Travel Advice For The Royal Baby (And His Parents)

by Meg Nesterov on

Royal watchers greeted the new prince this week with pomp, circumstance and silly hotel packages. Prince George Alexander Louis’ first trip will likely be to his mother’s hometown of Bucklebury, about an hour west of London, or to visit his grandparents on their annual holiday in Scotland. As Gadling’s de facto baby travel expert, with 50+ flights and 14 countries under my belt with my (now) two-year-old, I’d like to offer some family travel tips, with some special considerations for the future king:

1. Take big trips early: The first six months are the easiest time to travel, before the baby’s mobile and while they still sleep round the clock. As a tot, jet lag is easy to manage when you nap every other hour, and entertainment is easy to find anywhere when you are mesmerized by your own toes. The new parents might aim to take Prince George to visit his subjects in Canada in early October, once they’ve gotten the hang of his schedule and before the fall weather turns cold, or perhaps down to Australia during the spring shoulder season.2. Learn some local baby talk: Traveling with a baby is a great way to talk to locals, share common experiences, get help and recommendations and (possibly unwanted) parenting advice. When traveling to a country with a foreign language, knowing a few commonly asked questions and answers will go a long way in making connections. The people’s prince will be undoubtedly be popular anywhere he goes, so learn how to answer “How old is he?,” “What is his name?” and “Where is he in line to the throne?”

3. Check out of hotels: With a baby in tow, a kitchen and a washing machine make more attractive amenities than a hotel bar or concierge. Renting an apartment or house makes sense for a family, giving you extra room for the baby to sleep while the parents stay up, and a place to prepare bottles and baby food. Surely the Duke and Duchess have some castle time-sharing agreement to stay local? You might miss the service of a hotel, but if you are traveling with your own royal butler, it’ll still feel like a relaxing vacation.

4. Not all airlines are created baby-friendly: Air travel has gotten more stressful and uncomfortable for all of us, especially when you are terrified that you’ll be the one with the screaming infant. Some airlines do offer a few ways to make the experience more pleasant for you and your lap child. JetBlue still offers early boarding for families and a free checked bag (a lifesaver when you are toting a baby with your carry-on), and Emirates offers a baby kit with supplies for young children. Staying loyal to the UK carriers, British Airways and Virgin Atlantic have free baby bassinets, special meals, and entertainment for kids. Even if you are flying by royal private jet, there are still ways to make flying with a baby go smoothly.

5. Don’t rush the kid stuff: Many parents think that travel with a baby means finding specially-tailored activities and kid-friendly destinations right away, but hold off on Disney — it’ll be years before they can appreciate it. Look instead for places that I call baby-friendly, with plenty of things for Mum and Dad to enjoy: a trip to Sicily where His Highness will be cooed over by Italian grandmothers while you, Catherine and William, sip wine on a piazza and take in museums too “boring” for a child, or a second honeymoon to the Seychelles.

7 Travel Options For Those Obsessed With The Royal Baby

by Anna Brones on

In anticipation of Prince William and Catherine Duchess of Cambridge’s firstborn, Great Britain has had baby fever. Now that the royal baby has finally arrived, the travel industry is taking advantage of the frenzy. Even Heathrow gave out special T-shirts yesterday. Nothing like a baby to stimulate the economy after all.

It might take awhile for the royal baby to become king. Meanwhile, we commoners can take full advantage.

1. Fly for Free (If You Are a Baby)
Infants fly free of charge today on RyanAir. Time to make a last minute travel decision and buy a ticket before the day is up. The bottle of milk will probably be an extra charge, however.

2. Sleep Like a British Baby
Kate isn’t the only one popping out a baby this year. According to Visit England 700,000 babies will be born in England this year, which is why the tourism board has opted to put an emphasis on baby themed travel options. Maybe the most notable is the Grosvenor House Hotel where you can stay in the Premium Park View Suite. In celebration of the royal birth the suite has been turned into a quintessential English nursery, including a hand-painted doll house toy closet. But sleeping like a royal baby isn’t cheap; the room runs $3,428, and that’s without a babysitter.

3. Hope You Have the Right Name
If you are extra lucky and happen to have the same name as the baby — which has yet to be announced — check in at the Jury Inn within 24 hours of the name announcement and you might score a bottle of Prosecco. There’s already a bottle of bubbles on ice at 25 of Jury Inn’s hotels around the UK.

