Travel Archives - Mom Off Track

Our Caribbean Cruise on the Celebrity Constellation Review

May 23, 2013 By barb Leave a Comment

This past spring break my family and I took a 4 night Western Caribbean cruise docking in both Key West and Cozumel.Celebrity Cruises had a reputation for being very wheelchair friendly and we choose The Constellation for 3 reasons-accessibility, dates, and we got a kicking deal booking last minute. The Constellation was built in 1991 and while its age is showing a bit, we thoroughly enjoyed our time on board. We had two balcony staterooms, cabins 6107, which is handicapped accessible and 6108. I wrote about the wheelchair accessibility of Celebrity Constellation on Traveling Mom if you want to check that out as well.

Here are the Top 5 Things We Loved About Celebrity Cruises Constellation

Ocean Liners

In order for us to do a Celebrity Constellation review the PR department was kind enough to arrange a special dinner for my birthday at Ocean Liners, their premier pay French restaurant. The restaurant is beautiful and any foodie would be in heaven here. My family was treated to all the special menu offerings but the highlights were the flambéed lobster and the dark chocolate soufflé. If cruising on board with kids I suggest sending the kids to one of the many activities and making a date night at Ocean Liners.

Comedian

The entertainment on board The Constellation is top notch but we really fell head over heels for James Stephens III. He was the perfect blend of family fun while appealing to both the teens and adults. This is a long video but if you have time, watch him, he is very funny and just seems to be an all round great guy.

Buffet/Home Made Ice Cream

Celebrity Cruises are well known for their food and certainly lived up to the hyped. Our family never made it to the formal dining room because while on vacation we prefer not to be tied to a dinner schedule or get dressed up. We prefer room service or the buffet. During my pre-cruise research I found many reviews on Cruise Critic raving about the ice cream. I kept thinking it seemed like such a silly detail. Oh, was I wrong. The homemade ice cream is indeed all it is cracked up to be and more. My boys must have had 4 helpings a day. I reluctantly stuck to one (OK maybe 2) a day. If you are lucky enough to be there when the Mint Chocolate Chip is out, STOP. You will thank me later.

Solarium

We spent most of our pool time in the indoor solarium because the one wheelchair pool lift on the entire ship is dedicated to the jacuzzi here. Unique to the solarium is the thalassotherapy pool which attempts to use sea water as a form of medical therapy. I don’t know that it made me healthier but I sure loved it. The AquaSpa restaurant is also located in this area. With Bob on a newly diet, which is going fantastic for him by the way, we ate a lot of light lunches here. The boys preferred to hit the burger bar in the main pool area-over and over and over again.

Making Memories

Above all The Constellation provided us with a great background for making memories. Really, when I look back on the cruise what I remember most was just how easy it all was. Very little struggling with the wheelchair was involved, Carter was happy, Connor was happy and well fed, we were happy and relaxed. We spent lots of time lounging by the pool or a beach with umbrella drinks. It just overall was a great family time and I am thankful we booked it and appreciative the team at Emanate PR for making the trip extra special. Here are some of our favorite times!

Filed Under: family life, reviews, Travel Tagged With: cruise review, family fun, spring break, wheelchair travel

Does A Perfect Family Trip Exist? And Why Do I Obsess Over It?

May 2, 2013 By barb Leave a Comment

You know what I hate about travel? All the weeks of research that goes into making the ‘perfect’ trip.

What I hate more?

That I am the only one who cares to do it.

Months before planned trips I am scouring websites looking for the perfect place to stay at the perfect rate and the perfect time that matches up with every other perfect part of this trip.

Maybe that is what I hate?

The image that travel is perfect and I am somehow responsible for making all the stars magically align so that nothing could possibly go wrong?

Family vacation planning around here starts with me presenting the family with 3 options all carefully laid out on a spreadsheet with a cost analysis and breakdown of the pros and cons as I see it. No where else in my life am I this obsessive.

I think it is because the average family vacation is such a huge investment of both time and money. We only get one spring break a year so deciding how 4 very different people are going to enjoy that time together and how much money we will invest in that is a huge decision to me.

Please tell me I am not the only freaky parent that feels responsible for planning the perfect family trip?

Once the family picks from options A, B & C the real nitty gritty planning begins. I scour website reviews, ask questions on facebook or twitter, talk to friends over lunch and then I pull all this into a proposed plan which is then rediscussed as a family in which the kids roll their eyes and ask one question: will they get their own rooms? There has to be a pretty compelling reason for them to sleep in the same room, like staying at the Yacht Club at Disney. Otherwise that alone can be a deal breaker. All Bob wants to know is how much it is going to cost. Anything over 5K has to have a pretty compelling reason, like at least a week at sea with all the food and drinks included.

