IF YOU’RE considering a family holiday with a difference, why not consider a cruise? In the second part of our two-part guide to planning a family holiday at sea we give an overview of the children’s’ programmes available on some of the most popular lines.
Carnival Cruise Lines
Carnival Cruise Lines is the leader in family cruising and offers Camp Carnival – a popular, year-round children’s programme, designed to include a wide range of fun activities for every age group, from age two through teens. Carnival claims that its 80 counsellors are carefully chosen for their education and experience in child care and it is well used to hosting more than 100,000 kids a year aboard its 10 special Fun Ships.
Celebrity Cruise Line
Celebrity Cruises offer the Celebrity X-Club Youth Programme– a full compliment of age-specific activities and entertainment all year round. Children can learn about science and nature or participate in a full menu of activities, including talent shows, treasure hunts, dinner parties and more. Special areas of the ship are even set aside for “children only,” such as the Shipmates Fun Factory, teen centres and pools.
Disney Cruise Line
The Disney Cruise Line is an obvious and great choice for a family cruise. Step onto a Disney ship and you’ll discover an awesome world of Disney-style activities for cruisers of all ages. There are themed areas and trained counsellors to help kids up to the age of 12 join in with hands-on fun, while teenagers can enjoy special areas designed just for them.
Princess Cruise Line
Princess operates youth programmes on Royal, Tahitian or Pacific Princess liners, with everything from arts and crafts corners, game tables, movies and splash pools to Teen Centres with jukeboxes and all the latest video games. Teens also have their own ‘Remix’ lounges. In addition, children travelling on the Grand and Golden Princess have their own deck space complete with a whale’s tail splash pool and a separate hot tub and deck area.
Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL)
Norwegian claims that its ships are a place where you can unwind, while your kids are just winding up, thanks to the NCL and NCL America’s Kids’ Crew and Teens’ Crew programmes, which are custom designed for toddlers, teens and everyone in between.
Royal Caribbean Cruise Line
Royal Caribbean International focuses heavily on family cruising and offers all kinds of activities onboard, from the rock wall to the Adventure Ocean and Fisher-Price kids’ programmes, there’s always something fun to do. And, when the ship is in port, there are explorations! Shore excursions turn every destination into a family-friendly adventure.
So, what are you waiting for? Whether you have toddlers, school age kids or teenagers, the big cruise lines are queuing up to cater to your every whim. Call us at PDM and we’ll help you to find the best deals on winter cruises.
Cape Verde Championed
THE PORTUGUESE speaking islands of Cape Verde, described as “unspoilt, uncrowded and rugged – much like the Canary Islands were 20 years ago”, are being tipped as a must-visit winter sun destination. Travel expert John Bevan is championing the West African destination: “We believe that the islands are going to be huge this year as people continue to look for new, fresh travel ideas, as well as the option to just relax on beautiful white, sandy beaches,” he says.
Overall, the travel industry is expecting a move towards long-haul destinations for winter breaks in 2006-07, with Mexico, the Dominican Republic, the Maldives, Mauritius, Gambia, Kenya and Thailand among the hotly tipped destinations. Safari trips are also tipped to be particularly good value this winter.
Other travel predictions and results:
•The biggest-selling package holiday destination in summer 2006 was Sharm el Sheikh in Egypt, followed by Corfu, Majorca and the Greek island of Rhodes.
•Agadir in Morocco was the fastest-growing package holiday destination in summer 2006.
•The best-selling build-your-own holiday destination in summer 2006 was Paris followed by Prague, Barcelona, Amsterdam and Rome.
•Marrakech in Morocco was the fastest-growing flight-only destination in summer 2006.
London rates rise
HOTELS IN London charged an average of just over 100 pounds sterling a night during August. This was the highest figure for that month since 2000 and 8.1 per cent more than in August last year, when many travellers cancelled their reservations following the bombings in July. In the regions, rates in August rose 3.2 per cent to 66.17 pounds sterling, according to the hotel consultancy group PKF.
Hot up your holiday
IT SEEMS we are happy to lose our inhibitions on holiday, with one person in 10 questioned in a recent survey by Carrentals admitting that they would try naturism. Six per cent are tempted by speed dating and five per cent would opt for a tour of lap-dancing bars.
Help, s’il vous plait!
GETTING LOST is an occupational hazard for weekend breakers to Paris, but now, guests at the Hotel Le Bristol in Paris are able to hire a hand-held GPS device to help them find their way around.
PSP city guides
A RANGE of city guides has been launched for Sony’s PlayStation Portables. The computer games company has joined forces with Lonely Planet to create ‘Passport To’ guides to six European destinations.
Fuel surcharge cut
KLM ROYAL Dutch Airlines has cut its fuel surcharge by five euros on intercontinental flights and by one euro on all intra-European flights, following a fall in oil prices.
