Taking a cruise in just like anything else – it takes planning. And just like any vacation you can spend everything you have (and more) OR you can cut corners a little here and there.
First of all I think everyone needs to know that the “FORMAL” nights are slipping away. So the need for carrying “gown” and “tuxedo” is no longer necessary. (Okay, if you’re sailing on one of the small, exclusive ships you will need them and probably more than one set of finery. I won’t be discussing those types of cruises here.)
My intent is to give you some hints into how to save a little money while seeing some fabulous places.
Cruising is cheapest IF you are within driving distance of a cruise port. The costs and hassle of air travel can drive vacation costs out of reach of a lot of people so why not set your sights on what’s available near your point of departure (your home).
Of course, this may limit your choice of destinations but if you’re cruising for the first time you won’t have too much invested if you really don’t care for being on a ship.
I am only listing the major cruise ports. I know there are other ports … like the Intercoastal waterway on the East coast, The Columbia River on the West Coast and the Great Lakes, just to name a few, but I don't have enough information on them to share.
Just some examples in the US and Canada, to get your mind thinking:
- The Northeast has Boston, New York City, Philadelphia, Bayonne, Baltimore and Norfolk.
- The Southeast has Charleston, Jacksonville, Port Canaveral, Fort Lauderdale, Tampa and Miami.
- The Gulf area has New Orleans, Mobile, Galveston and Houston.
- The West Coast has San Diego, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle.
- Alaska has Seward (Anchorage), Whittier and Juneau.
- Hawaii has departures mainly from Honolulu.
- Canada has Montreal and Vancouver.
Now that you’re armed with this information you can pick the port closest to you and start your research.
I bet you’re wondering where to start. I can’t do your planning, but I can give you some good leads.
First, go to the internet and type in the name of the port you want to research – for example, “Cruise port San Diego”. You should get at least one hit that is the real/official website for the port. This port website is the place where you’ll find all the cruise lines that use that port for embarkation.
Next, go to each of the websites for those cruise lines (some port sites provide links). At these sites you’ll be able to find out the itinerary available from your port.
This sounds like a lot of work, but just like RedGage, a Blog or your day job, you have to put in a little work in order to have a good payday. The payday for doing all the research on a cruise is 1) learning something new, 2) having some fun doing it 3) saving some money on a vacation.
I think this is enough for you to absorb – but there is a lot more I will be sharing, so stay tuned!
cool
ReplyDeleteCruising can be fun! Thanks for stopping by.
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