Cruises+for+Kids

Cruises for Kids: An Unexpected Value

It isn’t unusual for people to think of taking a cruise as an unobtainable luxury. The truth is that if you add up all you spend on other vacations, cruising is actually a better value. There are even special rates and deals for families with kids.

For a very inexpensive cruise deal, contact Discovery Cruise Lines. They offer a one day cruise from Florida to the Bahamas and back. You can choose to stay overnight on the island. If you do, you complete your round trip on the next day. The price for the complete trip is less than one hundred dollars for adults and about half that for kids.

Bahamas trips are often good deals for family cruise vacations. The weather is warm and usually sunny. There are plenty of activities for adults and youngsters alike. Besides all this, there are good prices on trips to the Bahamas.

To find the best deals, you could go to the usual travel comparison websites. Hotwire, Orbitz, or Expedia might have good rates. For cruises, there are special travel comparison websites devoted especially to that form of vacation.

Some of the discounts available are for last-minute markdowns. If you want to take advantage of these, you will need to be ready to travel without much notice. There are also discounts for those who can book their cruise at least ninety days in advance.

If you do book in advance, you will want to get travel insurance. Childhood illnesses can ruin the best made plans. With kids involved there can be all sorts of complications. So, it is only good sense to protect yourself. It won’t be such a good deal if you lose all or most of the money you have put down.

If you want to use a particular cruise line, ask if they have child rates. If they don’t, then ask them if they have good rates for third and fourth cabin mates. These are usually from fifty to eighty percent off the standard fare. In many cases, this is as good as or better than a so-called child rate.

Contact Disney Cruises to find out what discounts they have available. They are a kid-friendly organization. They offer kids’ rates for children twelve and under. Sometimes they have promotions where the rates are even lower than usual.

There are incentives, such as onboard credits, for booking a cruise online with Disney. They also offer family reunion packages that come with special rates. Vacationers with family reunions also get reunion t-shirts and other perks.

Some cruise lines offer kids-cruise-free promotions from time to time. Kids under two go free on many cruise lines any time. Some lines give special discounts for teens traveling in their own cabin when their parents’ cabin is next door.

One area of price difference among the different cruise lines is the amount you pay for refreshments. On some cruises, all the kids’ soft drinks are complimentary. Some get a card or wristband ID to get drinks for a nominal fee for the entire cruise. This can be priced at fewer than ten dollars to over forty for a seven-day cruise.

Going on a cruise with your kids isn’t really any more of an extravagance than many other vacations if you add it all up. You also get the advantage of beautiful destinations. And, if you look for the specials, you can have the experience for even less.