When Disney launched their first ship in the summer of 1998, they brought the term “kid- friendly” to new heights within the cruise industry. Instead of the expected quiet upper deck crammed with beach chairs and sleeping cruisers, Minnie and Mickey could be found with all of their best friends, dancing to the sounds of the Caribbean. But since that time, other cruise lines have been smart to follow their lead in employing the names of popular kid’s characters to wrangle in customers from this new cruising demographic. Norwegian Cruise Lines was one of these lines and introduced Nickelodeon at Sea to their ships in the summer of 2008. But wait a minute, if Nickelodeon at Sea was introduced two years ago, its old news! There is nothing to talk about, right? Wrong! While Dora, SpongeBob, and Blue all made their debuts during that summer in 2008, this was just a special appearance made once a year. Now, these famed friends are making appearances all year around!

This updated plan for Nickelodeon programming first hit the high seas back in April aboard the Norwegian Jewel and shortly after in July aboard the brand new Norwegian Epic. While these two ships will be playing host to Nickelodeon year-around, Nickelodeon themed cruises will also be held annually aboard other Norwegian vessels similar to what Norwegian offered back in 2008.

Now that I have gotten all the essential pieces of information out of the way, I can get to the good stuff! You see, Nickelodeon at Sea doesn’t just consist of a few photo ops with a guy in a SpongeBob suit or a show or two featuring Diego and his animal friends. No, Nickelodeon at Sea is an integrative, interactive family experience designed to get kids and parents alike up out of their beach chairs and slinging cream pies or getting slimed. For kids or anyone with kids, you know these are a few of the key components of Nick’s channel programming that draws in millions. They don’t want your cruising experience to be any different. Slime Time Live, for instance, offers the opportunity for all cruisers to learn the joys of cold, green goop dripping down your neck and back. If you don’t find that quite so appealing, a number of other regularly schedule activities are held poolside for cruiser’s entertainment. Not to mention the scavenger hunts, family improv shows, music parties, TV star appearances, interactive game shows, movie premieres… need I go on?

I know what all you parents are thinking; cruising is about getting away and relaxing and nothing about slime or pies exactly correlates with either of those things. But I assure you, Norwegian has not forgotten its adult clientele in favor of the children; you are after all the hand that feeds them. Both the Jewel and the Epic feature a sports deck, two in the case of the Epic, as well as have full spas for the cruiser in search of the ultimate rest and relaxation. The Epic also hosts Spice H20, a two-level, adults only beach club and the SVEDKA Ice Bar. We must not also forget Jewel’s 20 and Epic’s 28 different drinking and dining options, number of music clubs, casino, and theatre. So when you’ve had enough of family bonding time, there are plenty of options to get away for a couple of hours.

So next time you’re considering a family vacation, think a little more out of the box and sail Norwegian Cruise Line. With programming that manages to cater to the family as a whole in one second and the kids and adults as separate entities in the next, you really can’t go wrong!  For more information on Nickelodeon at Sea and all things Norwegian, check out www.NCL.com. If you like what you see, give us a call! We’ll help you set it up.