Cruise Ship Vacation Games by Activision (from $18)
If your kids love video games as much as they love cruises, put Cruise Ship Vacation Games on your holiday shopping list this year. This game is available for the Nintendo Wii entertainment system and offers games like shuffleboard, mini-golf, rock-climbing and more.
--by Ashley Kosciolek, Copy Editor
Wooden Boat Puzzle by Fine Wooden Toys (from $59)
For a unique take on the classic puzzle, check out this wooden boat puzzle from Fine Wooden Toys. Standing nearly one foot high, this 3-D stackable puzzle is great for kids 2 and older. Although it doesn't necessarily resemble a cruise ship, we can still appreciate the nautical theme.
--by Ashley Kosciolek, Copy Editor
K's Kids Cool Cruise by K's Kids (from $22)
Make bath time, pool time or beach time more fun for your little one with the K's Kids Cool Cruise cruise ship. Featuring brightly colored animal friends made of durable plastic, this toy is one that your youngster won't soon put down.
--by Ashley Kosciolek, Copy Editor
Kid Tough Digital Camera by Fisher Price (from $60)
Perfect for the preschoolers on your list, this ultra-durable Kid Tough Digital Camera is easy for little fingers to hold, aim and shoot. Designed by Fisher Price with kids in mind, durable, waterproof construction makes it excellent for cruising and trips to the beach. This nifty device also carries 64 MB of internal memory -- enough for up to 500 pictures, which can easily be uploaded to a computer via USB connection.
--by Ashley Kosciolek, Copy Editor
Kids Watches by Timex ($14 - $20)
"When are you picking me up at the kids' club?" "When do we have to be back on the ship?" "What time is the midnight buffet?"
If you're tired of playing cruise-ship time-keeper, stuff your kids' stockings with one of these kids watches from Timex. They're reliable, durable, water resistant to 30 meters and easy to read. Plus, they come in lots of fun colors and designs. And, if your child happens to lose hers during that snorkeling trip or lend his to another young cruiser and never get it back, the watch is covered by Timex's Kids Loss Protection Plan and can be replaced for $10 up to one year from the purchase date.
So next year, when you say meet me at the FlowRider at 2 p.m., they'll have no excuse not to be there.
--by Erica Silverstein, Associate Editor
Captain Carnival Doll by Daron Toys and Carnival Cruise Line (from $13)
For the cruise-loving young lady in your life, Captain Carnival is sure to be a hit. Following in Barbie's footsteps, this 11.5" doll is knocking down stereotypes as she takes on a traditionally male role as captain of a cruise ship. In order to better serve her in all her onboard responsibilities, she comes with a gym outfit, formal gown and matching shoes, and of course her uniform and captain's hat.
--by Ashley Kosciolek, Copy Editor
Cruise Ship Tycoon by Cat Daddy Games and Activision (from $5)
For the older kids on your list this year, consider Cruise Ship Tycoon -- a computer game from the makers of Rollercoaster Tycoon. Players can build, staff and sail their own ships, and try to get rich in the process with this business simulation game. Next thing you know, your young entrepreneur will be giving Micky Arison a run for his money.
--by Ashley Kosciolek, Copy Editor
Baby-sitters on Board by Ann M. Martin ($.01)
An ideal stocking stuffer for kid cruisers (grades four through six), Baby-sitters on Board follows the Pike family, which invites Stacey and Mary Anne as mother's helpers on a four-night cruise to the Bahamas (and a three-night visit to Disney World). For realists we'll admit we're thinking Disney Wonder even though the ship is called Ocean Princess. Throughout their "babysitters vacation" we get to experience Stacey and Mary Anne's cruise from the unique vantage point of their charges. The kids found magic on the ship: charging spa treatments to mom and dad's room, spotting celebrities, and finding stowaways onboard and a pirate's map on one of Nassau's beaches! And though I'm a tad older than the intended audience, the book still made me laugh out loud. Kids will too.
--by Erica Sapio
Polly Pocket! So Hip Cruise Ship Playset ($70)
All aboard the So Hip Cruise Ship! Every little girl's favorite plastic pal is back with Mattel's biggest Polly Pocket! playset ever -- but we couldn't resist including it in the stocking stuffers category (after all, it's still Polly Pocket!). The So Hip Cruise Ship, part of the Polly Pocket! Travel Collection, comes with Polly and three shipmates (Lila, Lea and Rick), each of which can vary their vacation look thanks to bathing suits that change color when wet. Polly and her friends can parasail, rock-climb, hang out in the hot tub and more. Recommended for 4- to 8-year-olds.
--by Melissa Paloti, Managing Editor
Walter the Farting Dog Goes on a Cruise by Kotzwinkle, Murray, Gundy & Coleman (from $4)
There is no good and valid reason for Walter the Farting Dog to have been written, published or sold -- except that it is horribly funny. Like the earlier Walter stories, it is an amazing exercise in bad taste (or at least bad smell).
Within the somewhat enclosed spaces of a cruise ship, Walter's scent-sational uniqueness becomes quickly evident. He is at first confined (no, it's not like Norovirus) in a storage room for stinky cheese, and then banished to a towed lifeboat. But, in the end (so to speak), his special quality resolves a crisis and saves the ship. And all that in 32 well-written and neatly illustrated pages -- oh, that and the fact that you'll be laughing so hard you'll probably wet yourself.
Written for 4 - 8 year-olds, it is an excellent example of "poo-poo" humor for all ages. It worked for me ... and I'm 59.
--by Glenn Tucker, Cruise Critic contributor
Cruisin' for a Classic ... Remake The Parent Trap (1998)
(from $6)
The original The Parent Trap has always been one of my all-time favorite films. So when Disney remade the classic 1960's story with a 1990's feel, you can understand my apprehension to see it. Yet, like most Disney movies, I came out of the theater in love -- with the new storyline and with Queen Elizabeth 2's supporting role in helping the two "parents" get together in the first place. Like "An Affair to Remember," Nick Parker and Elizabeth James meet and fall in love onboard a trans-Atlantic cruise from England to New York and wind up married and pregnant with twins! As the onboard romance becomes not-so-romantic offshore, each parent decides to raise one of the twins at opposite ends of the world. After 12 years not knowing eachother exists, the twins meet up at summer camp, discover they are sisters, and plot to get their parents back together, just like the original version. Will the QE2 be part of their possible rekindled romance?
