Planning a first time cruise and have lots of questions?

Question

My husband my son and I have never had a family vacation, so I want to plan for us all to go on a cruise next year when I get vacation time at work.I just have soooo many questions! Is it easy to plan a cruise, or should I get a travel agent? I wanted to save the cost, is a travel agency really necessary? We want to go to the Bahamas. Do they let you off the ship to tour the islands or do you have to stay on the ship the whole time? Do we need passports? (We live in the U.S). Are cruises a good vacation if you have a teenager, or will my 13 year old be bored to death? What's a good cruise line? What happens if the ship sinks, do they have lifeboats? Do you have to dress up or can you wear whatever you want? If you've been on a cruise before please tell me if you thought it was worth it, how much it costs, and would you do it again?

Answer 1

I can answer all of your questions but it would be easier if you would just go see  a travel, agent.  Travel agents DO NOT charge for their services because they make their money from commissions from the cruise lines.  So you can go to any travel agent and ask all of the questions that you want for free.  A travel agent is not necessary and you can actually book yourself right on line.  But since you do have a lot of questions you should get them answered first.

You can also get a lot of answers to your questions by simply reading the answers that I have posted to previous questions about cruising.

If you are planning a cruise for next year you should apply now for passports.  The passport is about $100 per adult and a lesser amount for your teenager.  Check this site:

http://travel.state.gov/passport/get/fee...

You can print the application right from the Passport Office's web site:  http://travel.state.gov/passport/passpor...

Here's a link for a child's passport:  http://travel.state.gov/passport/get/min...

Yes cruises are great vacations for kids.  All of the cruise line, and not just Disney, have programs directed by professional staff member just for kids.  The best cruise lines for kids would be Royal Caribbean, Carnival and Disney if you have small kids.  But all of the cruise lines do have programs and specials areas on their ships for kids to keep them busy all day.

Ships these days have more than enough life boats and they are very nice covered motorized boats with the best navigation equipment.  Each passenger on ship has his/her own life vest (children too) and the first order of business when you board ship is a mandatory life boat/safety drill.

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.

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.

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 for your son to accompany you in your cabin will be about 50% of the fare that you pay.  The price you pay will depend mostly on the type cabin/accommodations that you choose.

There are 4 basic types of cabins on ships;

- inside (no window),

- outside (a window or porthole),

- balcony/veranda, and

- suites.

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. Holland America has mostly senior citizens cruising on its ships.

-Carnival has more first time cruiser and young people who want to party, party, party. If that is what you are looking for then Carnival is the cruise line for you.

-Norwegian cruise line is good and I have been on many of their cruises. 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. 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 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.

Answer 2

A cruise vacation is fun for every one included your teenager who will have a time off his life in the teenager club that every big cruise line have. I will strongly recomend that you start of by browsing through the major cruise lines web pages and see what area, what company and what ship fits you the best.

If you stay on the ship all the time or not heavily depends on the itenary. There are trans atlantic cruises without a single port of call during the five or six days voyages. But in most cases youll find that there are severel port of calls and each of them have multiple shore excursion tours to choice from. But in most cases youre also free to go on your own. The only thing youll have to remember is to be at the ship no later than 30 minutes before its departure time. And if you go outside a shore excursion its your job to be there in time. Also remember its important to get all the documents needed for the cruise. They could include: passport and visa. If you fail to bring them the cl want either let you onboard or let you of the ship in a port where visa apply.

Normaly you dont have to dress up (even for the infamous formal nights) but that depends heavily on which cruise line you choise. Some of the more upper scale ones are stricter in that matter. What youll have to take is the same clothes as you would take in a downtown reasturant or a nightclub.

Not many ship sinks theese day but every ship has its lifeboat and there is a mandatory drill before the ship sail. Tha include putting on your life jacket (can be found in your cabin) and stand at your rescue station (the number can be found on your jacket or in your cabin) for a while. So dont worry. In fact cruising is one of the safest and most sequre travell experience you can have as long as you stay to the big and well renowned cruise lines. Johan