I thought I would give a listing of some activities kids may take part on during a cruise. This is what the 8 to 12 group (the Pirateers) did on the holiday cruise on the Island Princess, so some of the arts and crafts were holiday-related:

The Pirateers
This program for cruisers 8-12 features hands-on science activities, in conjunction with the California Science Center (which originally was the California Museum of Science and Industry). These included: Corals Galore (building a mini coral reef), Deep Sea Explorer (making a mini aquarium), Planet Patrol (creating a miniature solar system), Shark Attack (making a shark tooth necklace), Float that Boat, Chemical Concoctions, Just Squidding Around (dissecting a squid), Carnival Science (building a roller coaster).

The kids also had a fun time making arts and crafts such as a reindeer marionette, a santa marionette, lanyards, Christmas wreaths, beadie buddies, Christmas dove, New Years Eve masks, friendship bracelets, totem poles, model magic mania, pipe cleaner animals.

They got to play many games include bingo, alphabet scavenger hunt, team scruples, charades, celebrity heads, brain teasers, Outburst jr., Pictionary, fact or fiction, autograph hunt, Scattegories, Pirateer Jeopardy.

Other activities included t-shirt coloring, ice cream time, the Christmas party, the Halau Hula Olana Show, Island Night party (which was held the night before the ship’s Island Night party), a couple of Kids’ dinners, pajama party night, New Years’ balloon drop (the scheduled party with the tweens and teens was called off), Pirates Night, mini Olympics night, and movies.

Princess offers in-port kidsitting with prior notice if you want to explore the port without your child. There’s plenty for the little ones to do on the ship: Playstation, games, crafts.

One thing to remember is that when there’s a lot of kids (this cruise had about 250 passengers under 18, 18 eight-year-olds alone), there is the regular program of activities. When there’s fewer kids, the program is pared down. And more ages grouped together with fewer activities offered.