A cruise is like heaven on the seas. It's a time to relax, a time to have fun, a time to explore and be adventurous, and especially a time to be romantic. Sailing the Seven Seas is an ancient tradition that is impossible to replace with jetting to the latest resort somewhere. Cruising let's your resort take you from one exotic or inspiring location to another. The food will seem to be an endless variety of the most delectable edibles on the seas. And the service is simply outstanding. You will be pampered! A cruise may be as short as 2 days to a world cruise lasting 104 days. The most popular cruises are 7 days. No matter what the length, you will not want your cruise to end!

Cruises are primarily vacations to just get away from the routine of daily life. Millions of couples and families have discovered the fun of cruising as their vacations. But that's not all they are for. Cruises are great for honeymoons and anniversary celebrations. What could be more romantic than a wedding on a cruise? Cruises are becoming more popular for business incentives, seminars, and business conferences as well.

You may cruise to nearly any place where there is water. All the major cruise lines sail the Seven Seas and some others cruise lesser known portions and even rivers. Besides the traditional Atlantic, Pacific, Caribbean, Mediterranean, and Baltic cruises, you may choose to cruise the Rhine River or the Danube or even the Nile or the Yangtze. Some smaller lines cruise Antarctica and hard to get at wilderness areas of Alaska. The world is still your destination when it comes to cruising.

The sheer size of newer cruise liners is often enough to offer a very stable platform for your floating resort.  Also, modern cruise ships are equipped with "stabilizers" that limit the rocking and pitching of the ship in light to moderate seas.  For most folks that will be enough

However, for those that are easily upset by the slightest motion, please take a look at the following information excerpted from the August 2001 edition of Good Housekeeping:

If basic remedies fail to settle your stomach, one of these products may help.  But keep in mind:  Finding something that works is often a matter trial and error.

• Classic over-the-counter (OTC) tablets such as Dramamine and Bonine make the inner ear less sensitive to motion, though some can cause dry mouth and drowsiness.
• Prescription drugs such as Antivert, which is taken orally, and Scopolamine (the "patch"), which is placed behind the ear and delivers medication for up to three days, work like OTCs, and can have similar side effects.  Timing is everything for all these medication.  You must take the prescription pills at least two hours before you expect to get that queasy felling (take the OTCs one to two hours before hand).  Apply the patch four hours in advance or, ideally, the day before you travel.
• Elastic bracelets , available over the counter in drugstores and from the ship's store, feature a tiny button that rests on the underside of your wrist.  The button rubs against a point known in acupuncture as pericardium 6, easing nausea.
• Ginger capsules seem to do the trick for some people.  Wei Ming Sun, Ph.D., M.D., assistant professor of internal medicine at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, found that people who took two 500-milligram generic capsules an hour before being spun in a disorienting drum were less likely to feel queasy than those who took a placebo.
• The ReliefBand , recently approved by the FDA, resembles a wristwatch.  The OTC device uses electrical pulses to stimulate the median nerve in your wrist, presumably interrupting any "be sick" signals your brain sends to your stomach.  (Included with the band is a gel that you dab on your wrist to conduct the pulses; you should activate the band at the first sign of queasiness.)  The Good Housekeeping Institute had five staffers who routinely suffer from motion sickness test the ReliefBand.  After five days of riding planes, trains, boats, and buses, everyone reported that the band stopped nausea in its tracks, often within minutes.  (The ReliefBand costs $99 to $130.  Call 888-718-6900 or go to www.reliefband.com.)

We recommend you speak with your doctor about medications such as scopolamine (the "patch").  Over the counter medications such as Dramamine or Bonine are always available from the  ship's store.  Sea bands (elastic bracelets) are becoming increasingly more available from the ship's store on most cruise lines.

Click here to learn more about the "patch."
Click here to learn more about SeaBand.

