Face it, family vacations are expensive. Generally, you have to pay for airfare, transportation, lodging, food and entertainment. For a family with four kids, you have to multiply that expense by six, so even the shortest vacation can put a huge crimp on your wallet.

One economical alternative can be a cruise that caters to families, like Disney Cruise Lines. With cruise lines, all of your expenses are included in one package rate. With this floating hotel, you won’t have to budget separately for transportation and hotels and food.

If you or your kids are hungry, no problem. Disney offers several on-board restaurants and most of the food is included in the ticket price. Your kids can grab a meal every five minutes, so there’s no need to worry about filling empty stomachs.

When planning a traditional family vacation, deciding what to do for fun can be tricky. If Mom and Dad just want to relax, the kids get bored. But if all of your family time is spent going to kid-friendly attractions, chances are the parents will be bored. Then there’s the need for alone time. Maybe Dad just wants to spend time catching up on the sports scores, or checking in with the office.

This is where a Disney Cruise comes in handy. Disney knows family time must be balanced with the personal vacation goals of individual family members, so they pride themselves on providing different degrees of family interaction. Disney Cruises can accommodate your vacation needs if your family wants to hang out together and get away from it all, or if you want to chill separately and get away from each other.

Want to make flubber with your eight-year old? Not a problem.

Want to drop your three-year old off with Peter Pan and pick the kid up in four hours? Well, at Disney Cruise’s Neverland, that’s perfectly acceptable. Trained counselors lead the young tykes in games and activities.

In fact, the ship has play areas for kids of all ages. Children ages three to seven can play in the Oceaneer club, a large room that resembles Captain Hook’s ship. At Oceaneer Lab youngsters aged eight to twelve can explore the magic of science.

As the children play, you have peace of mind your children are well-supervised and enjoying themselves. If an emergency arises, the counselor will alert you via personal pagers.

Teenagers can ditch their parents and hang out at either The Stack, or Aloft. At The Stack, teens can watch movies, listen to music, or play video games on big-screen plasma TVs. The young adult spot has a lounge area, an Internet Café, and a dance floor. Aloft is another teen area on Disney Cruises. Designed for 13-17 year olds, this popular hang-out resembles a college dorm room.

But never let it be said that with all these kid-friendly activities, that Disney Cruises forgets about you, the parents. In fact, while your kids are being entertained and watched over, you are free to enjoy some adult fun. Pamper yourself at a spa, workout in a gym with a personal trainer, or watch a live show. At night, there are several on-board, nightclubs, and lounges and comedy clubs you can enjoy.

With all of these fun-filled activities, it almost doesn’t matter where the ship goes. But for the record, the ship docks at Cape Canaveral and visits some of the most popular ports of call in the Caribbean such as, Grand Cayman, Nassau, St. Maarten, Cozumel, Key West as well as a Disney’s privately-owned island called Castaway Cay.

Cruising is an affordable travel method; a Disney Cruise is a fun way for your and your family to either congregate or separate.

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Cruises to the Mexican Riviera are populated with younger, more festive crowds. The vibe on a Mexican cruise is extremely party-friendly. Whether you’re looking for a short trip or a long vacation, cruising to Mexico is an effective way to take a break from your daily grind, and rage like a lunatic.

Mexican cruises are fun. Aside from the white sandy beaches and crystal clear waters, you are sure to enjoy a lively atmosphere both on and off the ship.

If you live in LA, and you don’t have a lot of time or money to enjoy a proper vacation, then take a weekend cruise to Baja. You leave Long Beach on Friday, and you get back just in time to stagger into work on Monday. These mini booze-cruises are a great way to escape with your buddies and forget about your worries. You’ll probably meet a bunch of new people as well.

If you have more days to spare, then the Mexican Riviera offers you some choice travel locations.

Puerto Vallarta is unique jungle-beach experience. The history of this port is rich. Cobblestone roads lead you to Old Spanish forts. The missionary ambiance is flavored by Mariachi music in the air. Puerto Vallarta is also a choice spot for shoppers. If you’re looking to get the perfect pair of sandals, then a stop at the marketplace is a must. If you’re feeling a bit more adventurous, try parasailing.

Mazatlan is the place to party. Young adults will find many locations where all-out raging is encouraged. Thumping clubs, restaurants, and jolly bars can be found along the entire beach strip. Mazatlan is the place to be if you want to spend your nights dancing, drinking, and getting down. Shrimp tacos and beer make for great party fuel.

Cabo San Lucas is one of the most luxurious stops along the Mexican Riviera. Pristine beaches are sprawled across this tropical paradise. Cabo is a bit more kickback than some of the other Mexican ports, which might make it a better option for families. Snorkeling, scuba diving, and glass bottom boat tours are memorable ways of enjoying Cabo’s shores. Fishing in Cabo is also pretty fun.

Acapulco is the destination for cliff diving. The dives that go down at La Quebrada will blow your mind. It’s also a great place for sailing.

With temperatures staying nice and toasty throughout the seasons, cruising the Mexican Riviera is a travel option that is available year-round. A cruise trip can be pretty reasonably priced, but the best way to lower your cruise costs is to depart from a port that’s close to you. So for travelers living on the west coast, a trip to the Mexican Riviera is an affordable alternative to Caribbean cruising.

No matter what you plan on experiencing during your cruise to Mexico, you’ll find it pretty hard to not have a good time.

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When someone mentions cruise travel, most of us tend to conjure up images of tropical locations, warm sandy beaches, and glistening ocean waters. But there’s more to cruising than just surf and sunshine. Although it’s not a trip to the tropics, a cruise to Alaska can be just as exotic as any other cruise getaway.

As you cruise up just part of Alaska’s 6,600 miles of coastline, you’ll realize, Alaska is friggn’ huge. If you grafted this goofy landmass over the continental US, Alaska’s eastern tip would blanket the East Coast, and its western tail would stretch as far as California.

Though cruises are only offered May-September, the popularity of these getaways is growing, making an Alaskan cruise a very hot ticket. Despite its popularity, the cruises remain very private and romantic. Picture yourself chilling with a loved one, sipping on a hot drink while passing through the icy tundra.

If you depart from Seattle or Vancouver, you can make a roundtrip cruise to Alaska’s Inside Passage. Sixteen mammoth glaciers can be seen at Glacier Bay National Park. Watching small-island-sized chunks of ice break off into the frigid ocean is quite remarkable. The Gulf of Alaska also has some serious arctic scenery.

Even as you enjoy the view from the ship, don’t miss the chance to check out the type of shore excursion selections that an Alaskan cruise can offer. If you want to see Anchorage, your first stop will be the port of Seward. The seaside view of the icy Gulf cliffs along the way will make you feel like you’re seeing the world through an IMAX camera. If you have the chance, you might also check out a cruise to the Bering Strait. This historical stretch became a frozen landmass during the last ice age, and provided a path for intercontinental human migration. It’s worth checking out.

Fishing-buffs will have a difficult time deciding which lodge to choose when they plan there ice-fishing excursions in Alaska. For those cruisers who want to view the frozen frontier from the sky, helicopter glacier tours can be scheduled into your cruise. Maybe you want to try your hand at dog-sledding, or go kayaking along the icy shores. Alaska’s terrain also offers spots for hiking and mountain biking.

It’s not a tropical paradise, but you can’t say that Alaska isn’t exotic. Watching glaciers melt into the sea is a relaxing experience, especially on a floating resort. So if you’re looking to kickback and enjoy the view, or take on the terrain first-hand, a cruise to Alaska is a great way to travel.

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