Deciding On A Cruise

How popular are cruises?

Cruises have become about the fastest growing segment of the travel industry. There is now about 12 million people that take cruises each year and it has steadily increased over the years, so it's very popular.

Who goes on cruises?

One of the reasons that the cruise industry has grown so much in recent years is because there has been such tremendous growth in the variety of cruises that one can find and take. As a result, cruises appeal to just about everybody. In the old days, there was a typical myth out there that only older folks take cruises - it was for the retirement community. And yet, families are going on cruises in droves, honeymoons are taking cruises, young people are taking cruises, singles are getting together and doing party cruises. It's opened up in many ways from what it used to be. As more ships have been developed, larger ships have been built, and different types of ships have been built.

Are cruise vacations expensive?

What's expensive to you or to me is all relative. There are cruises available for as low as $199. You can find, occasionally, two-day cruises that are that inexpensive. Typically, we talk about how much a vacation on a cruise costs per day. For lower-priced cruises, generally speaking, I would say the range is about $100 to $200 per person per day. Keep in mind, that includes your accommodations, all your meals, room service, entertainment, and a certain number of activities on board the ship. A deluxe cruise can cost you anywhere from $500 to $1000 per person per day. Of course, it's a totally different experience. It's like staying at a Holiday Inn versus staying at a Four Seasons or a Ritz Carlton. There's quite a range in price. At different times of the year there are different seasons, so prices can vary, and sometimes cruises do have sales. The cruise vacation price ranges.

What are the basic kinds of cruise vacations?

Often in the industry, we talk about the different categories of cruises. At the top you would have what we would call Luxury or Deluxe cruises. So within that there are a whole slew of choices from small ships to large ships. Right now it's very popular to think of a Luxury cruise as a ship that is not what we call a mega ship. Generally the Luxury cruises don't carry three thousand people. They will be carrying more like anywhere from a hundred to a thousand people. Most of the Luxury ships fall into that range. It's a more exclusive experience and certainly in terms of dining, the quality of the food, the cuisine, the preparation, the opportunities, the comfort of your suite, so on and so forth. Below Luxury we have what we call Premium cruising, and some people are even now developing an Upper Premium category. In the Premium, you have something that's not quite Luxury and it's not quite the category below Premium, which we refer often to as Contemporary, because it's not really budget. And the Premium cruiseline generally offers an upgraded experience. Below Premium, as I said, is Contemporary, which some people might refer to as mass-market cruises. That would be the Carnival Cruiselines, the Norwegian Cruiselines. Now, I don't want to suggest that the quality of that cruise is anything less. I mean, the quality of Carnival in the last ten years has just gone through the roof. The dining experience, the service level, the comfort is excellent but it's a different level of experience than you would get on a Premium and it's a different level than you would get on Luxury. So those are the three basic categories: Contemporary, Premium, and Luxury.

What are 'all-inclusive' cruise vacations?

The cruise industry, when it started, did it's marketing on the concept that they were all-inclusive. This meant that your accommodations were taken care of, your food was taken care of, there were things to do that you didn't have to pay for onboard the ship. If you were on a land-based vacation, you would often have to pay for all your meals, and the restaurants. Today, we can talk about cruises as being all-inclusive because all of those things are still true. However, there's a lot of things that are not included - alcoholic beverages are not included, spa services are not included, and if you want to be in the casino and gamble, that's also your own dime. There's value there but in terms of all-inclusive, it's important for the consumer to understand that there's a certain number of costs and value that they get in booking a cruise, unlike a land vacation. However, there may be additional expenses as well.

What additional costs are not included in an all inclusive cruise vacation?

People understand all inclusive a little bit differently. Not everything is included on a cruise, of course. Alcoholic beverages are not included. If you want to gamble in the casino, that's your own dime. If you want spa treatment in one of the wonderful spas on board the ships today, that's extra. But there are lectures that are free. There's enterainment every night that's free. Broadway-style shows, magicians, sometimes guest artists, that's included. There's a variety of things that are included in that price and some things that will cost you extra. When the ship is in port and you visit a port of call, the ships always offer a variery of optional trips that you can do in those ports of call, and that's again an extra cost.

Will I gain weight on a cruise vacation?

A lot of people are concerned about gaining too much weight from going on a cruise, because there is so much emphasis placed on the value of all the inclusive food, but that really depends on the individual. If you're the kind of person that eats everything that's on the table and you don't exercise, and you don't do anything else, my guess is that you'll probably put on a few pounds on a cruise. However, one of the wonderful things about today's cruise ships is the incredible fitness center facilities available; there are a lot of walks organized around the desks of the ships, and there are fitness centers that rival any land based spas or fitness work out areas. You can be as fit as you want to be.

Will I be bored on a cruise ship?

Boredom is certainly one of the myths of taking a cruise. I have yet to meet a passenger that was bored on a cruise. There is so much to do - it really depends on the individual. One of the wonderful things about a cruise vacation is that you can do as little or as much as you want. I recently had the experience of crossing on the Queens Mary II across the Atlantic. For years I thought that's not something I wanted to do. Five days at sea - I'm going to go crazy. However, when I came off that ship six days later, I was amazed at how many things I didn't do, and how little time I spent just sitting in a chair reading a book. Boredom is not something I would worry about.

How safe am I from crime on board a cruise ship?

Some people are concerned about safety on cruises. Cruising is actually, and statistically, extremely safe. Cruises are safer than a lot of other types of travel. As far as security of valuables, just like in a hotel room, you have a private safe on most ships in most cabins. In addition to the private safe in your cabin, if there is or isn't one, there's also the pursers desk, which is the info center, the hub of the ship, and they often have safe deposit boxes. If you needed to store some valuables, you can do that. I've been on so many cruises, forty some cruises, I've never had anything stolen from me or lost on board a cruise ship. Safety isn't really an issue. There is security on board a ship, and usually the kind of problems that occur are when somebody has had a little too much to drink, isn't in control of themselves and needs to be put to bed. There's security on board a ship to take care of those instances, but it generally doesn't happen. Most people are responsible.

How safe am I from illness on board a cruise ship?

There have been some breakouts of viruses on board the ship where people have got ill. It's rare, relative to the number of people that travel. Twelve million people take cruises, and out of those twelve million people, we've caught stories from the news where once, twice or three times there has been an outbreak of a virus, where a number of people got sick and that sickness has lasted a few days, a couple of days or a day. It's generally not a big issue - the media blows it up. Statistically, and the things that I've seen in the media also document that these kinds of illnesses and breakouts occur more on land than they ever do on cruise ships. It's not any different than flying in an airplane - a lot of people get sick in an airplane because of the recirculated air on board the flight. But what are the cruise lines doing about it? There's been incredible efforts made by the cruise lines to diminish the chance of a virus outbreak, and if you go on board the ships today you'll find that any time you enter a restaurant, they have these automatic hand sanitizer dispensing machines which they ask for everybody to use. You're not obligated to use it, but it's to sanitize your hands so that whatever you touch - if you have any kind of bacteria, especially in conjunction with food - you are secured that way. Also the crew now works doubly hard; they are wiping down every handrail on the ship every night, so the sanitation programs on board the ship have really been increased. They were always good, now they're even better. The outbreaks of these things is really rare, and it's usually not something that starts on board the ship - somebody brings it aboard.