A BIT OF LUXURY WITHOUT THE COST

When many of us dream of the perfect cruise, we imagine an incredible fantasy in a large suite, on board one of the major luxury lines with butler service, champagne flowing and all of the amenities. Our dream comes to an abrupt end when we take a long look at the price tag. O.K. so do we need to give up our dreams until we hit the Powerball or Mega-Million? We don’t think so. There are some alternatives that you can employ to get a taste of luxury while you wait to hit the Big Time – so why wait?

Look at the larger Suites on some of the mass-market ships. For example, the Courtyard and Garden Villas on board the newer NCL Ships are incredibly huge and beautiful. Pricing seems very high at first glance but consider that these suites include 3 bedrooms, each with private bath and balcony. Invite two other couples and split the cost. Up to 8 guests are allowed in each Garden Villa so two rollaway beds can be added. These suites have private hot tubs and many extras and come complete with Butler Service. Eat in your private suite dining room or enjoy freestyle cruising and dining with the other guests – Your Choice. Luxury? – ABSOLUTELY YES!!! Affordable? – You be the Judge! Courtyard Villas are also available and have access to the private courtyard and pool that is available only to Garden and Courtyard Villa guests.

Have you tried an Oceania or Azamara Cruise? These are two lines that are priced right and give you great value while offering a Luxury experience. These former R-Ships offer unique itineraries only available to smaller ships with an intimate atmosphere that makes you feel as though you are on your own private yacht. Oceania gives you access to her two fabulous specialty restaurants at no additional charge. Azamara even offers Butler service in all of her cabins. Luxury? - OH YES!! – Affordable? – ABSOLUTELY!!

Have you heard of Celebrity’s new ship, the Celebrity Solstice? Solstice will debut at the end of 2008 and features Aqua Class “for those who have entered a spa and never wanted to leave”.

How about a lovely suite on board a Princess ship? Want to feel like Royalty? Order breakfast or a lobster dinner served on your balcony.

Lots of opportunities await you so don’t procrastinate. Did you know that many suite categories are usually the first to sell out??

The InterNET at Sea is not for Fishing

In this time of being ever busy, some find it difficult to allocate time for rest and relaxation. Rest and Relaxation are the primary reasons for taking a cruise. Now you can have time at sea and even do a little work while you’re there. That of course is only if you really feel that you must.

In addition to being able to use your cell phone on many ships you can also have access to the World Wide Web while aboard. There are several ways in which this can be accomplished. Most of today’s cruise ships have fully equipped internet cafés where passengers can surf the web, send and receive e-mail from their home internet service provider or other services such as AOL, Hotmail, G-Mail to mention but a few. Additionally, if they don’t have their own e-mail facility, passengers can use the cruise line’s e-mail system.

As an alternative to using the cruise ship’s equipment, passengers can also access the internet using their own laptop computer. Use of one’s own equipment obviously increases the security factor. This can be done in one of two ways; many ships have Wi-Fi available in some areas of the ship while others have Wi-Fi available all over the ship including passenger staterooms. In addition to having Wi-Fi capability, some ships have a direct connection Ethernet port right in the passengers’ staterooms. All the passenger need do is connect to the port using an appropriate Ethernet cable. This use of a cable also enhances the security perspective over Wi-Fi.

It is possible to carry on business from your ship while on the high seas. There is, however, a cost and the user must understand what that cost is and evaluate it against the need. The cruise lines usually have plans by which specific amounts of time can be purchased. Per minute charges are typically lower when a larger block of time is purchased (100 minutes at 30 cents per minutes versus 30 Minutes at 65 cents per minute). If the user opts not to purchase a plan they can still use the internet facilities on a minute by minute basis. This is the most expensive per minute cost. Printing is more often than not fairly expensive so the user must determine the need for the printed page.

When considering cellular telephone use while at sea, watch the rates. It can be very expensive. Please see our CELL PHONES ON THE HIGH SEAS blog.

Here’s the greatest thing about computers at sea. We have been able to fully conduct business while enjoying a cruise.

GET ME TO THE SHIP ON TIME

At present, if you are scheduled to sail at 5:00 pm, all passengers must be checked in and on board by 4:00 pm. At that point, with few exceptions, check-in closes.

Beginning February 19, 2008, US Customs and Border Protection will require that all cruise lines submit an electronic transmission of their passenger and crew manifests no later than 60 minutes prior to departure. NCL and Royal Caribbean are implementing the policy a little early, but all cruise lines will have to comply with it by February 19th.

Therefore, the cruise lines are requiring all guests to arrive at least two hours before scheduled departure so that they have time to deal with luggage, go through security and check-in and meet the transmission deadline. If everyone were to show up an hour and 10 minutes before departure time, it would be impossible to process them all in 10 minutes and meet the 60-minute deadline for electronic manifest transmission.

The cruise lines are not doing this to save money. They’re not trying to cause guests to stress and worry about getting to their embarkation point on time. But they do expect passengers to allow enough time to check-in so that the lines are not holding up the entire ship (They don't really do that you know!). Guests are also strongly encouraged to complete their online advanced guest registration forms at least seven days prior to sailing as this will facilitate the check-in process. Agencies were not consulted as this new rule will apply to all cruise lines. NCL’s policy is very specific, guests will not be allowed to board after check-in has been closed. Late arriving guests may join the ship at an approved port of call in the scheduled cruise itinerary. Travel to that subsequent port of call will be at the guests' expense.

We are seeing this on some cruise line sites already, with check-in time policies ranging from 90 minutes to 2 hours.

DON'T BE LEFT BEHIND!

No Smoking Please

As anyone who has traveled in Europe knows, Europeans are heavy smokers. Emphasis here is on heavy. Nothing ruins the enjoyment of a great meal like the strong odor of tobaco smoke. Several years ago we were actually forced to leave an incredibly wonderful meal in a Paris restaurant as the smoke from one chain-smoking patron was so overwhelming that we could barely breathe and actually lost our ability to taste the meal. This individual in fact smoked while eating.

Well, there is relief in sight.

Paris, France, has gone smoke-free in all public spaces, including cafés and restaurants, starting January 2, 2008. The city approached the ban in stages: it outlawed smoking in venues like schools and hospitals in February of 2007, but granted a few additional months for patrons of bars, cafes, and restaurants. Hats Off to the Parisians for this effort.

Now, if only we could get the same law passed in other European cities.