Hi all,

Some have asked what we paid for our recent 28 day cruise to the Hawaiian and Tahitian Islands.  The original cost, when the cruise became available 2 years ago, was $3,300 per person but after watching on a weekly basis for specials or price reductions we were able to get the cruise down to $2,800.  We pick out a destination we want to travel and watch for cruise itineraries that interest us.  With airfare costing around $340 a person and cruise fare taxes at $135, the total cost of our trip was $3,275 a person plus whatever we elected to spend while on the cruise.  What other vacation can you take for less than $125 per day with all the food you can eat and the entertainment you can watch, while seeing some of the most exotic places in the world!  We are sold on cruising as the absolute best value proposition for a vacation that exists today.

We also have learned some other “tricks” to increase our spending money while on a cruise.  Almost all cruise lines offer future cruise bookings (deposits made during a cruise for a future cruise) where you can easily pay a $100 down payment that allows you to book a cruise with that cruise line, either at the time you make your deposit or within a 2-4 year period.  The advantage to making these future cruise bookings on board your cruise ship is that you receive an on board credit of anywhere between $25 and $300 (depending on the length of your cruise and cabin type). You must make this future cruise booking while on a cruise as this is free money on the next cruise you take with that cruise line!  We always have extra future cruise bookings available for both Princess and Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines whom we most frequently cruise.  Besides the on board credit you get, the other benefit of these future cruise bookings is you only end up paying a $100 deposit per person when you book your next cruise instead of the typical $300-500 required.  Princess also allows for each person in a cabin (up to 2) to use a future cruise deposit which doubles your on board credit.

In addition to gaining on board credit for future cruise bookings made on board your previous cruise, you can also get similar on board credit for owning cruise line company stock (typically 100 shares) or having been a member of the military.  This credit varies once again on the length of cruise and on how long the cruise is but you can get up to $250 in on board credit.  Not all cruise lines offer these incentives but the three largest cruise companies, Carnival Corporation, Royal Caribbean and Norwegian, all offer at least stock ownership on board booking credits. Carnival Corporation comprises of several cruise lines such as Carnival, Holland America, Princess, Cunard, P&O and Costa.  Royal Caribbean Corporation is comprised of Royal Caribbean, Celebrity and Azamara cruise lines.  Princess is the only cruise line we are aware of that provides on board credit for having been in the military although several cruise lines provide military discounts on fares.  Some cruise lines also provide fare discounts for law enforcement, fire, seniors and at times certain state resident discounts.  Princess is also one of the few cruise lines that allow these on board credits to be cumulative.  For the 28 day Hawaii Tahiti cruise we took we were allowed on board credit of $800 ($150x2 future cruise credit a piece + $250 stock ownership + $250 Greg’s previous military service).  This on board credit paid for our gratuities and one ship excursion we planned to take.

Another question we have been asked is how do we book our port excursions.  Each cruise line has a listing of port excursions that the ship offers.  These are available to book after final payment is made and we strongly encourage you to make these reservations early as it’s on a first-come, first-serve basis and many of the more popular excursions sell out quickly.  You can always book early and if you decide to cancel at a later date you can do it either on-line or when you board the ship.  Most cruise lines provide a 24-48 hour timeframe on when you are able to cancel without a penalty.  We typically do a lot of research on a particular port to determine what to do in that port.  You need to keep in mind that you may never visit this port again and you certainly don’t want to miss one of the most spectacular sites available or one of the most exciting things to try while you are there.  After we determine what we want to do from our research, we inquire with various tour companies on pricing, availability, start/stop times (to ensure time slot is within the time the ship is in dock) and if they pick up/drop off at the pier where the ship will be docked.  We tend to like these private excursions as the groups are typically much smaller and more of a personal tour rather than an entire bus load of passengers. In most cases excursions booked outside of the cruise line will cost less due to the commission the cruise line makes with each excursion they sell.  We do book ship excursions if it will be an entire day trip and we feel that there may be some risk to make it back to the ship at the departure time.  If you are booked on a ship’s excursion, the ship will await your return or at least commit to pay your way to the next port if unusual circumstances prevent the tour from getting back to the ship in time.  If you tour privately, there are no guarantees that the ship will wait and it will be up to you to make your own transportation plans at your own cost to meet up with the ship at the next port if the ship leaves without you.  There are some third party excursion companies we deal with that also make a promise to pay your way to the next port on the rare occasion the ship leaves without you. 

