When Planning Your First Cruise Vacation

When planning your first cruise vacation my first tip to you is that you work with a travel agent and tap from their wealth of experience planning cruise vacations. This will help you to avoid costly mistakes others have made and a good cruise consultant will help you find better deals than you can get from other advertising or online. You may think this service is going to be very expensive and will cost you some money. Actually this should save you, as you do not have to pay a well established cruise consultant any fee. Travel consultants get paid only on commissions paid to them by the cruise lines.

If you still considering doing the planning yourself these tips should help you get on to your first deck and keep you happy and relaxed to enjoy your memorable trip. Try to examine yourself and consider what your lifestyle is. Also think about how long you plan to be away and what is your budget for this trip. The general trend now is older and less desirable ships are now assigned to short cruises which may be three to five days cruises.

If you prefer the new and more glamorous cruise ships with all the latest improvement then plan on going for the longer duration cruises. These are typically the seven day cruises, or the ten to fourteen days. With Alaska and Caribbean cruise you can do with the seven days, however if you are thinking Europe, Mediterranean cruises then 10 to 14 days is really a good choice.

How large is your party is a good question to consider. When travelling as a family group then the big mega ships offer plenty of choices which can mean at least something for everyone. You may easily find facilities to engage the children and there is a better chance for the kids to find their age groups. You the adult will then be able to enjoy quality time with or without the kids tacked on to you every minute of the day.

You may want to decide whether you enjoy spending more time onboard the ship and relax or maybe you prefer visiting several destinations and exploring different port activities. If you enjoy staying onboard (with long period being at sea) and relax then you may want to do the Atlantic or Pacific crossing. Another term that the cruise industry uses for this type of cruising is repositioning cruise. This is when the ship leaves one area to go usually to another port to start different itineraries. Repositioning cruise can be good to your wallet too. The cruise lines do this to adjust to seasonal changes especially at spring and fall. You may be able to find good deals as low as $50 per person per day.

Book early so you can enjoy many discounts and be able to get good selection of cabins. Due to the economic slump cruise lines want your business. The cruise lines offer a lot of incentives just for you to book early so they can also plan better. You may want to know that the best location to be in the ship and minimize ship’s motion is lower mid-ship. If you like the ocean view then, you want to consider ocean view cabins. Mind you some cabins may have obstructed views so make sure you qualify what you are getting. I f you have special needs I suggest you work with your travel consultant or the cruise line to make sure they can accommodate your needs.

Cruise Lines sell you on all inclusive fares. Yes almost every thing you need on-board is already paid for before you board. But you still have some more spending to do before you get off the ship. The special Kodak moment when you are embarking and they give you your first snap shot is going to cost you additional fees. There will be numerous photo opportunities onboard. Think about tips and gratuities most ships will require you to pay for these items.

If you plan on doing shore excursions, if you plan on drinking alcoholic beverages, eating at alternative restaurants, enjoying spa treatments, these are not covered in your all inclusive fare. You may want to use your cell phone you will have to pay roaming charges, you may want to log on the internet, or take a fitness class get ready to use your charge card. The cruise lines want you to relax so they have a plan for you to forget the money when you are onboard. They assign you’re a charge card and that is how you pay for any additional service onboard. So watch out when you make those additional orders you will have to deal with the final payment before they can let you off the ship.

The new trend is shifting away from traditional dining onboard. This is giving way to alternate or free style dining. With traditional dining you eat at a particular set time daily at the same table with the same waiter every night. This may be good for you because the waiter then gets to know your preferences and you may get to know your table mates more intimately.

However this rigid routine does not go well for some of you especially on vacation. You may prefer to slow down and not be too time conscious. You may want to eat when you want and may like to seat at different locations or dine with different people as you see fit. This is termed free style dining. Here you have a choice of multiple restaurants and cuisines onboard and gives you flexibility with time. The downside is some passengers had to deal with long queues at popular venues during peak hours. You can avoid these nuisances by making reservations in advance, dine off peak period or check which restaurants onboard have the shortest waits time.

Planning your first cruise is fun and you have a lot to think about. Hard as I may try I will not cover everything you need to plan your first cruise. You may have to take the first step even though some people like to make sure all the lights are green before they leave home. I will say follow Nike’s advise just do it. Then the experience alone will spur you to do another and another. You may even ask yourself why you waited so long before going on your first cruise. I love to go on a cruise and relax how about you?