Travel Tips Archives – Page 2 of 3 – Parents with Passports

Alaska Cruise Travel Tips

September 21st, 2019admin0 Comments

An Alaska cruise is like no other cruise. Forget your typical tropical beach ports and miles of ocean on a Caribbean cruise and prepare for chilly glacier days and stunning scenery in Alaska. You won’t regret leaving those beaches behind. Cruise line matters. I can’t tell you how many times I read that cruise line doesn’t matter in Alaska. “You go to Alaska for the scenery, not the cruise ship” the argument goes. I disagree. Yes, the primary purpose of taking an Alaskan cruise is to see Alaska in all its glory. But we still spent 7 nights on the …

Vancouver Travel Tips

September 2nd, 2019admin0 Comments

Vancouver has a lot to offer for both city and nature lovers. Whether you are there on a stand-alone trip or as a launching point for a cruise or other travels, you will love exploring the area. Be prepared for the weather. It is going to be cloudy or rainy at some point in your trip. Just accept it and prepare for it. Only one of our three days in Vancouver was sunny but we were still able to make the most of our trip and enjoy the main outdoor sites. Don’t rent a car. Unless you plan to explore …

DC Travel Tips

May 26th, 2019admin0 Comments

Visiting the nation’s capital is a rite of passage for many kids growing up in America. Filled with history, culture, and national landmarks, there is enough to keep you busy if you took a dozen trips here. With so much to see and do, DC is a city you should look to cross off your family’s travel bucket list. For a short visit, stay in the city. We had 3 days in DC and in order to maximize our time, we stayed in the city. Hotels are more expensive in the district than in the suburbs, but there are lots …

Atlanta Travel Tips

May 9th, 2019admin0 Comments

Atlanta is a great long weekend trip from Charlotte. You can easily fill 3-4 days there with kid-friendly activities. Check out my Atlanta family travel tips below for help planning your own visit. Get the Atlanta CitiPASS. Save money and time waiting on lines by buying the Atlanta CitiPASS. The pass gives you access to 5 of Atlanta’s top tourist attractions. You’ll save money if you go to at least 4 of them. Stay downtown. This actually goes against the traditional advice. Everyone will tell you NOT to stay downtown because it shuts down at 5:00 and offers little in …

Guatemala Travel Tips

June 16th, 2018admin0 Comments

Due to safety concerns, traveling to Guatemala with children can be stressful. My Guatemala family travel tips below can help you plan an amazing visit to Tikal so you can enjoy the site without the stress. There are no border fees to enter Guatemala. When crossing from Belize to Guatemala, Belize charges a $40 BZ ($20 US) exit fee. There is NO fee to enter or exit Guatemala but many unscrupulous agents will tell you there is a 10 quetzales (about $1.35 US) immigration fee. They will then pocket the money. (Literally. They just put it into their pockets.) If …

Belize Travel Tips

June 16th, 2018admin0 Comments

Belize is an amazing family travel destination that offers both beaches and jungles. Check out my Belize family travel tips below for help planning your own unbelizeable vacation! Split your visit between the jungle and the beach. Belize offers two very unique experiences. The jungle has Mayan sites, cave adventures, hiking and waterfalls, wildlife, and more. The beach has the second largest barrier reef in the world. Neither should be missed. It is like getting two vacations in one. Start your visit in the jungle. If you split your time between the jungle and the beach, start in the jungle. …

Safety in Belize and Guatemala

June 15th, 2018admin0 Comments

Safety in Belize While safety is always in the back of my mind while traveling, it immediately moves to the forefront when you are planning a trip that includes your kids. When my oldest son wanted to choose Belize for our family trip this year, I knew next to nothing about it. A few quick google searches and it became clear that we would have to research further on the safety issue before agreeing to this trip. Belize consistently ranks in the top ten countries in the world for per capita murders. It has been as high as #2 on the list …

Travel Between Belize and Guatemala

May 31st, 2018admin0 Comments

Travel from Black Rock Lodge to Tikal After 3 amazing nights at Black Rock Lodge, we headed to Guatemala to visit Tikal. This was the stressful part of the trip – both the planning of our journey and the execution of the plan. I’ll write separately about safety concerns in Guatemala, but suffice it to say that this was in the back of our minds the entire trip. Once we decided that we didn’t want to miss Tikal, we had to then decide between a day trip with an organized tour or an overnight stay. The day trips seemed like …

Booking a Disney Cruise on Opening Day

March 12th, 2018admin0 Comments

More than any other cruise line, Disney Cruise Line (DCL) has a ton of hype around releasing their next season’s itineraries and booking on opening day. While other cruise lines offer promotions throughout the year that help defray the cost of their cruises, Disney does not (with the exception of some rare Florida resident or military discounts) and usually their prices continue to climb as you get closer to cruise time. For this reason, there is often a mad rush to book on opening day and secure the lowest possible price. I got caught up in the frenzy last week …

Disney World Tips

February 18th, 2017admin0 Comments

There are literally thousands of Disney planning websites out there with more Disney tips and tricks than I could ever imagine let alone write about. I wrote a very few of my own tips and take-aways for each park at the end of each blog and here I will just offer two reviews and one word of wisdom. On this trip we purchased Memory Maker and the Disney Dining Plan, both of which were new to us. I researched them both extensively beforehand and hopefully sharing my experience can help someone else make their own decision. Memory Maker At …