My family and I don't vacation often—it's not that we don't want to go to exotic countries and stay in fancy hotels, we absolutely do—but life has a funny way of flying by, especially with kids, and then we realized we hadn't treated ourselves to a true getaway.
In 2010, as three generations of our family assembled at my parents' annual Christmas Eve dinner, we noted we had three major family milestones coming up: My parents' 50 th, anniversary; our 25 th and my oldest son, J.R.'s secure asian travel accommodation reservations college graduation. We all agreed we should do something special together before it was too late. My sons pushed taking a cruise; then my mother piped in with seeing the Panama Canal.
The next day, as the family regrouped for the traditional opening of the presents at our house, I noted we were still talking about it. This could actually happen. So we agreed, no Christmas presents next year. Instead we'd take the Island Princess for a 10-day Panama Canal cruise.
Christmas of 2011 found grandparents, parents and children doing a very unusual thing…flying secure asian travel accommodation reservations to Fort Lauderdale and boarding a glistening, white cruise ship headed for the Caribbean and beyond. Years of habit and duty evaporated. secure asian travel accommodation reservations We were going on a fantastic, family vacation devoted to fun and adventure.
Okay, I had a few small worries about how our multi-generational group (spanning 15 to 79) would handle all this luxury and freedom. Would there be enough secure asian travel accommodation reservations for my youngest, Brennan, to do? I shouldn't have worried! His brother checked him into the teen center and from that point on we had to beg him to spend time with us.
Brennan had so much fun playing games, meeting secure asian travel accommodation reservations kids from all over the world, including some from Italy that he keeps up with on Facebook. He kept his word to meet us for the daily regroup in the dining room.
As for J.R., a Princess bartender secure asian travel accommodation reservations was responsible for introducing our 22-year-old to whom he considers will be some life-long friends. He even met up with one young lady in Arizona during a road trip with his baseball secure asian travel accommodation reservations team. J.R. played first base for Johns Hopkins.
My husband, Joe, and I had a blast rekindling our 25-year marriage. Looking back, it was probably the most relaxed we had been in 25 years. You see, we typically spent school breaks driving J.R. to baseball tournaments, so this was a major break from our typical driving secure asian travel accommodation reservations to games and staying in economy hotels by the ball parks.
secure asian travel accommodation reservations Excursions were another way our group could pursue their interests. J.R. and Brennan teamed up for active days of snorkeling, swimming with dolphins and hiking along a waterfall. They balanced all that physical activity secure asian travel accommodation reservations with an excursion to a sloth sanctuary.
Joe and I are shoppers so we did a lot of shopping tours, including one to a great Jamaican pottery place. An excursion my parents particularly enjoyed was a horse and buggy ride through a plantation in Jamaica. Truly, this was a vacation for all ages!
While J.R. is moving to Connecticut for his new job and my father is turning 80, I'm so happy that we made this cruise happen. Now that we've finally taken a pleasure trip, we are determined to break with family tradition and do it again.
I agree, Alaska is the best. I am on the Star Princess as we speak traveling back to Seattle at the end of the most wonderful cruise I have taken yet. The scenery is to die for. The pictures you see don t do anything secure asian travel accommodation reservations for actually seeing it in person. I will be back to Alaska in the near future secure asian travel accommodation reservations you can bet on it. The guides say July is the best time to see the salmon swimming up river to spawn that s when you have a better chance of seeing the bears. We took a whale watching trip in Juneau that was the best. We saw a mama baby humpback whale just playing in the water. The baby was breaching(jumping out of the water) just having a blast. So much fun.Try it. I am from Maryland had no problems with flying into Seattle the catch the ship. They also have great whale watching tours from Seattle to the San Juan Islands to see the orcas ( killer whales). We did that 2 summers ago saw at least 50 or 60 whales. What an experience.. Hope this helps.. Tina
Yes we agree, I brought my parents and in laws and my own young family to the South Pacific Islands in January this year. It was wonderful and everyone had a great time. It was the first cruise for us and we did not know what to expect and was rather concern if the older folks and kids were going to enjoy themselves, we had nothing to worry about . My husband has since booked another cruise to the Mediteranean this September for our family and I can t wait. We don t have to worry about the language or food, in Europe!
I couldn t agree more that taking a family cruise is a wonderful experience. In April 2007 my wife and I treated my parents to a family cruise in the Caribbean along with two of our sons. There was plenty to keep us busy, but there is ample opportunity to just relax and reconnect. secure asian travel accommodation reservations We have now been on 15 cruises (7 with Princess) and number 16 is coming up in two weeks aboard the Diamond Princess. To avoid the inevitable let down we feel at the end of a cruise, we always make it a practice to have another already booked before we leave. So next June will find us aboard the brand new Royal Princess on her maiden voyage from Southhampton, UK to Venice, IT. I love having that carrot on a stick out there waiting for us!
