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No You Do Not Pay More for a Travel Advisor
Here is the myth that will not die. People believe that booking a cruise through a travel advisor costs more than booking it yourself. It is the single most common thing I hear, and it is wrong. The price of the cruise is the price of the cruise. Cruise lines set the fare. A good…
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The Cruise Ship Library Is the Quietest Room You Never Visit
Most passengers walk past the library a dozen times and never go in. Their loss. Nearly every ship has one. On the big lines it is a small nook with a few shelves and a locked glass case. On the luxury lines it is a room built for it. The library on Regent’s Seven Seas…
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The Theme Cruise Is a Different Animal and You Should Know Before You Book
A theme cruise is not a regular cruise with a costume night. It is an entire ship taken over by one idea. Sometimes that idea is a band. Sometimes it is a decade. Sometimes it is a knitting club with strong opinions. Here is how it works. A production company buys out the whole ship,…
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The Disney Adventure Goes Everywhere and Stops Nowhere
Disney built its biggest ship yet, then parked it in Singapore and told it not to stop anywhere. The Disney Adventure runs three and four night sailings out of Marina Bay Cruise Centre, and none of them call at a port. It sails, it turns around, it comes back. This is the largest ship in…
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The Adriatic Port That Ruins the Rest of Your Cruise
Most people book a Mediterranean cruise and think of Rome, Barcelona, and Santorini. Then the ship slips into the Bay of Kotor and everyone goes quiet. That is the tell. Kotor sits at the back of a long, narrow inlet in Montenegro. Green mountains drop straight into deep blue water on both sides. You will…
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The Cruise Insurance You Actually Need Is the Part Nobody Reads
Most people buy cruise insurance to cover a canceled trip. That is the least important thing it does. The part that actually saves you sits in the fine print you skipped. A medical evacuation from a cruise ship costs between twenty five thousand and over one hundred thousand dollars. That is not a typo. You…
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What a New Ship Announcement Actually Means for Your Booking
A cruise line orders a new ship years before you ever step on it. The gap between order and delivery is where a lot of your future vacation gets decided. Most travelers never think about it. Here is the short version of how it works. A cruise line signs a contract with a shipyard, usually…
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Booking Shore Excursions Through the Cruise Line Versus On Your Own
The cruise ship will wait for you if you booked the tour through the cruise line. It will not wait for you if you booked on your own. That is the entire debate in one sentence. Everything else is details. Here is how it works. When you book an excursion through the cruise line, that…
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The Cruise Ship Laundry Room Is the Perk You Are Too Proud to Use
Somewhere below deck on a lot of cruise ships, there is a small room with a few washers, a few dryers, and almost nobody in it. This is the self-service laundry room. Most passengers never find it, and the ones who do act like it is a state secret. Here is why it matters. A…
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The Repositioning Cruise Is the Best Deal Nobody Talks About
Twice a year, cruise ships have to move. Summer in Europe becomes winter in the Caribbean. The ship does not teleport. It sails across the ocean to get there, and you can be on it. That sailing is called a repositioning cruise. A ship finishes its European season, then heads west to Florida and the…