Galapagos Glamping with Celebrity

Celebrity Cruises’ new yacht designed exclusively for the Galapagos Islands, Celebrity Flora, will sail with a unique camping experience.  It will take place on the top deck and allow your family to dine, drink, and sleep under the night sky.  Four guests per night will be able to book the experience and participate in this one-night-only adventure.  There is an added cost.  The reservations include two cabanas, one fitted for sleeping, and the other for enjoying a full alfresco meal from wine to s’mores plus a sunrise breakfast.  Galapagos Glamping was created to bring your family closer than ever to this destination and a naturalist will also be available to highlight the stars and constellations.  Celebrity Flora will make her debut sailing on May 26, 2019 and is available for booking through 2020.  Book early for the best availability!

Regent’s Youth Fares

Regent Seven Seas Cruises is offering special youth rates on 77 different Alaska and European sailings in 2019 and 2020.  Children age 17 and under can sail FREE on select sailings or for as little as $499 on others when sailing from May to September. Regent’s Club Mariner Youth Program will be aboard the sailings where children ages five to 17 can participate in a range of specialized enrichment activities that educate them on European and Alaskan culture, wildlife and nature, and include games and movie nights.  And with Regent, your excursions are included!  Choose from a variety of outdoor adventures in Alaska such as rafting down the Mendenhall River, hiking through the Tongass Rainforest and ocean rafting with wildlife viewing.  Cultural and active adventures also abound in Europe such as walking the city walls in Dubrovnik, a baroque music concert in Venice with musicians dressed in period costumes, exploring the amazing ruins at Ephesus and an evening of song and dance in St. Petersburg.

Rolling Stone Rock Room

Holland America Line literally plans to rock the boat.  It unveiled the upcoming Rolling Stone Rock Room in a partnership with the music magazine; a fun and entertaining experience for the entire family.  As part of the new Music Walk area on HAL’s Nieuw Statendam and Koningsdam ships later this year, Rolling Stone Rock Room will be a live rock club venue with a live band playing classic rock anthems.  The live playlist will be inspired by magazine’s top song lists.  “Classic rock appeals to people across generations because the music is universal, and Rolling Stone Rock Room will bring another incredible live music venue to our ships,” said Orlando Ashford, president of Holland America Line.

Backroads Celebration Cruise

How does European biking + river cruise sound?  Backroads is offering a full-ship charter—otherwise known as the Full-Ship Celebration River Cruise—for two departures on the Danube and one on the Douro in 2019 (including departures for Families with Older Teens & 20s), and three on the Danube and three on the Douro in 2020. During these cruises, 100 to 150 biking enthusiasts will come together on one of the largest active group tours in the world!  The Danube sailings will take place on the new and wider AmaMagna while the Douro sailings will be on the AmaVida.  Every Backroads river cruise trip features the same experience as traditional Backroads adventures and includes four or more Trip Leaders on ship and ashore. Backroads bike tours also feature custom-designed titanium bikes for all rider types and include fully loaded GPS routes.  More than 120 different river cruise departures in total are scheduled for 2019 and 2020.

Explore Patagonia

Sail through the fjords at the end of the world this winter break!  Australis Cruises is once again offering their December in Family promotion.  This is an ideal time to experience Chile, Argentina and scenic Patagonia.  One child age 16 and under sails free when sharing the cabin with at least one adult. Cruise one way for four nights or round-trip for eight nights between Punta Arenas, Chile, and Ushuaia, Argentina and explore the heart of Patagonia’s scenic beauty and glaciers with all of your excursions included. Go in search of whales and wildlife, explore up close on small craft excursions and walk ashore in the company of expert naturalist guides.  The Stella and Ventus Australis are sister ships that sail with only 210 guests.  Your cruise must be booked by November 30.

Children Sail Free in Alaska

Oceania Cruises is offering an Alaska Special Family Offer for 2019 sailings.  The third and fourth guest in your cabin age 17 and under sail for free! The promotion is available on select voyages on the Regatta in June, July and August.  The ship will sail round-trip from Seattle or one way from Seattle to Vancouver (or reverse) for 7 to 14 days.  Visit ports such as Sitka, Juneau, Ketchikan, Skagway, Victoria, Prince Rupert and Icy Straight along with time in the Inside Passage and Hubbard Glacier.  Oceania is an upscale cruise line and the ship sails with only about 700 passengers.  No children’s programming on board or fancy bells and whistles.  This is a more intimate Alaska cruise ship experience with naturalists on board, excellent dining options, spa, gym and more.

