Jet skiing off Curacao - exhilarating.

Parasailing off St. Thomas - breathtaking.

Shopping on St. Maarten - entertaining.

But my teenage son and daughter and my 25-year-old son and his fiancee would have been just as excited if the Royal Caribbean Adventure of the Seas had circled Puerto Rico for a week.

They loved everything about the ship, from the daytime Sudoku and bingo games to the nighttime comedians and karaoke, from dinner in the formal dining room to 24-hour room service - especially 24-hour room service.

And they energized me and my wife, Valerie, leading her to salsa lessons, me to the gym, and both of us to play Sports Trivia (we won) and Name That Tune (we lost in sudden-death overtime).

"This is supposed to be our relaxing vacation," Valerie said on Day 5, referring to the once-every-five-years anniversary cruises we'd taken without the children. Then we hustled down Philipsburg's Front Street to catch up with them shopping for jewelry.

Not that we minded missing some chaise-lounge-and-book time, which we had enjoyed so much on our cruises to Bermuda, Canada and the Caribbean. Our fourth was the best one because it was so much fun being with our children on their first cruise.

On this cruise out of San Juan to the southern Caribbean, 616 of the 3,462 passengers were 17 or younger, and many more were 18 to mid-20s.

The ship had activities for children of all ages, including teenagers. Our daughter, Rebecca, who was celebrating her 16th birthday, took hip-hop lessons with her brother Eric, 19. She beat him and won the Sudoku Challenge, but passed on the teen dance club, Optik, which is restricted to 12- to 17-year-olds.

Most of the activities and entertainment were suitable for the entire family. When they were too risque, there was always something else to do. And the kids seemed to know the time and place of every event, day and night.

"How did you know about that?" I asked, as they led us to another trivia contest.

"The Compass," Eric answered, with the others nodding knowingly.

It turned out that late each night, as they devoured room-service pizza or dessert, they would scour the ship's newsletter for the next day's activities. And to think I'd worried that they'd be bored.

That's why Valerie and I had made sure to book exciting, active excursions for our days in port. The four-hour "Sail, Snorkel, Swim & Swing" at our first stop, Aruba, was the only trip we booked through Royal Caribbean. And it was just as much fun - and as good a value - as the excursions we researched and reserved online and by phone.

From the minute we climbed onto the green-and-yellow Banana Bus, it was party time. The lively music and friendly banter with our hosts continued on the Jolly Pirates' ship, as we sailed to two primo spots for snorkeling and swimming.

At Malmok Reef, the water was calm and crystal clear, with schools of fish - some neon blue, others yellow with black stripes - darting around us. It was easy to see why Aruba is considered one of the best snorkeling and scuba-diving sites in the world.

The water was rougher at the wreck of the Antilla, a 400-foot German freighter scuttled by its crew at the start of World War II. We could touch the coral-covered ship - the island's most popular snorkel spot.

As soon as we climbed back on board and turned in our snorkel gear, the crew broke out the island punch and piña coladas (plus soda and water), turned up the music, and untied the rope swing. After they showed off some Olympic-style moves - and after we'd downed several drinks - they handed over the rope for the paying customers to amuse each other. The bigger the splash, the louder the applause.