Happy Saturday! So I decided to change my Saturday articles to cruise related information, whether it be ships, ports, or cruising in general. I want to keep my posts interesting and I see more and more of my friends are enjoying cruising!
My first cruise was when I was 18, traveling for High School Senior Week with a friend. I still can’t believe my parents let me go! We sailed on Celebrity’s Meridian. She was the cruise line’s first ship but when Royal Caribbean bought Celebrity in 1997, the Meridian was sold to another line, renamed the SS Sun Vista, and is currently resting at the bottom of the sea between Thailand and Singapore, so sad! (You can google it, but all passengers were rescued before she sunk in 1999, and she is a dive site now!) We boarded the ship in Philadelphia and sailed to Bermuda on a week long cruise with 3 nights in Bermuda. It was wonderful! I went back on the Meridian a second time with my sister when she graduated high school 2 years later. I was hooked. I absolutely loved cruising and loved Bermuda.
Since my Meridian days (pictured right), I sailed to Bermuda on other Celebrity, Royal Caribbean, and Norwegian ships many times over, leaving from Philadelphia, NYC, Bayonne, and Baltimore. Back in the day, when the cruise ships were smaller, they could sail through what is called the Town Cut (a narrow passageway, pictured bottom left) and dock in the quaint town of St. Georges. Then after staying there a night, the ship would drop ropes, sail around the island to dock again right in town at Bermuda’s capital, Hamilton (bottom right) for 2 more nights. One time we woke up extra early, got off the ship in St. Georges, and filmed it sailing away. Then we hopped on the bus, and met the ship as it approached the dock in Hamilton! So fun! But then the cruising industry boomed and companies started ordering bigger ships with new features, trying to out do each other. Ships got bigger but Bermuda decided to preserve it’s natural beauty by not widening the Town Cut or Hamilton’s harbor to compensate for the size of the new ships, so now most ships visiting Bermuda dock just at King’s Wharf, or the Dockyard as I call it. I remember when there was nothing at the Dockyard but about 10 little shops inside the clocktower, the glass blowing shop, and the rum cake factory. Now the clocktower is a mall with 25 shops. There are restaurants, museums, snack shops, and a snorkel park all within walking distance to the ship. All that is great, but promise me if you are lucky enough to be in Bermuda for more than a day… go beyond the Dockyard! There is so much more to Bermuda and if you stay there, you are not seeing Bermuda at all. But I’ll need to write another post about Bermuda sites (and sounds) you cannot miss! And tell you a story about me crashing the moped, oops!
Back to cruising… I remember when I went on my first non-Bermuda cruise. It was on NCL and it was out of San Juan. I was very excited, but also a little stressed! I was flying to the ship? How was I going to pack everything with airline luggage restrictions? I was visiting a different Caribbean island each day – not staying put like in Bermuda? Would I catch my breath between ports? Would I miss the ship? Well, all of that seems silly now. I loved sailing the Caribbean – the sea was so calm and I adored docking at each of the different islands. Each having it’s own charm and special things to see and do there. There was no way to miss the ship unless you were really, ahem, “not smart.” With typically docking in the morning and sailing in the evening… you have plenty of time to explore the island. And if you book shore excursions WITH the ship, and your excursion runs late, the ship will wait. Just keep an eye on your watch when you are exploring on your own. You don’t want to be that person running to the ship with everyone watching from their balconies. Many Caribbean cruises have a day or two at sea depending on the itinerary, but those days are great so you can really explore the ship, fit in a spa treatment, read a book on the promenade deck, and enjoy the many on board activities listed on the daily sheet delivered to your cabin each night.
When it comes to cabins, there are a variety of cabin categories to choose from. Primarily there are inside cabins, outside cabins (with a window), balcony cabins, and suites, but there is a lot more to consider when selecting a cabin. Do you want to be…. forward, aft, on the starboard side, on the port side? Which deck is best? What is the square footage? Having an experienced cruiser and travel agent, (yours truly) to help select the correct cabin for you, can make all the difference in your cruise! I sail inside cabins most of the time due to cost, but I prefer outside cabins. If I can, I’ll go for balcony! I’ve sailed 3 times with a balcony. Once was in a suite with a balcony larger than 4 cabins put together, along with a personal butler! It was an upgrade we were offered directly by NCL for just $500 more added to our original balcony fare. It was with my husband and mother-in-law and was worth every extra penny!
Each cruise line in the industry has it’s own style of cruising. Some lines have traditional main and late seating dining. Some have “my time” or “freestyle” dining: when you can come to the dining room on your own set reservation and have the same servers each night, or just be seated as you arrive. You can choose whether you want to dine with others at a large table or keep it intimate with a table for 2 or 4. You have many other dining options on board too. Some have more than one dining room. There are buffets, special sandwich shops, pizza places, burger places, and others, just depending on the ship and cruise line you’re you sailing. There are specialty restaurants that require reservations and most times an additional fee, from $15 or more a person depending on the ship. Room service is available too. There are casual nights where you don’t have to really dress up (just no shorts) and there are semi-formal and formal nights. Again… it all depends on the cruise line and the ship on which you are cruising.
