There are many people who would love to take a cruise vacation but think that they cannot afford to do so. One thing to keep in mind is not to base a cruise vacation on price alone. Remember, you are going on vacation for relaxation and fun.

The first thing you need to do is make a plan for your dream cruise destination. For example, most cruise line provide services, facilities and amenties such as your cabin, most meals and day and night entertainment.

To assist you in planning your cruise, here are some tips to ensure you get maximum enjoyment from your cruise:

- The first thing you need to consider is the destination of your cruise. For your ultimate enjoyment you will want to pick a cruise destination that meets your budget and your needs. The most popular destinations at the time of this writing are: the Caribbean, Alaska, and the Mexico Channel.

- The next thing you need to decide on is who is going with you. If you’re looking for a romantic vacation with your significant other, you won’t want to be aboard a ship that is family oriented with a bunch of kids aboard.

- You want to choose the best cruise line and ship that will fit your needs. Basing your cruise trip on price alone is not a wise decision. Select the best cruise that you can afford because you get what you pay for. There are many cruise ships available for any type of budget.

- The length of your cruise is also an important factor when deciding on a cruise. Some go from three to five days, others from seven to ten days and then there are others that can go for a month long or more. For a really grand excursion, book a cruise around the world that lasts around four months.

- Activities are also an important part of a fun cruise vacation. The ship should offer a variety of activities. Depending on the cruise ship you select, you can experience rock climbing, ice skating, discoes, scuba diving and much more. It varies between cruise lines. So be sure to choose a ship that will meet your needs.

- Book your cruise early. By booking your cruise early, you’ll getter better rates and ensure you get the cruise destination you desire. Visit the cruise lines website and check their schedule. Most cruise lines offer large discounts when booking several months in advance.

- If you want to enjoy shore excursions, make your reservation in advance. This will save you from disappointment and frustration. Not only will you learn about the cultures in different countries, it is where you will find the best bargain shopping.

These are just a few of many tips for you when planning a cruise. Do your research by checking out the cruise lines website that you’re interested in and educate yourself. Visit their forums and learn from other’s experiences.

Have fun.

Christian Baligad



Thanks to Christian Baligad for contributing this article to our Cruises blog:

Luxury Cruise Ship

Can you answer tak87’s question about Cruises?:

My family and I are interested on taking a cruise on the Mediterranean over the summer. Does anybody have any suggestions?

Honeymoon Cruise Package

The first day of your Caribbean cruise vacation is here. Most of the day will be spent getting to know your cruise ship, making spa appointments, booking tours on the Caribbean Islands and trying to get cruise tips from your fellow passengers.

The first night of your Caribbean cruise vacation is always a casual night since most people have traveled a good portion of the day. It’s also the night you meet your table mates. Here is another cruise tip, be a few minutes late on the first night (only on the first night-be prompt from then on). There is usually a crush of people when the dinner bell rings and everyone is trying to find their table.

If you are eating in the traditional cruise style, always ask for a large table for several reasons. You have a better chance of meeting a mix of people, and the more people you meet during your cruise travel, the merrier. One thing to do is change seats every night at the table so everyone gets to talk to everyone else during the course of your cruise vacation. It’s much more fun. And a round table is ideal since rectangular ones make it difficult to talk to the guy at the other end. However, if you find that you are unhappy with your table, absolutely go to the maitre d’ and asked to be moved. He or she will accommodate you as best they can. There are people who chose to dine alone and the ships have tables for two but they fill up fast.

Freestyle Dining and Choice Dining are available on some Cruise Lines for those who want to eat on their own or don’t want to be delegated to a specific dining time. Your travel agent will be able to set this up when booking your Caribbean cruise vacation.

Now you are on day two, and usually that means it’s a day at sea. You are just itching to put into your bathing suit and get out in the sun. Listen to this, it is the most valuable of all the cruises tips here, do not try to get a tan on your first day of your Caribbean cruise vacation. You will spend days of your precious cruise trying to recover from very bad sunburn. The Caribbean sun is very intense and is even more so in the summer months.

Get waterproof sun block and use it liberally if you are swimming or snorkeling. Don’t forget the tops of your feet, your ears and lips, this can be extremely painful. Wear a hat so you don’t burn your scalp.

To avoid injury follow these tips. Be careful if the decks are wet, they become very slippery. Watch for the raised lips in some doorways especially between your cabins sleeping area and the bathroom. Never sit on the railings as you may fall. Wearing high heels could be hazardous in bumpy weather. When tendering to shore keep your arms and legs within the tender. These are all very good cruise tips

All of the newer cruise ships have an internet café; some even have an internet connection in your room. So if you want to bring your lap top with you, by all means do. There are some small luxury cruise ships that have lap tops available for your use. Check with your cruise travel agent, he or she will know. Most people won’t want to be bothered with their computers, but it is nice to check your email if you are going to be away for awhile, and ship to shore phone calls are very expensive on the cruise lines.

