Tag Archives: family vacation

Norwegian Breakaway

Cruise Hacks: 14 Tips for Acing Your Family Cruise

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Many of us prefer small ships, but sometimes a large one is your best option. Maybe it’s what your children need (only large ships have water slides and mini-golf), or it’s what your group can afford, or it’s the itinerary that best suits your schedule. Last month my family ended up on the biggest ship we’ve ever sailed on, Norwegian Cruise Line’s 4,000-passenger Norwegian Breakaway, because it’s one of the few ships that sails from New York to somewhere warm in the dead of winter. While a large ship can be a smart vacation option for busy kids and their exhausted parents, it can also feel crowded and chaotic, especially when chilly weather keeps everyone indoors for half the cruise. Since it was my husband’s and my tenth cruise with our kids, now 11 and 12 years old, I thought I’d share our hard-earned tips for maximizing the advantages, and minimizing the drawbacks, of a giant ship.

1. Choose a cabin suited to your children’s ages.
The larger the ship, the more confusing the cabin choices. A family of four can feel very cramped in one stateroom, but it can be hard to find connecting cabins or an alternative configuration that works. One thing to be wary of is cabins with upper berths. When we’ve had such rooms, we’ve been so concerned that the boys would roll out of their beds in the middle of the night that Tim slept in the first upper berth, the second went empty, and the kids slept with me below. When the boys were younger than eight, we were comfortable in a “mini-suite” where they could share a double sofa bed. Since then we’ve needed two connecting cabins. My strong recommendation is to book your cruise through a highly knowledgeable cruise specialist such as Tom Baker of Cruise Center: Tom knows the pros and cons of all the cabins on all the ships and has the clout with the cruise lines to get you the one you want.

En route out of NY Harbor. In 19-degree weather. Can anyone guess what ship we’re on?

A photo posted by Wendy Perrin (@wendyperrin) on

2. Insist on a balcony. A balcony gives you breathing room, fresh air, great views, lots of sunlight, and private outdoor space. When the boys were small, we opted against one because they could have climbed over the railing. By the time they were four and six, we felt we could risk it, and today it’s non-negotiable. (A balcony isn’t nearly as necessary on a small ship…but that’s a different article.)

3. Pinpoint the most convenient cabin location.
A great location for families is on an upper deck near the aft: It’s a quick walk to the places you need to get to most often—the pool deck, the sports deck, the kids’ club, the buffet—and you can avoid elevator waits and crowds.

4. Bring Post-It Notes, a European plug adapter, and highlighters. Post-It Notes are handy for your cabin door: When your kids are old enough to check themselves in and out of the kids’ club (which means they’re old enough to wander the ship on their own), they can leave you messages as to their whereabouts. If your family needs to charge an array of electronic devices daily (and whose family doesn’t?), bring a European plug adapter because your cabin might have only one or two U.S. outlets; don’t let European outlets go to waste. As for highlighters, the daily shipboard program delivered to each cabin door lists so many activities and events that each child will want a highlighter to mark his or her favorites.

5. Throw your kids’ swimsuits in your carry-on.
On embarkation day, it can take some time for your luggage to be delivered to your cabin. If you’re embarking in warm weather and you’ve got the kids’ swimsuits with you, they can jump in the pool and use the waterslides right away. One parent can watch the kids while the other walks around the ship doing recon and making spa and dinner reservations.

6. Switch your child’s cell phone (and yours) to airplane mode.
If your child will be using his smartphone as a camera, switch it to airplane mode immediately after leaving your U.S. port for international waters, so that international text messages can’t be sent or received. Otherwise you could get socked with charges. Keep your own phone on airplane mode so you don’t fall prey to roaming charges. (Keep it on airplane mode when accessing the ship’s Wi-Fi too. The great news is that cruise-ship Wi-Fi has improved a lot recently in terms of speed, reliability, and cost.)

7. When everybody else on the ship is zigging, zag.
My family avoids crowds by doing the opposite of what everybody else is doing. Between 6 and 7 pm, for instance, when everybody else is getting ready for dinner or already dining, that’s when we take advantage of the empty sports courts, Ping Pong tables, or hot tub.

8. Find your own serene shipboard hideaway.
In addition to a balcony, you’ll want space to stretch out in tranquility somewhere on deck. There’s almost always an empty area with lounge chairs somewhere. Sometimes it’s the Promenade Deck; sometimes it’s an area up top that people just haven’t discovered.

When the weather is too cold to be outdoors, you may crave an indoor pool or hot tub. Often the spa has a heated indoor pool you can access for a fee. On the Breakaway, access to the spa’s Thermal Suite for $199 for the entire seven-day cruise turned out to be a good value.

The spa’s hydrotherapy pool. #NorwegianBreakaway A photo posted by Wendy Perrin (@wendyperrin) on

9. Study the children’s weekly program schedule before making dinner reservations.
If your kids are like mine, certain scheduled evening activities will appeal to them and others won’t. Pirate Night is a must, Hollywood Night is not. If you’re making dinner reservations for the family, choose nights when the kids won’t complain about being with you rather than with their friends.

