I have raised 5 children. Throughout all of those years, I maintained my value of travel for several reasons....
Learning, teaching, life experiences, family time, fun and a bit of relaxation time!
I could go anywhere and get everything except ..RELAXATION! Until, we discovered Cruising!
We wanted to show the kids the world but touring has a way of making cranky kids sometimes! So we decided to try a cruise in the Caribbean. Best thing we ever did! It offered the kids so much. The activities structured by the Kids Program was fun , interesting and socializing for the kids. They made friends from other states and other countries. They had enough "down time" that they actually enjoyed the touring we did when we reached an island. Most of the time we just went to beaches and played with watersports during island visits.
The cruise also offered my husband and I the BEST reason for a vacation...RELAXATION!!
The children were so happy and entertained that they actually let US relax by the pool without bothering us every 5 minutes!! It was fantastic! We still enjoyed tons of family time but it wasn't like we were "on-top" of each other!
In the coming years, we actually were brave enough to take the kids on a Cruise in the Med! Italy, France & Malta! It was the only perfect way for the kids to experience Europe in a way that was easy on the Parents. The kids all loved it! We could never have seen all the places we did without being on a cruise. CAN YOU IMAGINE THE TRAIN TRAVEL WITH 5 KIDS!!! It was easy (never having to pack and unpack every different city) and cost efficient (hotels, travel and meals would have been WAY more!).
Ask my kids...they will all still scream "YEAAAHHH" when I say "Let's go on a cruise!"
We love to go on cruises with our children also. We have been on 3 so far. We don't just do cruising though...we like to have many experiences, so we usually alternate a road trip and a cruise.
I agree!! It is nice to experience both land and sea! We often do a pre or post cruise land stay. When we took the kids on the Italy Cruise, we stayed in ROme for 5 days pre-cruise and then got off the ship at the last port of call (before it returned to Rome) in Florence and stayed for 4 days. It was really the best of both worlds!!
We often do that...we disembark on the last port of call and stay before flying home.
Also...another trick when with kids...at a port we often get a room in a resort for the day. That enables us all to have a base of a great beach, tennis, pool and the kids love it!! With 5 kids (7 of us total) it is often cheaper then if we did an excursion for $ 50 a person!
When in St Thomas, we always get a room at the Ritz Carlton, and we actually feel like we had a land vacation!! It is a great little trick!!
Janet
Janet
I have raised my children, creating wonderful warm memories for them in hopes that they, will do the same for their children.....
Meet Our Military Moms
In honor of Memorial Day, let's get to know the strong and supportive group of Military Moms right here on CafeMom!
anyone been to Maine??
- GetawayGirl
on Mar. 26, 2010 at 8:50 AM