Jan115

Thanks for joining us here at CruiseCrazies. We hope you'll visit often, ask questions, share your experiences and join in the conversation.

Thanks for joining us here at CruiseCrazies. We hope you'll visit often, ask questions, share your experiences and join in the conversation.

Thanks for joining us here at CruiseCrazies. We hope you'll visit often, ask questions, share your experiences and join in the conversation.

Thanks for joining us here at CruiseCrazies. We hope you'll visit often, ask questions, share your experiences and join in the conversation.

Thanks for joining us here at CruiseCrazies. We hope you'll visit often, ask questions, share your experiences and join in the conversation.

I would love a jazz cruise. Kid rock ... not so much.

I agree, Tim, and have said it all along, the majority of complaints are from people with unreasonable expectations or on their first cruise and didn't know what to expect. An engine fire is a "problem". The steward not cleaning the cabin in a timely fashion is an "annoyance". Unfortunately, the media likes to confuse the two.

Good points, Tim. Thanks!

What is the average cost of ship's laundry? I've never done laundry or ordered the service while aboard a ship, but I just looked up the rates for Carnival. Self-service is $3.50 per washer or dryer load. To have the laundry people clean your clothes will cost between $2.00 and 7.50 per article, depending on what it is. Dry cleaning costs between $3.50 and $10.50 per item. I imagine the other lines rates would be similar. Of course, laundry services are free if you're a cruise line's top level loyalty member.

Absolutely! We do it all the time. Most ships have some type of "future cruise desk" aboard. For example, on Princess, while on a cruise, you can visit the future cruise consultant and put down a deposit - $100 per person. You don't even need to book a cruise then and there. You have four years to book. When you're ready to book, the $100/pp serves as your deposit. And as a reward for booking, you're given a future cruise credit - from $25 for an inside cabin, up to $150 or so for a suite. You have nothing to lose - if you don't use it, you'll receive a refund of your deposit. Hope this helps!

