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.

Royal Caribbean wants you to set your own schedule for meals and other cruise activities. Following a cruise-industry trend that is now close to universal, the cruise line has enhanced its dining program, offering guests greater flexibility, personalization and convenience. The new programs are called My Time Dining and My Family Tine Dining, and they allow guests, including families, to choose when they will drop in to eat.

The cruise line has been testing the concepts for about a year and the response has been positive. My Time Dining allows participating guests to eat in the main dining room of their ship whenever they like. My Time Dining guests can make daily reservations for specific seating times or choose to walk-in. Guests can be seated with the party they arrive with, request to be seated with other guests or dine alone. To ensure a smooth and undisrupted experience, no additional guests will be seated at a table once dinner service has begun. Guests choosing My Time Dining must prepay gratuities and enroll onboard or in advance through their travel agent.

My Family Time Dining is more about getting the kids fed and providing the parents some unfettered alone time during the evening. The program will offer an expedited 40-minute dinner experience during the first seating in the main dining room for kids, ages 3-11, enrolled in the Adventure Ocean youth program. Once seated, kids will enjoy expedited service and be immediately served. Forty-five minutes into the seating, a youth counselor will escort kids from the main dining room entrance back to the Adventure Ocean spaces for continued evening activities, allowing parents to enjoy the rest of their dinner at their leisure. For more convenience to parents and more fun for kids, Lunch and Play provides kids in Adventure Ocean with lunch, movies, cartoons and free-play time between noon and 2 p.m. under the supervision of Adventure Ocean counselors. There is a charge of $7.95 per child for the Lunch and Play program.

Royal Caribbean is the latest entry in the dine-whenever trend that has greatly diminished the old saw about cruise vacations being too regimented, with each activity unflexibly scheduled. Now, cruise passengers can pretty much dictate what they’ll do and when.

A European cruise is ripe with learning and exploration opportunities for families. For children who are mature enough for a vacation that is not necessarily sun-splashed or a thrill a minute, a cruise may be the best way to do Europe because it’s not nearly as rigorous as most land tours.

As general rules, kids who are good students and who are fairly comfortable in unfamiliar, sometimes formal situations, are great candidates for European cruises. And even if your kids or grandkids aren’t bookworms, families who prepare for their trips by reading about the culture, history and landmarks of their destinations almost always have a memorable time – especially when the children can be the “experts” who share their knowledge of the Parthenon or ancient Greece, for instance.

European cruises are appealing for families and extended families, as cruises provide plenty of fun at sea as well as in port. Today, dedicated youth and teen rooms are priorities on cruise ships. Not only are they spacious, but they are out?tted with all the toys that kids love at home — computer games and PlayStation as well as some unique features that will be new to the even most well-equipped tykes. Having lots to do on board is particularly important for some of those younger travelers who are still learning some of the finer points of being a tourist.

Kids can be great company on a European cruise if they’ve shown they have the discipline and the intellectual curiosity for this type of trip.

Good news for family cruising as shipyard construction continues in Germany on two new ships for Disney Cruise Line, and the first pieces of steel — including a mouse silhouette, appropriately enough — have been cut and are being assembled.

The Disney Dream is set to debut in 2011, and when the Disney Fantasy sets sail in 2012, the Disney fleet will be up to four ships. At 128,000 tons and with 1,250 staterooms, the new ships will be larger than the original Disney twins, Disney Magic and Disney Wonder, which have been cruising for a bit more than a decade.

The new ships are specifically designed with families in mind, and they will both have areas and activities for the entire family together and each member individually. In other words, there will be lots of fun things to do.

We feel this is a significant advance for family cruising as few travel products are more highly rated by families than Disney cruises. They get it right.

In 2011, when the Disney Dream is scheduled to arrive, the Disney Wonder will be repositioned to home port in Los Angeles. Disney has been scheduling Mexican Riviera cruises out of Los Angeles for two previous summer seasons, with pre- and post-cruise land vacation options available at Disney Land. Caribbean cruises are frequently paired with trips to Disney World and other Florida theme parks.

On top of all that, Holland America has been working to provide greater values to family groups cruising to Europe and Alaska. Obviously, Holland America Line knows how to get your family there and show all of you what’s important, whether you want to see glaciers and whales off the coast of Alaska or the great cities of Europe. And kids will soak up the background information like sponges, as Holland America Line has always staffed its ships with interpretive experts who can explain what you are visiting and why it’s important.

It is difficult to imagine a childhood vacation that could have more value for an impressionable mind than a cruise to either Europe or Alaska. And regardless of the destination, cruising is always going to be the travel-method that does the best job of defining and controlling costs for families while providing a safe and secure “home base” where parents don’t have to keep an eye on their kids every waking moment.

Holland America Line also offers several money-saving programs for families. The company always offers reasonable fares for families needing a third or fourth berth in their cabin. But for families booking eight or more staterooms for a reunion or some other special occasion, there are reduced fares available that carry several additional benefits. Besides the special group pricing, this program includes useful and valuable extras such as a Fountain Soda Card for every member of the family, each good for 20 glasses of fountain soda and a souvenir cup.

Also, each stateroom will receive a family portrait free, and the entire family will enjoy free lunch together at the alternative Pinnacle Grill Restaurant, which normally carries a charge. Finally, the Family Reunion Program for eight staterooms or more carries an upgrade from an outside stateroom to a verandah stateroom.

The beauty of a family cruise to Europe or Alaska with Holland America Line is that kids don’t have to be on high-alert all the time for the next once-in-a-lifetime moment. That kind of vigilance, which is usually required on land tours, wears kids out and makes them cranky. But cruises allow kids to take a breath and enjoy, and nobody does a better job of entertaining kids on a cruise than Holland America Line.

The line’s Club HAL program offers activities and dedicated rooms — fully equipped with computers, video, toys and crafting supplies — for kids age 3 to 12, and all ships feature a teen program for ages 13 to 17. The supervised and age-specific programs allow children to get involved with fun and creative activities while parents are able to pursue their own interests. Club HAL and teen activities operate all day during sea days with breaks for meals. The programs are also available during port visits if the kids reserve in advance.

With more than a century of experience, Holland America Line will show your family the wonders of the world in a style that no one else can.