That includes round-trip airfare from Boston or New York, all meals, seven nights' camping, three nights at lodges, activities and guide services. The itinerary features a visit to a Tanzanian school for a game of soccer with local kids, meeting the Hadza people in the Great Rift Valley and lots of opportunity to spot wildlife at Lake Manyara, Ngorongoro Crater, the Olduvai Gorge and Serengeti National Park. Thomson's other adventures take families to Turkey, Morocco, the Galapagos Islands, the Australian Outback, Costa Rica, Egypt, Nepal and Alaska's Inside Passage. Accommodations are handpicked with families in mind. In Ecuador, families stay at the Hacienda Cusin, a centuries-old inn complete with gardens, a petting zoo and walking trails.
Many itineraries highlight home visits, and occasionally an overnight stay, with a local family.
Families will spend six nights at Abbazia de Spineto,a 12th century estate surrounded by forests. From there, excursions will explore Florence, Siena, Montepulciano and other famous Tuscan cities. Families will see knights on horseback, color flags and traditional music at the annual Giostra Del Seracino pageant in Sarteano. That covers accommodations, most meals, group entrance fees and excursions, transfers, luggage handling, and gratuities for local staff, drivers and guides. Onboard, the ship now has the Kaleidoscope club room for kids 5 to 12, as well Graffiti's teen center.