While we all love to travel, no one likes to wait in line. Lines at the airport; lines at the cruise terminal; lines at the buffet – a vacation fact of life. Sometimes queuing up is unavoidable. Just the same, there are steps you can take in some instances to save yourself time – and sometimes money – by planning in advance. At the Airport. Unfortunately, beating lines at the airport usually requires the expenditure of extra cash. Southwest’s Early Bird Check-In and American’s Main Cabin Extra offer will get you an earlier boarding place in line, for a fee. Upgrading your ticket is a way to get to your plane seat faster, if you can afford it. Frequent flyer miles and VIP status won’t hurt, either. At the port of embarkation. The best way to get to the head of the line at embarkation is by cruising the same line numerous times and moving up the line’s loyalty ranks. Or cruise with someone who does. If you’re not a cruise line VIP, don’t despair. Sometimes by just waiting an hour or two before arriving to port will get you to your cabin quickly and effortlessly. By that time, the eager beavers will already have boarded. At the ship’s buffet – embarkation/disembarkation day. Anyone who has cruised knows that the buffet is usually the first place people head to after dropping the luggage at the cabin. And there’s nothing like a hoard of hungry, excited passengers to create mayhem at the buffet. Some buffets are crowd friendly – others not so much, with people playing “Dodge ‘Em” as they move from place to place to gather pizza, pasta, salads, soups and every other thing on the menu. One way to avoid the madhouse is to head directly to the dining room, be seated and be waited on. It will be a much more calm and serene experience. Sure, it may take you longer to eat, but you’re on vacation. There’s plenty of time to explore the ship. On disembarkation day, on the other hand, everyone needs to wake early – no sleeping in. Therefore, the buffet will be packed with hungry folk looking for a meal before the trip home. Again, the dining room is a good alternative. At the ship’s buffet – any other day. Avoiding crowds at the buffet during breakfast and lunch most other days of the cruise is easier. Simply avoid dining rush hour. Choose the buffet early when it first opens or later before it closes. Early is better, in my book, as the food is fresh and hot. Go later, and you may get the lukewarm pickings. Another option is room service. Coffee, pastry and fruit are enough for me, and I make a point of ordering every night for the next morning. Sometimes I may head down to the buffet for second breakfast, but usually a continental breakfast does this body just fine. If it’s a sea day, and you’re in no hurry to do anything, there’s always the dining room where you can relax and have a leisurely first meal of the day. At the photo displays. It’s the night before the cruise is over, and all of a sudden everyone wants to buy some photos – the photos that have been collecting in those display stands that seemingly span the whole length of the ship. Do yourself a favor – save time and valuable space. If you know you hate a photo, don’t leave it there collecting dust. Hand it in to the reps at the photo counter to dispose of. Then take the rest of your photos scattered around the displays and group them together, one behind the other, in one spot on the display – a place you’ll remember - so you won’t have to go searching and searching for the ones you may want to purchase later. At the tenders. When the ship is unable to dock directly alongside a port of call, it needs to transport its passengers from the ship to port in “tenders”. Tendering can either be an effortless breeze or a long ordeal, depending upon the number of passengers and other factors. Just as in embarkation and debarkation, loyalty status will get you on the first tender to the island. Otherwise, you’ll have to line up with the rest of the crowd. Ships have a process using tickets and schedules and such. If you have a tour guide awaiting you or a train to catch, you’ll need to be up and out early to be on the earliest tender you can. Likewise, if you’re being tendered over to the cruise line’s private island intent on getting a prime spot on the beach – under a shady tree, for instance – be on that first tender to stake your claim. However, if you are in no rush and just want to leisurely explore the port, take your time, and go later when the crowds are less. On Excursions ~ Museums, Castles and other Historic Sites. Remember these two magic words: “plan ahead”. No one wants to waste precious time standing in line to purchase tickets – especially when you’re only in port a day or just a few hours. Depending on the popularity of the place you want to see, lines can get crazy. If you’ve purchased a ship’s excursion, it’s not a problem, as tickets are usually included. But if you are going it alone, you’ll need to purchase tickets for the attractions you want to see. While your sitting at your computer weeks before the cruise, make a must-see list of museums, historic sites and other popular places, order your tickets directly from their websites, and print them. Then on the day your ship arrives in port, simply head straight to your attraction and bypass the long line at the ticket booth. As a bonus, you may even save money on web-only rates! If you do find yourself in a seemingly endless line, don't be miserable. Laugh, be happy and make friends with your neighbors. By Janice Neves, CruiseCrazies Contributor For more cruise news & articles go to http://www.cruisecra....com/index.html View full article

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 critical for the more popular visitor sites. Decide what you want to see most and, wherever possible, purchase your tickets on line in advance of your cruise. For example, on a port stop last summer in the beautiful city of Edinburgh, I knew in advance that I wanted to see Edinburgh Castle, but not at the cruise line’s hefty price. As Edinburgh Castle is THE most popular place with visitors in all of Scotland, I knew lines would be incredibly long and form very early in the day. I went to the Historic Scotland website and purchased a 2-castle deal, which not only whisked us quickly into Edinburgh Castle, but also into Stirling Castle while on an independent Highlands tour from Glasgow. We simply printed out our on-line tickets and headed directly to the entrances of both castles, thereby skipping the long lines at the ticket counter and secretly laughing at the hundreds of people in the ticket lines. Oh, and did I mention we saved money, too? By buying a multi-attraction ticket, we saved money off the individual ticket price. In the case of Historic Scotland, the more castles on your list to visit, the more you save, which is especially useful for those folks on a land tour of the country. This summer, we will be visiting Alcatraz in San Francisco in advance of our Alaskan cruise on the Grand Princess. Knowing that Alcatraz is one of the most popular attractions in San Francisco and sells out quickly, I booked tickets for the highly-rated evening tour the day it opened for sale. It’s a good thing, too. A week later, they were sold out – more than 12 weeks in advance! For more on saving time and avoiding lines, read: Tips for Beating Long Lines on a Cruise Vacation

Not only that, but you'll be helping to support a local small business!

Thanks for sharing this, Rose. I know I will have a place that I can come back to in case our bear viewing in Ketchikan is a wash. Even if we do, it's doubtful we will see brown bears at Traitor's Cove.

