Congratulations to Rose, a brave new parent traveler in Florida and my FlyeBaby giveaway winner!
For everyone else interested in the new FlyeBaby air travel hammock, don’t forget that for a limited time FlyeBaby is offering $10 off your FlyeBaby with FREE standard shipping when you use our coupon code FB10 (for more special discounts from TravelswithBaby.com advertisers click here). Thanks to FlyeBaby for sponsoring this giveaway and offering my readers this special discount!
Need a vacation? For free?
There is still time to enter the 3-night, all-inclusive vacation giveaway—with Vacation Nanny included!—for one lucky family who will get to experience their choice of Franklyn D. Resort & Spa or FDR Pebbles in Jamaica! Click here for details.
And finally, if you’re feeling a bit daunted by the new restrictions imposed on air travelers, I’m with you.
Safe journey,
Click here for details.
2. Facebook – Visit the Travels with Baby page on Facebook and become a fan if you haven’t already, then write your reason for wanting a FlyeBaby on the Travels with Baby wall. After that, leave an additional comment below telling me you’ve done that, too.
The Ultimate Guide for Planning Trips with Babies, Toddlers, and Preschool-Age Children
PS I’m sure that through the course of time this will be erroneously mentioned as the FlyBaby. A if it weren’t cool enough that this was a mom-invented product, get this: that mom’s last name is honest-to-goodness “Flye.” She tells me that when her baby came onto the scene, friends called her “the little Flye Baby.” Down the road, as they developed the product, the name was a shoe-in.
When I returned from our recent stay at Franklyn D Resort & Spa in Jamaica, all I could think about was how much I wished I could give that incredibly relaxing gift… an all-inclusive vacation complete with a professional Vacation Nanny… to every one of my readers who is juggling life with a little one (or two, or three…) and could really use a vacation.
Well, I can’t give it away to everyone who’s read Travels with Baby and follows this blog (a thousand blessings on your heads)… but I am thrilled to say that one lucky reader is going to win a 3-night, all-inclusive vacation in Jamaica for a family of 4, complete with a personal Vacation Nanny!
The very generous people at FDR Holidays are sponsoring this all-inclusive stay for a family of 4, including 2 adults and 2 children under 16 years, which you can use at your choice of either of their Jamaican all-inclusive resorts: Franklyn D. Resort & Spa on Runaway Bay or FDR Pebbles at Falmouth (both are 2009 TripAdvisor.com Traveler’s Choice Award winners!).
Transportation to and from Montego Bay Airport (MBJ), all meals in all resort restaurants, drinks, cocktails, ice cream, entertainment, kayaks, snorkel gear, scuba trips, waterslide, and extra snacks and refreshments in your refrigerator are included, as is the daily service of your professional Vacation Nanny to help make sure that when you get home from this family vacation—you feel like you’ve had a vacation!
To enter to win:
Add a comment below this blog post stating how having an FDR Vacation Nanny would improve your next family vacation by 11:59 p.m., Tuesday January 5, 2010. Please note: This is open to Travels with Baby blog subscribers only, so if you haven’t already subscribed, just enter your verifiable email address in the spam-free subscribe box above (I do not share or sell email addresses). A handful of restrictions apply, so check below for details.* Prize must be claimed within 3 days.
Overwhelmed by the possibilities? I’ve got a few great ways our Vacation Nannies helped us on our trip listed below—and don’t miss my Vacation Nanny 411 post and video (or the Franklyn D. Resort & Spa review and video) for more inspiration!
Up your odds with additional entries:
You can get up to 2 additional entries for this contest (only 1 entry per method, please). Here’s how:
1. Twitter – Tweet about this giveaway on Twitter, including a link to this blog post http://tinyurl.com/yl5ufn3 and my twitter handle @travelswithbaby, then leave an additional comment below with your twitter handle.
2. Facebook – Visit the Travels with Baby page on Facebook and become a fan if you haven’t already, then write your reason for wanting this vacation on the Travels with Baby wall. After that, leave an additional comment below telling me you’ve done that, too.