Almost all cruise liners have well appointed cabins, Las Vegas or Broadway style shows, casinos, elegant restaurants rivaling 5 star restaurants anywhere on land, libraries, lounges, discos, informal cafes, cigar lounges, internet cafes, and public areas as grand as any world class hotel on land. Of course, the one thing that no land based hotel or resort can offer you: An extraordinarily breath taking view of the sea and land. Just ask anyone who's been on an Alaskan cruise!

Rules for passports are changing.  A passport is the universally accepted document for "proof of citizenship."  If you have one, it will be good for all cruise destinations.  If you are a US citizen cruising the Caribbean, Alaska, Canada, or Mexico, all that is required until 12/31/2006is a valid government issued photo ID like a driver's license for each adult plus an original or a certified, raised seal copy of his/her birth certificate in place of a passport.*  If you are cruising nearly anywhere else, a passport will be necessary.  In certain countries, a special tourist visa will be required in addition to a passport.  Regardless of destination, all non-US citizens will need passports and alien registration cards if they are residing in the USA.  Voter's registration cards and social security cards are not acceptable.

*CAUTION:  On June 1, 2009, the US Government will be requiring that its citizens show a valid US passport upon re-entry into the USA.  Therefore, obtaining a passport now would be a good idea.  See Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative for passport requirement timeline dates and to find out how to apply for or to renew a US passport.

Your cruise fare includes your cabin and the service your cabin attendant provides, most meals, most entertainment, telephone service for ship board connections, and all ship board activities. It does not include ship board purchases, shore tours, beverage purchases from any of the ship's bars (including soda pop and specialty coffees), ship-to-shore telephone service, internet connection fees, or tipping the cabin attendant or wait staff. (On some cruise lines, beverages and tipping are covered in your cruise fare.) Please be cautious making your ship board purchases as your cabin bill can increase at a rapid rate during your cruise. Most cruise lines offer an interactive service to view your cabin bill from your stateroom television. You may also visit the guest relations desk at any time during your cruise to get an update on your cabin bill.

Our recommendation is to relax and enjoy your cruise and not worry about email. However, if you are expecting an important message or need to send an important message or document, most cruise lines have been installing Internet Cafes on their ships. From there you can check, send, or receive email (web based such as Netscape, Yahoo, Excite, MSNmail, etc.) at a very nominal cost. If you brought your computer with you, all ships have ship to shore connections for you to hook your notebook computer into cyberspace. This can be quite costly at over $10 per minute. (Prices vary from cruise line to cruise line and ship to ship.)

Most modern cruise ships have a fully staffed and well equipped medical facility. If you have a pre-existing medical condition, please let us know when you are booking your cruise so we may check to see that the ship you're sailing can handle your medical needs. There are a number of special cruises now available for those with serious medical conditions. For example, there is a special cruise for those who need kidney dialysis. Also, if you have purchased trip insurance, you will be reimbursed for covered medical expenses.

Trip interruption/cancellation insurance is your best protection against unforeseen events that would ruin your cruise vacation. Without it, you would forfeit your cruise payments if you had to cancel your cruise after the penalty periods begin. The insurance also covers you for things other than trip interruption or cancellation. If you needed medical attention beyond the scope of the medical staff or facility on board, your home based health insurance may not cover your expenses. This insurance will. It will also cover lost and damaged luggage. For the peace of mind it brings, trip insurance is well worth the investment. If you book your cruise with us, you will receive a brochure spelling out exactly what is and what is not covered.

Only if you choose to! Seriously, there are so many activities from which to choose we doubt that you will ever be bored. If you still have doubts, you may want to choose one of the larger cruise ships. Because of the sheer numbers of passengers there is a larger variety of ship board activities. Most cruise ships have many planned and spontaneous activities occurring from sunrise to way past midnight. There are pool activities, sports, bingo, casino, wine tasting, dance lessons, dancing, karaoke, live entertainment, movies, television, fitness centers, talent contests, masquerade parties, Captain's party, and country-n-western night, just to name a few!

