Superstitions or quirks when you cruise?

Gamblers, sports figures, and probably most people have some superstitions or quirks if you will. Gamblers have lucky shirts and some sports figures maybe don't shave if on a winning streak. When I realized this was Friday the 13th, I wondered how superstitions or quirks and cruising might fit together. OK, so sometimes my brain goes in strange directions. :-)

One of my cruising superstitions is not to wear a shirt I've worn before when embarking a ship as we always buy the Welcome Aboard picture they take. I have not idea what would happen if I do but why take chances.

Another one of mine is about winning in the casino the first few nights of a cruise. It seems when I do, the winning streak goes downhill fast later in the trip. Understand, I don't want to lose a lot early on (in fact I never like losing) but I know that I will have a good streak sometime during the week and if it happens later on, there is a much better chance of coming home ahead.

We also feel that if we can get our luggage delivered to tthe cabin and get unpacked before muster drill, we will have a better time the rest of the trip.

I know some of our clients prefer the port side and are not happy when they can not get a cabin on that side. Do they think there is less chance of falling overboard?

As I have been thinking about this today, I also realized that even at tables for 6, 8 or 10, whatever seat people take the first night, they tend to sit in every night. Is this a superstition or a quirk?

So I'm asking those of you who follow this blog, do you have any superstitions or quirks when you cruise? Let me know by posting a reply.

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Also, for those not on our monthly newsletter - Cruise Newz and Views - email distribution list and you would like to be, simply send me an e-mail with your name. list. Send it to al@askusaboutcruising.com and please include your name (I ask for this so I can find it easier if you decide to opt out at a future date as the file is by last name.)

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And last but not least, on Tuesday Feb 24th at 8 PM ET, we are having a "live" online cruise night. Our special guest will be from Norwegian Cruise Line and our featured destination this month is Bermuda. Space is limited so if you would like to attend this webinar, let me know so I can send you the website and teleconference information necessary to join in. We will have some fun, and of course have some special offers for those who do attend.

Lastly, have a wonderful Valentine's day tomorrow.

Al

It's a good time to book a cruise

January proved to be a very “interesting” month for us in our business as well as in our personal life. Although I will not go into the personal situations, I will only say they were challenging. Now, we are looking forward and working on some new ideas that we can offer to our current as well as future clients.

As far as the “cruise industry” goes, the economic situations today have actually been good for the consumer in several ways. Normally, all the cruise lines prefer to see their capacity filling up earlier rather than having to offer promotions or reduced pricing as the sailing gets closer and will normally offer booking incentives when people book early and raise prices as ships fill up.

However, since the consumer is unsure of what the future holds for themselves, the recent trend has been for bookings 1-4 months prior to sailing instead of 7-10 months as we have seen for the last several years. Because the cruise lines need to fill their ships, they have been forced to reduce pricing and possibly offer some incentives to generate the new bookings needed. Besides lower pricing, they are also requiring lower deposits (although full payment due remains approximately 75 days before sailing), on board credit, upgrades, and other incentives to stimulate business and fill the space available on many itineraries.

So what happened to those customers who did book months ago and who should get the best pricing? We can’t speak for other agencies (lower price means lower commissions so many agencies will not adjust prices once booked) but we will always get pricing adjusted for our clients if the pricing goes lower after you are booked. We have always promised to protect our clients and always will. Many of you who booked a while ago on 2009 cruise vacations have had your pricing lowered recently. Lower pricing is not happening on every ship or sailing date but it has happened quite a bit lately.

But, we don’t expect this to last for long! Because of the recent promotions, space has been getting sold and ships are filling up for the premium dates and the close in dates.

Not only does pricing go up as the ships fill but just as important, the choice of desirable accommodations becomes less. When you book “close in” you must take what is left. The further out you plan a cruise, the better off you are. By booking early, you get the most choices for the type of accommodation you prefer and we will protect your pricing if it does go down after you book (it doesn’t affect you if pricing goes up unless you are making a new booking). Plus, your deposit is fully refundable prior to the final payment due date at which time the cruise line cancellation penalties go into effect (we have no cancel penalty either if there is no cruise line penalty imposed). If something happens in the future and you have to cancel and change your vacation plans before that final payment due date, you have not lost anything but if all goes as planned, you have everything to gain. Now is the best time to plan your summer and fall vacations and hopefully a cruise is in those plans.

Record # of Passengers in Port Everglades

Port Everglades tops World Record Number of Cruise Passengers for a single day!

On Saturday, January 3, 2009 the total of passengers disembarking and embarking ships was 49,234. This eclipsed the ports own record of 47,229 set about 2 years ago.

There were eleven ships in port that day - Carnival Splendor and Carnival Freedom, Queen Mary 2, Holland America Eurodam, Noordam and Statendam, the Discovery Sun (a small ship that only goes to the Bahamas), MSC Lirica, the Ruby Princess, The Royal Caribbean Navigator fo the Seas, and the Seabourne Pride.

If the ships were put bow to stern, they would stretch 9,869 feet long which is approximately 31 football fields or moved enough passengers to fill 105 747 Jumbo Jets. The number of passengers that day is about 1/3 the population of Hollywood, FL where the port is basically located at (and where we happen to live.)

Turnaround day on any ship is a well "cohreographed" event to begin with but think about the buses moving people from ship to airport and airport to ship, the taxis, the personal cars and don't forget the delivery trucks bringing supplies for each ship.

