Are you a beginner to cruise vacations?  Here is a your one stop shop for all information on learning how to book your first cruise.  There are many ways to book a cruise and you might be overwhelmed with the abundance of information on the internet, brochures and newspaper advertisements.  Rest be assured, by the time you’re doing resting this article, you will have a great enough understanding of what to do when booking your cruise package.

First off, what kind of cruise are you looking for?  Are you looking for something relaxing or are you looking for adventure and a high energy environment? You must figure out what exactly you’re looking for before selecting your cruise.  There are many various types of cruises available and at least one of them can harbor the majority of your needs and desires.  That being said, the second task that you should do is select a cruise travel agent.

Now, most of you will want to try and book a vacation by yourself but this is not the time to book a vacation independently.   Land vacations are quite different from cruise vacation packages and more thought needs to be put into your bookings.  I personally, use travel agents to book all my cruises as I know they will actually save me money in the long run.  Cruising is not like booking airfare, there are so many other incidences that could occur and travel agents are definitely worth their coin when you’re in a pickle.

Internet companies cannot provide you with the customer service that a travel agent can.  For example, say you booked your travels online.  Let’s say you are looking for all inclusive Caribbean cruises.  Typically, you have to put down ten to twenty percent of your deposit at booking and the rest 45-60 days before departure.  What if  you found a better deal in between that time?  Is it likely that the internet company will refund your package and allow you to get the cheaper package?  That is a very unlikely scenario as internet companies are not that flexible.  Travel agents on the other hand, can rearrange things so that you can get a better package or a least an upgrade.  Remember, they are trying to help you out so that you will continue to use their services.  Also, internet companies usually buy packages in bulk and do not work directly with the cruise line.  Travel agents work directly with cruise line and have access to information that an Internet company would not have.  Travel agents are more knowledgeable about cruising and it’s easier to ask them questions and get in contact with them if anything did happen to occur.  Internet companies cannot and will not provide this service.  So it’s still up to you to decide if you want to save a couple books and not have the flexibility and customer service that you would receive if you booked through a travel agent.

The basics of having a good cruise is selecting the right cruise agent.  Cruise agents can save you hundreds of dollars, if not thousands.  You will need an expert on cruises to get the right cruise for you.  First, how should you select a cruise agent?

Has your cruise agent been on more than a dozen cruises on multiple cruise lines?  This is a sign that your agent is experienced in his field.  Also, a good cruise agent will not accept the first price offered by a cruise line and can answer virtually any questions that you have about each cruise.  If they have not been on a cruise before, be wary.  This is like asking advice about the best steak from a person that doesn’t eat meat.

There are three ways to make a reservations: you can book directly with the cruise line, go through a cruise agent, or book on the Internet.  Personally, I would go with a cruise agent, but to each their own (especially for your first time booking).  After your first time and once you become experienced with cruising, then you can venture off and start booking your own cruises.  However,  some cruise lines might be able to cut you a better price on a cabin and have additional information that some internet companies can not provide.  Also, a cruise agent will be available most of the time to answer your questions and can accommodate special requests, something an internet company cannot do.  You can even book your next cruise once you’re on the cruise ship.  Typically, booking on the cruise ship itself is worth the time as they can provide the most-up-to date information and provide special deals that you might not find anywhere else.

Here are some questions you should ask your cruise agent:

1.  How many cruises have you personally been on?

2.  Why you are special compared to other agents?

3.  How can you provide me with a better package than other agents?

4.  What cruise line do you work with on a regular basis?

5.  How much experience and how many years have you been working in this industry?

6.  Ask for clients names of whom they agent has worked for in the past

6.  Are you accredited or have a master cruise counselor designation from the Cruise Line Industry Association?

If they cannot confidently answer these questions, then it’s advisable to seek help elsewhere.  So where can you find these cruise agents?  Have your friends gone a cruise before?  Ask your more experienced friends about how they booked their trips.  Word of mouth is  a great way to find an agent.  Having a friendly relationship is very important as you will be dealing with this person more than just one time.  If they are pushy and insist on pushing only one type of cruise on you, this means that they are going for the sale rather than your personal interest.  Cruise agents work on commissions and if they keep asking you to purchase one cruise line without giving you a variety, it means that they are going for a high commission, not your personal benefit.  To work your way around this, ask your agent to provide you with three other cruise lines that provide the same packages, if he is unwilling to do so, move on to another agent.

Be specific and firm about how much money you want to spend and what type of cruise you want to go on.  Make sure you know what you want before you go in to the office.  You need to be responsible and do a little research before talking with an agent.  Once you’ve found the perfect agent, you will want to keep going back to him or her.  Write them a note and thank them for booking the best cruise vacations for you.

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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!

