For families looking for a resort that delivers a casual yet active vacation, Club Med delivers a lot of positives: all-inclusive pricing, good food, imaginative kids' programming (including, at some properties, a circus school), and a wide array of family activities.  

Club Med is offering all of that at a substantial discount during its Fall “Wow” Sale,  with rates starting at $399 per person for a three-night stay.  When we test-booked three nights in September at Club Med Cancun Yucatan (see our review) for a family of four, we landed a price of $1,298 for a club two-bedroom suite (the standard lodging option). That's a savings of nearly 60% off the regular price of $3,152.

And that's not all. When you book a deluxe room or suite at Club Med resorts in Mexico or the Dominican Republic, you'll get either a free massage at the resort spa or a local excursion for two.  (A three-night September stay in a deluxe two-bedroom oceanfront room would run $1,578.)

The catch? You have to book by August 30, and travel between September 1 and October 31.  Stays of seven nights or more qualify for the discounted "wow" rates through April 29, 2011, including holidays. Book online or call 888/932-2582 and ask for the "wow" sale.

Ready to commit to your summer vacation plans? Hilton is launching a Great Getaway sale, which is advertised at up to 30% off hotel rooms for stays between May 28 and September 6.  Good at 2,800 hotels around the world—including Waldorf Astoria Hotels & Resorts, Conrad Hotels & Resorts, Hilton Hotels, Doubletree, Embassy Suites Hotels, Hilton Garden Inn, Hampton Hotels, and Homewood Suites—the offer often includes free breakfast, too, for at least two people.

The discount varies a little by brand name: You’ll get a full 30% off at Doubletree hotels; 25%  at Hilton properties;  and 20% at Hampton Inn, Homewood Suites, Hilton Grand Vacations, Hilton Garden Inn, Waldorf Astoria and Conrad. The deal is available at only select Embassy Suites.

Sounds pretty good, right? No so fast. The discount applies to the Bed & Breakfast rate, which is always higher than the lowest regular rate and the regular advance-purchase rate. And the offer comes with some big restrictions: You have to book at least seven days ahead of your arrival and pay in full upfront, with no possible refund.

We shopped at some family-friendly spots to see how the special offer played out. At the Hilton Garden Inn in Williamsburg, the special offer rate was $112 a night, down from the Bed & Breakfast rate of $141. Now comes the comparison pricing: That's 21% off the B&B rate but just 15% off the best regular rate of $129. Meanwhile, the regular advance-purchase, no-refund rate was $105. Think of the special offer as getting a free, cooked-to-order breakfast for each family member for just $7 in total. Rooms at the hotel, less than two miles from the city center, have fridges and microwaves, and the hotel has the obligatory pool.

At the Hilton Los Cabos resort in Mexico's Cabo San Lucas—which has a beach, pool and kids' club—the special offer shaves 25% off this property's B&B rate. The special offer rate for an ocean view room with two queen beds was $194 a night, compared to $259 for the B&B rate, which includes two buffet breakfasts for the grown-ups each morning and free meals for kids 5 and under. When you figure in those free meals, the special offer probably has the edge over the regular advance-purchase rate of $179 a night—but just barely, and only if your kids are very young.

Verdict: This is a great example of how marketing spin can make a just-okay offer sound much better than it is. And it's a good reminder of why you need to follow recession travel rule no. 1 and always do the math. Sometimes this special offer beats all the hotel's other rates—and sometimes you can do better by choosing another rate from the menu. On the upside, this offer usually delivers a free breakfast, so long as you can also stomach the non-refundable risk.

Look for the Great Getaway rates when entering dates online, or mention the deal when calling 800/446-6677. You must book before July 15. Some brands  have their own twists on the rules, such as a three-night minimum and no breakfast at Hilton Grands, or two-night minimum night stay for Wednesday arrivals at Homewoods Suites. As usual, other restrictions may apply.

Fantastic news for Disney fans: It's suddenly become much more affordable to book an Adventures by Disney all-inclusive escorted tour package, the most exclusive and perhaps least-known way to vacation with Disney. Launched in 2005, Adventures by Disney offers guided, VIP-style tours for families to a wide range of destinations, including the American Southwest, Europe, China, and Costa Rica. Trips are known for delivering top-notch service and unique, VIP-style experiences for families, such as zipling through a Costa Rican jungle, pizza-making at a family-owned farm in Italy, or going backstage at Disney's The Lion King in London. Groups are kept small to ensure an intimate experience, and feature activities geared to adults and kids 8 and up.  And the price? A family of four will typically splurge $13,000 or more for a dream trip.