What an amazing day and accomplishment! And who said no one is going on cruises? The deals are great right now so call us or your travel agent and get yourself booked.

Al

Reply to Bobby

Disembarkation normally begins around 7-7:30 AM. With NCL, and some other lines also, if you want to take your own luggage off the ship, you can disembark as soon as ship is cleared in the morning.

Depending on the amount of luggage you have, is it worth it? Only if you have an early flight. since someone is picking you up, I would put luggage outside of cabin as normal and relax in the morning. Once you know your approximate disembark time, e-mail your friend so they can time getting to the port.

Figure 9 AM or so would be a pretty safe guess. Have breakfast and relax. Vacation cruise may have ended but no sense getting back in the "rat race" yet. It will take time to clear customs and immigration and no way to know how long that will be. some of them (the agents) are slower than others and people don't get their stuff in order and hold up the lines.

Since you mention the Pearl, I guess you are going to Miami for the cruise. Pretty easy to connect there so your friend can get there around 9 and wait for you to call them (aren't cell phones wonderful) once you have luggage and clear customs and then come to area to pick you up.

Pearl is a beautiful ship, enjoy the bowling and the Bliss lounge. Hoep this helped you.

Al

Hot Deals Temporarily Removed

Happy New Year to all who follow our blog.

We have removed our Hot Deals link temporarily as we make a transition from an Independent Contractor with Cruises Inc., to our sister company Cruise One as an Independent Franchise Owner.

This is strictly a strategic move for us affording us the opportunity to grow our business to new levels. Our dedication to clients will only get better. Our website link will be changing in the very near future but any replies or questions will still get to us during the transition period.

We will be posting information about a special event coming up on Jan 22 so stay tuned for that.

Al

Travel Protection Update to the story earlier today

We did get word back that the folks did get on the 4:10 flight and are somewhere over the Atlantic as I write this heading to San Juan for their cruise. They will probably sleep very well this evening.

Does that mean they wasted the money for travel protection? Not at all. This time it did work out but for many, it doesn't. As I said earlier, it is "peace of mind" protection and without that flight, it would have been quite an out of pocket expense or complete cancellation and loss of the cost of the cruise.

A good friend of mine, a former client who is now an agent with our company (from Boston area)which is getting 7-11 inches of snow today, had e-mailed me this afternoon with a subject line:

The Only White I want for Christmas is the color on the side of my Cruise Ship

I would not tell him about our 80 degree temps today but told him to read my posting earlier today. He sent back this note:

Nicely done. The page looks great and the article is very timely to say the least. I like the picture of you and Helen with the captain. Only Al Richman could get the cap off of the captains head. I must say that I am one of your best students. For the January cruise I took the insurance and will show up 2 days ahead of time

Of course, if you have been on this BLOG before you noticed the picture of us that I finally put on it.

If you are reading this post and have no idea of what I am talking about, go back to the previous one. And if you wish to share a story about your situation once when it comes to having or not having travel protection, please put it in the comments.

Happy Holidays to all and we wish only for you to have an adventurous 2009.

Al & Helen

Travel Protection - Is it worth the money?

This is an "optional" purchase offered along with one's cruise plans. 1/3 or more travelors opt NOT to get the travel protection offered when booking a cruise (I have no idea of the stats for other travel.) But is this protection worth it? I believe it is.

Not because we, as agents, make some additional commission, but for peace of mind! We learned this lesson the hard way years ago before becoming agents. It cost me over $3400 to learn this lesson but that is a different story. Today's is current.

We have a client going on a 10 day S. Caribbean cruise departing from San Juan today. I received a call yesterday that they were worried because of a major snowstorm coming into Detroit this morning and would the flight get out in time to catch the connection in Miami. Well, the plane boarded passengers and then deboarded them. They reboarded an hour or so later, left the gate and then returned (mechanical problem). They finally left Detroit about 4 hours late.

Needless to say, they missed the connection and the only two flights to get them to San Juan in time to catch the ship today are full (we're hoping stand by works for them as people connecting from other flights may be delayed more depending on where they are coming from - mean but my clients get my priority!)

We can not even help them get to the first port of call tomorrow (flights and time schedule) and the 2nd best scenario is to get them to the ship on Sunday. This means hotels two nights in San Juan (if they get the flight that is too late for the ship), purchasing a ticket from San Juan to St. Marten, meals, etc., and will the luggage actually catch up to them? Not to even mention lost time on the cruise if they get there at all.

Without travel protection, one is "out the monies" spent. Fortunately, these folks listened to me and purchased when they booked about 4-5 months ago. All costs will be reimbursed (estimate with the flight to St. Marten) about $650-900 or so plus the 2 lost days of the cruise! And if they don't ever get to the cruise - $2700 they paid for the booking. cost of their travel protection is $198 total.

Right now, they are at the Miami airport getting on the stand by list for the 2:30 flight or the 4:10 flight. With luck, they will be on one of those flights, get to San Juan, get on the ship, and begin their long awaited vacation.

Whether they make it to the ship today is still unknown. But the "peace of mind" protection - that's what I call travel protection - is definitely worth the small amount paid, even if they get to the ship and enjoy the entire cruise and do not have to file a claim.

Think about it the next time you book a cruise. Of course, whenever possible get to your embarkation destination a day early to be even safer. Especially in the winter when coming from up north.