Five Great Ways to Vacation with Your Vacation Nanny:
1. Relax at the pool and beach. For real.
Your Vacation Nanny will keep a watchful eye on your child near or in the pool while you close your own, happy to recline on the lounge as they play, working on that Caribbean glow and catching up on the past two years of insufficient sleep. Later, let your Vacation Nanny take your child to the beach beside the Grill, which becomes “Nanny Central” during afternoons while toddlers and small children amass for a grand playdate. Your tot will romp on the sand, splash in the sheltered cove, and enjoy the shaded toddler play equipment right on the beach under the supervision of your nanny. Meanwhile you slip out in a sea kayak (or slip off for a long-overdue pedicure).
2. Make it a date.
Have your Vacation Nanny take your kids to the early Kidz Buffet and evening children’s activities afterward, while you enjoy a late-day dip in the adults-only Jacuzzi perched by the sea, and ready yourself for a relaxing dinner with—who’s that? Ah, yes, the love of your life.
3. Enjoy breakfast (for a change).
Our West Coast jetlag was no problem when I realized I could simply have our Vacation Nannies join us for breakfast. For the first time in years, I was able to eat my entire breakfast without standing up, while the nannies helped feed all three of the children, ran back to the room for anything we’d forgotten, or took the fussing baby out for a stroll when he grew too tired to enjoy our conversations.
4. Climb Dunn’s River Falls.
Leave your little one having fun at the resort, or bring him and your nanny with you (an excellent option for breastfeeding moms who can have a tough time getting away)! Vacation Nannies get a discounted admission ($8) and free transportation from the resort to this world-famous spectacle, where they can carry your baby or walk with your toddler up the trail beside as you brave the falls. Tip: Give her your camera and let her snap some shots as you climb!
5. Do Dolphin Cove. Let her help mind your little ones as you swim with a dolphin and help keep track of your daypack and gear as you assist your toddler or preschooler in exploring the (barbless) stingray cove with snorkels. FDR’s Vacation Nannies are admitted free to this popular family attraction and you’ll be glad to buy yours lunch and make a leisurely trip of it (Tip: combine it with your visit to Dunn’s River Falls, just 3 minutes away).
Good luck!
Safe journey,
Shelly Rivoli, author of the award-winning guide Travels with Baby
The Ultimate Guide for Planning Trips with Babies, Toddlers, and Preschool-Age Children
www.travelswithbaby.com facebook twitter
* Winner receives a 3 night/4 day stay for a family of 2 adults/2 kids under 16 years. Vacation is land only, not inclusive of air. Vacation expires 1 year from date of issue. To make reservations, please call our Reservations Department at (876) 973-4882-4 within three weeks of your preferred date of arrival. Keep in mind that your trip is based on space availability at the time of your request and blackout periods are applicable. Blackout dates are: 2/14/2010 through 2/21/2010; 3/28/2010 through 4/11/2010, 7/29/2010 through 8/7/2010, and five (5) days before and after a major USA or Jamaican holiday.
As I mention in my review of Franklyn D. Resort & Spa, what is particularly appealing about Franklyn D. Resort & Spa (a.k.a. FDR) in Jamaica is that the “all-inclusive inclusions” include a Vacation Nanny assigned exclusively to your family to assist you each day of your stay (and after hours by request).
Compared with other family resorts that may offer drop-off childcare or private babysitters, at FDR you and your children (including infants and toddlers who are often excluded from kid’ camps) have a chance to become familiar with your personal nanny from the start. So even those children who are slow to warm up to new caregivers and surroundings have a chance to adapt, even while you are all together.
One couple that was visiting the resort from Kentucky with their 5-year-old twin boys, told me that the previous night they’d had their first date in 5 years—at home or away—thanks to their Vacation Nanny (Phyllis). They explained that, unlike other babysitters they’d passed up over the years, she was able to make them all feel comfortable with the idea. The intimate resort setting and evening children’s activities she could escort them to (including nightly popcorn and a kids’ movie), didn’t hurt anything either. Suffice to say, they had several more dates before they checked out, and they plan to return to the resort in 2010.
