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Cruise lines offer an exciting array of cruise products today, and it takes only the skilled juggling of a travel agent to match your personality and budget with the cruise line, and itinerary that suits your needs. One of the most important things to remember when planning your cruise is to gather as much as information as you can before you reach into your wallet. Listed below, we will present you with some of the most typical travel tips you should consider before booking a cruise.
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Choosing a cruise
The first decision to make when choosing a cruise is how long do you want to go for. Then you must consider what type would suit you the best, a theme cruise, one packed with entertainment, a romantic sailing ship or lots of ports of call. Most people find that a 10-days cruise is ideal: one week for exploring both on and off-shore, with three days at sea.
Types of Cruise
Do your research. Some cruise companies now have flexible pricing systems, where the price of a cruise varies according to availability when you book. And each cruise line offer a different experience. The mega ships of Carnival Cruise Lines, Princess Cruises and Royal Caribbean provide the whole big ship experience, Broadway style shows, different dinning options a lot of decks sports and a high proportion of balcony cabins.
Whereas Sea Dreams Yacht Club and Seabourne offer a setting similar to a large luxurious, private yacht, Star Clippers, Sea Cloud, and Windstar Cruises are the ones to choose for the romance on a sailing ship, whether it’s a square rigger or fully automated gin palace. For the cost-conscious Ocean Village provides great cruise and stay offers.
European operated lines, such as Costa Cruises, tend to have more international flair, while P&O and Fred Olsen carry mainly British travellers and US run vessels have a predominantly American passenger list. The cruise lines own websites that have extensive information about their ships, routes, onboard services, and off-shore excursions, as well as special offers such as free flights and two-for-one deals and big discounts during slow travel periods.
Know your cruise lines and ships
Although cruise lines may sound similar in their advertisements, they offer different holiday packages at different rates. Some specialize in great food, while others pay more attention to funky shipboard amenities, such as rock-climbing walls. Once you’ve decided on a particular cruise line, remember that not all ships in a fleet are the same. Never ones tend to be more expensive, but come with the latest features and more cabins with balconies.
Apart from the cruise line’s website, a top source of information is the annual Berlitz Ocean Cruising and Cruise Ships, which provides exhaustive reviews of more than 250 vessels. Getting there. Once you’ve chosen your cruise, talk to a travel agent to determine the best way to get to the embarkation point. You may wish to stay longer by buying an ‘open jaw’ return and flying, say, into Miami or out of Barbados.
Theme Cruises
There is a wide range of specially designed theme cruises that cater for a huge range of interests, lifestyles, hobbies, and niche markets, you name it, and there’s probably a cruise for it. Sometimes all the passengers can participate in a theme, on others, only a proportion get involved, useful when two people travel together, and one wants to take part, but the other doesn’t.
Theme cruises feature all the standard amenities of regular cruises usually at no extra cost. The cruises are usually arranged by cruise organizers, individuals, small companies, special interest groups, and non-profit organizations working hand-in-hand with the cruise companies, not the cruise line itself. In this sense, the ships are ‘hired out’ by the cruise lines to the specific groups. Rarely advertised publicly, such rips usually attract their clientele by word-of-mouth or by small, highly targeted marketing campaigns. Affinity groups are also a natural market for niche cruises.
African-American cruises
A growing segment of the affinity market are cruises catering for African-American travelers. Blue World Travel, has earned a stellar reputation for its Festival at Sea Cruises. The cruises run several times a year and feature lectures on African-American culture, Motown music nights and African-attire dinner parties. They also raise money for the Thurgood Marshall College Fund, and donate children’s books to the Caribbean island libraries.
Alcoholics-Anonymous cruises
Alcohol-free cruises are currently offered by many branches of Alcoholics-Anonymous.
Culinary cruises. Focusing on food and wine, these cruises range from those that offer cookery demonstrations by master chefs to others that concentrate on a regional cuisine such as Taste of the Islands cruises, which highlight French west Indian or Latin.
Caribbean cooking
On most culinary cruises, distinguished wine authorities provide wine-tasting demonstrations of select vintages and lectures devoted to the noble grape to go along with the gourmet food.
