If you have never gone on a voyage and if you would love to try it out this summer, choose from one of the luxury cruise lines of the United States. Cruise ships are essentially passenger ships used for luxury voyages, where the voyage itself and the ship’s amenities are a part of the experience, as well as the different destinations or ports along the way. They typically operate as round trips wherein you would arrive at your starting point. Cruise ships are organized quite like floating hotels, with an entire hospitality staff in addition to the ship’s usual crew to offer you the best possible seafaring experience during the voyage.
Facilities
Most modern cruise ships feature the following amenities:
Casino, Shops, Spa, Fitness Center, Library, Theatre, Indoor and outdoor swimming pool, Hot tub, Buffet Restaurant, Lounges, Gym, Clubs, Basketball courts, Tennis courts, Pool tables, Ping pong tables, Infirmary, etc. Some ships may also have bowling alleys, miniature golf courses, basketball courts, tennis courts, ice skating rinks, rock climbing walls, skydiving simulators, surfing simulators, video arcades, zip lines, and chain restaurants.
Dining in a Cruise
Dining on almost all cruise ships is covered in the cruise price. Traditionally, the restaurants of the ship organize two dinner services per day, early dining, and late dining.
Modern cruise ships often contain one or more casual buffet-style eateries, which may be open 24 hours. Ships also feature various bars and nightclubs for passenger entertainment. Most Cruise lines do not cover alcoholic beverages in their fares and passengers are expected to pay for drinks when they consume them.
Specialties of a few cruise lines
Saga Cruises only allows passengers over the age of 50 aboard their ships.
Star Clippers only run tall ships.
Regent Seven Seas Cruises operates medium-sized vessels designed such that 90% of their suites are balconies.
Some of the specialty cruise lines offer what is known as “expedition cruising” in which case small ships would carry you to certain remote destinations such as the Arctic or the Antarctic region.
Best Cruise Lines
A vacation, if planned well, can never be a disaster. A few luxury cruises that you can consider for your next vacation:
Crystal Cruises
Complete with gourmet dining, penthouse suites and engaging enrichment programs, Crystal Cruises caters to VIPs.
Regent Seven Seas Cruises
Travelers can indulge in its sophisticated dining onboard and the Canyon Ranch Spa Club. Enrichment programs like lessons in culinary art and cultural histories of the regions are offered.
Oceania Cruises
Its gourmet dining, cooking classes, and culinary shore excursions cater to foodies. Oceania’s midsize ships ensure a high level of personalization.
Silversea Cruises
With smaller vessels, spacious suites, gourmet cuisine, onboard activities, and an intimate experience with one crew member attending to one passenger, the Silversea cruises are noted for their exemplary services.
There has been a lot of interest in refinancing lately as mortgage rates are hovering at or near record lows. Even lowering your interest rate by 1% or more results in some serious savings for you every month. When shopping around for the best refinance home mortgage loan, you might wonder which one is the right one for you based upon your current situation. Scroll down to take a look at the different types of refinance mortgage loans available before you make your decision:
Whether you love to backpack and see the entire world, or you take one international vacation with the entire family at least once a year, you are bound to encounter many challenges and scenarios that are a part and parcel of international travel. So here are some of the best tips and advice from the experts on how to do it right so that you can concentrate on the experiences rather than the administrative side of international travel.
Effective planning: We cannot stress on this part enough. When we say planning, we do not merely mean that you need to check your passport and get the visa and tickets right. While most people will look for the best airline fares and good deals for accommodation and related things, there are very few people who understand the new country a little before getting there. Doing a little research well in advance can actually help you in avoiding some rude shocks later on. You can take to the forums and chat boards of various countries, travel websites and backpacker forums so that you can find out more about the stay, the people, the local culture and the things to do while you are on the go.
Foreign exchange: One very crucial thing that will fuel your travel and all the related activities, is money. You will have to find out the rates from the bank and also the travel operator from whom you avail the trip. Find out the cheapest foreign exchange rate so that you can convert some into cash and get a prepaid card or debit card for the remaining expenses.
Reach your destination early: If you want to avoid standing in line for hours to see the best tourist attractions or theme parks, you will need to start early. Getting up early and reaching a spot will ensure that you are at the start of the line, rather than getting stuck in winding queues for a long time. You can sleep in late over the weekend, but for your vacation in a new place, you should make the most of your 24 hours!
Do it like a local: You should talk to locals and learn some local language so that you get the best experiences in the local style. Avoid eating at tourist-like places and restaurants so that you can get the best ingredients, and most authentic preparations and prices as well. Saunter down the lanes and find places where tourists do not usually go so that you can have a more authentic feel of the cuisine, the people and various other aspects of the place.
Carry backups: From batteries to hard disks and extra memory cards for your camera and phone, ensure that you back up all your pictures and information even as you make way for those emergencies where you may lose a phone charger or hard drive. Take a back-up every other day to avoid any chaos or lost memories later!
Horse toys have been a favorite among many kids ranging between 3 and 10. From the classic rocking horse toys to the plastic figurines, children are almost always fascinated by the horses. Children get inspired by horse toys that they imagine themselves in a rodeo or a horse show, etc and focus and channel their energy in constructive ways. Two of the best horse toys referred by almost every kid are as follows:
KidKraft Derby Rocking Horse
This horse toy is a favorite for children through the past ages because of the rocking horse feature. This toy is made of classic wood and has a rocking bottom that enables a child to get on the horse toy and rock them as if they are riding a horse. Children preserve this toy until they outgrow it by getting taller than the horse toy. Even when adults see a rocking wooden horse toy that can accommodate them, they happily get on and reminiscence their childhood of rodeo role-playing. This horse toy is made of a wooden mane and looks exactly like a horse, and the wooden base has an anti-tip safety feature to ensure that children don’t fall off by tipping the horse too far. This horse toy is best suited for children above three years of age, but it can be used by younger children as well if there is adult supervision.
My Dream Horse – Paint Your Own Horse Activity Kit by Breyer
This horse toy is a favorite among children who love creativity. This toy is greatly soared by children even as they grow old because they can make this horse toys their own by customizing it to fit their dreams. This can be considered a children’s artifact that every generation in a family enjoys giving their own children and keeping them back as collectibles as they grow up. The box set contains a pair of model horse toys made of plastic and the overall kit contains brushes, paint, and directions booklet that helps children design and customize their dream horse. These customizable horse toys are best suited for those above the age of five but can be given to children as young as three years old.