Family Cruising

If you’ve vacationed with your children you know the feeling - you and your spouse look and feel like a couple of bleary-eyed, bedraggled parents returning back to the hotel at 6 p.m..  In tow, are your hyper-active offspring wearing sweaty t-shirts and sporting cotton candy hair extensions.  Next, the big choice:  wash them up and suffer through another dinner or collapse in the hotel room with room service or take-out pizza.  How about today’s receipts for all this fun?  Well, let’s just say it costs more than your first car did.

If this is how you define vacation in your household, maybe it’s time for something different.  How about an experience where EVERYONE actually gets a vacation?  The answer is quite simple and does not have to end with the words “Park”, “World” or “Land”. But it does end with the word “Happy”.  On a cruise it's possible for everyone to have a great time and find something to fit their needs.

Cruise lines figured out quite a while ago that if you can keep the kids happy and occupied, then the parents follow right along.  Over the years, children’s programs on board ships have blossomed from having one children’s counselor on board over the holidays to full blown year round programs and separate facilities for the different age groups.  Kids from 6 months to 16 years are covered and child care is offered at various levels.

Cruise lines are now savvy enough to plan evening activities for the children so parents can enjoy the facilities of the ship in a relaxed style that is simply unavailable at most land-based resorts.  Cruises are an exceptionally good idea for single parents as they have a controlled environment and child care on the ship,  but also offer the freedom and time to make new friends around the ship.

Before you plan your next road trip, let us fill you in on the many choices and the “secret” affordability of family cruising.  Oh, did we forget to mention that all meals, snacks, entertainment, accommodations and transportation are included in one upfront price?  This year take a cruise and leave the sweaty t-shirts, maps, and (cotton candy remover) shampoo at home.