ArcaMax

4. Think hard about whether you want a trip with lots of beach time or sites, perhaps in Cuba, as more cruise lines now are offering itineraries there.

5. Purchase travel insurance. A cruise is a vacation you pay for in advance. If something happens and you can't go, you want to be able to get a refund. If someone gets sick or injured along the way (it happens more often than you might think) you don't want to be saddled with a lot of out-of-pocket expenses.

So what kind of cruiser is your family?

PRIVATE ISLAND FANTASY: Look to the Caribbean. Norwegian Cruise Line has just unveiled more family-friendly amenities at Great Stirrup Cay, including a zip line course, live music, basketball and volleyball courts and a shaded picnic area. Disney's Castaway Cay offers you the chance to bike, interact with native stingrays, kayak or sail, among the offerings. Carnival is adding the private 40-acre Bahamian destination of Princess Cays to the itineraries of six different Carnival Cruise Line ships, beginning next spring where you can snorkel in waters teeming with fish, kayak, windsurf or simply laze on the beach after enjoying a barbecue lunch that is included in your cruise price, of course.

SHARING A SMALL SHIP ADVENTURE perhaps in the Galapagos Islands. The Galapagos Conservancy is a good resource. We've done expedition cruises around the world (most recently in Antarctica with Abercrombie and Kent -- more about that in an upcoming column) gotten close to calving glaciers in Alaska with Un-Cruise Adventures and photographed polar bears from the ship in the Arctic on a Lindblad-National Geographic Expedition. We've even chartered our own sailboat from the Moorings, so that we could snorkel at whim aboard a sailboat in the British Virgin Islands. Many outfitters now offer special family itineraries with kid-savvy expedition leaders and guides; AdventureSmith Explorationscan steer you in the right direction, wherever you want to go.

DISCOVER HIDDEN EUROPEAN GEMS on a RIVER CRUISE. With Tauck, travelers can appreciate not having to pack and unpack at every port while getting to see Europe beyond its major capitals. Tauck, for one, has doubled its family departures to 20. Kids up to 17, cruise half price on elect Uniworld Generations departures. The adventure company Backroads reports that its Family and Active River Cruise trips, in partnership with AMA Waterways, are a top trending destination for 2017. Imagine cruising from Paris to Normandy or Budapest to Prague with all of the meals and excursions included.

Bon voyage!

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(For more Taking the Kids, visit www.takingthekids.com and also follow "taking the kids" on www.twitter.com, where Eileen Ogintz welcomes your questions and comments.)

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