As the demand for multi-generational family travel continues
to grow, Crystal Cruises invites children under 12 to cruise
for free aboard seven Crystal Harmony 2005 Alaska cruises when
sharing the same stateroom with two adults. Available during
the peak family travel months of June, July and August, families
and children of all ages will delight in the awe-inspiring majesty
of the Last Frontier with specially designed shore adventures,
onboard enrichment, and a comprehensive Junior Activities program.
With eleven departures from May through September, Crystal's
2005 Alaska season is the most extensive ever offered by the
luxury cruise line. A new seven-day itinerary round-trip from
Vancouver takes to sea on May 21, and ten 12-day cruises operate
conveniently round-trip from San Francisco departing May 30;
June 11, 23; July 5, 17, 29; August 10, 22; and September 3,
15. All itineraries feature at least one glacier experience;
three of which include two glacier experiences. "Alaska
is an educational wonderland of discovery, offering travelers
of all ages an open classroom in adventure, nature and the environment,"
says Bill Smith, Crystal's senior vice president of sales and
marketing. "For families, a Crystal cruise represents tremendous
comfort and value while the journey through Alaska itself affords
priceless experiences."
From the regal beauty of Victoria's Butchart Gardens to the
Tlingit totem poles of Ketchikan, ports of call reveal the beauty
of a land embraced by nature. Depending on the itinerary, guests
will travel to Vancouver and Victoria, British Columbia, Canada;
Juneau, Skagway, Ketchikan, Wrangell and Haines, Alaska, cruising
the Inside Passage, Glacier Bay, Hubbard Glacier and/or Tracy
Arm. Along each itinerary, children will be amazed at the sight
of breaching whales, calving glaciers and soaring eagles. An
extensive collection of shore excursions in each port provides
ideal options for family adventures such as the legendary White
Pass Scenic Railway in Skagway, a Sea Otter and Wildlife Quest
in Sitka, or the Misty Fjords Seaplane Flightseeing Exploration
in Ketchikan.
With its acclaimed children's programs and activities, Crystal
is the luxury operator best suited for the family market. Crystal
Harmony has a fully supervised Junior Activities program for
kids ages 17 and under; and Fantasia—the ship's dedicated
children's playroom—is outfitted with games, craft materials,
Sony Playstation® video games, and personal computers with
entertainment and education software.
The line's highly qualified staff of Junior Activities Directors
includes grade school, high school, and physical education teachers
on summer holiday, as well as seasoned camp counselors. There
is at least one counselor for each 12 participants, a ratio
that supports a variety of age-appropriate activities tiered
for toddlers through teens. Crystal also caters to children
with a special Alaska program featuring a guest naturalist when
Crystal Harmony cruises Glacier Bay and Tracy Arm.
Depending on itinerary, cruise fares start
at $1,825 per person/double occupancy. The "kids sail free"
promotion is limited to triple stateroom accommodations and
is capacity controlled.
Website: www.crystalcruises.com
In June 2005, the Paul Gauguin’s “Ambassadors of
the Environment” program officially launches, in partnership
with Jean-Michel Cousteau’s Ocean Futures Society. The
program aims to give youngsters aged nine to 15 direct interactive
experience with and knowledge of marine and island ecosystems,
emphasizing the critical importance of coral reefs, sustainable
lifestyles and traditional Polynesian culture. Website: www.rssc.com.
With expansive facilities such as a 4,200-square-foot play area
and a teen dance club/recreation area, as well as a variety
of new and exciting activities, including an art program, a
music program, a youth spa program, and hands-on science experiments,
Carnival Valor will offer the ultimate family vacation experience.
The new 110,000-ton “Fun Ship” is scheduled to begin
year-round seven-day Caribbean service from Miami Dec. 19. “Families
are one of the fastest growing markets in travel – Carnival
alone is expected to host 500,000 kids this year, a 300 percent
increase versus 10 years ago. The new Carnival Valor, with its
full schedule of activities and spacious kid-friendly facilities,
offers a fun and affordable vacation for the entire family,”
said Bob Dickinson, Carnival president and CEO.
