How to Plan a Cruise Vacation
Posted on | January 26, 2010 | 9 Comments
As great as taking a vacation on cruise ships may seem, you still need to know how to plan a cruise ship vacation properly so you have the perfect cruise experience. You need to know about the different types of packages the cruise lines offer.
When planning a cruise ship vacation you need to know how to choose one that will meet your expectation or tailor to your needs. Here are some guidelines that you can follow to plan your cruise travel and enjoy the perfect cruise experience:
Think of who you want to take with you on your cruise vacation. There are many different packages offered by cruise lines. There are packages for the whole family and there are packages for single travelers.
Will you be taking the cruise vacation with children? Maybe you will take your significant other for a romantic getaway. There are cruise ships that are tailored for children and there are cruise lines that cater to single cruisers and honeymooners. There are even some ships that offer wedding services. What could be better than to get married on the ship and have your honeymoon built in?
Decide how long you want to cruise. If you just want to try it out, opt for a three day cruise. Normally, cruises start at three nights and can go anywhere from seven to fourteen days. But there are also world cruises that can last as long as three months. My advice is if you are going to cruise in Europe you should pick a fourteen day cruise because of the expense and long plane rides to get to your port of embarkation. If you live near a port and you just want to take a long weekend choose of three or four day cruise. Decide what cruise travel is best for you.
Choose the perfect destination for you and your family. Alaska is beautiful but can only be cruised in the summer months. If you live in the colder climes you may want to take a mid winter cruise to the Caribbean or even South America. If you want your cruise travel to be in the Caribbean and you want to spend two weeks on your cruise vacation, choose a line that alternates between the Eastern and Western Caribbean. This cruise vacation takes you to many different islands.
The cruise lines have a variety of destinations to choose from. Visit your cruise travel agent to go over the different itineraries or check out the individual websites of the cruise lines.
Consider the port of departure. Since 9/11 cruises have been emphasizing home port cruising. Now there are many cruises that depart from Bayonne, New Jersey, Galveston, Texas, or Seattle, Washington, not just Miami and Fort Lauderdale.. Depart from the one closest to you and you will save money on expensive airfare.
Speak to a knowledgeable cruise travel agent. Make sure they have personally sailed on many different cruise ships so they can give you an honest opinion on what each cruise line has to offer and which would give you the perfect cruise experience.
A cruise travel agent will also be able to supply you with cruise tips. Scour the cruise reviews for additional cruise tips.
Large cruise lines have a variety of activities and facilities that you can use on the ship. If you like to gamble then choosing a cruise ship with casinos is probably right for you. Or if you are taking your kids with you, a cruise ship that offers activities and facilities for children would be the best choice for your cruise travel. For instance, Disney is, of course, geared toward children but they do not have casinos. So if you are taking the family but you want to gamble steer away from Disney and choose one of the other major cruise lines. Almost all of them have children’s programs. If you don’t want to be on a ship with children sail on one of the fancier lines that don’t cater to children. Here, again, it pays to read as many cruise reviews as you can to pick up additional cruise tips.
Cruise vacations do not necessarily mean that you have to spend all your vacation time onboard. All the cruise ships offer land and shore excursions. The cruise lines offer pre and post cruise land vacations usually for two or three days.
Related posts:
- Planning A Cruise Vacation For The Perfect Cruise Experience
- Your Cruise Vacation – Cruise Ship Embarkation Procedures
- Benefits of Traveling by Cruise
- All About Caribbean Cruises and a Glossary of Cruise Terms
- Tying the Knots on a Cruise
- Cruise Lines Enhance the Cruise Experience by Offering Up-to-date Amenities
- Some Excellent Cruise Tips for your Caribbean Cruise Vacation
- Choosing a Cruise
- Your Cruise Vacation – Cruise Ship Embarkation Procedures for Cruise Travel
- A Cruise Ship Review Of The New 2006 Cruise Line Offerings For Your Cruise Vacation
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9 Responses to “How to Plan a Cruise Vacation”
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January 26th, 2010 @ 9:32 am
Most cruises require a deposit when you book and the balance of payment prior to a certain number of days before the cruise. It would be possible to book the cruise through most travel agents, make your deposit, then make payments on a regular basis as long as your final payment is made on time. A good travel agent can make all of the necessary arrangements for you and, with a few exceptions, will be able to get you the same price as a website.
