Cruises - Right for You?

I have this great client in Florida that enjoys cruises and I have been with them for 4 of them. The first time we flew to Barcelona and took a cruise from there to Italy. My charge was a very smart who turned 3 the second day of the cruise. We had a small cabin we shared and since you are not in your room that much, it was great and pretty comfortable.

Cruises have great camps for kids starting at 3 that are potty trained. My little guy was eligible the second day by age but had not mastered the potty thing. However, they let him come into the camp if I came with him. I had as much fun as he did!

There are some great things about cruises with children. There is always something to do as besides the camps there are usually the kid friendly pools with slides and other water trinkets. You are on the sea all day at least twice so there are things to do for the parents too. Besides all the food that includes fast food as well as sit down meals, feeding on a child's schedule is easy. Our Cruise line Royal Caribbean had free room service which is great when you have children who wake up hungry before the dining rooms open. Plus, if you have 2+ you can relax in your room and have breakfast.

Cruises sound "incident proof".  But this is travel folks, and anything can happen!  On our first cruise, dry lightening on a beautful Florida day caused our plane to be delayed and we missed our connection flight.  Racing thru the airport to try for another flight, our stroller falling off the cart, We finally arrrive in our destinations (did I mention the flight we managed to get didn't have any first class left and my clients who had paid for this priveledge was left in coach?) only to find our luggage was lost?!  We didn't get any luggage for 3 days and diapers were down to two? Or that cruise ships don't always sell diapers?  But that's another story....

The moral is:  Be prepared for anything!

Cruises:  don't always take in to account your children's personalities

I know the thought of clubs sounds like your kids could do without a travel nanny.  Yet, some kids are not comfortable with clubs.  They might have their own anxieties about being in groups with no kids their age or have problems being alone with strangers.

Some of my children can handle clubs for a few hours but that is their limit.  I can come and get them and we can have some fun when their parents are gone on excursions.  Or at night we can do our regular night time routine and they can be asleep without waiting for parents cutting their own fun short needing to get back to them for the night.

Know your kids personalities because a travel nanny is prepared to deal with them.  Not every ship has great kid's clubs.  Some ships have designed their kids club as an after thought.  They are small and not equippped for all ages.  Just a thought to check out the ship and the arrangements for kids.

I have taken kids to excursions suited for them while parents enjoy a more adult excursion.  Everyone has fun and I have even met the parents somewhere in the town so they can enjoy the rest of the day.

Cruises are great but go into them knowing they may not fit everyone's needs.

Australia

The life of a travel nanny ranges from a 3 day visit to a home while the parents enjoy a romantic get away to traveling with them on vacation.  But even that has variables and I am always surprised at how many ways there are to do travel!

In 2012 I had this wonderful opportunity to work with an Australian family.  I had never had an email from someone out of the country so I was intrigued.  I did all my checks to make sure it was legitimate and slowly we got to know each other.  One of the best things I ever did as this has been a wonderful travel experience with an extraordinary family.  It seems my father married this wonderful woman from Maine and as they had children, it was important to go back and spend time with their grandparents, uncles, aunts and cousins.  So once or twice a year they make the journey back to Maine with the two children. " Traveling is stressful", he said, "last time we did this we only had one 18 month old child and even with my parents traveling, we were all wore out by the time we got there!"  He just wanted some traveling relief and found my website.

I would fly to Perth, Australia and have a few days to rest up and get to know the kids.  Then we would fly to Sydney, spend the night and fly early the next day to Honolulu where we would let the children rest up, get used to another time change.  From there it was to San Franciso with 2 nights to adjust before we took off for Boston.  In Boston I would say good bye and see them again in a month and make our way back reversing the route.

Jim and I on Sydney Bridge

Everyone should climb the Bridge!

The great news for me was when we went back, I could stay as long as I wanted to rest up.  So the first year I flew my husband over and we explored Australia for two weeks.  It has been my dream since a child to go to Australia so another thing was crossed off my bucket list.

Ollie sleeps through his first trip across the Pacific

One time we stayed in Orlando for a week as they attended a conference and I took care of the children.

Going back we went via Boston to Dublin, then to Vienna and then to Dubai where he had a cousin before we made our way back to Perth.  This time I took a 4 day rest in Melbourne before starting the journey back.

It's not your usual travel as this is not about the parents going out at night to have fun.  Everyone is trying to get to Maine rested up so they can begin enjoying their family for the month there.  Yet, I can coax them out during the day to do some couple shopping (clothes much less expensive in US) or just have a nice dinner together.

Everyone has different goals when they travel.  For some parents it is about having couple time and knowing your kids are being amused and happy.  They love doing family time with an extra helping hand.  When they want alone family time, I can amuse myself.

The Parkers and I will be friends long after they no longer need a travel nanny.  When you travel with a family more than once, you become an adopted member.