10. Ace the buffet.
It’s usually the most casual way to grab a bite on the ship (except for room service), and it can be jam-packed. Four tips: (1) Avoid the buffet on embarkation day, when it’s at its most chaotic. (2) When you do eat at the buffet, make a beeline for the Asian and Indian food. The kitchen staff is frequently Asian and Indian, so what you get is their home cooking, and it’s delicious. (3) Often one side of the buffet is open and the other is closed; if you can’t find empty seats, go to the closed side. (4) Feed your kids at the buffet, then go elsewhere for a proper adult meal. Like this:

This is the first raw bar I’ve seen on a cruise ship. How about you? #NorwegianBreakaway

A photo posted by Wendy Perrin (@wendyperrin) on

#yummy A photo posted by Wendy Perrin (@wendyperrin) on

11. Have your child wear a watch.
There are few, if any, clocks on the ship. If you’ve instructed children to meet you in a certain place at a certain time, the only way they’ll know is if they’re wearing watches.

12. Ensure room keys don’t get lost.
Bring a lanyard, or punch a hole into your child’s key card, so it can be worn around the neck.

13. Don’t activate your kid’s room key for purchases.
On ships you use your room key card for purchases, and kids lose room keys. They accidentally leave them in the games arcade—where other kids may find them and swipe them in the machines—or by the pool, where adults may find them and use them to buy a round of drinks. I’m not kidding; this happens with surprising frequency. When you check in for your cruise, the check-in agent will ask whether your kid’s key should be enabled for shipboard purchases. Just say no, unless you’re certain your child won’t lose the key. And if you’re certain your child won’t lose the key, please share your secret with me!

14. Read my 12-year-old’s advice that parents should know before booking a family cruise.

 

If anyone else has tips for sailing on megaships, I’d love to hear them. Chime in below!

 

Disclosure: This was my family’s fourth cruise on Norwegian Cruise Line. We’ve always paid our own way in the past; this time the cruise line provided us with complimentary accommodations. In keeping with my standard practice, there was no request for or expectation of coverage on Norwegian’s part, nor was anything promised on mine.

Be a smarter traveler: Use Wendy’s WOW List to plan your next trip. You can also follow her on Facebook and Twitter @wendyperrin, and sign up for her weekly newsletter to stay in the know.

8 Secrets to a Stress-Free Flight With Toddlers

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There’s nothing like flying with a toddler to make a solo trip in coach feel downright luxurious. Nevertheless, bringing the kids onboard doesn’t have to be torture. Here are my road-…er, air-tested tips for surviving a flight with young kids. (At the end of my most recent trip with my three-year-old, two nearby passengers paid the ultimate compliment, declaring me the best-prepared mom onboard.)

Don’t fly during nap times.

Whenever possible, choose flights that don’t coincide with your toddler’s periods of sleep. You might think that flying during a nap will give you a little time off. That might work with an infant, but toddlers are different: They have a much harder time falling asleep on a plane, and it typically involves lots of tears. When I fly cross-country with my son, I book a 6:00 a.m. departure: It’s much easier to wake him up a few hours early than to try to get him down for a nap on the plane.

Avoid bulkhead seats.

Before Zeke turned two (when we had to start buying him his own seat), my husband and I would book aisle and window seats toward the back of the plane, where we had the best chance of getting a row to ourselves. This gives your kid more room to spread out playthings, and it relieves you of the stress of shielding a stranger from your child’s noise and energy. Whatever you do, avoid bulkheads: The armrests don’t move, so you can’t easily share space with your kid, and you won’t always have access to your bags, which must be stowed in the overhead compartments.

Arrive early.

Give yourself a cushion for security—in my experience, bags full of small objects have a knack for requiring secondary screening—and allow plenty of time to walk through the airport to your gate. I turn this part of the journey into a game, telling my son what number to look for and having him guide me at his own pace. Letting Zeke burn off some energy also makes him more agreeable about staying in his seat onboard (translation: fewer trips up and down the aisle).

Don’t eat just before takeoff or landing.

Those first and last moments of a flight are often the toughest, when the change in cabin pressure hurts your kid’s ears. Eating and drinking can help, and your child is more likely to chew and swallow if he or she hasn’t just had a meal. I like to bring lollipops for these moments; it’s a special treat with some lasting power. (Don’t starve the kid, though: Mid-flight snacks are essential in preventing the low-blood-sugar grumps.)

Have new toys on hand.

In the weeks before a trip, scour the library book sales and Target $1 bins for inexpensive options; extra credit for play things that encourage open-ended, imaginary play. Some of my favorites: play dough, pipe cleaners, magnetic playsets, and reusable sticker pads. On one flight, a pack of small monster trucks entertained Zeke for a good 30 minutes. Just make sure that you liberate toys from their plastic clamshell packaging at home, while you still have access to scissors! Too busy to shop? Order a Busy Kit.

Wrap everything.

Not just the new toys, but old reliable ones, snacks, even a cube of Post-It notes for small drawings. Opening each package helps small tots with their fine motor skills and makes each new event last a little longer; use old newspapers to cut down on waste. This works better with the younger set, though: My three-year-old now tears through the wrapping quickly.

