Now, where to start?

Let’s begin with size. The gigantic 28,000-square-foot Adventure Ocean complex is built around a main artery called Kids Avenue, a central boulevard connecting kids with Adventure Ocean spaces and various customized play areas geared to specific activities. It also harbors the cruise line’s first nursery for infants and toddlers (six months or older) as well as state-of-the-art teen areas.

Oasis of the Seas is divided into seven neighborhoods — from leafy Central Park to the Vitality at Sea Spa and Fitness zone — and two of them are especially geared to families: the Youth Zone and the Boardwalk.

The Youth Zone: Adventure Ocean Highlights

A Royal Caribbean first, Royal Babies and Tots nursery is a colorful fully-staffed nursery where children can be left in the care of Royal Caribbean’s trained professionals. The ship also offers the line’s popular interactive playgroups for parents and babies/tots created by Fisher-Price and Crayola. The nursery is open daily during the daytime and evening, maintaining an optimum staff to child ratio.

For the 3 to 11 age range, Kids Avenue is the Youth Zone’s answer to the Royal Promenade. It’s the main boulevard for young cruisers to access the various Adventure Ocean areas, where three age groupings each enjoy their own space: Aquanauts, ages 3 to 5; Explorers, ages 6 to 8; and Voyagers, ages 9 to 11. All the fun is supervised by a team of college-educated counselors.

New common play areas aboard Oasis include the Kid’s Arcade for video games; the Workshop, where families can learn scrap booking skills or create personalized jewelry; Imagination Studio where children can explore the world of color and imagination through Adventure Art by Crayola; a fully-equipped Adventure Science Lab, where Einsteins-in-the-making can expand their knowledge; Play, an indoor playground where children can run around and play games like nurfball and dodge ball; and the 100-seat Adventure Ocean Theater. This is the first-ever children’s theater at sea – complete with a stage and curtains, audience seating and state-of-the-art production equipment – where children of all ages can learn about theatrical productions, take part in talent shows, or sign up for hip hop dance classes.

For older kids, the tween and teen-only spaces are located one deck above the Adventure Ocean areas and adjacent to the ship’s Sports Deck, where kids can test their skills on one of the ship’s pair of FlowRider surf simulators; the miniature golf-course, Oasis Dunes; or the Sports Court for volleyball and basketball games. Teens of course will love having their space far far away from the younger Adventure Ocean kids. The two main areas for them are the Fuel disco and The Living Room, a hangout spot for milling around, making new friends and sipping on a non-alcoholic juice or soda from the “mocktail” bar. Teens can also learn to spin and mix music in Scratch DJ 101 classes or surf the Internet and keep in touch with friends via the bank of computer stations there. Fuel is a hip nightclub where teens can hang out with friends and show off their moves on the dance floor. A spacious outdoor deck adjacent to these venues gives teens even more opportunities to make new friends. There’s also a video arcade filled with the latest video games.

The Boardwalk

The nostalgic-y feeling Boardwalk has two main stars, the old time wooden carousel and the 600-seat AquaTheater for thrilling aquatic acrobatic, high-diving and synchronized swimming performances. A pair of rock-climbing walls measuring 43 feet high flanks the AquaTheater and provides multiple climbing routes. Each rock wall measures 43 feet tall and is open to passengers 6 and over. Even more thrilling for teens and adults is a go at the first zip line at sea stretching 82 feet in length and suspended nine decks above the bustling Boardwalk area.

Kids will also love Candy Beach, where they can buy M&Ms, jellybeans, Tootsie Rolls and other tasty treats. Kid-geared shops include the Star Pier for electronics and surf-inspired clothes for teens. The Pinwheels toy store targets younger kids and has a backdrop of plasma screens showing movie trailers and video games. Pets at Sea, a build-your-own stuffed toy shop, is also focused on the younger children. Another Boardwalk hit is the climbing and play space modeled after a 50’s-style gas station next to the popular Johnny Rockets diner-style restaurant. Other family-friendly noshing venues along the Boardwalk include an ice cream parlor, donut shop and casual seafood shack.

