Cruise to put a smile on your face

Need a good laugh? Then take a holiday. A survey of British families has discovered that a week away in the sun generates almost as much laughter as we normally get at home in two months.
Apparently we laugh an average of 14 times a day in our normal surroundings – although I swear I heard more than that today as my son received a succession of sick Michael Jackson emails. On holiday we generate 100 belly-busting laughs a day, probably as a result of dads wearing Speedos, and mums trying to pretend that last year’s bikini still fits. Not to mention little brother dissolving into convulsions as his big sister makes eyes at that mysterious foreign waiter, or the result when she retaliates by squashing an ice cream cone into junior’s face.
Would you believe there are lots of other benefits to be gained from families spending quality time together in the sun?

• 50 per cent of parents will learn something new about their children while abroad on holiday this summer. (Wait until I get you home, you’re going straight to the doctor!)
• A third will discover who their child currently fancies at school. (Not the teacher, I hope)
• One in five children will discover a new fun fact about family relatives while on their summer holidays. (So that’s why we never see Uncle Jimmy any more?)

Naturally enough, the survey was commissioned by a holiday company, Ocean Village Cruises (well you didn’t think it would be B&Q, did you?).
And as it happens, they have some family offers to promote. On selected September cruises booked during July, third and fourth passengers sharing a cabin with two adults can travel free.
So on the September 15 “Emperors and Espresso” sailing, a group of four can cruise for seven nights from Palma to Tunisia, Naples, Florence/Pisa, St Raphael on the French Riviera, and Corsica from a total of just £1,550, with flights, transfers, on-board buffet dining and evening entertainment included. That’s just £387 each.
But hang on a minute. Shouldn’t the kids be back at school by then? Ah well, anything for a laugh.