Slow Travel, Fine Life - Hilaya State of Mind

(Must Read) Parents Island Survival Kit

Hi Lingling,

 

I have two young kids (one 2 yr, another 5 yr) and we’d like to bring them to

Hawaii

for a week or so. They have never been to an island before, and I am a bit nervous for what we should prepare as parents.

 

Would appreciate any insights that you might have.

 

Mary Ann

 

 

Hi Mary Ann,

 

Let me share with you the following “Parents Island Survival Kit” from a fellow travel counselor – I have shared that with many of my friends and Hilaya travelers and they all love this!

• Sunscreen-is a must

• Any stuffed animal or blanket that a child is extremely attached to.

• Coloring or activity books and crayons-this is good to have on the plane, in restaurants, and on long car rides.

• A stroller and a backpack carrier are great items to bring for infants and toddlers. And of course, car seats( you could rent one as well)

• Dramamine for motion sickness

• Snacks and beverages

• Disposable cameras for each child-this is a great way to keep the kids interested in what is going on around them. They are able to save memories of their vacation memories after their own perspective.

• You can also have fun with your kids by creating a scrap book of your island vacation memories after you return and have photos developed!

• Map-free mays are provided when you rent a car.

• Small first aid kit

• Sense of humor! Kids  will be kids and there is nothing worth ruining your entire vacation over.

 

 

How to ensure a great cruise vacation?

Hi Lingling,

I am interested in cruise but not sure how to make most out of it.  Any tips or suggestions?

Cruiser-wannabe

 

 

Hi Cruiser-wannabe,

Thank you for asking this great question. You're not alone in this :-) ! 

Sometimes even people have been cruised might have same questions if they just treat cruise as any other travel products like airline ticket - they book the cruises online, go there, and come back home with not-so-great experience - and they start asking themselves,  "why everyone else seems to like cruise, while I am not...".

Well, cruise is quite different and unique. 

And let me share with you a few tips that how you could ensure that you have a great cruise vacation next time (or this time if you haven't cruised before):

• Plan early for early booking discount and the best stateroom available.

– 6-12 months in advance for Alaska cruise

– 3 – 6 months in advance for Caribbean, Mediterranean and Europe cruise

– 3 + month in advance for Mexico cruise

• Avoid holidays, school breaks, take longer cruises and/or get a group

– Thanksgiving, Christmas, Spring break are most crowded time

– 3 to 4 days cruises are busier than 7 days or longer cruise

– Group rate (7 or more staterooms) can give you at least 10% discount

• Select cruise lines best for your style and family situation

– Most family-friendly cruise: Princess and Disney

– Most romantic and exotic:  Cunard and Seven Seas

– Most popular destinations: Western Caribbean, Mexican Rivera and Alaska.

• Use a good travel agent

– Travel agents sell over 70% of total cruises, so they have absolutely better deals than websites

– Travel agents can take care of everything – cruise, shore excursions, insurance, air, etc.

– Travel agents look at their customers for long-term relationships, not short-term transactions

Itchy to go cruise now? 

Top five reasons why families love cruises

Hi Lingling,

I haven't cruised before, but heard from many friends that cruise might be something worth trying, especially for families with children. Why is that?

To-cruise-or-not

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Dear To-cruise-or-not,

Let me just share with you top five reasons why families (especially those with kids!) love cruises so much.

• Incredible travel value

– One price pays for accommodation, dining, entertainment, childcare and many more activities!

• Extremely family friendly

– families love cruising! Children's programs, kid-friendly menus and tours of the ship will make children happy, plus give their parents some time alone

• Absolutely simple to plan and enjoy the cruise

– planning a cruise is simple. Once you're onboard, nearly all expenses are pre-paid...talk about hassle free. And you only unpack once!

