Time 2 Cruise

The majority of cruise ships offer the ability to use your cell phone while at sea. The way it works is by a cell tower located on the ship beaming the calls to a satellite , basically turning your standard cell phone into a satellite phone while on the ship. On most ships the system now works with both GSM & CDMA phones for voice calls made and received . Internet, e-mail, and text messaging may or may not work depending on the cell carrier. The system will only be operable when the ships are at sea. When in port the on board system will be turned off, allowing people to use the land based cell towers, so you need to know if your phone will work in the locations being visited if you plan on using your phone on land as well. Currently most carriers are charging around $2.49 - 4.99 per minute plus a toll charge per call while at sea. You may want to check with your provider about missed calls. I have heard but cannot confirm that incoming calls that go to voicemail may be charge...

Last week, I discussed three ways to book a cruise however, I only touched on online booking agencies, mentioning the big names. There are many good agencies that do business mainly online that were neglected in that post. Here are a few tips on finding the right online agency: Make sure they are a member of CLIA (Cruise Line International Associattion) and in good standing. Check the company out at the Better Business Bureau. Don't just look at the number of complaints, but look to see how many were resolved. Only deal with an online agency that can be contacted by phone as well as email. Try to find a physical address for the company on the site. Read the small print. Good online agencies disclose what is included either above or below the prices.

Norwegian Cruise Lines started this program. Basically , on a standard cruise vacation, if you want to eat in the dining room, you go at your assigned time, and sit with other guests that were assigned the same table. With freestyle dining there are no set times or table mates . NCL ships have as many as 13 different restaurants on board offering different cuisine. But now, other cruise lines are looking into adding a freestyle or anytime option on some of their ships. Holland America is in the process of rolling out there program called "as you wish" and Princess has a program where you can have dinner on your balcony (for a small fee of course). I see the dining options becoming a trend among most if not all the cruise lines as they try to cater to what the people want. A side note on the NCL program: Reservations are required at some of the more popular restaurants on board and some also have an added fee.

The average cruise ship, on average, costs around ½ a billion dollars to build. Royal Caribbean has a ship on order, due to be finished in fall 2009, capable of carrying 5400 passengers, at a cost of 1.25 billion dollars. It takes between two to four years to build a ship. A modern cruise ship goes through somewhere between 100 and 200 gallons of fuel for every nautical mile when moving. This does not include fuel that is used while in port, to keep the generators that are responsible for all the electrical on board. On any given sailing, there will be 1 crew member on board a cruise ship for every 2 to 3 passengers (depends on ship size and cruise line), with many of the crew doing work behind the scenes that keep everything running smoothly. Modern cruise ships in U.S. waters are required to carry survival craft (lifeboats, rafts) with seating capacity that exceeds the maximum capacity of the ship itself. A drill is required for all sailings to familiarize passengers with the loca...

From the article here , it looks like Carnival fans will have some new destinations to choose from. With ports of call in Brazil, Argentina, Chile, and a few others, the Carnival Splendor will be offering 14 to 18 day cruises in the beginning of 2009, before it moves the Long Beach to do 7 day Mexican Riviera runs displacing the Carnival Pride which will move to San Diego for 8 day Riviera runs. The west coast has become a hot commodity for Carnival. They currently have the Carnival Pride doing year long 7 days out of Long Beach, the Carnival Spirit doing three different itineraries depending on time of year (including Alaska, Mexico and Hawaii), the Paradise doing 3 and 4 day baja cruises, and most recently the Elation moving to San Diego to do 4 and 5 day runs to Cabo San Lucas.

According to the article here , Disney Cruise Line is looking for other ports for its two current ships, and the two ships on order which will double the fleet by 2012. This doesn't mean that Disney will abandon Port Canaveral all together, but looks to increase the number of ports that will be available for sailings. This will be a plus for fans of the the line who would like to see more cruises take place from other ports with newer destinations as well. Currently the Disney cruises out of Canaveral with both ships, with one doing some cruises out of the west coast as well as the Mediterranean.

A new contract, retroactive to October of last year has been signed between the Port of New Orleans and Carnival Cruise Lines to keep the Carnival ships visiting. The contract has an option for another 2 year extension renewal to carry over into 2010. More information on the contract and what it means to the city of New Orleans can be found here .

Eleven days after the union threatened to go on strike, a deal was made. Both sides have agreed on a new deal. Had the deal not been made, it could have cost the shipping industry Billions of dollars with the amount of import and export that the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach deal with. This also will put the cruise industry at ease. Altho it has not been mentioned during the almost two week standoff, the cruise industry relies on the same longshoreman that would have honored the picket lines. Details of the tentative contract can be found here .

OK. You have been looking around the Internet, and this site, and want to go on a cruise. The first question to ask yourself is how do I decide. It sounds like a simple question, but it can be broken down into some things to think about. Is price an important factor? If yes, mainstream lines should top your list such as Carnival or Royal Caribbean. Also, this would be an indication you may want to do some shopping around and be more flexible with dates. Some really good deals can be found on dates that the cruise lines consider the least appealing. How many days can you a lot to your vacation? Cruise vacations range from 3 short trips that only visit one port to trips that are weeks long. IF you only have a set amount of time, and small window in which to take a cruise, it will decrease the options available, and in some cases increase the cost of the cruise. For example people that only have vacation around spring break will find the cost of the shorter cruises can be just as ...

How many formal nights are there, and how formal are they? How many? The number of formal nights may differ by particular sailing or cruise line but here is the norm: One formal night on sailings of five days or less Two formal nights on sailings of six to 12 days And I would suggest contacting the cruise line on longer cruises. How formal? Again, depends on the cruise line and in some cases where the ship sails from. If the dress of others is important, you may want to consider a higher end cruise line. While mainstream lines such as Carnival and Royal Caribbean suggest a tux or dark suit and tie for men and evening gown or cocktail dress for the ladies, the enforcement of the rule is not always a high priority. The thing to remember is, this is not just a night to dress up, but a night to get some pretty snazzy professional looking pictures taken. And if the dressing up thing is not for you there are alternative dining options on board. Tip for the husbands that don't like to dr...