So you’ve heard how great cruise vacations are, and now you’ve decided to take to the high seas for a fortnight of luxury and pampering. But there’s a lot to think about. So before you select a cruise line, a cruise ship or even get in touch with a travel agent, there are certain issues that are vital to consider.

1) Who is going on the cruise?

Although this question should be easy to answer, it can have a bearing on the type of cruise line and ship that you ultimately choose.

If you and your partner want to take a relaxing cruise, there are many ships that are aimed at couples. In fact some cruise ships actively discourage or even ban people from taking children onboard.

If you will be cruising as a couple, it’s also important to consider the dining situation. On ships with assigned seating, you will have to specify the size of table that you want. However, on many ships, tables for two are in short supply, so if this is an important issue, this may influence your choice of cruise line and ship. Just make sure that you make this clear to your travel agent or the cruise line when booking.

On the other hand, if you want to take your children or travel with the rest of your extended family, there are certain cruise lines and ships within cruise lines that are specifically tailored with family vacations in mind.

2) How much have you got to spend?

It’s possible to find a cruise vacation to suit almost any budget. So before you go any further it’s important to work out how much you’re willing to spend on your holiday.

But as a general rule, you’ll need to set aside at least $150 per person per day to cover the cost of your cruise. However, bigger cabins in more luxurious ships can cost many times this figure.

However, it is possible to get more for your money if you;

a) Book early: Most cruise lines are willing to give generous discounts if you book your cruise 6-12 months in advance.

b) Book late: Likewise, if you book within 2 months of setting sail, most cruise lines will give you hefty discounts to fill the remaining cabins.

3) How long have you got?

The number of days that you want your vacation to last will determine the type and location of cruises that are available to you.

If you only have a few days, the main option is a one port cruise. This means that the ship leaves port sails around the sea/ocean for two or three days and then returns to the same port. The ship doesn’t call at any other ports, but it does give you a few days at sea. This is a good way to get the feel for a certain cruise ship, or even cruising in general.

If you have a week to spare, this gives you more choices. If you live in the US, this gives you the choice of Hawaii, Alaska, Florida, Mexico or even a Caribbean cruise. If you live in Europe this will give you access to the mediterranean, north africa, or even a nordic cruise.

Alternatively, if you want to increase the number of locations available, you could fly to and from the start/finish location of your cruise or take a one way cruise either flying to the start location or flying home after disembarkation.

If you have two weeks or longer, you can cruise almost any part of the world.

4) What time of the year?

The time of year that you take your cruise will have a major affect on two issues;

a) The Price: As with all forms of travel, your holiday will cost more during the peak season. In contrast, most cruises are cheaper in the spring or fall.

Traditionally, the winter was considered the high season for Caribbean destinations, but due to the weight of supply and demand (people who have to take their vacation during the summer) the summertime costs are almost on a par with the cost of a winter Caribbean cruise.

b) The Locations Available: The time of year that you take your cruise will also determine the locations that are available. Although this won’t make much difference to the more mainstream locations such as the Caribbean or the Mediterranean, certain places have a distinct cruise season.

If you want to go to Alaska or northern Europe, the main cruise season lasts from May till September.

For Antartica, the season is even shorter, running from November to February.

Although the tropical regions are in season all year, there is a great variation in the amount of rainfall throughout the year. Locations such as the Caribbean will have less rain during the summer months and more rain during the winter months.

And finally, although not a restriction as such, some people prefer to avoid places that may be affected by the hurricane season. If a cruise ship encounters a storm it will alter its route to avoid it, which means you may miss certain places that you wanted to visit.

5) What part of the world do you want to visit?

You can cruise almost anywhere in the world, even landlocked countries are often available to explore through river cruises. So it’s no surprise that this is one of the hardest decisions for cruise newcomers to make.

The amount of days that you have for your vacation will narrow your options, but beyond that, consider other issues, such as;

If you want to or have to take your vacation at a certain time of the year, which locations are available?

If you particularly want to use a certain cruise line, which locations do their ships visit?

What type of weather and climate do you prefer?

Are there any particular landmarks that you want to visit?

Are there any activities or adventures that you want to experience?

Now all you have to do it to get in touch with your travel agent.

Kristen Olsen
http://www.articlesbase.com/travel-articles/planning-your-first-cruise-things-to-consider-part-1-129768.html

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Now I do not recommend Norwegian because of their "freestyle" cruising. It means that you do not have to specify a dining option; don’t have a table and waiter assigned to you. It means you can go to dinner in the main dining room any time of the evening.

But it also means that you may be standing in line awaiting a table on some days (like we had to a couple times); not what you want on a cruise. Since you go when you want, you rarely get the same waiter and so never really get to know your waiter and he/she never learns what you prefer. The option to this being pushed on NCL is their optional dining which you must pay to use. The dining options can cost $10 to $20 a person for dinner each night; not what you want after paying for a cruise. Then optional restaurants are nice, including French, Sushi, Tex-Mex, Italian, steak house restaurants. But who wants to go pay to eat on a cruise ship where all the meals are supposed to be included. We always skipped the optional restaurants and just got to the main dining early.