Days on board are casual, and you'll be most comfortable in sports clothes and resort wear.  Shoes should be low-heeled for deck activities.  Bring a few swim suits so you'll always have a dry one.  For evening wear, count on three basic types of attire.

• Casual:  sundress or slacks and blouses for women; sport shirts and trousers for men
• Smart casual:  dresses or pantsuits for women; jackets for men
• Formal:  cocktail dresses or evening gowns for women; suits and ties or tuxedos for men

Ashore, you'll need comfortable walking shoes, as well as a hat and sunscreen for protection from the sun in warm climates.  In colder climates, please bring appropriate clothing to keep you warm and dry.  (Alaska can be quite cool even in the Summer and rain is common.)

You may wish to take a small carry-on bag with a change of clothes as it may be warm in Florida but cold in Minnesota or warm in Arizona and cool in Alaska.  You may also want to take a snack if your flight or driving schedule indicate you may miss a meal.

Bring your electric razor (you won't need an adapter). Almost all cruise lines have staff that will do your laundry and dry cleaning for a sensible fee in just one day. Some cruise ships even have machine pay laundry facilities.

Almost all cruise lines welcome guests with special needs. To receive appropriate assistance, you must be sure your travel agent notifies the cruise line at the time of booking of any special medical or physical needs and other relevant information, including characteristics. Guests with special needs should be self-sufficient and preferably travel with a companion to provide any required assistance. Tendering may preclude guests with wheelchairs from going ashore at certain ports of call.

All guests must insure that they are medically and physically fit for travel and that such traveling will not endanger themselves or others. Any condition requiring medical treatment or attention must be reported to the cruise line in writing when booking is made or if such conditions arise after booking is made and prior to the boarding date of the cruise.

Guests dependent upon oxygen or requiring oxygen therapy must meet certain requirements prior to boarding the ship.

Most cruise lines will not accept guests who have entered into their third trimester of pregnancy by departure date.

In the event of strikes, lockouts, riots, weather conditions, mechanical difficulties or for any reason whatsoever, the cruise line may at any time and without prior notice cancel, advance, postpone or deviate from any scheduled sailing or port of call and may, but is not obligated to, substitute another ship or port of call, and shall not be liable for any loss whatsoever to guests by reason of such cancellation, advancement, postponement, deviation, or substitution. The cruise line will not be responsible for any failure to adhere to the arrival and departure times published in any of its brochures for any of its ports of call.

Most cruise lines encourage you to reward excellence in service. Some cruise lines have a strict "no tipping" policy where tipping is forbidden. However, the majority of cruise lines that do encourage you to reward the service of those who've given you excellent service will publish specific guidelines. Those guidelines are in your cabin documentation. The general rule of thumb is $10 per passenger per day. Younger children have a reduced rate. Most cruise lines will add a 15% gratuity for all purchases from the ship's bar. Soda pop is considered a bar beverage.

Some cruise lines will offer you the option of prepaying your gratuities on your booking. Some will have "vouchers" placed in your cabin to use instead of cash in envelopes. Some will simply handle it without any vouchers or envelopes.

Please keep in mind that the tipping guidelines apply to your wait staff whether you use the formal dining area or not.

On most cruise lines, of course, gratuities are expected and encouraged. Within this category, gratuities may be paid directly to ship employees in cash, or automatically charged to the passenger's onboard account. Some cruise lines will allow the prepaying of gratuities so passengers will not have to worry about this at the end of their cruise.

The traditional and most common tipping procedure is to hand cash gratuities to the service staff on the last full day or evening of the cruise. For longer itineraries, tipping on a weekly basis may be the norm. Gratuities are placed in envelopes provided in each stateroom or at the front desk on the ship. The cruise lines that follow this tipping procedure are Celebrity, Clipper, Costa, Cruise West, Crystal, Majestic America, Disney, MSC, Peter Deilmann, Royal Caribbean, Uniworld, Viking River Cruises and Windjammer.