• Personal choice of many activities

– fill your days with sightseeing, sports, activities, cultural lectures, educational tours or simply lounge by the pool and relax. At night, enjoy dance extravaganzas, musical revues, gaming or a quiet evening gazing at the stars

• Variety of cruise style and destinations

– with over 100 distinctive ships, 1800 ports of call, theme cruises and an unbelievable array of places to see and things to do, there is a perfect cruise for you. And you can take a cruise vacation any time of the year!

Please also check out other posts re cruise and I hope you will enjoy cruise soon!

Lingling

2-year old friendly Caribbean for first-time cruisers?

Hello Lingling,

We have a 2yr daughter and are thinking of Caribbean cruise this thanksgiving. Would you like give us some suggestion such as,

1. which itinerary is better for the first time Caribbean cruise, east or west?
2. which ship line is better for family with little girl?

Thanks.

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Hi,

Thank you for contacting me for your cruise.  To answer your questions:

1. Western or Eastern Caribbean.

Princess 7-day Eastern Caribbean Itinerary         Princess 7-day Western Caribbean Itinerary

As you can see from the itinerary, eastern Caribbean islands tend to be smaller and closer, so you will spend less time to sail (the days that you are on the sea) but more time to go shopping and beaches. But note the options of shore excursions tend to be fewer.

On the contrary, western Caribbean islands (Jamaica, Grand Cayman, Cozumel, Bahamas, etc) are bigger and further away from Florida, so you will spend more time (compare to Eastern) on the sea. Meanwhile, you will have variety of shore excursions to select other than shopping and typical beach activities. And water quality tends to be better.

For first-time cruisers, although you will get great experience from either itinerary, I probably would recommend Western Caribbean cruise as it's more like a traditional cruise experience - you are on the sea, away from the crowed cities. and you can have more choices when it comes to shore excursions if you do want to go ashore.

That's also part of the reasons why we took Western Caribbean last March. We met many families repeated taking the same itinerary (each year!). Of course, we will do eastern/south/north Caribbean later.

2.  Which cruise line(s) for family with 2-year-old little girl?

One thing that you might already know, the free childcare services (it's not totally free as you need to pay some money each day for like $ 10 per day, but it's really nominal fee) on most cruiselines start at age 3. That means you will either have to pay for childcare, or take them with you, or leave them at home with grandparents.

Having said that,  let me recommend the following to actually overcome this and still have a good time:

Choose Disney or Princess. Disney will be my first recommendation as it's been constantly and consistently ranked as THE most family-friendly cruise. They have a nursery services which you pay around $ 6.00 per hour but it's really great services and the facilities are fantastic!

One unique thing about Disney is that they don't have Casinos, so the cruisers for Disney are mostly families with kids (especially young kids) which provides a great environment for you and your child.  Note that because of this - and all the Disney-type entertainment programs - Disney cruises tend to be priced higher than average cruises as Casino income is an important on-board revenue for cruises.

Princess is also wonderful for kids - you can see from my travel blog :-) - but most importantly, among all the travel agent community ( and I am in a network of over 600 professional travel agents ),  Princess has been constantly ranked as a very good cruise line for families. Princess is also famous for great food and high quality entertainment programs among large-size ships (defined as over 1000 passengers).  But the price point of Princess is lower than that of Disney.

Get a group of multiple families with kids at the same age.

If you have other friends who also have kids at age 2 or below 3,  call them and invite them to join you for a group cruise.

Not only will you get a good deal - group rate - but also you guys can share childcare responsibilities while moms can go shopping, dads are taking care of the kids ( or dads go to late night shows, moms watching the kids ) - or one family is taking care of the kids for one day at a time.

Let me know if this helps. I will be more than happy to help your questions or booking (early booking discount/group rate can save up to 20%).

Lingling | lingling@hilaya.com | 604-375-0398

Cruise, anyone?

