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Cruise around with your family
By Carol Reed

A sea cruise with the entire family is a matchless event. It can be a once in a lifetime dream, an opportunity for a family reunion or an annual affair in a very special atmosphere. 

 

 

Cruise lines have developed trips that cater to and include every member of the family. There are special, supervised activities just for kids, and romantic times for adults. There are secret treasure islands, and parties with fireworks and exciting themes. These trips take some research and planning. But here are some starting points to jump-start your dream vacation, with input from www.thetravelmom.com

Disney Cruise Lines: www.disneycruise.com  Sail three, four or seven nights on the Disney Magic or Disney Wonder out of Port Canaveral in Florida. The “Disney Difference” is everywhere with great kids’ programming, a large selection of adult offerings including a premium restaurant called Palo, and a spa/fitness center. The entire cruise is just enough Disney for the kids to be comfortable while the adults are not overwhelmed.

Travel Mom kept a great, unbiased diary of her Disney trip.  Here are some excerpts:

• “The ship is great. My kids are really into the teen program, the babies can hang out in the Flounder’s Reef nursery, my sister and her husband can enjoy … nice restaurants, and I can visit the spa and fitness center. There truly is something for everyone! We can come together at meal time and check out the amazing shows in the theater.”
   

• “We all got dressed up for the Golden Mickey’s dinner and show, and felt like a million bucks. All of us enjoyed our favorite characters in the show. I must admit that I was a bit anxious about traveling with teens and toddlers, but watching all of the cousins interact with each other and new friends reaffirms to me that we made a great choice…”
   

• “Families are together, and daddies that might be CEOs in their day-to-day lives are partying with Goofy ears and doing the conga with someone who might be an auto mechanic in their daily job, and everyone is on completely equal ground, celebrating being parents.”
   

• “Yesterday, the theme was Pirates in the Caribbean, and it was above and beyond anything one would expect from a cruise experience. Guests came dressed in pirate clothing to dinner, the wait staff was appropriately costumed, and the evening show blew me away.”

Royal Carribean’s Voyager Class: www.royalcaribbean.com/gohome  These ships  are “the Wow Boats” - Wow! There is a rock-climbing wall above the top deck. Wow! There is an ice skating rink on board! Wow! There is a shopping promenade the size of two football fields! If you are an active family, with older kids, the Voyager, Explorer, Adventure and Navigator are action adventure filled ships that offer something for every family member.

Norwegian Cruise Lines Pride of Aloha: www.ncl.com   Seven night cruises from Honolulu on the Pride Of Aloha. The itineraries visit the Hawaiian Islands. Norwegian Cruise Lines invented “freestyle cruising” where guests can choose from a number of different dining options. There are all kinds of restaurants with all kinds of foods and all kinds of dress, so you can create a vacation that really works for your family.

Some new passport laws will come into effect shortly. By December 31, 2006, passports will be required for all air and sea travel to and from Canada, Mexico, Central and South America, the Caribbean and Bermuda.

For information on obtaining or renewing a passport, visit the State Department’s Web site. U.S. passports are valid for ten years. www.travel.state.gov/passport 

Carol Reed is a middle school teacher & freelance journalist who specializes in travel writing. Carol’s journeys have taken her as close to home as the New Jersey Pines & as far as the islands in the Caribbean, New Zealand & Australia.