The last evening will also be a casual night since you have packed your bags and put them outside your cruise cabin. Tomorrow will be an early morning and the end of your enchanting Caribbean cruise vacation.

There always seem to be many questions about tipping while taking a Caribbean cruise vacation. These questions come up on European cruise vacations too, but we’ll stick to the Caribbean. Some cruise lines will absolutely not let you tip. These are the very high end cruise lines. Some automatically add it to your bill. If you do not like this arrangement tell the purser that you will tip on your own. Tipping on a cruise ship is very important since the room steward, waiter and busboy all make their living on tips. They work very hard to keep you happy during your Caribbean cruise vacation so please tip them. You may want to figure out the amount of tips you will be paying at the beginning of the cruise vacation and separate that from your spending money. You won’t get caught short.

If a Maitre d’ does something special, like crepe suzettes at your table, you should tip him. When you order wine or drinks there is already a 15% tip on the charge, so it is not necessary to tip here. If you find a special bar and frequent it, give the bartender a bit extra on the last night. As I said tipping policies are different on all ships so find out ahead of time. Holland American has changed their tipping policy. It used to be “no tipping necessary”. That policy is no longer in place. On NCL Hawaii a $10.00 per day per person is added to your bill and it is not optional.

A nice gesture on a two week cruise is to give half the tip after the first week, the cruise staff will appreciate this. On almost all of the cruise ships, the general rule for tipping is $3.00 per day, per person for the waiter and the room steward and $1.50 per person per day for the bus boy. If you’re not sure the Cruise Line will usually give you guidelines. If your room steward or waiter showed you excellent services tip them more.

Alcoholic beverages on board are expensive. All cruise ships have there own policy if you bring your own, some confiscate it and return at the end of the cruise, others allow you to buy bottles on board, and others will allow you to purchase it but won’t deliver it until the end of the cruise. Each cruise line has different policies so check with your cruise travel agent. In many cases you can bring wine and champagne on board.

Here’s just a small note about seasickness. On the really huge ships it should not be a problem. If you are prone to it and are taking a smaller ship, there are over the counter remedies. Dramamine and Bonine are in tablet forms and can make some people drowsy. Because of the size and the stability of the current fleet of cruise ships only 3% of cruise passengers are affected by this.

There are wrist bands that you can purchase that act on the theory of acupuncture. Then there is also the Patch that you wear behind your ear. If you do not purchase one of these before the cruise and find yourself getting a little green, the purser’s office will provide you with them. Go out on the open decks, eat saltines, green apples and drink ginger ale. Do not do anything that requires you to look down, like reading or writing.

In health food stores you can buy powdered ginger caplets which are the natural remedy. That should take care of it. Stay away from greasy foods. This is no longer a huge problem since most ships today have stabilizers that keep the ship from pitching to and fro. If you do have a problem with “mal de mar”, it is not wise to take a sailing cruise or a small ship in notoriously rough seas like the South China Sea. It is so shallow it is always a little rough. The waves bounce off the seabed and come back up making it a bit choppy. Here again the size of the ship matters and having a little information will be helpful. This is where a really knowledgeable cruise travel agent comes in.

All cruise ships have a policy on smoking. On one ship they had an absolutely no smoking policy anywhere, they have since changed that rule. There is never any smoking allowed in the showrooms or the dining rooms. In many cases they designate one side of the ship in the bars as the smoking section while the other side is smoke free.

You can smoke in the bars and in the casino. Never, ever, toss a lit cigarette overboard, it can blow back on deck and start a fire. Please be considerate of the other passengers and follow the rules. And be aware that you will encounter many more smokers on a European cruise vacation and on European cruise ships that winter in the USA.

These are just some sensible cruise tips for you to follow on you Caribbean cruise vacation.

Happy Cruising!

Copyright © Mary Hanna, All Rights Reserved.

This article may be distributed freely on your website and in your ezines, as long as this entire article, copyright notice, links and the resource box are unchanged.



Thanks to Mary Hanna for contributing this article to our Cruises blog:

Cheap Mediterranean Cruises

Can you answer Shingmine’s question about Cruises?:

we are planning to go on a Alaska Cruise, which route and ship do you recomment?
Thanks,

Luxury Cruise Ship

In this era of faster everything, including faster and larger commercial airliners where passengers are packed in like sardines, one thing seems to remain constant.  That is the wonderful, leisurely world of cruising.  For many years the airline industry has experienced numerous setbacks, while the cruise industry has been growing by leaps and bounds. There are many reasons why you should consider becoming a part of this amazing phenomenon.  Here are some of them.

