Ultimate Vacation Spots

posted by Travel Cat on Jul 6

Grab your bags and head off to the ocean next week!

It really could be that simple if you are looking to book a last minute cruise from near your home town.  There is a great website that allows you to search for those short-notice cruises from all the main cruise lines such as Royal Caribbean and Celebrity Cruises that you don’t often find in the same place.

Rather than searching website after website to find a cruise that leaves from your preferred port – you can just select your port and go from there.  I don’t think there is a better way to choose.

I mean, I wouldn’t normally want to specify an actual date – I just want to see what’s out there and what’s the best value.

What Sort Of Deals Do They Offer?
Well, I looked at some last minute cruise deals leaving from 4 popular ports and saw what they had leaving in the next few weeks – and you will be surprised at the deals I found – bearing in mind that they include your meals:

• A 3-Night Cruise from Miami to the Islands of the Bahamas – from just £209! that works out at less than $70 a day!  You could just nip away for the weekend!
• A 4-Night Cruise from New York to the amazing coastline of St Johns, Canada – from just $459.
• A 7-Night cruise in a suite from Los Angeles down the coast or Baja to Puerta Vallata – from just $1329 – that’s just $190 per night for a very special vacation.

Or an 8-Night cruise from Southampton, England in a balcony cabin all the way up to the amazing fjords of Norway from just $1299 – that’s only $160 a night.

Most of these prices are much less than a few nights in a romantic hotel – but with the meals and all day entertainment!  And a much better view!

Who Are They?
Well, Direct Line Cruises are based in New York and have been trading for nearly 15 years and currently book for thousands of passengers each year.  They have destinations all over the world and work with some of the best known cruise liners:

Royal Caribbean for example, has over 21 cruise ships in it’s fleet – offering some of the largest and most inclusive liners on the oceans today.  Climbing walls, pool, cabaret and stores are all on-board and their reputation is well earned.

Celebrity Cruises offers you the experience of being rich and famous – but without the big prices!  They offer an unrivaled first-class service and guarantee that there is at least 1 staff member for every 2 guests!

And the well known Norwegian Cruise Line is included in their service.  These liners offer the freedom of flexibility.  You choose your meal times for whenever you want to eat – and there are no formal dress codes for their events and restaurants. 

And, if you book online – they even throw in some freebies – including complimentary wine, onboard credits and even travel insurance. 

Have yourself a look and see if you can hop off for a few days of luxury or adventure!

posted by Travel Cat on Jun 10

Hello again, and welcome to the first summer Traveling With Kids Carnival in 2009 – and so far the weather has been great!

Me and my nephews have been charging around the countryside looking at the animals and the amazing butterflies that are filling the skies this year.

Its no wonder people are thinking about camping this year and traveling closer to home – it’s cheaper and can be just as fun as going miles away, and you know you are just a short drive from home should anything go wrong!

Savings Toolbox picks up on this with their post: Camping as the Perfect Money Saving Vacation as it hits home about not only the money you don’t spend on flights and eating out all the time – but the adventures you can have for virtually nothing! 

RV Journeys are on the mind of Bob Erwin in his Thoughts Before Going On a Family RV Travel Trip - which covers a few driving past-times but also some great little games to consider if traveling by road.

Joshua’s article has some tips on how to encourage kids to learn a new skill or improve an existing on during the long summer vacation – rather than just shipping them off to a club without researching what your kids actually want to do: Tips for Learning during Summertime

Billeater follows with some ingenious ways to keep your kids busy without breaking the bank – even if you don’t even go anywhere – take a peak at Summer Entertainment for Families on a Budget to find out what he has in store……

Nui Loa has a bit of fun after raiding her kids CD collection and finding quite a lot of things she likes!  What a great way to bond with your kids if you can actually listen to their tunes without thinking ‘what a racket!’  Try out some of her choices before stocking your kids collection with tunes you really like yourself at Our Five Favorite Kids’ CDs for Grownups

The last 2 articles are short vacation stories.  The first is about surviving a flight with kids and the other is a tiring but enjoyable family vacation to Orlando!

One Family tells the short tale of their personal experiences of using a certain airline that they enjoyed and which helped the kids relax and certainly passed the time better than just watching the TV screen in the backs of the chair! So enjoy their story in Southwest Airlines – An Experience

Then Amy @ The Q Family presents their vacation diary of Friends, Family, Food and Floating Tube with some great photos to add to the dramas!

Enjoy these – and I hope the weather stays good – and you send in more of your adventures…… 

posted by Travel Cat on Apr 1

Fed up up lounging on the beach – and want a vacation with a difference?

