Setting sail with Nickelodeon charactersA family-friendly cruise with cartoon charactersby Phyllis Steinberg The first ever Nickelodeon cruise with the lovable television characters, SpongeBob Square Pants, Dora the Explorer and Buzz Lightyear plus a host of other cast members from the Nickelodeon television channel was a sellout.
More than 4,400 passengers, boarded Royal Caribbean’s Freedom of the Seas in Miami for the week-long cruise to Cozumel, Grand Cayman, Ochos Rios and Royal Caribbean’s private beach destination, Labadee. Not that the destination mattered much to the hundreds of children anxious to have their pictures taken with their favorite television celebrities. The colorful characters from Nickelodeon, the popular kid’s channel, seen around the world, made their way through the throngs of families. If Disney Cruise Lines can do it, so can Nickelodeon. Character breakfasts were in the offering, too!  Also planned were Nick Live Poolside, autograph signings, meet-and-greets with Nick celebrities, Slime Time Live, an interactive game show, featured at Studio Nick, where the ultimate goal is getting slimed and Nick screenings of favorite Nickelodeon shows like Sponge Bob SquarePants and iCarly.
 Royal Caribbean’s Freedom of the Seas is a perfect venue for the Nickelodeon adventure with its many amenities including a 200 feet climbing wall, shuffleboard, ping pong and basketball courts and its extensive regularly offered children’s program.
 For starters, in children’s programming there is the Adventure Ocean facility for toddlers to teens. Dozens of computers are available for the younger set and age appropriate games for children three and under and their parents take place in the Cloud Nine playroom. There is a teen’s lounge on board and also a video arcade. There are swimming pools and special water play areas for children.
Supervised staff assist the children in their adventures while parents have access to wonderful adult activities like relaxing in the Freedom Day Spa with its many treatments from acupuncture and teeth whitening to facials, Botox, luxurious body wraps, massages and facials. There is also a beauty salon on board offering complete hair and nail treatments.  The Ship Shape Center has dozens of state-of-the-art fitness equipment and exercise classes. Boxing lessons for women and men of all levels are taught in the boxing ring located in the fitness center. There is nothing too big for this ship to handle, including an ice rink.
 The Royal Promenade on Freedom of the Seas is a city within a city with its Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream Parlor, sweets treat cafes, art gallery, barber shop, tattoo artist, pizza parlor, boutiques and specialty shops with shop-till-you-drop items from designer clothes to jewelry.
The ship has an adults-only solarium, several bars and lounges, a Broadway-style performance nightly in the Arcadia theater, library, and a casino featuring slot machines, blackjack and other games of chance. Other activities on board include art auctions, bingo, ballroom dance lessons and disco dancing. There are also two specialty restaurants, Chops Grille and Portofino, in addition to the fine dining restaurants and the daily buffet. Planned activities by the Nickelodeon Family Cruise also included a Nick Karaoke contest, the screening of a brand new SpongeBob Square Pants episode as well as a voiceover workshop to teach kids how to sound just like their favorite porous pal, SpongeBob. What more could any kid want? by Phyllis Steinberg For more information about Royal Caribbean Cruises, log on to www.royalcaribbean.com For more information about Nickelodeon family cruises, log on to http://www.nick.com/minisites/familycruises | 