074 Cruising Tips for Families

What's the number one thing to consider when choosing a family cruise vacation? Find out this and other cruising tips from this week's guest, Fadra Nally from All Things Fadra.What's the number one thing to consider when choosing a family cruise vacation? Find out this and other cruising tips from this week's guest, Fadra Nally from All Things Fadra. ON THE PODCAST 00:31 - Talking with Tamara about her trip to Ireland 13:24 - Talking with Fadra about cruising 16:05 - Different cruise lines 19:36 - Disney ships 20:25 - Smaller vs. larger cruise ships 22:50 - Destinations 25:00 - Ship excursions 30:18 - Money saving tips 35:12 - Cruising tips with kids 39:05 - Fadra’s favorite travel gear 43:08 - Tip of the week 44:38 - Shout Out!!! ABOUT FADRA NALLY Fadra Nally is a lifestyle blogger, travel writer, and entertainment podcaster. You can find her adventures on both AllThingsFadra.com and ShesOnTheGo.com and the new Stinger podcast. Follow Fadra on Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, and Instagram. CRUISING TIPS Check the ship rating on CruiseCritic or other websites when looking into your next cruise. If you are looking into getting a more authentic experience at the cruising destinations, than you should definitely look into exploring more outside of the cruise ports. Think about getting a cab out into the main parts of the island. Cruise deals can be found by either booking really early or even last minute with only a few weeks to go. Most cruise lines have loyalty programs, so if you like to use one cruise line you can earn loyalty points over time. Many cruise lines offer deals while you are on a cruise to put a down payment on another cruise. Prepare your kids for the hurry up and wait! The first day there will be a lot of waiting and boring (to kids) safety instruction. When you first get into your room it is a great idea to unpack your suitcases and put everything away then store away those bulky cases. The rooms are going to be small, so keeping those suitcases out will just make it feel smaller. It is worth splurging for an outside cabin and even a balcony to create more space or the illusion of space in the room. FAVORITE TRAVEL GEAR Fadra likes to wear dresses especially Lula Roe for both casual and evening wear. For shoes, she likes Fit Flops, which can be both comfortable and stylish, but makes sure to bring close toed shoes for her family for those certain activities that will not allow sandals. TIP OF THE WEEK Bring a lanyard with you on your cruise. When you get your key card you can ask them to punch a hole in it for you to then clip onto your lanyard. This will work really well for kids and yourself so that you don’t have to worry about setting it down and forgetting your key card. MENTIONED ON THE PODCAST Vacations to go Travel Zoo Cruise packing list FOLLOW US AND SPREAD THE WORD! If you liked this show, please be sure to subscribe on iTunes, Stitcher, or Google Play and leave us a review! Have a question or comment? Send us an email or leave us a voicemail at +1.641.715.3900, ext. 926035# You can also follow our travels on Stuffed Suitcase and We3Travel, or follow the Vacation Mavens on Instagram, Facebook or Twitter. Thanks for listening!