Why family cruises are a shore thing

Other reasons include spending quality time together in an unhurried, unpressured environment.

Other reasons include spending quality time together in an unhurried, unpressured environment.

Published Apr 20, 2016

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Cape Town - One of the biggest trends in river cruising this year is the rise of multi-generational cruising.

Lieria Boshoff, Brand Manager for Uniworld Boutique River Cruising explains why.

“Parents love cruising because it's really good value for money-activities, meals and great accommodation all for one price, including structured and supervised programming for the children, and river cruising allows grandparents the opportunity to show their grandchildren the world.”

“We've found the multi-generational cruises we have offered to be so successful that we've increased our capacity from three cruises in 2014 to 11 in 2016. River cruises are an easy way to get everyone in the family on board. Children-especially tweens and teens- give ships the green light because they love the freedom they can have on board and the chance to make new friends,” continues Lieria.

Uniworld Boutique River Cruises has developed multi-generational, family-friendly river cruises specifically to appeal to grandparents and parents with special shore excursions and pricing. The cruises offer an educational spin on the sites visited and Uniworld showcase cities that are historically and culturally rich.

Other reasons include spending quality time together in an unhurried, unpressured environment, being able to reconnect as a family and of course pooling your holiday budget to get more for your money.

Nowadays grandparents are increasingly fit and active and this means lots of opportunities for adventure and shore activities. When families are scattered around the country (Pretoria, Cape Town, Durban, Johannesburg) it can be difficult to see each other but a planned holiday together will do wonders for family bonding.

Children can enjoy a special menu with kid-friendly food options, cooking classes with the pastry chefs plus a special tour of the ship with the Captain. The games room is equipped with PlayStation 2 or Wii and there are lots of onboard games and movies to choose from.

The shore excursions have been well-planned to take every family member's likes into account. In Frankfurt, on the Classic Christmas Markets cruise, guests will visit the Toy Museum in Nuremberg for a guided tour of four floors of toys through the centuries from antique wooden dolls and tin soldiers to the modern day classics like Lego and Barbie is on the cards. On the Delightful Danube and Prague cruise families can enjoy a Segway ride in Prater Park, Vienna, and visit the Spanish Riding School to see the famous Lippizaner horses.

During the July school holidays on the Castles along the Rhine cruise guests visit Cologne's Chocolate Museum and then pay homage to the Technik Museum in Speyer to discover all about the history of transportation. Grandpas and dads are sure to enjoy this one as it's all about fire engines, locomotives and vintage cars.

Apart from providing a special kid-friendly menu during lunch and dinner Uniworld also offers their child guests the chance to participate in a cooking class with the ship's pastry chef. Here they can have fun creating their own desserts. The children are also given a special behind-the-scenes tour of the ship with either the Captain, plus there are German or French beginners class for those who want to learn a little bit about the language.

To find out more visit uniworld.com or call (011) 280 8400

Adapted from a press release for IOL

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