Both of my daughters are graduating in 2018! One from college and one from high school. My husband is also turning thee big 5-0. We’ve always forgone big vacations in order to pay for summer enrichment camps and college tuition. We’d like to take a nice family vacation to celebrate, but are torn between personal preferences. My husband prefers vacations with lots of activities (i.e.games and theme park rides), and I would be happy sitting on a beach (or a boat) with a good book and a tropical drink, and a little sight-seeing on the side. We’ve been so miserly, our girls don’t believe we are actually planning a big vacation, so they haven’t pitched any ideas.
Any vacation suggestions? Looking for maybe one-week options. All-inclusive suggestions would be nice to be able to budget.
Maybe a cruise would satisfy everyone? You can find them at all lengths and price points. There might be enough activity on the boat and excursions for your H and you would have time to relax.
We’ve never been on a cruise before. Any insider advice as to which cruise line? Is it better to go in summer? We’d have to go late June or July. Or in the winter around Christmas?
What about an all-inclusive? There are lots of options at lots of price points. Then your H can be as active as he’d like, and you can do your thing too. They often have fun shows at night, lots of different restaurants, and lots of arranged activities. You might get more traction on this if you request to move it to parent cafe.
@ready2launch That question is as subjective as food preferences. Of the common cruise lines, Princess, Royal Caribbean and Holland America will likely be the most expensive, followed by Norwegian, followed by Carnival. Disney tops them all as far as price goes!
IMHO, Carnival has the best food and three other families that have gone on other lines to enable them to compare, happened to agree.
We also feel like Carnival is the best fit for our family. Again, it’s so subjective, but some people say Carnival is the party cruise line, but I don’t even drink and never thought that for a moment. And if it is a big party all the time, we certainly were able to avoid it.
The costs will be the highest near holidays and summer, so if you can avoid going then, do so for cost savings. If you’re doing something south like the Caribbean, it will be extremely hot in the summer also. I prefer going in the winter, gets me out of the freezing cold to warm/hot weather, but not scorching.
Go to cruisecritic.com and check out their forums, you may feel overwhelmed but there is a huge presence there.
An Alaskan cruise could be a nice compromise. Stunning scenery, fun excursions at every port and the option to lounge around if you want. Can get very pricey when you add in excursions but definitely a trip of a lifetime.
Congratulations to your children! (And to you for getting them to this point!) I’m not a cruise person, but that really does sound ideal for your family’s interests.
We went on the Seven Seas Mariner, which is now owned by Regent, years ago with my husband’s company. It was very luxurious, not too large, with interesting excursions and plenty to do on board. I have no idea of the cost because our trip was free, but I can definitely recommend that ship.
Hawaii can meet all your needs. It has interesting things to do, beautiful beaches, natural wonders, historic sites, hiking, and snorkeling/boating/surfing for those so inclined. Not much in the way of theme parks, but otherwise great.
I am not a big cruise person, as I would rather be out and about and not have to wait in line to get on and off the ship, go on a bus to an excursion and pay the hidden fees often on those.
If you want to stay on the mainland, California can be a great big road trip from Disney to Yosemite, the LA beaches to the beautiful coast. And if by games you mean sporting events, lot of those as well.
Where are you located and how far are you willing to go? Do you want different scenery than you have at home? (so if you live in California do you want something different than ocean/beach?
When DS1 graduated from high school in 2011, we (myself, DH, DS1 and DS2, nine years younger) cruised to Alaska in early June. It was one of the best vacations we’ve ever taken. Then when DS1 graduated from college in May 2016, we did another cruise, this time a Baltics cruise departing from Copenhagen. It probably topped the best vacation list for us. When DS2 graduates from high school in three more years, I won’t be surprised if we cruise again. We love having all our food paid for, only having to unpack once, having your transportation from port to port taken care of, etc. We do land/driving vacations too, but from Texas, it’s hard to drive to Alaska or Copenhagen.
If you want to learn more about cruising, go to “the other CC” which is cruisecritic dot com.
Costa Rica - there are great beaches for lounging but a lot of adventure oriented stuff (surfing, other water activities, zip lining in rainforest canopies, etc.) for those wanting activity.
We did a long road trip with our kids when S graduated from college–caught the overnight train LA to Seattle and then road trip back, staying at many national parks along the way. We had a great time but took 3 weeks!
Scratch HI. Sadly, it takes too long to get to HI from the East Coast. Florida and Puerto Rico? One issue is that your timeline coincides with when the hurricane season begins.
How about NYC, Niagra Falls and Ontario? Those are fascinating places and could be accomplished via train, plane or road trip. Prices are fairly reasonable too.
Colonial Williamsburg and D.C. are a nice combo too.
@ready2launch If you’re on the east coast a cruise to Bermuda would work. Most lines leave out of New York.
I don’t think that would help your husband much, but it’s beautiful there!