Another option is to set aside a certain amount of money on a regular basis in a separate bank account. After making your deposit you could put money aside in this account, possibly earn a bit of interest, then pay off the balance owing when required.
January 26th, 2010 @ 10:27 am
I have been on many Norwegian ships, including twice on the Dream; once before it was stretched and once after. Norwegian was at one time my favorite cruise line until the line was bought by Star Cruises and they instituted the "Freestyle Cruising".
Now I do not recommend Norwegian because of their "freestyle" cruising. It means that you do not have to specify a dining option; don't have a table and waiter assigned to you. It means you can go to dinner in the main dining room any time of the evening.
But it also means that you may be standing in line awaiting a table on some days (like we had to a couple times); not what you want on a cruise. Since you go when you want, you rarely get the same waiter and so never really get to know your waiter and he/she never learns what you prefer. The option to this being pushed on NCL is their optional dining which you must pay to use. The dining options can cost $10 to $20 a person for dinner each night; not what you want after paying for a cruise. Then optional restaurants are nice, including French, Sushi, Tex-Mex, Italian, steak house restaurants. But who wants to go pay to eat on a cruise ship where all the meals are supposed to be included. We always skipped the optional restaurants and just got to the main dining early.
The ship was a good one, not as new and modern as some of the newer NCL, Princess and RC ships. It is not one of the ships that has a majority balcony and suites cabins. But it has nice features. I don't remember the shows and they change those periodically anyway.
Since Star took over NCL the line has an Asian flavor; Star is an Oriental company. Some of the performers and musicians were Asian and they had Karioke every evening. Not my cup of tea. You will enjoy, but it will be diferent from what you had on Carnival and RC.
January 26th, 2010 @ 10:39 pm
The website has a lot of information on the destinations and activities of any specific cruise. You really should check it out. And if you contact the Disney people, they'll send you booklets and things that will really help you choose a specific cruise.
I'm going on one myself in a few months, but I've already been on the one that went from Florida to the Caribbean. We stopped in the Caribbean islands and in Mexico, and it was absolutely amazing. Anything with Disney always is. My only recommendation, though, would be for you to get a tour guide for Mexico. Disney offers tours, but if you want to branch off on your own and see ruins and things, you'll want one.
January 27th, 2010 @ 4:23 am
Visit the exotic islands of the Philippines like Boracay, Bohol, Cebu or Palawan…inexpensive…
January 27th, 2010 @ 11:35 pm
Depends on what kind of vacation you're looking for. Hawaii is gorgeous if you like beautiful beaches, sunsets, and island culture; but it's can be quite expensive. The Caribbean is affordable, with great beaches and warm/hot weather. Europe would be my choice, however. It's not cheap, but certainly cheaper than Hawaii I'd say. Europe is such a diverse place with lots of history and culture. There's much more to explore in Europe than the other two choices.
January 28th, 2010 @ 12:27 pm
Land travel offers more options. Cruises are offered mostly in the Mediterranean and on large rivers like the Danube.
When planning your vacation I suggest to do the following:
* define your time horizon – first day and last day. Take into consideration that you will experience jet lag; therefore the first day should allow for extended rest time.
* list the countries or cities you are interested in
* consult a map where these cities and countries are exactly and relative to each other to define the order in which to visit – don't forget the restrictions your time horizon might place on your plans.
* Go to a travel agent and discuss if your ideas make sense.
If you prefer to travel individually you will run into the following challenges:
* language: Not everyone in every country speaks English. You will need to learn at least few sentences in the local language of each country you intend to visit.
* timing: When driving yourself allow for traffic jams and getting lost. When using trains, ships, buses, and airplanes make sure to ask local people how punctual these are usually.
* opening hours: Many European countries have restrictions regarding the opening hours of shops. Not all museums, etc. are open all days.
