Cruises

I love Cruises and Traveling: tips for a great vacation

Before I go on a cruise, I typically look for my cruise line luggage that will hold my expensive gowns without wrinkling them. I also look for my luggage that is designed to carry my makeup and jewelry. I have a dog that travels with me so I look for her doggie carrier that meets airlines guidelines. My dog is always with me and never boarded, so we go on cruises that cater to not only myself but to my pet as well. I use garage storage at home and then at my airlines that store my car until my date of return, unless I am driven to the airport for my flight to the ships port or I pay to park at the port sometimes. Valet parking is great, always tip your valet drivers!

Medical storage for going on a cruise is easy. If you require to take medications on a fun filled cruise, take enough medication so that you don’t run out. Put your medications in a small lock box, the one I use is a little fireproof safe that I only know the code, you just simply type it in, it’s all really simple. Make sure that your name and address is on your bottles, especially if you are on any prescriptions from your doctor and are not over the counter medications. Lock up all your medications at home! This is a must! Hide them, just not on yourself like I have in the past. That is an aggravating thing when you can’t find what you’re looking for, especially your meds! Medications are not anything to fool around with. Taking your medications on any vacation is very important, if your pet is on medications, don’t forget to bring them with you and store them with your medications that way your pet will get the medications as it should because you will be into your medications and see your pets meds along with yours and then you will be reminded of their meds as you administer your own medications.

Get rid of all your food that will spoil. Food storage is important when leaving your home for any lengthy period of time. Look for any onions, cabbage, fruit, anything that will deteriorate within a few days, or weeks. Bread molds, so freeze any bread goods. Butter, cheese, yogurt, etc., these things should be okay but check exp dates. Put your cookies in the fridge, all sweets can be frozen or go into the fridge. Peanut Butter is pantry friendly. Crackers and graham crackers, seal up in storage bags. Cereal, same thing, but if you have cereal keepers use them if you don’t already. Refrigerate anything you think might spoil, or better yet freeze most everything, except your eggs. Keep your beer cold, who wants to come home to a warm beer anyways, right? LOL!! Food isn’t cheap so make sure you freeze meat. Also, a great tip, give away fruits and veggies, your neighbors will love you for it.

How to Choose the Best Cruise

When choosing a cruise to embark on, you must look for a reputable company that will provide competitive prices, quality customer service, and unmatches convenience. Competitive pricing is imperative, and you must do research to ensure that the low price you are receiving does not include opting for a lower-par experience. There are nearly millions of cruise reviews written by fellow vacationers that can give the advantages and disadvantages of every company’s cruise ships. Quality customer service is also imperative to ensure the competent answering of any questions you may have. All too often do inadequately answered questions by customer service representatives result in confusion and canceled vacations of families nationwide. Another important feature when searching for the perfect cruise is the volume of convenient features they provide to their customers. Important features to look for include clothing storage accomodations such as wire shelves and larger closets. These features will greatly assist you store the huge amount of clothing you are likely to bring with you to enjoy on your cruise vacation. All of these qualities are of utmost importance when looking for a company to purchase your dream cruise vacation from. Don’t settle for less; find the perfect one!

Getting the Cheapest Cruise Prices

If there is one thing that holds true about travel, it’s that it does not come cheap. Whether you travel by bus, plane, or ship, exploring new places can come attached to a steep price tag. While the majority of the cost is often spent getting there, you can also end up spending large amounts of money on your hotel room or the place you stay and the food you eat while you’re there. Entertainment costs can start to add up, too. How can you really enjoy travel while you know it’s costing you so much? The best course of action is making smart purchases before you go.

Instead of booking your cruises through a travel agent, for example, why not check and see if there are any auctions available online? Oftentimes, people win tickets or membership to exclusive cruise trips and they can’t go. Because tickets are usually non refundable, they have no way of cashing them in. The next best thing is to list them on an auction website and try to get their money back. You can save up to 80 percent off the price by buying your cruise package this way! With so much money saved, that really frees up your budget to enjoy your trip.

