Vacation Cruising

The time has arrived, you’ve reached the port of call, and you’re reading to board the ship and start your vacation. What do you do next? We'd like to offer up a few suggestions.

There is always the chance for an upgrade of your accommodations. If your ship has better cabins that went unsold you might be able to work your way into a free upgrade or at least one for a discounted rate.

If the ship is sailing and the better cabins are empty, then anything the cruise line gets helps cut their losses. Check with the Purser’s office to see if there are any available. Some cruise lines will only accept cash or traveler’s checks for this upgrade, so you might need to plan ahead and bring some.

You’ll probably want to find your cabin steward who can show you how everything works. Make them your friend, they can be very helpful. If you have your luggage, it’s nice to unpack so you’ll get it over with and have some room in your cabin. Don't panic if your luggage isn't in your cabin when you arrive. It may take a few hours for luggage to be distributed. Inspect your cabin and report any complaints immediately.

There are plenty of other things you can do, though. Learn the exit route from your cabin to the open decks, in case of emergency. You should check to see if your meal seating confirmations are in your cabin, if unacceptable, you need to go see the Maitre d’. Check to see when the lifeboat drills are scheduled. If you plan on using the spa, salon or babysitting service, find them and sign up before all the good times are gone.

Check on the shore excursions if you know you are definitely going. See if you can sign up now, so you’ll be sure to get on before they sell out.

Grab your deck plan and take a walk to familiarize yourself with the layout of the ship, and learn how to reach your cabin from the main stairways. It’s a good idea to start with the top deck and work your way down. Make notes if you need to.

Every evening, you’ll receive a newsletter outlining the activities on the ship for the next day along with information about dinner and special events. It is important for you to read this every night! You will not want to miss out on items of interest to you. If you can't read it in the evening, take it to breakfast with you and read every line item. There is nothing worse than to have missed the "belly flop contest" if you are a potential winner, or to miss water volleyball with the crew.

There are so many things to do aboard your ship. You’ll have many different opportunities to eat and enjoy dinner conversation. You might want to exercise some of those meals off in the ship’s gym. Most cruise ships have fully equipped gyms and some have exercise classes scheduled.

You can try a game of chance in the casino or go to the ship’s theater and catch a movie. Aboard luxury ships, videos and DVDs are complimentary. Since the best go first, dash to the library and grab the ones you want. And be kind, return videos to the library after you've seen them -- many passengers don't. Also, instead of buying a book to read on board, borrow one from their library.

Enjoy some live entertainment shows. You’ll be the beneficiary of some excellent talent. Many ships have on board comedians to keep you laughing. Others provide Las Vegas style dancing revues. Be sure to take advantage of this free entertainment.

Most cruise lines have games for cruisers to play. From the “Not So Newlywed Game” to “Trivial Pursuit”, try your luck and win fabulous prizes! Well, you can win prizes that feature the cruise line’s logo at least, but many are quite nice. Some people love to win this kind of booty and strive to be the big winners of these games. Be prepared for competition.

You can easily become a dancing fool in the lounge. Almost all cruise ships have excellent nightclubs. Put on your dancing shoes and boogie oogie oogie till you just can’t boogie no more!

Of course, there’s always the option for complete and total relaxation. Simply lie on the deck and catch some rays. You deserve to take it easy and what better way than just sitting back and taking it easy while on board your luxury liner!

When it comes to paying for things on board, most cruise lines have developed a billing system for your convenience. They will take an imprint of your credit card and set up a tab for the cruise. You will then receive a total bill at the end of your cruise.

Be sure to keep all those little receipts you sign to verify the tab at the end. This is important, as it isn’t out of the realm of possibilities that overcharges to your account might occur. Sign your receipts in a way that makes it easy to distinguish and difficult to duplicate.

One couple reported that when presented with their bill at the end of the cruise, there were over $600 in charges on their bill that they had no receipts for. When they disputed the charges and the purser looked into it, someone else had charged items to their account. If they hadn’t had their receipts, they probably would have been stuck with the overcharge. As it was, the purser had no choice but to remove the charges.

If you don’t want to take the time to go through the bill and match them up with your receipts at the end of the cruise request your bill a few times during the trip and check the receipts as you go. They will give you a copy of your bill anytime you ask, so take advantage of that and stay on top of your charges.

You can usually use a credit card, traveler’s check or U.S. dollars aboard the ship if it sails out of a U.S. port. Personal checks are not always accepted or they may have limits, so you’ll want to check the cruise line’s policy on this if you plan on using this option.

Using your credit card can be more valuable than using cash, so use it when you can. You’ll probably be able to get a better exchange rate than changing money to spend yourself and you’ll be in a stronger position; the credit card company can often charge back disputed charges.

Many times your credit card will offer an extra guarantee or warranty when you purchase items with your card, but you’ll want to read the fine print for exceptions. You won’t have to risk your safety by carrying and displaying large amounts of cash, plus if you lose your card, most credit cards have a low maximum liability limit if you quickly report the card as lost.

Using an ATM is also a good idea. With the ability to draw out small amounts of cash as needed, you can avoid the risk of traveling with large amounts of cash. Using your ATM card can also be a good way to get cash in foreign countries. The ATM will issue money in local currency so you won’t have to worry about calculating exchange rates.

When exchanging money, you should exchange at the bank’s wholesale exchange rate. You may still want to shop around to different banks since some will charge a high usage fee for their ATMs. Although, even high ATM fees may be less than others some will charge for currency exchanges. Don't wait until you're out of money to go to an ATM, the machines can run out of money or break down.

We need to take a moment here and talk about what is often a controversial topic not only on a cruise ship, but also in general – tipping. As we’ve said before, this is one area you won’t want to skimp on, so we’ll offer up a couple of guidelines.