Once the final approval process begins I really start agonizing over if I found the right place, literally freaking out before hitting the reserve button, going back and checking reviews to make sure the last guests didn’t find bedbugs. Then I push the button, reserve the perfect vacation and walk away….for another 10 minutes. Visions of the hotel where I had to literally go and buy new sheets for the week because it was so bad dance in my head.

The only thing that makes this process easier on me is staying at a place where a real friend of mine has stayed. Someone I can call up or Facebook and really trust. Sadly, that doesn’t happen often so I rely on websites where I feel like I can trust what is being said. It goes without saying that Traveling Mom is one of those because the writers are my friends and I am the Director of Social Influence there. The other place I love is Trip Adviser because I feel like I get the little details there that are so important.

What are your go-to resources for planning the perfect family trip?

I am always looking for new travel planning resources that help me strike a healthy balance between my crazy obsessive planning ways and just trusting and winging it so if you have a good one please share it in the comments. Residence Inn just opened a new Family Travel Talk Forum that I joined due to a campaign they have running with Traveling Mom. I have never stayed at a Residence Inn but I can tell you I am super impressed with the number of fans they have among my friends and trusted sources. On checking them out I found they have everything my family requires: lots of space, kitchens, pools, and a budget friendly price point. Carter will be down for the count most of this summer healing from a surgery but I am going to poke around in their group and see if someone can help me find an easy get away for the family in July.

I want to thank Residence Inn for sponsoring this post in which you all got to learn more about my creepy, quirky, neurotic ways and for sponsoring this weeks #TMOM Twitter Party. Every week you will find me chatting away on Monday nights at 7pm MST with some really funny and awesome moms & dads that travel. This week we will be talking about Finding Balance on Vacation and there will be some nifty prizes from Residence Inn, with a grand prize of a $400 giftcard and 2 $200! God knows I hope someone has some good tips for me because it ain’t easy!

Filed Under: Travel Tagged With: sponsored, twitter party

Dallas Fort Worth Itinerary | I Left My Heart In Texas

January 4, 2013 By barb 7 Comments

Last November, Connor and I took off for a fabulous 3 day weekend for a Dallas Fort Worth itinerary. I wanted to wait and tell y’all about it because I had such a wonderful time that I didn’t want this story to get lost in the holiday noise. If you have yet to visit the Dallas/Fort Worth area I hope that as you are planning your 2013 adventures, a trip to this area of TX lands on your map after this post. Fortunately a lot of friends attended this same trip with us, so for some of the details I will link you over to their posts.

Our trip started off at the Omni in Dallas for the Family Travel Conference. I was really impressed with all the cool little features in the Omni rooms. During the conference, Connor snuck off down the street to the Old Red Museum. He loved it. We visited the Dallas Zoo one night for dinner. The food was lovely and we got some cool closeups of the elephants and the penguins. But the real star of the that trip was actually the Galleria Mall where Connor had a ball playing like a little kid.

While we loved Dallas, Fort Worth is really the area that stole our heart. Really, we have met with plenty of CVB’s (Convention and Visitors Bureaus) in our time, but there was just something so real and heartwarming about how much Jessica and McKenzie loved Fort Worth. It was infectious. Maybe I loved them just a tiny bit more because McKenzie was a Xavier grad (although much younger than me). Once a Gator, always a Gator. She was LOVELY though and was so sweet to take Connor on his first college tour of TCU. Which, oh my goodness, is a beautiful campus. Personally, I would be thrilled to see him at TCU, but he doesn’t quite see himself as a Horned Frog and still has his heart set on CSU in Fort Collins here.

THIS is what we did in 24 hours in Fort Worth. I am not going to lie I was EXHAUSTED coming home. My feet were killing me because my crap-tastic dressy boots that I had from Vegas (note: now at the Goodwill) gave me such bad blisters at the Zoo. But despite those two things, I would do this all in a heartbeat again-I would just give myself much more time to enjoy Fort Worth. I posted the picture on Facebook yesterday and was surprised how many people really could guess the locations. It’s obviously a fan favorite of many people

There are two places you MUST eat in the Fort Worth area: Joe T. Garcia’s and Paris Coffee Shop. It’s no secret that I have an incredible disdain for what people in Colorado try to pass off as “mexican” food. I grew up in AZ. Quite literally in a Mexican food restaurant. I know my Mexican food. People in Colorado think if you throw green chili on top of anything you can call it Mexican. BLECH. Joe T’s was a blissful blast from the past as I had the best tortilla soup I have had in a LOOOONG time. Their outdoor patio was gorgeous and I may move to Fort Worth just so I can have dinners there. But on the flip side, Paris Coffee Shop would get my breakfast business. Probably because I quite literally have a secret crush on Mike, the owner, or his pies, which they make fresh every day. Paris Coffee Shop is one of those places that has been around in the same family forever. They survive because they just do it right! Believe me, stop in for some homemade pie and a hug from Mike and you will feel just like you want to be frozen in the special time and place that this coffee shop is.