The focal point of the Carnival Valor’s “Camp Carnival”
program is an expansive 4,200-square-foot enclosed play area
that includes a 16-monitor video wall continuously displaying
movies and cartoons; an arts-and-crafts center with spin and
sand art and candy-making machines; a “soft play area”
with padded play equipment for the under-two set; a computer
lab with educational computer games and PlayStation 2 game consoles;
and a children’s library with youth-oriented books and
magazines.
The play area is also the site for several new Camp Carnival
activities, including an art program, Watercolors, debuting
on Carnival Valor. With the new program, which will eventually
be expanded fleetwide, kids can create their own artistic masterpieces—paper
mache, oil paintings, and watercolors, for example—while
learning techniques employed by professional artists. Also debuting
on Carnival Valor is SeaNotes, a new music program that
introduces kids to different musical instruments and genres.
There’s also H2Ocean, a new science program with
hands-on projects where kids can make their own ice cream and
create custom-made helicopters and miniature hovercrafts; EduCruise,”
with fun, interactive projects focusing on the cultures, landmarks,
history and geography of Carnival Valor’s Caribbean destinations;
and ExerSeas, a recreational fitness program that encourages
kids to “get out and play” through intense physical
activity.
Dining is considered a highlight of the “Fun Ship”
vacation experience and kids sailing aboard Carnival Valor will
enjoy a wide variety of delectable dining options from which
to choose. In addition to Rosie’s, an expansive Lido restaurant
offering hot dogs, hamburgers and French fries, and 24-hour
pizza and ice cream, the two-level Washington and Lincoln dining
rooms feature children’s menus with such favorites as
chicken nuggets, pepperoni pizza and peanut butter and jelly
sandwiches, along with a “daily junior special”
promising something new and different each day.
There’s also a program where kids can dine with the youth
counselors each evening. Also available is the Fountain Fun
Card, which, for a one-time fee of $28, provides unlimited soft
drinks throughout the Carnival Valor’s seven-day Caribbean
cruises (an adult version is available, as well). Kids are also
provided with freshly baked chocolate chip cookies one night
during the voyage, as part of the line’s popular children’s
turndown service.
Teens have their own unique vacation expectations and on Carnival
Valor older kids can enjoy a variety of “just-for-teens”
facilities and activities. These include a 1,800-square-foot
teen club, The Caboose, which in addition to a distinctive railroad
décor, includes a dance club with a DJ and state-of-the-art
sound and lighting system, along with a “mocktail lounge,”
where kids ages 15-17 can enjoy a variety of non-alcoholic specialty
drinks. The Caboose will also include a video game room with
more than 60 of the latest video and arcade games, as well as
a library with popular teen-oriented books and magazines, video
game units and computers loaded with gaming software.
And with Carnival’s new fleetwide youth spa program, children
ages 12-14 and their parents can also enjoy soothing body and
beauty treatments together on port days. Packages are available
in mother/daughter and father/son combinations and include hair
and nail treatments, health evaluations, and foot and scalp
massages.
There’s also a teen shore excursion program where kids
ages 12 to 17 can partake in “just for teens” shoreside
experiences during the Carnival Valor’s seven-day Caribbean
cruises.
Carnival Valor also features four swimming pools: a children’s
wading pool, a more secluded pool located aft that is covered
by a retractable dome, a main pool on Lido Deck, and another
on Panorama Deck featuring a 214-foot-long corkscrew water slide
full of exhilarating twists and turns.
The line’s popular fleetwide stroller rental program,
where parents can rent single and double strollers by week for
$25, will also be featured on Carnival Valor. Bouncy seats,
travel swings and GameBoy Advance gaming units are available
for rent, as well.
Babysitting, which takes place in the children’s play
room, is also available at a cost of $6 per hour for the first
child and $4 per hour for each additional child in the same
family.
The third in Carnival’s highly successful 110,000-ton
Conquest-class, Carnival Valor is slated to begin year-round
seven-day cruises from Miami, alternating weekly to the eastern
and western Caribbean, December 19. On this route, eastern Caribbean
cruises call at Nassau, The Bahamas; St. Thomas, U.S.V.I.; and
St. Maarten, Netherlands Antilles, while western Caribbean cruises
visit Belize City, Belize; Isla Roatan, Honduras; George Town,
Grand Cayman; and Cozumel, Mexico.
For additional information and reservations, contact any travel
agent, call 1-800-CARNIVAL, or visit carnival.com.
