The Itchy Feet Family love to cruise. Our next getaway will be on a 12 night cruise out of Sydney to celebrate New Year’s Eve. Cruising can be a fantastic family holiday. You can switch off the phone and the wifi, unplug and spend some quality time recharging and reconnecting with your family. As a family we find cruising provides a great balance of family time and adult time with the onboard kids club providing a great option for that balance. If you are thinking of, or are a family that are about to head on your first cruise, here are five helpful tips to help yo with your cruise holiday. 1. PAck a LanyardAll cruise passengers must carry a cruise card. The card is used for all purchases on board as well as identification when you board or depart the ship. The easiest way to carry the card is with a lanyard around your neck. Of course you can buy one when you get onboard, they are the hottest seller on day one, but if you have some at home bring one along. 2. Register for kids clubIf you have children that will be utilising the kids club, make it a priority to find the kids club and register your kids as soon as you board. Generally kids clubs do not open until the first day after departure but are open for you to view the facility, meet the staff and complete the necessary paperwork. The first morning at kids club I have always found to be a bit of a nightmare so getting that paperwork done the day before helps streamline the first morning drop off process. 3. Photograph your daily scheduleEach night you will receive a ship newsletter in your cabin outlining the activities and events onboard for the next day. If you don’t want to carry a piece of paper around all day and you are already carrying your phone as your camera, simply take a photograph of the schedule so you can refer to it at any time. 4. Don’t hold back on luggageI always overpack on cruise holidays - because I can. Unlike airlines, cruise ships are very generous with their luggage allowance and there is always plenty of storage in your cabin to unpack when you get there. Empty suitcases can generally be stored under your bed in your cabin. Pack plenty of options for your theme nights and get into the spirit of what is happening onboard. 5. Yes to hair iron - no to clothes ironPortable clothes irons are not allowed in cabins, they are a fire danger. The ship will have a passenger laundry with ironing facilities if you need them. However hair irons are allowed! I know….. What are your top tips for cruising? We would love for you to share them with us, leave a comment below. Penny - ITCHY FEET FAMILY You may also be interested in our other cruising blogs:
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The average age of cruise passengers has dropped dramatically in recent years. Australians are a cruising nation, one of the fastest growing cruise markets in the world, and families are taking over. The target market of cruise passengers has reduced meaning that the old days of the senior citizens with their zimmer frames ruling the flavour of on-board activities are gone. More and more families and multi-generations are cruising and they want adventure! We have been fortunate enough to have taken a number of cruise holidays with P&O and a big drawcard is the P&O Edge activities - the largest adventure playground at sea! No longer do you have to attend knitting classes or ballroom dancing lessons, now you can take a zip line, learn to ride a segway, rock climb the ship’s funnel, abseil down the bow, recreate the Titanic moment and climb the cargo ropes in the lobby! There are so many options to burn off the endless calories you consume when cruising. However P&O Edge does come at a cost. To complete activities individually is quite expensive, we recommend a pass that provides access to activities each day of your cruise. If you purchase the pass in the first 24 hours there is normally a discount on offer. OUr Top 5 p&O edge activities1. Segway Segways are a fun activity be it at land or at sea. The Segway course on the P&O Jewel is one of the better on offer as it has a large space dedicated to the activity with ramps and obstacles to navigate. The Eden and Aria also offer Segway however it is done on the basketball courts with a course navigating around cones as obstacles, still fun but not quite the same experience as on the Jewel. 2. Cargo Net Race We first experienced this activity in the lobby of the Jewel. Rope nets are hung from the ceiling of the lobby which spans three levels of the ship. Crowds of cruisers gather around across the levels to watch the climbers compete to see who can get to the top the quickest. This is a tough climb and not for the faint-hearted or those scared of heights. When you reach the top your weary body abseils back down allowing a much quicker journey to the bottom. 3. Rock Climbing Rock climbing off the funnel that sits in the open air of the ships top deck is a great challenge for all levels. Once harnessed in there are a series of courses to get to the top that challenge the beginner to the experienced climber. 