Cruises

Family vacation planning can be a challenge – with all the components you need to factor in, the different age groups you need to keep entertained, the disparate interests inherent in any family group, and the expense that seems to go up exponentially, it’s no wonder that package trips are so popular for traveling families. For those of you who prefer the idea of visiting more than one location during your vacation – but who don’t want to pack and unpack constantly or schlep an entire family’s worth of luggage from hotel to hotel – then a family cruise is a great option to consider.

Family cruises offer many of the same perks as an all-inclusive package trip – namely the idea of paying for many of the elements of your trip up front – and they have the added bonus of being floating hotels that transport you and your family to a new destination every day. You get to explore several places in one trip and you only unpack once.

Brilliant.

Here are some of the things you’ll want to keep in mind when you’re looking for a family cruise deal to make sure that you’re getting a good deal and that a cruise vacation is the right choice for your family.

When a friend told me she was going on a cruise for her honeymoon I asked her if she was kidding because it surely seemed funny to me. Many travelers think of cruises as the best option for the retired who have saved enough to travel the world; or for families who want to keep the kids busy while the parents (finally) have some time together. Before booking a cruise, do remember that in case you get bored or something else doesn’t work the way you want, you cannot cut the vacation short.

Since the cold weather has managed to settle in the Northern Hemisphere already, bring cold rains and gloomy days along with it, we cannot help but dream of a warm destination. But not many of us really want to spend a bunch of money on pampering ourselves. That’s where the deals come to the rescue. Save $400 when you stay at Disneyland® Resorts!
Book a 4 nt flight + hotel package incl. park tickets by 12/19/09.

Temperatures may be getting cooler outside, but deals on Caribbean vacations just keep heating up. With summer quickly fading, the leaves starting to change and fall officially making its arrival, prices in the Caribbean just keep getting cheaper. In fact, some prices on all-inclusive vacations have gotten so low, you’ll be practically SAVING money with all the included food and drinks at buffets and bars.

Cheap Caribbean is offering sale prices on some Caribbean getaways that start as low as $249 per person for 4 nights PLUS air. Yes, some of these vacation packages are really that cheap. In fact, Cheap Caribbean is offering savings up to 75% regular prices, making it possible to get rock-bottom prices on vacations to a variety of beautiful (and warm) locales in the Caribbean. SALE SEARCH Find your PERFECT vacation at an UNBEATABLE price

Unless you’ve been living in a fallout shelter for the past 18 months, you are quite aware that we are in an economic recession. And, with news swirling around about layoffs, failed businesses, foreclosures and more, it may be no surprise that the travel industry is also hurting. The result has been lower airfares and cut-rate hotel rooms. In fact, an article from the Business Standard reports that global hotel prices drop 17% to their lowest in 5 years—and hotels in Europe and the U.S. have been especially hard hit.

So, what does this mean for us? Now is actually a great time to take advantage of some stellar travel deals and travel. If you take advantage of some of the low prices on airfare to Europe, Priceline is now offering discounted hotel rooms at many European hotels. PricelineEurope.com – Discounted Hotels in 63 Countries Worldwide

I love to hate Las Vegas. Or should I say I hate to love Las Vegas? Maybe it’s a little bit of both. While Vegas is certainly the home of over-the-top excess, the capital of tacky and the definition of so many things I claim to dislike (especially in a travel destination) there is just something slightly irresistible about Vegas. Maybe it’s the lack of open container laws or social acceptance of day-light drinking, but despite the huge number of lakes and fountains in the desert, sky-high prices and Dinseyland for adults feeling, I have to admit Vegas is a whole lot of fun. From great shows to highly rated restaurants, adding on to the list of positives for Vegas lately have been some of the absolutely insane travel deals to Sin City that have been popping up pretty much everywhere lately.

A friend of mine got married last week, and while I enjoyed the ceremony and reception and thought she looked beautiful in her dress, the thing that really piqued my interest was how little the married couple spent on a 2 week honeymoon in Mexico.

As it turns out, fall is a great time to get some pretty outrageous deals on vacations in Mexico. With fall marking the shoulder season in Mexico, there are plenty of amazing autumn deals on all-inclusive vacations and more south of the border.

There’s been some awfully strange weather happening around the country this summer. From rain in New York to heat waves tipping thermometers into the triple digits in the Pacific Northwest, I have become increasingly convinced the apocalypse is soon upon us. Since the world is probably ending no later than 2012, I figure I may as well enjoy the last pleasant moments on earth on a tropical Caribbean beach somewhere. Especially with some of the great deals on Caribbean vacation packages out there right now, you don’t even really need to believe the apocalypse is upon us to pack your swimsuit and head for crystal clear waters and whit sand beaches. “SALE SEARCH Find your PERFECT vacation
at an UNBEATABLE price”

I am a big fan of a few things: finding that item you’ve wanted to ages is 50% off, multi-leg trips and extended vacations/travel and anything and everything that has to do with France—which is why the latest offer on Air France allowing free stopovers in Paris when you book a multi destination trip made me jump for joy. It knocks 2 things off of my above list right off, leaving me only to go in search if a killer outfit and marked down prices to make it a full trifecta of wonderful. Air France offers free stopovers in Paris.

You’re a city warrior who jogs in the smog and parties on work nights. You believe in playing as hard as you work, which is exactly why you are starting to think that a vacation to the beaches of Mexico might be exactly what you need to escape the daily grind. Or, if you’re like me, you keep hearing about and seeing some absolutely insane deals on vacation packages to Mexico that could have you sitting on a beach sipping on all-inclusive margaritas for a lot less than you imagined. Mexico airfare from $137