Time 2 Cruise

It has been over six months since the airlines have been charging for checked luggage. Since this has happened, people have been more app to pack as much in their carry on luggage as possible. We all know that the airlines have policies about the number of carry on luggage that people are allowed to have with them. But have you noticed that this is not enforced until late in the boarding process? This past weekend, we were flying on American Airlines with a layover in Dallas. On the second leg of our journey home, we had boarding zone 6 and there were only 6 boarding zones in total. People in the early boarding zones had two and sometimes 3 bags. When they got to boarding zone 6, people were told that there was no room on the plane and all remaining luggage would have to be checked unless it fit under the seat. This was on a MD S80 which only has 5 seats per row in coach yet has the same amount of luggage space that a plane with 6 seats in a row would have. So what does all t...

Right now cash is King no matter where you go. And its as good a time to haggle when shopping. So, could one negotiate a price when booking a vacation such as a cruise? The answer could just be yes. But given the current prices that have been popping up lately, you may not have to. Deals like $599 per person for a 7 day Alaskan c ruise with a balcony is not unheard of. But who knows, even that could be negotiated.

Here is a topic that isn't going away anytime soon. At least weekly if not more often then that there is a story on the news somewhere about a road rage incident gone bad. The fact that they used the words road rage should be enough to get ones attention. Road rage comes in many forms, but we only hear about the ones that make the news where the end result is people doing the unthinkable and many times dangerous act of confronting another motorist. The fact is most of us deal with road rage on a daily basis if you live in a fairly good sized city. When on vacation it can become a double edge sword. As the person driving in a foreign city or even county, it can be frustrating dealing with the way the locals drive. And you know they are going to be just as frustrated with the person in the rental car that doesn't have a clue what they are doing. As a driver, there is really only one thing you can do, and that is take the higher road (pun intended) when the situation cau...

When my wife and I went on our first cruise we had an inside cabin on the lowest passenger deck on Carnival's Holiday. I distinctly remember other passengers at our dinner table telling us how they had a better cabin being on a different deck. Over the years we have had the opportunity to have a variety of cabins in different locations on different ships. One of the biggest up sales that cruise lines use is the "free upgrade" option. The question is whether is truly an upgrade. And based on personal experience the answer is maybe, but most times not. The only way that I would accept an upgrade as a benefit is if I was going from one type of cabin to another. So if you book at an inside cabin rate and get an outside cabin or a balcony then it is a good deal. But if you book a cabin on a lower deck and get upgraded deck wise to a similar cabin, you really are not getting any benefit, and could actually end up regretting the upgrade. On the first cruise that we boo...