Some beach time, some spa time
While the ship is in Nassau, we take the chance to check out the newly renovated Sheraton Cable Beach Resort. It’s great for kids — a beautiful beach, three pools and rooms that open onto the pool.
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BEYOND THE BEACH IN BELIZE
Mick Fleming arrived in dugout canoe; Lucy Fleming on horseback a day later. There were no roads to the overgrown farm in the Cayo district of Belize that the young couple hoped to run. Their land was a jungle – literally. “But there was something about the place,” Fleming, who was raised in England, recalls more than 30 years later.
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Yes the dollar is weak, but don’t let that stop you
AAA says that more than 25 million of us will travel abroad this summer—more than last year. I guess the weak dollar isn’t stopping…
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Kid Nirvana on the Disney Cruise
It’s well past their bedtime but they’re not in bed. Instead, they’re dressed to the nines (the girls anyway, in princess get-up, complete with sparkly shoes and Minnie Mouse dresses) waiting in line to get Cinderella and Jack Sparrow’s autograph. They’re at the Oceaneer lab climbing up to the top of the “pirate” ship so they can slide down.
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Two Parks in one day at Universal
We’ve signed on for a VIP Tour at Universal Studios in Orlando, which means our very informed guide Karyn Shelton (who has almost finished a doctorate in music) cannot only answer all of our questions, but structure our visit around five year old Ethan and three year old Hannah, at the same time making sure their parents can ride all the coasters (and Universal has great ones) that they wish.
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Watery Fun at SeaWorld’s new Aquatica Park in Orlando
Open just a month, it’s easy to see why SeaWorld’s latest venture is already a hit with 36 (count em!) water slides, six lazy rivers and lagoons, plenty of man-made sand beach (no one fighting over chairs for once) and two first rate areas for younger park goers complete with gentle slides, climbing nets, water cannons and giant water buckets that dump water on the little guests seemingly on cue.
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Autograph seeking and a guided tour of Disney World
You better plan ahead if you want to dine with a princess. I learn that breakfast or lunch at Cinderella’s castle is such a hot ticket that it‘s booked six months in advance. We see lots of little princesses in glittery, fluffy outfits with their hair done just so at the new boutique…
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A trip to Walt Disney World with two little ones
DAY ONE — It’s 3 p.m. and the pool at Disney’s Boardwalk resort in Orlando is packed with parents and kids, including a lot of…
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TO SEATTLE
So what if it rains a lot in Seattle. As long as you’ve got good rain gear, you won’t care, especially when there’s so much to do and see. Where else can you take the kids to see guys throwing raw fish, introduce them to ferries (yes, parents commute to work via ferry) take a turn on a sailboat, learn all about rock music, science fiction and the creatures who inhabit the sea in this part of the world.
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Destinations | Families & Groups | Lodging | Parks & Outdoors | Travel Diaries | Volunteer & Service
Chaa Creek — started small before “eco” was a word
Mick Fleming approached in a dugout canoe. “But there was something about the place,” he recalls more than 30 years later.
His wife Lucy, who arrived on horseback the day after he saw the overgrown farm, agrees. “This place always had a certain amount of magic — a pull. I felt it. We were young and crazy — no money and decided to be pioneers.” -
Seeing Mayan ruins and tubing through a cave
Right after breakfast, we head out with our guide, Wilbert Moh, to the Mayan site of Xunantunich, about 15 minutes from the Ka’Ana resort. It means Stone Maiden — so named, Moh explains, because a hunter in the late 1800s claimed he spotted the apparition of a beautiful Mayan woman here. The structures — including one that is the second highest in Belize – rise up to 525 feet.
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On to the Cayo District
The 36-acre resort, which is growing popular with families, also has a terrific pool and a young chef who is said to be among the best in Belize. Most of the vegetables and herbs are provided from the organic garden — everything from zucchini and peppers to cilantro, dill and parsley. (How about tipsy tequila shrimp or beef carpaccio, homemade pasta or tenderloin? Did I mention the wine cellar? The spa?
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WHAT’S NEW AT THEME PARKS THIS SUMMER
Whether your gang love coasters or hate them, love water slides or refuse to wait in line for them, (yes that was us skipping the famous water slides at the Atlantis in the Bahamas), you’ll find plenty of new attractions to amuse everyone at this country’s more than 400 theme parks (and scores more water parks) this spring and summer. Here’s just a sampling of what’s out there:
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Placencia and Sein Beit
The small (1200 people) town of Placencia is about a four mile cab ride from The Inn at Robert’s Grove. This isn’t a typical resort town — not yet anyway. We don’t see many souvenir shops or much of any shopping. Some friends we’ve made at the resort lead us to De Tatch, a thatched-roof no-wall restaurant down a tiny meandering street, past one-room houses on stilts.
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The Jungle Cruise on steroids
This is no Disney Jungle Cruise! For one thing, our guide, Doyle Garbutt is driving the boat way too fast. Jungle Cruise on steroids, my husband jokes. The two little boys on the boat love it. For another, the animals don’t pop out on cue.
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Get out of the mall and into a national park!
Where are all the nature lovers? According to a new family travel poll conducted by Travelocity, parents with kids are visiting national parks and other nature sites a lot less often than their parents and grandparents did. The poll suggests: more than twice as many families focus on activities like shopping! Instead of camping, families are touring cities and going to theme parks.
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A tiny island on the reef off Belize
It’s just me and the two Pelicans. I’m watching them from my chair on a tiny island — less than an acre around — named Robert’s Cay that’s about 20 miles — and more than an hour’s boat ride in a choppy sea with waves up to five feet — from the Inn at Robert’s Grove where we’re staying.
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Beach Vacations | Destinations | Families & Groups | Getting There | Lodging | Parks & Outdoors | Travel Diaries
A Week in Belize (after a nightmare in the airports)
We arrived yesterday evening after typically frustrating flights. First, we had to get our flights changed because of the American Airlines MD-80 inspection mess. That took hours on the phone. We thought we were home free when we were able to rebook our flights on Delta but no such luck. At the airport in New York, we encountered incredibly long lines for check-in and security.
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TRADING HOUSES FOR YOUR NEXT VACATION
A cottage in the English countryside or a flat in Paris, a deluxe Caribbean villa or a house with a pool in Orlando, San Diego, Canada, Colorado, New York City or San Francisco. Take your pick for summer vacation. Price is no concern. It won’t cost you a penny — really. There’s just one tiny hitch
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FINDING THE KID-FRIENDLY LAS VEGAS
Cheap hotels, every kind of food you can imagine. Plenty of sizzle, spectacle, first-rate theatrical productions, giant red rocks for climbing and water playgrounds.