The ship was a good one, not as new and modern as some of the newer NCL, Princess and RC ships. It is not one of the ships that has a majority balcony and suites cabins. But it has nice features. I don’t remember the shows and they change those periodically anyway.

Since Star took over NCL the line has an Asian flavor; Star is an Oriental company. Some of the performers and musicians were Asian and they had Karioke every evening. Not my cup of tea. You will enjoy, but it will be diferent from what you had on Carnival and RC.

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When it comes to elegant a familiar vacation, it is generally problematic to asset a tarriance intention that targets the whole family. This becomes even more difficult when teenagers are involved. If you and your family are interested in having a relaxing, yet exciting vacation, you are encouraged to consider vacationing aboard a cruise ship.

Cruise ships are not what they were in the past. They have evolved in paramount spectacular. Aboard a cruise ship, you are unquestionably advent to a add of services, facilities, and activities. If you are the plan of a teenager, you may be wonder what cruise bottom activities will peak their internet. The activities found aboard a cruise ship will all depend on the cruise line and ship in question. Despite the fact that cruise ship activities vary, there are number of common activities that are targeted towards teenagers.

Children of all ages, especially teenagers, be appreciative fat and relaxing by the side of a pool. All stopover cruise ships attend good with a pool. These onboard pools are bewitching for teenagers. With a lifeguard on duty, you can feel comfortable allowing your teenager to swim unattended while you enjoy other onboard activities. Most cruise ships have a standard adult size swimming pool, but additional pool styles may be available. A limited number of cruise ships have onboard lap pools or wave pools.

Arcade rooms can further be establish aboard various cruise ships. Many arcade chambers are targeted towards younger children, but not all are. On a number of cruise ships, you may be able to find numerous arcade games that have a focus on teenagers. These games may include, but are not limited to fighting games, air hockey, and other interactive sports games. Most games found inside a cruise ship arcade require coins or tokens. If you plan on leaving your teenager unattended, be sure that they have enough money to play the games of their choice.

In supplement to a wealthy bundle and an arcade room, eminently manifest cruise produce have an onboard movie theater. At extra given point throughout the day, a popular movie could be playing. Most of the movies shown onboard a cruise ship are designed for adults and teenagers. If you do not have a restriction on the types of movies that your tot can watch, they can have lively watching a movie in state-of-the-art movie theatres.

Arcade rooms, movie theatres, and fat pools are facilities drive on incredibly cruise lines. Additional teen activities may be enter on aboard fixed ships. These activities may gain surfing, jounce climbing, or ice skating. To determine whether these additional activities can be found aboard a cruise ship, you are encouraged to examine the cruise ships layout. All facilities and onboard activities should be explained in a diagram or in a printed explanation.

One of the few cruise merchandise that currently offers onboard establish skating is Royal Caribbean International. Royal Caribbeans ship, Adventure of the Seas, has one of the surpassingly distinguished onboard make certain skating rinks. In adjunct to enjoying mount skating, ice skating shows are offered on a regular basis. These shows can come in the form of a competition or an ice capades show that is geared towards the whole family.

The high standing of bump climbing walls has major overtime. Onboard rock climbing walls are good for teenagers. Similar activities are recurrently explored in ruffled school gym classes. For a small fee, your teenager could spend the day climbing high in the air. In addition to the excitement of climbing itself, extra excitement and thrills are added when you realize exactly how high you are above the sea.

A supple ripening in cruise underside activities has caused pleasure among multiplied teenager travelers. This stunt is known as onboard surfing. Royal Caribbean recently developed the Flowrider, aboard their cruise ship, Freedom of the Seas. The Flowrider, simulates surfing waves in a safe and fun environment. This onboard activity is something that many teenagers would enjoy doing, time and time again.

The foresaid activities are convenient a few of the copious that mark teenagers. If you wish to proceeds a cruise, but are worried that your child entrust be bored, do not worry. It is easy to see that most cruise ships have a large number of fun and exciting activities that are geared towards teenagers, just like your own.

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If you are looking for cruise line that sails around the world, you have a number of options to choose from. Most of them have the best comfort and highest standards among lines. You’ll see that some of the companies are known only in the specific places that they visit the most, whereas others are known all over the world. All of these lines provide such a great experience that you never forget what a great time you had.

If you are mostly interested in visiting different places around the United States, than you might like the American Cruise Lines the best. These companies are enjoyed because of the interesting places that you get to explore on the coastline of the United States and the small islands that you’ll get to visit. The guides on the lines are well-read and can tell you all about the history and nature of each place you visit. If you choose one of the smaller ships to go on, you will get to experience a more intimate vacation that provides great comfort.

Another well-known cruise line is the Cunard Line. This company gives you a quieter experience as it travels farther out into the ocean. You’ll definitely feel like you are away from it all out on thier ships. Among the ships for the Cunard Line is the famous Queen Mary II. This ship has been called The Most Famous Ocean Liner in the World due to its beauty and luxury crossings. Other things that make this ship stand out are that it is the tallest, largest, and most expensive cruise liner in the world.