Passengers on most of these lines are encouraged to tip their cabin steward and dining room waiter $3.50 per passenger, per day, and their assistant waiter/busboy should be tipped $2.00 per passenger, per day. (Suggested guidelines are higher for Crystal and Majestic America and lower for MSC and Costa's European cruises.) On most ships, tip the maitre d' or dining room captain about $5 to $10 (total) only if you ask for special favors or tableside service. It is customary to tip bartenders and wine stewards 15%, and many cruise lines automatically add this gratuity to the bar or beverage bill. Gratuities for special services such as spa treatments are left to the discretion of the guest, but 15% is considered typical.

The growth of freestyle dining and alternative restaurants has put pressure on this system. Because passengers dine when and where they wish and do not return night-after-night to the same table, many rightfully resist handing a week's worth of tips to the waiter and assistant waiter they happen to end up with on the last night of the cruise. That's why some cruise lines are opting to automatically charge tips to shipboard accounts and divide the total among all dining room personnel and cabin stewards.

These lines include Carnival, Norwegian, and Princess ($10 per passenger, per day). On the Caronia, Cunard automatically charges £5 per passenger, per day. On the Queen Elizabeth 2 and the Queen Mary 2, Cunard will automatically charge $13 to $15 per passenger, per day depending on cabin category. If a passenger feels that the amount automatically charged to his or her account should be adjusted higher or lower based on the service received, these lines will make that adjustment when the bill is settled at the end of the cruise. These amounts do not cover tips for bartenders and wine stewards, which are generally 15% added to the beverage bill.

A few cruise lines specifically state that gratuities are included in the cruise fare and are neither expected nor encouraged. Orient, Regent, Seabourn and Silversea fall into this category. Even on these lines, many passengers still tip for outstanding service or special favors.

Does any one tipping policy tend to encourage better service than the others?

Some will disagree, but I have not seen a correlation between tipping policy and service level. While many, many things affect service levels, the brochure rate per day of the cruise is probably the single best predictor of service - the higher the price, the better the service.

By knowing the cruise line's tipping policy prior to boarding, the only thing that you will have to worry about at the end of your cruise is returning to reality.

Info courtesy of vacationstogo.com

Simply present your cruise documents to one of the cruise line's receptionists at the cruise terminal. He or she will issue you a card which will serve as your identification card for boarding and reboarding the ship. It will also act as your "charge card" for onboard purchases.

Use this handy currency convertor to convert US dollars into the currency of your choice by clicking here

Planning a trip to the Caribbean or North Atlantic that doesn't include a hurricane rests on three key variables: season, geography and transportation. Hurricanes generally occur at predictable times within a given region, so planning around that season will improve the odds you won't experience a storm. For example, hurricane season in the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico is from June to November. Eastern Pacific basin storms around places like Acapulco occur between mid-May and the end of November.

Geography is also a key to avoiding hurricanes. The storms develop either north or south of the equator, so destinations within five degrees of the equator are generally safe. In the Caribbean, Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao in the Netherlands Antilles are low risk for hurricanes, but not guaranteed storm-free.

Finally, mode of transportation can help dodge tropical storms. Cruise ships are the best means of avoiding contact with hurricanes since they can monitor weather conditions and adjust their itinerary accordingly. Cruise ships travel at 18 knots or more where hurricanes travel a maximum of 12 knots.

Below are the average winds and wave heights for the different parts of the Caribbean sea each month of the year. Storms, especially tropical storms and hurricanes, can bring much faster winds and higher waves. To convert the wind speeds in knots to miles per hour, multiply by 1.15.



Source: Weathernews, Inc.

Click here for the average temperatures in the Caribbean.

Click here for a map of the Caribbean.