Actually-there are three places you MUST eat in TX but Riscky’s brings you over to The Stockyards and that, my friends, is a whole other ball of wax. The Stockyards is an amazingly fun place to hangout. You have the old fashioned honky tonk type country dives to the some of the best BBQ I have had-besides my husbands. Nobody beats his, sorry. But really, the Stockyards deserves its own post (which I will put over on TravelingMom.com and link here) but suffice it to say Connor has yet to take off his Billy Bob’s hat and has some pretty vivid memories of riding a mechanical bull (I’ll leave that to your imagination).

Fort Worth isn’t all cowboys, bulls and horses though. I was pretty surprised to find a pretty cool Cultural District that you could walk to several great museums including the Kimball Art Museum, The National Cowgirl Museum of Hall and Fame (which we surprisingly had a great time at) and the traveling Titanic Exhibit at the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History was so powerful that I still keep my “boarding pass” in my wallet. I plan on writing another separate piece just about that.

I always appreciate a place that every member of the family can enjoy and when you have teenage boys, those places are harder and harder to find. Fort Worth made that easy. We both had a great time and have wonderful memories. We both want to go back with Bob and Carter and I am anxious to see what the wheelchair accessibility will be like for Carter. From what I can tell, he won’t have many access issues there and I am looking forward to a slower pace, longer family trip there soon.

Filed Under: Travel Tagged With: dallas, fort worth, travel

A Fish Tale of a Fathers Day

June 21, 2012 By barb Leave a Comment

Summer and fishing seem to go hand and hand. The idyllic idea of catching a gigantic fish with dear old Dad. Thing is, it usually isn’t so idyllic.

How it really goes:

Family starts off all excited with a cooler full of worms and gatorade.

Kid casts and hurts their sibling who was smart enough to stand behind them. Sibling cries. Dad helps get it safely in the water.

“Dad, my string broke”

“Dad, my worm fell off”

“Dad, its been in the water 3 minutes. When will the big fish jump on it”

“Dad, its been 5 minutes and no fish”

“Dad this is boring”

“Mom, did you bring my DS?”

“Dad, when can we go home?”

Parents pack up the car and head home with their Norman Rockwell dreams crushed.

Multiply the above scenario by as many kids as you bring with you.

I know. We have been trying since the kids were little. We have tried every lake, reservoir and have, yes, resorted to those ‘shoot in a barrel’ places (shhh….don’t judge).

So when my husband decided he wanted to learn how to fly fish with the teens I just rolled my eyes. Not only has regular fishing been a nightmare, I couldn’t imagine how Carter would manage that in his wheelchair.

But Father’s Day was nearing, we were spending the weekend in Keystone and I thought we could maybe just book it for Bob. I called Summit Fly Fishing and booked Bobs appointment and I added on the end of the conversation “is there anyway a wheelchair user could fly fish?” Not only did they say yes, they were super excited to have Carter come and try things out as they are getting ready to put a program together with Project Healing Waters. Apparently most wheelchair users can use a float and enjoy fly fishing in a fairly typical way.

I think the staff was as disappointed as we were when we got there and found out that Carter would not be able to use an adapted float after all. His age was a big issue with their insurance. But they were happy to accommodate and teach all the boys from the waters edge and honestly, it probably worked out better for us.

They all had a great time and Carter caught the biggest fish. Which may, or may not, have been rigged. I’m not sayin’ one way or the other.

But what made this such a great day was having the guides. Instead of “Dad, my line is broke”, it was “Chip, my line is broke”. While teaching them all how to tie flies and cast lines, they took the stress off Dad and gave everyone a nice day, with not one thought to the wheelchair.

Now, that is a fishing memory with dear old Dad that every family would cherish.

Do you have some great outdoor adventure stories to share? I would love to hear them. Come chat with me and the Traveling Mom network of writers next Monday night on twitter and tell me your adventures! Travel Guard, a travel insurance plan provider, recently launched it’s new “Great Outdoors” plan and they are sponsoring this fun chat.

Here are all the details:
WHEN: June 25 9-10 pm EDT (8-9 pm CT; 7-8 pm MT; 6-7 pm PT)

WHAT: Twitter party – Adventure Travel

HOW TO JOIN: Follow the hashtag #TMOM

PRIZES: RSVP here and join the party on June 25 to be entered to win a nifty prize!

Wondering what the heck is a Twitter party and how TMOM Monday works? Click the link and find out.

*Our guided fly fishing tour was provided at no cost by Summit Fly Fishing. Travel Guard is compensating me for my involvement in their twitter campaign. Personally, I think most families should by travel insurance to cover their adventures. But I really think that any special needs family is foolish to not. Been there, cancelled that too many times! Carter wants to disclose that the fish were released back into their happy lake after we took their picture and that no fish were harmed in the making of this blog post.

Filed Under: Travel Tagged With: accessible fishing in Colorado, fly fishing, wheelchair adventures