In our next blog we will discuss the future cruises we have planned and group cruises we are organizing.

Hi all,

 Our cruise has finally come to an end after 28 great days!  We thought we would share with you some of the things we do while on board the ship when we are not at a port.  We enjoy sea days although port days are usually more interesting.  You always need a few sea days in between port days to recharge you batteries and review your plans on what you are going to do at the next port.

In order to enjoy the great food on the ship we always get plenty of exercise.  We will either spend at least an hour at the gym or find some sport to do on the ship.  This cruise we have found a group of people who enjoy playing paddle tennis.  This is a game somewhere between tennis and paddle ball that is played on a very small tennis court with wooden paddles.  In order to play it on a cruise ship the entire court has a net around it to prevent balls from flying into the ocean! We have played paddle tennis on several other Princess ships and were happy to find that this ship also had a court we could use.  During one of the first days they announced paddle tennis play in the “Patter” (ship newspaper); several people came up to play.  The ship staff organized a tournament and we were able to beat everyone to win a big prize (a magnetic wall clip!).  Since this first day the group has grown and sometimes we have 10 or 12 people wanting to play.  We had been playing in the mornings with another couple to avoid some of the crowds that sometimes show up in the afternoon.  This has been great exercise and we haven’t been going to the gym much because we have been playing 3-4 hours a day on the paddle tennis court. We also did not gain a pound between us while cruising and eating for 28 days!

Other activity options available throughout the day while on board the ship are: reading magazines or a good book; gym classes (Zumba, Boot Camp, Spinning, Yoga, Morning Stretch, etc.); view lecturers that come on board to speak on specific topics (nature, highlights of our port stops, ship bridge talk, etc.); participate in arts and crafts activities; play the trivia challenges; gamble in the casino tournaments (Texas Hold’Em, slot machines, Roulette, Craps or blackjack); participate in organized sports tournaments (golf putting, basketball, volleyball, table tennis, paddle tennis, shuffleboard, etc.); play games with other passengers (bridge/mahjong, Sudoku challenge, board games): take one of the seminars (digital camera, iPods, IPhones, future cruise itineraries, health, etc.); participate in a musical class (ukulele lessons were provided on this cruise in addition to singing contests); watch an array of demonstrations (that include specific food cooking, ice carving, art of making alcoholic beverages); participate in organized games (such as belly flop contest, best looking legs, pool Olympics, etc.).  These options change daily and there are too many things to list.  Each cruise has unique offering such as Easter egg decorating and egg drop contests as well as a Murder Mystery plot on this cruise.

In the evenings there are always various entertainment opportunities.  There are usually two shows going on with different entertainers in addition to a movie being played outside on the big screen by the swimming pool (called “Movies Under the Stars”).  We had seen several movies while on board and almost always at least see one of the entertainers each night.  The entertainers vary from comedians, jugglers, ventriloquists, instrumentalists, vocalists, magicians, to the ship’s onboard production singers and dancers.  We like the Princess production singers and dancers as they put on very nice Broadway type shows.  They always have at least 3 unique shows and sometimes on longer cruises like this they have one or two more new shows.  A few outside entertainers come on board where the cruise originates and they depart at the next arrival port where other new entertainers come onboard.  This is done throughout the cruise for a good variety of different entertainers.  Some of these entertainers perform multiple shows with different content on different nights.  There is one large theater on board that holds several hundred people and one large lounge where shows are presented which can hold a couple hundred people.  Each entertainer has two or three shows each night.  Entertainment is included with the cost of your cruise fare and is always very good.

If the entertainers or movies don’t interest you during an evening there are also different dance music options available at the various lounges around the ship.  The music varies from ballroom dancing to country western to discothèque DJ music.  Almost every ship, including this one, has a piano bar where you can sing along with the piano player.

There are always some many good options we are almost never left with nothing to do.  On those rare occasions where nothing scheduled interests us, we bring along a backgammon set that we can play while having a drink or sipping some coffee.  Guess what? We didn’t play backgammon once this cruise!  

Cruising is fun and there is always something you can find to do when you are on a ship.  

Greg and Sharon Conrad