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Family Cruise Vacation How-to
By Brian Schmidt
You have a “special’ birthday or other special family event coming up. You want to make the event even more memorable. There would be a wide range of ages and interests in the family members attending. What should you do? Plan a family cruise vacation!
We have done this ourselves. We had a “special” birthday in the family and wanted to vacation with our grown-up children to celebrate. With careful consideration for what we might like to do, where we might like to go, and to provide enough variety in eating (the kids are finicky eaters) and activities to keep everyone happy, a cruise seemed to best fit the bill.
Family cruises offer one of the very best family vacation packages available. Consider this: Per person, you pay one price for your cruise stateroom, all of your meals, some fantastic entertainment and a myriad of daily activities – not to mention the fabulous ports-of-call!
As it turned out, we had a total of 12 people coming on our family vacation cruise ranging in age from 26 to 85. Pleasing this wide of a range of ages can prove daunting. However, having been on a cruise or two already, we knew that cruises offered the best array of options in dining, activities, entertainment and destinations.
Choosing the right cruise line and cruise itinerary can be somewhat of a challenge. However, if you approach this task methodically, everything will fall into place and you’ll choose the absolute best cruise for you and your family.
You will notice that I started by saying to choose the right cruise line. This - believe it or not – can make or break your family vacation. There are cruise lines that cater to specific groups or types of cruise passenger. It’s important to identify what type of group your family fits into.
As mentioned before, our group required variety. Our twenty-something kids need to have a festive, party atmosphere. Our parents required something somewhat more sophisticated without being stuffy or pretentious. Many of the “contemporary” cruise lines offer much of this variety, and only on the larger cruise ships. We quickly were able to narrow our search to three cruise lines.
In looking at the cruise line and cruise ship, we carefully scanned over the amenities and listed activities for the specific ships. All three had a good variety. Each had specific high spots and potential low spots. Even with our diverse group, we felt that all three cruise lines could offer us a great family vacation cruise experience.
Next was the itinerary – or destinations where the individual cruises stopped. These ports-of-call make cruises an extra special vacation value. Of course, we had a set date that we wanted to be away, so we looked at the available itineraries for the three cruise lines, including which ships sailed those itineraries. We chose the southern Caribbean for our cruise.
All three cruise lines offered a southern Caribbean cruise at the time we wanted to cruise. Each offered different ports-of-call which allowed us to narrow our search. We next looked at the cost of the cruise vacation and what potential discounts/special offers we might receive by booking 6 staterooms.
Now we had all of the information required to make our decision. We first narrowed our search to three cruise lines. We chose a cruise locale and looked at the available cruise ships in those cruise lines sailing on our specified date. Lastly, we compared pricing.
As it turned out, we chose the middle priced cruise (before discounts). This choice had a variety of amenities to cater to our “kids”. Our parents would have a level of sophisticated elegance. And we would have piece of mind in knowing that we had done “due diligence” in choosing the best cruise for our family vcation.
Oh yes, do you want to know which cruise we chose? We chose Princess Cruises’ ship Golden Princess. Our cruise itinerary:
• San Juan, Puerto Rico
• St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands
• St. Kitts, St. Kitts & Nevis
• Grenada
• Isla Margarita
• Aruba
• San Juan
Brian A Schmidt is the author and web publisher of a1-discount-cruises.com your #1 source for cruise information, discounts and great deals! Visit http://www.a1-discount-cruises.com to book your fabulous cruise vacation! If you have questions regarding choosing a cruise line contact us at info@a1-discount-cruises.com using the subject line "Questions".
Thursday, July 26, 2007
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
Best Cruise Lines for Family Discount Cruising
Family cruising is fun and exciting. It is the best getaway that probably money can buy. Cruising means a travel of a lifetime enjoying both water and land activities.
Most of the people think that family cruising is a costly recreation. It needs thousands of dollars to get a ticket. On the other hand, there are great alternatives to reach the dream of going on cruises.
The very first consideration is the family discount cruising plan. You can save a lot if you will plan wisely your cruise trip. By doing this, you can manage to research more about the greatest deals and cruise trip discounts.
Family discount cruising can also give you a wise method to have a step-by-step cruise destination and the vacation of a lifetime.
