Many cruise ships try to accommodate kids. The cruisers of tomorrow, they're called, part of the families of today.
It's becoming much more than a way to give the parents a break from trying to entertain their young ones, but that's always part of the equation, too.
We don't know about you, but we always wanted to make sure our kids had fun on holidays, and as they get older "having fun" and "parents" are sometimes found in different dictionaries.
These days, the mass-market cruise lines are trying to outdo each other to capture the family demographic.
Take Norwegian.
A while back, NCL had a contest to name the age groups for family members from two to teens. The choices announced this month are Splash Academy for youth (pre-teens) and Entourage for teenagers. Within the youth group, the littlest ones are now called Guppies, the 3-5-year-olds are Turtles…then Seals (6-9)…then Dolphins (10-12).
They test-marketed the Splash Academy and Entourage on the Norwegian Gem, to "rave 
reviews" although what cruise line would ever say if parents didn't like it? For being first to come up with them, a woman in Kentucky and another one in New York are taking their three favorite family members on a 7-day Caribbean cruise. All concerned hope they have kids who like it.
The older the kids, the more important liking it becomes…as anyone who has been a parent will know. To address that, Norwegian also has Late Night Fun Zone, a double entendre for parents who want to leave the kids in capable hands while they have some…late-night fun. The kids get the "zone" part.
So the programs will both have a new theme every day (pirates, space cowboys, jungle fever, circus or something ocean-related). The "sports activities to workshops" will walk that delicate line between what's just fun and what's like being at school, and this is the summer that NCL will find out what works and what doesn't.
Only the Gem has Splash Academy and Entourage programs but by the time students are out of school so will the Jewel, the Star, the Dawn and the Epic.
If it's successful, Norwegian will become the cruise line of choice for parents who want "grumpy" teenagers to have fun on the holiday.
Norwegian Star
7 nights
May 13, 2012
New York (return): King's Wharf (Bermuda)
Inside: $549
Cost per day: $78
www.ncl.com