Other Great Stuff

In the Pool & Sports Zone, the H2O Zone aqua park has a great toddler pool as well as the first beach pool at sea, featuring a true-to-form sloped entry and colorful beach chairs and umbrellas.

In the dining department, families have the pick of 22 outlets throughout the ship, from burgers and shakes at the Johnny Rockets diner to individual cafes and restaurants specializing in cupcakes, pizza, sandwiches, ice-cream and more.

Photos provided courtesy of Andy Newman.

This year marks the 83rd annual Macy’s Parade, and the Sailor Mickey balloon will be featured in it through 2011. Though Mickey Mouse has appeared in the parade before, this is the first time Disney Cruise Line will be represented. Collectors can buy a special-edition plush toy of Sailor Mickey at Macy’s department stores.

Fun Facts

• Mickey Mouse was last seen in the Macy’s Parade in 2000 as Bandleader Mickey.
• The Sailor Mickey balloon is approximately 61 feet high, 33 feet wide and 48 feet long. That’s more than six stories tall.
• It takes about 14,000 cubic feet of helium to fill the Sailor Mickey balloon.
• It will take about two hours to fully inflate and secure him under a Macy’s balloon net.
• The Sailor Mickey balloon has 52 handling lines and will be guided by a team of 70 volunteers.
• The parade route is approximately two-and-a-half miles long.

Bookings for the new Disney Dream open today. Of course we expect great, magical, innovative things from Disney, but still, we were bowled over by their recent announcement about the cool stuff planned for the Disney Dream when she debuts in January 2011. Like her two sisters, the Dream’s design blends elegant Art Deco motifs with fun Disney whimsy. Mix in a bunch of mind-blowing new features and the ship’s a winner before she even sets sail.

Here are the highlights:

• AquaDuck Water Coaster - Disney debuts a cruise-industry first: a shipboard water coaster called the AquaDuck/ This high-speed flume ride has twists, turns, drops, uphill acceleration and river rapids – all while traversing the upper decks of the ship. AquaDuck stretches 765 feet in length – more than two and a half times the length of a football field – and spans four decks in height. Guests slide 13 feet over the side of the ship in a translucent swing-out loop allowing them to look down on the ocean 150 feet below. Experience coaster-like thrills as high-powered water jets push passengers upwards and forwards at 20 feet per second. AquaDuck continues through the forward funnel, encounters a 335 foot stretch of river rapids and splashes down to an end on Deck 12.
• A Virtual Porthole for Inside Staterooms. All inside cabins aboard the Disney Dream will have a virtual porthole that offers guests a real-time view outside the ship. High-definition cameras placed on the exterior of the ship feed live video to each virtual porthole. Of course, expect some animation to be a part of the scene ala Peach the Starfish from the Disney*Pixar hit film “Finding Nemo” or Mickey Mouse.
• A Magical Oasis for Children. Nearly an entire deck is dedicated to youth areas, with two main spaces for children ages three to 10. Both venues feature interactive animation via 103-inch plasma screens, so kids can joke, chat and play with characters such as Crush, the sea turtle from “Finding Nemo” and Stitch, the alien from “Lilo and Stitch.”
• Disney’s Oceaneer Club invites children to play among larger-than-life characters from Disney*Pixar’s “Toy Story” in Andy’s Room; explore the Laugh Floor with lovable monsters Mike and Sully from “Monsters, Inc.;” dive under the sea with Nemo and friends; or visit Tinker Bell’s fairy forest.
• In Disney’s Oceaneer Lab children can pretend they’re embarking on a great seafaring adventure in a room filled with maps, maritime instruments and swashbuckling artifacts; and try their hand at animation, become a pop star, or navigate ships through digital seas.
• Chill-Out Zones for Tweens and Teens. Located inside the forward funnel is Edge, a lounge just for tweens ages 11 to 13. Hi-tech entertainment ranges from making and staring in photo postcards to video karaoke using green-screen technology.
• Vibe is a trendy indoor/outdoor space for the 14 to 17 set. A “teen-only” swipe card provides access to the nearly 9,000-square-foot club. Teens can create and edit videos, play computer games, access the onboard social media application or try their hand at spinning and mixing dance tracks. Teens have their own private outdoor deck area with chaise lounges for sunbathing, two wading pools, misters and pop jets for cooling off, and deck games like ping-pong and foosball.
• Rotational Dining. Just as aboard her two older sisters, the Dream features innovative rotational dining between three different restaurants for dinner. Servers accompany diners, offering friendly, familiar, personalized service each night. The rotational dining restaurants include Animator’s Palate, a signature Disney restaurant featuring Disney animation;Royal Palace, an elegant restaurant inspired by the classic Disney films “Cinderella,” “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,” “Beauty and the Beast” and “Sleeping Beauty;” and Enchanted Garden, a casual venue inspired by the gardens of Versailles and featuring a dining environment that magically transforms from day to night.
• Just for Adults. Of course it’s not just the kids who will have a great time aboard the Disney Dream, adults will get pampered too. The District is a nighttime entertainment area with five sophisticated venues, each with its own unique design, look, feel, and theme. Senses Spa & Salon offers its brand of bliss in 17 private treatment rooms; spa villas with indoor treatment rooms and private outdoor verandahs; and Rainforest, a special section of the spa where guests can enjoy the relaxing and restorative benefits of steam, heat and hydrotherapy. Palo is an intimate adults-only restaurant featuring ocean views and soothing sounds of a pianist.