Our first cruise was also a three generation cruise for my in-law s 50th anniversary and our 25th wedding anniversary in 2004. We were a party of 14 from 8 to 75 . I was not sure how our 3 boys, all active, athletic late teens would do on a ship for 10 days over Christmas, but within 2 days they had found a crowd their age and stayed busy the whole trip. It was such a wonderful trip that we are planning another family trip this Christmas on Princess so glad Princess is sailing again from our home port of Galveston!
We are planning a cruise for our 50th anniversary and will include children and grandchildren. Our last cruise in 2002 we had a problem with little kids sleeping. Our daughter has 4 kids ages 10 to 3. Do they have a family room for 6 on a cruise? Would Alaska work out?
Marian, we just did a cruise to Alaska for our parents 50th. While the ship and the scenery were awesome, your daughter will likely be fairly stressed with her kids on board, having to constantly be aware of their location. For the Alaska trip, there s not much time spent at the pool because it s too cold. The daycare is a great option, though. I do recommend a large room for the family. We split ours between two interior rooms.
Take it from an oldtime cruiser (35 with Princess 1 family cruise to Alaska) Alaska will be wonderful with your family, depending on the time of the year, Don t worry about fitting your whole gang in one cabin if this is your 50th anniversary you and your husband need a little space. Our secrets of success for family cruising in Alaska: Inside Passage only; July or August only; no organized family activities secure asian travel accommodation reservations onboard secure asian travel accommodation reservations except for dinner ( a MUST); walkie secure asian travel accommodation reservations talkiies for kids, parents, grandparents; adjoining balcony cabins (not cabins but balconies adjoining) would be wonderful secure asian travel accommodation reservations for all to share the activities of the day while having a before dinner cocktail; I am sure that with the ages of your grandkids that the shipboard activities will keep them more than pleased and happy!!
secure asian travel accommodation reservations I recently took my first cruise, secure asian travel accommodation reservations a 10 day trip, sailing from San Francisco to Alaska secure asian travel accommodation reservations and back. It was the start of a 8 month world trip for me travelling on my own and a wonderful way to start my adventure. I had always wanted to visit Alaska and was not disappointed. The scenery was amazing. I had a wonderful time on the Sea Princess, made new friends and had plenty of memorable experiences both on the ship and at the ports we stopped at on the way. Now that I ve had a taste of cruising, I look forward to future secure asian travel accommodation reservations trips.
You ll love Alaska. I ve been there twice and look forward to a third hopefully in 2013. I recommend a Cruise Tour to you. You can choose different land tours and the number of land days before secure asian travel accommodation reservations or after the cruise. For many, Alaska is a once in a lifetime event. Do it,you ll be glad you did. Also,book your room with a balcony!! Seeing this magnificent place is absolutely special. Princess does it right.
We recently took our first cruise to Alaska onboard the Diamond Princess. Having no experience with cruising I had no idea what to expect. We sailed out of Vancouver secure asian travel accommodation reservations which is my home town. Cant explain how fantastic secure asian travel accommodation reservations a feeling floating away from the city I was born in and under the Lions Gate Bridge. Absolutely breathtaking. Our cruise was one of the best trips of my lifetime. My father spent 10 years as a youngster in Valdez, so going to Alaska was very important to me. The scenery was amazing, cant explain in words. We departed the ship in Whittier and did a 6 day road trip to Fairbanks back thru Denali and ending up in Anchorage. Flew home. The Princess Cruise employees are absolutely wonderful.
We completed a Trans Atlantic/Med cruise in late May on the Ruby Princess. It was 26 days of pure heaven. We were ready for rough seas with Bonine packed only to see it still packed upon our return. The weather was sunny for 25 days and finally it rained as we were departing from Venice. The excursions we took with Princess were wonderful and the logisitcs hard to believe. The entire staff was terrific. We booked another cruise to be determined but are sure that it may be a return to the Greek Isles/Croatia and Venice as our port of debarcation What a beautiful city! Our trip of a lifetime lived up to all expectations with the help of Princess secure asian travel accommodation reservations Cruises Thank you!
Congrats on getting such a wonderful experience. We too were planning a milestone celebration for my 30th, mom s 50th and grandma s 70th when fate took hold. My only advice don t wait for the big milestones . Take the time to make memories now.
We sailed out of Seattle on the Star Princess on June 3, 2012 for the Alaskan Inside Passage
No comments:
Post a Comment