CM TRAVEL 4FUN presents: "ALL ABOUT CRUISING" New to Cruising? Been awhile? Read about: "The Cruising Experience"
ALL ABOUT CRUISING
This is a quick lesson as to why it is important for you to use a travel agent… to insure that your cruise matches your personal tastes, needs, and wants:
TYPES OF SHIPS: - GENERAL: You can expect incredible food on virtually all cruise ships, plus spas, casinos, and room service on all medium sized ships and larger. Some cruises lines are still old school with required formal dining and formal attire, while at the other end of the spectrum you have NCL which offers very informal Freestyle Cruising. Most cruise lines fall somewhere in the middle, having some formal functions with formal dress codes, as well as a fair amount of informal. Dining on the more formal ships is very regimented requiring reservations – with set meal times and seating, while on the less formal ships you can eat whenever you want – at whatever restaurant you want. Many ships offer some of both options. In general
(until you get down to the small ship size), the more luxurious the ship, the more formal the dining and attire required.
- ACCOMODATION RECOMMENDATIONS: In general
always get a room which either has a balcony, or which has doors which open onto the deck
(and windows are a must
else you lose ½ the joy of a cruise). Inside staterooms are cheaper
but definitely not worth the money saved. The best value overall on any cruise ship is a balcony stateroom, with a mini or full suite a close second. Some cruise lines offer 5000 square feet rooms with private pools and more. The sky is the upper limit in accommodations. However
that said
everyone has the opportunity to eat the same great food
(although on some mid sized & larger ships there are optional specialty restaurants which require a moderate additional seating fee). On virtually all cruise ships
you can eat all you want each meal
go ahead and ask for 5 desserts
it is ok! On most ships, alcohol and all drinks including bottled water consumed outside of meals is an additional charge. Wine with dinner is free on higher end ships, but an extra charge on others. Most cruise lines require passengers to pay gratuities
sometimes they auto-charged to your credit card when you dis-embark at the end of travel, other times they are purely voluntary. Some cruise lines include gratuities in your stateroom charge so there is no surprise at the end! Yes
a credit card or a cash deposit is required upon boarding to pay for on-board incidentals
which are charged to an on-ship card every passenger is given, (this includes alcohol, gambling charges, gift shop items, and more).
- VERY LARGE (3000+ passengers)
these ships offer an incredible array of on-board activities from water slides and pools to bowling to gambling to rock-wall climbing and much more. These ships are great if you spend a lot of time at sea
but because they are so big, they very frequently require tenders to do port calls, thus making for long lines and waits to disembark and embark at each port. They are popular ships for families and singles. Nightly entertainment includes professional Las Vegas style, plus many smaller scale entertainment venues are offered as well. Lots of dance spots and party bars.
- LARGE (1500 to 3000 passengers)
often these ships have many of the activity and entertainment offerings of the Very Large ships, but just not as many – or on quite the same scale. These ships can get into more ports without tendering, but these ships are still so large they can not get you very close to land if you are sightseeing from ship, (as in the Alaska Inland passage sailings). Many of the luxury liner class of ships fall into this category. Large and very large ships are where you frequently find first time cruisers
and these ships have a higher population of families w/children passengers. Disney Cruise ships fall into this category.
- MEDIUM (500 TO 1500 passengers)
these ships get into many more ports without tendering, and offer much shorter disembark and embark times in ports than the Large and Very Large ships. They still may have a number of on-board activities and live entertainment, but as you move down the scale toward the 500 passenger size, on-board activities and entertainment become substantially more limited, (entertainment may be limited to crew members who double as entertainers). These ships attract primarily experienced cruisers and not nearly as many families with children
as a result these ships bustle less, and are more peaceful
Higher-end luxury cruising is associated with this ship size.