Educational cruises
Part of the growing trend for combining education with travel, an organization called University at Sea runs an innovative series of fully accredited, continuing education courses. Many of these cruises are tax-deductible in the US.
Musical cruises
Music is another major subject for theme cruises, with choices that range from jazz, classical, opera, soul, salsa, gospel, country and western, dixieland, rock’n’roll and big band orchestras. Whatever the musical theme may be, live music is the main component of shipboard entertainment.
Single cruises
Single thematic cruises make it easier for unattached people to meet members of the opposite sex are growing rapidly. There are cruises aimed at every age group from twenty-something to pensioner, and some cater for single parents.
Sporty cruises
Sport is another popular theme, with golf being one of the favorites. Royal Caribbean is the official cruise line of the PGA Tour, and has developed a following for its Golf Ahoy program. On board lessons are given by golf pros, and cruises stop near famous Caribbean courses where passengers can play a few rounds. There are numerous cruises that focus on diving, offering passengers a chance to gain scuba certification.
Choosing a cabin
First, envisage how you will be spending your time during the cruise. If you love sightseeing, you may not need an expensive cabin as you won’t be spending much time in it. But if you think you’re going to spend sea days eating, reading and napping in the privacy of your cabin or relaxing on your balcony, then you would be advised to go for the more expensive option, a large cabin. Sailboats, and even small cruising yachts, lean toward tiny, serviceable staterooms.
Older, larger ships also tend to have small cabins without balconies that encourage guests to get out and about on the ship. You may find you have a more porthole rather than a window, and not even enough space to store your suitcases, the newer the ship the more spacious the cabin. You will always have a private bathroom. The choice will be between an inside cabin, outside cabin, balcony cabin or suite. Specific cabins can be pre-booked on all ships, although some cruise lines charge for this facility.
On large ships, the least expensive cabins tend to be windowless, interior ones. Anyone prone to seasickness should opt for a cabin on a lower deck, near the more stable center of the ship. Ironically, the suites are always at the top and will get the roughest ride in choppy seas. They do, however, often come with butler service, dining privileges and red carpet treatment.
Cruising with children
The facilities on Disney Wonder and Disney Magic are superb, while Princess, RCL and NCL, all have good children’s facilities and entertainment. Among the British cruise lines, P&O is excellent. Some ships will have children’s menus and almost all offer alternative casual dining, so small children can eat earlier than their parents. High chairs should be provided. Babysitting can be arranged through the purser’s desk and the babysitter is normally paid cash. The larger the ship, the more there will be for children to do.
With more than one pool, there will generally be one geared for families. The islands are a perfect holiday destination for a family, if you want to stay on after a cruise. Many resorts are geared for children and some of the best include Windjammer Landing in St. Lucia. Almond Beach in Barbados and beaches Negril in Jamaica. However, some hotels may not allow children under 12 during the winter high season, so do check.
Home Ports
A few years ago cruise ships sailed almost exclusively from Miami and Fort Lauderdale in Florida when on Caribbean cruises. But today the paradigm has shifted entirely, the main cruise lines disperse their fleets among numerous home ports in the US and the Caribbean.
US travelers who choose not to fly can sail to the Caribbean and the Yucatán directly from ports such as Tampa, Galveston and New Orleans, often within driving distance of home. There are home ports on Caribbean islands with international airports. San Juan, Puerto Rico and Bridgetown in Barbados are two of the busiest regional home ports.
Travelers with disabilities
Cruising can be an ideal holiday for travelers with disability. Wheelchair users will find that most ships provide a relaxing, sociable setting while visiting lots of destinations. Book early and take the advice of a specialist cruise travel agent before booking, make sure they provide specific information about airport transfer, boarding the ship, the facilities on board and the cabin itself. Cruise ships do not generally provide special facilities for those with hearing difficulties, although Crystal and some Celebrity fleet have special headsets in their cinemas. Newer ships have some signage in Braille- on lift buttons and cabin door numbers.
Star Clipper’s Star is a clipper ship that combines seafaring history with the comforts of a modern cruise. It is one of the world’s tallest and largest sailing vessels and sails through Europe, the Mediterranean, the Baltic, Central America, the Caribbean and even makes transatlantic voyages. The Star Flyer docks in smaller or private ports often overlooked and untouched by the main cruise liners.
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