What’s my favorite cruise line? So far, it’s Princess Cruises. We sailed on the Caribbean Princess to the Western Caribbean. We had our first balcony cabin on her. I researched my cruise sources ahead of time and found out the Caribe Deck had the largest balconies that were half in the sun and half under an overhang (see below). I enjoyed that because it was great to sit in the sun but still have shade or a roof over our heads if it rained. I loved our balcony picnics! The food and service were amazing… blowing the other lines out of the water! Princess really goes out of their way to make you feel special. One of the chefs even emailed me after we got home just to share with me the recipe for “The Love Boat Dream” – a chocolate dessert (also pictured below) that’s available every night in addition to other desserts. It was just because I mentioned on my comment card at the end of the cruise, about how much I enjoyed the dessert and wished I had the recipe. And I still get birthday emails from Princess every year. Another thing that was new to me… the pools were fresh water, not saltwater pumped up once out to sea. I never thought of Princess as being a “more exclusive” line than the others. I certainly didn’t spend more on that cruise. My husband and I sailed for $1218 for the week with that lovely balcony. My only wish is that Princess had more ships and cruises available. I feel like they “get lost” among the other lines, especially with Royal Caribbean and NCL which have grown so much over the years. Holland America has a reputation as being for older clients and Carnival used to have a reputation of a party ship, although I think that has changed. My parents like Carnival now and prefer Carnival’s food to Royal Caribbean’s. They have been on 40 cruises!
I do prefer cruising out of Baltimore, Bayonne, and NYC because having to fly is an extra hassle to me. But that’s not to say I wouldn’t fly and cruise! Many of you know I’m doing just that come October when I’ll be sailing with DISNEY for the first time! Aside from it being the ultimate cruise line – in a class all by itself, the fact that I am a Disney crazy person, should make it a spectacular cruise! I can’t wait to share it with all of you! My heart aches that my family isn’t joining me because this is actually a “business trip.” But on board they give you an opportunity to put a $250 placeholder down on a future cruise, that includes $200 on board credit. So I’m hoping to take advantage of that and bring the family back!
One thing that always seems to come up with first time cruisers is seasickness. Let me just say, I have NEVER gotten seasick, not once. Not even sailing on the Atlantic between two hurricanes! I get motion sickness on amusement rides, but not on a cruise ship! With the size of ships today they don’t rock as much as you think. I remember my poor Meridian, and how she would easily sway in the waves. But today’s ships make her look like a lifeboat. The ships have stabilizers that the crew can decide to extend from the sides of the ship to help with rocking if they feel they need to. The worse thing people can do, is get themselves worked up and worried about being seasick and then hide in their room under the covers all day. The best thing to do is be outside, on deck, in the fresh air. Let your eyes see your surroundings so your brain adjusts to the movement. It’s fun!! And even more fun when you step back on land with your “sea legs” and you find yourself compensating for the movement of the ship while standing on the sidewalk! But if you are still worried, there are patches, bracelets, pills, etc. available that you can use as a precaution. I love the sea, and I’m sure you will too!
So when choosing a cruise, take into account these 5 things…
1.) Where does the ship sail? Are they ports that you WANT to visit? Some ports are not so great. I’ve visited 20 ports on cruises over the years. I know which ones where I wouldn’t bother to even get off the ship. So obviously, I would avoid cruises that include those.
2.) How long do you want to be away and do you want to have days to relax on board or do you want to fit in as many ports as you can? Cruises range from 3 nights to 12 nights, or longer if that’s your thing! Since some ships flip their itineraries weekly (Eastern Caribbean one week, Western the next) it’s popular for cruisers to book back-to-back cruises to visit all the ports in 2 weeks. Some ship have DIY laundry or you can pay to have it done. Or you can pack very VERY wisely.
3.) Choose a cruise that fits your personality. Do crowds bother you? Some megaships hold 6000 passengers which means 6000 friends on board and 6000 friends in port with you (in addition to the other ships that are in port the same day). Are you looking for peace and quiet at the spa or are you more concerned with activities for your kids?
4.) The time of year you are traveling. Visiting the Bahamas is nice, but maybe not so warm in January. And you have hurricane season, which hasn’t been bad the past few years, but sometimes itineraries have to be changed. A Bermuda cruise can turn into a Canadian cruise. (No offense to Canada, but my Bermuda heart would be broken!) You can’t predict the weather and sometimes it affects whether you reach ports. My parents have sailed out of Baltimore in the snow, which was interesting for them to watch the crew shoveling the decks and piling the snow in the pool until they got out to sea! So while snow won’t affect Caribbean cruises, it can affect how you get to port and when you get home. Can you imagine getting off the ship from a Caribbean cruise to find your car buried in snow and ice? But if that is just humorous to you, go for cruising out of the northeast in the winter! Good prices and ships that aren’t crowded.
5.) Does it fit your budget? Don’t go broke for a cruise. There are plenty of good deals out there on cruises that are very nice, especially if you avoid school breaks. And if you prefer to have an upscale experience, with the butler, that’s available too. It depends on what you want to do.
There is a lot to ponder when booking a cruise, so don’t fall for the flash specials that scream, “only 3 cabins left!” and book hastily. It’s almost always a ploy to get people to panic and book through their site. Seek help from someone who knows cruising, who is directly connected with the cruise lines, who will give you superior advice and service, and create a cruise vacation that will have you loving the sea! Someone like me!
Happy travels, and smooth sailing! ~ Laurie
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215-435-4151 LaurieFiveStarTravel@gmail.com
Laurie at Five Star Travel Group 