Avid Cruiser
January 1, 2005
Top Tips for Smooth Sailing

Sure, it will probably occur to you to bring along a swimsuit and ask a neighbor to water your plants while you’re gone, but you might not have thought about packing your cell phone or pre-booking a shore excursion online. Here are some tips to help you plan, pack and make the most of your cruise.

Skateboards and baggy pants. So who dresses up any more anyway? The president? Your grandfather? If you’re someone who doesn’t consider putting on a suit or fancy dress to be even remotely appealing, there’s hope. Lots of it. Though the traditional formal nights do exist on most ships, they’re now optional. Just about every ship at sea also serves dinner nightly in a casual buffet restaurant, plus many have additional alternative dining outlets that don’t require formalwear (think Norwegian Cruise Line), in addition to snack bars and 24-hour room service. Some ships even tout no-jackets-required dress codes ship wide every night, including Windstar, SeaDream Yacht Club, Star Clippers and Windjammer Barefoot Cruises.

The ultimate wrinkle solution. No need to schlep irons and steamers to keep neat, like hotels ships have laundry and pressing service available, and often dry cleaning too. It’ll cost you a few bucks apiece, and there’s generally a 24-hour turnaround time. For do-it-yourselfers, some ships also have self-service laundry and ironing rooms, including Carnival, Disney, Oceania, Princess, and Holland America (except on its new Vista-class ships). Don’t expect irons in the cabins, though, if you want to press and steam in private, you’ll have to bring along your own equipment.

Foot in the door. Dreaming of a shiatsu or seaweed wrap? If you’re like me, the answer’s yes. Despite eyebrow-raising prices of $100 to $150 per treatment (and more), in my mind, a visit to the spa makes a cruise complete. A lot of passengers seem to think so and the best slots get booked up fast. Unless you take advantage of the few ships that allow you to pre-book spa treatments online before your cruise --- including the Caribbean and Sapphire Princess, QM2 and all four Silversea ships --- you’ve got to literally run up to the spa first thing, before you even hit the bathroom or grab a slice of pizza. If you poke around, the only appointments available will be leftovers like the early morning and dinnertime slots.

Along these same lines, if you want to sample the fare in the intimate alternative-restaurants many ships offer for an extra $10 to $30 a per person, don’t wait till the cruise is half way over to make your ressie. Make your booking on the first or second day of your cruise. Other happenings that require reservations include the Planetarium shows on the QM2; movies under the stars on the Caribbean and Grand Princess; and the ice-skating shows on Royal Caribbean’s Voyager class ships.

Getting around. Don’t assume the ship’s organized tours are your best option, sometimes exploring solo is your best bet, for example in Barcelona, Bermuda and Pompeii, where local buses, ferries and taxis are a great way to see the sites. If you do decide the ships’ tours are best --- and they are in places like Alaska, where it would be pretty challenging to go dog sledding on a glacier all by yourself --- consider pre-booking your tour online. Many cruise lines offer this option for some or all destinations, including Carnival, Royal Caribbean, Celebrity, Holland America, Princess, Radisson, Silversea, Crystal and NCL. (Some lines, like Disney, offer prebooking of shore excursions, but you must fax or email you request to the cruise line.) You can browse tours on the cruise line websites weeks, even months, before your cruise and reserve your tours, typically up until about 5 to 10 days before sailing. This means you can skip the long lines at the shore excursion desk when you first board, as your tickets will be delivered to your cabin. And if you change your mind at some point? Most lines will let you switch tours on-line or get a refund up until about 10 days prior to your cruise; once on board you can typically do so up until about 24 to 72 hours before your tour departure, or less if the tour is popular and your spot can be sold to someone else (policies vary per line).

It’s all connections. If you’re looking for a top-shelf cruise --- ala Silverseas, Seabourn, Radisson, Crystal, Cunard et al --- then it pays to book it through a travel agency that’s a member of Virtuoso. Who? Virtuoso (www.Virtuoso.com or 800/401-4274), a network of 310 agencies that specialize in selling upscale travel, negotiates discounted rates for member agencies and passes on perks like cabin upgrades, free shore excursions, private cocktail parties and $100 (and more) shipboard credits you can use in the spa, gift shops or for other extras on board

Can’t live without it. Staterooms on ultra-lux ships will have a mini-fridge and bathtub, but your standard cabin on a megaship --- Carnival, Royal Caribbean, etc --- might not. If you need a fridge for medicines or milk for your child, and can’t live without a tub, consider Disney, all of the cabins on the line’s two ships have mini-fridges and bathtubs (not to mention a convenient split bathroom set-up, toilet in one room, tub in the other). Just about all cabins on Holland America’s ships have tubs too; otherwise you’ll have to spring for a suite. All cabins on the major lines’ newest ships come equipped with a mini-fridge (empty) or mini-bar (stocked with pay-as-you-go snacks and spirits).

Tote a tote. Especially if you have kids who will need diapers or snacks, keep a carry-on bag with you on embarkation day. Pack it with anything you can’t do without for the afternoon, as you may not see your luggage for a few hours after kissing it good-bye at the cruise terminal. Luggage is loaded in bulk onto the ship, then delivered to cabins by crewmembers. If you board at noon, for example, you may not see your stuff again until 3 or 4, sometimes later. On small ships carrying a few hundred passengers or less, it’s a different story, you’ll have your luggage pronto.

Addictive personality. If you’re hooked on diet coke, sprite or some other soft drink, don’t mortgage your house to feed your habit. Most ships offer soda packages, where for a 7-night cruise you pay between about $20 and $40 for a “soda card” or special cup that you allows you unlimited refills of fountain soda all cruise long (as opposed to paying $1.50 to $2 per can). Exceptions to the rule: you can now get free unlimited fountain sodas from a poolside station on the Disney ships, plus, all of the high-end lines, from Crystal to Silversea, SeaDream Yacht Club and Seabourn, throw in free soda and booze as part of their rates.

The hard sell. You get a lot for your money when you cruise --- your cabin, meals and most entertainment and activities are included in fares that often dip below $100 per person a day. But that’s not the whole story. Once on board, a sea of potential “extras” will surely temp you to spend more. From $425 dog sledding excursions to $9 martinis and $4 bottles of water, you can double the price you paid for your cruise faster than you can say Bon Voyage. Consider that tips will cost you about $10 a day per person and if you want to splurge for that massage, budget $125 to $150 when you factor in the tip. If you can’t go a week without spinning or pilates, then be ready to fork over another $10 per session (only the old farty classes, like step, are free). The list goes on. The casino, onboard shops, florists, alternative dining venues and other stuff is vying for your hard earned dollars. The bottom line: budget….. and practice the words, “no thank you.” That, or consider cruising with one of the ultra-luxe and more expensive lines --- namely Silversea, Seabourn, and SeaDream Yacht Club – that are more inclusive, covering tips and all drinks in their rates.

Staying in touch. Sure you want to cruise to get away from it all …sheeerrrrrr you do. You know darn well you won’t be able to stay from your email for a whole week. And you won’t have to. For a fee, just about all ships offer email access, the vast majority Internet access too, and now more and more are jumping on the wifi bandwagon --- Carnival, Holland America, NCL, Princess and Seabourn all offer wireless Internet connections on board. If you’re more a talker than a typer, go ahead and bring your phone if you’re cruising on a Royal Caribbean, Celebrity or Costa ship, as those fleets are wired for cell phone use. Norwegian and Crystal are shooting to be wired by year-end.



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