THE biggest challenge of holidaying abroad with three young children is getting there. Negotiating airports and resort transfers can consume the best part of two days, a stressful experience with a brood in tow.

Today, however, is different. After a painless journey from London we arrive at Southampton port wherea valet appears and whisks away the car. Check-in is swift and, remarkably, within two hours of stepping out of our front door, we’re unpacking our clothes in our cabin ready for our adventure.

We’re embarking on our first family cruise, a seven-day Iberian Interlude voyage taking in Spain, Portugal and France. As the ship inches out of port, we laze by a top-deck pool in the sunshine, watching the sea glide bya giddying 14 decks below.

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Our ship, Princess Cruises’ Grand Princess, is fittingly named. Standing at one end, it’s impossible to see the other. She’s as sleek and plush as a five-star Las Vegas hotel, boasting numerous restaurants, swimming pools and bars, as well as a 700-seat theatre and a casino. Classical musicians play in her atrium and free champagne flows at the sail-away party. There’s even an outdoor cinema, Movies Under The Stars, where our three munch popcorn as they lounge watching the sci-fi  animation WallE.

Our cabin has a balcony and two sleeping areas (each with their own bathroom) separated by a small lounge. The children, seven-year-old twins Gabriel and Nathalie, and Hannah, five, have bunks, and there’s a double bed for husband Marc and I.

Our steward Armando informs us that on this ship “anything is possible” and with a flourish hands over a silver platter of strawberries dipped in chocolate.

We’ve a couple of days at sea before reaching Vigo in Spain. With the offspring happily ensconced in the kid’s club, an endless stream of activities awaits. There are quizzes and lectures galore, from the history of cruising to talks on the destinations we will be visiting. My husband enters the mini-golf challenge (he comes second) and I try a cha-cha lesson. “Less of the teapot arms,” cries the teacher, a half-hour into the class. Sadly my feet fare little better. I am more John Sergeant than Alesha Dixon and decide to leave the dancing to the professionals in the nightly shows.

Here, acts range from musical spectaculars to comedy evenings. One entertainer claims to have won talent show Opportunity Knocks more times than anyone else and is so funny, the entire audience is in stitches.

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Food is a main event ona cruise and after I have over-indulged on clam chowder and chocolate brownies at Horizon, the 24-hour buffet restaurant,I discover the antidote. There’s a well-equipped gym at the top of the ship and for walkers or runners there’s the Promenade Deck, where three circuits equals a mile.

Dining ranges from the formal Botticelli Dining Room to the more relaxed Michelangelo and Da Vinci restaurants, airy halls with elegant murals reflecting the work of their namesakes.

Wherever you go, the food is mouth-watering and the service stellar but it’s at the Sterling Steakhouse, oneof the ship’s speciality restaurants, that Marc is most impressed. His 10-ounce filet mignon is meltingly soft.

It would be all too easy to stay on board, and many people do, but we disembark at every opportunity.

Uncertain the children will behave, we eschew organised excursions and decide to explore by ourselves. In Vigo, an unassuming fishing port which sprawls up a hill in northern Spain, we’re rewarded with elegant squares, shops selling flouncy flamenco dresses and an army of frogs croaking from the medieval castle pond on the summit. In palm-fringed Lisbon, the children walk for miles, meandering up the narrow cobbled streets of the old district, past its crumbling brightly painted houses where washing flung over balconies flaps gently in the breeze.

At the top are spectacular views from St George’s Castle, whose oldest parts date back to the 6th century. Here, peacocks clamber over ramparts while an artist substitutes paint for diluted coffee to draw the scene (we buy a beautiful brown watercolour for seven euros). Travelling back is far more relaxing; we take the antiquated wooden tram which crosses the diverse quarters of the Portuguese capital, carrying children for free and adults for a bargain 1.4 euros each.

La Rochelle is the most picturesque port we visit, with a pretty harbour flanked by twin towers and an old town full of cobbled streets and whitewashed stone houses. The castle in Brest, a naval base flattened in the Second World War, is a hit with the children, who race over its grassy walls, which span more than 1,700 years of history.

A cruise isn’t so much about where you go, as the journey. The kids can’t get enough of the children’s club where they take part in discos, pirate-themed activities and party games. Whenever I pick them up they pull a face. “Go away Mum,” they plead, “you’re too early.” Marc is also a convert, despite having to don black tie for two formal nights. “You know, I’ve had a lovely time,” he admits after a delicious starter of tagliatelle in lobster sauce, followed by duck a l’orange and raspberry crème brulee for dessert in the Michelangelo restaurant.

We should have ended it there, but feeling lucky we visit the casino. Within minutes my husband’s blown $20 on the fruit machines and I’ve lost even more playing black jack. “You’re not meant to win,” my husband consoles. Grand Princess is enormous, with a passenger capacity of 2,600, but the staff help attain a level of intimacy. The waiters are on first name terms with the children, high-fiving them at every opportunity and turning a blind eye as they stroke the restaurant’s ice-sculptures till they melt.

Cruising takes the strain out of travel, a new adventure nearly every day with no need to self-navigate and no torturous car journeys with the children moaning “are we there yet?” Hours after the easiest return home, Nathalie starts to cry. “I wish I was back on the ship,” she says. “And next time please can we do a two-week cruise?”

THE KNOWLEDGE:
Princess Cruises (0845 355 5800/www.princess.com) offers a seven-night Iberian Interlude cruise on Grand Princess calling at Vigo, Lisbon, La Rochelle and Brest from £749 per adult and £75 per child (2-16 years), (four sharing an inside cabin). Departs Southampton September 18.