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About this blog

A selection of "if only I had known" hints, secrets and advice to avoid cruise and travel mishaps and assure smooth sailing! 
All content & select photos © Janice Neves/Seven Sea Journeys, CruiseCrazies Authorized Agent

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Entries in this blog

Balance Alone and Together Time When Cruising with Friends and Family

Cruises have so much going on at any given time, catering to all kinds of individual preferences. If you want your family or group of friends to stick together like glue through the whole vacation, two things will happen: (a) you will miss a lot, and (b) you'll resent each other by the end of it. For example, your husband is fond of the casino, but the last thing you want to do on a warm, tropical day is spend it inside a smoke-filled, noisy room. Go to the pool or spend time lounging on your de
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Avoid Tour Lines ~ Purchase Tickets in Advance

When cruising to destinations near or far, chances are you’ll want to see parks, museums, historic buildings, castles and other popular attractions in your ports of call. While shore excursions with the cruise lines include tickets to must-see city sites, you may want to visit on your own and will need to purchase tickets for what you came to experience. When you only have so much time in port, you don’t want to waste it in line waiting for tickets. So plan ahead – and this is especially critica
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Avoid the Crowds at the Buffet on Embarkation Day ~ Enjoy a More Leisurely Lunch

Those who have cruised before know what a popular place the ship's buffet is on embarkation day. It's as though 3,000 cruisers arrive on board and haven't eaten in days. Eager, hungry vacationers line up at the door, squirt the required antibacterial lotion into the palms of their hands, fill their plates, and search for the grand prize: a seat at which to enjoy their lunch - all while carefully and steadily balancing plates and cups along the way. Depending on the ship and venue, it can be a ve
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Avoid Disappointment: Reserve Your Shore Excursions in Advance

Travel planning has come a long way, baby! Nowadays, you can plan your entire vacation from the comfort of your home. Simply log on to your favorite travel websites and book hotels, airfare, cruises and entire vacations. The same goes for cruise excursions. When you book a cruise, whether through the cruise line, a local travel agent or a big internet agency, you’re given a reservation number. Simply log on to the cruise line’s website, key in your reservation number, and your now in contro
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Avoid Cruise "Cell Shock" - Set Your Phone to "Safe" Mode

What is Safe Mode, you ask? Confused, you scan the button and menu of your phone but can't find any reference to this term. You turn to your owner's manual, but come up empty. Try this: The next time you board a ship with your cell phone, turn it off and lock it in the cabin safe for the duration of the cruise. Voila! Safe Mode! This is especially true when traveling with a smartphone. Charges for voice roaming, data roaming, streaming music and videos or downloading an app can rise into t
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Allow Room in Your Luggage for the Stuff You'll Bring Home

"All my bags are packed, I'm ready to go..." So sings the trio Peter, Paul & Mary in the classic '70's song. Like all of us who traveled in those days, I'd venture a guess they had no worries about the weight, content or amount of luggage they toured around with. Back then there were few luggage fees. No 3-1-1 rule. No bare feet through security, and no pat downs. We just packed our bags, checked in as many as we wanted within reason, didn't give much thought to what we carried on the plane,
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Airport Security Tips for Flyers with Knee/Hip Replacements

Travelers with knee, hip or other joint replacements have another reason to hate flying: airport security.  When being discharged from the hospital after a total knee replacement last December, one important piece of advice was missing from the pile of recovery plan papers I received from the staff - how to get through airport security without setting off the alarm and the resulting embarrassing pat-down, both of which has happened to me several times in the months since my surgery. A membe
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A Sure Cure for the After-Cruise Blues ... Book Another!

Just about anyone who has ever been on a cruise before can relate. You've just experienced a week or more of heaven on the high seas. You arrive home to a pile of laundry, mail, bills and an empty fridge. Suddenly, this feeling you can't quite explain hits you like a brick. A feeling of gloominess, which you can only attribute to one thing - the cruise is over. No more mints on the pillow, fresh towels and a made-up bed every day, room service, gourmet meals prepared by someone else, or a serene
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5 Ways to Survive a Port-Intensive Itinerary

A cruise with most or all of its stops spent in a new port each day can be a rewarding and enriching experience. It can also be an exhausting one. I love cruising Europe and being introduced to new scenery and cultures, but I also like my moments to kick back and relax. How does a cruiser enjoy a port-intensive cruise without burning out? Try one of these 5 remedies: 1. Instead of filling an entire day with a worldwind tour, focus on one or two particular attractions, or simply park yoursel
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5 Etiquette Tips for Sharing a Cabin

A few years back I cruised on a seminar at sea for business and chose to share my cabin with a complete stranger to save money. As it turned out, we got along great, but it got me thinking - what if we weren’t compatible cabin mates? Most of the time, we share cabins with family or good friends. We know their habits and idiosyncrasies, compromises are made, and for better or worse, it usually works. But what if we’re spending a few days or a week with someone we don’t know well? Even when we thi
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2020 Holiday Travel Tips

Holiday travel for U.S. residents will be very different in 2020. No doubt about it. With the exception of small or expedition cruise ships, vacations by sea are essentially off the table for the rest of 2020 (depending on how the CDC rules on cruising when the current No-Sail Order ends October 31). But that doesn’t mean you can’t plan a great escape over the holidays.  While some folks have sworn off travel altogether since the COVID-19 pandemic became front and center in the U.S., others
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