The Disney Dream will sail alternating three- and four-night cruises to the Bahamas and Disney’s private island, Castaway Cay. During summer months, the ship will alternate four- and five-night itineraries with two stops at Castaway Cay.

I’ve taken my nearly 7-year-old twin boys on 20 cruises, the first when they were 9 months old, so I’ve learned the ropes from good old practical hands-on, trial-and-error experience. If you’re thinking about cruising with babies or toddlers, heed some advice from a mom who had lived to tell about it.

Make sure you know the minimum age for kids programming before you book a cruise. Many drop-off programs have a minimum-age of three; a few age one or two (Disney and Royal Caribbean’s Oasis of the Seas have drop-off programming for babies under one; three months and six months respectively).

Don’t assume your little ones will be happy about being dropped off at the nursery or playroom, if there’s too much crying, you’ll be asked to take them out. It’s never happened to me (what does that say?), but I’ve seen it happen often to other parents. Bummer to have to cancel a massage appointment or a wine tasting seminar, but it’s a possibility.

Private babysitting works great for young children who are predictable sleepers. For me, worked like a charm to have an off-duty cabin stewardess come in about 8:15pm every night just after boys had nodded off into dreamland. I split for four hours to have dinner and drinks with adults, and they were never the wiser. Royal Caribbean, Celebrity and the high-end lines offer private in-cabin babysitting for about $8 to $10 an hour.

Ideally, book a cabin with a mini-fridge and tub. And don’t forget to use the 24-hour room service to order milk, breakfast, snacks and sometimes even pizza.

If your kids are still in diapers, eating jar food and/or drinking formula, you gotta bring your own. I repeat, you have to bring your own.

Most ships have cribs, but don’t forget to request one when you book. Keep in mind, there’s not an unlimited supply on board.

In the spirit of packing light, don’t bother lugging aboard extraneous baby supplies. For instance, ditch the pile of bibs (I tied ships’ cloth restaurant napkins around my guys’ necks in a cute little Frenchy-style triangle) and forget bulky plastic or sponge baby bathtubs (though most standard cabins have showers only, I made this work by putting a folded bath towel on the shower flower and placing my babies on it while showering them; most cabin showers have a removal hose-style shower head that makes this routine easier).

The more ports, the better, and make sure they’re warm and sunny ones …trust me. It’ll be a loonnnnnnggg week with a squirmy toddler if there’s not ample opportunity to jump ship and explore. Beaches are no brainers, but even just pushing baby around the port town in a stroller is a nice change of pace. If you’re lucky, you’ll find a grassy park or playground to visit.

Make sure you take potential time changes into consideration before booking a cruise with young children. For me, my guys’ predictable sleep schedule (they were snoring by 8 every night) kept me sane; changes of time zone and jet lag can wreak havoc on an other wise good sleeper.

Avoid the cost and hassles of flying with kids and cruise from a homeport nearby. Seems obvious, but be sure and check out all the options from ports in your vicinity before you assume you have to fly to the ship.

