By Jane Cassie; photos by Brent Cassie

“Step up to the microphone. Tell us your name, then strut your wonderful stuff,” broadcasts our host over the cruise ship’s palatial sunny decks. His Brit-wit captivates the audience and our twenty-four year old son, Kyle, steps up for the "men’s hairy chest competition", one of many antics that amuse our offspring-- though Kyle is no match for his hirsute competitors, even with a hairpiece taped to his chest.

But he gets the applause, and has fun trying-- and that’s what Carnival cruise fun ships are all about.

Coming up with vacation ideas to satisfy a family of seven is challenging, and the old saying you can’t please all of the people all of the time, comes to mind. With ages from twelve to twenty four, our five kids rarely agreed on "the perfect vacation"-- until we tried Carnival’s seven-day ‘Elation’ cruise to the Mexican Riviera!

From the moment we board our luxurious hotel at sea, smiling Carnival Cruise hosts roll out the red carpet welcome. The ship's lavish six-story atrium-- Greek Mythology theme, with an artistic blend of copper and glitzy gems-- gets a “Wow” from all of us. Glass elevators go up to spacious quarters, entertainment venues, a glittery casino, and loads of activities.

Even before unpacking, our youngest son, Dan, is whisked away to frolic in supervised activities at the children’s program, Camp Carnival. Teen voyagers travel by the pack to organized pastimes like ‘teen hang,’ late-night movies, and Virtual World with the latest hi-tech games.

Carnival Cruise fun for all ages

While Dan is scavenger hunting, and testing out his favourite pool’s waterslide, his oldest brother, ‘Mr. Congeniality’, enjoys the various capers hosted by Cruise Director, Simon Prendergast.

During the entire seven days, we never hear, “There’s nothing to do,” or “Can I have more money?” Our younger kids clearly love doing as they please, without being joined at our hips. Frankly, we think it’s pretty cool too!

While dad Brent jogs daily around the Sports Deck track, I have great aspirations about using the top-of-the-line gym-- but the Nautica spa calls my name instead. Massage, Aromatherapy... I drift off into la-la-land.

The individual freedom is great but we enjoy family time too. In addition to outings together at the Mexican port stops of Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlan and Cabo, at least three times daily we are assured to reunite: if there is one thing that our kids all have in common, it’s that they never miss a meal.