Travel Adviser: Cruising

Facebook Travel Adviser: Often I receive tags and messages from friends and family on Facebook asking for travel advice. A friend suggested that I start posting this advice, so here you go. My 20-something cousin recently moved to the Tampa area and asked for cruising advice. Hope it helps you too!

‎Question: I'm looking for some travel advice and I couldn't think of a better person to ask😊... I am becoming more and more interested with going on a cruise now that I live closer to a few ports. I'm not picky about when or for how long, but i have no idea what to expect. Is there a cheaper season to take a cruise? A cheaper site to book through? What expenses do you have while on the cruise? I just couldn't do any more research until after you shared your wisdom My Answer:

Oooo, yay! I am so jealous that you live so near the ports! We always said that if we did, we would cruise ALL the time. Okay, so if you just want to give it a try, I'd recommend taking a shorter, cheaper one. We LOVE cruising, but admittedly, the first cruise, it took me a day or so to decide that I was okay being trapped on a boat in the middle of the ocean. IF you decide you hate it, you'll be glad it's short (like 3-5 days). Usually the Bahamas are the cheapest, and Carnival is one of the least expensive cruise lines. Honestly, it's not our favorite. But, it would be up to you. It's more of a drinking and partying atmosphere, which I know is ideal for some - we're just more floating retirement home kind of people, lol. Seriously, though, if you think Carnival is your type of cruise line, you can get some really amazing deals. We really, really like Princess. It's classier, but a fair amount more expensive. Royal Caribbean is pretty much the in between on both. They have nice ships, great food and really good prices. We like it a lot and they have some really cheap Bahamas deals. We really enjoy cruises to Cozumel, Mexico. They are usually pretty affordable. We like snorkeling there, and have a favorite resort we spend the day at. Sometimes you can find some really good deals to Honduras and Belize too. ​​

Trust me, ​DO NOT go during school holidays! I know you enjoy children about as much as we do, and the ships are loaded with them during the summer, Christmas break and Spring break season. Also, this is when prices are the highest. We like to go around mid-January through February (maybe early March) and late September through the end of November. Check out cruise.com and cruises.com. Royal Caribbean often has good deals on their website too.

Pretty much all of your big room and board expenses are paid for when you book. When you look at the prices, you'll have to add on port fees. This will depend on which ports you visit and what their fees are. You could be talking anywhere from about $80-$300. Then you add your tips (some require you to pay up front). They usually put these at about $12.50 per person per day. Your food is all included, most of your snacks and activities. If you don't want to spend a dime on board, you don't have to. Often, we don't. There are several optional expenses: Now, they have several activities they charge for (they didn't used to have very many), but they are totally up to you if you want to do them (usually classes that require supplies, food workshops, alcohol tastings, etc). If you want to have soda or alcohol, you will have to pay for that (a drink package), but coffee, tea, flavored water, most juices, etc... included. They also have fancier specialty restaurants that would have an additional fee, but the RC or Princess dining rooms are nice enough, that it's totally not necessary.

If you want to do excursions, on shore, there is additional cost to this. You can book through the ship - which, budget wise, we do not recommend. They are WAAAAAY overpriced. We see what's around, check Trip Advisor, like to look at what they offer (on their website) and then just google and do it on our own. Saves us anywhere from 20%-75%. If you just want to hang out at the beach, I wouldn't worry about it putting a big plan together, but I'd still recommend that you check out Tripadvisor to find the type of beach area you're looking for. We like to do activities, so we just put together our own "excursion." Snorkeling is fun and cheap - and really good in the Caribbean. And snacks and drinks on shore are always much cheaper than on the ship, and very easy to find. I think this covers all of the points of interest you mentioned. Trying to think about anything I may have missed... If I think of anything, I'll be sure to add it. If you have any more questions, don't hesitate!