A SUPER-SAVING TRAVEL TUESDAY COLUMN FOR CRUISERS AND WANNA-BE-CRUISERS!!! Make sure you get to the big $$ savings announcement at the end of the post!
I LOVE to cruise. If you’ve been on a cruise or two or twenty before, I’m sure you can relate. If you haven’t, WHY NOT?? There are a few top things that make me ‘love’ cruising:
- CONVENIENCE: With a cruise, you have the ability to see a lot of places and things without having to unpack/repack, drag luggage around, waste time checking in/out of multiple hotels, or arranging for trains, planes and automobiles in every destination of your tour.
- VARIETY: You’re in a different place nearly every day – and, during the boring travel time, you are gently rocked to sleep in the peace and calm of your own little cabin (unless, of course, you can spring for a big suite – then you’re gently rocked to sleep in the peace and calm of your own giant cabin with your own private valet to attend to your every need!).
- ENTERTAINMENT: All built in! Bands, string quartets, singers, magicians, comedians, and, now, on some ships, they even have full ‘Broadway’ musicals (don’t get me wrong, there is NO substitute for seeing a show on Broadway, but there is something quite unique and fun about seeing a musical while on a giant ship!). Some of the larger ships, complete with ice skating rinks (yes, you can go ice skating on a cruise ship in the middle of the ocean!), have ice shows!
- FUN, FUN, FUN & COMRADERY: We always make new friends, many of whom continue to be friends long after sailing, on cruises. We meet them at parlor game activities (trivia, name that tune, sea quest), karaoke nights, at the casino, on tours, hanging out by the pool, and at meal time (I’m not even gonna start talking about the food, food, food, and more food on cruise ships – and yes, if you want to watch the calories, every restaurant has healthy options and they always have a big, beautiful fully equipped gym, including classes, on the ships).
- ROMANCE OR FAMILY OR REUNIONS OR SOLO TRAVEL: Obviously, as I’m sure many of you remember from “The Love Boat” (am I dating myself?), cruises cater to romance. But they also cater to families, large groups (friends, reunions), and solo travelers. I had a brother-in-law, a confirmed ol’ bachelor, who loved to travel solo. By making sure to book a large-table seating reservation for dinner, he was able to quickly bond with the same small groups of passengers, and never felt as though he was odd-man-out or travelling alone. Cruising is the perfect way to travel if you don’t have a travel buddy (although, be warned, you may have to pay a little extra for a solo cabin).
- VALUE: Since everything but the booze and shore excursions are included (and, on many lines, you can get either or both included), you can budget and stick to it (so long as you limit your casino and Bingo activities, lol!).
As those of you who know me are aware, and those who don’t will learn really quickly, I’m a planner. I don’t just plan; I obsess about every tiny little detail. I once planned a family (13 of us) cruise to Italy where I even provided packing lists and Euro breakdowns to each traveler in our group so they knew exactly how many Euros they’d need for an excursion (when you’re travelling in a group, you can plan some private excursions if you know good tour guides), and approximately how many they’d need for tips for each day’s off-ship activities, and, most importantly, how many Euros they’d need for a shot of espresso and/or a scoop of gelato! I put the same obsessive personality flaw into finding the best deal for a cruise.
SO, a few months ago, when I started planning another group cruise (so far there will be 8 family members, WOOHOO!!!), after I narrowed down my choices to the cruise that had the best ports on the best dates on the best ship, I LITERALLY spent 12 hours (5am to 5pm) going from the Cruise Line site (in this case, RCCL), to big travel sites (Orbitz, Expedia, etc.), to Cruise specialty sales sites, comparing pricing, cabin availability (many sites said the balcony cabins were completely sold out!) before stumbling on my new GO-TO CRUISE RESERVATION SITE! I had sticky-notes with pricing and cabin numbers all over my monitor, desk, and lamp. It was a real site to be behold!
HERE’S THE PART ABOUT SAVING A LOT OF $$ AND HEADACHES….
I came across a website where reputable Travel Agents compete for YOUR business, rather than making you have to beg for them to give you the best pricing! On this site, you can search for cruises by date, destination, port, ship, length – whatever specifics you want, then, when you’ve narrowed it down, instead of going crazy comparing prices (like I did for the 12 hours before finding them), you sign-up (no charge to sign-up at all), fill out a quickie request form, including what level of cabin you are interested in, and hit SEND (I think it was “SEND” – could have been “GO!”). Within ½ an hour, I had my first response (may have been sooner), and by the next morning I had several more! The Cruise travel agents CAME TO ME with their best pricing and perks, I didn’t have to go to each of them! Most of the agents quoted the same price for the cabin class I requested, but there was a HUGE difference in the perks. Some offered $50 cabin credit (to be spent on excursions, bar, massages, gift shop), others offered as much as $275 cabin credit! Some included the daily tips for cruise staff, others did not. The results were straight-forward and easy to compare. I chose the best quote, contacted the agent by CHAT (you can call them or email if you prefer, but I’m into instant-gratification and type really fast, so chat is usually my first choice), then booked! NOW, in my case, the quote I chose not only offered a cabin spending credit, but they were 30% LESS than any other agency, including the cruise line itself, on their cabin price!!!! Why? Because they had booked a block of cabins a long time ago when the cruise line first announced the cruise and some early sales, and they were passing on those held cabins to their customers (ME!!!). I was able to snag 2 of the 3 discounted balcony cabins, and am THRILLED – the savings, convenience and speed is mind blowing!
Now, because I REALLY like you, and want you ALL to go on a cruise, following is the link to the site I’m now in LOVE with for planning a cruise! (STOP PROCRASTINATING – JUST BOOK ONE – FOR THIS YEAR, NEXT YEAR, EVEN AHEAD FOR 2019!!!! Don’t think you can afford it? WRONG! There are cruises and cabins for most every budget, and, if you book far ahead, you’ll have lots of time to save up! START ADDING LIFE TO YOUR YEARS – GET OUT OF THAT ‘SOMEDAY’ MODE!!!