Know your kid.

Whatever appeals to him or her at home will be a good bet in the air. For Zeke, that’s playing trucks and drawing. We never fly without a generous helping of small vehicles, Crayola washable crayons (the best I’ve found), and scrap paper.

When all else fails, treat your kid to some screen time.

I like to leave this as an option of last resort—we’ve gone through entire flights without pulling out the iPad. Many parents swear by them, but if you limit screen time at home, your kid (like mine) might not have the attention span to sit through more than a few minutes of it on a plane. Don’t forget to load some new apps and videos onto your device before the flight, while you still have a fast Internet connection.

 

What strategies work for you and your kids?

Be a smarter traveler: Follow Wendy Perrin on Facebook and Twitter @wendyperrin, and sign up for her weekly newsletter to stay in the know.

My first cruise, when I was four and Doug was three.

Things to Know Before Booking Your Family Cruise: Tips From a 12-Year-Old

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Hi. I’m Charlie. I’m 12 years old, and I’ve taken nine cruises on five different cruise lines. You might think cruise ships are pretty much the same, but they’re not. If you want your kids and yourself to enjoy a family cruise as much as possible, here’s my advice.

1. Get a cabin that’s on a higher deck toward the stern.

Everything that’s interesting for kids and families is always at the back of the ship. So get a cabin that’s very close to the aft staircase and no more than three or four decks below the pool, buffet, and kids’ club. If your room is at the front of the ship, you’ll spend most of the day walking back and forth across the ship, and if your room is on a low deck, you’ll have to wait for the elevator.

Disney cruise ship cabin

This was a good cabin because it had a sofa bed.

 

2. Get a sofa bed rather than high-up beds that fold out of the wall.

A sofa that turns into a double bed, even if you have to share it with your brother, is better than two single upper berths. It’s easy to fall out of an upper berth, especially kids like my brother Doug who move around a lot when they’re sleeping.

upper berth

Dad ended up sleeping in this upper berth.

 

3. Always get a balcony. 

Without a balcony, rooms are crowded with four people in them. And you need a balcony so you can always see the sunrise and sunset and have nice light in your cabin, and so you can go out and get fresh air and enjoy the smell, and so you can see the place you’re visiting when you come into port.

 

cruise kids balcony

Everyone who doesn’t have a balcony always wishes they had one.

 

4. Get a large pool with a water slide.

Some cruise ship pools are salty, so bring swim goggles.  If the pool has a water slide, check the height limit because your kid might be disappointed if he’s too short.

Norwegian Gem water slide

We waited till Doug was tall enough for the water slide before we went on the Norwegian Gem.

 

5. Do not sign up for the early dinner seating.

A lot of parents make this mistake. The early seating means your kids will have to leave the pool at 5:00 so you can get to dinner by 5:30, and your kids will be stuck eating in the restaurant, which is boring and takes forever. Every kid would rather eat in the buffet because they can get food they know they like. (A possible exception to the rule is Disney ships because the restaurants are awesome.) Always sign up for the late seating because you can take your kids to the buffet at 6:30 and take them back to the kids’ club at 7:00, and then eat on your own at the late seating.

 

Disney ship Animator's Palate

Doug in Animator’s Palate, which is the best restaurant on Disney ships because Nemo characters come to life and talk to you.

 

6. Make sure there’s food by the pool.

Sometimes you don’t even need to go to the buffet for dinner because you can get food by the pool at dinnertime. On Holland America we could eat hot dogs, hamburgers, and ice cream for dinner by the pool. But Disney was great because they had themed food stands with different types of food, like Flo’s V8 Cafe or Pinocchio’s Pizzeria, where we could eat in a beach chair in our swimsuits.

 

7. Get a kids’ club that’s open all day long.

Some kids’ clubs close for two hours at lunchtime and dinnertime, even though your children don’t need two hours to eat lunch or dinner.

cruise kids club jumping

My first kids’ club on my first cruise, which was on Celebrity Cruises.

Some cruise lines have much better kids’ clubs than others do. Norwegian Cruise Line’s and Disney Cruise Line’s are especially good, and if you’d like to find out why, you can read this about the Norwegian Star and this about the Disney Dream that I wrote when I was nine.

A kids’ club is always better when your kid can check himself in and out of the club. This makes life easier for both of you:  Your child doesn’t have to be stuck doing something in the kids’ club that he doesn’t want to do or missing something he’d rather be doing somewhere else on the ship, and you don’t have to interrupt what you’re doing to pick him up at a certain time.

cruise ship shuffleboard

If you can check yourself out of the kids’ club, you can always go play shuffleboard.

Also, get a kids’ club where your kid isn’t the oldest in his age group.  If your child is in the 6-to-8 group and he’s turning 9 soon, he might be bored with the little kids.

