If you are travelling with kids, in your search for the ideal summer holiday, their needs will feature prominently in your choices. This says Allan Foggitt, marketing and sales director for MSC Cruises.
Allan explains that family cruising is an increasingly popular trend: “Over the last three years, 14% of all passengers cruising locally with MSC Cruises were aged between 1 and 18 years, while 16% were aged between 19 and 30 years, and 19% were aged between 31 and 40. These three demographics, which are positioned as the average ages of a young family, make up 49% of all passengers cruising local waters with MSC Cruises. Regarding MSC’s international cruises, the figures are pretty much the same – with 12% of all passengers aged between 1 and 18 years, 16% aged between 19 and 30 years, and 18% aged between 31 and 40 years.”
Allan provides the following highlights of what makes cruising such a kid-friendly holiday option:
It’s all-inclusive and kids cruise for free: Your fare includes your accommodation, 
all your meals, on-board activities and entertainment for the whole family. Also, with MSC Cruises, kids cruise for free – all fares are quoted per person, and based on two people sharing a cabin – up to two children under 18 are allowed to share the cabin with their parents at no extra cost. Bear in mind however, that they will need to pay the mandatory port, serve and insurance charges.
Picture a floating resort: Resort holidays are great for families, however unless you go through the inconvenience of moving from resort to resort, you lose out on seeing various destinations. With a cruise on the other hand, you don’t have to worry about packing and unpack, and wasting valuable holiday time catching flights – unpack once, enjoy your time on-board while travelling, and experiences interesting ports of call as an added bonus.
New and improved kids clubs: By its nature, cruising is a very social means of travel, which is great for kids, as they can meet and mingle with other children their age. Also, if the kids are entertained, it allows the parents a little down-time to relax and unwind as well. The MSC Sinfonia offers five different kids clubs to cater for kids of all age groups, complete with a range of specially appointed club areas, and a range of age-specific activities and events – the different age groups are divided up into the following age groups: 1-3, 3-6, 7-11, 12-14 and 15-17.
Megaships are the new norm: The bigger the ship, the more space, activities and features it can offer. The MSC Sinfonia for example, offers a 4D cinema, Formula 1 racing car simulator, Aqua Spray Park, kids and family pools, an arcade, and mini bowling.
