9 Reasons Why A Carnival Cruise Is Educational For Kids
Can your family learn while taking a cruise? YES! We have 9 reasons why a Carnival Cruise is educational for kids. As a mom who also happens to be a teacher, I am always on the lookout to find ways to combine our love of travel with learning and when you cruise with Carnival, you are not only choosing fun but you’re choosing an unprecedented way to bring education into your family’s life in a fun and unexpected ways. In my classroom, I have two mantras that hang and have been a part of my teaching style for 35 years. One simply states that “The child who has fun learning will be a success in life.” The other is an old proverb, “I Hear and I Forget, I See and I Remember, I Do and I Understand” and nowhere is this more true than when you sail away with Carnival Cruises. One of the best ways to enjoy traveling as a family is to take a cruise.
Once you’re on board, you can just sit back and enjoy the fun. But it doesn’t hurt to intersperse that fun with a few educational opportunities for your kids, especially since almost everything about a cruise offers a teaching moment. Bonus: The kids don’t think it’s educational; they think it’s fun!
From the time you board, until the time you disembark and look back on the countless memories that you’ve made, cruising with Carnival is the perfect way to combine a love of learning with multiple learning experiences all while still being on vacation. Although I can think of 100’s of ways your family can learn while having fun, I’ve narrowed it down to my top 9 reasons why a Carnival Cruise is educational for kids.
On A Cruise, Everyone Is A Teacher
When you sail Carnival Cruise you bring the world to you A cruise ship is a rare place where people from all over the four corners of the universe come together to form one big family and now you are a part of the family With the ship’s crew
coming from all over the world, this provides your children the opportunity to meet and mingle with people from a great variety of cultural backgrounds and you will quickly discover that the other guests are also likely to come from a wide variety of backgrounds and places as well.
There is no place quite like a cruise to have the chance to really get to know those around you. Bring a world map with you and as you meet new people, as well as explore new places, have your kids add each new country or city to their map so they’ll become familiar with the names and locations.
Science, Math, and Geography All Rolled Into One
Everything about a ship is likely unfamiliar to your kids if they haven’t cruised before. They’ll learn about “port” and “starboard,” and experience the night sky in a new way.
If you bring along a map, they can plot your voyage and learn about travel variables such as distance and weather.
Even sitting on the balcony of your cabin can be a learning experience and are the perfect place for challenges. It’s the perfect time to put their math knowledge to work creating such mathematical equations such as: “How much distance will the ship cover if it maintains a cruising speed of 22 knots?
Could a jaguar keep pace with the cruise liner over a distance of 100m?” or figuring out how many gallons of ice cream will be consumed on this voyage and how much is that per person-the the list of possibilities is endless. How many geometrical shapes can you find in the skylight? What speed will you be traveling in order to make it from the top of
Twister to the bottom in under 10 seconds? It’s also the perfect place for family time as the ship’s library comes stocked with a wide variety of books and games. Scrabble on the high sea-yes, please.
Onboard Activities Mean Onboard Learning
It is no secret that there are many cruise ships that offer onboard learning experiences for kids while en route to your destination but no one does it quite like Carnival. My love for all things Dr. Seuss knows no bounds and it is love that I handed down not just to my kids but my students as well and admit it, there isn’t a person alive that can’t quote “The Cat In The Hat” or “Go Dog Go”. With the Seuss at Sea program you kids, as well as your entire family, have the unique opportunity to join in a number of educational activities
inspired by Dr. Seuss’s books, including a special onboard character parade, interactive storytime, and arts and crafts activities. Books allow children to enter a world of imagination and open the door to a lifelong love of learning and what better way to bring “Green Eggs and Ham” to life than by enjoying a real Green Eggs and Ham, along with other Seuss inspired food complete with the Cat In The Hat and Thing 1 and Thing 2.
I’m not sure who squealed more with delight-me or the kids but at the end of the day, aren’t we all kids at heart?
When you sail with Carnival, your children can also learn about the natural world in the Science and Discovery program and Camp Ocean. Making volcanoes or learning about buoyancy is never this much fun in a classroom and isn’t that what real learning should be. Another benefit is that while your kids are “off at camp”, you’ll have plenty of time to enjoy that lounge chair by the pool that has been calling your name
History Of Where We Came From Shows Us Where We’re Going
Every place has a story to tell and every destination presents an opportunity to learn and it all begins with the ship that you are sailing on. The crew of every ship is more than happy to tell you the story of the origins and the backstory of your ship. When it comes time to dock for the day and head off to explore, each and every port is filled with rich facts and interesting past, and many shore excursions take you right to the historically important landmarks.