 

8. Choose a ship that has scheduled activities for parents and kids to do together.

On Norwegian Cruise Line there’s at least one family activity on the program every day that parents and kids do together—like a scavenger hunt or “Family Challenge.” It was great because our family competed against my cruise-ship friends’ families. On Royal Caribbean there was only one family competition the entire cruise. There were things like 3-on-3 basketball tournaments and mini-golf contests, but for adults only, even though kids would enjoy those things much more than adults.

cruise ship basketball court

Royal Caribbean has the most elaborate sports deck.

 

9. Don’t worry about what sports are onboard.

If you want a giant sports deck, choose Royal Caribbean, but you don’t really need one because every big ship has some good sports to choose from. They all have basketball, shuffleboard, and Ping-Pong, and most have mini golf.

Disney Wonder Ping Pong

Schooling my mom in Ping-Pong on the Disney Wonder

 

10. Don’t get stuck wasting time on embarkation day.

Embarkation day sucks because the kids’ club isn’t open till nighttime, and there are no activities on the ship. Embarkation day is a good time to explore the ship with your kids and find all the places they’ll be at a lot, so your kids learn where they’ll want to go later and how to get there. Also, it can take a few hours for your suitcases to be delivered to your cabin, so make sure your kids pack their swimsuits in their carry-on luggage so they’ll have them for the pool.

Holland America's Ryndam docked

On embarkation day, have a swim suit in your carry-on.

 

11. Collect a souvenir from each port.

When you’re back home, whenever your kid sees each souvenir, he’ll remember the place where he got it. But don’t buy something like a teddy bear that says “Mexico” on in it. Instead buy something that was handcrafted by locals or is unique and you can find only in that place. For instance, in Honduras I got a metal fish made from an oil drum and an old ship’s hull. And in Belize I got a marble turtle that you wouldn’t find anywhere in America.

Jamaica souvenir

In Jamaica we watched this man carve my name into the wooden bird statue I bought from him.

 

If you’d like my advice about which cruise line is best for your family, you can ask me below.  Also here’s my advice for the Disney Wonder from my own travel blog.

 

Charlie Baker is Wendy’s 12-year-old son. He has traveled to 23 countries and has kept his own blog, NotAnotherTrip.com, since he was eight.

 

Be a smarter traveler: Use Wendy’s WOW List to plan your next trip. You can also follow her on Facebook and Twitter @wendyperrin, and sign up for her weekly newsletter to stay in the know.

Rosewood Mayakoba

The Resort I Chose for My Working Vacation: Rosewood Mayakoba

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We’d all like to spend our vacations blissfully unplugged, but the reality is that most of us can’t. TripAdvisor’s just-released Working on Vacation Survey found that 77% of U.S. respondents have worked on vacation in the past year, with 91% checking email and 42% creating and editing documents while on vacation.  I’m one of that overworked group, and that’s why I’m forever on the look-out for that holy grail of the 21st century:  An exotic yet close-to-home escape where I can accomplish two conflicting goals—work and vacation—simultaneously. When every second with your loved ones counts, you want a resort that enables you to be so efficient that your work cuts into your precious bonding time as little as possible. And, so that you don’t resent being tied to email, you need a desk with a view and a beach with Wi-Fi.

That’s why I chose Rosewood Mayakoba—on Mexico’s Riviera Maya, a 40-minute drive from the Cancun airport—for my family vacation this summer.  We just got back and, in fact, this was my third trip to Rosewood Mayakoba.  I’d gone twice alone on business for Condé Nast Traveler—see My New Favorite Tropical Beach Resort and 7 Special Touches That Every Hotel Should Have—and each time I could tell that the resort would fit my family’s needs perfectly. I finally made it back with Tim and the kids, and I was right: The combination of tropical jungle setting, wildlife, water sports, and a complimentary supervised kids’ club–all just a four-hour non-stop flight from home—meant that they could get a vacation they loved while I got what I needed as well.

Rosewood Mayakoba Beach Club pool

My 10-year-old playing (while I was working) at one of Rosewood Mayakoba’s three pools.

Here’s why Rosewood Mayakoba is a resort to consider when you’ve got no choice but to work on vacation:

* You’ll find free, fast Wi-Fi on the beach, at the pool, and everywhere else.

Cocktail while working

Deadlines go down better with fruity cocktails.

I’ve been to a lot of tropical resorts and have spent untold hours wrestling with tech hassles.  But at Rosewood Mayakoba there’s Wi-Fi throughout the property, indoors and out. You need log in only once, upon arrival, and you need never enter a password. It just works, wherever you go. (The resort’s butlers carry iPads and use the Wi-Fi system too.)

 

* There’s even Wi-Fi in the car that picks you up at the airport.

This means that upon landing in Mexico, during that dead time between airport and hotel, you can use your phone to check email without worrying about expensive roaming charges. (To avoid such charges throughout your stay at Rosewood Mayakoba, keep your phone in airplane mode and keep your Wi-Fi turned on.)

 

* When you’re too busy to leave your room, you can still enjoy a pool.

plunge pool laptop

Each room is a freestanding suite-style bungalow that comes with a private plunge pool.

Need a quiet space for a conference call?  You can seal yourself off from noisy kids by closing the door to the living room or bedroom, or you can move to your terrace or even your plunge pool.

 

* You get a desk with a view.