According to recent research from the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA), ninety-five percent of cruisers give top marks to their cruising experience and more than seventy-five percent plan to cruise again within three years.

Contrary to what some people think, cruises are very affordable.  With most vacations you end up paying for air flights, hotels or resorts, restaurants, entertainment, and sometimes car rentals.  If you add all these costs up, cruises can be a real bargain.  When you book a cruise, in most cases you pay for the airfare and cruise.  However, if you live close enough to your cruise ship departure port, you may be able to drive there much cheaper than you can fly.  Even if you have to fly to the departure port you can always get a flight and cruise package deal which is usually less expensive than purchasing your flight and cruise separately.   

When you book a luxury cruise vacation, well over 85% of your holiday is prepaid and that includes all meals, night clubs, stage shows, movies, and entertainment, as well as numerous other activities and amenities.  In addition, most ships have onboard activities such as golf, rock climbing, dancing, swimming, scuba diving lessons which can lead to certification, Pilates, yoga, and fitness trainers.  You can also pamper yourself with wonderful spas and body massages. 

Another way to save big bucks on a cruise is to book an inside cabin.  If you do not need to have a cabin with a balcony or ocean view, then you will save a lot of money.  You have use of all the shared amenities that your fellow passengers have, but it’s costing you a lot less. 

You can also save a bundle on repositioning cruises.  A repositioning cruise is made possible at certain times of the year, usually in the spring and fall, when cruise lines relocate their ships from one part of the world to another.

There is a large variety of luxury cruise vacations to choose from, ranging from three day mini cruises to several month long cruises as well as an amazing around the world cruise odyssey.

When you cruise, you are traveling in the lap of luxury in a floating five-star hotel.  You will be pampered and feel you are living the life of a king or queen, not just for a day, but for the entire length of the cruise.  Gourmet dining, impeccable service and elegant surroundings are only a few of the superlatives that are used to describe cruising.

If you like delicious food you will absolutely love gourmet meals and scrumptious desserts created by great chefs and served in a variety of restaurants.  There are always wonderful buffets available throughout the day and even midnight buffets.  A number of themed lounges are located throughout the cruise ships for your convenience.

Love seeing Broadway style shows and theater performances without having to make reservations or pay outlandish prices for tickets?  Then taking a luxury cruise is the answer.  So many things are included on cruises which make them such a great value for your travel and entertainment dollar.

  

From children to great grandparents, there is always something to interest everyone on a cruise.  You have the option to be as active as you like or you can just relax and experience magnificent sunrises and breathtaking sunsets while watching the world go by.  So many wonderful, precious memories and experiences will stay with you a lifetime when you take a luxury cruise.

Want to party around the clock?  Not a problem.  Whether you are with a partner or single, it’s always party time.  You don’t even have to plan or clean up after the party, just have a lot of fun!

Businesses from around the world book conferences and seminars, team building get-togethers, new product launches and employee reward vacations on cruise ships.  Cruise lines do not charge extra for conference room facilities and use of audio and video equipment.

Group cruises are not only for companies and business people.  Family reunions, honeymoons and weddings, sports groups and clubs, charities and fund raisers are only some of the many kinds of groups that have their events on cruises.

On cruises there is no hassle of having to pack and unpack again and again every time you travel to a new destination.  Another bonus is that there is no limit on the amount of luggage you can bring on a cruise.

People with disabilities should have no problem getting around on a cruise ship.  Cruise lines have made onboard accessibility a non-issue as their ships are equipped with ramps, elevators and easily accessible cabins and state rooms.

Modern cruise ships have dramatically reduced the problem of seasickness.  Today’s larger ships slice through the waves instead of riding on top of them.  Also, new innovative technologies like stabilizers and counterbalancing systems have greatly reduced the pitch and roll of cruise ships, all but neutralizing any problem of seasickness.

Cruising is also one of the safest forms of travel.  The cruise industry has an exceptional safety record.  And as far as assaults and robberies are concerned, they are over a hundred times less likely to occur on a cruise ship than in your own home town.

A physician and medical staff are never more than a few minutes away on a cruise ship should any passenger need to see doctor.  Most common passenger ailments and minor mishaps occur less on a cruise ship than on shore.

For those that have a fear of flying or don’t enjoy being crammed like sardines into commercial airplanes when traveling to their destinations, here is some great news.  The cruise lines in the United States are making terrific strides catering to cruise passengers needs.  They are opening up more ports of call on both the East and West coasts so more and more people who would love to go on a cruise but don’t like flying, can easily drive or take a bus or train to most departure ports.   



Thanks to Dorothy Yamich for contributing this article to our Cruises blog:

Honeymoon Cruise Package