Tips on Cruising
Cruising is big money, although the margin is in the volume not the individual ticket price. That is why operators stick to passengers like glue and are open to negotiation if they dare to ask. Today’s first on our tips on cruising list is to arrive at the back end of the boarding queue, so you can breeze through it in seconds as opposed to what could otherwise take an hour.
You book your bags through quite early so you cannot miss your boat. After that, you are usually free to wander about the terminal until they call you. You can safely ignore the first two announcements as you chill out over drinks and snacks at a convenient watering hole. When the calls start getting edgy you can report for duty, glide through the system, and find your bags waiting for you when you reach your cabin.
Carry-On Luggage
That’s the stuff you either won’t abandon to the system, need with you just in case the weather changes, or buy / are given at the last minute like champagne and flowers. Tottering up the gangplank with a half dozen parcels is hardly my idea of elegant. I keep a compact overnight bag with me on the basis that if something doesn’t fit inside, then something has to go. Best of all, I have only one bag to put on the conveyor and squeezing into lifts on board is not a hassle.
Carry on LuggageHow Not to Lose the Kids
Or partner, or mother-in-law or whatever takes your fancy. The only problem is your cell phone won’t work after you leave the harbour and you need a new sim card and fresh airtime for every port of call. We bought a cheap walkie-talkie set instead the last time we went cruising with the kids, and it worked a treat at every stop along the way.
The Joys of Stop-Start Traffic
Speaking of which I recommend you go for cruises that offer as many ports as possible. Water can get awfully boring looking at the same old ocean every day, whereas a harbour town you may never see again is a great place to let your hair down.
I’m not suggesting you go on organized tours just for the sake of it. I get far more pleasure – and my money goes a whole lot further – wandering through unfamiliar streets, popping into shops and feasting on local take outs sitting on a rock and dipping my feet into the ocean. Life’s a breeze, especially when you remember not to let yesterday encroach on too much of today.