Family Vacation: Start Your Plans With These 4 Ideas

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Back in May, with a little less than 1 month of the school year left, I started to try and finish my family vacation plans. This was something I hadn’t completed and was actually just starting to think about. Truthfully, I was still in denial over the fact that my little kindergartener would be moving on to 1st grade and summer break snuck up on me. But even now, there is still time to make our vacation plans. So if you are like me and you didn’t have anything set in stone before summer arrived, here is a list of 4 family vacation ideas that you can do with your kids over the summer.

1. A Summer Cruise

A family cruise is a great way for everyone to spend time together. You can do activities and sightseeing as a family and then do things on your own that you enjoy doing. The kids will want to spend time with their new friends at the kids club leaving you to explore the ship on your own.

Family Vacation: Start Your Plans With These 4 Ideas Lissette Fernandez Contributor Miami Moms Blog

My suggestion would be Alaska or the Caribbean. Alaska would be great for nature lovers and to escape the heat. And the Caribbean is an amazing way to lounge on a shaded beach somewhere. The kids can explore the beach while you relax a bit.

If you have a child that is under 3, make sure the ship you decide to sail on has a splash pad that for kids that are in swim diapers. There are only a handful of ships that allow this. If you need help finding out which one, I can help

2. Theme Parks With Water Parks

This one is a hit or miss. Theme parks like Disney World or Universal during the summer months are the worst! It’s so hot and humid that you feel like you’re drowning and burning alive all at the same time. But, instead of the theme parks, you can visit the water parks!

Family Vacation: Start Your Plans With These 4 Ideas Lissette Fernandez Contributor Miami Moms Blog

Disney has two water parks and Universal recently opened one as well. Most of their resorts have great pool facilities also, so you don’t even need to leave the resort if you don’t want to. Another option would be to visit Georgia and stay at Great Wolf Lodge.

3. All-Inclusive Resorts

All-inclusive resorts are right up there with cruises. If it is a resort for families, many of them also have kids clubs and babysitting services. So if you and your partner want to go for a massage or have a nice dinner together, you can still do that! Plus, they usually have amazing waterparks, beaches, and playgrounds where the kids can wear themselves out.

Club Med Spa Family Travel Family Vacation: Start Your Plans With These 4 Ideas Lissette Fernandez Contributor Miami Moms Blog
Credit: Club Med Vacations

4. Camping

I would not camp in Miami during the summer. This is not an option for many of the same reasons I hate theme parks during the summer. But then you also have about a million mosquitos to deal with. That’s a hard no for me!

Falls Creek Waterfall Lissette Fernandez Contributor Miami Moms Blog
Photo by ANDI WHISKEY on Unsplash

Instead, what I would do is pack our car and take a family road trip. I would drive up to North Carolina or Tennessee and camp in Great Smoky Mountain National Park. There are 2 campgrounds that I found in my research to be the best in the mountains as far as facilities. They are the Elkmont and Cades Cove campgrounds. Both have amazing nature trails where you can take a 5-mile round trip hike to see waterfalls and all kinds of forest creatures.


When planning your family vacations, you always want to consider a place that will be fun for everyone, including the smallest. Keep in mind that if you’re traveling with toddlers, everything will be at a much slower pace then what you’re used to. You will have to adjust your plans to their schedule. Or you might want to try to take everything in from their perspective. As a new human, they are taking everything in for the first time, so imagine the beauty that they see!