cruise vacations 1

The cruise vacations tips series is a series of random tips to answer beginning cruisers questions about cruising and all elements of the trip.  How many times on a trip do you ask yourself or someone, “how do we blah blah blah?” or “I should have brought blah blah blah on this trip!”.  You can benefit from these posts by reading and taking notes on items that you should bring on your cruise vacations.  Also, there is information in here that will help you save money and time during your travels.  Making sure that you have the best cruise vacation depends on great research, an honest travel agent and your personal preferences.  Cruise lines have personality just like you do.  Some cruises target the affluent and more sophisticated types while other cruises are more for middle class America.  Thing main point is that there is something for everyone and the best way to get the most out of your cruise is to find one that fits your personality.

If it’s your first time at sea, make sure you’re not sea sick.  If so, maybe cruising is the best idea for you.  Also, it’s good to “test out the waters” on your first cruise and go for a short duration cruise.  If you have kids, make sure there’s a child daycare program so you can actually have a vacation and relax a bit.

Millions have experienced the joys of cruising and millions more will enjoy within 2009.  There are plenty of on-board and off board activities for anything that you can imagine and it will take a very experienced traveler a lot of proper time management to fit in all the activities that they want to do.  If you are a beginner, it’s going to be that much harder for you to plan as you have no idea what you’re doing.  The key is to become as familiar as possible with all amenities and research all aspect of each cruise line that you want to go on.  For example, if you’re single and ready to mingle, you probably don’t wan to go on a family oriented Disney cruise vacation.  You’d probably want to check out the Royal Caribbean as there are more singles and people ready to party and participate in singles activities.

The first thing you’ll need to do is a little research.  Prepare for a cruise ship and plan ahead.  The more planning that you do ahead of time, the more enjoyable and less stressful it’ll be on your cruise.  First off, think of the reason why you’re going on this trip.  Do you want to go on a cruise ship or did one of your friends push you to go on this trip. What kind of trip do you want?  Are you planning on relaxing or do you want to jam in as many activities as possible?  What is your budget on this trip?  Remember that there are many additional shore excursions that you can participate in and all of these excursions are not free.  Make sure to factor in gratuities, drinks, taxes and spending money when budgeting your cruise.  Also, if you buy just the sailing part of the trip, make sure to factor in airfare, transportation to the port and lodging before you get on the trip.

Another word about budgeting.  Make sure to check the cruise lines website or the travel centers website to determine how much each shore excursion costs and how many excursions are available.  This will help you factor in how much more you will have to pay for your trip.  Throw in an additional $100 for “emergency” expenses just in case you become sick or need additional taxi fare money to get back to the ship.  Do you have your passport ready?  All international cruises require passports and won’t allow you on the vessel unless you are equipped with one.  If you are a frequent traveler or cruiser, it might be recommended to check into travel insurance.  Also, look at the cruise line or vacation centers cancellation policy and budget this into your total trip package.

Now, with all of these things factored in, you can start looking at the fun part of the trip!