Slow travel, fine life | EDITION
4 – August 2008
If you visit the website of Royal Caribbean cruise lines for the first time, you will see something very simple and straightforward – basically three questions:
1. New to cruising?
2. Cruised before, but new to Royal?
3. Cruised with Royal before?
Not coincidentally, my conversation with any people who are interested in booking or planning a cruise vacation will start like questions like that. In particular, for those who are new to cruising, you might wonder that why would people like to cruise?
Great question…. But, why not?
To start with, cruise is really a floating resort. You can go snorkeling, scuba diving, whale watching, surfing, or you can enjoy spa, indoor swimming, or movies under the stars, play golf or tennis on the top deck, bid for fine arts auction, and participate many more family friendly entertainment and activities.
There are libraries, internet cafés and chapels (yes people can and do get married in the cruise) and for some cruises, casinos. You can fill up your daily schedule easily, or you can choose to do nothing but just read a book, stare at the ocean, and relax. It's all YOUR choice.
And – my sympathy for SUV-owners – but these days, cruise is absolutely the best travel choice in terms of price and performance, thanks to fuel price that has affected land vacation and airfare so much.
Cruise price includes the accommodation, all the meals (24 hours), all the entertainments (some of the nightly production shows can even rival what you see in Las Vegas), and free/safe/professional daycare for kids in all age groups (as a parent myself, I really can't overemphasize how important it's for me).
So when you add all those cost up, cruise is at least 1/3 less expensive than the land vacation with similar itinerary. And yet, you only unpack once by traveling to so many destinations. Plus, you can leave your GPS and fear/frustration of getting lost at home!
Now, I do have some friends, especially at mid or late 20s, telling me that: cruise is not for me. And I can see where they are from: "cruise is for old/elder people" (and I am a Facebook and Twitter guy); "I would be bored to death" (since I think there's nothing to do other than eating and swimming in the cruise); "I don't know if my friends would go" (as they probably would ask the first two questions anyway)…
Let me just say: none of those notions about cruise is true, and if you ever cruise once, you will love it.
For people who are new to cruising and just want to get their feet wet, I would recommend a 3-day cruise from Los Angeles to Mexico in the winter/spring. It would be a relaxing experience, yet if it turns out that it's really not for you, 3 days is probably manageable. This itinerary is also very popular for classmates reunion (recently I booked one for 15 families and over 60 people) or any small or big group events.
For people who would like to have a hassle-free and absolutely no stress family vacation during winter/spring season, I would recommend
o either a 7 days cruise from Florida to Caribbean (there're many cruise lines, destinations or itineraries to pick from);
o or a 7 to 10 days cruise in Mediterranean/Europe if you can afford a few more days.
In the summer, 7 days cruise from Vancouver (or Seattle) to Alaska (plus land excursions) as an extremely popular family vacation. It might be a bit late to book that for this year, though.
And the key secrets to enjoy a cruise vacation?
o Plan ahead. Booking a cruise six month in advance is not uncommon, and will get your best deal and the best cabin. You can buy travel insurance for as low as $ 60 per person to get your money refunded in case you can't make it in the last minute for any reason.
o Get a group. Talk
to your friends, classmates, church groups or neighbors. It varies from cruise to cruise, but having a
group of 8+ cabins will normally get you a group rate for an extra 5% saving or
more. Once in the cruise ship, the group
can meet as frequently as every 2 hours, or just cruise independentlyJ.
o Talk to a great travel agent (that's me! :-). An experienced travel agent will not only recommend a best itinerary and cruise for you among many choices, but also get you best deal and take care of every little thing that otherwise you will need to make phone calls each time by yourself.
Lastly, you are welcome to check out my Chinese blogs about our family cruise to West
Caribbean last March as follows:
2008 年 3 月西加勒比海游轮七天游记 ( 1 of 4 )
2008 年 3 月西加勒比海游轮七天游记 ( 2 of 4 )
2008 年 3 月西加勒比海游轮七天游记 ( 3 of 4 )
2008 年 3 月西加勒比海游轮七天游记 ( 4 of 4 )