Should you opt for working in the air-conditioned indoors, the only thing separating you from a water-and-palms view is floor-to-ceiling glass.

 

* There’s a never-ending supply of complimentary coffee and fruit to sustain you.

Rosewood Mayakoba fruit

Every room comes with a bowl of fruit that is replenished daily.

Each room has a Nespresso machine too—and unlimited complimentary bottles of water.

 

* The supervised kids’ club is free and open every day from 9 to 5.

Rose Buds

My boys loved the counselors in the Rose Buds kids’ club.

Yes, there’s someone to watch your kids so your spouse can get a well-deserved break. My boys are now 10 and 12 and, even though the Rose Buds children’s program is used mainly by younger children, they enjoyed it enough to spend quite a bit of time with the group, taking ecotours in the lagoon, painting ceramics in the clubhouse, etc.  After signing them in to Rose Buds once—at the start of our stay—I never had to leave my desk to sign them in or out again. They could come and go as they pleased—and, of course, they were old enough to wander around the resort on their own.

 

* Each guest gets a bike.

bike path

My 12-year-old heading to breakfast.

Each bungalow on the sprawling property is connected by winding “roads” designed for walking, biking, or riding in golf carts. This means you live in serene seclusion, yet there’s no long walk to wherever you need to go (e.g., the beach club, the spa, the sushi restaurant) because you can zip there by bike. Even when I had to work all day, I still got precious family time during our morning family bike rides to and from breakfast.

 

* The resort’s app saves you time. 

Wherever you are on the property, you can use it to check the menus in the restaurants, order room service to be delivered at a particular time, or ask your butler (yes, butler) for help with whatever you need.

 

Now, I’m the first to acknowledge that Rosewood Mayakoba is a splurge. The price of an entry-level “room” (again, a freestanding bungalow with a view of water and palms) ranges from $465 in low season (July–September) to $675 in high season (approx. December 15–April 15).  My family went in low season—specifically, August, when the weather was surprisingly lovely (breezy, with little rain, and not much hotter or more humid than New York City). The resort was kind enough to provide complimentary accommodations to my family; I paid our airfare, meals, activities, and other expenses.  In keeping with my standard practice, there was no request for or expectation of coverage on Rosewood’s part, nor was anything promised on mine. This truly is one of my favorite resorts—for either a family or a romantic couple (it works equally well for either)—which is why I’m writing about it: I want to make sure you’re in the know.  As mentioned, this was my third trip to the resort, so I feel confident I can give you a fair evaluation of the experience.

I have a lot more advice to share based on my trip, including why going in August is a smart idea (hint: it’s the perfect moment to swim and snorkel with whale sharks), so stay tuned, but meanwhile, if you have any questions, feel free to ask below.

 

Jelly Belly jellybean flavors of toothpaste rotten egg and skunk spray

Family Trip Pit Stop: Jelly Belly Factory

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It’s August—which means families are hitting the road for a final summertime fling before school starts. Over on TripAdvisor Wendy’s been sharing her tips for taking the kids to amusement parks and to zoos and aquariums, but here’s another idea for your family trip activities list: food factory tours. Many candy, ice cream, and food companies offer kid-friendly tours of their facilities. There are the well-known ones like Hershey’s Chocolate World in Pennsylvania and Ben & Jerry’s in Vermont, but you can find more unusual ones like Tabasco Pepper Sauce in Louisiana and the Celestial Seasonings Tea factory in Colorado. When Wendy’s husband, Tim, was in California last month with the boys, they visited the home of Jelly Belly jellybeans. Most food factory tours let you see a little of the behind-the-scenes manufacturing process, learn a bit of history, and taste the final product. Here Tim tells us—and shows us—what it’s really like inside Jelly Belly HQ.

Jelly Belly factory lobby

Photo: Tim Baker

The Jelly Belly factory is just off I-80 in Fairfield, CA. Free, 40-minute tours leave from the lobby (pictured here) about every 15 to 20 minutes. Sadly no candy was being made the day we were there, but we still found the tour interesting and informative. The production of the sweet little gems was much more complex than I had imagined.

Jelly Belly jellybean samples

Photo: Tim Baker

Charlie was, well, like a kid in a candy shop. They give you a nice little sampler after the tour, but it never hurts to supplement it with your favorite flavors.

 

Jelly Belly factory tour sampling station

Photo: Tim Baker

There’s a free sampling station where you can try three choices.

 

Jelly Belly factory seconds are called Belly Flops

Photo: Tim Baker

Many tours sell factory seconds at a deep discount, and Jelly Belly is no different. The perfectly named Belly Flops taste great but are weirdly shaped, stuck together or too small, and just don’t measure up to the high Jelly Belly standards.

 

Jelly Belly jellybean flavors of toothpaste rotten egg and skunk spray

Photo: Tim Baker

Beware! Not all Jelly Bellys are delicious. These flavors are exactly what they claim to be! Many are used in a game sold here, called BeanBoozled, in which tasty jellybeans and downright disgusting ones are the same color. Pick wrong and you’ll regret it. If you’re feeling adventurous, try the special assortment of Harry Potter Bertie Bott’s Every Flavour Beans, with a mix of vomit, sausage, earwax, dirt and soap among others. You may never enjoy a licorice jellybean again for fear it might be skunk spray. You are warned!

