Travel Schue: Changing the Way We Travel


Many of you know that Ethan has become quite the little traveler in his first year of life.  We've flown five times, taken plenty of road trips, and spent countless hours packing and unpacking in preparation for our getaways {you can read about our "must have" items for traveling with baby here}.
As Ethan gets older, {and he gets harder to entertain/distract}, we will have to be more thoughtful in how we plan our trips.  For example, we'll probably opt to rent a house versus stay in a hotel, visit the zoo versus get a spa treatment, and find kid-friendly restaurants versus dining at a fancy bistro.  Our future trips will definitely change, but I realized that we don't have to sacrifice all the things we love about vacationing just because we have Ethan...we just have to be more strategic.
Enter Norwegian Cruise Line.  I've never been on a cruise, but have always wanted to sail to Alaska.  And why not make it happen when we have children?  
Ethan would get the educational benefit of observing all the sea life {hello orcas and humpback whales!}, but can also have gobs of entertainment, via Nickelodeon, circus activities, pools, slides, sporting activities and more, all while on the cruise.  Sounds like a win-win to me!  The best part about the Norwegian experience, is that they really cater to families.  You can spend all day enjoying kid-friendly activities and then go out for that romantic dinner while the kiddos get to enjoy their own fun - supervised of course.
In looking more into Norwegian, they have activities and events outlined each day to really maximize the cruise experience, while keeping the kids constantly entertained.  I can only imagine how much more difficult it will become to keep Ethan happy as he gets older...he's already such a handful!  But these cruises are catered specifically to your kids needs.  They have full-time activity counselors who are there to provide a supervised and fun experience for all ages.  It's like summer camp, only better!  You can visit Norwegian's website for more details.
Now for the exciting part!  Norwegian Cruise Line and BlogHer are giving away one cruise voucher for a family of four and all you have to do to enter is tell me in the comments below:
What is your dream vacation for your family?
How easy is that?

Here are the official sweepstakes rules:
No duplicate comments.
You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry methods:
  1. Leave a comment in response to the sweepstakes prompt on this post
  2. Tweet (public message) about this promotion; including exactly the following unique term in your tweet message: "#SweepstakesEntry"; and leave the URL to that tweet in a comment on this post
  3. Blog about this promotion, including a disclosure that you are receiving a sweepstakes entry in exchange for writing the blog post, and leave the URL to that post in a comment on this post
  4. For those with no Twitter or blog, read the official rules to learn about an alternate form of entry.
Entries from all participating blogs will be pooled for winner selection; only two entries per household.
This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older. Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail. You have 72 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected.
The Official Rules are available here.
This sweepstakes runs from 5/7/2013-6/2/2013.
Be sure to visit Norwegian Cruise Line's brand page on BlogHer.com where you can read other bloggers’ posts!

So what are you waiting for?  Tell me about your dream vacation and maybe you'll be taking that vacation before you know it!
Good Luck!
xo natasha

89 comments :

  1. Honestly, any vacation would be a dream vacation! Our son is almost 3 and we still haven't been able to take him on any trips yet!

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  2. I don't know that I have a dream destination place but definitely somewhere warm and sunny with family.

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  3. My dream vacation would be to somewhere tropical!

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  4. I tweeted the giveaway :)
    https://twitter.com/katetroj/status/331769650935377922

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  5. I would love to go to Thailand one day!

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  6. Sun and lots of activities for the kids equal a great vacation to me!

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  7. My dream family vacation is the mediterranean!

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  8. My dream vacation is one where my husband, son and I get to spend time together without the interruptions of work and chores!

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  9. Our dream vacation would be somewhere warm, with a water play area, and suite so the kids can sleep in one room and my husband and I in another! :)

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  10. My dream vacation would be a trip to New Zealand with my family!

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  11. A year of motherhood under my belt has me craving a relaxing vacation with sun and water. Our son is very active so there has to be lots to do!

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  12. Bora bora would be my all time dream!!

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  13. My husband would love to go on a Alaska cruise sometime in the future, but my preference is the Caribbean cruise.

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  14. Somewhere warm and sandy, but with a pool as well :) and a babysitter would be nice for one night!

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  15. I would go anywhere warm!! I'm ready for summer. :)

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  16. I've been dying to go on an Alaskan cruise! My husband and I rarely agree on our top vacation destinations, but Alaska has been at the top of both of our lists for years!

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  17. I will be having my first baby boy in July and have been thinking a lot about travel and vacation. I have done some traveling and cannot wait to share the experience with him. My dream vacation would be Italy. I always told myself when traveling in Europe that I need to do a specific trip to only Italy because there is so much history and plenty to see.

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  18. Anywhere tropical!! But have also been dying to do an Alaskan cruise.

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  19. Would LOVE to take my family to Alaska!! Been on my bucket list for awhile!

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  20. i am ridiculously obsessed with cruising. hubby and i go every year and were so anxious to go when little man is old enough! were aiming for march when he hits the legal 6 month cruiser age ;) alaska is a location we havent been too yet, but its on our list!!

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  21. wow.. my hubby and I were just talking about possibly cruising Alaska in September!
    thank you!

    http://scaifebabywatch.blogspot.com/

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  22. My husband and I would love to go on an Alaskan cruise someday! It is definitely on our to do list :)

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  23. Dream vacation is a resort in Bermuda.

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  24. I love cruises! My husband has never been so that's definitely one of our dream vacations. I would love to take our son (almost 7 months) on one.

