I’ve always imagined that one day I’ll receive an email asking “Who are you to tell me how to spend my time and money?” Essentially, I’m just another cruiser (albeit one who has sailed on over 100 vessels ranging from sailboats and riverboats to the largest cruise ships ever built). And while I’ve made some dumb mistakes over the years, I’ve also learned enough that I feel qualified to offer some suggestions on how to go about doing everything you can to ensure a problem-free vacation.
Based on feedback from readers, here are my top tips.
Spend an appropriate amount of time on research. The good news is we’re blessed with millions of Internet pages that cover, in great detail, every single aspect of taking a cruise. There’s also an enormous amount of feedback available online from people who have sailed on any ship we might be considering. The bad news? There’s just not enough time to read everything, and a website’s accuracy can sometimes be questionable. Once you’ve determined where and for how long you’ll want to cruise, it’s time to select a ship – and CruisesOnly’s huge collection of customer ship reviews is an unbeatable resource. Arm yourself with the names of a few vessels and browse their impartial feedback. You’ll get an excellent idea of what each ship has to offer. And don’t hesitate to ask your cruise expert any questions you might have about specific topics like traveling with children, excursions that are available when you come ashore, etc.
Fly to your port of embarkation one day early. I woke at dawn on the day I was scheduled to fly from New York to Florida to take a Caribbean cruise and found snow falling in buckets. Local airports closed, and I couldn’t reach the ship before it sailed. If I’d flown to Florida one day earlier and stayed in an area hotel, I’d have missed the storm and made the ship. And since it’s unfortunately not uncommon for luggage to get lost, an extra day helps increase the odds that an airline will be able to return any missing items to you before you board your ship.
Book your shore excursions online prior to departure. Prior to the advent of the Internet, buying shore excursions usually involved standing in interminable lines aboard your cruise ship. You can still purchase excursions onboard, but most people are now scheduling their time ashore online. There’s no additional cost associated with booking online prior to departure (CruisesOnly, in fact, offers significant discounts to customers that do), and you can always cancel if you have a change of heart. In the past several years, there’s also been a huge increase in the number of high-adrenalin activities being offered (think “zip line”), and these excursions sell out quickly. Book before sailing and you won’t miss out on these once-in-a-lifetime thrills.
Have a change of clothes handy when you board ship. You check your suitcase on the pier prior to boarding your ship after a long flight or drive. It’ll be terrific to board, shower, and change into cruise clothes so that you can start having fun immediately, right? But most of the time it doesn’t work out that way. It can take several hours for your luggage to arrive in your stateroom. In fact it’s not uncommon for luggage to arrive after a ship sets sail. Pack a change of clothes, shoes, and toiletries in a carry-on bag and you’ll be able to start having fun right away!
Disembark with your own suitcase. For this cruiser, it’s the last 12 hours of a voyage that are the toughest – saying goodbye to newfound friends, settling accounts, and packing so that luggage handlers can pick up my suitcases before midnight. The next morning, it’s waiting to disembark followed by a search for my bags in the sea of luggage that’s been assembled on the pier. So whenever possible I always make it a point to walk off the ship with my bags already in hand – I’m off the pier in a flash and among the first to exit the parking lot or board a transfer to the airport.
Leave your electronic devices at home. We’re all extremely dependent on technology today, so it may seem ridiculous to suggest that you leave your cell phone or laptop at home. But if the point of a cruise vacation is to relax your mind and escape from the everyday, then you simply must go “cold turkey” once you board your ship. If you absolutely have to check email from time to time, find an Internet café while ashore to avoid the slow connections and astronomical costs found at sea (your crew can direct you to the nearest one). And don’t even think of using a cell phone aboard your cruise ship – the roaming costs that show up on your next phone bill could exceed the price of your entire cruise.
Purchase travel insurance from your CruisesOnly cruise expert. You’ll want to protect the time and money you’ve invested in your vacation. Insurance helps guard against most of the problems that can arise while you’re traveling.
BY ANNE CAMPBELL
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