Planning a multi-family getaway is easier with cheap family holiday packages, but you still have to brace yourself for the setbacks and uncertainties that offset your itinerary. There should be enough leeway to mix things up so your families don't end up stuck in a cabin or tethered to a cluster of touring crowds. Planning a multi-family trip is a bit involved, but it's doable so long as you are open to changes; also, try to anticipate some adjustments along the way. You should all reach a consensus and establish a master plan months before the trip. Designate one person to orchestrate the details and tie in the conflicting schedules into an itinerary everyone will commit to. Start with the big picture and let one person paint it; you can flesh out the details once you have a master plan sorted out and in place.

Cheap family holiday packages often come with preset accommodations. Your trip should ensure everyone is tightly knitted to each other all throughout, though. Your accommodations should afford plenty of room for the casual mingling. This shouldn't be a problem if you're going on a cruise, renting a villa, or staying at family member's house. There's plenty of time to socialize because you'll only unpack once and the rest is (sort of) smooth sailing. Hotel rooms are acceptable, so long as you stay in adjacent suites or in rooms housed under the same wing. Road trips are very difficult to organize; you'll also spend more time in seatbelts so there's never enough opportunity to reacquaint.

If you'd rather opt out of cheap family holiday packages and rough it out on a road trip, then you should ensure all your vehicles are primed and tuned up for the long haul. Furnish duplicates of the car keys so your designated drivers can easily rotate through the shifts and vehicle switches. Your itinerary will also be more practical (and realistic) if you get together for a brainstorming huddle. Your preferred stops and schedules will surely conflict each other, but you'll all need to work out a consensus to ensure everyone stays on the same page during the trip. Flesh out your master itinerary on paper, and sort out any parts the duration of your trip can't accommodate.

Every adult should have a copy of everyone's contact details, so you can easily locate and fish out people who'll stray away from the group. Make a shopping list of essentials before the trip so you can figure out a rough budget. Cheap family holiday packages shouldn't give you license to penny-pinch on your expenses if you've pooled in your resources for a communal budget; allot extra money to burn on novelties and souvenirs.

Don't let the setbacks frazzle you; you'll have to skip some stops on your itinerary to make up for the time you'll lose lingering in the others. You're with family, so cut yourselves some slack and loosen up.