Family Cruise Advisor

A Cruise To Remember: Top Ten Family Cruises

During my two decades of cruising, I’ve learned that family vacations can take one of two tacks: Either they are full-on disasters or they go down as one of the “best vacations ever.” Over the years, I’ve experienced both. 

On the full-on disaster side, my wife and I had been a little too ambitious, hauling our daughter, not yet six months old, to Walt Disney World and, only a few months later, across six time zones to England. What were we thinking? 

Compare that to the “best vacation ever,” of which there were many, both here at home and abroad. Quite simply, my kids (and yes, your kids too) love to cruise. And why not? After all, where families are concerned, a cruise ship is little more than a floating, self-contained family resort, with all the features and activities that adults and kids could ever wish for. 

This site is designed to help you make the best choices for your family cruise vacations. I took the liberty to provide my top ten personal favorites starting with the cruise line that I felt offered the best overall family cruise vacation. 

You should know, however, that I had a tough time ranking the cruise lines, I applied no formal methodology. Rather, I relied on my personal experience, input from others, advice from travel agents, and of course, the final word from the experts: kids, and especially my two children. 

The rankings, in fact, are not that important. My kids, for example, had a tough time choosing between the many cruises they’ve been on. You won’t go wrong choosing any of these cruises. They are the top ten of several hundreds ships and possible cruises. 

Please participate and share your own experiences. In doing so, you help other families like mine and like yours choose their perfect family cruise. 

Bon Voyage! 

Ralph Grizzle 
Editor, The Avid Cruiser  & Family Cruise Advisor

Top Ten Family Cruises

1. Disney Cruise Line: Port Canaveral
2. Royal Caribbean’s Freedom Class
3. Carnival’s Caribbean
4. Brilliance of the Seas: Mediterranean Medley
5. Alaska Cruisetours
6. San Diego to Mexico
7. Holland America Line’s Caribbean
8. Norwegian Dawn: Big Apple to Bermuda
9. Costa’s Caribbean
10. America’s Paradise: NCL’s Hawaii