Cabin selection is truly a personal choice. If you are unconcerned about the cabin location, pick a category guarantee if it is offered for your cruise. The cruise line will assign a cabin to you at their discretion. You will be assigned a cabin in the listed category and possibly higher. Note that upgrades from a guarantee are from inside to inside, outside to outside, and balcony to balcony. If you want to experience as little motion as possible, choose an inside cabin low and in the middle of the ship. (Booking early is the best guarantee of getting a cabin in the location you want.) If you are going to use your cabin for changing clothes and sleeping, choose an inexpensive inside cabin. If you want to have some light from the outside or like to view the sea from your cabin, choose an ocean view. If you like to not only like to look at the sea but smell the wonderful salt air, choose a balcony cabin. Generally, the higher up on the ship, the more expensive the cabin will be. Some lines also have higher rates for midship cabins.

Each cruises line has a website complete with deck plans for each vessel in its fleet. The deck plans are often larger than what you may see in a printed brochure. (Please let us know if you need a brochure.) Use these to begin to familiarize yourself with a ship on which you have never cruised. Once on board, you will receive a small "ship's map" that is a miniaturized version of the deck plans. Also, in each elevator lobby there will be more deck plans on the walls. Additionally, there will be signs with the names and direction to all the public venues located on any particular deck. And, as usual, if you ever need assistance, just ask any of the ship's personnel and they will guide you to your destination onboard.

Alaska

Alaska has a very short cruising season; ships traverse its northern waters only between May and September. The months of June through August offer the warmest weather in this chilly state and are therefore the best and most popular times to cruise. In May and September, you'll find some closures and a bit more chill in the air, but you'll also find the best prices. In addition, May is the driest month of the Alaska cruise season, so you're less likely to be rained out of your flightseeing tour or glacier walk.

Bermuda

Bermuda cruises sail from April through mid-November, mostly during Bermuda's high or "beach" season. Most people travel during the summer months, making those voyages pricier, but you'll find deals on spring and fall departures (April through early June and September through November). Bermuda has temperate weather year-round and is less affected by hurricanes than its Caribbean neighbors. If it's too chilly for the beach in the shoulder season, you can always try out the island's many golf courses and spas.

Caribbean

You can sail to the Caribbean year-round, but the best time to go is when it's coldest in the northern hemisphere. Not only is the warm Caribbean climate a welcome respite from bad weather, but December through April are the driest months in the islands as well. The cheapest times to cruise are typically in the late summer and fall because of hurricane season. But you can often find patches of bargain sailings, especially during the early weeks of December and in the spring. The timing of spring discounts isn't always consistent, so it's best to keep an eye out and book when you see a low rate.

Europe

Europe is so big that you can't lump all its cruises together. The Mediterranean cruise season runs from April through November. Northern Europe and Baltic cruises have a shorter season running from May to October, while the warmer Greek islands and Canary Islands see cruise ships between March and December.

Most tourists come to Europe in the summer, but the late spring and early fall have more pleasant temperatures and not as many crowds. You'll find the lowest cruise prices at the beginning and end of each season; prices rise dramatically for the summer months.

Hawaii

With four NCL America ships dedicated to Hawaii cruising, you can explore the islands year-round. The best time to go is during the summer and fall when the island gets the least amount of rain. Summer tends to be the most popular because of school vacation and honeymoon season. Hawaii cruises are cheapest from November through February, with the exception of holiday cruises.

Mexico

You can cruise to Mexico year-round, either as part of a western Caribbean itinerary or as a dedicated Mexico voyage. The best time to visit Mexico is during its dry season, November through May. However, it's a popular destination even during the rainier summer months. You'll find the best deals in the fall, between the two high seasons and during hurricane season.

New England and Canada

New England and Canada sailings depart from May through October. You've got a better chance for warm weather if you travel from late June through early September. However, if you're interested in foliage viewing, you'll need to go in early to mid-October. May and late-October sailings will offer the lowest rates, but don't expect to be using the onboard swimming pool much.