Exploring Under the Sea

The Easter holidays are here and now is the time when a lot of us are either taking our first holiday of the year or start to plan what we can do over the year. As the children are getting older I find that we can do a lot more together as a family. In fact we have just made a purchase, which we see as an investment in our family, of a tent. This is going to mean so many more, new adventures for us. It is going to bring us closer to nature and the children will be making some amazing memories.

Picture courtesy of Pixabay

This has led us to thinking what we can do and where we can go. With this new found holiday freedom the possibilities are endless. I love to be by the sea and really want to explore more coastal locations. Our favourite coastal location has to be Northumberland. The northern county boast some of the most picturesque, idyllic coastal lines in the country. The crystal clear sea is somewhere that I am curious to explore more. Thankfully J shares my love of the water and as he matures I can see this being an activity that we can do together and have some one to one, mother and son time. Scuba diving has to be the best way to explore the sea!

#FoodieseekerFriday - A Taste of Carnival Vista - Guy's Burger Joint

Welcome to this weeks FoodieseekerFriday post. This week I am sharing my first "A Taste of Carnival Vista" recipe posts. Before we even boarded Vista I knew that I wanted to rekindle the holiday magic as often as possible once home. The best way for me to do that is to recreate some of the spectacular meals that we indulged on. Carnival pride on supplying food to please everyone and they certainly do not disappoint. They provide a wide variety of dishes that change daily in the Lido self service marketplace, have their speciality restaurants and the pool side, made to order, diners.

Today I am going to tell you about one of the inclusive diners, Guy's Burger Joint. As soon as we took one bite of the epic burgers that were served here we were hooked. They were unlike any burger that we have had before! Carnival have designed an authentic burger bar with the help of American best selling author, Food Network television star and restaurateur Guy Fieri.




Guy Fieri owns a host of all American restaurants that specialise in a variety of cuisines from a good old barbecue to Mexican burritos, from American kitchen to the burger joint. So when it comes to a good, authentic burger Carnival certainly went to the man who really does know his stuff!

#FoodieseekerFriday - Our Cruise Experience

I cannot believe that it has been a week since we left Carnival Vista. As Carnival Cruise Lines Foodieseeker Family we had an incredible 8 nights onboard their newest vessel, Vista. While we were away I kept a written diary to document our journey. Today I am going to share with you the start of our experience. So many things happened during our time onboard Vista I simply cannot get it all into just one blog post. Over the coming weeks I will be telling you all about our foodie experience, the restaurants, recreating some of the cuisine that we feasted on during our holiday and sharing with you our thoughts after taking our first ever cruise and holiday abroad with the twins.

This holiday was always going to be a big step for us as a family. It was the first time that both the hubby and the twins had flown, our first holiday abroad as a family of five and our first ever cruise. After an early start we got checked in at the airport and before we knew it we were sitting on the plane waiting to take off. The twins were so excited, I really was not sure how they would find flying, especially during the take off and descent but they took it all in their stride. When we landed in Barcelona they were beginning to get tired but they kept going. When we arrived at the port in Barcelona we were awestruck but the sheer size and immensity of Vista. As we flew over the port we did catch a glimpse of her and she looked big from the skies but when we were stood next to her, she left us all gobsmacked! Once we had been cleared through all of the high level security, and checked in we were given our Sail and Sign cards. As Carnival operate with no cash on their ships all purchases and charges are logged using easy to swipe cards. When you are given your cards you have your picture taken so even if you loose your card nobody else can use it to charge to your account.

As soon as we stepped onboard we went to look at our cabins. Being a family of five we needed two cabins which were interconnecting. This gave us some much needed extra space, we were able to put the twins to bed and spend time with Joseph in the the other room. We were surprised by the size of the two cabins, I had imagined them to be smaller than they actually were. Each room comprised of two bathrooms, one with a toilet, sink and shower while the other had a mini bath with a shower over and a sink, three wardrobes/drawers for clothes storage, safe, hairdryer, desk, sitting area, table, television, beds and even some lovely mini Elemis toiletries. In the children's room there were two single beds and the settee had been made up into a third bed, while in our room we had a king size bed.

Dreaming of Another Holiday!

Having just spent a glorious 8 night holiday onboard Carnival Vista Cruise as their Foodieseeker Family blogger I now have the holiday blues. Getting back into the routine of day to day life has left me dreaming of our next holiday. Ok, we do not have our next holiday booked or even planned, but that has not stopped me from looking and dreaming. I miss the calming view of the sea, I miss the bright blue skies, the Mediterranean heat on my skin, lazy days around the pool and delicious meals cooked for me.

