A Luxury Cruise with the Kids?

Since most of the luxury lines are not very family friendly what do you do if you want an upscale cruise experience with all the amenities of a big ship? Try one of the lines that have separate enclaves for suite categories. NCL offers The Haven, while MSC offers the Yacht Club. The posh suites are surrounded by exclusive amenities accessible only to guests staying within the complex.
Both NCL and MSC areas are complete with a private pool, sundeck and restaurant.
You will also have priority access to other areas of the ship like specialty restaurants, shows or the spa with reservations made by your personal butler or concierge. The MSC Yacht Club guests also enjoy unlimited complimentary beverages. (wine, cocktails and juices)

The concept of both is a ship within a ship, so you can have all the benefits of luxury cruising without giving up the activity of a larger ships like fun kid's clubs, Broadway style shows and late night discos.

Cheap Vacations! Hurry Up & Buy Before You Read.

$599 Cancun 4-Star Resort Vacation or $69 for 5 days in Hawaii. Don't these seem obviously too good to be true? Nope! There are always a few people willing to take the bait. Since part of my service is matching verifiable prices offered by the big online agencies I've seen my fair share of these ads. Google any particular destination or resort and you'll find thousands of cheap deals. I'm always surprised that people don't see right through these tactics. If this vacation typically costs $2,000 how in the world can someone offer is for 1/4 of the price? By obligating you to a timeshare presentation, of course! If you're on the hook for a decade of payments and fees, what's a little loss now?

Read the fine print on most of these unbelievable deals and you'll inevitably find a reference to some sort of timeshare pitch. They promise to only take a few minutes of your time, but search again for comments and you'll find hundreds of people who were held up on their vacation for hours or a whole day while subjected to high pressure salespeople or worse, stranded at another location after they refused to buy. Don't waste valuable vacation time, use a trusted travel advisor.

Should You Upgrade to the Club or Premium Section?

One of the things I love about Riviera Maya is that even the lowest category rooms at a resort are typically more luxurious than comparably priced resorts at other Caribbean beach destinations.

Is it worth it then to upgrade to premium sections at a resort? My usual answer is it depends. At resorts that charge for WiFi, it is included in the premium section. At others, upgraded mini bar selections and room service menus are included along with reserved sunbeds on the beach. Concierge services may include priority reservations at specialty restaurants that may be hard to get otherwise. If you're on a honeymoon or otherwise special trip go for it! If you're spending lots of time at the resort in your room, you'll probably appreciate the perks.

At most Sandals & Beaches resorts room service is only offered in concierge and Butler category rooms. I think it's definitely worth the upgrade there. There's nothing better than room service if you have an early flight out, or if you've come
back to your room exhausted from excursions or clubbing.
The internet access is a big one! Let's say it costs $15/day for access in regular room categories, but the premium room is $300 more during your week. If you use 2 devices, you're already close to paying for the upgrade anyway. Be sure to ask what amenities are included at your resort to see if it makes sense in your case to upgrade.



(Pictures from the Preferred Clubs at Secrets Maroma Beach and Dreams Riviera Cancun)

What Hurriicane Irene's Stranded Cruise Passengers Will Do Next Time...

This story caught my eye in the stories about Hurricane Irene. 450 passengers stranded in Puerto Rico.

Boy did this strike a travel warning nerve for me! Not only did so many people miss out on a fabulous vacation, plenty of them lost much of their vacation investment unnecessarily. We can't control the weather, but here's my top 3 tips to minimize your risk of loss should this happen on your trip.

#1 Use a Travel Advisor (especially for first time cruisers)

Service doesn't end after the sale. Too many people are focused on price and forget issues can come up where you'll need someone on your side trying to help.

#2 Buy Insurance

Many people in the comment section jumped on RCCL and noted how they will cruise Carnival next time. Well, Carnival has had their share of poor customer service responses in the past also. That is a risk you take with any large company. Sometimes the bottom line will be more important than the welfare of their customers. Don't rely on them to do the right thing. Protect yourself!

#3 Get a Passport

Note how even the cruisers Carnival accommodated needed to have a passport to fly to Barbados. Since only about half of the people took the offer I would bet the other half were told there;s no point in getting a passport by their neighbor or the call center just trying to make that sale. I know it's expensive relative to the cost of a short cruise. Just do it! That $100 just saved some of these cruisers' vacation.

I truly care about each of my clients' experience. No one can guarantee a flawless vacation, but most travel professionals will do everything they can to help YOU when needed. If I had a dollar for every time someone chose to believe the cruise line that they would be fine with just a birth certificate! You may be fine, or you may end up paying for a flight home instead of going to the next port when something like this happens.

Once, I had a client that booked their first cruise during hurricane season with no insurance and arrived at the port on the day of departure. They liked to live on the edge! I nearly had panic attacks for a week on that one. Luckily they arrived back with no incidents, but I hope this story is a strong warning for them the next time and to everyone else.