I, myself, was surprised by how quickly our Vacation Nannies, Coretta and Jasmine, fit in with our family. Within 24 hours, I found myself handing off the baby for a diaper change and a stroll without a second thought (his first time with anyone outside of the family). It was quite clear to me that these women, who have assisted family after family with children of every temperament, have far more experience caring for children than I do (not to mention they are also mothers, themselves). Of course, they are also professionally trained, CPR-certified, and lots and lots of fun, too.
FDR Vacation Nannies at a glance:
- Daily “vacation support” from 9:00 a.m. to 4:40 p.m.
- Available extra hours as requested, $6 per hour
- Second nanny available, $20 per day
What we really came to appreciate about the Vacation Nanny concept is that it is so much more than just having a babysitter at an appointed hour. She provides “vacation support” as needed the whole day through, whether it’s times when the whole family is together or while the parents enjoy time alone. She’s that extra set of hands, as well as watchful eyes, that allow even a family with very young children feel like they’ve had a vacation.
By the end of our stay, it was clear to me that the FDR Vacation Nannies help families vacation better as families—something I think is particularly important. Your time together with your child is more relaxed and enjoyable with the set of extra helping hands, and your time apart from your child is also more relaxed and enjoyable because you know your child is comfortable—and happy with—your family’s own Vacation Nanny.
Think you could use a Vacation Nanny on your next vacation?
Don’t miss the Travels with Baby Vacation Nanny video where you can meet the nannies and see them in action at Franklyn D. Resort & Spa. You can also read nanny recommendations from guests of FDR and. I also highly recommend you watch this blog closely for a BIG announcement coming soon!
Safe journey,
Shelly Rivoli, author of the award-winning guide Travels with Baby
The Ultimate Guide for Planning Trips with Babies, Toddlers, and Preschool-Age Children
www.travelswithbaby.com facebook twitter
As I interviewed new and prospective parents for my book Travels with Baby, it became clear that one of the top trips many parents hoped to make with their child in the first few years would be to a relaxing all-inclusive resort, especially one where they might get a little help with childcare so they can truly relax and enjoy their vacation. Yet as I set out to find the best recommendations for my readers, I found that few all-inclusive family resorts were prepared to provide care for children under 3 years old or in diapers.
Franklyn D. Resort, however, on the north coast of Jamaica, has a team of Vacation Nannies that not only provides care for young infants on up, but one nanny will do so exclusively for your family each day of your stay. When you consider that your Vacation Nanny is included in the cost of your all-inclusive package, and that children under 6 years old always stay free, it’s clear that Franklyn D. Resort presents a significant vacation value for families with babies and young children. It’s also no wonder that the resort received a 2009 Trip Advisor Traveler’s Choice Award, as did its sister property FDR Pebbles, where you’ll also find Vacation Nannies.
Needless to say, I have been mentioning the Franklyn D. Resort and FDR Pebbles to parents on many occasions, and I was delighted to try it out firsthand with my own family on our recent trip to Jamaica. You can read my full review of “FDR” at TravelswithBaby.com, and take a virtual visit to the resort via Travels with Baby TV.
Need a (truly relaxing) family vacation?
If an all-inclusive family vacation with a personal nanny sounds good to you, do not pass go—you can answer a few trivia questions (answers all easily found at www.FDRholidays.com) to enter to win 3 free nights for a family of four at either Franklyn D. Resort or FDR Pebbles. The drawing will take place December 15th, 2009. They also have some other enticing specials going on now–including “Grandparents Stay Free” with a suite upgrade for your extended family, and “Parent’s Fly Free” in early 2010, which includes President’s Week vacation and spring break.
Safe journey,
Shelly Rivoli, author of the award-winning guide Travels with Baby
The Ultimate Guide for Planning Trips with Babies, Toddlers, and Preschool-Age Children
www.travelswithbaby.com Facebook Twitter
All photos, video, and content (c) 2009 by Shelly Rivoli. Accommodations courtesy of FDR Holidays.
Bronze Award Winner in Travel Blogs from the North American Travel Journalists Association
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