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An alternative to Disney's 'Frozen' cruise packages

While some parents might already be online booking tickets for Disney鈥檚 new cruises inspired by the film 'Frozen,' others with less to spend might be up-talking entirely different water adventures in hopes of making a splash.

It may seem like the wrong time to get all excited about being frozen, but the聽聽has nonetheless announced a new summer cruise inspired by the film 鈥淔rozen.鈥�

Select Disney cruise ships, heading to a variety of selected destinations including Norway and Alaska, will undergo an Arendelle-friendly makeover, from environment to food, according to the cruise line's . Costumed characters from the film will abound and the frosty theme will warm the hearts of fans and families.

Disney cruises to Northern Europe, leaving from coastal England for a family of four can begin around $16,000.聽

Those who either can鈥檛 afford to contemplate that brand of family vacation, or who find it hard to sing about the cold right now might empathize with my son Quin, age 11, who found himself the unwilling participant in a frozen cruise of sorts of my husband鈥檚 invention last weekend.

Let鈥檚 be clear on the point that if I so much as hum the Frozen tune 鈥淟et it Go鈥� under my breath, Quin puts his hands over his ears and yelps for mercy.

So his 鈥渇rozen鈥� adventure was not built on the Disney model, but something that more resembles survivalist .

Because our family lived aboard a sailboat once upon a time with our first two of four sons, cruise ship vacations aren鈥檛 really our style.

My husband regularly races in and organizes Laser boat races on the river near our home. Despite rain, wind, or cold, nothing can keep us off the river even on the roughest of days, as he races and I serve as a race official.

This past weekend, my husband said to Quin, 鈥淗ey buddy, how about you come out an help your mom run the boat today? A little cruise.鈥�

Minutes earlier, in the car on the way home from church, Quin had told me of his plan to play Legos while I was at the races and I鈥檇 said something like, 鈥淭hat sounds awesome!鈥�

The juxtaposition of my husband鈥檚 face lit with enthusiasm and my son bursting into tears of disappointment聽simultaneously made my parenting role a mix of tested loyalties.

Here I was, stuck between dad and son 鈥� as I often have been over 21 years of parenting four sons 鈥� in what promised to become a very emotional moment.

鈥淲hat? Come on. It鈥檒l be great. It鈥檒l be fun. Make sure you鈥檙e in your warmest clothes so you don鈥檛 freeze and meet me at the dock,鈥� my husband ordered decisively before walking out the door.

Because I had not intervened, Quin gave me a heartbroken look.

My husband wants to share his love of the water and help our boys to build the kind of mental and physical toughness he believes is vital to their becoming good men.

To that end he wants us to really crack-down on sedentary winters and build some muscle and character by getting them to be more physically active rain, shine, hot or cold.

He wants to see less exercising thumbs on video consoles and more hikes in the woods, yard work, and dog walking. I promised to be on board.

While the Sunday sailboat races my husband organizes in winter are called 鈥淭he Frostbite Series,鈥� the day was unseasonably mild which aided me in backing him up because I wasn鈥檛 worried about Quin鈥檚 physical well-being.

Quin鈥檚 emotional well-being, however, was compromised at the moment and I needed to pull a rabbit out of my mommy hat in order to turn this Titanic cruise around and head it to more happy waters.

Despite some truly impressive pouting on Quin鈥檚 part, I got him and the boat geared up.

Once we were out on the water, where he refused to speak to me, I handed Quin the score sheet, a pen and the big orange whistle and said, 鈥淥K, as long as you鈥檙e here you are going to call the races.鈥�

To me this meant calling out the numbers as each racer crosses the finish line and blowing the whistle for the countdown to each start.

However, to Quin it meant realizing that I was the races and morphing into a caricature of an ESPN announcer shouting color commentary at the top of his voice for the next three-and-a-half hours.

His commentary became the delight of the hard-core winter sailors, who laughed their way around the marks for the first time since summer.

At the end of the nearly four-hour-long session, Quin reveled in his new role as race official and even helped me haul anchor, lug the buoys out of the icy water, and let out a war whoop of pure joy when I punched the engine and we sped across the river toward the dock where his father was waiting.

鈥淗ey Mom,鈥� Quin shouted over the wind, 鈥淚s there a long way back? Can we extend the cruise?鈥