4. Walk the Plank Now this was a novel idea. Harness yourself in and walk off a plank over the edge of the ship. If you are game enough, let go of the rope and balance on one leg. You can walk at either day or night depending whether you want to see what is beneath you or not! 5. Laser Tag This is the kids favourite activity. The Edge team take over the theatre and let the kids run wild on a laser tag adventure. Players are divided into teams and battle it out with electronic vests and laser guns. Penny - ITCHY FEET FAMILY Other Blogs you May Enjoy - Cycle Berlin - Getting Dirty in Vietnam - A Port Day in Sitka - Food and Wine Cruise Christmas can be both an amazing and a stressful day all within hours of itself. I think many of us have a love/hate relationship with the day. We look forward to it and many magical memories are made on that one special day of the year - but it can also be a rushed and stressful time of year. We have taken two Christmas cruises and whilst we are not doing one this year, I would absolutely do it again. Here are my top three pros and cons to Christmas cruising. PROS to Christmas Cruising 1. No cooking or cleaning! When at home, Christmas day means someone has to cook and clean - or you go to a restaurant and pay top dollar for the experience. Christmas Day on a cruise means wake up, enjoy the morning opening and playing with kids presents, get dressed and walk to the restaurant for lunch. There is no rush to get a turkey on, a pork in the webber or a ham glazed, it is all done for you! The restaurant staff go all out with all the traditional trimmings and it is all there to simply order. When you are finished, the waiter clears the table and you are done! No dishes, no clearing, just nap time. 2. No rushing The two Christmas cruises we have been on departed on 18th and 19th of December. By the time you get to Christmas day you are chilled and in holiday mode. There is no need for any mad last minute rush to the shops to fight for the last minute ham glazing or any fights in busy shopping centre car parks to get that one last present for Uncle Jim who decided at the last minute he was coming for lunch! You are on holiday, de-stressed and simply enjoying the moment. 3. No car travel Many people try to squeeze everyone in on Christmas Day. A trip to visit one lot of parents on Christmas Eve, a brother on Christmas morning, parents at lunch, other parents for dinner. There can be a lot of car travel in that 24 hours. On a cruise you don’t have to drive anywhere. If you are fortunate enough to have extended family on board the most you will have to do is walk one end of the ship to the other to knock on their cabin door. No-one has to drive, there are no responsible drivers needed at the end of the day and there are no sleepy over stimulated children screaming in the car at the end of a long day. CONS to Christmas Cruising 1. No Family Whilst some may see this as a Pro, it depends what your traditional Christmas looks like. Christmas to me means being surrounded by family. Having come from a large family of five children, having a crazy day with lots of family is what Christmas is to me. The first Christmas cruise we did we had a set of grandparents with us. The kids loved having them with us and it was nice to have them there to share the experience. The second Christmas cruise we were just the ITCHY FEET FAMILY and the kids really missed having all their cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents around. When we asked the kids what they wanted to do for Christmas this year they specifically asked NOT to travel. So instead we are going away for New Years. 2. Packing Presents Packing gifts for Christmas day can be a bit challenging. If you require a flight to get to the departure point, your airline baggage allowance can put some limitations on what you take. You certainly can’t have a bike or a swing set under the tree on Christmas Day and you need to be selective with what to take. We made sure extended family knew well in advance of our travel plans and gifts were purchased accordingly - or left under the tree at home for when we returned. Thankfully Santa makes his way on board and every child on the ship receives a gift from him - and amazingly Santa also magically left something under our cabin door each year. 3. Missing Out Because Christmas Cruises in Australia are generally 10 or 12 nights in duration and departing before the 20th December we did miss out on a few family and work Christmas parties. Sporting club and social group end of year break ups, work break-up parties and the like all seemed to happen in the last week before Christmas. Most businesses don’t break up until closer to the 25th and this therefore also meant eating into our annual leave more than we would want to. The cruise returns a few days after Christmas and generally businesses are still closed for that week until the New Year which meant we would be returned from our travels but still in enforced annual leave. Annual leave allocations are precious to us as we are always maxing out our allowance and having leave and being at home is not something we enjoy! Have you taken a cruise at Christmas? What were your thoughts? Would you do it again? Penny - ITCHY FEET FAMILY In Australia P&O offer Christmas Cruises departing Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. |
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