Cruises that work best for kids

You may want to keep in mind that your cruise experience can be very different, depending on ship you take. And yes, that even applies to different ships that belong to the same cruise company.

• Let’s start with Royal Caribbean. With them, you are going to to take a look at Anthem of the Seas, Symphony of the Seas, Harmony of the Seas,Allure of the Seas and Oasis of the Seas. These are the Oasis Class ships, and they are the biggest Royal Caribbean has to offer. They are also the best families having the most family friendly activities. Each of these ships is going to have a large 3d theater, multiple pools, an ice skating rink, and much more. There will be a large kids’ club on each of the ships. And they will have late night childcare for when you want to enjoy some adult fun. They have a good many family suites so that everyone will be able to stretch out. And they will also have a number of restaurants that everyone in the family will love.
• With Carnival Cruiselines, you are going to want to look at their Vista and Dream Class. They have great children’s clubs, and a good job separating your children out by age groups. not Carnival is only cruise that allows two year olds into their free programs, and yes, they do change diapers. Children are going to love their water parks. They also have family friendly accommodations and restaurants.

And even more on all inclusive resorts

I don’t know about you, but I’m getting lots done during this time. Of course, I do not have children so I am not doing any of this home schooling gig I’m not going to the grocery store myself. Hats off to all who have that stuff and so much more during all of this.

Back to our discussion about resorts.

• Not all resorts are the same. Some have most than one thousand units, a lot of times resorts focus on suites instead of rooms. Other resorts can house only about a hundred people at a time. Does one of these appeal to you over the other? Make sure you book the right kind of resort.
• Are you looking for a great deal on an all inclusive? You will want to look at properties in Mexico, the Dominican Republic or Jamaica. While you might be able to find a great deal elsewhere, these are the places where you will find the great deals consistently
• A lot of the family friendly resorts are going to kids’ clubs. You can send your children there and then have time to yo. Be careful though, some of these resorts say that once you send your children to their clubs being at the club is all that your children will want to do.

More about all inclusive resorts

 

 

I hope everyone had a good weekend, as different as it might have been with everything going on. But anyway. Let’s continue our discussion about all inclusive resorts.

 

• In all of my reading about travel, I don’t remember reading about this. But what this article I’m readings reading now is saying is that food at these resorts is nothing to write home about. And that is perfectly okay if you just eat to live, but not so good if you are a foodie. Aha, they do have “gourmet” resorts, but you usually have to pay more to get in to these places.
• This is a blog about family travel, but sometimes couples need to leave their children with someone they trust and take a trip just a the two of you. There are all inclusives that are for adults only. And even more resorts have sections where children are not allowed. Either of these may be great if you are wanting sometime to relax without children and their noise.
• Of course, if you do want to take your kids with you, some resorts on offer “Kids Stay Free” programs, or other good discounts for children. Some of these places consider anyone over twelve to be an adult, others don’t consider anyone to be an adult but until they are at least seventeen.
• A lot of resorts know you are going to want to get off the property to go and do things. They’ll make it easy and allow you to book your excursions through them You can either do this before you leave on your trip or when you get there.

Group cruises

Taking a group cruise may sound like an absolute blast? But have you actually traveled with that group before. Do you know you are going to still be friends on the other side of this trip? Is that important to you Traveling with friends can be a lot of fun. It can also lead to all kinds of friend drama.

And one of the problems with group trips is that everyone feels like they have to do everything  together. But one of the great things about cruises is that there are so many different things that you can do. Everyone can do different things during the day and then each evening to share the stories.

• The first thing you need to do is to appoint a group leader?. Sometimes no one has a question about who that will be, you just know. This person is going to be doing most of the planning and putting everything together. One person really to make the decisions. This is especially true as if you are going to work with a . Having than one person call the shots drives travel agents crazy.
• The leader may want to go on and decide where he or she wants to go and then ask around to see who wants to go with them. This might be the best way to put your group together.
• If the plan is for a group of families to cruise together, you will waWant to book school holidays. And this may be harder to do unless you do it in summer.

More tips for cruising with teens

Teens, you might enjoy their company, you might not. And that might depend on the day than the teen themselves. But once your you are a parent, you need to figure out ways to live with them, in the good times and in the not so good. Yesterday we started discussing how good a vacation is for a teenager, today let’s continue that discussion.

• It’s after dinner, and you might want to go kick back in you room. But is that what your teen wants to do?  Probably not. They like staying up late and waking up late. Cruises have shows that they can get into. You might want to go to the shows with them, sadly I hear that most of the shows are for mature audiences. The expectation to this would be Disney Cruises. Or you might want to send them to the pool for late night swimming while you enjoy some quiet in your room.
• A lot of cruises that are geared towards families are going to have teen clubs. clubs are well supervised by adults that have been thoroughly checked out.. To keep everyone safe, they do not allow are other adults in these clubs. And besides, teens rarely want to party with their own parents. But you know your teen better than anyone. Yes, a lot of these clubs are split between the younger and older teens Will that work for your teens? I know some older teens prefer to be with younger kids and vise versa
• Teens may does be wonderful, but they often do not make the best roommates. Consider getting them their own room. They will. You will thank yourself. Worried about what they could do while not being supervised? Get an extra key and promise to do random checks.

