3 no-brainer cruise safety tips

by Chris Owen on

There are a lot of great features on your upcoming cruise vacation. Good times with friends and/or family, seeing new and exotic ports of call or visiting ones you’ve already seen again and lots of stuff to do on board the ship are just a few.

You’ll be encouraged to get into the whole experience and that’s good advice. You can unwind, relax and come away a new, renewed person. Throughout your voyage you’ll have the opportunity to do or not do some things that can impact your experience. Here are three cruise safety tips that focus on some things you don’t want to do.

  1. Don’t blindly trust the youth counselors– We want to believe the best of everyone and we really want to believe that the people we trust with our kids are good people. Take a few minutes from time to time throughout the voyage to make eye contact with and talk to the youth counselors that will have direct contact with your kid. If you see something odd in those eyes, don’t be afraid to walk right out of there with your kid. Trust your instincts as a parent; they are as good at sea as they are on land.
  2. Don’t visit crew areas of the ship– This sounds like a no-brainer, crossing over into the world marked “crew-only”, but here’s one good reason for it: While you are visiting with your new crew friend, you are surely not in your cabin and that would be a great time for some other crew member to get in and take your stuff. If you or someone you know is entering the crew-only world that’s a big red flag that something is wrong. Maybe that person is drinking too much and having an alcohol-induced crush on that handsome bartender with the charming accent.
  3. Don’t blindly go ashore- Bad stuff can happen when traveling anyplace by any method of travel. There are bad parts of most all towns whether on a Caribbean island or in the middle of some continent. Going ashore, from a native point of view, there are two kinds of people; those going on an organized shore excursion and those going it on their own. The later are the easy marks and the ones crooks most commonly target. Yes, there are rare stories of groups on excursions being held up too but a couple or small group walking around town for shopping are easy prey.

Buying a cruise? Look at value, not price

by Chris Owen on

Cruise vacations can be a good travel value because the fare paid includes much of what travelers might pay separately for with other vacation options. In recent years though, mainstream cruise lines have come under criticism for offering desirable options guests can buy on top of the cruise fare paid. The basic experience has not changed but upgrade options like special dining venues, might make it seem so. Some lines have gone a different direction, including more in the price.

Regent Seven Seas cruises, used to charge for shore excursions, as most cruise lines do. Not long ago, they did away with that, making most shore excursions part of the deal for the premium line.

“We realized that the largest spend anyone had on board was shore excursions. So, we decided to give them away.” Regent’s President Mark Conroy told Sun-Sentinel.com.

Results have been good for the line that costs an average of $600 per person, per day. Guest feedback is that they like the more all-inclusive nature of Regent sailings as opposed to other lines.

“Our ticket price is probably more expensive than others, but the vacation in the end doesn’t cost much more … because so much is included.” Conroy added, noting that 2010 will be the company’s best year on record.

Another premium line, Seabourn, shares the more all-inclusive philosophy with complementary fine wines poured at lunch and dinner and open bars throughout their small yacht-sized fleet of six ships. Seabourn also promotes that tipping is neither required or expected, another area that can add up on other lines.

More than ever, finding the cruise line that is a good fit for you involves considering the entire experience. While the discount fares being offered by major lines may sound attractive, the end cost may actually be greater than a premium line that includes much more in the price.

When it comes to cruise ships, size matters

by Chris Owen on

Royal Caribbean just keeps on making big news with big ships in a big way. The line released video this week of new Allure of the Seas meeting up with nearly-twin ship Oasis of the Seas for a late night rendezvous.

In a ceremonious way, the ships sailed side by side and small crafts were launched from each to meet between the two. An exchange of gifts ceremony of sorts was conducted including posters signed by the officers of both ships, delivered by Adam Goldstein, Royal Caribbean’s President and CEO.

Both Oasis-class ships are rated as the same size, a whopping 220,000 tons carrying 5,400 guests at double occupancy. Allure has some cosmetic differences and is a wee bit longer. Her captain knows it and takes full advantage of his bragging rights.