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  25. My dream family vacation would be to go on a cruise with my family to Bermuda.
    Thanks so much.
    rickpeggysmith(at)aol(dot)com

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  26. I tweeted: https://twitter.com/peg42/status/331918723906686979
    Thanks so much.
    rickpeggysmith(at)aol(dot)com

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  27. My dream vacation is pretty much anywhere tropical, but my dream vacay is Santorini!

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  28. A European cruise would be amazing.

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  29. Somewhere warm and out of that country with my babe and husband!!

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  30. I would love to do a Baltic Sea cruise! But, really, anywhere would be great! Thanks for the giveaway :) :)

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  31. probably Alaska - always wanted to cruise Alaska!

    tvollowitz at aol dot com

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  32. I'd love to go on a family cruise with my husband and daughter. Actually spend some care free time together just having fun, it would be awesome! Maybe to Alaska, always wanted to go there.

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  33. I've never been on a cruise before, so that would so fun to try out- especially would be nice to have all of our belongings close with a new baby! A dream vacay for me would be somewhere I've never been with a little fun and a little relaxation :)

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  34. for a family cruise I would love the opportunity to go to Alaska! But Hawaii sounds great too.... aghhh!! Okay Alaska
    :-)

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  35. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  36. Accidentally pressed "publish" too soon!

    We would love to take our twin babies on a cruise! It sounds like the perfect type of vacation with two little ones.

    Our dream trip would be to Bermuda!

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  37. I would love to go with my boyfriend and parents (my family) on a Mediterranean cruise!

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  38. I would love to take my family on a trip to the Caribbean.

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  39. i love all family travel, but one of my dream vacations is to cruise the galapagos islands
    stigay at comcast.net

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  40. My dream vacation would be a cruise to Europe with my family :)

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  41. Someplace where I can shoot tourists!

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  42. What a dream this would be to be on a cruise with both of my kids!

    gmissycat at yahoo dot com

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  43. Tweeted here too

    https://twitter.com/gmissycat/status/333252614533828608

    gmissycat at yahoo dot com

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  44. A cruise to the Virgin Islands would be a dream for us!
    nuthouse(at)centurytel(dot)net

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  45. tweeted: https://twitter.com/KerryBishop/status/333400601759215616
    nuthouse(at)centurytel(dot)net

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  46. Southern Italy would be a decent trip

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  47. 've been dying to go on an Alaskan cruise! My husband and I rarely agree on our top vacation destinations, but Alaska has been at the top of both of our lists for years! Painters

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  48. dream family vacation would be a cruise...someone else to do the cooking! Activities for the kids would be a plus!

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  49. Treating my husband's family to a trip to Europe! Good food, fun sights to see :)

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  50. My dream vacation would be a world cruise with exciting ports of call, great entertainment, balcony suite and awesome food!

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  51. https://twitter.com/madreblair/status/336887172277866496

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  52. We love the beach and I'd like to go to the South Pacific.
    aleksnearing gmail com

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  53. my dream vacation is a Mediterranean cruise!
    addictedtorodeo at gmail dot com

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  54. I look for fun for the whole family. A relaxing environment for my husband and I, and plenty of fun activities for my son.

    Thanks for the chance to win!
    wildorchid985 at gmail dot com

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  55. tweet--https://twitter.com/WildOrchid985/status/338292389275897856

    wildorchid985 at gmail dot com

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  56. I would love to take my family on a European vacation

    snunnrob at yahoo dot com

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  57. I tweeted!

    https://twitter.com/SaMiKaY101/status/338885152107290624

    snunnrob at yahoo dot com

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  58. I'm ready to go anywhere. But somewhere warm would be especially nice.

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  59. My dream vacation would be a secluded all inclusive resort in Tahiti.

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  60. I would be thrilled to be anywhere in the caribbean!

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  61. Our dream vacation would be to see Europe.


    hlee99 at gmail dot com

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  62. My dream vacation would be a cruise to New Zealand.
    Thanks for the contest.

    slehan at juno dot com

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  63. https://twitter.com/slehan/status/339891820219752449

    slehan at juno dot com

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  64. I tweeted! https://twitter.com/Phuckiphino/status/339907066640609280

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  65. We have always wanted to go on either an Alaskan or Mediterranean cruise.

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  66. our dream vacation is to spend 2 weeks in Colombia, my sons were adopted from there.
    Diane Baum
    esldiane@gmail.com

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  67. I would love to take a cruise to Alaska!! It's on my bucket list!

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  68. I'd love a cross country road trip through the United States.

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  69. Costa Rica is where my family wants to go!

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  70. We would love to go to Hawaii

    daveshir2005@yahoo.com

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  71. tweeted
    https://twitter.com/2005daveshir/status/341034792898404352

    daveshir2005@yahoo.com

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  72. My mom has some mobilty issues so a cruise would be great! We’d love to go to the South Pacific or the Mediterranean!
    adrianecoros(at)gmail(dot)com

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  73. https://twitter.com/LAMusing/status/341083812068986880
    adrianecoros(at)gmail(dot)com

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  74. Our dream vacation would be a cruise to the Caribbean. We love the water!


    eugeniewu [at] gmail-dot-com

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  75. Our dream vacation would be a cruise to the Caribbean. We love the water!


    eugeniewu [at] gmail-dot-com

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  76. I would love to go to the Bahamas!! Thanks for the giveaway! :)

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  77. i'd like to take a dream cruise to hawaii or europe!! i like cruises because you get to visit several places, not just one! it's such a money saver in my opinion!!! this would be amazing to gift my sister with. i would have a blast with her!

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  81. I would like to go to the Caribbean islands.

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