Want to soften the splurge? Adventures by Disney has just introduced a new line of itineraries, called the "Gateway Collection," that travel to three of the most popular destinations but cost up to 25% less. Here's how these new itineraries stack up:

• Costa Rica: The "Path to Pura Vida" itinerary costs from $3,309 to $4,409 for adults and $2,979 to $3,669 for children, depending on travel dates. Comparatively, the new "Gateway to Costa Rica" costs $2,489 for adults and $2,239 for children regardless of travel dates. Bottom line: A family of four would pay at least $3,201, or 25%, less for the Gateway itinerary.
• London/Paris: The "City of Knights & Lights" itinerary costs from $3,809 to $4,699 for adults and from $3,429 to $4,249 for children. The new "Gateway to London/Paris" comes in at $2,959 for adults and $2,659 for children. Bottom line: A family of four would pay at least $3,240, or 22%, less by going with the Gateway option.  
  
• Italy: The "Viva Italia" itinerary ranges from $3,699 to $4,619 for adults and from $3,329 to $4,159 for children. Comparatively, the "Gateway to Italy" trip costs $2,999 for adults and $2,699 for children. That's a difference of $2,660, or 18%, for a family of four.

Why the difference in price? Guests have more unscheduled time during the day, which is great for families that welcome less structure and the chance to spend some time exploring on their own. The good news is that the Gateway trips still offer access to the one-of-a-kind activities for which Adventures by Disney is known. The price difference between the two kinds of itineraries ranges from just under $1,000 to over $1,500 for each traveler, depending on travel dates. 

The first Gateway itineraries depart this summer from June to August, 2010.

This winter is turning out to be a great time for a weekend getaway, thanks to big sales at two of the largest hotel chains. Last week we posted about Hilton's mega January sale, which offers winter weekend savings of up to 33% across its chains. 

Now Marriott has stepped up to the plate with a  Global Rate Break promo that lets you save 20% on weekend rates stay at many of its hotels—and claims to up the ante to a 40% discount at a few resorts. The deal applies to various Marriott, JW Marriott, Renaissance, Courtyard, Fairfield, SpringHill, Residence Inn, and TownPlace Suites hotels all over the world. 

We checked rates at several properties and found that, indeed, the deal typically delivers a 20% price cut. At Desert Springs, the JW Marriott in the Palm Springs area with requisite pool, lawn games and kids club, we found rates of $327 a night for a room with two beds and a balcony—down from the desert’s high season rate of $409. In Hawaii, the deal offered up the Kauai Marriott  for just $194 a night, down from $240.

But don’t get your hopes too high on the 40%-off lure that's said to be available at select resorts in the Caribbean, Latin America and Hawaii. When we test-booked a stay at a handful of properties for a February weekend getaway, we couldn’t find any availability at the 40%-off rate.  More commonly, we found that this deal led to a 20% discount.

The sale applies to weekend stays (Thursday to Sunday), and some hotels require a two-night minimum. You must book by January 22 and complete your stay by March 21. Use promo code F5X when booking online.

While the Mondrian Scottsdale's uber-contemporary vibe might not automatically seem kid-friendly, its all-white lobby with the imaginary baobab tree reaching to the ceiling is actually the kind of thing kids like and remember. Plus, it’s hard to argue with a nice pool (and, for older kids, the free wi-fi). Meanwhile,  the hotel is close to Scottsdale’s Civic Center Mall, which often plays host to festivals and has a swan-filled lagoon, a spray-area for kids, and a nice amphiteater.

When we checked some nights in early February, the deal offered up a rate of $157 a night for a garden-view room with two double beds—indeed, a tidy 25% less than the regular rate of $210. The free wi-fi would otherwise cost  $10 a day, adding value of $20 more for a two-night stay.

The deal is good for travel through March 31 and does not include taxes, service charges, or resort fees. As usual, blackout dates may apply. Use promo code SPCONN when booking  online, or mention it when booking by phone at 800/697 1791.

Compare prices and dates at various properties carefully. Plenty of hotels have blackout dates. At some hotels, this deal is only available through January 18, while other hotels are keeping it on the table for stays as late as April 25.

To get this deal, you must book by November 10. Use the promo code LTNOVN when booking online, or mention the deal when calling 888/625-5144. Rates are pre-paid and non-refundable. 

Little more than a decade ago, taking a Disney vacation meant heading to a theme park in Orlando, Anaheim or Paris. But nowadays, the company that Walt built can show you the world. You can sail with Disney Cruise Line to Alaska, the Bahamas, Europe or even the Panama Canal. Or take a VIP-style guided tour of the American Southwest, Europe, China, or Costa Rica with  Adventures by Disney, all-inclusive vacations known for delivering one-of-a-kind experiences such as zipling through a Costa Rican jungle, pizza-making at a family-owned farm in Italy, or going backstage at Disney's The Lion King in London. 

