all-inclusive cruises?
Any recommendations on the best cruise lines to take? which ones offer all-inclusive deals? Are all-inclusive the way to go?
Categories: All Inclusive Tags: best cruise, cruise lines
Any recommendations on the best cruise lines to take? which ones offer all-inclusive deals? Are all-inclusive the way to go?
Categories: All Inclusive Tags: best cruise, cruise lines
For the most part all cruises are all inclusive. Let me explain.
Regardless of which cruise line you select, the things that are included are pretty much the same. The price of your cruise includes your cabin, all meals (including breakfast, lunch dinner, snacks and free room service)(you do pay to eat in the specialty restaurants), all shows and entertainment, and free use of all facilities on ship. The things that you will have to pay for are:
GRATUITIES: They will amount to about $10 per person in your cabin per day; about $70 each for a 7 day cruise. When you check in at the pier they will set up an on-board charge account for you to cover any and everything you may buy on ship. They will issue you a "cruise card" which will also serve as your room key and pass to get on and off the ship. At the end of the cruise they will add the gratuity to your tab and you can pay with a credit card or cash, your choice.
ALCOHOLIC DRINKS AND SOFT DRINKS: Coffee, tea, milk, juice, and lemonade and punch will be provided free but you must pay for soft drinks and alcoholic beverages and they will add a 15% gratuity to each drink and soft drink order.
PHOTOGRAPHS: Cruise lines will take plenty of photographs of you all over the ship, in the dining room, and as you exit the ship in ports. These will cost a lot, like $15 to $20 for most.
TOURS/EXCURSIONS: You are not required to book any tours and can get off and on in the ports as much as you want. But the cruise line will offer a lot of tours and these are expensive.
SOUVENIRS: Anything you buy on ship from a gift shop or duty free shop goes on your on board account. Things that you buy on shore you pay cash or credit card for.
CASINO: If you plan to gamble on ship you will need cash for that.
OTHER: most cruise lines have what they call "specialty" restaurants where there is a gratuity/service charge. All other food on board is free and its not really necessary to budget for food; you cannot eat all of the FREE FOOD that will be available.
If you want/need to have your hair done, get a massage or wrap, or any services from the spa, you will have to pay for them. You can use the gym free but the spa stuff cost big bucks.
Ships now have internet cafe and some have WiFi but the there is a fee for internet access and it is very expensive (like about $50 to $60 an hour).
You cabin will likely have a minibar with soft drinks and munchies; you have to pay for them (but there is free room service 24/7).
I have been on about 20 cruises on 4 different cruise lines and also cruised to Alaska. So I am going to tell you probably more than you want to know. Here’s what I say based on my experiences.
First you should know that all of the cruise lines give the best price for early bookings that are a year or more in advance.
Cruise lines also list specials on their web sites so do look for those. The specials can many times save you a couple hundred per person over the price for the exact same cruise on a different date.
Second you should know that all cruise cabins are sold based on double occupancy and the prices listed will be per person and based on at least two people going on the cruise. The price you pay will depend mostly on the type accommodations that you choose. There are 4 basic types of cabins on ships;
- inside (no window),
- outside (a window or porthole),
- balcony/veranda, and
- suites.
Royal Caribbean has some inside cabins on its Freedom and Voyager Class of ships that have a window overlooking an inside promenade mall.
The "FROM" prices you see will always be for an inside cabin. There are also some subcategories within each category with cabins on a higher deck, and/or a better location on ship (like midship), and/or that are slightly larger costing more. So as you browse, pay attention to the square footage of the cabins. You may not want to pay more for the same sized cabin on a higher floor; or vice versa do pay less for the same cabin on a lower deck.
You can reserve a cruise on line, by calling the cruise line, or through a travel agent by paying the minimum deposit which will be between $250 and $350 per person for a 7 day cruise, depending upon the cruise line. The minimum will be more for a longer cruise, for example $450 per person for a 14 day cruise. The balance will be due approximately 60 days before the cruise departure date. But you can make periodic payment on line or with the cruise line. I have reserved on line and made payments many times.
I have listed below the web sites for the medium priced cruise lines which operate from US ports. These are the cruise lines that most people use. There are some luxury lines that are much higher priced with prices starting around $4,000 for a 7 day cruise. The lines that I have listed below will have cruises starting in the range of $800 to $1,000 per person for a 7 day cruise, again depending upon the date and type cabin you select.
HOLLAND AMERICA
http://www.hollandamerica.com/
CELEBRITY:
http://www.celebritycruises.com/home .
ROYAL CARIBBEAN:
http://www.royalcaribbean.com/gohome.d…..
NORWEGIAN:
http://www.ncl.com/
PRINCESS:
http://www.princess.com/index.html
CARNIVAL:
http://www.carnivalcruiselines.com/
I have been on Princess, Celebrity, Norwegian, and Royal Caribbean ships and can vouch that they are good cruise lines. However, there are some differences.
- Princess, Celebrity and Holland America have great ships are more classy and reserved. Holland America has mostly senior citizens cruising on its ships.
-Carnival has more first time cruiser and young people who want to party, party, party. If that is what you are looking for then Carnival is the cruise line for you.