- SMALL (50 to 500 passengers)
at this level amenities and activities on-board start to become fewer and fewer reaching the minimal at the lower end. These ships are heavily populated with experienced cruisers, and offer the opportunity to visit many more smaller ports, and get you into those out of the way places the bigger ships never visit. If you like nature, history, eco-travel, adventure travel and getting up close and personal with the local populations and environment
these are the ships for you. These ships ply the seven seas plus many inland waters and rivers. On-board accommodations may be much more basic on some ships, but most still offer incredible accommodations, (in some cases better than larger luxury ships), very personal service, and excellent food. On-board entertainment is often limited, and on the smaller end is limited to guest lecturers and local port supplied entertainers who come on-board for brief periods. Casinos may still be found on the larger end of this range of ships, but swimming pools tend to be rare on this ship size range. River ships nearly all fall into this category.
- VERY SMALL (2 TO 50 passengers)
these ships, (in some cases actually now technically boats), are highly specialized, and most frequently ply rivers, inland, and coastal waters. Amenities and accommodations vary widely from basic to luxury. Some ships in this category do not have a sleep on-board ability, instead going into to port each evening and putting people into land based accommodations.
- SPECIAL (SIZE OF SHIP VARIES WIDELY)
these ships vary from river and ocean barges, (very popular in Europe), to freighters, small yachts, sailing ships, and auto ferries, (some of the latter offer the ability to pitch a tent on deck – and literally camp out)!
3 BASIC TYPES OF CRUISES:
- OCEAN INCLUDING MEDITERRIANAN
(these cruises are primarily about the cruising
(with some also including a strong secondary destination focus)
normally on these cruises on at least part of the trip
you will spend entire days at sea).
- COASTAL and INTER-ISLAND
available world-wide
(an excellent way to visit ancient island cultures like Japan since most of the really old historical sites are along the coast
other examples include the Alaska Inside Passage and NE Fall Colors cruises).
- RIVER
available on every continent except Antarctica
(this is often the best way to visit old historical parts inside of countries since most of the really ancient population centers were all along rivers
these cruises all include daily land explorations).
SUB-CATAGORIES OF CRUISES and the types of ships related thereto:
- ADVENTURE
usually experienced on smaller ships which ply hard to reach areas
- FAMILY
usually mid to larger sized ships is where you will most frequently find Family cruisers, but also on river barges and boats
- ECO
often small to mid-sized ships, but some large ships do special eco-sailings
- HISTORICAL
river boats, and every other conceivable sized ship do these sailings, but smaller ships are often the preferred choice
- SINGLES
usually mid to larger sized ships
but hard core cruising singles are found on small ships and river boats & barges as well
- BUSINESS CONFERENCE, MEETING, OR INCENTIVE REWARD
any ship, anywhere
- FLOATING-HOTEL WATER/LAND TOUR, small ship coastal cruises and river cruises, plus mid & large ship tours doing itineraries like the Alaska Inland Passage, the Hawaiian Islands, Tahiti, more
- AFFINITY GROUPS, (as in a group of: computer geeks, chess players, retired persons, teachers, family reunion, etc.)
any sized ship, anywhere
- HONEYMOONS
often large ships, but experienced cruisers will honeymoon on small ships and on river boats
- CRUISE AND PLAY
SPORTS OR OTHER DESTINATION FOCUSED CRUISING (as in Golf in Hawaii)
normally always mid to large ship adventures
basically these ships function as floating all-inclusive hotels
- TRANS-ATLANTIC, VERY LONG, OR AROUND THE WORLD LONG CRUISES
CRUISING FOR THE SAKE OF CRUISING
most frequently these are mid to large sized ships featuring high-end accommodations, but sailing ships and small ships do this as well.
OTHER VARIATIONS:
- STANDARD OLD SCHOOL FORMAL CRUISING
- FREESTYLE CRUISING
- CASUAL CRUISING
(USUALLY SOME BLEND OF #1 AND #2.
CRUISE LENGTHS
ANYWHERE FROM 0NE (RARE) TO 180 DAYS
7 to 14 days are extremely common.
WANT TO KNOW MORE?
Just call Neal! |