If you decide to travel with a group be prepared that your personal interests might not be fully met – but you will have a translator and somebody else making the decision where to go at which time of the trip.
January 28th, 2010 @ 4:52 pm
I do not know what site "Charlie" is refering to, since he did not add it; but it must be a commercial site which contains outdated information. The Cayman Islands is a British Dependent Territory which grants visa-free entry to all European Union (EU) countries. The information on Charly's site is probably dated 2004 or earlier when those countries have not yet been members to the EU.
No, you don't need visa for all those countries.
Citizens of the Cayman Islands, Honduras, and Mexico are granted visa free entry to the European Schengen countries to include Hungary. One pre-requisite to be granted visa-free access is that European Union citizens are reciprocally granted visa-free entry.
This applies to:
Cayman Islands
http://www.immigration.gov.ky/portal/page?_pageid=1608,2524721&_dad=portal&_schema=PORTAL ..
Honduras
http://www.timaticweb.com/cgi-bin/tim_website_client.cgi?SpecData=1&VISA=&HEALTH=&page=both&NA=HU&AR=00&DE=HN&VT=HU&EM=HU&PASSTYPES=PASS&user=SKYWEB&subuser=SKYWEB1 ..
Mexico
http://portal.sre.gob.mx/boston/index.php?option=displaypage&Itemid=90&op=page&SubMenu= ..
and also to Belize, although their citizens are not granted a visa-free stay in the continental European Schengen countries.
http://www.timaticweb.com/cgi-bin/tim_website_client.cgi?SpecData=1&VISA=&HEALTH=&page=both&NA=HU&AR=00&DE=BZ&VT=HU&EM=HU&PASSTYPES=PASS&user=SKYWEB&subuser=SKYWEB1 ..
January 28th, 2010 @ 5:37 pm
Do yourself and your mom a favor: go to a beach resort instead.
This is my personal experience:
I went on the Carnival Ecstasy departing from Galveston about a month ago.
The ship was old and it looked like it had not been updated in 25 years. It was like a trip back to the 80's.
The food was very good.
The staff was friendly and the service was great.
The little bars were always half empty and sometimes I felt sorry for the musicians (they were good, but they were playing in an empty place)
The casino was nice, but I tried to stay away from it because I didn't want to keep losing my money.
The shows were just OK, the dancers need to learn more international dances. They just dance like plain cheerleaders. The singers were great. One night they had the guests perform. Unless you are related to them or friends with them, this really sucked. I could care less about some high school girls playing the flute or this other girl singing country music out of tune. Some people in the audience were very loud and I did not know if they were supporting the guests or making fun of them. The big theater felt like a huge low class family reunion. I left after a little while.
The pool was tiny and packed with people (yuck). I guess since it's on a ship it can't have a large heavy pool.
The ship was full of pre-teens.
Some of the activities were kind of dumb (I guess it's just not my type of fun) and at other activities that were kind of interesting they were always trying to sell you something.
The destinations were AWESOME. I went to Chichen Itza and one of the beaches in Cozumel and I loved it!!!! Mexican people are the friendliest people in the world!!!!!!! The guide in Chichen Itza was VERY knowledgeable.
I usually go to beach resorts and I always have a BETTER experience than this cruise. Better shows, better food (alcohol is included), better service, friendly people everywhere and it's even cheaper!!!!
If you have never been to a beach resort or a similar vacation, you will think the cruise is great…. but in reality they are not giving you what your money is worth. Also, cruises are more for families with pre-teens or teenagers. Parents can have fun without worrying where their kids might be (they may be out of sight but they can't go anywhere, they are in the same ship!), and those teens can go to the little teen parties that they have on the cruise.
As you can see, I personally prefer beach resorts over cruises. They are more fun and you can do a lot more!
January 28th, 2010 @ 9:58 pm
I have been to Bermuda by cruise ship twice, once on Norwegian and then on Royal Caribbean. There are several cruise lines that do cruises to Bermuda and from ports all up and down the East coast from Boston to Charleston, SC. My favorite cruise line and the one that I recommend is Royal Caribbean. That's because RC has the most activities on their ships. These are the cruise lines that do Bermuda cruises.