If your mother or Aunt Shirley are hankering to spend some quality time with you and the kids…what are you waiting for, invite them and think: free built-in babysitters!

Offered at a 25 percent discount for all occupants of a cabin, fares for the Alaska “Family Fun” cruisetour (#FUN) start at $1,743 per person for the first and second berths, and $1,191 per person for the third and fourth berth passengers in the cabin.

“This is really the ultimate family vacation,” says Charlie Ball, president of Princess Tours. “Alaska is a wonderful travel destination with kids, so we wanted to make it easy and affordable to plan the perfect Alaska experience for everyone in the family.”

The Family Fun cruisetour includes a seven-night Voyage of the Glaciers cruise plus a five-night land tour featuring one night at Mt. McKinley Princess Wilderness Lodge, two nights at Denali Princess Wilderness Lodge and two nights at Fairbanks Princess Riverside Lodge.

On sea days, families can also take advantage of Princess’ onboard programs geared to children, including a special Junior Ranger program in Glacier Bay National Park.

In addition, special tour extras included in the fare are

• Daily breakfast
• “Direct-to-the-Wilderness Rail Service with Lunch” (gets families to wilderness lodge faster)
• Three Rivers Jetboat Tour (an alternative to taking a motorcoach to Mt. McKinley Princess Wilderness Lodge)
• Arctic Blast (in Denali, experience a special chamber chilled to wintertime temperatures)
• Music of Denali Dinner Theater (musical comedy show plus family-style meal featuring smokehouse ribs and Alaska salmon)
• Experience Alaska with Alaska Geographic Tour (intimate tour of Denali National Park)
• Denali Sourdough Expedition Breakfast (over a family-style breakfast, learn about Denali through breathtaking images from mountain climber Laurent Dick’s Climb Denali book)
• Riverboat Cruise and El Dorado Goldmine Tour (from Fairbanks, travel on an authentic sternwheeler for a fully-narrated cruise along the Chena River and try gold panning).

Plenty of cruise lines discount kids’ fares about 50% off the regular adult rates when families are sharing the same cabin. MSC Cruises ups the ante a lot more by inviting kids 17 and under to sail free of charge on all MSC Cruises itineraries when sharing a cabin with two full-paying adults.

The MSC ships are very family friendly, with each offering a colorful “Mini Club” play room. Counselors are known as “animators” and are on hand to organize fun activities from arts and crafts to puppet shows, games, treasure hunts, mini-Olympics, dance parties, balloon-tying, painting classes, pizza parties, and more.

Activities are tailored for several age groups: ages 3 to 6, 7 to 12, and teens. Kids under 3 must be accompanied by an adult at all times. On days in port, with advance notice parents can leave their kids at the Mini Club while they go on shore excursions.

For teens, there’s a special “teen card,” a personalized debit card for ages 12 to 17 that can be used for sodas, video games and other onboard purchases. Each card comes with a bonus amount (for example, buy a $30 card and get $35 worth of credit; buy a $50 card and get an extra $10 for free). Kids of all ages will appreciate meal time, with children’s menus offering favorites like pizza, pasta, hamburgers, hot dogs and ice-cream.

The best part for families? The price. Cruise-only rates begin at $349 per person, double occupancy for a 7-night Caribbean cruise and $549 per person, double occupancy for a 7-night cruise in Europe.

We all know how kid-friendly the mega ships are, but there are some smaller ships that deserve some credit too. For families that like taking the road less traveled, here are some atypical offerings from a handful of small-ship adventure and upscale lines.

Families with kids who share a love of learning will feel right at home aboard the small, cozy ships of Lindblad Expeditions (www.expeditions.com).

As the ships ply the off-beat waterways, islands, fjords and/or harbors of the Galapagos, Greece and Alaska, special port-related activities for kids might include scavenger hunts, painting and story writing, depending on the age of children.

Appealing shore excursions for families range from frolicking with fearless sea lions on the beach in the Galapagos to spotting for humpback whales and orcas up-close from a zodiac craft in Alaska. As a bonus, there’s a “Bring Your Kids” discount of $500 off the double-occupancy rate for kids under 18.

