Deals give vacation costs a spring break

No wonder the kids are grumpy. Everyone but them (or so they say) is going away for spring break.

The good news is that you can go away too -- without busting the budget. There are bargains everywhere for March and April, whether the kids are eager to hit Disney’s rides, sail away on a ship, learn how to snowboard or surf, or shop till they drop.

“We’re seeing deals across the board,” says Travelocity.com editor-at-large Amy Ziff, “and you can get them anywhere from two weeks ahead to three hours before the plane leaves.”

Danielle Courtenay of the Orlando/Orange County (Fla.) Convention and Visitors Bureau says rooms in some Orlando hotels can be had for $55, “even though this is one of our peak travel times.” Visitors can book an entire trip -- airfare, hotel and theme park tickets -- at www.orlandoinfo.com/springbreak. A four-night Easter-week package for a family of four, including hotel and passes to Universal Studios and SeaWorld, can be less than $200 a day ($270 with Disney passes instead).

The travel industry needs your business, which is why this year’s spring-break packages offer so many extras:

* Free credits for future flights or stays for those who book at Hyatt and Hilton resorts. Visit www.hyatt.com and www.hiltoneasyescapes.com.

* Free breakfast and a discounted length-of-stay pass -- $29 for adults, $15 for kids -- at Colonial Williamsburg, Va., hotels, (800) 404-3371, www.colonialwilliamsburg.com.

* Free kids’ lift tickets and deeply discounted lodging at some ski resorts, including Colorado’s Keystone, www.keystone.snow.com, which also throws in other free activities. American Airlines and Vail Resorts provide late-season packages that let kids fly, stay and ski for free. Visit www.snow.com.

Let’s not forget cruises.

“My tip to a family would be to take a cruise,” says Pauline Frommer of the Frommer’s Budget Travel Web site, www.budgettravel.msnbc.com. “The high-season months of February and March have been undercutting rates on fall hurricane-season sailings.”

Seven-day Caribbean cruises can be had for $500 a person, says Stewart Chiron, president of Leisure Pros, www.cruiseguy.com. “Besides sailing from the normal cities of Miami or Fort Lauderdale, get pricing on ships leaving from New Orleans, Tampa, the Houston area and Port Canaveral. You might be able to find more availability and save a lot of money.”

“Shop smart, and make sure you put the pieces together,” says Expedia.com manager Teri Franklin. “If you book a package, you can save 30% or more.”

Using Expedia.com, you can book a week in Cancun, Mexico, for less than $600. A week in Honolulu, including airfare from Los Angeles, would be comparable. Orbitz and Travelocity .com also have an array of well-priced cruise, resort and hotel options for families, with new ones added daily. Orbitz deals expert Geoff Silvers says that some hotels are discounted as much as 75% -- $100 for four-star hotels in Miami or Chicago, and $150 for four-star hotels in New York City.

“The hardest part may be getting air,” says Silvers, who suggests being as flexible as possible when booking flights. That might mean leaving a day early to catch a flight for your cruise, for example, or flying to Denver rather than directly into a Colorado ski town.

If you want to get out of the country, you can save big in Canada with the strong U.S. dollar. And low rates make this a good time to head overseas; visit www.virginvacations.com.

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Taking the Kids appears twice a month. E-mail Eileen Ogintz at Eileen@takingthekids.com.