Central da conversa do cruzeiro

Eu funcionei através deste artigo intitulado “cinco pontas para cruzadores de primeira vez” e porque um cruzador experiente mim não o esperava me dizer coisas que eu não soube, mas mim esperava que pudesse fornecer alguma introspecção real ao cruzador potencial da primeira vez. Eu pensei que eu forneceria alguns pensamentos adicionais fornecendo minhas introspecções nas mesmas perguntas posed neste artigo, e talvez forneço realmente “uma ponta real” ou dois.

Artigo da notícia do mercúrio do San Jose

1. Devo eu usar um agente do curso registrar um cruzeiro?

Se você for mais da “correia fotorreceptora que surfing, encontre a resposta para myself” tipo da pessoa, a seguir você provavelmente não necessita um agente do curso dizer-lhe que cruzeiro a escolher ou que linha é direita para o seu. Como a notícia que do mercúrio o artigo menciona, cada linha do cruzeiro tem seu próprio Web site. Os locais independentes gostam Crítico do cruzeiro, Linha ventiladores do cruzeiro, e direito aqui, a conversa do cruzeiro, fornece o editorial e o membro input em aspectos importantes da experiência do cruzeiro.

Mas está aqui minha ponta real, você pode começar o seguro livre e goodies frequentemente livres se você usar um agente do curso. A fim manter clientes leais, os agentes do curso emitirão frequentemente uma boa vinda a bordo do presente a seu quarto. Geralmente estes não são do valor tremendo - um frasco do champanhe ou de uma linha toalha do cruzeiro. Também oferecem frequentemente o seguro livre do desengate para seu cruzeiro como parte de seu pacote incentive começá-lo registrar através deles. A maioria de linhas do cruzeiro não permitem que os agentes discontem o cruzeiro, assim que estes incentives são sobre a única maneira que podem ganhar a lealdade do cliente. Certifique-se apenas de que o agente que você escolhe sabe sobre todas as linhas do cruzeiro e suas necessidades. Eu ouvi as histórias sobre fósforos da falta - um cruzador mais formal em NCL ou um cruzador ocasional do horror em Cunard.

2. Do I have to eat in the formal dining room with strangers and dress for dinner?

If this is an issue for you, then do your research and make sure that you know the dining alternatives and dress codes. Research the alternative dining options on your line and your specific vessel. It will usually be pretty clear on the Cruise Line website whether they are offering traditional dining or a more flexible experience. Our Cruise Talk Central Dress Codes page is a great place to start your dress code research.

But here’s my tip as an experienced cruiser: This is one of the best parts of cruising. Usually the “strangers” become great friends by the end of the cruise. If you don’t get along at all, you can always request to be moved to different table. The service in the main dining room is generally more attentive and elegant than what one would receive at home. Formal nights are only two or three nights of your cruise, and why not get dressed up, have some nice pictures taken, and enjoy an evening that is out of the ordinary.

3. What should I pack?

The Mercury News has one suggestion that is most important: Dress for the weather. Research the weather for your itinerary and keep in mind that a long voyage might have a few cool days before your get to warm tropical weather. I would add: pack for the dress code of your planned dining experience. If you plan to forgo formal night then there is no need to pack formal stuff, but if you plan to attend formal nights then don’t forget your finest.

As far as packing goes, I am not a much help on packing light. I always over-pack. Our family of 4 brought 14 suitcases on our last 11 day cruise. (Some were actually the smaller hand carry size.) But I’ll give my tips anyway…. pack enough underwear to get you through the trip. Who wants to have to do laundry on vacation or pay someone to wash your undies? Other than that, I usually pack two outfits per day… one for day time and one for evening. You can see how I can pretty easily get to 14 suitcases for our whole family, especially when I add talent show costumes for the kids and I and board games for family fun.

A few other things to bring are:

Duct tape to repair anything and every thing like suitcases or a drawer that won’t stay shut.
A Portable DVD player is nice to have for your pre-cruise flight or if you need to just hang out in your room for a while.
A power strip for your room so that you can plug in multiple items like your battery charger, curling iron, and portable DVD player at the same time.
Sunscreen
A brand new stick of deodorant (If you run out on a sea day the ship’s store most likely won’t have your brand).

And finally, the last two questions addressed in the article:

4. Does the price include everything?

5. How much and whom do I tip?

I’ll answer both of these together because they are so closely related. Your price can include everything if you really want it to. You can choose to prepay your tips when you book. Some of the large mass market cruise line are now offering this option. Then, you would just have to refrain from purchasing any extras once on board. If you choose to wait until after you have received your services before paying your tip or if you cruise line doesn’t offer the prepayed options, you can pre-budget your expected tips by referring to the cruise lines web sight for suggested tipping policies. Here’s an example of the Celebrity Cruise Tipping Policy.

A very few of the upper end cruise lines include all beverages and tips, but you’ll still pay extra for things like spa treatments and excursions. However, the price of those cruises usually start at more than double the price of a more mass market line. So unless you go crazy with your on board spending, the cruises that “nickle and dime” you are generally less expensive.

You can “get by” with just the cruise price and the tipping. However, if you want to have sodas, purchase a little from the gift shops, enjoy an alcoholic beverage, dine in a specialty dining room, or even have a specialty coffee, then you’ll need to figure those extra expenses on top of your cruise price and budget for it. Here’s my tip: We generally spend about $100 a day per our family of 4 on those types of extras. This usually includes a bottle of fine wine with dinner, sodas and specialty coffee. If you want to take a trip to the spa, play simulated golf, or eat at the specialty dining room, you would probably spend a bit more. If you just purchase soda and less expensive drinks like beer or house wine, it would be less.

I also agree with the Mercury News on preplaning and budgeting your excursions before you leave. They suggest booking the excursion that you have your heart set on ahead of time so that you can budget for it. They also point out that you can save money buy picking up an excursion from vendors at each port.

Here’s my tip: Research your independent tours ahead of time and compare them to the ones offered by the cruise lines. That way you don’t get sticker shock once you’ve set out for port. This was our strategy with our last three cruises with three very different destinations: Hawaii, Mexican Riviera, and Alaska. In Hawaii, we did all preplanned independent excursions. In Mexico, we did only one ship’s tour because the attraction that we wanted to see was only offered to cruise passengers on planned excursions. In the rest of the ports, we did preplanned, though not prearranged, independent activities. For Alaska, we ended up with two ships excursions because when I researched the difference in price, the independent price was virtually the same as booking through the cruise lines.

Categories: Blog, Planning, Resources
Tags: cruise planning, Cruise Talk Central, cruise tips