A Guide to Grandparent Vacations With Grandchildren
Planning The Best Multi-Generational Family Cruises
By Sherri Eisenberg | Published: January 4, 2024 | Updated: March 13, 2026
Grandparent vacations with grandchildren are a win-win for everyone. It begins with grandparents and their grandchildren getting to spend more time with each other and create unforgettable memories. Parents also get a built-in babysitter, allowing them the opportunity for some alone time. Luckily, when you sail with Royal Caribbean, you have your pick of so many cruise activities for grandparents and grandchildren to enjoy together. Here’s a cool guide to inspire your next seniors’ cruise when your grandchildren are part and parcel of all the vacation memories and magic.
What Are Grandparent and Grandchild Vacations?
Grandparent and grandchild vacations — often called skip-gen trips — are travel experiences where grandparents and grandchildren set off together. Sometimes they’ll leave the parents at home; other times, parents will tag along in a combined trip that focuses more on quality time between grandparent and grandchild.
These adventures, also called gramping, create priceless opportunities for bonding across generations without everyday distractions. Cruise lines now cater to this growing trend with itineraries designed for all ages, from kid-friendly excursions to relaxing onboard amenities for older travelers.
You can explore new destinations, share stories and soak up the onboard entertainment side by side, making the most of a skip-gen cruise. Enjoy meaningful ways to connect, learn and make lasting memories on the open sea with Nana and Papa’s “precious little darlings.”
The Beauty of Multi-Generational Vacations
The idea of booking a vacation for the whole family, grandparents included, may seem daunting. After all, how can you possibly find a trip that will tick everyone's boxes? Cruising is the best option for multi-generational vacations. They include so many exciting activities both on board and off that keep kids entertained. They often also sail to bucket-list destinations that always wow the grandparents.
The first part of planning a cruise vacation with grandparents is pinpointing a good time for everyone to travel together. Major holidays typically work for everyone. Alternatively, cruises make great surprises if you want to treat grandma and grandpa to a cruise vacation to celebrate a milestone birthday or anniversary.
Or, if you're traveling in mid-September together, plan some onboard Grandparents' Day activities or gifts to show them how much you love them. They'll be so excited to find a bottle of wine and a box of chocolates in their stateroom, and super thrilled when dinner at the specialty onboard restaurant ends with a decadent chocolate cake.
Why Gramping Matters
Make Time For Family
Cruise vacations are typically jam-packed with things to do, so my biggest tip for planning a big family cruise is to book some time for everyone to be together. On those days when the kids want to splash at the water park, the parents want to relax by the pool and grandparents want to check out the onboard entertainment, meal times are often the golden opportunity for everyone to gather and spend some quality time.
If you plan to head off to the spa while the grandparents and their grandchildren explore the ship, make sure you reserve a sit-down meal so that everyone can connect at the end of the day. If you've spent the day doing different things, then you're sure to have stories to tell as you break bread (or waffles) together. If you pick a dining room, specialty restaurant or buffet, the varied menus mean that everyone is sure to find something that suits their palate.
Onshore and Offshore Excursions
The family bonding starts before you even set sail. Once you book your cruise, let grandparents and grandchildren review the shore excursions available and plan activities ahead as a family. The most exciting onshore activities for grandparents and grandchildren include a glass-bottom boat tour in Bonaire, snorkeling in Cozumel and even fly-fishing in Sitka, Alaska.
Royal Caribbean even offers accessible onshore excursions that are suited for those who use scooters, wheelchairs, walkers and more, so no one needs to miss out on the fun. Pick a few things to do with your grandma and grandpa, and book them ahead of time to ensure everything goes smoothly.
Activities For The Young And The Young At Heart
Once the daily meals are planned and excursions are booked, your family can go their separate ways during the day as they'd like, guilt-free. Looking for things to do with your grandchildren on your cruise vacation? Figure out what they're into.
One of the best ways to get a kid excited is to take an interest in something they're really into. Of course, you can chaperone the kids as they go wild playing games in the arcade or running around the water park. Either way, finding an activity you can both do together will make the vacation even more special.
For the competitive kid, cruises offer everything from basketball games on the Sports Court to mini golf. The creative kid will love making cool crafts, such as pottery at Adventure Art. This is an art program offered for kids on many Royal Caribbean cruises.
Taking a class and learning something new together can be a great way for kids to bond with their grandparents. There are a variety of different classes you can take at sea, including yoga, cooking and dance classes. Classes are offered for all different ages, so you can find one that fits your level of comfort. At the end of the day, kids will be eager to show off the new salsa dance routine you learned or share some expertly made cupcakes you baked together with the rest of the family.
Evening Activities
If you're looking for things to do with grandma and grandpa after dinner, grab tickets for your favorite Broadway and West End hits. Evening entertainment on cruise ships is usually suitable for all ages, so a night out to the onboard theater is a great activity when on a multi-generational cruise vacation. Some ships even have specialty shows, such as ice dancing escapades and aerial performances that are crowd pleasers for the young and the young at heart.
Kids will love getting dressed up for their big night out with their family, and it can all happen on a cruise. Be sure to have the ship's photographer capture the special moment of everyone dressed up — who knows when it will happen again, right?
Relax and Enjoy Each Other's Company When You Travel With Grandparents and Grandchildren
In your everyday life, you and your children may not get a lot of opportunities to spend time with the grandparents. They may live in another state or country, for example. Between work, recitals and sports games, it may just be difficult to sync up schedules even when everyone lives in the same city.
The beauty of traveling together is that all your obligations go away, and all you need to do is enjoy each other's company. For this reason, I recommend not putting too much pressure on planning things to an absolute tee during cruise vacations with grandchildren and grandparents.
That said, if there's one desire that spans across all age groups, it's the need to relax on vacation. Think about what relaxation means to your family, and split up accordingly. Consider booking a spa day for mother, daughter and grandma to get pampered while dad, son and grandpa watch the game at the onboard sports bar.
Then, while mom and dad head off for a little alone time of dessert and drinks on the balcony, the grandparents and grandkids can indulge in some soft serve ice cream by the pool as the sun sets over the ocean. Sometimes, these simple days are the ones that stand out in your memory as some of the best days. For years to come, when you ask your kids, "What are your favorite things to do with your grandparents?" they'll likely remember these moments.
Cruises for grandparents and grandchildren can be just as fun and eventful as any other type of group holiday.
