• P&O FAMILY CRUISES

With excellent children’s facilities on Aurora, Oceana and Oriana, and now Ventura, a P&O Cruises holiday caters for passengers of all ages. Let us take the stress out of family holidays – we really have thought of everything. There are clubs, games and activities suited to specific age ranges and a special children’s tea every day. An enthusiastic and well-qualified Youth Crew bestows the very best of care. A night nursery and an in-cabin listening service ensure your peace of mind so you can enjoy your evenings to the full. And our accommodation presents a range of choices for the family, from inter-connecting cabins to cabins with extra beds or sofa beds.

• AGE GROUPS

Aurora, Oceana, Oriana and Ventura all offer children’s clubs. By offering different clubs for different age ranges, our Youth Crew can offer a range of activities to capture your child’s imagination. Please choose from the age groups shown below:

2-4 YEARS - If your children are at that age when they are constantly on the go, don’t panic, there’s plenty to keep them occupied on board. 2-4 year olds can get involved in imaginative play, singing, colouring and drawing and fun and games. They can play in the ball pools and splash about in the paddling pools. Our playrooms are equipped with soft play areas packed with large balls and cubes, as well as toys, books and games such as ‘Match and Spell’ to keep the little ones amused. At the end of the day your children can snuggle down with a favourite movie.

There are other activities in our outdoor play areas. Climbing apparatus, rockers and wobble boards to walk on. Climbing ropes to clamber up. Tricycles and little cars to get about on. And sand pits to dig around in. From colouring competitions to glove puppet shows, dolls and stickle bricks, they’re sure to be left happy, smiling and content.

5-8 YEARS - For 5 – 8 year olds, we offer imaginative play, singing, fun and games. They will also find Playstations, computers, a video corner, arts and crafts area, sport challenges, quizzes and much, much more. Children can be whatever they choose for the day with our fun face painting activities. In cookery corner they get to invent their own chocolate bars with weird and wonderful ingredients.

For those with bags of energy we have a range of things to do. They can skip to their hearts content with our skipping ropes, join in on our 3-legged races around the ship, (while parents sit down to dinner), or challenge friends to a game of giant snakes and ladders.

It’s always fun to dress-up, and on theme days such as ‘Mad Hatters’, ‘Circus’, ‘Indian Powwow’ and ‘Pirates’, young children get the chance to do just that!

9-12 YEARS - There’s a jukebox so they can play the music of their choice and computers or Playstations with games such as Goldeneye Rogue Agent and FIFA Soccer. There’s also a video area showing a range of popular films.

For the bright sparks, we have fun gameshows such as Who’s Bluffing as well as board games including Junior Monopoly and Junior Scrabble. Then there’s scavenger hunts around the ship, quizzes on music, films and general knowledge, and drama workshops. We also organise a variety of pool games and sports sessions – so they will never be short of something to do.

13-17 YEARS - We haven’t forgotten our teenage passengers either. They have their own place to hang out and plenty to keep them occupied. So don’t be surprised if you see little of them. We are confident that entertainment such as music, videos, games, discos, computers or Playstations and interactive arcade machines, plus the opportunity to meet new friends, will keep them busy for hours on end. During the school holidays we run specialist activities such as sports coaching and they even have their own club DJ and disco in addition to the normal programme.

• MEAL TIMES 

Meal times are an important time for families to come together. Normally, children sit with their parents at breakfast and lunch. Since even the most affectionate parents may look forward to dinner on their own, we lay on a special children’s tea on board Aurora at about 5.15pm.

The children’s menu features all the food that children love: sausages, fish fingers and pizza to name just a few. In addition there are many healthy options, such as salads, soups, fruit, vegetables and pasta. For toddlers a selection of pureed food is always available. And for little mouths with more sophisticated tastes, there’s even a choice of main course from those on the adult menu!

• AFTER DARK

To enable Mum and Dad to make the very most of their evenings we have made a number of provisions. There are cabin listening facilities, which are available through the telephone system and, from 6pm - 2am, our Night Nursery offers a babysitting service for children aged 6 months to 5 years. This operates on a first-come first-served basis. Babies and toddlers need to be settled to sleep before 11pm and the Youth Crew will do the rest. Pagers will be issued in order to contact parents should the need occur. Children can not be signed into the Night Nursery after 11pm. For older children there are discos and activities on board which run late into the night.

• FAMILY CABINS

On board, you will find P&O cabins well-equipped for the needs of the whole family. Many cabins have additional beds and you will find your accommodation comes with everything to make your stay as comfortable as possible. A TV, a telephone, refrigerator, tea making facilities and plenty of drawer and wardrobe space come as standard. In the majority of twin cabins with additional beds, the extra beds are upper pullman berths. These beds fold down from the ceiling or out from the wall, a little like bunk beds. In staterooms, mini-suites and suites, the extra beds are sofa beds. If you would like more space and privacy but like to have your children close by, some cabins on Aurora are adjoining.

 ‘Family Savers’ on Aurora, Oceana, Oriana and Ventura offer generous reductions for children up to the age of 16. On certain holidays, children even go free. It is advisable to book early if you are booking as a family as only a certain number of extra beds will be available for sale on each cruise

• SAFETY

All P&O's youth crew have extensive experience. All are practised in the planning and facilitating of a wide range of play and leisure activities for children aged 2 – 17 years. Relevant qualifications for youth staff working with the under eights are NNEB/CACHE Diploma in Nursery Nursing, BTEC National Diploma in Early Childhood Studies, CACHE/OCR/EDEXCEL City & Guilds Certificate in Childcare & Education and/ or a Teaching Certificate.

Call 0800 019 0053 NOW with your dates & destinations!!!