Just five centimeters difference in length is all but Captain Zini of Allure did not hesitate to send along an over-sized measuring tape when company officials met mid-ocean. So yes, when it comes to cruise ships, size definitely matters.

One has to wonder how this exchange would have played out had the new ships been commanded by women captains.

Cruise survival kit: What you need to be totally prepared

by Chris Owen on

Carnival Inspiration finally docked in Florida at 8:30 p.m. last night after being held out at sea due to weather conditions. A bunch of other Carnival ships are sailing modified itineraries for weather-related issues. Royal Caribbean’s Brilliance of the Seas was tossed around in bad Middle East weather.

News from the cruise industry lately has been all about weather-related delays, modifications of itineraries, disabled ships, braving storms and compensation to passengers for their troubles. With that in mind, cruise packing lists are being updated with a number of items normally found on lists for camping or backpacking. Start with these for your cruise survival kit:

Satellite phone
For as little as $24.95 a week you can rent global Iridium Satellite Phones from Satellite Phone.com. They can provide the lifeline you want when power goes out. Call rates of between $.99 and $1.59 a minute might sound expensive sitting on dry land but that will quickly be a bargain if you are the only one able to communicate with the outside world.

Lots of backup power
When the ship loses power the clock starts ticking on your cell phone or camera battery. What could be a timely call home (if and when you can catch a signal) to let friends and family know you are OK might not happen without plenty of backup power. iPhone users know Mophie.com is the place to go. Brookstone has a universal battery that works for phones and cameras.

Survival food
The passengers aboard Carnival Splendor, the ship by an engine room fire, have a lesson for us: Bring food. When lavish buffets and gourmet dining come to a screeching halt because the power got knocked out or the buffet lines thrown around by angry seas, some high protein snacks will come in handy. Think canned nuts, peanut butter, or other survival food high in calories that won’t take up a lot of space in luggage.

The right luggage
Now, more than ever, its a good idea to have only one piece of luggage that you can keep with you at all times. Cruise lines allow passengers to skip checking luggage if they can carry it on and off the ship without assistance. On Carnival Inspiration, held at sea for so long, guests who held on to their luggage were the winners. Durable Victorinox has some great choices.

The odds are you will have a totally safe and care-free cruise vacation. But savvy travelers know that being prepared for anything that might come your way is a good idea.

Allure of the Seas hosts 5K run on St Maarten

by Chris Owen on

Focusing on a healthy lifestyle is nothing new for Royal Caribbean. Their ships have world-class rock climbing walls, ice skating rinks, full-size basketball courts and more. This week the spotlight turns to running and active lifestyle activities as guests aboard new Allure of the Seas are invited to participate in the line’s first “Royal 5K St Maarten run”.

New Allure of the Seas will be making a vitality-themed swing through the islands this week on a 7-night sailing encouraging 500 passengers to get off the ship and run in different events as the cruise progresses.

On the starting blocks Monday, is a Fun Run on the Bahama island of Nassau featuring breathtaking views of Paradise Island.

As the week continues there will be a one-mile race on Allure’s .46 mile running track where participants will attempt to set record time for a mile at sea. On-board seminars with top-shelf icons of the running world will be part of it all featuring Frank Shorter, 1972 Olympic silver medalist.

“I know from past experience how much fun it is to combine a cruise vacation with my passion for running,” said Shorter.

Other elite athletes along for the sailing include Sean Jefferson, six-time All-American track star at Indiana University, Bart Yasso, America’s “Mayor of Running” and others.

The event culminates with a 5K run on St Maarten Thursday and all of it will be aired on ESPN’s Caribbean network January14th and on ESPN2 January 15th. Commentators for the Royal 5K St. Maarten show are Joanna “Jo” Ankier, a former British record-holder and Annette Raveneau, a reporter and producer for Univision Network and Entravision Communications.

Talk about some different scenery for your run, this beats a treadmill at the gym any day.

Flickr photo by 666ismoney