Before you embark on your trip, have your family work together to make a list of the things you want to find out from each port, or better yet, create a scavenger hunt., From trips to museums to local landmarks to the center of town, there is no better way for your kids to learn firsthand how each country was developed and how these events shaped a society different from their own.
It Is All About Embracing New Cultures.
“What I do I understand.” Learning about a region’s culture goes hand in hand with learning about its history.
Some of the most fun shore excursions for children are those that let them participate in or watch local customs such as parades, fiestas, and markets.
Each port allows for the opportunity to not just read about the cultures of the places you visit but live the cultures and experience these small slices of life. Encourage your children to be immersed in the cultures of where they are visiting, thus creating lifelong global learners.
Shore excursions also offer an excellent opportunity to introduce your kids to new foods. What they might not have tried at home may be more appealing in an unfamiliar environment.
Learning To Speak A New Language
If you’re cruising to Mexico or the Caribbean, your kids will encounter people who speak Spanish, and perhaps Dutch and French, depending on your ports of call. You might want to teach them a few basic words and phrases so they can interact with tour guides and locals. If they’re studying one of these languages at school, this is a great opportunity for them to practice.
Hands-On Science Reigns Supreme
Each region offers unique geographical features, many of which are outstandingly beautiful. Excursions take you to the area’s natural features, such as jungles, waterfalls, underground rivers and caves. Kids will enjoy exploring the ocean,
and snorkeling is ideal for viewing underwater sea life. These natural areas are inhabited by myriad species of plants and animals that are exciting to encounter for the first time.
What better way to teach about wildlife conservation than to introduce your kids to sea turtles or dolphins up close and personal?
One of the very best things you can do as a parent is to give your kids a love of travel. Travel makes us realize we live in a truly beautiful world, and it teaches us that, although not everyone in it is just like us, everyone and everything has 
worth. Take the excellent teaching opportunities offered by a cruise vacation to explore these worldly wonders with your children.
Shore Excursions Bring Learning To Life
Shore excursions are ideal for teaching opportunities. They engage all the senses, which help instill a deeper understanding of new places and things. Now instead of watching a movie on Sting Rays, you can get in the water and interact with Sting Rays. Learn how you can be a part of turtle conservation by visiting a turtle sanctuary.
Don’t just read about the rainforest, take a hike with a local guide, and see firsthand what the rain forest is all about or even better, harness up and soar over the treetops or the beach via a zipline or parasailing.
Challenge your culinary skills and learn how to create authentic meals or stand in the midst of the ancient Mayan ruins and imagine what it must have been like for those that came before.
Whether you are cruising to Hawaii, Mexico, the Caribbean, or The Bahamas, your kids will gain new knowledge of history, culture, nature, and languages.
Making A Difference-Giving Back With Purpose
Part of the Carnival Cruise difference is the way they have embraced allowing passengers to combine a love of cruising, travel, and having fun with the opportunity to give back to others and there is no more important educational lesson that you can instill in your children than how to give back to others for it is in giving back to other people that they will quickly discover that they have actually given back to themselves and see the world in a whole new way.
Many of the Carnival Cruises offer just such opportunities and it is in these giving back with purpose excursions and having that unique chance to make a difference and impact in the lives of others, that not only profoundly changed myself, but keep me returning to Carnival over and over again. 
Thanks to Carnival I have worked in a school in the Dominican Republic, worked in a recycling workshop and made paper alongside the women of RaPapel and had the chance in Cozumel to make a positive impact by visiting San Miguel Village where we were we were able to meet with Mayan descendants, learn about age-old traditions and help the local community followed by the real highlight of the day when we visited the orphanage, Ciudad de Angeles.
It was here that we were able to meet and talk to the selfless people who work there and learn about how our visit supported their efforts. Going to a new place has the power to change you and this will leave a memorable impression and is there any better education that you can give your child than the ability to go beyond yourself and give back to others?
With a cruise as with travel, the learning never stops but rather it opens up the door to a world of discovery, exploration, and imagination. It is the opportunity to take you out of your customary range of familiarity and gives you an improved world-view. As part of your cruise planning, find children’s books about the locale you’ll be going by to give your children a presentation.
Onshore, search for social exercises –, for example, going by a historical center, watching a dance performance, shopping at a market, or trying new foods. While your children may love the idea about the possibility of splashing down a water-slide, what they are most likely to recall about the cruise experience is that they went by another all they were able to see and do and experience; in other words what they learned and what they will savor for many years to come. 
There are so many, many more than just 9 reasons why A Carnival Cruise Is educational for kids. Now the only decision left to make is what will your children take away from your next Carnival Cruise?
Disclosure: I was provided with a complimentary trip from Carnival Cruise Line in exchange for sharing my experiences however, the thoughts and opinions expressed here are 100% my own.