Aside from that, another great thing to do is to look for the best cruise lines. The best cruise lines must be able to give the client a cheap fare and fees. Aside from that, cruise lines must have good customer service.
Speaking of cruise lines, there are many dazzling ranges of cruise lines available to choose from. Each and every one of them promises to get you to many different destinations.
But not only that, a great family cruise is not just all about the destination at all. One of the best characteristics of cruise lines is to have a large variety of discount cruise services. For example, the best family cruises must have the capacity to shift from one place to another.
The most particular place for cruise trips are Alaska, Hawaii Island, Mexico Canal, The Panama Channel, and Caribbean Sea. The best family cruise must bring your family to those places. Aside from that, great cruises must have a family discount cruise price.
The best cruise lines must be affordable but luxurious. They must try to give the customer a taste of a fantastic experience without costing too much. Another important thing is cruise lines must give many amenities and services not found in other types of vacations.
Proper customer services must also be given to customers. For example, services like spa treatments, evening recreation, dance classes, sporting activities, casinos, entertainment and plenty of other recreational activities to include all the family members.
Best cruise lines must also be very particular with the food they serve. They must offer both new and traditional way of dining. The process of dining must also be closely observed. For example, if you want to eat, you can eat what you want, where you want to and when you want to, and don't forget the unlimited buffet services.
In order to find the best cruise lines, the best thing to do is to research well. By doing this, you can find the lowest family discount price possible. You can also find the best type of cruise lines that can fit what you are looking for and how much you can afford.
You can do reliable researching for the best cruise lines over the net. There are many websites that offers the best family discount cruising. Aside from that, there are also websites that offers suggestions regarding how to choose the best type of cruise ships. The best ship must have a lot of factors.
Having enough information is also great. For example, if the room is in the lower part of the ship, the rooms are normally low price. On the other hand, suite is in deed the most luxurious choice for space.
Booking as early as possible can also be the best way for choosing cruise lines. Most of the cruise lines offer good family discount cruising and deals when booked as early as possible.
As an advice, choosing the best family cruise must tell you the cruise destination place. Most of the shipping line will definitely tell the ports of description.
Always remember that the best cruise lines must have the interest to give you the best services as possible at the lowest possible prices.
Family discount cruising programs are also one of the factors in deciding which the best cruise lines are. Programs must be very entertaining and recreational. Programs like snorkeling, fishing, diving, onboard movie watching, discos, ball room dancing and lots more are what you need to look out for every member of your family to take part in.
To make the cruise more recreational and enjoyable, choosing the best cruise lines is indeed important. Book with the family discount cruising lines as early as possible to grab this great opportunity.
Most of the people think that family cruising is a costly recreation. It needs thousands of dollars to get a ticket. On the other hand, there are great alternatives to reach the dream of going on cruises.
The very first consideration is the family discount cruising plan. You can save a lot if you will plan wisely your cruise trip. By doing this, you can manage to research more about the greatest deals and cruise trip discounts.
Family discount cruising can also give you a wise method to have a step-by-step cruise destination and the vacation of a lifetime.
Aside from that, another great thing to do is to look for the best cruise lines. The best cruise lines must be able to give the client a cheap fare and fees. Aside from that, cruise lines must have good customer service.
Speaking of cruise lines, there are many dazzling ranges of cruise lines available to choose from. Each and every one of them promises to get you to many different destinations.
But not only that, a great family cruise is not just all about the destination at all. One of the best characteristics of cruise lines is to have a large variety of discount cruise services. For example, the best family cruises must have the capacity to shift from one place to another.
The most particular place for cruise trips are Alaska, Hawaii Island, Mexico Canal, The Panama Channel, and Caribbean Sea. The best family cruise must bring your family to those places. Aside from that, great cruises must have a family discount cruise price.
The best cruise lines must be affordable but luxurious. They must try to give the customer a taste of a fantastic experience without costing too much. Another important thing is cruise lines must give many amenities and services not found in other types of vacations.
Proper customer services must also be given to customers. For example, services like spa treatments, evening recreation, dance classes, sporting activities, casinos, entertainment and plenty of other recreational activities to include all the family members.
Best cruise lines must also be very particular with the food they serve. They must offer both new and traditional way of dining. The process of dining must also be closely observed. For example, if you want to eat, you can eat what you want, where you want to and when you want to, and don't forget the unlimited buffet services.
