5 frank cruise tips the cruise line won’t tell you

by Chris Owen on

Here are some important cruise vacation tips you might not find on any other list. The cruise lines won’t tell you these. A good travel agent might but it would not be negligent of them to keep these tips to themselves. Only the most trusted of friends will let you in on these tips, if they know about them.

  1. Bring your own toilet paper– might as well just get this out of the way right up front. The cruise lines do a great job of feeding you, pampering you, and taking you to multiple destinations while you only have to unpack once. Providing plush, soft toilet paper is not one of their selling points.
  2. Be careful flossing- or just skip it unless you’re on a really long cruise. Either that or bring along some Superglue if you have anything other than original teeth in your head. Crowns, bridgework, fillings, all love to jump out of your mouth at sea. Yes, the ship’s medical center can help but that brings us to number 3
  3. It is going to cost more than you thought– this is nothing to be scared of but to say a cruise is totally “all-inclusive” is stretching it a bit. OK, a lot. While we have done cruises and not spent any money on-board (OK, one cruise and it was tough) We have also spent more than the total price of the cruise,on board, for extras not included in the price. Passing up on-board spending can mean losing out on some rich experiences through shore excursions, spa treatments and other things that cost extra. And buy travel insurance; it should cover that trip to the medical center.
  4. Travel Insurance has you covered- eventually– Travel Insurance at sea is not like medical insurance at home where you make a co-pay at the doctors office and you’re done. The cruise line medical center is a fully-equipped hospital and they want their money at the time service is rendered. Later, you’ll file a claim with the travel insurance company and get reimbursed for covered charges. Bonus tip: get documentation on everything you spend money on that might be turned in later to the travel insurance company for reimbursement. You’ll jump through fewer hoops to get reimbursed down the road.
  5. Be good, they can kick you off– Cruise lines, more specifically, the Captain (aka “master of the vessel”) has the right to put you off the ship at the next port without a refund or way back home if you misbehave. That could mean being rowdy in a bar, arguing with a casino dealer or smuggling drugs back on the ship from some lovely island in the Caribbean.

Flickrphoto by derekGavey

2 easy steps to finding the best cruise price

by Chris Owen on

In a matter of days, 2010 will be over and we’ll be welcoming 2011. Right after that a lot of travelers start thinking about cruise vacations. Maybe its cold Winter weather or maybe it’s having the holidays out of the way but January brings us what the cruise business calls “wave season”, a time when a whole lot of people buy cruise vacations. Here are two easy steps to consider before you make that buy.

  1. Hug the Internet– Start your search for the best of the best in cruise pricing online at the cruise line websites. Go directly to Carnival.com, Princess.com or almost any cruise line website. The point of this is to search the most accurate, up-to-date database of itineraries, ships, and ports of call available. Take note of the prices you find but don’t buy. This is an education process to narrow down your search for a sailing that is a good fit for you.
  2. Dump the Internet– Armed with the current information you just found online, email/call/tweet your travel agent for recommendations and pricing. Odds are high that the pricing may be exactly the same as booking through the cruise line if you did an accurate search, providing all the information they asked for. Where a travel agent most often comes in handy is down the road. Between now and when final payment is made, cruise lines may offer additional discounts, promotions or special offers that might apply to you and save money.

If you don’t have a good travel agent, see our tips on How to find a good travel agent too.

Flickr photo by Dave Dugdale

Cruise line to raise fuel surcharges. Others to follow?

by Chris Owen on

It’s not just gas at the pump rising in price, cruise lines too are paying more for fuel and some are passing along the cost to passengers.

Cunard Line, already charging a fuel surcharge since last May, today announced an increase from $3.85 to $6.00 per person per day on new bookings made on or after December 31, 2010. The supplement is capped at $200 per person on longer voyages and includes all guests traveling.

Cruise lines have resisted adding back on the unpopular fuel surcharge even though fuel prices have exceeded the threshold they commonly notify guests it would take to resume the fee. Fuel surcharges started in 2007 when oil went above $100 per barrel but were removed in late 2008 after pricing went down below $70.