Norwegian cruises:
http://www.ncl.com/nclweb/cruisesearch/c...
Royal Caribbean cruises:
http://www.royalcaribbean.com/findacruis...
Carnival Cruises:
http://www.carnivalcruiselines.com/find_...
All of these cruise lines have programs for kids and I know that Royal Caribbean has a special area on its ships for kids called Adventure Ocean, plus a place for teens to hang out called Fuel (all of these are supervised areas). But what set Royal Caribbean apart is its ships generally have more on-board activities than the other cruise lines. I also recommend that you take your cruise on the Royal Caribbean ship, Explorer of the Seas, which goes to Bermuda out of Cape Liberty, NY (near NY City, use the Newark airport). That is one of RC's Voyager Class ships (I have been on two of them) and it has on it the rock climbing wall, a mini-golf course, an ice skating rink, an in-line roller skating track, a ful sized basketball/tennis court, plus the over sized chess and checker sets to play on the deck, along with shuffle board, and a game room. Take a look at the ship's features:
http://www.royalcaribbean.com/findacruis...
A 5, 6, or 7 day cruise to Bermuda is plenty enough time to enjoy it. You may want to read below what I have written about what's to do in Bermuda to help decide how many days to go for. Note also from the links that the price varies according to the date that you select. So if you are looking to save money go when the price is the lowest; its the same cruise. Also, The prices shown are for each person based on double occupancy so while the cruise lines do not give a discount for kids, the prices for your kids will be less if they are staying in your cabin; generally about 50% less.
ABOUT BERMUDA:
In my two visit it seemed to me that the majority of the people visiting the island were those on the two or three cruise ships which docked there during my stay. There are a few hotels in the town of Hamilton and about a dozen other properties/beach hotels, but they are nice. There are NO slums and ghettos in Bermuda like you may see on other islands like the Caribbean. It's a very safe island to travel around, even on the buses. All of the houses are well maintained and painted in pastel colors. All of the public beaches are great. Be sure to go to Elbow Beach and Long Bay Beach. When you cruise there its less expensive than flying and staying in a hotel because, you stay and eat on the ship. We ate on ship and that was good because meals (and everything else) are expensive since everything has to be imported. In fact Bermuda is an expensive place for about everything.
There is not a lot to do in Bermuda other than water sports and golf. There are two main towns Hamilton, the largest (where most cruise ships dock for at least a day) and St George (also a port stop) which is like a small town.
St George is like a small new England town with a small town square and a few shops. But it has bus service that will take you anywhere on the island, and since the island is pretty small (about 22 miles long) it only takes a few minutes to go other places. You can visit one of the many forts on the island like Fort St Catherine , its walking distance from St George also. If you want to the beach from St George you have several options within walking distance of St George and if you want to snorkel, the Tobacco Bay Beach near the town of St George is great, and its walking distance (about 3/4 mile from town).
The third place ships may dock while there is The Kings Dockyard.. The Dockyard is on the far end of the 22 mile long island and has a small mall with shops and a museum. It also has a new attraction called Snorkel Park Beach. The Crystal Cave and Fantasy Caves are worth visiting as a tour, or on your own. I also visited one of the lighthouses.
In the town of Hamilton we took a walking tour from our ship which took us to the Cathedral of the Most Holy, a maritime museum and a nice garden/park a few blocks from the port. There is shopping in Hamilton and restaurants, but not much else.
The best way to get around in Bermuda is to buy a transportation pass (sold in stores and the bus station) which will let you take the buses, and the ferry, all over the island. We bought our bus pass at a store in St George, near where the ship docked. There is a big bus depot just a couple blocks from where ships dock in the town of Hamilton. You can take the buses to the beach, they are not very far away and easy to get to from the bus stop. You want to go to Elbow Beach and Long Bay Beach, both open to the public. You can rent a scooter but remember that they drive on the opposite side of the road so unless you are used to that it can be dangerous, especially in turns and circles.
I would cruise to Bermuda again and probably will because its a lovely place and a nice cruise too.