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Tips For Planning Your Very First Cruise Vacation
Are you thinking of taking your very first 🛳 Cruise Vacation, but not quite sure just where and how to begin planning that cruise?
Cruise planning can be a lot of fun, if you start out by looking and searching in the right places. In this post, I’ve put together a few helpful …
🌺 Tips For Cruise Planning 🌺
especially for first time cruisers.
Just a few things we’ve learned from our previous 🚢 cruise vacations and also gathered from seasoned cruisers along the way. A few tips to help get you started in the right direction.
First off, I suggest having a look at this short but informative 📹 video. It’s about things to know before cruising, from a leading travel expert.
Cruise Travel Tips – YouTube Video
Tips For Planning Your First Cruise
There are literally hundreds of cruises to choose from around the world, at any given time of the year. I’m sure the first thing that comes to mind is …
❓”How can I possibly find one that’s right for us”❓
Selecting The Right Cruise – Things To Consider
Well, the first thing to do in cruise planning, is to narrow down those hundreds of cruises listed, by asking yourself the … 5 W’s;
Who, What, Where, When and Why
➡ Who is all going on our cruise? This will help for stateroom selection later.
➡ What length of cruise will suit your travel plans?
➡ Where in the world do we want to cruise? (This will greatly narrow down your choices.)
➡ When do you want to take your cruise vacation?
➡ Why do you want to take a cruise?
I think Why should be the first question to ask yourself, as well as others who may be traveling with you. If the reasons you come up with fit nicely into a cruise vacation, then your on your way!
A few others questions to ask yourself, might be;
➡ How much vacation time do we have available?
➡ What dates are we available to leave?
➡ What port do we want to disembark from?
(Keep in mind traveling costs and time to your port of disembarkation.)
➡ What cruise line should we choose?
(Do they depart to our selected holiday destination and on the dates we are able to travel?
(Do they offer the best value for our family?)
These are great questions to ask yourself, prior to visiting a specialized {Cruise Consultant} at a local travel agency. Should you wish to book on-line on your own, something I wouldn’t recommend doing for your very first cruise, be sure to have answered some of these questions to yourself, well beforehand.
There are literally hundreds of cruises out there to choose from these days, throughout the year. As well, be sure to book with a very reputable online cruise travel business, or directly with your chosen cruise line.
Your travel agent will ask you these very questions, in order to help narrow down what cruises are available for you, at your specified time, date and destinations choices.
Get Everyone Involved When Cruise Planning
Disney Cruise Ship in Vancouver British Columbia
When researching and looking at cruises, get everyone involved who will be going on that vacation. It builds excitement and anticipation toward the upcoming holiday.
Everyone gets to offer suggestions, ideas and so much more, in helping select that perfect cruise!
The internet is an excellent research tool and is without a doubt, the best instant resource to check out when cruise planning. You can browse reviews from previous passengers on a cruise you may want to select, check itineraries, ships, cabin layouts and so much more.
All at your fingertips – instantly!
Do Some Research Before Purchasing Your Cruise Package
Be sure to visit each individual cruise line websites for their complete; itineraries, prices, cruise specials and more. Whether choosing to book directly online and chatting with reputable customer service agents, do take advantage of the many …
Cruise specialists may be able to find and offer some great additional incentives, especially on a particular cruise you have previously researched.
If you prefer not to use the internet, just drop by any reputable local travel agency and pick up some colorful literature on cruises. There are even agencies that deal specifically with cruises only.
All the individual ⚓ Major Cruise Lines have wonderful updated cruise vacation brochures. They’re filled with exciting new; itineraries, prices, dates, specials and much more!
You can even download most of their cruise brochures, right from their websites.
A great way to get started! 🙂
Internet cruise review websites are also an excellent resource, for reading what others have to say about a particular cruise.
Get helpful tips, suggestions, feedback and a lot more to assist in your for cruise planning. Also, I definitely recommend checking out a highly respected and well known cruise review website called … CruiseCritic.
Get excellent personal feedback on; cruise destinations, cruise lines, customer service, cleanliness and so much more.
This site is a great resource in helping to make final decisions on selecting that perfect cruise vacation!
Note:
Reviews are helpful, but not something you should solely rely on. Everyone is very different in tastes and expectations.
Review sites will give you a general idea and feel for what you may or may not expect on a selected cruise.
I always refer to these review websites for just that, a basic review only. I then try to put them all together and make my own conclusions.
Cruise Vacation Specialists
Cruise Ships Anchored in St Maarten
Reputable travel companies have endless amounts of information available at your fingertips. Whether you receive the information online or at their door, it is always there for the asking.
❓Is your life just too busy to take the time to plan that perfect vacation❓
Don’t worry, you’re like most of us out there in today’s busy world. Cruise planning or for that matter, planning any vacation, takes a great deal of time!
Professional travel consultants can assist in the planning process, suggest options and do extensive research for you, saving you valuable time.
What people don’t realize is that it costs you – nothing!
Travel agents and 3rd party online booking platforms, earn their income from; cruise lines, insurance companies, hotels, shore excursions and more, that they book on your behalf.
In most cases they don’t charge you a fee at all, when you do make your bookings with them.
How great is that! 🙂
These are just a few Cruise Planning Tips for you to consider when taking the leap and embarking on your first exciting cruise. Our family have enjoyed some outstanding cruise vacations over the years.
We always look forward to adding a cruise vacation at some point, as part of our travel adventures.
I receive 📧 email travel newsletters almost daily and there are some incredible cruise deals, with great incentives that may include … free gratuities, shore excursions, free onboard wi-fi, specialty dining & more!
This may be the time to catch those fabulous deals before they’re gone!
In fact, we booked a 7 night Alaska Cruise from Vancouver last summer. It was an incredible deal with a few outstanding incentives thrown in, that were too good to pass up. It was an amazing cruise vacation!
Be sure check my full review and photos of this cruise, in the link I’ve listed below. If you haven’t taken an Alaska Cruise, then definitely consider this at some point when cruise planning.
😎 Safe and Healthy Travels! 😎
All personal 📸 photographs on this post are the property of gr8traveltips.com and are copyright protected.
🚫Unauthorized use is strictly prohibited. 🚫
✨ Did You Know …
🛳 Holland America Alaska Cruise | Volendam {Review}
🏝 Royal Caribbean South Pacific Cruise – Review
🛳 NCL Mediterranean Cruise – Review
🍹 Don’t Forget It … Be Sure To Pin It! 🍹
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