Tips and Tricks
Where to Start:
Suggestions and Tips:
Suggestions and Tips:
There's
honestly SO many variables that it's hard to know where to start when
planning a cruise, which can make it very overwhelming, tedious, and
time-consuming. With any luck, the following personal opinions and tips
will help reduce a small portion of the stress!
Cruise Lines:
I have travelled on the following:
~Carnival: 7 times
~Royal Caribbean: 2 times
~Norwegian Cruise Line: 1 time
My personal thought is Carnival will probably be the cheapest financially. I know that sometimes it might appear to be aimed for children, but it's really not. They're the "Fun Ships" and want people of all ages to enjoy. For the best deal (usually) I'd recommend Carnival. Royal Caribbean will also often have good sales, but I do find cost a few hundred dollars more than Carnival. Totally personal opinion. I do recognize that Royal Caribbean is a little more classy than Carnival, and their food is slightly better too. I'm a fan of finding the deals, so Carnival is where I turn to.
Travel Agent: That's up to you. I don't feel the need to pay someone for what I can book online myself, so I don't use an agent. There are major pros to using a travel agent, such as their expertise in recommendations, as well as it's their job to make sure your arrangements are all worked out and any changes will be addressed quickly.
Flights: I also buy my own. I think there probably is a benefit to buying them as a package from the cruise line (such as they guarantee they'll get you to your destination before the cruise or they'll wait for you, etc.) but you definitely pay the price when booking with a cruise line. I prefer Southwest- it's almost always the cheapest option and every person gets two checked bags for free, where most every other airline charges $25 a bag. Southwest flies to a few port areas out of Florida, such as Orlando and Fort Lauderdale, which are two of the common cruise port areas as well.
Cabins:
Inside Rooms will always be the cheapest- there are no windows to the outside. I've never done one of these, but do have a few booked for the next year, so we'll see how those turn out!
Oceanview (with a window) is what I prefer and have almost always done. It's nice to see the ocean and sun, especially when you wake up in the middle of the night or morning and you can kinda tell what time it is without looking at a clock.
Balcony rooms are bigger and obviously have and outside balcony you can stand on, but are usually pretty expensive. We just did a balcony for our honeymoon and basically never used it because we felt weird sitting in our room when we could be exploring the ship.
Suites are your most expensive cabins but often have nice perks.
Carnival Extras: Spa rooms bring added perks, including nicer in-room shower amenities and access to the Thermal Suites for an incredible amount of added relaxation. We had the Thermal Suite pass for our honeymoon on the Vista and my husband was blown away by how much relaxation it added to the trip.
The Havana spaces on the newer Carnival ships (Vista, Horizon, Panorama) also bring the giant added perk of a special pool deck and bar solely for the Havana guests. We are booked on one in 2019 and can't wait!
How to Start:
My suggestion would be find a few weeks that you're able to travel, and head over to a few cruise websites to check out their cruise searches. Once on these websites, you can enter criteria such as months for travel, length of the cruise, destinations (such as Caribbean or Bahamas), and departure ports. Keep a spreadsheet or Word Doc of information of cruises that look appealing. Note the days the cruise is sailing, what ports, and what the price per person is. This can help you nail down a few solid choices.
Other pieces of info:
-I prefer to fly in the day before the cruise, that way if there are any plane or weather related issues, there's some buffer room to get another flight instead of doing it the day of sailings. This means that you'll have to book a hotel for that night as well, which is an added expense. I think it's worth it for piece of mind.
-Time of year: Hurricane season is technically June-November, but the most active months are August/September/October. That's not to say don't cruise then. A LOT of people do and I'd say 99% of the time there's either not a problem or the ship goes around it. A lot more Bahama/Caribbean cruises happen in the winter, and usually Spring Break season is more expensive than winter. Spring Break season actually raises prices for most weeks in March and part of April, so heads up about that. My other general pricing advice is that the sooner you book, the better deal you'll find. There are occasionally last minute cruise deals, but then you risk airfare being very expensive or hard to find.
-I also would recommend looking at cruise ship deck plans to make sure there's not a food prep galley, gym, or basketball court directly over your head, or another type of venue that would be super noisy.
-Drink Situation: I like carrying on my own soda onboard, as it's much cheaper than paying for onboard prices. For Carnival, each passenger is allow to bring on twelve 12oz cans of pop. Also, each person 21+ is allowed to bring on one 750ml bottle of wine or champagne. If you forget a corkscrew, just ask your room steward! Royal Caribbean also allows up to two 750ml bottles per stateroom, however they don't currently allow carrying on pop.
