ship. The boys loved morning golf:

The girls loved any excuse to be at the spa:)

My daughter highly recommends a kids manicure and pedicure!

Table tennis was a family favorite. We liked visiting this sports area every night because they play fun music at the basketball court, which makes nighttime ping pong even more fun! There were always groups of kids and teens in the sports area.

There are kids and youth clubs onboard that are also packed with daily activities and fun things to do. Register your kids at the clubs before you board the ship to make life easier!

Air hockey was my son’s favorite:

Although he sure did love playing some video games there too!

When we had some extra energy, we would jog around the track

Ok, ok… I did not go jogging! But, I was really good at lounging in the sun- HA! Just in case you do like to exercise on vacation, the Regal Princess has a full gym with personal trainers.

There was SO much to do that we were very sleepy each night. My daughter liked to journal and color in her bed that came out of the ceiling (my kids thought their stateroom beds were the coolest beds ever!). 

4. Movies

The kids and family movies in the staterooms were the BEST! We watched all of the newest releases in our room each night and then watched more at the pool during the day. The Regal Princess has a gigantic outdoor movie screen by the pool. So, grab a chair and enjoy a movie outside!

Tip: Bring some towel clips just in case it is windy onboard (which is pretty normal when you’re sailing).

5. Adventure

Be sure to book your family’s excursions in advance and be prepared for some adventures! Everyone has been asking me which island was my favorite in the Caribbean and it has to be St. John because of the “On Your Own” excursion we did this day. We hopped on a super fun boat when our ship docked at St. Thomas and it took us to St. John (about 30 minutes away). The US Virgin Islands are stunning! Once we got to St. John we hiked to Honeymoon Beach. It’s a hidden beach that you have to hike to get to and it is worth all of the effort! Be sure to pack lots of water and tennis shoes for this hike. We had our bathing suits on and borrowed towels from the ship. 

The end of our adventurous hike brought us here. I literally jumped and squealed when we turned the corner caught our first glimpse of this:

My son threw off his shoes, said, “Mom, get me my snorkel!” and dove in. Tip: bring a beach bag with sunscreen, hats, snacks, water, and snorkel gear when you head to the beach.

We saw lots of tropical fish and even a stingray. Can you see the fish jumping with joy behind my daughter?

Her giggles were priceless! 

I wish I could blink my eyes and be back in St. John. It’s incredible! 

6. Shopping

We did a lot of souvenir shopping at the various ports (Amber Cove, US Virgin Islands, and St. Maarten). There was a lot of shopping on the ship too! Is anybody else’s child obsessed with stuffed animals like my daughter is? 

7. Time Together

Whether we were watching the waves below us on the Regal Princess Sea Walk:

Or looking for seashells on the beach in St. Maarten…

Things for Kids to do on a Caribbean Cruise - taking cruise is a great family vacation because of all the great things to see and do!

…Our time together was the most valuable thing on our Caribbean cruise. This was our last port day in St. Maarten. We hopped in a taxi and went to Divi Little Bay for hours of relaxing beach time. My daughter never got out of the water and my son jumped around in the sand building castles all day long.

Mr. Smart School House and I reserved some lounge chairs, ordered food & drinks, and smiled all day long. It was priceless!

As we sailed home, we got to meet the Captain of the ship as well as many of the officers.

Learning about how they sail the ship and seeing all of the equipment is incredible and an excellent learning opportunity for kids.

Here are a few more tips for making your Caribbean cruise with kids fantastic:

  • For a little down time, consider “DIY Room Service” – We stayed on the Marina Deck near the front of the ship which was very close to the buffets. Grab some snacks and bring the food to your room! Take advantage of the room refrigerator for additional snacks (like yogurt, fruit, etc.) and keep some extra utensils in your stateroom for eating. Additionally: bring some plastic baggies for your beach bag (preferably a beach bag with a cooler section). Ask for ice to put in your plastic bags before leaving the ship. The bag of ice will help keep snacks and drinks for the kids cold.
  • Pack a Power Strip for your Stateroom – Typically, your stateroom will be quipped with a couple outlets. If you have 4 people in a room like we did with all of our cell phones and other devices, one plug is challenging. Bring a power strip with you on a cruise so that you can charge your phones, computers, tablets, watches, etc. all at once. 
  • Take advantage of the ship’s laundry services – Since space is always limited in staterooms you don’t want to overpack! Either set aside some time and use their laundromats on the ship (there is a really nice one on every deck), or use their laundry service where they will wash, dry clean, and/or press everyone’s clothing for you. If there is one thing I can’t stand, it’s a weeks worth of stinky dirty laundry in a room! It’s best to have clean clothes and extra space. While you can always request extra hangers, I packed all of our clothes on our own hangers. It literally took 2.5 seconds to unpack our suitcases on the day we boarded because everything went straight to hanging in the closet. Shorts and suits got folded on the closet shelves and then we were able to stowaway our suitcases underneath the beds for the entire trip. Easy peasy! 