Hilaya Travel Ideas

Slow travel, fine life | EDITION 4 – August 2008

If you visit the website of Royal Caribbean cruise lines for the first time, you will see something very simple and straightforward – basically three questions:

1. New to cruising?

2. Cruised before, but new to Royal?

3. Cruised with Royal before?

Not coincidentally, my conversation with any people who are interested in booking or planning a cruise vacation will start like questions like that.  In particular, for those who are new to cruising, you might wonder that why would people like to cruise?

Great question…. But, why not?

To start with, cruise is really a floating resort. You can go snorkeling, scuba diving, whale watching, surfing, or you can enjoy spa, indoor swimming, or movies under the stars, play golf or tennis on the top deck, bid for fine arts auction, and participate many more family friendly entertainment and activities. 

There are libraries, internet cafés and chapels (yes people can and do get married in the cruise) and for some cruises, casinos. You can fill up your daily schedule easily, or you can choose to do nothing but just read a book, stare at the ocean, and relax. It's all YOUR choice.

And – my sympathy for SUV-owners – but these days, cruise is absolutely the best travel choice in terms of price and performance, thanks to fuel price that has affected land vacation and airfare so much.

Cruise price includes the accommodation, all the meals (24 hours), all the entertainments (some of the nightly production shows can even rival what you see in Las Vegas), and free/safe/professional daycare for kids in all age groups (as a parent myself, I really can't overemphasize how important it's for me).

So when you add all those cost up, cruise is at least 1/3 less expensive than the land vacation with similar itinerary. And yet, you only unpack once by traveling to so many destinations. Plus, you can leave your GPS and fear/frustration of getting lost at home!

Now, I do have some friends, especially at mid or late 20s, telling me that: cruise is not for me. And I can see where they are from: "cruise is for old/elder people" (and I am a Facebook and Twitter guy); "I would be bored to death" (since I think there's nothing to do other than eating and swimming in the cruise); "I don't know if my friends would go" (as they probably would ask the first two questions anyway)…

Let me just say: none of those notions about cruise is true, and if you ever cruise once, you will love it.

For people who are new to cruising and just want to get their feet wet, I would recommend a 3-day cruise from Los Angeles to Mexico in the winter/spring. It would be a relaxing experience, yet if it turns out that it's really not for you, 3 days is probably manageable. This itinerary is also very popular for classmates reunion (recently I booked one for 15 families and over 60 people) or any small or big group events.

For people who would like to have a hassle-free and absolutely no stress family vacation during winter/spring season, I would recommend

o either a 7 days cruise from Florida to Caribbean (there're many cruise lines, destinations or itineraries to pick from);

o or a 7 to 10 days cruise in Mediterranean/Europe if you can afford a few more days.

In the summer, 7 days cruise from Vancouver (or Seattle) to Alaska (plus land excursions) as an extremely popular family vacation.  It might be a bit late to book that for this year, though.

And the key secrets to enjoy a cruise vacation?

o Plan ahead. Booking a cruise six month in advance is not uncommon, and will get your best deal and the best cabin.  You can buy travel insurance for as low as $ 60 per person to get your money refunded in case you can't make it in the last minute for any reason.

o Get a group. Talk to your friends, classmates, church groups or neighbors. It varies from cruise to cruise, but having a group of 8+ cabins will normally get you a group rate for an extra 5% saving or more. Once in the cruise ship, the group can meet as frequently as every 2 hours, or just cruise independentlyJ.

o Talk to a great travel agent (that's me! :-). An experienced travel agent will not only recommend a best itinerary and cruise for you among many choices, but also get you best deal and take care of every little thing that otherwise you will need to make phone calls each time by yourself.

Lastly,  you are welcome to check out my Chinese blogs about our family cruise to West Caribbean last March as follows:

2008 年 3 月西加勒比海游轮七天游记 ( 1 of 4 )
2008 年 3 月西加勒比海游轮七天游记 ( 2 of 4 )
2008 年 3 月西加勒比海游轮七天游记 ( 3 of 4 )
2008 年 3 月西加勒比海游轮七天游记 ( 4 of 4 )