Family Travel
Traveling with the kids this summer?
Travel Reporter Valarie D'Elia outlined on The Early Show some options for family getaways. Before you book your trip, take a look online to get facts on places to keep both you and your kids entertained, safe and away from debt. She considers the family vacation as one with activities and meals included, although not all provide this.
Resorts
Atlantis Resort in the Paradise Island, the Bahamas, could perhaps be considered the Cadillac of family vacations. The resort boasts about 2,300 rooms. Everything is about water: See sea creatures are on display in a gigantic salt and fresh water exhibit. Visitors can even go down a Mayan slide and chute right through a shark tank.
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Sports offered kayaking, jet skiing and parasailing. And you can even put your child in camp for the day. At Discovery Channel Camp. They get to see marine life and learn about it, up close and personal. At a base camp, they can explore a sunken shipwreck.
At Atlantis, however, everything a la carte, including the camp. If you travel to Atlantis during the summertime, though, since this is off season, you stand a chance of getting in.
Cruises
Cruises can be all inclusive, to the extent that all the meals and activities are onboard. One trip, offered by Premier Cruise Line voyaged to Newport, R.I. It also went to Halifax, Nova Scotia. So cruises are not just to the Caribbean. In Halifax, one can visit a British fort - and thereby experience Europe minus the transAtlantic flight.
Boats may provide activities for kids, such as a kid zone. One ship provides a broadcast audiovisual department, where kids can do their own broadcasts for the passengers at night.
Dude ranches
West of the Mississippi, there are about 100 dude ranches.
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Idaho has the Hidden Creek Ranch, for example. Visitors are put up a log cabin.
It can cost $6,500 for six days for a family of four. The focus is on the horseback riding. Visitors are given one mount for the whole week.
Family farms
This type of destination can work for a day trip. Adams Farm in Vermont has been run by the same family for six generations. This is truly an interactive vacation - with the petting of the animals and playing in hay.
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For the Adams Farm, visitors can stay at a bed and breakfast and compose their own itininery.
Would-be travelers would be wise to see what the prices include. When a package indicates the price is all inclusive, it may not cover taxes, airfare, transfers, cocktails or beverages.