Travel ideas and experiences on cruises or at all-inclusive resorts, including dude ranches
Millennial families, according to the new 2016 MMGY Portrait of American Travelers, are more likely than millennial couples or singles, to travel internationally
You wouldn’t guess the always crowded Vatican Museums would be a good place for a scavenger hunt, but it is an ideal vehicle to keep kids interested, says Eva Polino, an art historian and licensed guide
We’re on a shore excursion in Tuscany off the Carnival Vista cruise ship, which is sailing the Mediterranean this summer. We’re with experienced truffle hunters Salvatore Cucchiara, a retired policeman, and his son Massimo
Marseilles is our first stop on a 10-day cruise of the Mediterranean on Carnival Vista, Carnival’s new and largest ship, carrying more than 4,000 passengers and nearly 1500 crew.
Historic Santiago de Cuba is home to revolutions, gave birth to Cuban leaders Jose Marti and Fidel Castro and was the scene of Teddy Roosevelt’s famous charge up San Juan Hill.
If Cuba had a Paris, Lonely Planet Cuba says, Cienfuegos would be it as it’s arranged around a spectacular natural bay (there are charter sailboats in the harbor and I can only imagine a lot more once Americans discover this place).
I’ve learned first hand that encouraging kids to be global citizens, to be comfortable outside their own comfort zones, helps them navigate unfamiliar and difficult turf in their lives as they grow up.
Gilberto Valladares Reina has always been a barber—and a dreamer. That’s not always been easy in Cuba, where the government controlled so many aspects of your life.
Cubans lined the Havana shoreline, cheering loudly as the ship sailed in. Those on board lined the decks cheering, waving Cuban and American flags as Adonia, became the first American ship to enter Havana Harbor in 58 years
The Russell kids had spent the last two weeks in the Dominican Republic where they joined in volunteer activities that ranged from wrapping chocolate bars at a women’s collective to helping to lay cement floors for several families.
Eleven kids are making history, though they may not realize it. The kids are among the 700 passengers aboard Fathom’s Adonia, the first American ship to win approval to sail into Cuba from American shores in more than 50 years. (Fathom is the newest cruise brand of Carnival Corp).
on vacation, free is great — a lot better than paying for meals the kids don’t eat, theme park tickets when they’d rather play in the hotel pool or museum entry fees when they are ready to leave in less than an hour.
Many families who cruise look for the best deal — and this is “wave season” when cruise lines are offering upgrades, shipboard credits and discounts to encourage you to book for later in the year.
We are eating dinner on the terrace listening to the ocean, feasting on Caribbean lobster. No we aren’t at a tony restaurant in Jamaica. We are at Serenity on the Beach, one of the 100 private villas in Jamaica managed by Villas by Linda Smith.
John Bartels has no interest in going home. He, his two sisters, and his parents have been spending a vacation week at Half Moon, a Rock Resort in Montego Bay, Jamaica, that has been setting a high bar for resorts here for more than 50 years
Welcome to river cruising, family style. If you think river cruising is just for seniors, think again. Uniworld, which has been named by CruiseCritic.com as the “best overall river line,” is tripling its family itineraries in 2016
Nuremberg has long been a center of toy making and this museum is one of the city’s top tourist attractions. More than a dozen local toy manufacturers developed model railways and Nuremberg’s toymakers were known for coming up with new ways to make toys move.
Uniworld Cruises has arranged a special way to see the picturesque city of Bamberg for the families on board—a GPS scavenger hunt organized by the company City Hunters that does such tours in cities across Germany.
We’re in Wurzburg in Bavaria, the third day on our Uniworld Cruises family trip in the middle of Germany in a city that was nearly all destroyed by British bombers during allied bombing in 1945.
The 16 kids aboard Uniworld River Cruise’s special Family Christmas Market sailing in Germany are all members of the clean plate club by the time they are done cooking with Chef Peter Tarnok and Senior Pastry Chef Ciprian Ghiluescu. In fact, most of them have seconds… Lorelei George, 8, licks her plate.
Frankfurt has one of Germany’s 2500 Christmas Markets and one of the country’s oldest, locals claim, dating back to 1393, though those in Nuremberg dispute that.
Kids of all ages give high marks to Royal Caribbean’s second Quantum Class ship Anthem of the Seas which will be home-ported year round in Cape Liberty, NJ.
No cruise is complete without its follies and unexpected discoveries.
Listen up parents — if you thought the educational part of cruising was only seeing historic and cultural sites, you were wrong. It seems much more cultural exchange happens right on board at the kids’ and teen club, kids say.
