We are planning a trip to Europe in Sept/Oct 2009. We have a 7 and 10 year old and due to the fact that we would like to visit several countries, we are considering a cruise - though we are not typically "cruisers". We would like to know if there are cruise ships that you would recommend that are kid-friendly but not all out theme parks on the water!!!
Any suggestions? Thanks!!!

There are some upscale lines that are not theme park-ish, but they are not very family-friendly.

I'd actually recommend you look at a non-American line. Some of these might be mid-size ships and would not have all the bells and whistles, but they offer a pretty good experience for a nice price. And your kids could have a different kind of cultural experience by meeting more non-American kids. Look at Costa, for example, or MSC. But these lines also have big ships. Peter Deilmann also has a couple of upscale mostly German ships that sail in the Caribbean (most of their cruises are river cruises, however).

Your kids might enjoy Royal Caribbean or Carinival for the very things you don't like. But if hte itinerary is right, I wouldn't hesitate to take that kind of cruise.

The best thing I can recommend is to look for an itinerary that pleases you. That makes more sense in Europe. The ship can actually be a secondary concern.

I would suggest RCL. They do provide well for children. Had a friend that went on Carnival to the Mediterranean and she loved it.

MSC is a very kid-friendly italian cruise line. Kids 17 years and younger always sail free. We sailed on 3 different ships: MSC Melody (smaller ship); MSC Lirica (mid size) and MSC Orchestra (large).
I think ca. 70% of the passengers on these ships are italian (european cruise).
If you need any further help, send me an email.

I would recommend Royal Caribbean. I was on Spendour of the Seas last year in the med and the ship had a lot of neat kid activies. Everytime I looked around the kids were parading thru the lobby or bars on scavenger hunts or pirate hunts. My grandkids would have a ball.

i just got back from royal caribbean, voyager of the seas, on the mediterranean and there seemed to alot for kids to do