 

Jelly Belly factory

Photo: Tim Baker

You’ll find plenty of parking at the main entrance at One Jelly Belly Lane in Fairfield, California. ATTENTION, DADS: Anheuser-Busch is about a mile from Jelly Belly and offers tours of its own. Must be 21.

 

Jelly Belly factory

Photo: Tim Baker

A chocolate shop in the lobby makes chocolate-covered bacon.

 

Jelly Belly factory with boys tasting bacon chocolate

Photo: Tim Baker

Charlie and Doug love bacon and they love chocolate, so this should be a no-brainer.

 

 

Jelly Belly factory with boys who didn't like bacon chocolate

Photo: Tim Baker

Turns out, just because you love bacon and chocolate doesn’t necessarily mean you love chocolate-covered bacon. The verdict? “Yuck.”

 

What great family activities have you found on your own trips?

Costa Rica white faced capuchin monkey

Best Activities for Children in Costa Rica

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Question:

Wendy,

My siblings and I are considering a family vacation to Costa Rica during spring break next April. There may be 8 to 12 children, ranging in age from 6 to 18, and we’d probably go for 7 to 8 nights.

There seems to be so much to do in Costa Rica. Do you have any suggestions that won’t break the bank for this animal- and nature-loving group?

—Priscilla O.

 

Answer:

Costa Rica is a popular destination for families, packed as it is with outdoor adventures that work for a variety of ages. Sadly, I haven’t made it there with my own kids yet. So, to get an answer for you, I turned to the Costa Rica experts from my WOW List, who have plenty of advice for large family groups. A first and foremost tip for this family in particular, but that will ring true for many travelers: Go to fewer places and spend more time in each place. Travel within Costa Rica is expensive—unless you take public transportation, which most Americans find too challenging. Furthermore, packing up and moving is a hassle. Twelve kids and, say, 6 to 8 adults: That’s 18 to 20 chances to leave something important in the last place you stayed. Also, the longer you stay in one place, the more you can get to know the locals.

Here are suggested activities for large family groups:

 

Costa Rica kids getting ready for white water rafting

Courtesy Costa Rica Expeditions

Whitewater rafting

Costa Rica is a narrow country just 10 degrees north of the equator, with a spine of mountains down the middle. This makes for world-class rivers for all ages and levels of difficulty, with dramatic tropical scenery and warm water. Rafting in general is a wonderful activity for kids. You learn teamwork, and how to overcome obstacles and challenges, yet there is very little danger. Costa Rica’s ideal conditions make it even better.

 

Looking for monkeys in the rainforest

Monkeys are hard enough to find in the forest that everyone will be excited when you see your first ones. There are four species of monkeys in Costa Rica: howler, spider, squirrel, and white-faced capuchin. Visitors who want to see monkeys and are willing to keep looking almost always see at least one species, though few visitors see all four. No matter how many species you see, learn about them all. What are the differences in their personalities, their families, their diets?

 

Surfing

Advances in surfboard design have made learning to surf much easier and safer than it used to be. Costa Rica has ideal waves for learning and good instructors all along the Pacific Coast. My favorite surf spots for kids are Nosara and Playa Grande. Another reason that Costa Rica is a great place to learn to surf is, as with rafting, warm water. There is something about friendly water that makes learning swift water sports a lot more pleasant.

 

Watching turtles nesting on the beaches of Tortuguero National Park

Visitors can actually stand a few feet from a 300-pound Green Sea Turtle while she lays 80 to 100 eggs, covers up her nest, perhaps digs a false nest to throw off predators, and, finally, after more than an hour, returns to the sea. No one ever forgets the experience. The season is June through October. During the peak months of July and August you have about an 85% chance of observing such nesting.

 

Helping local kids learn English

For children on vacation, nothing is as potentially valuable for them as consciously contributing to the places they visit. We have a program at Tortuga Lodge called the Word Adventure, in which guests help local kids learn English.

 

Zip-lining

Almost without fail, parents who are planning a family vacation want to include a zip line in their itinerary. There are a few things to keep in mind:

  • When determining which children can go, it’s more about weight than age. We use the guideline of minimum 70lbs but that is not always right, because the harness has to fit properly on the child. So if the harness doesn’t fit, they can’t do the zip line.
  • When kids are small and light, even when the harness fits properly, they usually will have to go in tandem with a guide. Parents often insist that they want to be the ones to zip with their child, but that’s not a good idea; their child is much safer with a guide.
  • As with any adventure sport, it’s a good idea to check a company’s safety record or their recommendations beforehand. (Neither is easy to do). Of the hundreds of zip lines available in Costa Rica, we only work with a handful. They were approved because they were built correctly and they are operated to safety standards by their guides.

 

Have a travel question for Wendy? Send it to her here.