The current price of a barrel of crude oil is about $90.

Other signs point to seeing more of cruise line fuel surcharges too. Earlier this month, British Airways raised their fuel surcharge for the first time since 2008 on long-haul flights by 10 pounds (about $16) each way.

Still, the cruise industry does not want to add the fee back. When speaking of fuel surcharges earlier this month, Carnival Corp Vice Chairman and COO Howard Frank told USA Today, “I don’t see that in the cards … not based on where we see fuel for this year.”

Photo courtesy Cunard Line

Does your cruise travel agent pass the test?

by Chris Owen on

There’s an ongoing debate between consumers and those critical of the travel business which struggles to answer the question “Do I need a travel agent or not?”. They’re not required and cruise-related websites make it really easy to click and buy a cruise, much like you might buy an airline ticket. But a good travel agent, one that will bring great value to the table, will have certain qualities required to make the cut. Ask these simple questions to find an agent with the minimum qualifications that make them worthy of your business.

  1. Are you connected? Since you are reading this, you are connected. You need someone who speaks your language in the medium you prefer be that via email, facebook, twitter or maybe just an easy phone call away. Bonus tip: try communicating with an agent via email to provide a written record of what was said, promised or delivered.
  2. Have you been on many cruises? A good travel agent specializing in cruise vacations should have a rich cruise history on multiple cruise lines. You’re looking for their first-hand knowledge and experience dealing with cruise lines, they better have it
  3. Are you certified? They should be at least members of the Cruise Lines International Association and have a few letters after their name like ACC, MCC or ECC showing they went through basic training and then some. If they have one of those, odds are they will tell you about some specialized training they got from the cruise line too. Give big bonus points if they are members of other professional organizations or consortium’s.
  4. How long have you been selling cruises? If they say less than five years forget about them. That’s about the minimum amount of time it takes for agents to really know their way around cruise lines, establish contacts that can do you some good later and have enough bookings behind them to know what they’re doing.
  5. Will I be dealing directly with just you? This one has to be a “yes” answer or the whole thing is not worth your time. To a good agent, their job starts with making the booking and never ends as they work towards building a life-long business relationship with you. If they are not personally following your booking from beginning to end you have the wrong person.

Top 3 stupid things to do on a cruise

by Chris Owen on

A cruise vacation can be a great way to travel. Once on the ship, you’re in a closed environment that is protected from many of the potential dangers that await those traveling some other way. But while cruise lines say things like “Do whatever you want to, it’s your cruise”, or “You are free to do...whatever!” there are limits. While there are a lot of stupid things to do on a cruise, here’s the top three:

1. Get in a big argument with somebody and call them names. If you happen to have a short fuse or are really impatient, check that at the gangway. Once you are on board the ship how you behave can have a real impact on the experience. You’ll hear the captain referred to as the “master of the vessel” and with good reason. He has the authority to throw you off the ship at the next port with no refund and no way to get back home except on your own if you cause trouble. Not long ago, a drunken brawl on Carnival Dream resulted in 10 guests waving good bye to a ship that left them behind.

2. Practice your swan dive over the side of the ship. This will most likely kill you and is something to avoid. You really have to try to make this happen too. Falling off the ship is a lot like falling off a 10-story building; your odds of survival are not good. If the impact of hitting the water doesn’t kill you, strong currents created by the ship’s movement will.

3. Stock up on drugs while ashore. If you want to buy drugs ashore you can on pretty much any Caribbean island. Just look for the cool guy with the Bob Marley look and you’ll get hooked up fast. Odds are you can get them back on the ship pretty easy too. They don’t strip-search embarking passengers. Where you will run into problems is back home when it’s time to get off the ship. Drug sniffing dogs that check luggage coming off the ship will find your “souvenirs” and you will go to jail.

If you follow the golden rule of cruise ship conduct “Don’t do anything that would require talking to security or having your body identified” you should be OK.