Looking for a Cruise for the Kids? Here is Your Plan for an Enjoyable Vacation!

Written by Paul Bechel


Continued from page 1

Many cruises also offer dining options that serve up mega, buffet-style dining in a very casual atmosphere. Here,repparttar kids can sample from a variety of items they tend to enjoy whilerepparttar 141695 adults can usually find hot or cold entrees that also please their pallet.

Stay Casual With Kids If you are a family that enjoys traveling on luxury cruises, then you are already aware that those cruise options are sometimes not as casual as young kids often want to be. An important point to consider if you are looking for your first cruise is how your kids react to wearing less casual clothes.

Most cruises are casual, but often evenrepparttar 141696 casual cruise can have one or two formal nights. Of course, you always haverepparttar 141697 option to skiprepparttar 141698 formal nights, but if your kids enjoy that type of thing, it may be fun for everyone to dress up once for a more 'formal' dinner.

However, if you kids are like mine,repparttar 141699 more basicrepparttar 141700 dress,repparttar 141701 better. In fact, most cruises are intended to be casual so letrepparttar 141702 kids have fun with their clothes. Here are a few tips to ensure that you haverepparttar 141703 right attire. First, knowrepparttar 141704 dress code forrepparttar 141705 cruise and cruise line that you will be taking. Usually a simple wardrobe will suffice. For example, on a warm climate cruise, casual collared shirts and khaki shorts will do fine. The kids can hang out in swim suits and tee shirts aroundrepparttar 141706 pool but they will need something in addition to this for eating and gaming. Don't forget aboutrepparttar 141707 evenings, however, as any warm climate cruise may still have cool evenings onrepparttar 141708 ocean. In this case, one light jacket or sweater for each family member would suffice.

If you are taking a cruise in a colder climate you will obviously need a different type of wardrobe, but again, keep it simple and letrepparttar 141709 kids have fun in choosing their clothes to bring along.

Findrepparttar 141710 Water and Lemonade and Skiprepparttar 141711 'All You Can Drink' Soda Cup Not all cruise lines offer this, but if you happen to find yourself on a cruise that offersrepparttar 141712 ultimate 'All You Can Drink' soda cup forrepparttar 141713 kids, try to avoid this purchase as there is generally ample water, lemonade or other types of drinks available in between dining times. Not only will have you to keep this 'Ultimate Jug' in your small stateroom but you will have to find a way to keep in clean yourself. Convincerepparttar 141714 kids that there will be more than enough to drink onrepparttar 141715 ship withoutrepparttar 141716 need for their own Tower of Soda.

Ifrepparttar 141717 Kids are Diapered, Bringrepparttar 141718 Bag If you will be traveling with small enough children that diapers are still a part of your packing checklist, then don't forget to pack sealable plastic bags. Not only will you want to sealrepparttar 141719 diaper inrepparttar 141720 bag for disposal in your stateroom, but other passengers will appreciaterepparttar 141721 odorless disposal ofrepparttar 141722 not-so-sweet deposit.

Don't Forget to Bringrepparttar 141723 Kids Medications Most, if not all, cruise ships of any size will have some medications available for purchase but they are extremely expensive. Let me repeat this, they are extremely expensive. OK, I think you getrepparttar 141724 point. Bring your own personal pharmacy of your preferred medications forrepparttar 141725 kids and yourself. The vast majority of people traveling on a cruise do not get sick, but as with any vacation, being sick is no fun, so packrepparttar 141726 essentials.

To Car Seat or Not To Car Seat If your children are young enough that they travel in a car seat, you will need to make a personal decision of whether to bring one or not. Most cruise lines do not offer car seats for rent so if you are adamant about having one, be prepared. You stateroom will probably not have an easy place to storerepparttar 141727 seat. Mass transports associated with shore excursions may not have room forrepparttar 141728 seat. Many foreign countries have transport vehicles that are much smaller than you may be used to and you may be carryingrepparttar 141729 seat for long distances if you need to walk to a bus or cab station. Just make sure you take this all into consideration when you plan your choice.

Seasickness, No Fun! Whether traveling with children or not, this is one ofrepparttar 141730 single biggest concerns among first-time cruisers. How do I know if I will get seasick? There are several topics to discuss relevant to this topic, butrepparttar 141731 bottom line is that unless you have some experience on a larger ship onrepparttar 141732 open ocean, you don't know for sure how your body will react. So here are some pointers.