Cruising with teens

If you read this blog, you know that I tend to rag on teens. That’s because I think they’re fun to pick on. I actually have one teenage niece and another niece and nephew whom I absolutely love. They’re a lot of fun to be around. Today we are going to talk about some tips you should keep in mind when you take a cruise with a teenager.

• What is the one thing you’re most likes lily to hear on a trip? “I am ” on Taking them on a cruise is a great way to combat that because there is so much on a They will be able be able to play all kinds of sports, and of course they can visit most of the pools. Are they foodies? They’ll enjoy the variety of restaurants. They will be able to watch different movies. And I’m not writing nearly all of the activities.
• Taking a cruise means you will be seeing different places without all of the time in the car, which is another place teens, or anyone really, can easily get bored.
• Another thing you might worry about with teenagers on normal vacations is are how much they can eat. On cruises, you don’t need to worry about that. Eats Anyone can eat as much as they want in the main dining room. And there is also plenty to choose from for those that are choosy They get hungry when the dining rooms aren’t opened? You can always find pizza or hamburgers.

More cruise tips for honeymooners

Let’s get back to our tips for honeymooners who wants to go on a cruise.

• You are going to have to eat at some point during the cruise. Most cruises are going those huge buffets. That’s the least expensive way to eat. But usually the tables seat twelve at least. Do you want to spend your honeymoon getting to know twelve strangers? Talk to a waiter. Someone should able to get you a table for a two somewhere out the way. Going to a specialty restaurant is going to offer better food and some more privacy. Ana lot of cruises offer room service at no additional charge.
• This is your honeymoon. And one of the most important things to a lot of honeymooners is privacy. Many cruises are going to have adults only areas. Want even more privacy? Pay to be in the exclusive section.
• Cruises like honeymooners, and often they will give you special perks. This may income champagne when you come on board. Or you may get breakfast in bed one morning.

Honeymoon cruise tips

You are working on planning your dream wedding, and you have a thousand and one details to overs. Your honeymoon? You don’t especially care about that. It’s going to be a trip with the one you love after all the stress, that’s all you really care about. But if you’re considering going on a cruise for your honeymoon, there are some things that you might want to take into consideration. Better yet, send this to future husband, and let him worry about it.

• Do something that makes sense for you as a couple. Yeah, saying that you went on an European cruise sounds so impressive, but do you really want to spend all of that money you’re like likely going to spend most the time relaxing on the ship? Do you want to give your friends #fomo that badly? A lot of cruises go to Caribbean, and you can find these cruises inexpensive. That way, if you don’t get off the ship much, you won’t feel badly about paying all that money.
• This is your honeymoon, so it’s kind of an once in a lifetime experience. Most couples decide to do some splurging on this trip. And one thing you might consider splurging on is your room. An inside room is the least expensive way to go, but that is probably not the thing you’ll want to do on your honeymoon. Get a nicer room.
• Everyone is doing these Gofundme things, why not do that so that you won’t have to worry about money on your special trip? People always want to do special things for newly married couples. If you have already been out on your own for a while, this is a great alternative.

More family friendly destinations for you to consider

Let’s look at some more destinations you might want to think about visiting in 2020

• The first place place we are going to look at is Myrtle Beach. Now I would definitely recommend going sometime other than spring break or summer. You are going to find family friendly  attractions that are going to be quite reasonable, especially during the off season. be surprised at how affordable some of resorts can be.
• You can always visit East Tennessee, I’talking about the Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge area. Goodness, there is a lot to do around here. You have dinner theaters. There is Dollywood. They have moonshine tours you can go on, this is Tennessee after all.
• Vegas is inexpensive as it has been. But if you can during the middle of the week, it will be more affordable. You will want to be sure to check out The Strip.

More family vacations you might consider

First, I am going to get personal. I’m looking for work. I have beelooking for a year and half. It is not that I want to give up being a travel agent. I don’t. But I have things that I would love to do, both for the business and personally, that take money. Hopefully I will figure out something soon.

I think we should start by discussing why family vacations are so important.Most families are so busy living life that they don’t take much to be together. Vacations get everyone away from their day to day lives so that they can reconnect as a family.

• If you are looking to go on a really inexpensive vacation, you might wato try camping at a state park. You can find state parks in a lot of different parts of the country. Do you and your family just love the beach? They’ll have parks that will be near beach. Or maybe you just love the mountain? They will also have state parks in the mountains as well.
• Another good idea would be to rent a beach condo. Actually this is a great idea especially if your family wants to vacation with a couple of other families. I remember when I was little we used to rent a condo with my aunts and their families. It was perfect We could cook for everyone. We could go play on the beach. We could go on outings.
• Glamping isn’t going to be as inexpensive as camping. But you will get a nice comfortable bed and good food that is made for you. You can do some research to figure out where to go glamping. Or I could help are you figure something out.
• Like I said yesterday, you’d be surprised at how how inexpensive cruises can actually be. But this is especially true when you book something at the last minute.