Family Vacation Tips

A family cruise with a baby or toddler who is not yet potty trained comes with it's own set of challenges. One planning issue that young parents need to keep in mind when selecting a cruise ship is whether or not your child will be allowed to use the pool. Cruise lines have specific health rules regarding the use of swim diapers in cruise ship pools. Often it depends on the facilities available on specific cruise ships.

Just in case you've been living in the dark ages, a swim diaper is a disposable diaper made from a special material the will supposedly absorb poop and pee but will not swell up with pool water while your baby or toddler is swimming. Of course there are also old school renditions of swim diapers which can be a new specially designed swimsuit to a cloth diaper and rubber pants. According to the Center for Disease Control any swim diaper offers a false sense of security because they can leak.

Urine is not really the issue. It surprises many people to learn that urine from a healthy person is sterile and germ free.

The problem is poop. Fecal material contains many germs that can cause illness...Ecoli, guardia and particularly Cryptosporidium which is a chlorine resistant parasite that can cause diarrhea. If you're baby or toddler enters a pool with a leaky, poopy diaper then your child and everyone else is at risk.

Not all cruise lines or cruise ships will allow babies and toddlers in their main pools. Newer family friendly cruise ships have been designed with specific baby pools. These pool are smaller in size with a separate, dedicated filtration system allowing for easy and effective sanitation. Splash parks offer babies and toddlers cool, wet fun. In a splash park, diapers are not totally submerged as they would be in a regular pool so it does help to prevent the spread of germs.

Here is a list of swim diaper rules from each of the family cruise lines....

Do you remember how it was when your newborn first arrived? You spent your life daydreaming about sleep. Think about what happened when your two year old missed an afternoon nap. Have you ever tried waking a teen at 5am when their normal wake up time is at two in the afternoon? It's enough to turn your adorable children into fire breathing monsters. Any change in our regular daily patterns of life throws our internal body clocks out of wack. This is similar to what happens when we travel... the dreaded jet lag. Don't worry, their are ways of coping so that jet lag won't ruin your family vacation.

Babymoons are one of the hottest trends in family vacations. Parents look forward to one last hurrah and splurge before baby arrives. babymoons can involve flying while pregnant. It's generally safe to fly while pregnant but moms-to-be do need to know these 10 tips to make their journeys easier and more comfortable...

Flying with your baby doesn't need to be the nightmare that many parents envision. Infants are very adaptable and can be great travelers. With these 5 tips and a little confidence, your child can quickly become a frequent flyer...

  There is a big wide world of unique family vacation ideas just waiting for you and your kids out there. Sometimes when parents are in need of a vacation, it's easier to just do the same old thing or go with the flow. Often vacation planning happens after a long day at work, late in the evening after homework and baths are done and the kids are in bed.  It can be hard to muster up creative thinking at the end of a long day. No worries, our staff here at Vacationkids have created 10 categories of unique family vacation ideas that can help you plan a memorable family vacation.

Editor's note - This post was updated May 2018 and has been updated for accuracy and comprehensiveness.

Family cruises are a great value for a family vacation.  If you're trying to plan a family cruise vacation, cost and budgets are top considerations for most parents.

If you're new to family cruises, how do you know how they will cost for your family and how much to budget for such a trip?

The Cruise Line International Association estimates about 17 million folks enjoyed a cruise in 2012. They expect this number to climb between 4-5% for 2013.  Family cruises are a huge reason why these number are climbing, especially family cruise groups like multi generational vacations with kids, family reunions and family celebrations of all sorts.

Two is company, three is a crowd! This is certainly true when it comes to planning  family of five vacations. Most hotels define a typical family as “two adults sharing one hotel room with two children under the age of twelve”. Hotels then use this definition to structure their prices and create occupancy rules. When you take the time to read the very small print in hotel brochures or on their websites you'll see a line that reads - “BASED ON DOUBLE ADULT OCCUPANCY”. This means the basic hotel room price is based on at least two adult people sharing one hotel room. Hotels also base their maximum occupancy rules on this definition meaning that each hotel room will only be allowed to hold a maximum of two large and two smaller bodies. Remember these two important points...maximum occupancy and pricing because their are very important as I explain later on....

When your third little bundle of joy enters this world, your family suddenly become a family of five. Your family now consists of two adult parents and three children. All is wonderful with the world until you all try to go on vacation together. Now your family of five suddenly doesn't fit the typical hotel's definition of what constitutes a family. When it comes to maximum room occupancy, your family doesn't fit into a standard room any more because now you have one extra kid. It doesn't matter whether you can all sleep in one king bed, bring sleeping bags for the floor or if your youngest can still fit in the dresser drawer. According to most hotel  and pricing rules, you are simply NOT allowed to all stay in one room....Sorry but this just ain't happening.

But wait - it gets worse...

  Here at our main Vacationkids office located in the Pocono Mountains in PA we're getting our first weather forecast for measurable snowfall tonight from our local weatherman. Tis the season I guess. Many of our families across the country have already had their first encounter with the white stuff. We can tell because that's usually when our phones start ringing. Usually with the first signs of winter come desperate phone calls from parents looking to head "someplace warm and cheap" for Spring Break.

  The 2012 Family holiday travel season officially kicks off today. This year AAA is predicting there will be over 43 million folks planning to travel this holiday. There will be a slight increase on the roads for a total of 39 million traveling by car and over 3 million traveling by air. With a bit of smart planning, parents can can keep everyone in good spirits (even without alcohol!...just kidding).