Foodieseeker Friday - All About the Food and Drink!

Being the Foodieseeker Blogger for Carnival Cruise has meant that I have spent a lot of time looking at what food Vista will have to offer. I have already told you about the places to eat on Vista but today I thought that I would tell you about what meals I am looking forward to tasting!

We now have our tables booked to visit three of Carnival Vista's speciality restaurants Cucina del Capitano, Ji Ji Asian Kitchen and Fahrenheit 555 Steakhouse. You may remember that in April I told you about Cucina del Capitano and made my own version of Nonna's Linguine and Meatballs so this is a meal that I will definitely be ordering when we visit.

As I am terrible at ordering when in a restaurant I have decided that a bit of forward planning is needed. I simply cannot make my mind up when faced with so many delicious meals to choose from. I am known for taking a long time to decided and for changing my mind!

The first speciality restaurant that we will be visiting is Cucina del Capitano. As we all love Italian food I just know that we are going to love eating there. I have looked at the menu in the past but have revisited it and am planning to order:

• Appetiser - Antipasti - This is a favourite dish of ours, we love to start a meal with breads and olives so this will be a must have!
• Entrees - Nonna's Linguine and Meatballs - I cannot wait to try this dish, especially after I cooked how I imagined it to taste!
• Dessert - Magic Tiramisu - In my mind tiramisu is the ultimate Italian dessert and Vista's Cucina del Capitano's tiramisu sounds amazing!
• I am planning to accompany the meal with a glass of Cucina Chianti

Travelling With Children Over Christmas

As the Christmas holidays arrive I am sure many of you will be thinking about travelling with children. Whether it is to travel to visit families or whether you are going on holiday travelling with children can be hard at the best of times but with the added excitement of Christmas it is even more important that they have plenty to keep them occupied.

Here are my top tips for keeping them busy on long journeys.

Pack a Festive Packed Lunch

How many times do you hear from the kids "I'm hungry!" when on a journey, I know ours say it a lot. So the best way to keep their tummies happy is with a festive packed lunch. If you look in the supermarket there are some fantastic, disposable plates, napkins and straws which will make the pack up even more fun. Even add a cracker for a bit more excitement.

Snaptrip For Last Minute Holidays

After Christmas it is always great to start the new year with holiday plans. It gives us all something exciting to look forward to.

Past of the excitement of booking a holiday is looking for the ideal place to visit. Having small children we like to stay in the UK. Being a larger family we tend to look for cottages for the extra space. However with so many holiday cottage websites it can be an endless search. This is where Snaptrip come in. Snaptrip are a holiday cottage website which not only have the biggest collection of last minute cottage deals but you can also book in advance.

Snaptrip offer up to 50% off last minute UK self-catering breaks but also offer the best price guaranteed for advance bookings.

Finding the right cottage for your break couldn't be easier. You simply put the area that you wish to visit, or if you are open to all areas leave it blank, add your holiday dates, the length of your stay and number of bedrooms, hit search and enjoy looking!

To save you going back and forth from cottage to cottage seeing where they are based on a map Snaptrip have included a map of their site so that you can easily see where the cottage is based. This not only saves you time but you are able to narrow down which cottages are in the best location for you.

All of the prices that are on Snaptrip include any booking fees so the price that you see is what you will pay. Insurance, if you choose to take it out, will be extra.

The cottage details that are on the site are thorough so you know exactly what you will be getting when you arrive. There is even a map at the bottom where you can navigate around the area to plan what you all want to do whilst you are away. This enables you to get the most out of your holiday. This also helps you to decide if it is the right area for you to visit.

Once you have selected your ideal cottage you can start to book your holiday.

When you have completed the booking information form Snaptrip will personally telephone you. No payment is made via the website. All of the properties on Snaptrip are represented by different management agencies. This personal touch gives you confidence that you have selected the perfect holiday destination.

We have recently booked our summer holiday via Snaptrip and have been delighted with the whole booking experience.

If you are looking for either a last minute holiday or looking to book in advance I would thoroughly recommend looking at Snaptrip. Snaptrip is the site where you will find the best range of the UK cottages in one place. Save time and save money by going through Snaptrip!

Snaptrip are offering Hijacked By Twins readers £25 off their holiday when they book through Snaptrip. Simply quote Hijacked By Twins when you book and £25 will be taken off the price of your holiday!

Disclosure: I have been compensated for my time writing this post. All views and opinions are my own and 100% honest.