There are few places in the world as fascinating as the Galapagos Islands. Darwin sure thought so, and if you want to introduce your children to the same unspoiled plant and wildlife that he explored,

Abercrombie & Kent’s (www.abercrombiekent.com) 48-passenger Eclipse is a smart idea. A handful of 11-night expedition cruise tours are geared to families in March, April, June, July, August and December (minimum age is 5).

Experienced naturalists are on hand to teach kids about evolution and how it affects everything from cacti to the islands’ iguanas, tortoises and birds. Kids 7 and older are taken on beach and nature walks as well as snorkeling and kayaking excursions. Fares start at $6,695 per person; child under 12 sharing with 2 adults is $5,150.

Another option is a 16-day Peru and Galapagos combo, which explores the Inca culture of Peru and Machu Picchu, plus offers a 5-night Galapagos cruise on the Eclipse. Rates from $11,885 per adult; child under 12 sharing with 2 adults is $9,525.

Abercrombie will also be offering a special Antarctica family departure on Dec 17, 2010 to Jan 5, 2011, sailing aboard a new ship, Le Boreal. The Young Explorer’s Program will include workshops for kids about marine mammals, squid biology, fish printing, navigation, drawing, writing, and arts and crafts. Fares from $15,795 per person; children under 18 save 50% of cruise price when traveling with an adult (except in suites).

Good news, the new operators (www.pgcruises.com) of the 332-passenger Paul Gauguin (which has been operated by Regent Seven Seas since 1997) will keep things status quo when they take over early next year. That means the great Ambassadors of the Environment program will still be offered. The fun and educational program has been offered on all 7-night cruises out of Papeete, Tahiti. For an extra fee of about $200, kids 9 to 15 can enjoy activities created by ocean explorer Jean-Michel Cousteau. They can learn about different kinds of coral and fish species through hikes, snorkeling, whale watching and diving excursions. The ships’ youth counselors, who lead the way, all have college degrees in natural or environmental sciences and training from Jean-Michel Cousteau’s team.

Teens will be all over the cool toys carried aboard the sporty SeaDream Yacht Club’s (www.seadreamyachtclub.com) pair of 110-passenger yachts, including ski jets, wake boards, water skis, mountain bikes and sea kayaks. Passengers over 16 can take the toys for a spin at any Caribbean and Mediterranean ports the twins anchor at. When sharing a cabin with two parents, rates for children up to age 12 are $100 per day and for 13+, they’re $200 per day.

When we’re talking the high end, Crystal Cruise’s (www.crystalcruises.com) elegant 922-passenger Crystal Symphony and the 1,070-passenger Crystal Serenity do a good job catering to families. During busy family seasons like summers in Europe and holiday weeks, supervised activities are offered for ages 3 to 17.

Cheerful playrooms are stocked with video games (Sony PlayStation^® 2, Nintendo Wii™ and Xbox 360^TM kiosks), computers, board games and toys; for two groups (ages 3-7 and 8-12), as many as 10 youth counselors organize stuff like scavenger hunts, arts and crafts, bridge tours, and karaoke, plus new destination-focused activities too.

That means in Italy, kids can design their own Sistine Chapels, have photo session wearing traditional Russian costumes on route to St. Petersburg, and learn a bit of French for the Monaco call. Kids get to make memory books with maps and photos as a souvenir of the countries they visited.

There’s also a teen club and video arcade, and the poolside Trident Grill is a hit with kids of all ages due to its yummy menu of hot dogs, hamburgers, pizza, ice-cream bars, cookies and more. Private babysitting can usually be arranged with a crewmember at $10 an hour ($15 for two kids) with 24-hour advance notice.

If toting a baby aboard, notify Crystal ahead of time, and they’ll special order jars of baby food or the chef will puree some (at no charge). Children 11 and younger pay 50% of the minimum fare when accompanied by two full-fare paying adults. Occasionally throughout the year, there are special promotions when children can sail free when sharing a room with two adults.

Similar story for Regent Seven Seas (www.rssc.com), whose 700-passenger Seven Seas Voyager and Mariner, as well as the 490-passenger Navigator, offer the Club Mariner program. During the summer months and holiday weeks, supervised activities are arranged for kids 5 to 17, in three age groups.

