BEFORE YOU BOOK THAT CRUISE - PART 1

RESEARCH IS THE KEY

So let’s look at some things you need to know before you invest any of your hard-earned cash.

Cruises are “cashless”.  This means you will be issued a ship card that is nearly limitless.

This card will open your cabin door, allow you on and off the ship and CHARGE any purchase you make to your account.

These cards aren’t just handed out as you check in; you have to prove you can afford to pay your bill at the end of the cruise.  In order to receive one of these cards (and to board the ship) you will have to fork over some cash or provide the cruise line with a credit card that has a high enough limit.  In the past this meant a minimum of $300 per couple.

If you laid down cash, once the $300 has been used, you will be cut off and/or you will receive a nice letter from the Pursers Office asking you to bring more money to them to be added to your account so you can keep spending.  If you don’t add money to your account, you will spend the rest of your cruise living without the luxuries. (You won’t suffer.  You just won’t be able to indulge.)

If you gave them a credit card, well, if you’re not keeping track of your spending you might be in for a big surprise after you get home and the bill arrives.  The cruise line makes it easy to keep track off your spending by making it accessible 24/7 via the television in your cabin.  

Another reason for checking your account is to be sure no incorrect charges are made.  I’ve sailed numerous times … and only had a couple of incorrect charges, but it does happen.  It’s easier to correct an incorrect charge soon after it happens, rather than at the end of the cruise (or after you get home) when your final statement is slipped under your door.  By the way, once the cruise is done NO ONE can leave the ship until ALL accounts are settled.

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Now let’s look at the first thing that is not included in the price of the cruise – PARKING.  Parking can be very expensive, is not included and cannot be charged to your ship card.

Departing from a port near home saves the cost of airfare; however, you can spend a lot of money if you use the parking garage provided by the port.  It is convenient but the daily parking fees are high – some extremely high.  Here are a few examples:

      -     Port Everglades, Florida                                   $15

      -     Tampa, Florida                                                 $15

      -     Miami, Florida                                                  $20

      -     Manhattan, New York                                      $30-$40

However, with a little research (on-line, of course) you can usually cut that cost almost in half and sometimes eliminate it all together.

If you are planning to drive to the port city the day before, check the hotels in the area for a “stay, park and cruise” special.  Many hotels near airports and cruise ports allow you to park your vehicle for the length of your cruise with just a one-night stay. 

 

An example of this is when we were sailing on a 10 night cruise out of Miami.  Parking at the terminal would have been $200 - $220.  Yikes!!  Checking on-line I found a big-name hotel that not only allowed us to park our car for the 10 days we’d be gone, it also gave us transfers to the port and a good breakfast the morning we left the hotel.

The hotel cost was $140, which we probably would have spent anyway – because hotels in Miami are not cheap.  The transfers to the port for the two of us were worth $24.  Breakfast was probably worth another $16 for both of us.

If I hadn’t done my research the total for just the hotel, breakfast and parking would have been around $376 – and we spent $140 – saving $236.  Plus we didn’t have to deal with the traffic in an unfamiliar city.

Okay, so you’re not driving down the day before – no problem, you can still save.

Go to your favorite search engine and search on “parking at the Port of (name of your port)”.  Not only will you get the port parking you will get hits on “off-site” parking.  Check a few of these for rates, specials, free transportation to and from the cruise terminal, security and hours of operation.  I’ve found the rates are always cheaper – usually by half – and you will be dropped off and picked up.  This means you won’t have to deal with the traffic at the port.

In addition to the cheaper daily “drive up” rates, I’ve discovered that many off-site parking facilities offer an even cheaper daily rate if you book in advance. Plus I’ve found they sometimes have a weekly rate.  These are normally only offered on-line.  If you just drive in without a reservation, it will be cheaper than at the port, but not as cheap as having a reservation.

So, are you ready to start on the next leg of your research adventure?

Terrific!  Off you go – and while you’re having fun researching, I’ll work on information for the next part of this project. 

Never fear – have fun researching, as it will make your final goal – a good, but less expensive vacation – more enjoyable.

http://www.redgage.com/rene