In order to find the best cruise lines, the best thing to do is to research well. By doing this, you can find the lowest family discount price possible. You can also find the best type of cruise lines that can fit what you are looking for and how much you can afford.
You can do reliable researching for the best cruise lines over the net. There are many websites that offers the best family discount cruising. Aside from that, there are also websites that offers suggestions regarding how to choose the best type of cruise ships. The best ship must have a lot of factors.
Having enough information is also great. For example, if the room is in the lower part of the ship, the rooms are normally low price. On the other hand, suite is in deed the most luxurious choice for space.
Booking as early as possible can also be the best way for choosing cruise lines. Most of the cruise lines offer good family discount cruising and deals when booked as early as possible.
As an advice, choosing the best family cruise must tell you the cruise destination place. Most of the shipping line will definitely tell the ports of description.
Always remember that the best cruise lines must have the interest to give you the best services as possible at the lowest possible prices.
Family discount cruising programs are also one of the factors in deciding which the best cruise lines are. Programs must be very entertaining and recreational. Programs like snorkeling, fishing, diving, onboard movie watching, discos, ball room dancing and lots more are what you need to look out for every member of your family to take part in.
To make the cruise more recreational and enjoyable, choosing the best cruise lines is indeed important. Book with the family discount cruising lines as early as possible to grab this great opportunity.
Monday, July 23, 2007
Discount Family Cruising for Fun and Relaxation
Cruise ships are a family vacation planner’s best friends. Picture a floating, mega-resort with tons to do for everyone in a confined space where you know your kids are supervised and safe.
Many cruise lines offer voyages designed specifically for discount family cruising, with expanded activity programs and shore excursions for all age groups and waterslides, ice rinks and climbing walls that keep kids and parents happy for days.
Some cruises have even developed onboard programs that not only feature family together time, but also arrange crucial alone time for parents. Together, parents and kids can participate in mock game shows, story hours, treasure hunts and other activities. Later, adults can schedule a massage or spend time on the sun deck knowing their kids are enjoying a host of supervised games and activities.
Discount family cruising is much like an all-inclusive vacation with the added benefit of being able to explore new and various places. They are especially good bets if the grandparents are coming.
There are morning-till-night activities for children as young as three on most major cruise ships and plenty to keep adults busy, no matter what their ages. And, because of increased competition in the industry, family cruising has never been more affordable.
Even Disney has jumped into the cruise market which can be an especially fun time with your kids!
As for family cruises, experts say to "never, ever" go the cruise lines or "general" travel agencies. If you’re going with a travel agent, you want to book with a cruise expert, one that specializes in discount family cruising.
These companies get special discounts and upgrades for selling such a large volume of cruises that other sources simply don't get. But even then shop around before you book, as prices will vary from agency to agency.
If you’re going it on your own, use the Internet as your most valuable tool. Many cruise ships offer kids free programs with the purchase of an adult ticket. You’ll need to look around and above all – ask for discounts!
The two most popular family cruise ships we’ve found are Disney and Carnival. Kids will love Disney’s private island – Castaway Cay – and the waterslides aboard Carnival ships will be a big hit!
Both ships offer plenty to do for adults as well including spa services, adult nightclubs, and entertainment for adults. Disney, of course, gears a lot of its activities toward children and teens with special shows, on board discovery activities and special teen nightclubs – no alcohol allowed!
It will depend on when you book your family cruise as to what type of savings you can realize.
Disney will publish “Magical Rates” on its “Specials” page on their website. With these special rates, you may be able to find a 3 day Bahamas cruise for $469 or a 7 night Caribbean cruise for $859. Children 3-12 get special rates in a room with two parents and kids under 3 are free!
When you will be putting out most of your family vacation budget buying entry onto the ship, you’ll want to know how to save money once on board as well as during the visits to the ports of call.
First and foremost, purchase a soda package for the kids. This allows them unlimited soda refills anywhere on the ship – a huge money saver!
When on shore, you’ll want to see as much as you can. Instead of booking excursions through the cruise line, rent your own vehicle and explore on your own. Maps of the ports of call are readily available and this allows you maximum flexibility with what you want to see and do.
A note of caution here, be sure to take note of the departure time of your ship and don’t be late!
