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Holiday Cruises: Give the Gift of Priceless Family Memories

Written by T.I. Cruiser on October 13, 2011 · Leave a Comment

The holidays are fast approaching, and right now is a great time to book a family cruise. If any of you have ever went on a holiday cruise you already know how well the cruise lines take care of their passengers. For those of you who have never taken a holiday cruise I figured I would take a bit of time to write a post about them.

Planning a cruise during the holidays is the perfect way to spend quality time with your family. You can leave all of the craziness of the holiday season behind you when your family sails away for a holiday cruise. Cruises during Thanksgiving, Christmas or even New Years are a great way to be able to avoid the stress of get-togethers, parties and dinners that take days to plan and prepare. Your family will be able to eat an amazing array of foods everyday without having to go shopping, plan meals, cooking or washing a single dish.

Your family can spend the holidays on a beautiful floating city, on the open ocean, sailing to exotic destinations and enjoying the warm weather and beautiful scenery while others are still landlocked, frantically looking for parking spaces in crowded malls. A cruise can be a wonderful bonding experience for your family where you are all together with all of your needs taken care of so the only thing you have to worry about doing is to figure out what fun activity that you want to do next.

Your days will be filled with exotic destinations, shopping ports and excursions on shore to explore or they can be spent at sea sailing to the next destination while you relax in lounge chairs by the pool. Cruise ships also offer so many activities on board that you are guaranteed never to hear the phrase “I’m bored” coming from your children. Your children will be happily engaged in activities with you or they can also take part in supervised activities that give parents a chance to spend time together relaxing, enjoying a intimate evening together, complete with a world class dining experience.

Food is always good on cruises but Thanksgiving is celebrated in an even more sumptuous array of food. There will be every possible holiday treat imaginable and quite a few that you may have never dreamed of but will certainly never forget. Forget about having to spend Thanksgiving complimenting Aunt Edna on her gelatin salad that you have always secretly hated. You will be eating foods that will make your taste buds dance with delight.

Cruise lines treat the Christmas season with special care. The ships are festooned with beautiful greenery, twinkling lights, holiday displays, gingerbread villages, caroling and decorations that will delight your children and even adults will gaze in wonder at the decorations. There are special shows, holiday favorites in the ship’s movie theaters and even special appearances by Santa and his elves. Children can take part in special activities such as ornament making or decorating holiday cookies.

Hanukkah is not to be forgotten either. The cruise lines observe the holiday by displaying Menorahs and hosting other traditional Hanukkah activities. Most cruise ships will offer Hanukkah services each day during Hanukkah. The world class chefs and their staff will be busy preparing kosher culinary offerings and treats to help your family celebrate the season together while you cruise in style.

New Years is also a great time to plan a cruise for the family. The cruise ships furnish everything you could possibly need to celebrate in an unforgettable way and you aren’t left to clean up the mess the next morning. You can celebrate in style at a black tie affair with champagne and fine foods while your children attend an event planned for the kids or you can choose to celebrate in a family friendly event that includes everyone in the family. However you decide to celebrate, music, confetti, horns, New Year’s hats and champagne (or sparkling grape juice for the kids) for the traditional New Year’s toast is provided for your celebration.

Anytime from Thanksgiving through New Years is the perfect time for a holiday cruise. You might want to spend the actual day of the holiday on land with your extended family but that doesn’t mean that your immediate family won’t enjoy a special time to spend together right before the big day relaxing in preparation for the hectic holiday on land or even a getaway afterwards to help wind down from the holiday season.

There is no wrong time to plan your cruise during the holiday season. You will be creating memories that will last and be remembered long after your children grow up and have children of their own. A holiday cruise is a priceless gift for your family because it gives you the gift of uninterrupted time together as a family and memories for a lifetime.

Happy Birthday America!

Written by T.I. Cruiser on July 4, 2010 · Leave a Comment

You have to love a nation that celebrates its independence every July 4, not with a parade of guns, tanks, and soldiers who file by the White House in a show of strength and muscle, but with family picnics where kids throw Frisbees, the potato salad gets iffy, and the flies die from happiness. You may think you have overeaten, but it is patriotism. ~Erma Bombeck

I’d like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a happy and safe Fourth of July. We pride ourselves on being a diverse country. With that diversity comes various cultural, religious and philosophical beliefs. Unfortunately, sometimes these differences in beliefs lead to fear, anger and even hatred.

July 4th, Independence Day is perhaps the only day where all Americans are on the same page. Today should be a day where we put aside those differences and celebrate the common thread that unites us, our freedom. No matter what differences of opinion we may have, remember that the only reason you are allowed to have those differences is because you live in a free country.

TIC Celebrates Memorial Day

Written by T.I. Cruiser on May 25, 2009 · Leave a Comment

bald eagle head and american flag TIC Celebrates Memorial Day

In honor of Memorial Day I would like to take a moment to thank all of those who have given their lives to protect out freedom. For many of us Memorial Day provides a three day weekend away from the stresses of our everyday jobs, but all too often the true meaning is lost. So, I am here to ask you that while you are out in the backyard barbequing, lounging by the pool or enjoying your day in whichever way you see fit please take the time to remember the true meaning of the day. If at all possible at 3 p.m. stop whatever you are doing to participate in the “National Moment of Remembrance” .

Here are some other ways you can honor those who have given the ultimate sacrifice so that we can enjoy the personal freedoms which allow us to do things like throw pool parties, backyard barbeques and just about every other moment of enjoyment that we take for granted.

by visiting cemeteries and placing flags or flowers on the graves of our fallen heroes.
by visiting memorials.
by flying the U.S. Flag at half-staff until noon.
by flying the ‘POW/MIA Flag’ as well (Section 1082 of the 1998 Defense Authorization Act).
by renewing a pledge to aid the widows, widowers, and orphans of our falled dead, and to aid the disabled veterans.

As a symbol of the gratitude I have I want to link to a blog post I previously wrote on cruise ship military discounts. If that article helps any of you lessen the expense of taking your families on a vacation, it was the least I could do for a group of people that do so much.