Vlogging and More with MSC

MSC Cruises wants to upgrade your family’s social media skills!  They have introduced a brand-new content master class to teach you how to capture the best vacation snaps and videos with the help of vlogger Luciano Spinelli. In this video series, Spinelli gives hints and tips on creating polished Instagram photos and expertly scripted and filmed YouTube videos. He also will introduce Musical.ly, the lip synch app, as part of the children’s programming on board.  MSC Cruises also announced that Kelly & Kloe, the cruise line’s successful children’s web series, will return with five new episodes later this year.  Every episode is based on scripts created by children on board.  Also for Halloween, special activities such as fun quizzes, ghoulish make-up sessions and a Halloween talent show will be showcased fleet wide.  Other family-friendly programming on board includes the LEGO Experience, a sports program and cooking classes for children as well as baby and toddler activities.  You will also find aqua parks and pools, bowling alleys, F1 simulators and XD cinemas and the Family Explorer Club, a tailor-made shore excursion program to meet the needs of the whole family which we showcased recently in our newsletter.

Children Free on the Yangzte

During the shoulder season (March 17-31 and May 30-September 05, 2019), Sanctuary’s Yangtze Explorer allows children sharing a cabin with two adults to sail for free and a discounted rate if sharing with one adult.  This river cruise through the Three Gorges is a unique way to experience the natural beauty and culture of China.  The upscale and renovated ship sails with 124 passengers with a 1:1 crew to passenger ratio and spacious balcony suites.  On board you will find tai chi lessons; tea ceremonies; classes in Chinese medicine, acupuncture and reflexology; dumpling making and calligraphy classes as well as special children’s activities.  There is also a spa, gym and daily lectures about what you will see and experience along the river.  A variety of excursions are also included at each stop including a ride on a traditional longboat called a sampan, visiting the Three Gorges Dan and a visit with an indigenous community.   Choose from 3-night downstream or 4-night upstream sailings.   We can add other destinations in China (and Asia) to create a completely custom trip for your family!

Disney Cruise Holidays

Disney Cruise Line recently unveiled plans for its holiday sailings for Thanksgiving, Christmas and Hanukkah. Starting on early November, the ships  will feature a wonderful variety of unique holiday experiences (as well as some traditional ones) including:

Mickey’s Tree-Lighting Magic: This is a tree-lighting in the atrium lobby on the first night of the cruise, where Disney characters lead holiday carols and the lighting of the glittering, three-deck-tall tree.

Santa’s Winter Wonderland Ball: Welcome the guests of honor, Santa and Mrs. Claus, with a grand celebration featuring Broadway-style entertainment, favorite Disney characters and classic holiday tunes. This evening is made complete when a special pair of royal sisters joins the party and causes a flurry of “frozen” fun as a magical snowfall overtakes the atrium.

Deck the Deck Holiday Party: This is a tropical celebration with Disney friends leading games such as hula hooping and limbo under oversized candy canes, along with dances for the whole family like the “Yuletide Slide” and a conga line around the pool.

Thanksgiving Day: Your family will enjoy a Thanksgiving Day feast and visits from Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse dressed in traditional Thanksgiving attire. Also during the special Thanksgiving voyages, NFL football games will be broadcast live on the ships’ outdoor jumbo LED screens, Funnel Vision, located near the family pool.

Christmas Morning: At the atrium lobby tree on Christmas day, Santa Claus and his helpers will have a surprise for all the children, and your family will delight in a special musical performance from the children. A traditional Christmas dinner will be served that night in the dining rooms.

Holiday Services: These will be held on Christmas Day with a midnight mass on Christmas Eve. Hanukkah services will be held each day, December 2-10.

Snow Flurries: When Disney ships stop at Disney’s private island in the Bahamas, Castaway Cay during the holidays, the celebration continues with “snow flurries,” a decked-out Christmas tree, Disney character meet-and-greets and holiday island music.

Tauck Holiday Rivercruise

Tauck has recently unveiled plans for a new family river cruise along the Danube over the 2019 holiday season.  The Holiday Magic: Danube Family River Cruise will feature two departures, on December 22 and December 23, 2019, sailing respectively on the Tauck Savor, sailing from Vienna to Munich via Budapest, and on Tauck Joy, cruising from Munich to Budapest.  Along the way your family will experience special holiday-themed activities, including a visit to Oberndorf, Austria (where the song Silent Night was written and first performed in 1818); a workshop highlighting traditional treats in Passau; and a European holiday dinner aboard the ship, which will be specially decorated for the season.  Your family can also enjoy an exclusive Imperial Evening inside a private Viennese palace, as well as medieval games and a scavenger hunt in Bratislava’s Old Town district, and a choice of excursions to the towns of Durnstein, Melk and Krems in the scenic Wachau Valley.