Planning a cruise...what to expect?

Question

We would like to go on a cruise sometime next year. What is involved in it, how should we plan it. How much should we plan to spend. What kind of activities are there and how much? And how much money should we bring aboard?

Answer 1

First you should know that all of the cruise lines give the best price for early bookings that are a year or more in advance.  So its good that you are starting to look for a cruise now for next year.  Cruise lines also list specials on their web sites so do look for those. The specials can many times save you a couple hundred per person over the price for the exact same cruise on a different date.

Second you should know that all cruise cabins are sold based on double occupancy and the prices listed will be per person and based on at least two people going on the cruise. The price you pay will depend mostly on the type accommodations that you choose. There are 4 basic types of cabins on ships;

- inside (no window), (cheapest)

- outside (a window or porthole),

- balcony/veranda, and

- suites and penthouse  (most expensive)

Royal Caribbean has some inside cabins on its Freedom and Voyager Class of ships that have a window overlooking an inside promenade mall.

The "FROM" prices you see will always be for an inside cabin. There are also some subcategories within each category with cabins on a higher deck, and/or a better location on ship (like midship), and/or that are slightly larger costing more. So as you browse, pay attention to the square footage of the cabins. You may not want to pay more for the same sized cabin on a higher floor; or vice versa do pay less for the same cabin on a lower deck.

You can reserve a cruise on line, by calling the cruise line, or through a travel agent by paying the minimum deposit which will be between $250 and $350 per person for a 7 day cruise, depending upon the cruise line. The minimum will be more for a longer cruise, for example $450 per person for a 14 day cruise. The balance will be due approximately 60 days before the cruise departure date. But you can make periodic payment on line or with the cruise line. I have reserved on line and made payments many times.

I have listed below the web sites for the medium priced cruise lines which operate from US ports. These are the cruise lines that most people use. There are some luxury lines that are much higher priced with prices starting around $4,000 for a 7 day cruise. The lines that I have listed below will have cruises starting in the range of $800 to $1,000 per person for a 7 day cruise, again depending upon the date and type cabin you select.

HOLLAND AMERICA

http://www.hollandamerica.com/

CELEBRITY:

http://www.celebritycruises.com/home .

ROYAL CARIBBEAN:

http://www.royalcaribbean.com/gohome.d.....

NORWEGIAN:

http://www.ncl.com/

PRINCESS:

http://www.princess.com/index.html

CARNIVAL:

http://www.carnivalcruiselines.com/

I have been on Princess, Celebrity, Norwegian, and Royal Caribbean ships and can vouch that they are good cruise lines. However, there are some differences.

- Princess, Celebrity and Holland America have great ships are more classy and reserved with passengers typically being in the 35 to 65 age range. Holland America has mostly senior citizens cruising on its ships with passengers generally about 60 and over.

-Carnival is the budget cruise line and has more first time cruiser and young people (age 20 to about 35 mostly) who want to party, party, party. If that is what you are looking for then Carnival is the cruise line for you.  They do have  some older cruiser and also have families cruising with them.

-Norwegian cruise line is good and I have been on many of their cruises. Their passengers are typically 35-40 and older and have cruised many times.  Its the line that you want to go on if you want to be informal for pretty much your whole cruise. They have formal nights like other cruise lines but they do not stress dressing up; the call it "dress up if you want to" night.

-Royal Caribbean caters most to families and has the most and best on-board activities. Their ships have adults only areas and kids areas too.  Many Royal Caribbean ships have things like ice skating, roller blade track, rock climbing wall, surfing on ship on the "Flowrider", mini-golf course, pool tables. full sized basketball courts, and adults only pool and hot tub area called 'Solarium".

BEST DEALS

I have found that the best deals can be had by going directly to the cruise line web sites and looking for their specials. Most will have their specials prominently displayed on their home page but I have found that Royal Caribbean and Carnival have the best web sites for this.

For the most part all cruises are cashless and all inclusive. Let me explain.

Regardless of which cruise line you select, the things that are included are pretty much the same. The price of your cruise includes your cabin, all meals (including breakfast, lunch dinner, snacks and free room service)(you do pay to eat in the specialty restaurants), all shows and entertainment, and free use of all facilities on ship. The things that you will have to pay for are:

GRATUITIES: They will amount to about $10 per person in your cabin per day; about $70 each for a 7 day cruise. When you check in at the pier they will set up an on-board charge account for you to cover any and everything you may buy on ship. They will issue you a "cruise card" which will also serve as your room key and pass to get on and off the ship. At the end of the cruise they will add the gratuity to your tab and you can pay with a credit card or cash, your choice.

ALCOHOLIC DRINKS AND SOFT DRINKS: Coffee, tea, milk, juice, and lemonade and punch will be provided free but you must pay for soft drinks and alcoholic beverages and they will add a 15% gratuity to each drink and soft drink order.

PHOTOGRAPHS: Cruise lines will take plenty of photographs of you all over the ship, in the dining room, and as you exit the ship in ports. These will cost a lot, like $15 to $20 for most.

TOURS/EXCURSIONS: You are not required to book any tours and can get off and on in the ports as much as you want. But the cruise line will offer a lot of tours and these are expensive.

SOUVENIRS: Anything you buy on ship from a gift shop or duty free shop goes on your on board account. Things that you buy on shore you pay cash or credit card for.

CASINO: If you plan to gamble on ship you will need cash for that.

OTHER: most cruise lines have what they call "specialty" restaurants where there is a gratuity/service charge. All other food on board is free and its not really necessary to budget for food; you cannot eat all of the FREE FOOD that will be available.

