Time 2 Cruise

Its been a crazy year. Hard to write about travels when the economy is in the dumps like it is. We still managed to get a few trips in since September. No more cruises, but a couple of trips to California for concerts and a Christmas trip to Vegas to play with my new gift. For Christmas I got a Sony DSC-H20 camera and the one thing I can say for sure is that a better camera does encourage more picture taking. The H20 is a 10X optical zoom 10 mega pixel camera and is still small enough to just fit in my jeans pocket on the fly. Yeah there are cameras out that are better than 10 mega pix out right now and others with better than 10x zoom, but for my size does matter and in this case it was the smaller the better. When doing the research, I narrowed it down to 4 different cameras, but I am a Sony fan so that was a big factor in my decision. Above that, we wanted a camera that is adaptable, small as mentioned before, and simple. One of the worse things that a person can do is just...

The month of August was crazy for us filled with weekend trips but ending with a whopping 9 day vacation at the Wyndham Resort and Spa in Cozumel Mexico. For us this was the first time in an all inclusive resort and it was not hard to compare the experience to cruising. So that's what this is going to be all about. The compare and contrast of a typical cruise vacation to my resent resort stay. First thing that jumped out at us was that is was "all inclusive". From a cruising experience the main difference was drinking. Drinks were flowing all week and then some at the resort. I have talked to people who said drinks are watered down and all I have to say about that is order a double. We had no problem getting strong drinks. When it came to food, of course meals are included while on a cruise as well. Now I am biased here and say that the cruise ship won this one compared to my first experience at the resort. But it may have been the resort itself. The part ...

Most of us have seen the commercials. Book your hotel with Orbitz and if the someone else books at a lower price, they will refund you the difference. You don't have to do anything yourself. Cool right. The thing that the commercial does not mention is that you have to only book the hotel with them. Package deals that include flight and or car rental don't count. So if the hotel portion goes down there will be no refund coming. This works well for the company because most people are getting package deals. We booked a package deal for an upcoming vacation months ago with friends. The price has gone down. Our friends who kept an eye on the prices contacted Orbitz. The answer they got was "Package deals would be to difficult to keep track of which part actually decreased." I actually understand the explanation, but think that something than tiny print on a TV or osmosis is the way to explain that to customers. We are still happy with what we paid, otherwise ...

Its hurricane season again. For those that are not familiar with the time frame, the season runs from around the end of May beginning of June all the way through November. The seasons on average ramp up slowly and have a peak in late August early September and then start to calm down again. As I just said, its on average. Each season is different and the only thing that you can count on is that the season will happen. Now with every season comes the seasons predictions and this one is no different. The predictions for this year seem to point to an average season, lighter than in the recent past which is a good thing if the predictions hold true. So as travelers, what does this mean to us? The way we look at it in our house is this. Its a great time to find bargains , and this year is no exception. In fact, this is the year to find the bargain of bargains . Hotels, resorts, and cruise lines are worried with the economy and are doing just about anything to fill their rooms....

The experts have consulted their crystal balls and are predicting an average season for the Atlantic. Storms to hit land that progress to getting names is expected to be around 12 with half making it to hurricane size. Of those, only 2 are expected to be a category 3 or bigger. This should come as good news compared to years past as the cruise lines struggle to get passengers on board. The decrease in numbers comes from the cooler temperatures in the waters where the hurricanes usually form. I wonder what the over/under is in Vegas on the numbers?

Just poking around, I have found 4 day cruises for under $200 per person. That's $50 per day! We all know why the deals are there and yes they are working. Carnival Cruise Lines recently announced its January and February numbers and bookings are up slightly. Don't think that the cruise lines are hurting to much. If they aren't filling ships, they will be hurting, but so far that has not happened and the deals that are out there are the reason. They know that once on board, that most passengers will make the best of the discounted rate with alcohol purchases, pictures and souvenirs. Carnival also announced a profit over the last quarter, which means that people are spending on board. It may not be as much as in the past, but they are still spending, and like I mentioned previously, they have a little more to spend when they got a good deal on their cabin. Many people budget a set amount for vacation that they plan on spending, so if they save on one area, the money...

It's that time of year when all the college students take off to burn off some steam. And as with this time every year, you have to think safety first when on spring break. Whether you are in Daytona or Mexico, its a good thing to pay attention to your surroundings. If traveling outside the county, check and see if there are any warnings for the area you are going. Play it safe this spring break and make it a good one.

You may have read recently about how people are doing house swapping as a way to sell their homes. Well, its not just for sellers and buyers, it is for vacationers as well. If you live in an area that has attractions that may appeal to others, you may be able to swap homes with someone that has a house where you want to visit. There is a membership site called homelink that allows you to do just that. The site requires an annual fee so it isn't for everybody. But for those that do it, it can be a great way to decrease expenses when on vacation. Imagine swapping houses with someone from Europe or South America. It can happen if that's what you are looking for. You may be worried about your house and I have to agree that is a valid fear to have however you have to remember that the other family is doing the same thing with their house for you. Still it would be smart to put away things that you don't want touched etc... Like I said, this would not be an option for e...

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.