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Royal Caribbean International offers some of the most family-friendly cruises with educational programs geared to all ages.

Think you've seen it all at sea these days? You haven't unless you have cruised on Royal Caribbean International's Adventure of the Seas or her two sister ships, Voyager and Explorer of the Seas. These action-packed, 3,100-passenger ships have so many options for family fun on the high seas that we actually didn't get to try everything during our recent week long cruise; the following are some of our reasons why the 15-deck Adventure of the Seas is such a family-friendly ship.

Youth Program is Action Packed and Fun

Not only did the ship wow us, but my 8-year-old daughter Alex got hooked on the youth program. In fact, there were a few days where we literally had to tear her away from the kids' room to either spend time ashore with us or to enjoy the ship's facilities. 

Unlike most cruise ships which have one youth room which is usually reserved for the youngest group of children, Adventure of the Seas and her sister ships all have four dedicated youth rooms for the various age groups. Children are split into the following age groups for activities: Aquanauts, age 3-5 years; Explorers, age 6-8; Voyagers, age 9-11; Navigators, age 12-14; and Teens, age 15-17. 

Most cruise lines offer a youth program on sea days as well as port days. However, few offer as many activities on the port days as the sea days and often have lots of free play time on port days with no specific activities scheduled. What my daughter really liked is that Adventure Ocean is very activities-oriented and thus had a full roster of fun things to do even on port days. 

While the line has a slew of successful activities, they would not be half  as much fun were it not for the enthusiastic counselors. I found the counselors to be entertaining, yet firm and personal with the kids -- a perfect combination for them to bond with the youngsters yet still be in control. All the counselors also had nicknames which the children loved and made it easy for them to remember, ranging from Ketchup, to Ice Cream, and even Monkey Breath! We could tell that it was going to be a lively cruise since the introductory informational meeting for kids and parents on the first night was presented in the ice rink, and some of the counselors skated, too.

Successful Trademark Youth Activities

Royal Caribbean has a number of very successful trademark activities in its fleetwide Adventure Ocean program. Every time a child attends a  session, they receive an Adventure Ocean coupon. On the last day of the cruise, they get to cash the coupons in for logo prizes such as visors or CD cases. 

The most impressive program is Adventure Science, whereby kids really get their hands wet (literally) in science experiments and exploration. The fun yet educational activities were held sometimes twice daily and really taught the kids some basic science concepts. Some of them include making space mud, learning about the stars, and talking like aliens from outer space! 

We greatly enjoyed our Adventure Ocean Family Computer Camp (not offered on all ships). This takes place on sea days and you must sign up for it, since participation is limited to the number of computers in the youth rooms. Alex and I participated and got to alter digital photos of us that the counselors took. Then they printed the pictures out on special paper that we ironed on to t-shirts once we got home, which proved to be fun mementos of our cruise.

While some lines place more emphasis on crafts than active games, Royal Caribbean does not. A few times during the cruise Adventure Art projects were offered such as making a metal Mexican hanging trinket. Although Alex is generally very into making crafts and artwork, she did not seem to miss them on this cruise. 

On the last day, all Royal Caribbean youth programs feature a talent show performed by children under 9 years. My daughter plays the piano and the counselors held the show in a lounge where Alex had access to a piano and played one of her original compositions. All kids who participated were given a hearty round of applause by the parents and a medal from the counselors. 

On the last formal night of the cruise, we enjoyed the Pirate Parade which was also presented by the two youngest age groups. The kids had their faces painted, put on bandanas and fake hooks (à la Captain Hook) to wear on their hands, and they paraded around the ship with the counselors. The counselors would yell out funny lines such as, "The Captain wants it quiet," and the kids would reply, "Let's start a riot!" The children even paraded into the three-level dining room to entertain the second seating adults. At the end, the ship's photographer took a great picture of the dozens of little pirates.