Travel By Water In Luxury
Cruise are once again in vogue.
Travel journalist Valarie D'Elia explains to The Early Show that vacations on the high seas are more affordable than ever before. Even luxury liners now have packages that the average person can afford. D'Elia also gives some tips on where to find some cruise deals.
According to D'Elia, since the Sept 11 terrorist attacks, the cruise industry has experienced a bit of a boom. They have lowered prices to attract more travelers who would prefer not to fly. Price slashing — sometimes up to 50 percent — has made the cruise vacation a more affordable option for the person who may not have thought about ocean travel in the past.
How to Find the Sales
Booking a ship can be a complicated process, so feel free to utilize the services of a travel agent who specifically specializes in cruises. It can help if you've done a little legwork and identified the destination, price range, and specific interests you'd want for a cruise. Remember to ask about air travel to your port of call and whether that air travel is included in the overall price of the cruise.
Travel agents have access to specials and last-minute deals that are not publicized. So don't take the advertised price as the final word. Check with an agent about lower fares, or cabin upgrades or upgrades in air travel. Many of the major Web sites are beefing up their cruise sections and are especially good for last-minute buys.
Remember: cruises are their own mini-vacation at sea so you can book a cruise that offers any and everything: spinning classes, yoga, alternative restaurants, VCRs and TVs in cabins with running movies, theme cruises, lectures and cooking lessons.
D'Elia recommends the following when booking a cruise:
- PLAN AHEAD: Book ahead and get your choice of cabin. Find a wider choice of cruise itineraries and gateways. Also, get an early booking discount.
- BOOK AN INSIDE CABIN: You'll always get a better price. An inside cabin will not have a porthole which is why it's less expensive. Frankly, there's so much to do a cruise ship that very little time should be spent in the cabin at all.
- LOOK FOR LUXURY INCENTIVES: Luxury Liners like the Queen Elizabeth II are offering travel packages for less than $1,000. Silversea Cruises, a small-ship luxury cruise line is offering up to 50 percent off select departures through the end of the year.
More Destinations Closer to U.S.
Because many Americans want to vacation close to home, cruise lines have repositioned some of their fleets to sail to destinations closer to the U.S. Right now, ships are repositioning from their summer homes of Alaska and Europe to their winter ports in Florida and the Caribbean.
Cruise lines keep adding new ships, and adding non-traditional ports of call to give more travelers the chance to drive to their ship.
Chicago area resident can sail to the Caribbean from Baltimore, Charleston, New Orleans and Galveston, Texas. Also, cruises depart from Norfolk, Va., to go to the Bahamas.
From Mobile, Ala., one can sail to the Caribbean on Carnival Cruise Lines. Carnival ships are also sailing from Tampa and Port Canaveral, Fla., San Diego, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, and Vancouver, British Columbia.
To view Carnival Cruise Lines' Port Departures click here.
To view Royal Caribbean Cruises' Port Departures click here.
There are nearly triple the number of Pacific port cruises to the Mexican Riveria, and more than double the number of trans-Pacific crossings to Hawaii.
Ports in Texas have increased their cruises to "hot" destinations like Belize and Costa Rica.
New Trends in Cruise Travel
- Short Cruises: Short cruises are becoming more popular with a two- to five-day getaway. Vacationers can save a lot of money this way.
- Book Closer to Departure Date: Going online for last-minute deals can lead to great deals.
- Personalized Voyages: Silversea Cruises is instituting Personalized Voyages where passengers create their own itineraries,getting on and off where they want, as long as they cruise for a five-day minimum. For those with disposable income, World Of Residensea operates a floating ship of condominiums owned by passengers who also have the option to rent them out.
Travel Security
Here are a few things D'Elia says to keep in my when traveling by sea. Since Sept. 11, the cruise industry has been under a "Category 3" security alert — the highest possible alert.
- Passengers must show 2 forms of ID upon embarkation (including a passport, or birth certificate plus a government-issued photo ID)
- All luggage is screened with metal detectors/canines
- Many ships have been moved to safer ports of call and pulled from the eastern Mediterranean and moved to Northern Europe and the Caribbean. Yet, some lines are now reinstating travel to some questionable countries such as Morocco.
Cruise Sites
Carnival can be booked through its website at Carnival.com or 888-Carnival.
For information on Cunard QE2 go to cunard.com or 800-5-CUNARD.
For Silversea its www.silversea.com or 800-722-9955.
For Royal Caribbean its 800-327-6700 or online its www.royalcaribbean.com