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Fanmail Friday: November 21st Edition

Written by T.I. Cruiser on November 21, 2008 · Leave a Comment

Are you able to use a cell-phone while on the Cruise ship?

Sure, you can use your cell-phone while on a cruise ship and while in port. Just be forewarned the rates are usually very high. While at your port of departure you will probably be sending the signal through one of the towers located there. You can also use your cell-phone in ports if your provider has service there. While on the ship you can use your cell-phone via the ships towers but the calls are very expensive. If I need to make a call home, I usually wait until I am in port where the calls will be much cheaper.

Do I have to pay extra for the fitness center on the cruise ship?

The short answer is no, you don’t have to pay for the fitness center. The fitness centers on cruise ships offer free weights as well as a variety of equipment like Stairmasters, ellipticals and treadmills. Additionally you can use the saunas, steam rooms and hot tubs. If you choose to enroll in exercise classes like Yoga, Pilates or Spinning you will have to pay an additional fee. Spa services such as massages and other treatments are a separate are completely separate category of services and do cost extra.

Can you watch Monday Night Football on a cruise ship?

Modern cruise ships are equipped with satellite television. In cabin television offerings usually include ESPN, which broadcasts Monday Night Football. If for some reason your cabin does not have ESPN, chances are there is a sports bar somewhere on the ship that will be airing Monday Night Football.

A Few Rules of Cruise Etiquette

Written by T.I. Cruiser on November 20, 2008 · Leave a Comment

Onboard a cruise ship space is at a premium. While it is true that you paid hard earned cash for the vacation, it is important to be considerate of the others. One of the very few drawbacks of a cruise vacation is the necessity of sharing relatively limited public areas. The need to share these areas means, we all have to follow certain rules of cruise etiquette. Although the thousands of passengers onboard come from all over the world and have a multitude of cultural backgrounds, there are certain rules we can all follow.

Follow the Dress Code

People often use the excuse “it’s my vacation and I dress however I want”. This may be true but there are also thousands of other people onboard with whom you chose to share your vacation. Many people really look forward to the atmosphere formal night or other theme nights provide and it is selfish to ruin it for those people because it is “your vacation”. The daily program tells you what the appropriate attire is for each evening, the cruise lines have spend a lot of time making these guidelines, so please follow them.

Control Your Children

Children do the darnedest things, but sometimes those things aren’t appropriate for a cruise ship. While you may be amused by watching junior and his sister splash in the pool the other people getting splashed may not think it is so great. For both their safety and the safety of others, parents should never leave their children unsupervised.

Do not be a Chair Hog

Raise your hand if this sounds familiar. You get up early to get a seat by the pool. When you get to the pool deck you find that all of the favorable chairs have been covered in towels, yet no one is around. A few hours later, a few people show up to finally make use of their spots. In my opinion this is very selfish behavior, no ship has enough deck space to accommodate a chair for every passenger so when someone with no plans to use a chair claims one all of the other passengers lose.

Wait your turn

I understand that no one wants to waste a moment of vacation time waiting it is inevitable. There are times when certain areas of the ship will develop fairly long lines (debarkation, tender boats, certain buffets). For your safety and the safety of those around you please respect the fact that order does need to be maintained even if it means you have to wait for sushi or end up getting off the ship twenty minutes later than you had hoped.

Do not be needlessly loud

People go to sleep and wake up at different times. We all need to respect that not everyone lives his or her lives the way we do. In an effort to respect that please, don’t make unnecessary noise. What I mean by that is yelling in cabins and hallways, slamming doors or turning the volume on the television or CD player to eleven.

While these are just the basics of how someone should behave on a cruise ship or in general, there are many other rules of etiquette that can be listed. I chose the ones that are most often ignored to write about but what it all comes down to is even though it is “your vacation”, but please respect that it is also “their vacation”.

Should I Book a Pre-Cruise Stay?

Written by T.I. Cruiser on November 18, 2008 · Leave a Comment

If someone were to ask me “how early should I arrive at the port of embarkation”, my answer would always be the same. Fly in the day before you set sail. The reason I give that as an answer is simple, I do not trust the airlines.

While I will strongly recommend booking a pre-cruise hotel stay near the port of disembarkation, it is a decision each individual needs to make on his or her own. All I can do is give you my reasons for never cruising without booking a pre-cruise stay.

Lessens the chance that a missed flight or late arrival threatens your cruise

Any time you have connecting flights or are flying overseas, you should arrive a day early. When dealing with connecting flights there are so many opportunities for something to go wrong. Do yourself a favor, fly in early; it may be the difference between missing your ship and boarding it.

Eliminates pre-cruise anxiety and gives me a chance to relax before I board the ship.

The morning of your cruise all you have to do is get to the airport, check your bags, board the plane, pick up your bags and make it to the cruise terminal. That is a lot to have to worry about the first day of your vacation. When I fly down the day before the cruise, I eliminate almost all of the opportunities for something to go wrong. All of the worries happen the day before the cruise (which makes it a lot less stressful). The worst thing that could happen is the taxi driver getting lost on the way to the cruise terminal.

If the airlines misplace my luggage it gives them a full day to find it

Luckily, the airlines have only lost my luggage once. Fortunately for me, I flew down the day before my ship left. My bags didn’t stay lost for very long, they arrived a couple of flights after I did. I got the phone call that they were sending my bags over to the hotel about 5 pm which was fine for my situation but if I hadn’t flown down the day before I would have been on my way to St. Thomas well before my bags arrived.

It allows me to explore the city my cruise is departing from (it is almost like an extra port)

For many cruises, some of the most interesting ports of call are the ports of embarkation. Anyone who has ever booked a pre-cruise stay in London, San Juan, New York or Miami can assure you that it is akin to having an extra port of call. Most of these embarkation ports have something for everyone and you are shortchanging yourself if you are not taking advantage of the opportunity.

I can wake up in my hotel room much later allowing me to enter my first day of cruising fully refreshed

In my opinion waking up before the sun comes up to catch a flight is not way to start your vacation. By the time you go through all of the hassle at the airport, collect your baggage and make your way to the cruise terminal you are exhausted. Flying down a day early means, I can catch an afternoon flight, stay at a hotel and wake up at my leisure. Those extra hours of sleep allow me to arrive at the ship fully rested and ready to have fun.

As you can see my two main reasons for flying in a day early are exhaustion and fear. Coffee and Travel Insurance are ways of dealing with both of those fears. The problem is caffeine wears off and travel insurance cannot reimburse you for lost vacation time or the tension you will most likely carry around for the remainder of the vacation. Do yourself a favor, find an affordable hotel and take the extra day or two in order to make sure your next cruise vacation is perfect.