Family Cruises Blog

PRINCESS PARTNERS WITH 'KLUTZ' TO ENHANCE KIDS PROGRAMMING

Wed, 25 Feb 2009 14:46:16 GMT

Princess Cruises has teamed with Klutz^®, an innovative publisher of award-winning activity books for children, to provide high-quality arts and crafts projects for young passengers and their families while onboard. Klutz and Princess Cruises collaborated to develop custom-built kits designed to engage young cruisers in fun and creative activities. Unique in the cruise industry, the new activities are available fleetwide.

Princess Cruises Collaborates with Crafts Publisher Klutz to Offer Fun New Arts Program for Kids

Children sailing aboard Princess ships will have the opportunity to participate in up to seven Klutz activities during their cruise. Kids will be able to build their own storybooks; create lanyard bracelets; make “picture tags” for charm bracelets, luggage tags, or pet I.D.s; create fuzzy masterpieces with Velvet Art; craft paper flowers, weave friendship bracelets; or make Thumb Doodle thumbprint art.

The new Klutz activities are offered for young passengers of all ages, and are scheduled during the youth center’s regular activities or during the ship’s family fun fair in the atrium, where all family members can join in the creative fun.

“Our onboard passenger experience is designed to offer many inventive programs to engage passengers of all ages,” said Jan Swartz, Princess executive vice president. “And these fun craft projects from Klutz are a wonderful addition to our diverse activities available for kids and teens.”

“We are honored and very excited to be working with Princess Cruises,” said Mark Judge, vice president of international and special markets for Klutz. “By inviting Klutz onboard, Princess Cruises has demonstrated its commitment to providing kids with a rich and memorable cruise experience.”

Princess Youth and Teen Programs provide state-of-the-art youth center facilities and an array of activities to keep kids and teens entertained. Young passengers enjoy a wide range of fun events for ages 3 to 17, supervised by a dedicated staff of youth activity professionals. The program offers three distinct, age-specific programs – Princess Pelicans (ages 3-7), Shockwaves (ages 8-12) and Remix (ages 13-17). Each group features an age-appropriate schedule, often with separate facilities. The program includes a number of special features, including Science on the Seas activities from the award-winning California Science Center, Yoga for Kids, and a Jr. CHEF@Sea program.

Tips for Cruising with Food Allergies

Tue, 24 Feb 2009 11:24:41 GMT

Traveling with a child with severe food allergies can be difficult, but it does not need to prevent you from taking a cruise.

Most major cruises lines allow special dietary requests including food allergies. Each has a medical form parents will fill out with the specifics at least 40 days prior to sailing. Special requests can be made for food if the cruise line is given advance notice. The cruise lines will try to accommodate the needs of their passengers.

Here are several of the many cruise lines that accommodate special needs requests for food allergies: Carnival Cruise Line, Celebrity Cruises, Royal Caribbean, Norwegian Cruise Line, Princess Cruises and Disney Cruise Line.

Check prescriptions prior to traveling. Discuss travel plans ahead of time with your allergist to be sure you have all the medicines you need, from antihistamines and inhalers to epinephrine injectors. Don't plan to rely on local pharmacies for your prescriptions — medications may not be the same overseas. Instead, take your meds with you.

Carry hand wipes. Washing your child’s hands frequently is a great way to prevent accidentally coming into contact with allergens.

If your child requires an epinephrine auto-injector, or other prescription medication, be sure that the pharmacy label is attached, and that the name matches the passenger's identification. Carry a letter from your doctor that explains the need for this medication. Call the airline ahead of time if flying to your destination to confirm the procedures for security.

Take with you the names and phone numbers of all of your child’s physicians along with any other pertinent medical information including all medications and allergies.

Purchase travel medical insurance from your travel agency at the time the deposit is made for the cruise particularly if planning to travel outside the United States.

Trip Insurance for Cruises - do you need it?

Sun, 15 Feb 2009 18:37:13 GMT

If you think that you will never need to purchase travel insurance for your cruise, think again. The cruise lines have taken an increasingly hard line in recent years, and they rarely reimburse uninsured passengers for cruise cancellation or interruption anymore. Travel insurance is a small price to pay for the financial peace of mind a full coverage policy provides. Some travel insurance policies also cover missed connections, lost or delayed baggage, emergency medical evacuation, emergency medical and dental expenses and emergency legal assistance. Be certain to closely review the details of your policy prior to purchase to be certain you have the coverage you need.

Travel insurance prices used to be based solely on the cost and/or length of the trip, on a per person basis, regardless of age. Now, more and more companies are basing premiums on the total cost of the trip per household and/or on a combination of the cost of the trip and the ages of the passengers. Many travel insurance companies cover children under certain ages for free, if they are traveling with their parents. Here are some other tips to keep in mind about travel insurance:

Medicare, as well as some HMOs, will not cover you outside of the United States.

You can purchase travel insurance through your travel agent, the cruise line, directly with the travel insurance company (most have toll-free telephone numbers and web sites) or through the company that you use for your automobile or homeowners insurance.

In some parts of the world, you must pay in cash at the medical facility at the time of treatment. Travel insurance will cover this, up to the limits of your policy.

If you are injured or become ill in a remote location, or a place that does not have suitable treatment facilities, you may need to be airlifted to the United States or another country for care. Emergency medical evacuations can run into the tens of thousands of dollars, and your insurance will cover this, up to the limits of your policy.

Some companies do not cover preexisting medical conditions at all, while others require that the insurance be purchased within seven to 14 days of making the initial cruise deposit in order to provide this coverage. Most of the policies available through the cruise lines exclude coverage for preexisting medical conditions.

When it comes to trip cancellation or interruption due to death, illness or injury, most travel insurance companies normally cover you for yourself, your traveling companions and your immediate family members. Check with your travel insurance company to find out how they define immediate family members.

Some cruise lines offer cancellation waiver insurance, which is not the same thing as trip cancellation or interruption insurance. Waivers generally only apply to cancellations made at least several days prior to the scheduled start of the trip. Trip cancellation and interruption insurance will cover you from the time that you purchase your cruise until you return from the trip. To be covered in both instances, you may need to purchase a combined waiver and cancellation and interruption insurance policy.