Getting The Most Out Of A Cruise
What key items should I pack for a cruise?
What documents should I have on my cruise?
Documents is an important issue today, because of the new passport laws. Up until recently, if you went on a cruise from United States to Canada you did not need a passport, and if you went on a cruise to the Caribbean or Mexico you did not need a passport, even though you were leaving the country. Today, that's no longer the case. A passport is required if you're flying to Canada, and if you're flying to Mexico or the Caribbean. Right now, there is a window of time where if you are driving into Canada to get, lets say, on an Alaska cruise, you may not need a passport yet - but that's coming soon. The safest thing to say is, if you're leaving anywhere outside the United States, get a passport.
What kind of room should I have for a cruise?
On any vacation to some extent, you get what you pay for. On a cruise, generally you will get what you pay for. If you book a luxury cruise and pay more, you'll get a better experience than if you pay less on a more mass market type cruise. That's not to say that one is better for you personally based on your tastes. It's the same thing with the cabin that you choose. If you get a suite, you are going to have a tremendous amount of space relative to an inside stateroom. You'll pay more for it. If you have a balcony stateroom, you'll have that opportunity to have fresh air and to enjoy a meal out on the balcony. Beyond that, there are certain destinations that really lend themselves to that. Europe and Alaska are good ones in mind. In Alaska, you are often going up a relatively narrow channel where you see beautiful countryside on both sides of the ship, and it is really wonderful to wake up in the morning and go out on your balcony. You might see eagles, or you might see a whale, or you might see incredibly beautiful vistas, mountains, and forests. If you are in an inside stateroom, you see none of that unless you get dressed and go up to deck. The weather may be colder that morning that you had expected, so if you are a little too cold you may want to go down and get a jacket - those are the pros and cons. You get what you pay for - in destinations like Alaska and Europe, as an example, it makes a lot of sense to get an oceanview cabin or a balcony cabin.
What kinds of games will the cruise ship's casino have?
Casinos on board ships vary in size. Bigger ships have bigger casinos. It really depends. Everybody has slots. If you have a casino, you have slots. Separate to the casino, they have bingo. A lot of ships have bingo where you can bet on the games. Beyond slots, you typically will have blackjack and roulette. Those are the most popular games. There might be some ships that have additional games - I'm not that familiar with them. Certainly, most ships that have casinos will have slots, blackjack and roulette.
What kinds of entertainment will the cruise ship have?
Entertainment on cruise ships varies quite a bit. Traditional entertainment is going to be a Broadway-style show with music, generally a live band, performers, dancers, and choreography. A lot of them will be based on musicals - Broadway musicals - or it will have some kind of theme. A lot of the cruise ships do a good job of that. There are some shows that I've seen on board ships that I would go and pay good money in a theater to see. With their other shows, it was free entertainment and it was included. It was enjoyable. It ranges quite a bit. Beyond the traditional show, and on a seven-day cruise, you might have two or three of those in the course of a week. On the other nights, you might have a soloist - a solo performer. That can range anything from a classical pianist doing a classical music concert, which might occur a couple of times in the course of the cruise. It might be a magician, or a juggler, or a ventriloquist, or it could be an impersonator from Vegas. There's no limit to the range of what you can find.
How much money should I expect to spend on a cruise?
A cruise specialist can certainly help a consumer evaluate how much extra money they might typically spend on a cruise, and that's going to vary. It depends on what the person wants to do and the destination that they're visiting by ship. We've talked a little bit about the extra costs on board the cruise. If you're going to be doing spa treatments and a massage every day, that can add up to a big budget item. If you don't do any, there is no budget item. If you drink a lot, and you drink two or three drinks every night, you're going to pay for those two or three drinks every night, so it varies. There are also other activities like art auctions. Some people love to buy art, and most of the ships have some kind of art auction, so you can spend a lot of money on art and be very happy with it. It just depends.
What are some tips to save money while on a cruise?
A good tip to save money while on a cruise ship is what I might refer to as a soda card - some cruise lines allow you to buy a card that entitles you to as much unlimited soda that you want. Typically a soda is an optional beverage purchase. Included on a cruise would be coffee, tea, milk, water, but if you want a coke, you will have to pay for the coke. You can buy a beverage card, and instead of paying for each can of coke, you can have as many cokes as you want in the course of the cruise, and you buy the card for a set dollar value based on the length of the cruise. Some cruise lines allow you to pre-purchase a package of shore excursions for every cruise, or for every port. There's a whole slew of choices on excursions that you can buy that the cruise liner offers, but some cruise lines will actually pre-package certain popular shore excursions where, if they can get you to buy them in advance, they will sell them to you. For example, they will sell you three or four of them in advance, for less money than if you bought them on board the ship. Not everybody does that, they are few and far between, but that's one option.
