Cruises go overboard to please

What's not to like? From a kid's perspective anyway.

The way they see it, a cruise ship is vacation heaven, better even than a theme park.

There's all the food — and free room service. "You'll be stuffed when you leave," says 11-year-old Matthew Moris.

There are all the other kids onboard (more than a million children cruise every year, reports the Cruise Lines International Association, more than 1,000 on each Disney ship) and organized kids' and teen activities from morning until night. "You'll find a friend on the first day," promises Brooke Abzug, 10, who likes the shipboard scavenger hunts staged by the kids' clubs.

There's all the freedom to roam as they please, sun by the pool, hit the arcade, watch a movie, grab a slice of pizza or an ice cream cone. Alyssa Baron, 15, says she would never be permitted to be on her own as much at home or at a resort. "When I come in to our cabin, my parents are already asleep!"

"You don't have to be with your parents, except maybe at dinner.....
Visit website