Cruise Lines:
I have travelled on the following:
~Carnival: 7 times
~Royal Caribbean: 2 times
~Norwegian Cruise Line: 1 time
My personal thought is Carnival will probably be the cheapest financially. I know that sometimes it might appear to be aimed for children, but it's really not. They're the "Fun Ships" and want people of all ages to enjoy. For the best deal (usually) I'd recommend Carnival. Royal Caribbean will also often have good sales, but I do find cost a few hundred dollars more than Carnival. Totally personal opinion. I do recognize that Royal Caribbean is a little more classy than Carnival, and their food is slightly better too. I'm a fan of finding the deals, so Carnival is where I turn to.
Travel Agent: That's up to you. I don't feel the need to pay someone for what I can book online myself, so I don't use an agent. There are major pros to using a travel agent, such as their expertise in recommendations, as well as it's their job to make sure your arrangements are all worked out and any changes will be addressed quickly.
Flights: I also buy my own. I think there probably is a benefit to buying them as a package from the cruise line (such as they guarantee they'll get you to your destination before the cruise or they'll wait for you, etc.) but you definitely pay the price when booking with a cruise line. I prefer Southwest- it's almost always the cheapest option and every person gets two checked bags for free, where most every other airline charges $25 a bag. Southwest flies to a few port areas out of Florida, such as Orlando and Fort Lauderdale, which are two of the common cruise port areas as well.
Cabins:
Inside Rooms will always be the cheapest- there are no windows to the outside. I've never done one of these, but do have a few booked for the next year, so we'll see how those turn out!
Oceanview (with a window) is what I prefer and have almost always done. It's nice to see the ocean and sun, especially when you wake up in the middle of the night or morning and you can kinda tell what time it is without looking at a clock.
Balcony rooms are bigger and obviously have and outside balcony you can stand on, but are usually pretty expensive. We just did a balcony for our honeymoon and basically never used it because we felt weird sitting in our room when we could be exploring the ship.
Suites are your most expensive cabins but often have nice perks.
Carnival Extras: Spa rooms bring added perks, including nicer in-room shower amenities and access to the Thermal Suites for an incredible amount of added relaxation. We had the Thermal Suite pass for our honeymoon on the Vista and my husband was blown away by how much relaxation it added to the trip.
The Havana spaces on the newer Carnival ships (Vista, Horizon, Panorama) also bring the giant added perk of a special pool deck and bar solely for the Havana guests. We are booked on one in 2019 and can't wait!
How to Start:
My suggestion would be find a few weeks that you're able to travel, and head over to a few cruise websites to check out their cruise searches. Once on these websites, you can enter criteria such as months for travel, length of the cruise, destinations (such as Caribbean or Bahamas), and departure ports. Keep a spreadsheet or Word Doc of information of cruises that look appealing. Note the days the cruise is sailing, what ports, and what the price per person is. This can help you nail down a few solid choices.
Other pieces of info:
-I prefer to fly in the day before the cruise, that way if there are any plane or weather related issues, there's some buffer room to get another flight instead of doing it the day of sailings. This means that you'll have to book a hotel for that night as well, which is an added expense. I think it's worth it for piece of mind.
-Time of year: Hurricane season is technically June-November, but the most active months are August/September/October. That's not to say don't cruise then. A LOT of people do and I'd say 99% of the time there's either not a problem or the ship goes around it. A lot more Bahama/Caribbean cruises happen in the winter, and usually Spring Break season is more expensive than winter. Spring Break season actually raises prices for most weeks in March and part of April, so heads up about that. My other general pricing advice is that the sooner you book, the better deal you'll find. There are occasionally last minute cruise deals, but then you risk airfare being very expensive or hard to find.
-I also would recommend looking at cruise ship deck plans to make sure there's not a food prep galley, gym, or basketball court directly over your head, or another type of venue that would be super noisy.
-Drink Situation: I like carrying on my own soda onboard, as it's much cheaper than paying for onboard prices. For Carnival, each passenger is allow to bring on twelve 12oz cans of pop. Also, each person 21+ is allowed to bring on one 750ml bottle of wine or champagne. If you forget a corkscrew, just ask your room steward! Royal Caribbean also allows up to two 750ml bottles per stateroom, however they don't currently allow carrying on pop.
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