SPA SERVICES:  If you want/need to have your hair done, get a massage or wrap, or any services from the spa, you will have to pay for them. You can use the gym free but the spa stuff cost big bucks.

INTERNET SERVICE:  Ships now have internet cafe and some have WiFi but the there is a fee for internet access and it is very expensive (like about $50 to $60 an hour).

You cabin will likely have a minibar with soft drinks and munchies; you have to pay for them (but there is free room service 24/7).

I have been on about 20 cruises on 4 different cruise lines and also cruised to Alaska. So I am going to tell you probably more than you want to know. Here's what I say based on my experiences.

Another decision you will have to make is where you want to cruise to; Bermuda, Alaska, Bahamas, Caribbean, Mexico, or Europe. In general the shorter cruises of 3 to 6 days go to Bermuda or the Bahamas. Cruises going to Alaska, the Caribbean, the Mexican Riviera and Europe are 7 days or more. If you think you want to go to the Caribbean there are really three basic types of itineraries.

- Western Caribbean cruises typically go to Cozumel, Grand Cayman, Jamaica and a private cruise line island.  The western Caribbean provides the best opportunity to go to great beaches, like 7-mile beach in Grand Cayman, and/ or to see Mayan ruins.

-Eastern Caribbean typically go to St Thomas, St Maarten, a private cruise line island and maybe another island like Tortola or Puerto Rico. If you want to do a lot of shopping then pick a cruise with St Thomas as one of the port stops. St Maarten is also mainly a beach and shopping stop.

- Southern Caribbean cruise itineraries typically start in Puerto Rico and go either to Aruba, Curacao, and St Thomas and St Maarten, OR they go to the southern Caribbean islands like Barbados, Grenada, Antigua, St Lucia and maybe St Thomas and/or St Maarten. The main difference between these two itineraries, aside from the different islands, is the Aruba cruise has 2 "at sea" days with no port stops, while the other has a port stop about each day.

If you are going to Alaska there are also a lot of options for slightly different itineraries. Some Alaska cruises start in Alaska, (Anchorage, Seward, or Fairbanks) and others start in Seattle or Vancouver. Cruises of the "inside passage" are generally 7 days but you can also do what is called a cruise-tour which may be 10, 12 to 14 days and involves touring by train and/or bus either before or after the ocean voyage. So you have to look very carefully at your options for an Alaska cruise. You should not just say to an agent I want an Alaska cruise. Pick one or more of the cruise lines I listed above and search for Alaska cruises and look at all of the options available to help you decide.

If you want to go to the Mexican Rivera out of California or Ensenada, Mexico you will go to places like Cabo St Lucus, Puerto Vallarta, Xtapa, and Acapulco.  

So regardless of where you go the cruise will include pretty much everything as stated above. But you have a lot of options to look at to pick the best cruise for you. My recommendation is look at Celebrity, Princess, Royal Caribbean, Norwegian, and Princess, pretty much in that order.  You can go on a 7 day cruise for as little as about $700 to $800 if you pick a special.  Air fare will be extra and yo

Answer 2

Tinkertoy covered pretty much all of the critical details, so I am just going to add to that excellent answer with a couple of suggestions.

1. Arrive to your boarding port a day earlier than when the cruise begins. This way if your flights get delayed you will not miss your ship.

2. Pack a carry-on bag with a bathing suit, 1 dress outfit, and 1 casual outfit for the plane. This way if the airline loses your bag you at least have some clothing to wear during the first couple days of the cruise. The airline/cruise ships do have a ways to get your luggage to you at the next port of call.

Answer 3

BEST place to go for all you ever wanted to know about cruising and a million more....www.cruisecritic.com.  My favorite thing about this site is that you can talk on the messages boards and meet up with people who are on your sailing!  Most of the time the group will then plan a meet-up for the first day so you'll immediately have some faces to recognize around the ship!  Definitely check out the site and you'll be able to read a whole bunch of info. and ask questions.  I use it a lot!  Have fun!!

Answer 4

I recommend a cruise to the Caribbean and West Indies.  Royal Caribbean has some very affordable cruises for a week out of Puerto Rico.  They are one of the finer cruise lines.  Food is excellent and the price is all inclusive except for alcohol, which can be bought on board.  Entertainment is free.  Bring money for souvenirs bought in ports.  Everything else is included in the cruie prce.  Oh, and if you want to gamble on board, bring money for the casino.

Answer 5

Well I can only answer a few of the questions because I am only 13 and I don't know anything about booking.

My family always goes on Royal Caribbean and it is a GREAT cruise for all ages. Every ship has a rock wall and a movie theater. The bigger ships have a mall, ice skating rink, roller blading rink, mini putt putt, an amazing spa, and surfing!  

The ports of call are amazing and their private island is to die for.  Everything is so relaxing!

Bring enough money to buy souvenirs, tip your cabin stewards, waiters, and bar tenders, and anything else you think you would need money for. Good luck on planning and have fun on your vacation!

Answer 6

IMO - stop by a local travel agent and speak to an agent.

They can answer your questions.

Answer 7

For your first cruise I would strongly suggest a local travel agent.  One that you've used in the past or one that a friend could recommend.  We went on our first cruise early part of June and would have been completely overwhelmed with all that planning that needs to go into it.  Not so much the trip but the paper work and documents you need to travel.

Plus travel agents are a great source of information that you may have a tough time understanding.  Ours certainly helped us get the most of our trip.

Have fun!