With two new ships in the pipeline for 2011 and 2012, it makes perfect sense that Disney is expanding its horizons and cruising Alaska in 2011. This news comes on the heels of the announcement a few months back that the line is also heading back to the Med in summer 2010 and offering fist-time calls on Oslo, Copenhagen, Stockholm and Warnemunde, Germany, the gateway to Berlin and St. Petersburg, Russia.

Me and about a zillion other fans are thrilled the line is bound for The Last Frontier. Along with my husband and twin boys, who were four at the time, I sampled Disney’s new Mediterranean itinerary two years ago from Barcelona, and it was awesome. Before that, at 18 months old, we did Disney’s classic Bahamas route. Can’t wait for Alaska; at eight my boys will be the perfect age to enjoy all those hands-on, get-your-feet-wet family-friendly excursions like kayaking, hiking, fishing, biking and dog mushing. Not to mention the thrill of spotting a humpback whale and seeing giant glaciers close up. Oh, and what about those great playrooms on board, open all day until midnight at no extra charge.

The Disney Wonder will spend four months in the summer of 2011 doing 7-night sailings round-trip from Vancouver (a very family-friendly city, by the way) calling on Tracy Arm, Skagway, Juneau and Ketchikan. The first-ever Alaska cruise will depart on May 3 with the last cruise of the season scheduled for Aug. 30; fares start at $939 per person for a standard inside stateroom, based on double occupancy.

Before and after the 2011 summer season in Alaska, the Disney Wonder will sail 7-night Mexican Riviera cruises from the Port of Los Angeles to Cabo San Lucas, Mazatlán and Puerto Vallarta.

Meanwhile, sister Disney Magic will offer 10- and 11-night cruises sailing out of Barcelona in 2011. For the rest of 2011, the Magic will sail out of Port Canaveral on 7-night alternating eastern and western Caribbean itineraries, both including a stop at Disney’s private island, Castaway Cay.

“We’re excited to offer this incredible choice of itineraries for 2011, with cruise vacation options for every family – whether that’s outdoor adventure in Alaska, the beauty and culture of Europe, folklore and pageantry of Mexico or tropical fun in the Caribbean,” said Disney Cruise Line President Karl Holz.

The $100-a-day spending credit is available to families that book verandah staterooms. This special offer is available on most Disney Cruise Line itineraries, including three-, four- and seven-night sailings to the Bahamas and the Caribbean. Guests may use the onboard spending credit to treat themselves and their family members to special indulgences, including rejuvenating spa treatments at the Vista Spa and Salon, shore excursions at ports of call, shopping onboard the ship and at Castaway Cay, and purchasing keepsake photos at Shutters.

Offer valid on most sailings for the next two months:

* Seven-night cruises: June 20 to Aug. 8, 2009

* Four-night cruises: June 28 to Aug. 9, 2009

* Three-night cruises: June 25 to Aug. 6, 2009

The Disney Channel stars, who may be well known to the teens and pre-teens who enjoy that programming, are scheduled to appear on eight special sailings during the first-ever “Disney Channel Summer at Sea.” During the special sailings — three- and four-night Bahamian cruises taking place July 9 through Aug. 2 — Disney Channel stars will participate in onboard deck parties, join guests for Q & A and autograph sessions, preview screenings of Disney Channel programming and participate in live musical performances.

Participating Disney Channel stars include Roshon Fegan from “Camp Rock” (July 9-12, July 12-16), Chelsea Staub from “Camp Rock” (July 23-26, July 26-30), Oleysa Rulin from “High School Musical” (July 16-19, July 19-23), musical act KSM (July 30-Aug. 2); Mitchel Musso from “Hannah Montana” (July 19-23), Jason Earles from “Hannah Montana” (July 16-19, July 19-23), Tiffany Thornton from “Sonny With A Chance” (July 9-12, July 12-16), Alyson Stoner from “Camp Rock” (Aug. 2-6), and Debby Ryan from “The Suite Life on Deck” (July 30-Aug. 2).

Go ahead. The kids will love it.