 

 

Lake Burton Georgia

July 4th Weekend Getaway Ideas: Small Towns that Are Big on Charm

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Wow, July 4th weekend is already upon us, and we want to know where you’re headed for Independence Day. To help you make a quick getaway, Wendy has already revealed (to her husband’s dismay) her family’s favorite 4th of July small-town escape. Which made us wonder which small towns are calling to you. We asked friends and fans on Facebook (many of whom are in the travel business themselves) to share their picks for great small-town July 4th weekend getaways, and here’s what they had to say. Be sure to share your own picks in the comments below.

 

Lake Burton, Georgia

Reader Chris McGinnis, who’s also the expert behind TravelSkills, is off to Lake Burton, in Georgia’s lake-dotted Rabun County. “There’s a fun boozy flotilla of boats at sunset, then fireworks!” he says. The sparklers, shot off Billy Goat Island, have been a tradition here for more than 25 years.

 

Laurel, Montana

Laurel Montana July 4th parade

Laurel puts on a popular July 4th parade and the largest fireworks display in Montana.  Photo: Courtesy Laurel Chamber of Commerce

Facebook fan Lisa Orr says, “I’m headed home to Laurel, MT, where they go all out for the 4th. There is a street dance on the 3rd, a parade, and the best fireworks in the state!” Those fireworks are the largest display in the state, in fact, and according to the city government, 5,000 to 10,000 people travel to Laurel every year to see them. The Independence Day festivities aren’t the only attraction in the area: Billings is just 13 miles away, the Lewis and Clark landmark Pompeys Pillar is 40 miles away (Clark himself was the reason the town was created in the first place), the site of Custer’s last stand is 77 miles away, and four of Yellowstone National Park’s entrances are within a one- to three-hour drive. But Lisa probably knows all of this already—she’s a Montana vacation rental specialist with Mountain Home.

 

Langhorne Borough, Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania's Langhorne Borough

Pennsylvania’s Langhorne Borough is on the National Register of Historic Places.  Photo: Kari C. Thomas

This tiny historic village is home to just 1,600 people and spans only one square mile, but it packs in more than 300 years of history: George Washington’s soldiers occupied four buildings in town after crossing the Delaware, and many Revolutionary War soldiers were buried in a now-protected site. The borough is on the National Historic Register of Places and makes a fitting destination for Independence Day: “As our town was part of the American war for independence,” says reader Donna Thomas, “it is the perfect place to be.”

 

South Padre Island, Texas

South Padre Island Texas

South Padre Island is in the Gulf of Mexico, off the coast of Texas.  Photo: Courtesy City of South Padre Island Convention & Visitors Bureau

For beach time, Facebook fan Darlene Fiske hightails it to this barrier island off the southeastern tip of Texas. Fireworks go off every summer weekend, including July 4th, of course, when you’ll also spot a procession of revelers parading down the beach. The rest of the holiday weekend can be spent taking in the island’s usual offerings: surfing, fishing, kiteboarding, sandcastle workshops and contests, swimming in the Gulf of Mexico, or just soaking up the sun.

 

Bar Harbor, Maine

Bar Harbor Maine July 4th Parade

Bagpipers play in the annual July 4th parade in Bar Harbor, Maine.  Photo: Courtesy Mount Desert Islander

Where else but Maine would you celebrate Independence Day with lobster races? As Janet K. Keeler, food and travel editor of The Tampa Bay Times, told us on Facebook, the crustacean competitions are one of her favorite reasons to spend the holiday in this small town on Mount Desert Island. But Bar Harbor’s July 4th activities include much more: a blueberry pancake breakfast, a seafood festival, a concert series, and of course a float-filled parade and fireworks extravaganza. The town’s island location means there is plenty of water and beach fun to keep you busy between events, and a large part of Acadia National Park is right on the island too, so you can escape for some peaceful hiking and biking when you want to be reminded first-hand of America’s natural beauty.

 

Duck, North Carolina

Duck North Carolina Outer Banks July 4th parade

Even canines show off their patriotism during the July 4th parade in Duck, North Carolina.  Photo: Courtesy Outer Banks Visitors Bureau

Outer Banks fans are closely watching the weather forecast this year to see if Tropical Storm Arthur is going to ruin their 4th of July plans. If it stays dry, this North Carolina stretch of beaches will be packed come the weekend. And while there are many popular destinations in this area, our Facebook friend Vivian Deuschl says the charming small-town beach resort of Duck is where she’ll be spending the holiday. “It has a great old-fashioned mini parade [with] wagons full of kids; dogs in red, white, and blue collars; and a real feel.”

What’s your favorite small town for July 4th, or for any weekend getaway?

 

Be a smarter traveler: Follow Wendy Perrin on Facebook and Twitter @wendyperrin and sign up for her weekly newsletter to stay in the know.

Disney Wonder cruise ship

Why My Most Relaxing Vacation Was a Disney Cruise

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I needed a vacation. A real one where I didn’t spend the entire trip checking email or racing around with a giant sightseeing to-do list.  I needed to relax. Clear my mind. Soothe my soul. Do nothing but stare at the sea and read novels for a week.