The ship staff had warned that navigating on your own in Japan is different than elsewhere. Very few locals speak English and signs are only in Japanese. I understand now why in the U.S. Japanese tourists always move in a group with a guide.
Good news! I’m going to live at least seven years longer. That’s because I’ve visited a Japanese Onseng—a hot springs resort. They are ubiquitous in Japan—there are thousands of them.
The on board Izumi Japanese Bath features indoor and outdoor bathing experiences ($15 for 90 minute visit), including misted steam room, sauna, Jacuzzi and hot tubs, some open to the sky.
Like other cruise lines, Princess offers specialty restaurants on board for which you pay an extra fee.
Like on other cruise lines, the specialty restaurants offer an enhanced experience.
We’re in Kushiro, Japan, on the island of Hokkaido, and are visiting the Japanese Crane Reserve on a shore excursion from the Diamond Princess, which is spending the morning here.
Until I came aboard in Yokohama, I hadn’t thought much about the cruise experience being educational but here, with more than 1000 Japanese passengers, we westerners are getting a lesson in Japanese culture and food.
The 91-year-old had chosen the Windstar Star Legend, a 212-passenger ship for a cruise with her 17-year-old grandson— one of three yachts without the line’s famous sails that the company has recently acquired from Seabourn
When you take a cruise, you can opt for a shore excursion offered by the cruise line, or you can take your own, often booking local guides.
Tour buses took us to Fort George, where the Inverness Youth Band with 30-plus members –drummers as young as nine and led by adults are “Beating Retreat,” performing a traditional military ceremony 16th Century England.
Of the 204 passengers, there are 117 who have sailed Windstar, some as many as 11 times. While you may think of this as a cruise line for adults, I’ve been thinking of this as a way for grown and mostly grown kids to connect with parents and grandparents, sharing new experiences.
Three Chimneys Restaurant and six-room inn is on an out of the way stretch of road on the Isle of Skye where you brake for sheep crossing the road and the fish you eat for lunch might have been caught that morning, the lettuce just harvested.
We are on day two of our cruise aboard the Windstar yacht Star Legend – the Gaelic Explorers tour. We’ve anchored in Portrush and taken an excursion bus for the one-hour trip to Belfast to learn about the building of the Titantic.
We are on an eight-day Gaelic Explorer Windstar Cruise on a yacht with just 212 passengers can go to smaller ports. Windstar, known for its sailing yachts, has added three more yachts from Seabourn—these without sails–that after a $12 million refurbishment have joined the fleet.
As Father’s Day coincides with the start of the summer vacation season, I figured there’s no better time to offer some suggestions to up dad’s fun quotient on vacation, which is a much better idea than yet another Father’s Day tie, or an IOU, accompanied by a charming kid’s drawing.
In Puerto Vallarta, all-inclusives account for 80 percent of the hotels and they are especially popular with families in Mexico and the Caribbean. They’re certainly upping their game to appeal to families.
Coconut Bay Beach Resort & Spa in St. Lucia offers Splash, a wing where the kids club is housed and visitors delight in being young and taking part in family-friendly activities and Harmony, Coconut Bay’s adults-only wing.
Karin Allyn is celebrating a birthday on a beautiful stretch of white sand beach under a thatched umbrella with her children and grandchildren. But not just any beach—she’s at Jumby Bay
We’re at Jumby Bay on its own island just off the coast of Antigua–an all inclusive where the food isn’t like any other all inclusive I’ve seen—of course this is one of the most exclusive resorts in the Caribbean.
Here on a pre-holiday annual getaway with my three oldest friends, I’m glad to be ensconced in this villa within the upscale all inclusive
Royal Carribbean’s new Quantum of the Seas is the first in a new class of cruise ships that the company says it going to up the number of WOW moments on every family’s vacation.
Many consider summer in the Caribbean family season because rates are significantly lower and there are so many value-added amenities.
After a long and stressful year at college, nothing could have been more eagerly anticipated than a weekend soaking up the sun at Beaches Turks and Caicos with my mom.
Correspondent Alison Tibaldi recently visited Beaches Turks and Caicos with her teenage daughter, Madeleine. They had never experienced a Mother-Daughter vacation, and the timing was right.
In the days of being connected 24-7, there is a place where adults can unplug, unwind and become a kid again.
The water slide that swung out over the sea, a deck dance party, lots of food and ice cream and this club area just for teens called Vibe. So I felt pretty good about taking my first cruise on a Disney ship for three days.
We liked the Disney Dream for our first family cruise because of Disney’s reputation for customer service, the ship’s dedicated teen entertainment area called Vibe and a short three-day Bahamian sail