When planning a cruise, especially for the first time, you may be wondering what to expect. Today will be a brief overview – with more details to follow in the weeks to come!
Choosing & Planning a Cruise
Things to include when choosing your cruise are:
Who’s Going?
How many people and how many rooms is a starting point.
What…
What do you want to see? Do you want a certain level of cruising experience? What kind of vibe do you want to experience onboard?
When?
When you cruise makes a big impact. What time of year can you travel, and what time of year is your destination best to visit?
Where?
Where do you want to go? Which ports of call? Which countries?
Why?
Why are you taking this trip? Are you celebrating anything special? Are you reconnecting with a loved one? Perhaps you just need to get away from it all? Do you like learning about the culture, or enjoying different wines and foods?
How Much?
The ever important question – we all have to respect our budgets.
Booking a Cruise
When booking your cruise, there are a lot of moving pieces to consider, such as:
- Deposit needed
- Insurance Selection
- Vaccination Requirements
- Visa requirements
- Covid Testing requirements
- Flights to and from the point of embarkation and disembarkation
- Transfers
- Shore excursions/tours
- Final payment
- Room type desired
- Ship location
What to Expect on Your First Cruise
When taking your first cruise, especially now, it’s best to work with someone who has experience in cruising to help you along the way, that’s where Easy Breezy Journeys can help you. There is much to consider, in terms of what you need to do to get ready for your cruise, what you can expect, how to pack, and more – stay tuned in the weeks to come for more on this topic!
Preparing for Your Cruise
There’s a lot you need to do nowadays to prepare for your cruise, such as:
- Confirming vaccination status
- Get tested before embarkation
- Plan to get tested before coming home, if flying
- Packing, packing, and packing!
- Get your documents in order
- Online check in
- Planning your tours/shore excursions
- Planning any specialty dining or special onboard experiences in advance
- Planning transfers
- Air travel, hotels before or after your cruise, and parking if needed
Special Occasions
Cruises are great for celebrating special occasions. We’ll talk about what you can do – but this includes everything from weddings and honeymoons to something as simple as a birthday or anniversary!
What’s Included with a Cruise?
Different cruise lines include different things, and they are all leaning more and more towards the all-inclusive model, which I think is great for many people! But generally, most, if not all, cruise lines include:
- Accommodations (your room)
- Room Steward service (make up the bed, clean the room, etc)
- Taxes and port fees are always included in the price
- Many dining options – usually main dining rooms and sometimes a few extras
- Purified tap water from the bars (where you get most drinks), some kind of tea, coffee, and usually juices with breakfast
- Entertainment – shows
- Crew entertainment around the ship
- Beautiful views!
Cruising after Covid – What’s changed?
So much has changed, and though still trying to get a solid recovery going on with the continuous appearances of new variants, the cruise industry is working very hard to keep the ships sailing. Some are still being canceled, some are still sailing – capacities are reduced, touch points are reduced with apps and technology, and they are cleaner than ever! There are new sailing requirements with testing and vaccinations, but as that is ever-changing week to week sometimes, and varies by cruise line and sailing, I’ll leave that one alone for the time being.
Ready to book your cruise?
Ready to plan your cruise? If so, Easy Breezy Journeys is here to make it easy for you! Just click HERE to answer a few quick questions and we’ll get started!