If you are very concerned aboutrepparttar 141733 possibility of becoming seasick, check with your doctor as there are prescriptions available to help preventrepparttar 141734 normal feeling of seasickness. There are pills you can take or anti-motion sickness patches that you can wear. Many cruisers wear these patches so don't hesitate to do so yourself or have your kids wear one. Also,repparttar 141735 largerrepparttar 141736 ship, generallyrepparttar 141737 less motion you will feel. If you want to do all you can to preventrepparttar 141738 possibility of seasickness, sail onrepparttar 141739 largest ship you can find.

Cabins more inrepparttar 141740 middle ofrepparttar 141741 ship and lower inrepparttar 141742 ship will sometimes help reducerepparttar 141743 amount of bouncing and swaying you may feel. Of course this is no guarantee. Check withrepparttar 141744 cruise line or your travel agent to help findrepparttar 141745 best cabin location for your circumstance.

Dry Skin Alert Depending on your normal climate that you come from, several days as sea may actually dry out your skin. You may want to make sure you pack some moisturizer and drink a lot of water. This is true forrepparttar 141746 kids andrepparttar 141747 adults that you are traveling with.

Go For It! Hopefully following these tips and hints will help you and your family findrepparttar 141748 'Trip of a Lifetime' on your next cruise. If you are still unsure if you should cruise withrepparttar 141749 kids, just remember, some cruise lines cater to families and are overbooked with reservations. All of those families aren't wrong. Give it a try, plan ahead and you will find thatrepparttar 141750 entire family can't wait to go again.

If you are researching any cruise inrepparttar 141751 Asia or Pacific region, www.asia-cruise-info.com has all ofrepparttar 141752 information you need for kids and adults.

Enjoyrepparttar 141753 Journey!

We're Here to Help! Paul Bechel www.asia-cruise-info.com

Paul Bechel is the owner of Asia Cruise Info - http://www.asia-cruise-info.com - the largest dedicated web site for cruising in the Asia and South Pacific regions. Paul has worked with the largest travel companies in the world for years and brings the highest level of customer service to his customers.


Student Travel – Backpacking In Europe

Written by Rick Chapo


Continued from page 1

“I shall bring only one guide book, not one for each country that I MIGHT see.”

“I accept that I will come home wearing something I didn’t take and will have lost/traded/burned much of what I did take.”

For female travelers and, okay,repparttar occasional male,

“I will not bring high heels or a gaggle of make-up.”

Admittedly, chanting these mantras will not bringing you immediate enlightenment. Fret, not. You can always throw items away or send them home in a box to your parents/friends/parole officer. Forrepparttar 141694 resourceful backpacker, it is not unheard of to send particularly smelly/discolored/toxic clothing to an ex-girlfriend/ex-boyfriend/little brother. Follow these practical guidelines and you will soon happily be speaking in a loud voice to make foreigners understand you.

The Evidence

This isrepparttar 141695 hard part for most travelers to wrap their minds around. You will forget those special moments of your trip when you metrepparttar 141696 hunk Sven or babe Svenetta from Sweden and had a romantic evening/dancedrepparttar 141697 night away/got arrested in Ios/Ibiza/the airport. Maybe not immediately, but you will eventually forget.

You will also forget or loserepparttar 141698 contact information of people you meet, despite meticulously writing it down onrepparttar 141699 back of a coaster/napkin/your hand in a bar/poetry reading/jail at three inrepparttar 141700 morning. Surprisingly, said coaster/napkin/hand often surviverepparttar 141701 night/day/weekend and get deposited in your already trashed backpack. Of course, their presence is often forgotten when you later put a Oktoberfest mug/wet towel/toothbrush in. The extra padding atrepparttar 141702 bottom of your pack is specifically designed to deal withrepparttar 141703 decomposing result. Still,repparttar 141704 information is gone and so is your future with Sven/Svenetta.

To properly recordrepparttar 141705 magical moments of your trip, you must take a diary or journal. Don’t worry, you can burn it later before you get married/your parents get nosey/you have kids. You want a journal in a water/beer/sweat resistant case. Of course, I prefer a Nomad Travel Journal, but just make sure you take something. When you have some extra time inrepparttar 141706 bus/train/jail cell, you can record how you got there andrepparttar 141707 people you met.

Trust me, when you, Sven/Svenetta and your nine children are sitting onrepparttar 141708 porch 10 years later, you will greatly enjoy reading your journal. Of course, that assumes you didn’t burn it.

Rick Chapo is with Nomad Journals - Preserve the experience with writing journals for traveling, hiking, rock climbing, fly fishing, bird watching and more.


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