Like I’ve said before, you get what you pay for in life.  This is the motto of cruising.  The more you pay the better experience you’ll have.  The more you pay the better food you’ll eat.  How good is the food on a cruise ship?  This question can only be answered with one statement, it depends.  With many cruise ships chartering the waters, there are so many varieties of service that you cannot generalize the adequacy of cuisine just by being on one cruise ship.  One cruise line could have frozen, re-heat, microwavable foods, while another cruise line could have champagne and caviar for every meal.
Expect more, pay more.  These days, high-quality foods cost more and high quality ingredients cost money.  The expenses of higher quality ingredients are trickled down to the vacationer.  If you’re on a low budget cruise, don’t expect to eat steak and lobster for every meal.  The thing you have to understand is that cruise lines are serving up hundreds to thousands of meals at one sitting, it’s nearly impossible to create such fine dining for that many people.

The term “banquet hall” comes into mind when dining on a cruise ship.  Think of eating at a Golden Corral or at a large wedding and this is the experience you might have while cruising.  Often times, the food is tasteless, yet palatable.  Aboard low-budget boats, you will eat portioned, pre-frozen meals.  The term “fresh fish” can be laughed at because nothing is really “fresh” on a cruise ship (how could it be?).  Many times, vegetables are treated with agents to make them last longer.

Typical Dining Schedule

Here is what you can expect your eating schedule to be when vacationing on a cruise:

Early risers can expect to have coffee and tea and breakfast is generally served after 6 am.  Typically, breakfast boasts around 60-70 different types of items to choose from.  If you do not want to deal with the crowds, you can always serve yourself in a buffet style setting at an indoor or outdoor cafe.  You will be able to get the usual breakfast fare but it the selection won’t be as high as the main banquet hall breakfast.  Lunch locations are in the main dining hall, banquet style buffet at an indoor or outdoor cafe or fast food style food courts that serve hamburgers, pizza and hotdogs.  If you’re still hungry after lunch, you can always try the “high-tea” or “afternoon tea” during the latter hours of the afternoon.  Afternoon tea consists of finger sandwiches and an assortment of cookies and small cakes.  When dinner time comes around you will be able to experience a formal style banquet hall.  Usually people will dress up for dinner with casual nights being on the first and last night’s of the cruise.  IF you’re STILL hungry after all of the other meals, you can always feast on late night snacks within the public areas.  Late night snacks are served buffet style and have typical fast food fare.

Seating Arrangements

Many people are not used to the seating arrangements of curie ship dining.  If you are not a social person, eating in the main banquet hall is going to be difficult for you.  If you’re on a cruise ship, expect to meet people, this is a plain and simple fact.  Most ships have directed seating and you will sit wherever a seat is available.  This means you might have to sit next to strangers.  You can get out of this by having large enough group of friends or family members to occupy an entire table.   Think of it like a big barbeque where you don’t know anyone.  You grab your food and find a seat at one of the picnic table where other people are congregating.

Sometimes you will talk to people; sometimes people will talk to you.  The main factor is that you’re going to be amongst a lot of people and you’re going to have interact in one way or another with ship mates.  Tables for two are very rare and most tables seat around four to six people.  Some good advice is to seat at a larger table if you are a couple.   The reason for asking for a larger table is that if you do not get along with the people at a 4 person table, it could ruin your dining experience.  Having a larger seating arrangement means that you won’t have to be “face to face” with another couple. There are different seating arrangements depending on how large the cruise ship is.  Typically a smaller cruise ship will have one to two seating’s and larger cruise ships will have up to four seating’s.  You are allowed to pick your seating time on most large cruise ships.

Do you like buffetts? Personally, I would stay away from buffeets but many people do not mind this type of eating style.  Make sure to be careful for the angry old ladies (they really want first pickings!)  Make sure to be patient as everyone else is waiting just like you to get their food.  It’s usually good to get to the front of the line so you do not have to see the reminants of what used to be an apple cobbler.  The food looks pretty worse for the wear after a few hundred people go through a buffett line.

For me, I like to go on cruises not for the food, but for the water sports and for a unique experience. Cruise vacations are a great way to get away from your typical vacation and do something that is out of the norm.

Cruise vacations require a lot of planning and you may have a lot of questions when booking your vacation.  There are many common questions that I’ve been asked when people plan their vacations.  I have collaborated and answered a few frequently asked questions that I have heard from beginning cruise vacation planners.

Are there places to see movies onboard a cruise ship?

This question all depends on the type of ship that you’re on.  Some ships have movie theaters and all movies are licensed by film distributors and leasing services.  A lot of cruise ships have replaced their movie theaters with more “in-house” cinema options.  Cruise ships have been adding more pay-per-view and DVD players into rooms.  Also, they have been adding entertainment systems next to the pool side for night time viewings.

Are there many types of cruise options?

Many people are worried that there are not many options when choosing different cruise lines or choosing cruise destinations.  Your worries can be put to rest as there are an unbelievable amount of choices and destinations to choose from.  Did you know that there are over 30,000 different cruises to choose from every year?  If you are more interested in international travels, you can choose from up to 2,000 cruise destinations worldwide.  Many cruises can take you to places that could not be accessible by car or by plane.  Some places that can only be accessed by a cruise line are Antarctica and the North Cape.  Basically, anywhere you can dream of where a ship can go, you can go as well.

What is a homeland cruise and how’s it different than a regular cruise?

