The 10th anniversary of 9/11 on September 11 this year is obviously going to be a special day. But it also happens to be the first Sunday after Labor Day – which makes it the 32nd anniversary of National Grandparents Day.

Grandparents hotel specials

Many hotels are going out of their way to make sure that grandpa and grandma feel the love and affection while on family vacations with a gaggle of kids and grandkids.

A bunch of hotels in Irvine, CA are coming together to offer a whole range of specials, including free meals, attraction passes and shopping gift cards.

The Irvine Spectrum Center Candlewood Suites, for example, has a package for grandparents with a discounted rate and a Boomers All-Day Play Pass that includes miniature golf, bumper boats and go karts, among other things.

“More and more grandparents are traveling with their grandkids,” says Wendy Haase from Destination Irvine. “Irvine’s affordability, recognition as ‘America’s Safest Big City,’ along with its close proximity to all Orange County has to offer make it an attractive destination for a family vacation.”

Velas Resorts in Mexico’s Puerto Vallarta, Riviera Maya and Riviera Nayarit (includes the Velas Vallarta and the AAA 5-Diamond Grand Velas Riviera Nayarit) also have a Grandparents package.

The grandparents’ stay is complimentary at Velas Vallarta, while the other two resorts will charge $65 nightly rate for the grandparents, as long as the kids are in tow and at least four suites are packed in with family.

The Velas Resorts offer also includes private airport transportation, a $500 resort credit for a future stay, guided tours and discounts on activities. Use promo code GVV.

The Hotel Collection Group in the UK (includes Woolley Grange in Nr. Bath and Moonfleet Manor in Dorset, among others) has a similar ‘Grandparents Stay Free’ offer. Book 3 nights with family before December 21 and grandparents can stay free.

The Seralago Hotel in Kissimmee has a ‘Grandparents Rule’ package that includes a free 4th night, breakfast for 2 adults daily (kids 10 & under eat free, 2 per room). Also includes 4 tickets to Congo River Adventure Golf, 10 tokens for the hotel’s game room, and a branded coffee mug from the hotel with free coffee.

Photo – Velas Resorts

Related posts:
Specials for Grandparents at Velas Resorts in Mexico
Pay your Age at the Gershwin Hotel in New York

Imagine traveling on a cruise ship and not having to worry about how many drinks you enjoy.

I read this article from Budget Travel today, and it piqued my interest because the last time we went out a cruise, we couldn’t decide if we should try to sneak on some booze or just pay for the drinks on the ship. We made our final decision when we realized that drinks on the ship were at least $5-$8 each, times two for the both of us, which amounted to about $70 a day in drinks or over $350 for our 5-day cruise. I based this estimate on us having five $7 drinks per day per person, which is not a lot on a cruise. Can you guess which option we went with?

Now, though, it appears as though cruise lines are offering more of an all-inclusive option. Royal Caribbean is the first out of the gate to offer such an alcohol-included package that costs about $310 per person for a week-long cruise. That’s about $45 in drinks a day, assuming the average price of a drink is $7. Not terrible, but still — $620 per couple is a lot of money to spend on alcohol! Maybe it’s just sticker shock; we would have spent over $500 for the both of us in drinks if our cruise had been 7 days, and it wouldn’t have even been unlimited.

I’m sure this type of all-inclusive alcohol program will sell very well, because when most people are on vacation, they do not want to worry about how much they’re paying for things or about keeping track of drinks per day to stay within their budget. Cruises are huge, floating hotels, and anything the cruise ship can do to make the vacation easier for passengers is usually welcome. What would really be cool is if cruise ships allowed people to pay for these packages over many months, so that you’re not hit with one huge bill as you leave the ship. “Thanks for coming, here’s your $600 bill!” Yikes.

Perhaps it is time to retire the sneakiness. Perhaps.

Photo: kansasphoto

Legoland California is getting ready to pour the LEGOs and begin construction on their very own Legoland Hotel. They’ll be starting work in October, and plan to open the hotel in summer 2013.

Legoland Hotel in Carlsbad, California

The Legoland Hotel in Carlsbad, CA will be the first one in America, and the third of its kind in the world.

There’s already one in the Legoland Billund resort in Denmark, and a new hotel in Legoland Windsor in the UK is gearing up for an opening in 2012.

The 250-room Lego themed hotel in Carlsbad is being built in a parking lot to the right of the main entrance.

It will feature a pool area, restaurant and brightly colored Lego décor. For instance, one of the models built for the hotel is a six-foot tall hotel bellhop built out of more than 37,000 Lego bricks.

The rooms and suites will be themed after the most popular areas in the park. The facilities are designed to make it a family hotel for those with young children, and will feature rooms and suites themed after the most popular Legoland areas.

If the Legoland Hotel in Billund is taken as a standard, there will be quite a few different types of rooms.

It has standard and business rooms, junior suites and themed rooms furnished with Lego models. There are Princess themed rooms, pirate rooms and knights’ rooms.

Legoland has had this hotel plan in the works for quite some time now. They got approval for the plan from the city of Carlsbad way back in 2009, but had to wait a couple of years because the economy was in the tank.

Note that quite a few Carlsbad hotels already exist to provide accommodations for Legoland California visitors, including the Sheraton Carlsbad Resort and the Grand Pacific Palisades, both of which are also on the resort’s property.

But Legoland says it needs this hotel because they want park visitors and San Diego day-trippers to stay overnight as part of the experience, like people do when they visit the theme parks in Orlando and Anaheim.

Photo courtesy LEGOLAND® California Resort

More info: http://www.legolandhotel.com/

Related posts:
Beating the Summer Crowds at Legoland California
A Fun Weekend with Kids in Carlsbad, California
Legoland’s Lesser-known Aquatic Attractions