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.

$500 Shipboard Credit in Tahiti

Book your cruise by the end of July on Paul Gaughin and receive up to $500 to spend onboard, plus reduced deposits!  Eligible voyages include a number of seven- to 14-night sailings through gorgeous Tahiti, the Cook Islands and Society Islands.  The cruise line’s Stewards of Nature program is also available on select cruises in summer and winter break for children and teens ages 7-17 and their families.  This is a joint program with the Wildlife Conservation Society with an emphasis on marine biology.  The program must be reserved at time of booking and may carry an added fee.

Healthy Dining for Children at Sea

Costa Cruises is making healthy dining fun for its youngest guests.  The line has revamped its menus and even incorporated an educational card game into the mix.  The new menus are influenced by the principles of a Mediterranean diet, while the card game aims to teach your children about proper nutrition and the value of making the right food choices. Pasta, fruits and vegetables are the main components of the new menu with seven menu options available daily. Each is identified by a special name: Red Planet, Yellow Planet, White Planet, Purple Planet, Green Planet, Hidden Treasure and Rainbow.  Along with their menu choice, the children will receive a package of ten playing cards. Illustrated by a famous Italian cartoonist, the cards contain characters representing fruit and vegetable colors. Children can collect and exchange all the cards (a total of 85) with each other.

MSC Updates Family Programs

MSC Cruises has launched a new family excursion program designed to get parents and children working together to discover all there is to see in ports around Europe.  The Family Explorer Club tours, which are available in select ports in the Mediterranean and Northern Europe, are interactive tours where you children act as detectives and explorers to accomplish a unique mission in each port of call.  Your family will be equipped with interactive explorer maps. For every task completed, the children get a sticker to take home as a souvenir. Tasks might include playing games and solving riddles.  Inspired by the history of the destination, the tours feature an iconic historical character as part of the storyline; they also include trained guides and an official storyteller to lend assistance as needed.  Children pay half-price and the excursion is made up entirely of families. The excursions typically start later in the morning and last no longer than three to four hours, so that children do not get too tired.  Also the new MSC Seaview will begin sailing the Caribbean next month with a range of interactive games and other activities for children of all ages including a new interactive live family show; the Doremi Summer Game, where parents and children can challenge each other to name popular songs and videos; and the Doremi Summer Parade, which will take place every sea day on the pool deck. Teenagers will also be able to participate in the Summer Selfie Contest, which will involve taking 30 must-have ‘selfies’ around the ship.

RCCL’s Ship within a Ship

Royal Caribbean has confirmed it will introduce an all-suite, separate elevator-access suite complex on its next cruise ship, Spectrum of the Seas following in the footsteps of Norwegian and MSC Cruises.  In a first for the line, Royal’s first “Quantum Ultra” class of ship — set to launch next spring — will feature a dedicated suite zone that will include a private pool, sun deck and restaurant for suite passengers only. The ship will also feature the Ultimate Family Suite, which debuted on Symphony of the Seas; the Sky Pad, a virtual realty bungee trampoline experience that debuted on Independence of the Seas; and one large main dining room, as opposed to four on previous Quantum-class ships.

Exploring the Amazon

Save up to 50% on the second person in your cabin on the Iberostar Grand Amazon.  Children 8 and older are welcome on this upscale river cruise through the Brazilian Amazon for a nature adventure of a lifetime!  The promotion is valid for bookings made by December 24 for travel through December 30 (providing a rather unique winter break getaway).  The cruise begins in Manaus and includes guided walks, motorboat excursions through the Jaraqui and Ariau regions, swimming with pink dolphins and more.  The ship features 75 water view cabins and suites, spa, gym, pool, whirlpool and showcases Brazilian food and entertainment.  Choose from 3-, 4- and 7-night sailings along the Negro and Amazon Rivers.

RCCL Renovations

During the next four years, Royal Caribbean International will inject new life into 10 of its cruise ships through a $900 million investment that will begin with Independence of the Seas and Mariner of the Seas.  The Royal Amplified program will touch every facet of the passenger experience on all Freedom-class and Voyager-class ships, as well as on the Oasis and Allure of the Seas. Ships will be amped up with waterslides and waterparks, as well as new attractions like an Escape Room, Sky Pad (a virtual reality, bungee trampoline experience) and Battle for Planet Z laser tag experience. Royal Caribbean will also roll out some of its recently unveiled dining venues onto more ships and add new bar and entertainment options such as a music hall, karaoke spot and lounge-style nightclub.  Check in with us on the cruise line’s latest promotional rates!

Perfect Day Island Collection

Royal Caribbean recently announced exciting plans to develop private islands around the world called the Perfect Day Island Collection.  The cruise line expects to include islands in Asia, Australia and the Caribbean. The program will start with the upcoming relaunch of CocoCay in the Bahamas.   The private island is receiving a $200 million upgrade that includes a pair of water towers with 13 water slides, an aquatic obstacle course for children and the Caribbean’s largest freshwater pool.  Other notable additions include a 1,600-foot zipline with a water landing and Up, Up and Away, a helium balloon that will soar up to 450 feet to provide a bird’s-eye view of the blue Bahamian waters.  The beach areas are also being redone with cabanas, daybeds and lots of new activities such as volleyball, glass-bottom kayaking and zorbing in an inflatable zorb ball.  A more upscale venue, Coco Beach Club, will offer what RCCL says are the first overwater cabanas in the Bahamas.  The current timetable calls for some of the features to open this September with the majority open by spring of 2019 and Coco Beach Club by November 2019.