Thanks for joining us here at CruiseCrazies. We hope you'll visit often, ask questions, share your experiences and join in the conversation.

Thanks for joining us here at CruiseCrazies. We hope you'll visit often, ask questions, share your experiences and join in the conversation.

Thanks for joining us here at CruiseCrazies. We hope you'll visit often, ask questions, share your experiences and join in the conversation.

Thanks for joining us here at CruiseCrazies. We hope you'll visit often, ask questions, share your experiences and join in the conversation.

Thanks for joining us here at CruiseCrazies. We hope you'll visit often, ask questions, share your experiences and join in the conversation.

I am so excited, I am beside myself! Our new lightweight luggage has arrived and sits in my living room waiting to be filled with an endless variety of stuff befitting a 10-day Alaskan cruise. As I look at the assortment of wheeled bags in an array of sizes, I realize I went a little overboard in buying 7 pieces. What the heck was I thinking? I needed only a couple of replacements. But, hey - the old stuff was getting - well - old, so why not replace it all, I rationalized to myself. The kids will get the hand-me-down stuff currently stored in the basement. If they don’t want it, I’ll simply donate it. Armed with my CruiseCrazies packing list, I have begun a list of things I need to purchase. For starters, I have grown weary of laminating my own cruise luggage tags that the cruise lines are too cheap to provide, so I have ordered plastic tags for this purpose. New luggage requires new ID tags in bright, bold colors, complete with blazingly bold duct tape to match, for easy identification in the endless ocean of bags at disembarkation. I am not keen on messing up my pretty new luggage with tape which will eventually peel off and thus look ugly, but my husband wants every step taken to assure a clean get-away when departing the terminal. So be it. I so want to become a frugal, efficient cruise traveler and pack sparingly. Realistically, however, this will probably not happen – at least this time around. Being my first time to Alaska, my head is already swimming with multi-season items we need to pack. We have been watching videos of people who have cruised to Alaska. Images of people huddled in coats, hats, gloves, scarves and blankets outside on deck viewing glaciers and whales. Really? In August? Is it that cold in Alaska waters? How much winter clothing do I need to retrieve from the attic? I have been following the weather throughout the inside passage and tracking cruise ships along the way, hoping to get a feel for what to expect in the way of climate. However, the unusually warm weather experienced in the region over the last several weeks leaves me even more bewildered. I expect I'll need to pack for any sort of weather that comes our way. My husband has mentioned checking two 25” suitcases - his and hers - and this from a man who usually packs two days of clothing for a 7-day cruise. I was hoping for one bag to check between the two of us and a carry on each. Correction – make that just one carry on for clothing. My husband’s carry on bag will no doubt be solely used for a vast array of camera gear to quench his thirst for all things phototography. I have researched and written articles recently about slimming down and simplifying the packing process, but none of it has prepared me for the task that lay ahead. So, I turn to you, my cruising friends who have packed for an Alaskan cruise. Please share your Alaska cruise packing secrets!

What a great idea to bring theater candy! Free popcorn and blankets were handed out last time we were at MUTS on Princess.

Just to add on to the great advice Sarge gave, many times price reductions after final payment are due to "flash" sales and are for new bookings only. But it never hurts to ask!

Good question, Lindsey! The big differences are service and amenities - and sometimes price. Though agents are no longer able to discount cruises the way they used to (one exception is Princess), they will sometimes have groups that are priced less. Most of the time, though, they will offer onboard credits, wine, free gratuities, or gifts. More importantly, they will guide you with their own personal experiences and choose a cruise that works best for you - not just one cruise line. A TA can assist with pre and post-cruise hotel stays. Cruise lines only have two or three hotels they partner with in a city - an independent agent has access to them all. An agent can help you find less expensive ways to tour ports of call over the price of the cruise line - if that's what you prefer. An agent is especially useful for someone looking for their first cruise, who might be overwhelmed with all the choices and needs guidance in where to begin.

Wonderful and heartwarming story, Shon. Thanks for reminding us of the importance of family bonds.