Homeland cruising is where a cruise ships sails out of a United States port.  Homeland coaches are good for people who live near a port of departure.  Many people have to fly to a port before disembarking on a cruise.  Homeland cruises are great for people who can drive to the local port.  A negative aspect of homeland cruises is that they will attract many people from the local area.  This means you might bump into people that are from your port of departure.

What are expedition cruises?

Expedition cruises are ships that have stronger hulls that can explore areas that are inaccessible by large cruise lines.  These types of ships are great if you like adventure and smaller crowds.  However, what it makes up for in exploration capabilities, it lacks in comforts.   Expedition cruises lack in a lot of amenities that one can find in a larger cruise line.  The emphasis of these cruise lines are in exploration, not comfort.   There are not as many people on these types of cruises so you can enjoy a quieter ride.

Am I able to shop at ports?

Of course you can buy whatever you want.  Shopping is one of the best reasons to go on a cruise ship.  Because cruise ships travel to an abundance of locations, you will have the fortune of being able to shop for a variety of items.    Be careful what you buy and how much you buy.  The reason why you should exercise some self control is because you will have to declare all items through customs when you go back to port.  If you are not much of a shopper, you can stay on board.  Leaving the cruise ship is all up to you and you only have to leave if you want to.  A benefit of not leaving the ship is that you will have the entire place to yourself.  Did you know that you might be able to get a discount on spa treatments when a ship is at port?  Because of the less demand, you might have a chance of getting a cheaper discount for massages and other various spa treatments.

What is the timeline to get the best cruise vacation deal?

Your best bet to getting the best cruise vacation package is by booking your vacation a few months in advance.  Another benefit of booking early is that you can have a higher success rate of getting the cabin that you want.  Also, you might be able to get an upgrade or have a higher rate of success of getting the location that ask for.  If you book late, you might also get a good price due to the cruise ship wanting to fill up their ship.  However, the low price will usually mean that you will get an unfavorable cabin in a less than favorable location.

Some of the downsides of being on a cruise vacation is that you’ll be stuck at sea with the same people for over a week.  With many popular cruise destinations, disembarking at a port is annoying and if you have a lot of irritable and impatient on board, it will make thing worse.  Also, if you are used to relaxing and quieter atmospheres when going on vacation, a cruise destination might not be your thing.  The other main complaint is that many cruise ships try to sell you things with any opportunity that they have.  On board extra costs can include paying for alcoholic drinks, mini-bar items, cappuccinos, shore activities, taxes, internet access, spa, casino gaming, fine dining and bottled water.  If you are not comfortable spending extra money or if you’re on a budget, try to plan on what type of activities you want to do and budget around extra incidentals.  Ultimately, it’s up to you to decide whether or not you want to spend extra money when traveling on different cruise vacations.

1.  More large resort ships are charging for “extra” services – this tends to annoy fellow cruisers

2. There are more multi-general attendees on board of the ships

3.  More single-parents are hopping aboard cruise ships

4.  There are more options for child-free cruise ships so you can enjoy more piece and quiet.

5.  More smaller cruise vacations style ships

6.  There are more dining venues that offer themed options

7.  More options for fine and sophisticated spas and well-being treatments

Did you know that the largest cruise ship is supposed to arrive in 2009?  The biggest ship will be operated by Royal Carbibbean International and will be 220,000 tons, 1,181 ft long and hold up to 6,400 passengers.  There will be more options and the passenger will feel like they are in a floating shopping mall.  If you want to avoid the crowds, try taking a smaller mid-size ship as the wait times to eat and disembark will be shorter.

More cruise vacations will be smoke free because a small fire on board the Star Princess in 2006 made cruise lines reconsider their smoking policies.  With new upgrades and privacy areas, the more you pay the more you will receive.  Larger cruise ships the option of paying more for privacy and exclusive areas – areas that other guests can not access.  The “class” system is back and better than ever.  Did you know that some cruise ships will have private alcove sun-bathing, tailor-made excursions and more?

Don’t worry about getting a good nights sleep as the majority of cruise ships have upgraded their mattresses to a premium quality.  You can also expect to snuggle up to finer quality linen.

There are larger and more extravagant adventure choices.  Did you know that you can go crocodile hunting, go diving in the best places ever, go dog sledding on a glacier, go horseback riding, mountain biking go drive a race-car, go float plane riding, go zip-lining, go heli-hiking, go canoeing amid the icebergs, or even kayaking!  The possibilities are limited and more adventure sports are becoming the trend in cruise vacations. More lines are adding sporting events on board and you can experience sports such as fencing lessons, boxing, ice-skating and the Costa Cruises even has a “Formula-1 Simulator”.

There are more “alternative” restaurants and has become a trend in 2009.  Some times you do not want to mingle with the masses and need a little piece and quiet.  Many ships are adding more a-la carte restaurants that are pre-pay reservations.  You will receive a small, intimate environment and will receive superior food and service.  More cruise lines are offering 24 hour “feed yourself” services so that you can enjoy snacks and eat on a whim.  Even though the thought is focused on making the customer happy, the execution and affect is bad as customers want to be served, not have to serve themselves.

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