CrewSeekers is an international sailing company that pieces together yacht owners and willing crew to sail the worlds oceans, either for pleasure or for racing and many other nautical challenges!

And you don’t need to be an expert to join in – you can apply even if you have never set foot on a boat before – as long as you are willing to contribute and get ‘stuck in’.

Who Are They?
Established in 1990, they say they ‘offer a first class personal service to the sailing world’.  Basically, they allowed an easy-access membership site where people looking for yachting experience or challenges could find all the boats out there needing crew – and pick the one they wanted.

They now offer day sailing, offshore cruising, competitive racing, yacht deliveries and even professional staffing services – where captains and deck hands alike can get paid jobs.

Crewseekers have members in 50 countries worldwide, so there is something for everyone to find.

How does it work?
Basically, yacht owners or staff looking for crew will post their position on the website with details regarding experience, costs, salaries along with start and finish ports and general route being used.

People looking for jobs or experience (or just the holiday of a lifetime across the ocean) can have a look at all the vacancies.  You can search for the type of trip you want and where you are looking to cruise as well as filtering out all those positions above or below your skill level.

Current examples include:

X37 Solent Cruising/Racing – Weekend racing in the south of England – experienced crew only please.
Malaysia – Do you fancy being on a luxury 44ft yacht sailing around Malaysia – 30 somethings plus please……
Caribbean to Europe – Competent crew needed to sail from Bermuda to Azores then on to Europe.
Grenada to Australia – Looking for laid back crew for leisurely pacific crossing in 48ft yacht.

How Do I Join?
It is worth browsing the opportunities first, as membership is quite pricey if you aren’t really serious, or a planning a trip for more than a year away as many are short notice.

For 6 months access to the full details for each trip it will cost you £60 (or equivalent) for single membership or £75 for a couple.  Savings can be made for 12 month membership at only £85 single and £100 for a couple.

And, there is no limit to the number of opportunities you take advantage of during membership – it just depends on how far you are willing to go!!
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posted by Travel Cat on Jan 10

Welcome to new year of vacations – and perhaps a few more nearer to home this year.

Money is not something we want to give away so easily these days, so when booking your family vacation and traveling around with your kids – it’s time to think about how you can make the most out of a tight budget or a long drive.

Only yesterday was I sitting in the launderette finding a poor child having to entertain himself for the hour he was sitting there while his dad read a book!  Needless to say, he annoyed his dad (and everyone else) during that time by screaming, crying, running around and generally doing what a child would do anywhere else – but by the time he got to leave – his father had already cancelled all bed-time stories and taken his trucks off him!!

How can we expect children to behave if we don’t give them the opportunity to be good! And Emma Evans did the ‘travel’ equivalent of what the father should have done, and aims at the kids point of view to get her own satisfaction.  Read Family vacation can be fun or a disappointment – the choice is yours. to see how she did it.

However, Bridget Smith seems to have learnt things the hard way in her description of An Unexpected Adventure.  They got there in the end, but are not planning to make the same mistake twice!!

A final article is more on a serious note regarding Hidden Hotel Travel Dangers Safeguarding the Room for Kids as detailed by Travel Advocate.  Danger is all around when you have children, but if you plan ahead, you can avoid silly accidents and keep your vacation fun, rather than a terrible story to tell your friends when you finally get back home!

Thanks again for the contributors, and I hope you like their stories.  More next month.

Travel Cat

posted by Travel Cat on Dec 4

Get you hands on the GreenForce Vacation Brochure!

I found a UK based adventure company that offer some of the most amazing holiday adventures in some of the most amazing places.

No more boring destinations for your year out, no more tree planting in Central America, these are excellent locations – dream locations in my opinion…

Diving in Fiji or the Bahamas: Up to 10 weeks
After receiving your dive training to PADI Advanced Open Water & Emergency First Response whilst on location, you will begin your volunteering in a UNESCO research environment. 

Great White Shark Project in South Africa: 4 weeks
After receiving basic seamanship training and a short underwater photography course, you will learn everything about these magnificent creatures and study them in the wild.

Community Support in Tanzania or Ecuador: Up to 10 weeks
After introductory lessons in the local language and cultures, you get to work with local communities on serious projects.  Whether it’s building a school in the Andean cloud forests or living with the Maasai and learning about animal migration.

With Penguin Rescue, Panda Conservation and working in Australia or India, even a trek to Everest Base Camp in there as well – you would be mad to spend your spare time anywhere else.

Take a look for yourself on www.greenforce.org. 

GreenForce is a non-profit adventure specialist so you know your money and time are going to the people, wildlife and environments that need it.