Fun Cruise Lines

There are some lines that really appeal to families. Companies like Disney and Princess are well-known for their fun, family atmosphere. These cruise lines have all types of activities to appeal to all personalities and interests. The Disney Line is owned by Disney and it sails to the Bahamas. When you get a vacation package through Disney, you also get a chance to stay at the Walt Disney Resort. This is a great way to extend your vacation or set you up for two separate ones.

Princess has destinations around the world that it travels to. They have fifteen ships and each has a different location that it goes to. Each ship also has different lengths so that it can work for both people who want a long vacation and for those who want a short one. The Princess allow people to have a vacation that is specialized to them, because you can pick your dining, entertainment, and other services. Although this company travels to most countries around the world, it has its strongest presence in the United States.

The previously mentioned cruise lines are only a sample of the many cruise lines that travel around the world. Other ones that you may want to look into include Carnival Cruise Lines, Holland America Line, Royal Caribbean, Norwegian Coastal Voyage Inc., Oceania Cruises and Regent Seven Seas Cruises.

Charlie Welf
http://www.articlesbase.com/travel-articles/finding-the-right-cruise-line-100570.html

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Norwegian cruises:

http://www.ncl.com/nclweb/cruisesearch/c…

Royal Caribbean cruises:
http://www.royalcaribbean.com/findacruis…

Carnival Cruises:

http://www.carnivalcruiselines.com/find_…

All of these cruise lines have programs for kids and I know that Royal Caribbean has a special area on its ships for kids called Adventure Ocean, plus a place for teens to hang out called Fuel (all of these are supervised areas). But what set Royal Caribbean apart is its ships generally have more on-board activities than the other cruise lines. I also recommend that you take your cruise on the Royal Caribbean ship, Explorer of the Seas, which goes to Bermuda out of Cape Liberty, NY (near NY City, use the Newark airport). That is one of RC’s Voyager Class ships (I have been on two of them) and it has on it the rock climbing wall, a mini-golf course, an ice skating rink, an in-line roller skating track, a ful sized basketball/tennis court, plus the over sized chess and checker sets to play on the deck, along with shuffle board, and a game room. Take a look at the ship’s features:

http://www.royalcaribbean.com/findacruis…

A 5, 6, or 7 day cruise to Bermuda is plenty enough time to enjoy it. You may want to read below what I have written about what’s to do in Bermuda to help decide how many days to go for. Note also from the links that the price varies according to the date that you select. So if you are looking to save money go when the price is the lowest; its the same cruise. Also, The prices shown are for each person based on double occupancy so while the cruise lines do not give a discount for kids, the prices for your kids will be less if they are staying in your cabin; generally about 50% less.

ABOUT BERMUDA:
In my two visit it seemed to me that the majority of the people visiting the island were those on the two or three cruise ships which docked there during my stay. There are a few hotels in the town of Hamilton and about a dozen other properties/beach hotels, but they are nice. There are NO slums and ghettos in Bermuda like you may see on other islands like the Caribbean. It’s a very safe island to travel around, even on the buses. All of the houses are well maintained and painted in pastel colors. All of the public beaches are great. Be sure to go to Elbow Beach and Long Bay Beach. When you cruise there its less expensive than flying and staying in a hotel because, you stay and eat on the ship. We ate on ship and that was good because meals (and everything else) are expensive since everything has to be imported. In fact Bermuda is an expensive place for about everything.

There is not a lot to do in Bermuda other than water sports and golf. There are two main towns Hamilton, the largest (where most cruise ships dock for at least a day) and St George (also a port stop) which is like a small town.

St George is like a small new England town with a small town square and a few shops. But it has bus service that will take you anywhere on the island, and since the island is pretty small (about 22 miles long) it only takes a few minutes to go other places. You can visit one of the many forts on the island like Fort St Catherine , its walking distance from St George also. If you want to the beach from St George you have several options within walking distance of St George and if you want to snorkel, the Tobacco Bay Beach near the town of St George is great, and its walking distance (about 3/4 mile from town).

The third place ships may dock while there is The Kings Dockyard.. The Dockyard is on the far end of the 22 mile long island and has a small mall with shops and a museum. It also has a new attraction called Snorkel Park Beach. The Crystal Cave and Fantasy Caves are worth visiting as a tour, or on your own. I also visited one of the lighthouses.

In the town of Hamilton we took a walking tour from our ship which took us to the Cathedral of the Most Holy, a maritime museum and a nice garden/park a few blocks from the port. There is shopping in Hamilton and restaurants, but not much else.

The best way to get around in Bermuda is to buy a transportation pass (sold in stores and the bus station) which will let you take the buses, and the ferry, all over the island. We bought our bus pass at a store in St George, near where the ship docked. There is a big bus depot just a couple blocks from where ships dock in the town of Hamilton. You can take the buses to the beach, they are not very far away and easy to get to from the bus stop. You want to go to Elbow Beach and Long Bay Beach, both open to the public. You can rent a scooter but remember that they drive on the opposite side of the road so unless you are used to that it can be dangerous, especially in turns and circles.

I would cruise to Bermuda again and probably will because its a lovely place and a nice cruise too.

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