4. Get the Royal Treatment
Playing off of the baby’s placement in royal succession, on the day the little royalty was born, Virgin America promised a special deal to its own “third in line” passengers on the day of the baby’s birth. While Kate is certainly busy being pampered and sleeping off the pains of labor, if you were third in line for your flight on Virgin America, you would have been happily treated to a special pass to the airline’s Clubhouse, complete with bubbly.

5. Study Up on Royal Baby History
Even if you can’t afford a night in a royal baby suite, you can at least buff up on your royal baby history. The Museum of London celebrates is celebrating the occasion with the ‘”A Royal Arrival,” an exhibit showcasing baby clothes and memorabilia from the last 400 years of UK history. Admission is free, which leaves plenty of extra cash for royal baby souvenirs.

6. Have a Proper Royal Baby Shower
Ok, so you couldn’t manage to get a slot to give birth at the Lindo Wing (or pay for it), but at the very least you can throw yourself a royal baby shower. Expecting mothers can reserve the Royal Baby Shower Package at St. James Hotel and Club, which includes a baby shower-themed tea, complete with delicate English cakes, and a pregnancy spa treatment. You’re feeling more royal already aren’t you?

7. See a Private Photo Exhibition All About Royal Babies
While waiting for new royal baby pictures online, you can go to the Athenaeum hotel which is hosting The Royal Child photography exhibition. You’ll find 40 rarely seen photos of all kinds of royal children from Victorian times to present, but just like any good royal experience, it comes at a price: the private exhibition, shown over high tea naturally, will run you £60 ($92).

Scenes From The Royal Baby Watch In London

by Libby Zay on

Update 3:38 p.m.: Buckingham Palace has confirmed that Kate Middleton has given birth to a baby boy. An official announcement of the birth has been placed on an easel outside the palace.

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Camera crews and tourists from across the world are anxiously waiting outside both Buckingham Palace and St. Mary’s Hospital, where the Duchess of Cambridge entered the hospital in early stages of labor. Once the bundle of joy arrives, a notice of its sex and birth weight will be delivered by motorcade to the palace, where it will be posted on a board. As the world waits for the official announcement, here’s an idea of what the scene looks like over in London:

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Eccentric England: The Headington Shark

by Sean McLachlan on

Once again, I’m back in Oxford for my annual summer working holiday. I love this place. This quintessentially English city offers beautiful colleges, the world’s coolest museum, even the chance to bump into the Queen.

But all this pales in comparison to the sight of a giant shark crashing into a roof.

The Oxford suburb of Headington is a bit dull, so local resident Bill Heine at 2 New High Street decided to commission sculptor John Buckley to create a 25-foot shark to adorn his roof. It was put up on August 9, 1986, the 41st anniversary of the Nagasaki bombing. As Heine explained, “The shark was to express someone feeling totally impotent and ripping a hole in their roof out of a sense of impotence and anger and desperation … It is saying something about CND, nuclear power, Chernobyl and Nagasaki.”

The clipboard Nazis in the local council were not amused. They tried to have it removed as a pubic hazard. When their engineer said it was perfectly safe, they tried various other excuses. Much legal wrangling ensued.

Decades later, the naysayers are all gone and the shark is still there. It’s a much-loved local landmark, a modern folly. I see it every time I come in on the bus from London and enjoy pointing it out to newcomers. There’s even a Headington Shark Appreciation Society on Facebook with more than a thousand members. So if you’re coming to Oxford, pop on over and see the Headington Shark.

Call An Ice Cream Truck On Demand Today With Uber

by Meg Nesterov on

Today is the hottest day yet in New York City’s latest heat wave, and the summer weather is no less forgiving in many other cities in the western hemisphere. To help beat the heat, car service app Uber is offering ice cream trucks on demand, today only from 11-5 p.m. in 33 cities worldwide. The stunt is to help promote the app’s expansion to new cities in the United States and in Australia, Europe and Singapore.

Demand is expected to be high and waits may be long, but if you want to try for a truck, download the Uber app and connect with your credit card info, request the ice cream app, and wait for one to show up in your area. Prices and ice cream treats vary, average is $25 for ice cream for five people. The full list of U.S. cities includes: Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Indianapolis, Los Angeles, Minneapolis/St. Paul, New York, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Sacramento, San Diego, San Francisco Bay area, Seattle, and Washington, D.C.

New to Uber cities include Miami, Portland (OR), Houston, Toronto, Sydney, Melbourne, Amsterdam, Berlin, London, Lyon, Milan, Munich, Paris, Rome, Stockholm, and Singapore. Incidentally, those are all cities where you can get a car and driver on demand anytime with Uber.

See all the details and get your ice cream on Uber’s blog.