Cruise travel tips

BEFORE YOU LEAVE

Cruise Ticket Pricing
Included in the Price: Cruise pricing includes your accommodation, dining on board, entertainment, and activities.

Additional Charges: You are responsible for looking after your transfers between the pier and airport, and your onboard purchases of a personal nature (i.e. casino bets, gift shop purchases, spa and boutiques, dry-cleaning, laundry, etc). Shore excursions, beverages, and gratuities are also additional unless otherwise noted.

Gratuities per Guest, per Day (U.S. dollars)

Carnival Cruise Line: Dining room service $5.50 , Alternative dining service $0.75, Housekeeping staff $3.50. In addition, a 15% gratuity is automatically added to your bar bill. Tipping your maitre d' and headwaiter is at your discretion.

Holland America Line: Gratuities are not required, however, passengers are welcome to tip if service exceeds their expectations.

Norwegian Cruise Line: Norwegian automatically applies a $10 gratuity to your shipboard account or $5 for children aged 3 to 12. You are welcome to adjust the dollar value up or down as you see fit. A 15% service charge is added directly to bar bills.

Princess Cruises: Princess automatically applies a $10 gratuity to your shipboard account. You are welcome to adjust the dollar value up or down at your discretion. A 15% service charge is added directly to bar bills.

Royal Caribbean International/ Celebrity Cruises: Dining room service $5.50, Housekeeping staff $3.50, and Headwaiters and other service personnel at your discretion.

Purchasing Your Ticket
When you purchase your cruise ticket, you are actually purchasing your cabin on the ship. Your food, entertainment, transportation, port charges, and other activities are all included in the cost of that stateroom. The per person price is calculated based on the assumption that two people will be traveling in that stateroom. Therefore, if you chose to travel solo, you can end up paying 200% of the per person cruise fare. See Singles Cruising to find alternatives to paying a higher cruise fare.

Purchasing that cabin isn't as straightforward as it may sound. This is because cruise lines divide their ships into categories or classes of cabins that don't always relate to the size of the room. The higher the cabin category, the higher the cost of the room. Some factors that affect the cost of your room are the placement on the ship (i.e. aft, bow), inside/oceanview/balcony/suite, porthole or window or balcony, size of room, deck number, number of passengers in the room, etc.

There are other alternatives to purchasing a specific stateroom. You can purchase a "category guarantee" or a "run of ship" ticket. These terms are explained below:

Category Guarantee:
When you purchase a "category guarantee" you are not purchasing an exact stateroom. You are, rather, guaranteeing a cabin in a certain category. The cruise line will place you in that cabin category or higher depending on availability. If you chose this option, you will not receive an exact stateroom number at the time of booking. Your assignment is made either a couple of weeks prior to sailing or at the pier.

Run of Ship:
When purchasing a "run of ship" ticket, you are buying yourself on to the ship without a pre-arranged cabin or category. You will not receive your stateroom number until you arrive at the pier. Your cabin may be anywhere on the ship, from the lowest deck to the highest, or may be an inside or an outside stateroom.

Identification
Citizens of the U.S.A. or Canada need proof of citizenship (passport or birth certificate with photo ID). All non-U.S. passengers require a valid passport and an unexpired U.S. Multiple Re-Entry visa. Passengers who can apply for admission under the Visa Waiver pilot program are required to carry a valid, unexpired passport.

Passengers are required to carry their proper travel documentation before, during, and immediately following the cruise. You will not be allowed to board the vessel without proper identification. All non-U.S. guests will be asked to surrender their passports and/or resident alien cards at embarkation. These documents will be returned the morning of arrival back in the U.S.

ONCE ON BOARD

Onboard Currency/Credit Cards
Onboard pricing is in U.S. dollars when sailing on Carnival, Holland America, Norwegian, Princess, and Royal Caribbean. On all of these ships, passengers make purchases on board with a "cruise card" that is issued to passengers at embarkation. This card is both identification and a credit card.

Many lines suggest the use of U.S. travelers' cheques when paying your shipboard account. Only cash is accepted in casinos and for medical charges. Visa, Mastercard, and American Express are accepted by all cruise lines. Royal Caribbean International also accepts Diners, Carte Blanche and Discover cards. Discover is also accepted by Holland America and Norwegian Cruise Lines. Celebrity Cruises has ATMs aboard all of their ships.

Attire
Cruise passengers attire is casual during the day. In the evening, Carnival, Holland America, Princess, and Royal Caribbean have three types of dress code: elegant casual (comfortable, relaxed clothing), informal (dresses/dress suits for women, jackets for men) and formal (evening gowns and suits/tuxedos). This attire varies by the night. Norwegian Cruise Lines' ships always have a resort casual attire for dinner with some optional formal nights offered.

Smoking Policies
Smoking policies vary by cruise line in terms of designated smoking areas. In all cases, smoking is, however, not permitted in food services areas, restaurants, or show lounges. Carnival Cruise Lines' Paradise is the first ever totally smoke-free ship.

Liquor Policy
Passengers are not allowed to bring alcoholic beverages on to their ship. Alcoholic beverages can be purchased in the ship's gift shops or in foreign ports, but may be retained by the cruise line until the end of the voyage. If you are celebrating a special occasion, fine wines and champagne can be brought on board during embarkation only. If you choose to consume the wine in the dining room, a $10 per bottle corkage fee is charged.

Wine, beer, champagne, and mixed drinks are available during the cruise except when U.S. Immigration personnel are inspecting the vessel.

All cruise lines follow U.S. regulations in regards to drinking. That means that no one under the age of 21 years is permitted to buy or consume alcohol while on the ship.

Seasickness
Ships nowadays are so big and well-stabilized that passengers can barely tell that they are moving. Caribbean cruises and Alaska's Inside Passage cruise are known for extremely calm waters. It is unlikely that you will feel sick during your cruise to these locations.

If you run into rough waters and begin to feel queasy, your symptoms can be relieved by an over-the-counter medication like Dramamine. If you are very prone to seasickness, ask your doctor, prior to sailing, for the Transderm patch (available by prescription). Or buy some ginger capsules and acupressure wristbands at a pharmacy before boarding the ship.

Staying In Touch
All of today's cruise ships have TVs in every stateroom, many with CNN. A daily newssheet with stories from the major newspapers is available for passengers. Norwegian Cruise Lines has major newspapers available for sale aboard many of its newer vessels. In addition, you can make phone calls and send emails both at sea and in port.

Safety
There are many rules and regulations adhered to by cruise ships so that passengers and crew members are kept safe from harm. In addition, the Coast Guard conducts rigorous quarterly inspections of all ships operating from U.S. ports to make sure that the ships comply with its emergency-response requirements. Ships also operate under international rules known as Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) to protect against fire. The rules require ships to have smoke detectors, sprinklers, and low-level emergency lighting for escape routes. To ensure that passengers know how to evacuate in the event of a real emergency, drills are held for passengers and crew at the beginning of every cruise to simulate an evacuation.

Security
International rules have recently been established requiring all ships and ports to have security officers and security plans. Cruise lines are required to report the names of passengers on each sailing to the Coast Guard and identification policies are very tight.