Right now, families have an exceptional opportunity to snag two premium Disney vacations for the price of one. Book a tour to one of Adventures by Disney's most popular destinations and you'll receive a free three-night Disney Cruise to the Bahamas in an oceanview cabin. To take advantage of the offer, you need to book by January 15, 2010, and take your Adventures by Disney tour by October 2, 2010. You can take your cruise between January, 2010, and December 15, 2011.

More on Disney Cruise Line:
Disney 3-night Cruise to the Bahamas

Waiting for a good deal on a family cruise? Consider Norwegian Cruise Line, whose  NOW sale runs through Friday, September 18. The sale offers ballpark savings of about 20% off regular rates on three- to 29-day sailings through April 30, 2010. Sample pricing includes:

•  7-day Hawaii interisland cruise on Pride of America, roundtrip from Honolulu, starting at $799 per person (regularly $999)
• 4-day Bahamas sailing on Norwegian Sky roundtrip from Miami from $159 (regularly $199)
  
•  7-day Bermuda sailing on Norwegian Dawn roundtrip from New York from $499 (regularly $579)
  

Those are decent savings, but the best—and most family-friendly— part of this sale kicks in when you bring not only the kids but grandparents or other friends or family members.  The NOW sale offers discounts of as much as 60% for the third through eighth berths. For instance, Grandma can sail to the Bahamas for $99 (down from an already great starting rate of $129), the Caribbean from $129 (down from $319) or Europe from $299 (down from $499).

The NOW sale also chops the required deposit in half and gives you up to $250 in onboard spending credit, which can be used for shore excursions, spa treatments, fitness classes, or even gift-shop purchases or casino chips. The amount of your credit is based on the length of your cruise and cabin category. (Reality check: With an inside stateroom on an itinerary of five days or less, you might get only $15.)

Book online or call 866/234-7350 and use promo code PGNOW. The sale does not apply to one- or two-day sailings.

Are you skeptical about opaque travel sites on which you book a hotel without knowing its name upfront? That kind of blind adventure can give some travelers pause, and yet a $10 rate is pretty compelling.

LastMinuteTravel.com has introduced a $10 Tuesday feature that offers "undercover hotels" for crazy-low rates. The first catch: As on all opaque sites, you don't find out the name of the hotel until after you've already booked it. Before then, you're given descriptions of the hotel's size, amenities, and location. Meanwhile, the $10 rate is only good for a handful of dates and, when we looked, on a fairly short list of places. The second catch: You can't book just one night at $10. You have to book a second, more expensive night, too.

Still, when we checked out the page recently, we were intrigued to see listings for Vegas, Montreal, and New Orleans.  So we tested the booking engine to see how far we could get in learning about the  "4.5 star hotel in New Orleans" without actually booking it. One hotel was .2 miles from the French Quarter, two miles from the Garden District, and featured a gym, restaurant, and outdoor pool. The clincher: a three night-stay (including two of the $10 nights) came to a staggering, almost suspicious $84 total. So how good (or bad) could it be?

We coudn't resist the temptation, and went ahead and booked. Turns out, the mystery hotel was none other than the Hotel Intercontinental on St. Charles Avenue—which, for the same dates we checked, would normally start at $109 a night. So our adventure turned out way, way better than we imagined—and we will be back on Tuesdays to come.

It’s scary enough to think about getting separated from your child at a crowded theme park or beach—and terrifying to consider that your young child might not be able to offer your contact information to a police officer or helpful stranger.

Safety Tats offers a solution: Not so much a tattoo as a super-strong band-aid-style sticker on which you can write on before applying to your child's arm or leg. A mom of three came up with the idea while shepherding her own kids through an amusement park, writing (and then re-writing, when it smeared) her phone number on their arms in case anyone should get lost.

The brightly colored stickers  feature a classic line—for instance, “If Lost Please Call” with space for your cell phone number. They are decorated with gender-friendly icons such as flowers or lizards, and there's a skull-and-crossbones sticker for aesthetically-finicky tweens. Another series specifies allergies or special needs.

We tried out Safety Tats on our 4-year-old, who wears her band-aids with the same pride that bikers show off real tattoos. She particularly liked the "If Lost" flowers. And, for better or worse, that “tat” stuck on her skin well. It may have elicited a brief ow-ee moment when it came off, but we were glad that it didn’t shrivel away on its own—you probably wouldn’t need to apply a new one every day of a trip. We even soaked a written-on sticker in the sink for a few hours, and its ink never smeared.

Best for: ages 1 to 9

Retail price: A box of 30 tats costs $19.85. The stickers are available at some retail stores and in many AAA branches—and you can also buy them online.

Exclusive offer: Safety Tat is offering WeJustGotBack.com readers a 15% discount on any online order of $15 or more. Use promo code WeJustGotBack (which is case sensitive and must be typed exactly as seen). The code will expire on July 31.