Disney Wonder

A docked Disney Wonder

When your occupation is travel journalist, there’s really no such thing as vacation unless you stay home. So the fact that I managed to achieve my goal of relaxation surprises everyone who knows me. Even more surprising is where I achieved it: on a Disney cruise. Yes, I admit it: I chose a 2,700-passenger floating Romper Room plying a pedestrian itinerary from Los Angeles to Mexico as the setting for the restoration of my soul. And I chose it precisely because I had zero interest in any of the ports or anything Disney. This ensured nothing would tempt me from my cabin balcony. Nothing. I could hide from the world for a week with an endless expanse of ocean and sky and a stack of books by my side.

Disney Wonder cruise ship cabin

Our cabin for four

Relaxing Disney Cruise 4

The view from my balcony

Key to the attainment of my goal was the fact that my travel companions were obsessed with everything Disney. This guaranteed me plenty of alone time on my balcony with no pangs of parental remorse: My kids (then seven and nine) would be kept occupied by the supervised children’s programs all day long. Disney counselors would even feed them lunch and dinner in the kids’ club. I wouldn’t even have to leave my balcony for my own meals; I could order room service. The only thing that might pry me from my veranda? The opportunity for moonlit deck strolls with my husband. We could have seven “date nights” if we wanted—one for every night of the cruise. All for $3,335 for my family of four (including the aforementioned room service and supervised kids’ club).

For the first few days of the cruise, all went according to plan. I sank into my deck chair, allowing the vast emptiness of the landscape to seep into the thicket of my mind and start clearing a path toward that hard-to-reach place called Relaxation. It helps that the ocean as viewed from a moving ship tends to mesmerize. The sea stretching to the horizon line is always the same yet always changing: You never know where the next white cap, leaping dolphin, or passing ship is going to pop up. The continual forward movement through the water aids the flow and fruitfulness of my internal reflections. Whatever work-related anxieties I’ve brought with me on vacation, the sheer overpowering force of the ocean makes them seem small by comparison. Yes, the ocean tends to push my worries away. Okay, the ocean and the kids’ club.

Disney Wonder

Kids collect characters’ signatures

I managed to read four books on my balcony and achieve more serenity than I had in years. But then on Day 5 something happened that I hadn’t planned on: My kids, jazzed from all the excitement whipped up by the giant floating Disney infomercial outside our cabin door, wanted to share their favorite finds with me. How could I say no? And that’s how I was suddenly yanked off my balcony and sucked into the shipboard vortex of at least one hundred daily activities—from Ratatouille Cooking School to Glitter Mania to Marshmallow Olympics—that, to my mind, negated the entire purpose of being on the ocean but, for my kids, constituted Nirvana. I was dragged to a “character breakfast” where we posed for photos with Mickey, Minnie, et al. I was pulled into Goofy’s Pool for outdoor movies like Swiss Family Robinson shown on a jumbotron the size of our house. Pretty soon I found myself succumbing to the Disney spell in spite of myself. Once I’d seen one of the technologically astonishing stage shows—namely, “The Golden Mickeys,” perhaps best described as an Oscars ceremony for six-year-olds—it became impossible to skip the rest. By the end of the cruise, I was cheering on my older son in the “Who Wants To Be A Mouseketeer?” game show and scouring the ship on a mission to snag Daisy Duck’s autograph for my youngest.

Disney Wonder cruise ship shuffleboard

Kids get to play shuffleboard.

Disney Wonder cruise ship kids activities

Kids get to be in performances.

Disney Wonder

Kids get to be in game shows.

Disney Wonder cruise ship party

The “Pirates in the Caribbean Night” was a deafening pool-deck dance party.

Disney Wonder cruise ship party

Pandemonium in the atrium

Disney Wonder cruise ship party

It was like New Year’s Eve in Times Square—for six-year-olds.

The insanity culminated in “Pirates in the Caribbean Night,” a deafening pool-deck dance party—this time it was New Year’s Eve in Times Square for six-year-olds—where the emcee whipped the crowd into a frenzy with shouts of “Make some noise!” and “Let’s go crazy!” The multitude attempted to boogie with giant chipmunks Chip and Dale while Mickey zip-lined from one smokestack to another to rescue the ship from the clutches of Captain Hook. A colossal fireworks display (leave it to Disney to land permission to launch fireworks from a ship) was then followed by a buffet featuring 27 different types of dessert. At 10:30 pm. For a thousand kids under age 12. Insanity.

Any time I needed to escape the vortex, though, all I had to do was return to my cabin balcony for instant serenity and solitude. In the end, my vacation was more high-energy than I had planned but, given my need to balance the conflicting desires of a family of four, it was about as therapeutic as I could have hoped for. I might just do it again.

 

Seeking the right family cruise?

Other cruise ships that I have road-tested with my family include:

Disney Cruise Line’s Disney Dream

Norwegian Cruise Line’s Norwegian Star

Royal Caribbean’s Navigator of the Seas

Be a smarter traveler: Use Wendy’s WOW List to plan your next trip. You can also follow her on Facebook and Twitter @wendyperrin, and sign up for her weekly newsletter to stay in the know.