Attention Smokers: Smoke Anywhere on the Cruise Ship

There’s nothing quite so relaxing as taking a beautiful cruise around the world. Wide open seas and the smell of delicious, gourmet food that’s yours for the taking. Elegant dinner parties and nights spent dancing on the floor of an exotic ship. If you’re a smoker, you could be wondering where you’ll fit in your smoke breaks. Smoking cigarettes and taking them on a cruise can be dangerous, expensive, and plain illegal depending on the cruise liner. To avoid the hassle, consider making the choice to buy an electronic cigarette starter kit. An electronic cigarette works fantastically as a travel cigarette. It’s smokeless, so you can smoke virtually anywhere – even in places where smoking is restricted! With convenient nicotine cartridges, you get the boost you need without the stench or hassle of regular cigarettes.

Your cruise is supposed to be fun – stop worrying about where you’ll get your next smoke and invest in the technology of the future. With its light, stylish design that looks and feels like a real cigarette, you’ll be thankful you brought it when you hear the compliments start rolling in. Take your smoking with you – the new electronic cigarette. Also, this product works great as a stop smoking aid.

Cruise Ship Terminology

So you are ready to take your first cruise and you do not quite want it to be like the first time when you went to Hawaii and you did not know the local terminology. This time you want to be prepared before you go so when they tell you to go “astern” you do not head toward the front of the ship. This little primer will give you the lexicon you need for successful cruise ship survival.

I can only assume that you know that “aboard” means to get on the ship whereas “ashore” refers to being on the shore. “Aft” refers to being toward the rear of the ship while “stern” refers to the absolute rear of the ship. Though many people will say that they are heading toward the “stern” when they truly intend on being “astern” which is another way of saying that they are around the rear of the ship.

Night Time Cruising

The “heading” of the ship is a reference to the heading on a compass and refers to the direction of the ship, whereas the “bearing” is a specific reference of the ships direction relative to the ships destination. The “beam” of the ship is its widest width and the “keel” is the primary center bottom point of the ship that runs from the bow to the stern. The “berth” is normally the place where the ships doc. A “berth” is a particular space on the dock where the ship is docked. The “bridge” is the main command and control area for the entire ship and the “brig” is an isolation area, also known as on board jail.

The “bulkhead” is the wall that separates each cabin and a “cabin” is another word for a “room” on the ship. “Fore” and “forward” are references to the front of the ship as is the word “bow” which refers to the absolute front of the ship, the opposite of the stern. A “fathom” is equal to 6 feet and specifically refers to 6 feet underwater. The “funnel” is the smokestack of the cruise ship.

The “galley” is the kitchen and the “gangplank” is the ramp that connects the pier to the ship. It is the gangplank that you walk on in order to board the ship. The “gangway” is the door or opening that the gangplank connects to, it is the entrance point to the ship. The “hawseholes” is the place where the chain to the anchor enters into the ship. These are usually holes on the upper side of the exterior “hull” of the ship. The “hull” being the exterior of the ship.

When looking toward the bow of the ship the “larboard” or “port” side of the ship is to your left, and the “starboard” side of the ship is on your right. For some reason this is always confusing and forgotten by travelers. To this day I cannot think of an easy way to remember it. It is commonly suggested that “star board” has the same number of letters as “right hand” but that is not exactly easy to remember.

Fantastic Views!

The “lift” or “roll” is the amount to which the ship moves from side to side and the “pitch” is the amount the bow of the ship moves up and down with the waves. The “port of call” is your ships destination and your ships “registry” is the country the ship calls its home. The word “scuttle” means to sink a ship, this is a word that you will not be hearing on your cruise unless you like your destination so much you wish you could scuttle the ship and stay.

To end this little educational primer you should know that wot “weigh anchor” means to lift the anchor. The “wake” is the way the water is displaced behind the ship hence the phrase “leave it in your wake” and lastly the word “windward” refers to the side of the ship that the wind is blowing against.

Hopefully this is a great resource and tool for you to use on your first cruise. I know for myself I do not like going places where there are a lot of special words being used that I do not understand. I think all of us travelers first encountered this the first time we go to Hawaii. We think they speak English but then they start off with “aloha” and “mahalo” and it never stops until you leave. Now you are prepared for your cruise.