VACATION WITH THE KIDS?
Summer Family Vacations
The "hot ticket" right now is family cruising with some twists - and here are a few cruise vacations that we're recommending for families!
Discover Historic Europe with Royal Caribbean
Hula in Hawaii with Norwegian Cruise Lines
Get wild in the Galapagos With Avalon Waterways
Leisurely Transit the Atlantic Cunard Line
Island-Hop in the Caribbean with Celebrity Cruises
For those looking for tips on how to keep the kids in check, and to maximize the
vacation, look at what we're sharing with you -
Seven Family Vacation-Planning Tips Worth Their Weight In Smiles!
1. Check your flights’ luggage weight allowances, which will change with every airline you use. Pack for the flight with the most restrictions – baggage fees can quickly add up with multiple family members.
Also check with hotels to see if they provide items such as playpen, to avoid schlepping them.
2. A necessary extravagance: your kids’ one must-have snack. Costa Rica may not stock that rabbit shaped, cinnamon golden yum-yum treat.
3. It’s easy to get excited and overdo it. Pace your trip with enough downtime for the family member who tires easiest. Also, kids lose patience in line: Visit museums at off-peak times avoid crowds.
4. What’s the goal of the trip? Ask each family member for the top three things they want to see or do, and make sure to include at least one of everybody’s picks.
5. Get some family-friendly restaurant recommendations. Especially for fine-dining restaurants, make an early reservation for faster service, and on arrival let restaurant staff know about how long they have until the kids get antsy. They’ll work to get your family in and out within that window.
6. Prep kids for the vacation by reading books or watching movies and videos about the destination to build pre-travel excitement – but keep some aspect of the trip a secret to enhance the WOW factor!
7. A good rule of thumb for long flights: Bring a different activity for every hour to keep toddlers entertained. For overnight flights, change kids into their sleepwear and bring a favorite blanket or stuffed animal, so they feel
as much at home as possible.
Make Lasting Memories / How to Help Your Child Document Their Travels
· Make a scrapbook – Fill a folder with flyers from hotels, daily newsletters on board the ship, restaurant menus and business cards – anything that will help you remember places you visited.
Then go back and add details, drawings, pictures, and poems.
· Keep a Blog – blogging lets children share their experiences but, unlike with Facebook or Twitter, they’ll have a lasting online journal of their trip. OffExploring.com offers easy-to-use templates
And will even turn your blog into a printed book.
· Create an Online Photo Album – Use dedicated sites such as Flickr, Instagram and Photobucket to store and share your photos. You can upload them instantly on board or at your hotel, and you’ll find
Internet Cafés in basically every corner of the planet.
· Film Your Travels – Have your kids discover the inner Spielberg and record their experiences with a camcorder or even their smart phone. They can share their masterpieces on sites like YouTube.
Speaking of smart phones .. check out the free Trip Journal app by Google called Trip Journal Lite or http://www.trip-journal.com on the web, that lets you share real-time updates with friends back home.
REMEMBER
A Family that Plays Together, Stays Together!
GREAT ESCAPES TRAVEL
407 740 6464
Web:
www.getescapes.com
Email:
info@getescapes.com
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Twitter - @GreatEscapesFL
