What to Expect on a Cruise: How to Choose a Cruise
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Many newbies fret about wasting time at sea rather than exploring, but they’re often a fun chance to explore the ship itself, as well as decompress between ports. Some travelers actually book cruises that have at least one or two sea days, especially if it’s a larger ship with loads of amenities like water parks, race car tracks, zip lining, and multiple shows. Of course, not everything on your cruise will be included in the pre-paid fare. On mass-market ships, you'll pay extra for drinks with your meals, to dine at some higher-end restaurants, for shore excursions and for the automatic gratuities that many lines add to final bills. These things can add up and result in some hefty extra charges on your credit card before you leave your ship. News stories always hype up the biggest, newest cruise ships, and the cruise lines charge a pretty penny for sailings on these ships.
Bring your own drinks on board
Shore excursions can also be booked onboard through the ship's shore excursion desk and, in some cases, via the cabin TV or cruise line app. If you’re headed for a warm-weather destination, a balcony cabin is great for sun-worshippers -- and probably useless for those who prefer to stay away from the heat of the day. If you haven't booked your cruise yet, it's worth checking out our complete guide to choosing a cruise ship room. It's hard to top the feeling of stepping onboard a ship knowing that the cruise fare you've already paid covers most expenses. Your comfortable, stateroom — whether you chose a cozy, budget-friendly interior or a suite with access to a private balcony — is part of the package. Royal Caribbean® ships also offer some of the coolest suites at sea, from the AquaTheater Suite with views of daring dive shows to the two-level Ultimate Family Suite with video games, cinema and slide.
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I'm a cruise ship worker these are SEVEN gadgets you must take on your holiday on board - MSN
I'm a cruise ship worker these are SEVEN gadgets you must take on your holiday on board.
Posted: Sun, 21 Apr 2024 08:50:44 GMT [source]
Here at TPG, we're starting to build out a series of home port and destination port guides for everywhere from PortMiami to Bora Bora. Be sure to pack anything you think you might need for these first hours of your cruise in your carry-on bag. This means things like medication, for sure, and a phone charger, but also a bathing suit, hat, sunscreen and other items that will let you head straight to the pool deck to start the fun. Many cruises depart in the afternoon, so it might seem just fine to fly or drive to a port on the morning of departure. But all it takes is a moderate flight delay or a pile-up on the highway to upset those plans.
How much does it cost to book a cruise?
To be fair, the photographers are great and it’s a nice way to get a professional photo done to remember your trip. If you don’t want a picture taken, you can just politely decline. Many of the ports in the Caribbean and Mexico are Spanish-speaking countries, whereas others may speak Dutch or French.
Its seven ships feature a relaxed, country club-like ambience and inspired dining that appeal to a mostly older crowd. Like Royal Caribbean and Norwegian, MSC Cruises operates big, resort-like vessels that appeal to a broad audience. Among the highlight of its cruises in North America are stops at its new private island in the Bahamas, the Ocean Cay MSC Marine Reserve. Everyone tells you to be sure to wear plenty of sunscreen on your cruise, but they don’t tell you why. The result is that you can get burned being exposed to the sun for as little as 10 minutes if you aren’t used to it.
Cunard fans love the line's relatively formal vibe (including nightly dress codes) and other nods to ocean liner tradition, including evenings with ballroom dancing. A fourth Cunard ship called Queen Anne is set to debut in 2024. Celebrity's four newest ships, Celebrity Edge, Celebrity Apex, Celebrity Beyond and Celebrity Ascent, feature "infinite veranda" cabins that are open to the sea in a way we haven't seen with other ocean ships. They boast a glass wall that opens from the top to create a balcony-like effect. You should be back on board by that time and not a moment later.
These days many ports use facial recognition matched with your passport for entering the country. Those with birth certificates sometimes still wait in line to be checked by an officer. When you prepare for your cruise, you’ll either be assigned a boarding time or you get to choose one. Cruise lines designate a boarding time to avoid having everyone arrive at the port all at once. When boarding is open, many people try to get there as early as possible, leading to long lines to get on the ship.
You can spend a lot of money if you don't watch out.
There are horror stories after horror stories of people coming back from their cruise with unexpected cell phone charges. No matter the reason, you don’t want to accidentally get dinged with a sky-high phone bill. Put your phone on airplane mode before your cruise leaves the shore. If you search for parking lots near the port, you can usually find independent lots that are nearly as convenient, but at a sharp discount to parking at the port. These lots almost always offer a free shuttle to drop you off right at the ship as well. Then be sure to contact your cruise line as soon as possible and let them know about the delay.
Cobranded Cards
Keep in mind that this is a fairly rare occurrence, but it does happen. The fact is that most people will never use the travel insurance that they buy. Still, if something goes wrong at sea, it’s a great thing to have. Travel insurance can help cover costs of getting sick or injured in a foreign country, as well as compensate you for travel delays, lost baggage and more. If you’re on the fence about buying insurance, we’d suggest doing so. You can read more about travel insurance and what it covers here.
If you're sailing for a week in the Western Mediterranean, for instance, you'll probably get eight hours in Rome (after docking in the nearby port of Civitavecchia). If you're so blown away by the city that you want to stay over an extra night (and we bet you will be), you're out of luck. You'll be due back at the ship by the late afternoon for the sail-away to the next port — probably Livorno, Italy (the gateway to Florence and Pisa) or Naples, Italy. Antarctica has its season, too, from October to March; while the New England and Canada cruise season mirrors Alaska's, from May to October. Late September through October, though milder and sometimes cold, is popular for New England and Canada sailings, with dazzling fall foilage cruises.
Even to veteran cruise passengers, new ships can be a maze to figure out until they get their bearings. Thanks to the size of cruise ships and stabilization features, the sailing is normally smooth. There are definitely times when you feel the ship move, but apart from a few outlying cases, chances are it will be clear sailing for your cruise. On the first day the big event on the ship is the muster drill.
Most cruise ships have medical centers with doctors and nurses onboard. You can visit the medical center if you get sick or injured during your cruise vacation, or to obtain things like bandages and seasickness medication. As well, many cruise lines make every adult in the cabin buy the package if one adult does.
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