MyCruiseAdventures.Com
A collection of tips and wisdom on all aspects of cruising. Intended for both first-timers and seasoned veterans.
This one can be answered any number of ways. For first-time cruisers, it may be best to choose your cruise based on what you can afford. Or, you may want to choose based on which ports the ship will visit. Or, you may want to sail on a specific ship or cruise line. Finally, you may want to sail from a specific home port.
Fortunately, there is an excellent search tool at your disposal at VacationsToGo. This search engine requires you to register, but they only send you a newsletter every week or two, so it's not too intrusive. It allows you to search by ship, cruise line, region, dates, or ports visited. Their cruise prices are reasonable and certainly competitive enough to use as a bargaining chip with your travel agent.
By using this search engine, it's easily possible to tell which cruise lines charge more than others for the same itinerary and dates. It's easy to see, for instance, that the cheapest fares for Caribbean cruises are in September and October, after school starts but while there is a larger chance of hurricanes. It's easy to see that Christmas and spring break cruises are more expensive than other weeks.
I have one serious word of advice here - buy a book about cruising. My favorite is Ocean Cruising & Cruise Ships 2005 by Douglas Ward, ISBN 981-246-510-3, available from Berlitz Publishing. Other books may also be worthwhile, but take a few minutes in the bookstore and look through them first. The nice thing about the Berlitz book is that it has details on every cruise ship sailing today, as well as ships due to come online in 2005.
Inside cabins are the cheapest, followed by outside cabins, then balcony cabins and suites. While a balcony cabin is incredibly nice, it may not be worth the price. We find that we are seldom in our cabin, usually only for sleeping or changing clothes, so booking an inside cabin means more money available for shore excursions.
To compare cabin sizes, take a look at CruiseStateroom, where you can compare actual cabin sizes between any two ships. You'll find that Norwegian Cruise Lines has the smallest cabins, while Carnival's are much larger.
To do this, you may or may not want to use a travel agent. You can get pretty good prices booking directly with the cruise line, but a good travel agent can offer advice and get a good feel whether your chosen cruise would be good for you or not. If you cannot decide on a specific cruise line or ship or date or itinerary, then by all means use a travel agent. Preferably one that specializes in cruises. If you cannot find one locally, then check with your local AAA office - they often have both cruise travel agents and a good selection of brochures.
You can expect to pay a deposit at time of booking. This generally runs $250 per person ($500 per cabin) for 7-day cruises and $450 per person for 10-day cruises. This deposit will hold a spot for you on the ship, and your travel agent may be able to get you a specific cabin. Have a copy of the deck plans for your ship handy when you make the booking - this will avoid accidentally getting a cabin directly over the disco, for instance.
Once you have a cabin booked, there will be a cutoff date - generally 70 days before the ship sails, but it varies with the cruise and cruise line so make sure you ask about it at time of booking. By this date, you either have to pay for the rest of the bill, or cancel your cruise. If you cancel before this date, you will get all of your deposit back, but it may take a month or two to show up on your credit card statement.
Travel insurance could be a worthwhile thing, especially if anything goes wrong. What could possibly go wrong? Well, any number of things. The airline might cancel your flight, resulting in you missing the boat. Mother Nature may result in you missing the boat. The airline might lose your luggage. You might have a car wreck driving to the airport. You might have a medical emergency while on the ship.
Do I use insurance? Yes, for some trips, but not for all. Generally I do use insurance if I fly to the port - we almost missed the boat on our first cruise because we flew in the day of the cruise and had weather delays. That's why it's better to fly in the day before your cruise, especially if you're coming from a winter wonderland that may experience snow delays.
You can get insurance from the cruise line or travel agency, but it often is rather expensive. Or you can go to TravelSafe and pay less. They have an online quote system and you can also book directly on their web site.
On our first cruise, we used nested suitcases and just filled up the smaller one. We ended up needing every bit of the space in the larger one to bring back gifts. As we've done more cruises, we don't buy as many gifts so we don't take extra suitcases any more. We do occasionally bring an extra "gym bag" type of suitcase in case we have an overflow.
What do we pack in those suitcases? Well, it depends. Certainly clothes and toiletries. Something to read. Formalwear for those formal nights (which we enjoy). Chargers for camera and camcorder batteries. Camera and camcorder. Binoculars. Snorkeling gear, if we're going to the Caribbean. Coats if going to Alaska or the Baltic. Sandals and dress shoes.
The TSA requests that you don't lock your luggage any more. We use the twist-ties for trash bags to give any thieves at least a little grief. Plus, we don't pack the expensive stuff in the checked bags. All electronics and optics go in a carry-on bag. Your carry-on should also contain your toiletries, medicines (in original bottles), and a spare change of clothes. If your luggage is lost, you can at least get by with what's in your carry-on for a day or two. Remember that you can't carry on things like knives, nail clippers, scissors, and similar implements - those should go in your checked bag.
If you purchased an airport transfer from the cruise line, your flight will be met at the airport (probably in the baggage claim area). Your luggage will be transferred to the ship for you. If arriving via taxi, there will be porters at the cruise dock who will take your luggage - tip them a dollar per bag. Keep your carry-on luggage with you. You'll have to do some paperwork, pass thru a scanner like you do at the airport, and at some point will be called to board the ship.
Depending on the cruise line, you may be escorted to your cabin or you will be simply told where it is. It helps to familiarize yourself with the ship's deck plans in advance so you know where your cabin is.
Before the ship sails, you must participate in the lifeboat drill (called 'muster'). This is the only mandatory activity on the ship. To do this, you must grab your life vest from your cabin and proceed to your muster station. You will be told where that station is. Once there, you'll listen to a short lecture on how to use your life vest and where the lifeboats are. They'll take a roll call here, so if you miss it, expect them to come find you. Once this is done, you will return your life vests to your cabin closet, hopefully to never need them again. You'll probably want to go up on deck after muster so you can watch the ship leave port.
Check the daily newsletter in the evening to find out what time the ship expects to arrive in port. In many cases it arrives a little before the stated time. If you want to take photos of the arrival, plan to be on deck well before arrival.
Some ports have docks for cruise ships, while others do not. If there is no dock, you'll need to take a 'tender' ashore. Since there may be several thousand other passengers on board, tendering ashore could take a while since each tender can take a maximum of 150 passengers or so per trip. Find out from the front desk where to get 'tender tickets' that assign you a place in line.
If you have a shore excursion booked thru the ship, you will have priority on the tender. Once ashore, look for someone with a sign for your shore excursion.
Most ports have some kind of shopping area near the cruise ship or tender dock. This can be huge (St. Thomas) or small (Mazatlan). On most ships, any liquor purchased in port is confiscated when you reboard your ship and will be returned to you the last evening at sea.
Your best friend here is the ship's daily newsletter. It contains a list of all activities, and it seems there's always something happening. There are various sports tournaments (ping pong, basketball, shuffleboard, mini golf), there are the standard 'get your money' activities such as bingo, horse races, and art auctions. Most ships have casinos, and the casinos are open on at-sea days until very late at night.
Most ships have major evening entertainment in the form of shows, musicals, or comedy acts. Many have 'adults only' comedy late at night. Many ships have movie theatres and show fairly new movies, and slightly older movies may appear on one of the TV channels in your cabin.
Finally, there are the 'don't miss' shows, like the passenger talent show, the 'newlywed' show, and various deck parties.
To be continued...
Copyright © 2005 by Dana Cline
Last updated on 5/4/2005
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