-Norwegian cruise line is good and I have been on many of their cruises. Its the line that you want to go on if you want to be informal for pretty much your whole cruise. They have formal nights like other cruise lines but they do not stress dressing up; the call it "dress up if you want to" night.
-Royal Caribbean caters most to families and has the most and best on-board activities. Many Royal Caribbean ships have things like ice skating, roller blade track, rock climbing wall, surfing on ship on the "Flowrider", mini-golf course, pool tables. full sized basketball courts, and adults only pool and hot tub area called ‘Solarium".
BEST DEALS
I have found that the best deals can be had by going directly to the cruise line web sites and looking for their specials. Most will have their specials prominently displayed on their home page but I have found that Royal Caribbean and Carnival have the best web sites for this.
Another decision you will have to make is where you want to cruise to; Bermuda, Alaska, Bahamas, Caribbean, Mexico, or Europe. In general the shorter cruises of 3 to 6 days go to Bermuda or the Bahamas. Cruises going to Alaska, the Caribbean, the Mexican Riviera and Europe are 7 days or more. If you think you want to go to the Caribbean there are really three basic types of itineraries.
- Western Caribbean cruises typically go to Cozumel, Grand Cayman, Jamaica and a private cruise line island.
-Eastern Caribbean typically go to St Thomas, St Maarten, a private cruise line island and maybe another island like Tortola or Puerto Rico. If you want to do a lot of shopping then pick a cruise with St Thomas as one of the port stops. St Maarten is also mainly a beach and shopping stop.
- Southern Caribbean cruise itineraries typically start in Puerto Rico and go either to Aruba, Curacao, and St Thomas and St Maarten, OR they go to the southern Caribbean islands like Barbados, Grenada, Antigua, St Lucia and maybe St Thomas and/or St Maarten. The main difference between these two itineraries, aside from the different islands, is the Aruba cruise has 2 "at sea" days with no port stops, while the other has a port stop about each day.
If you are going to Alaska there are also a lot of options for slightly different itineraries. Some Alaska cruises start in Alaska, (Anchorage, Seward, or Fairbanks) and others start in Seattle or Vancouver. Cruises of the "inside passage" are generally 7 days but you can also do what is called a cruise-tour which may be 10, 12 to 14 days and involves touring by train and/or bus either before or after the ocean voyage. So you have to look very carefully at your options for an Alaska cruise. You should not just say to an agent I want an Alaska cruise. Pick one or more of the cruise lines I listed above and search for Alaska cruises and look at all of the options available to help you decide.
So regardless of where you go the cruise will include pretty much everything as stated above. But you have a lot of options to look at to pick the best cruise for you. My recommendation is look at Celebrity, Princess, Royal Caribbean, Norwegian, and Princess, pretty much in that order.
On the most part all most cruise lines are NOT all inclusive. They pay for food served during the day, and normal eating times, entertainment on the ship. Ice cream shops and specialty candy shops are an additional charge. Alcohol on the ship – and any entertainment off the ship, shore excursions, etc., are NOT paid for and therefore, makes the cruise pretty much NOT all inclusive. Resorts that pay for everything are all inclusive. Seaborne offers an all inclusive cruise, including alcohol. Any excursions off the boat are not included in the price.
Hope that helps!
Best cruise lines to check out are Princess and Royal Caribbean in my opinion.
The only cruises that are truly "all inclusive" are some of the luxury lines – e.g. Crystal, Radisson, Silver Seas, etc. And they cost several times more than the "mass market" cruise lines [e.g. Carnival, etc.] The AI cruises are "the way to go" if you’ve got the bucks and you enjoy cruising with that type of passenger [i.e. "snobby"].
For great service and food at a reasonable price, you could try Celebrity or Holland America. Or, perhaps, Princess. However, the first two have a lower activity level and slightly older clientele, plus they are more "traditional" [i.e. people tend to follow the dress code, etc].
To get an idea of what the different lines and ships are like, I suggest you go to your library or bookstore and get a book on cruising. Or you can go to CruiseCritic.com and click on "Reviews" at the top of the home page. Be sure and read the "Member Reviews", as well as the ones by the pros. If you click on "Boards" on the home page, you’ll find boards discussing every aspect of cruising, by experienced cruisers.
The "best" cruise line is the one that fits your needs and tastes the best. And the only way to determine that is to do a bit of research. A travel agent with cruise experience can also be very helpful, although you will still need to have some idea of the "basics" – ship size, season, itinerary, type of cabin, dinner seating [or "freestyle" dining], etc.
Have fun with the research – I hope you find just the right cruise for you. But be forewarned: you just may be "hooked"!
I only skimmed thru what tinker toy wrote (OMG) and it all looks good! I will have to disagree with the suggestion to go it on your own to find good deals. I strongly suggest you find a travel agent that you like and can communicate with, that will work for you. They work hard to find you the deals and will set up your room requirements, room placement, food requirements. need I go on and on. Oh and fill out all your documents and when you book with them again they will have all your info on file and its quick n painless. have a great time it will be unforgettable.
Yes they are the way to go, and Carnival does, I am not so sure who else does, but I am sure that if you look hard enough you will find more.