For even more tips on cruising the Caribbean, check out this post with my 

10 Must Know Tips for the Best Caribbean Cruise

(link to previous post)

Call 1-800-PRINCESS or visit www.princess.com to book your Princess cruise today!

Connect with Princess Cruises on Facebook Twitter Pinterest Instagram

What was your most memorable family vacation? Share it with me in the comments for a chance to win a $100 Visa gift card!

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Kelly Dixon

Welcome to Smart School House! I’m so glad you are here! I’m Kelly Dixon and my website is designed to inspire your creative side. I hope you visit us here often!


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72 Comments

  1. #SweepstakesEntry- comment

    we enjoyed a great family vacation this summer when we rented a lakefront cabin in northeastern Tennessee- we not only enjoyed the lake but also went hiking and other outdoor activities

  2. My favorite vacation memory was the European vacation I has cruising just East of Great Britain.

  3. Probably taking my kids to walt disney world for the very 1st time for a week stay

    tbarrettno1 at gmail dot com

  4. My most memorable vacation is when we went to Disneyland, San Diego Zoo, Knotts Berry Farm, Universal Studios. We had so much fun!

  5. my most memorable family vacation was when I was a teenager and we traveled to Oregon for a summer getaway; it was gorgeous there, we stayed a little over a week and had a blast 🙂
    jslbrown2009 at aol dot com

  6. Our most memorable was trip to Galveston when I was a kid. I kept telling my brother to look at the big river.

  7. My most memorable vacation was a coastal drive from Seattle to San Francisco. The views were spectacular and the family had a great time.

  8. We took a family vacation with my parents, brother, and child to Ocean City and had a great time.

  9. Our most memorable family vacation was our first visit to Disneyland!
    digicats {at} sbcglobal {dot} net

  10. Our family loves to travel! We enjoy camping for family vacations when we can and do lots of fishing, hiking, and boating. We just enjoy being together making fun memories.

  11. My most favorite family vacation memory is going to our family cabin on the water in the San Juan Islands and seeing the orca whales up close!

  12. My most memorable family vacation was going to Costa Rica. It was an amazing time!

  13. My most memorable family vacation was spending weeks in Marseille with my family.
    tcarolinep at gmail dot com

  14. My most memorable family vacation is when I took my daughters to GA/TN and did a Ron of sightseeing. A cruise would easily take the top spot of most memorable vacation.

  15. I’m a single mom and a cruise would be a luxury we could never afford. This would be an amazing opportunity for my daughters.

  16. Our most memorable vacation was a trip to Williamsburg VA. We toured colonial Williamsburg, toured a number of plantation homes, went to Busch Gardens and of course the beach.

  17. Most memorable family vacation was a camping/fishing trip to northern Utah. A hail storm destroyed our tent!

  18. My most memorable vacation would be taking my granddaughters to San Antonio to go to Sea World and to Morgan’s Wonderland. Seeing my girls enjoy themselves is a dream come true for a Grammie.

  19. My most memorable family vacation was traveling to Cancun Mexico. We snorkled, played laser tag and hung out at the beach a lot!

  20. We just took our kids to Disneyland for the first time. It was pretty memorable!

  21. We haven’t been far, but we enjoyed St. Louis, especially the Magic House.

    chambanachik(at)gmail(dot)com

  22. My husband and I have never been on a cruise. What a blessing this would be for us!!!!!!

  23. My most memorable trip was two years ago. We were blessed to receive some last minute airline tickets that had to be used within 3 week and decided to surprise the kids with a family trip to New Orleans. On Christmas morning, we woke up packed up the family and headed out and were able to enjoy Christmas dinner eating some gator! To this day the kids say that was the best Christmas ever.

  24. Went with my daughter and family on a cruise so I could hang with the grandkids. It was awesome. Turns out my oldest grandson is a natural are snorkeling. He did great and was only 8 at the time.

  25. My most memorable family vacation was a week long trip to Disney World in Orlando, FL. It was truly magical and perfect! We all had a great time.

  26. My trip to Gatlinburg, TN with my family was awesome. Beautiful scenery & great attractions.

  27. We took the kids to Sesame Place at age 2 and 4, then again when they were 8, 6 and little sis at 3. It was so nice to see how much they’ve grown and they can’t wait to go again!

  28. My most memorable is when I went California with my family for the first time. It was really fun!