Cruises offer a range of family-friendly activities and a sea of destination choices throughout Europe and the Caribbean
Choosing the right family vacation to keep both parents and kids happy can be a challenge. For those parents seeking an alternative to the traditional summer road trip or week by the seashore, a cruise might be just the solution. In fact, a cruise was the top vacation choice for the “perfect summer trip” in a 2005 National Geographic Kids survey that polled 401 children ages eight to 14.
Three member lines of the Niche Cruise Marketing Alliance are offering unique theme cruise experiences during 2006 ranging from garden tours to equestrian excursions and musical extravaganzas.
Peter Deilmann Cruises is expanding its European garden theme cruises this year on its river ships sailing the Danube, Dutch and Belgian Canals, Seine, Rhone and Elbe rivers and on the ocean liner Deutschland sailings on the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean and Baltic seas.
Norwegian Cruise Line is offering a three-in-one cruise that takes in Bermuda, the Bahamas and the Caribbean, as well as two days in New York.
This new cruise, which has been dubbed ´the BBC´ by NCL, features two back-to-back six and eight night cruises out of New York.
Travelocity launched a program where it will staff its own hospitality desk on about 40 sailings this year with Celebrity Cruises, Crystal Cruises and Holland America Line on routes to Alaska, Hawaii, Canada/New England, Mexico, the Caribbean, the Panama Canal and Europe with the first sailings departing this month.
The hospitality desk for the Travelocity Onboard Program is designed to service only passengers who booked through Travelocity, said Cathy Dooling, Travelocity´s cruise marketing manager.
The Travelocity employee on each sailing will serve as a liaison to the cruise line, will help with issues like transfers, recommend shore excursions, and be able to book future cruises for Travelocity clients, Dooling said.
Free round-trip Economy Class air transportation from select East Coast cities will make it more attractive for U.S. travelers to experience the serene majesty of the Norwegian fjord lands or the treasures of grand Baltic cities this summer.
The promotion is offered by Discovery World Cruises in conjunction with 10 Northern Europe cruises round-trip from Harwich, England. Each voyage is packaged with a two-night hotel stay in London prior to departure.
Carnival Corporation CEO Micky Arison announced that Carnival will donate $2.5 million of his bonus to the Hurricane Katrina relief efforts.
In a Securities and Exchange Commission filing on February 24, Carnival said it paid Arison a $2.9 million bonus for fiscal 2005, up from $2.5 million the year before. Meanwhile, Arison´s salary increased from $700,000 to $800,000.