If you’re on your own and don’t make it back to the ship when it pulls out of port, meeting back up with them at the next port of call will be at your own expense.
On board, they’ll be taking lots and lots of pictures of you and your family. You’ll be tempted to buy these right away, but don’t. Those pictures will still be in the photo shop at the end of the cruise and they will often be discounted then, so buy right before you dock on the last day.
The same goes for souvenirs and such. Often, the gift shops will discount souvenir merchandise the last day of the cruise. The same T-shirt that sold for $25 at the beginning of the cruise might be $10 at the end, so bide your time and realize savings.
Check your account balance daily to be sure there are no charges on there that you didn’t make. Also, don’t pre-pay your tips. Many cruise lines have this built into the package price, but ask to have it removed then take care of tipping yourself.
Discount family cruising with your family can be a very satisfying experience.
Many cruise lines offer voyages designed specifically for discount family cruising, with expanded activity programs and shore excursions for all age groups and waterslides, ice rinks and climbing walls that keep kids and parents happy for days.
Some cruises have even developed onboard programs that not only feature family together time, but also arrange crucial alone time for parents. Together, parents and kids can participate in mock game shows, story hours, treasure hunts and other activities. Later, adults can schedule a massage or spend time on the sun deck knowing their kids are enjoying a host of supervised games and activities.
Discount family cruising is much like an all-inclusive vacation with the added benefit of being able to explore new and various places. They are especially good bets if the grandparents are coming.
There are morning-till-night activities for children as young as three on most major cruise ships and plenty to keep adults busy, no matter what their ages. And, because of increased competition in the industry, family cruising has never been more affordable.
Even Disney has jumped into the cruise market which can be an especially fun time with your kids!
As for family cruises, experts say to "never, ever" go the cruise lines or "general" travel agencies. If you’re going with a travel agent, you want to book with a cruise expert, one that specializes in discount family cruising.
These companies get special discounts and upgrades for selling such a large volume of cruises that other sources simply don't get. But even then shop around before you book, as prices will vary from agency to agency.
If you’re going it on your own, use the Internet as your most valuable tool. Many cruise ships offer kids free programs with the purchase of an adult ticket. You’ll need to look around and above all – ask for discounts!
The two most popular family cruise ships we’ve found are Disney and Carnival. Kids will love Disney’s private island – Castaway Cay – and the waterslides aboard Carnival ships will be a big hit!
Both ships offer plenty to do for adults as well including spa services, adult nightclubs, and entertainment for adults. Disney, of course, gears a lot of its activities toward children and teens with special shows, on board discovery activities and special teen nightclubs – no alcohol allowed!
It will depend on when you book your family cruise as to what type of savings you can realize.
Disney will publish “Magical Rates” on its “Specials” page on their website. With these special rates, you may be able to find a 3 day Bahamas cruise for $469 or a 7 night Caribbean cruise for $859. Children 3-12 get special rates in a room with two parents and kids under 3 are free!
When you will be putting out most of your family vacation budget buying entry onto the ship, you’ll want to know how to save money once on board as well as during the visits to the ports of call.
First and foremost, purchase a soda package for the kids. This allows them unlimited soda refills anywhere on the ship – a huge money saver!
When on shore, you’ll want to see as much as you can. Instead of booking excursions through the cruise line, rent your own vehicle and explore on your own. Maps of the ports of call are readily available and this allows you maximum flexibility with what you want to see and do.
A note of caution here, be sure to take note of the departure time of your ship and don’t be late!
If you’re on your own and don’t make it back to the ship when it pulls out of port, meeting back up with them at the next port of call will be at your own expense.
On board, they’ll be taking lots and lots of pictures of you and your family. You’ll be tempted to buy these right away, but don’t. Those pictures will still be in the photo shop at the end of the cruise and they will often be discounted then, so buy right before you dock on the last day.
The same goes for souvenirs and such. Often, the gift shops will discount souvenir merchandise the last day of the cruise. The same T-shirt that sold for $25 at the beginning of the cruise might be $10 at the end, so bide your time and realize savings.
Check your account balance daily to be sure there are no charges on there that you didn’t make. Also, don’t pre-pay your tips. Many cruise lines have this built into the package price, but ask to have it removed then take care of tipping yourself.
Discount family cruising with your family can be a very satisfying experience.
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