From dawn to disco-o-clock, young cruisers have a lot of decisions to make on board Carnival Spirit. With audience-participation the name of the game, a funnel-sized, action-packed program of family entertainment has been designed to give kids at sea the chance to dance, slide, sing and play games with or without grown ups. Whether you get your Hogwarts on in Harry Potter trivia, join in a life-sized board game or take on the famous Green Thunder water slide, it will be time to join the ship’s dancing waiters at dinner before you know it. Here are the top ten ways for kids to have fun on a Carnival Spirit cruise.
Enjoying one of the myriad water park attractions onboard. (Image: Carnival Cruises)1. Water Park
When Carnival Spirit came to Australia in 2012, she made her presence felt immediately with her wow-factor water slide that whizzes riders over the side of the ship. For kids still working up the courage for a Thunder super-thrill, the tamer Twister slide provides all the fun without the racing heart of it’s big brother. Little kids have a water play area too with a giant splash bucket and fountains.
2. Trivia Mania
If you know your Sheldon Cooper from your Dumbledore, victory is yours for the taking with too much trivia never enough on board Carnival Spirit. Since arriving on our shores, Carnival cruise bosses have fed our national Q&A appetite by increasing trivia topics and times by 50 per cent. Now families can show off their knowledge of The Big Bang Theory, Friends, Harry Potter and Disney movies.
Life-size board games keep the kids entertained for hours. (Image: Carnival Cruises)3. Life-Sized Board Games
Take Connect 4, Operation and Guess Who, blow them up to bigger than life-sized and you have a show kids from five to 14 can throw their giant dice into. Presented like a TV game show, get ready for theme music, retro American ads, dancing hostesses and prizes up for grabs. Hasbro game days are what you call a get-there-early situation with pint-sized contestants hoping their front-row seats will buy them a spot on stage.
4. Mad Hatters Afternoon Tea
A macaroon just isn’t a macaroon unless served by Alice in Wonderland. Add the Queen of Hearts, a white rabbit, cucumber sandwiches and scones and you have a proper tea party, complete with guests-in-the-know wearing jazzy hats from home. You’ll also have the chance to have your photo taken with characters from Lewis Carroll’s tale.
Creative workshops onboard ensuer the kids are learning new skills to make things like tote bags, word art, jewellery and painting. (Image: Carnival Cruises)5. Creative Cove Workshops
What’s better than getting crafty with kids? Getting crafty with champagne for you and mocktails for them. Brand new on board, the workshops are run by a particularly delightful young craft expert who provides all the bits and pieces and instruction needed for making tote bags, word art, jewellery and painting canvas. Held on sea days, bookings are recommended.
6. Theme Nights
Lovers of dress ups will be in heaven with three chances to shine on our 7-night itinerary alone. With themed food in the main dining room, singing and dancing waiters dressed to match and special photo sets in line with the vibe, even if you don’t rock a themed outfit, it sure makes meal times fun. After all, there just aren’t enough restaurants around that offer the chance to dance with your kids between entrée and main while dressed in 80s flouro.
The whole family can enjoy the luxuries on Carnival cruises, with a range of room configurations available. (Image: Carnival Cruises)7. Family-Friendly Comedy
Some comedians nail it better than others, but if kids laughing loudly is any indication, then the hoot-o-metre needle hit the high notes at most of the PG stand-up shows on our voyage. A Beyonce dance improvisation from a rather large and hairy Scotsman was a stand out, with lots of audience participation and poking fun at parents also cracking up the kids.
8. Seuss At Sea
Where else but in your imagination can you order actual green eggs and ham for breakfast? Here in the Empire dining room, you can have those and a stack of Cat in the Hat pancakes and other rainbow-hued breakfast dishes. Firmly in the ‘sometimes-food’ basket but its all part of sailing away from every day rules to a place where parades and story book fun is the name of the game.
9. Dive In Movies
Grab a blanket and a deck chair in front of the Lido Big Screen and settle in for outdoor movies at sea. Free popcorn is a hit as is the 24/7 free ice cream machine and pizza bar nearby with Finding Dory top of the playlist on our voyage.
There are endless games, obstacle courses and play areas for the kids onboard. (Image: Carnival Cruises)10. Games
And if you and your kids need even more ways to while away the sea days, there’s always ping pong, foosball, pool, mini-golf, a games arcade and basketball. Coming soon in 2017 there will also be a new show based on the popular US TV hit, Lip Sync Battle, plus Build-a-Bear workshops.
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