Rock Climbing Wall

Cruise Vacations vs. Ordinary Vacations

Cruise vacations are becoming more and more popular with each passing year. Years ago cruises were viewed as the ultimate luxury vacation, only enjoyed by the fabulously wealthy, or by cruise groups of senior citizens who had been saving for a cruise all of their lives. These days, quite the opposite is true. The cost of a seven day cruise vacation is comparable to a seven day vacation on to many other land destinations, especially when you consider all of the extras and inclusions that you get on an all-inclusive cruise vacation. Below are a few examples of how cruise vacations differ from the normal vacation getaway.

Cost of Cruise Vacations vs. Ordinary Vacations

When dealing with the cost of a vacation, a cruise vacation compares very favorably with most land-based vacations. When you book a cruise vacation, your fee’s will include your lodging, all of your meals, as well as many daily activities that would cost extra if you took a typical land-based vacation. On land vacations you usually initially just pay for travel and hotel, having to add on daily meals and extra activities.  Once you start factoring in the cost of gasoline for travel, restaurant meals and admission fees to parks and other excursions, you almost always come out ahead by booking a cruise instead.

The Food is Fabulous!

When you go on a non-cruise vacation, you are usually on your own as far as food is concerned. Since you will be eating at various restaurants, you are at the mercy of a different chef every time, and you can never be sure of the quality of the service or the food. On cruise ships, however, the food is considered one of the best aspects of the entire trip. You will have plenty of choices for your meals from traditional dining room fare to pizza and burgers at a dockside café. You can literally graze your way through the entire day, starting with poolside breakfast buffets and ending with a midnight snack in a cozy bistro or in your room. You will never go hungry on a cruise, for anytime you need food it will be there for you.

And Then There is the Service…

Your cruise staff is dedicated to ensuring that you are treated like royalty the entire time you are under their care. Eating in the ship’s dining room is comparable to dining at a world-class restaurant. The service is cheerful, impeccable, and very friendly. If you are unhappy at all with your meal, they will happily return it to the kitchen and bring you anything else you desire.  If you have special dietary considerations, the kitchen will know about them beforehand and will have made arrangements to honor them. You are not a customer on the ship, instead you are considered an honored guest.

The glorious pampering continues outside the dining room as well. You will find chocolates on your pillow at night, and your coffee made just the way you like it when you sit down to the table at breakfast. After one night your dedicated wait staff will know you and your family, including your likes and dislikes. If you want anything at all, all you need to do is locate a cruise attendant and chances are they will arrange for it to be delivered to you as soon as possible.

Cruises Make Vacationing Easy

Remember those long car rides with your children in the back seat poking each other and growing crankier the longer you were in the car? You will never have to worry about that on a cruise vacation. No maps, no counting the miles to the next bathroom stop, no looking around for a decent restaurant or the next McDonald’s on the side of the road. When you are on a cruise, all the planning is done for you. All you have to do is sit back and relax, and decide which of the dozens of activities they have to offer you want to enjoy.

Cruise ships offer an incredible variety of activities to participate in. The newest ships are floating resort cities. You can drift from activity to activity depending on your mood and vacation style. Even better, cruise vacations offer something for everyone. If you have ever tried to put together a vacation that will please your sports-loving husband, your adventurous son, your shopaholic daughter, and your own delight in experiencing the best foods of the world, you will really appreciate a cruise vacation. Your kids can enjoy a morning at a deck side water park complete with water slides and wave pools while you relax at the shipboard spa with a top-of-the-line massage. You can golf, gamble, hike, and climb rock walls all before you even add in the on-shore excursions.

Whether you choose a leisurely cruise to smaller islands, or an adventurous cruise that takes you on a tour of the Alaskan coast, a cruise vacation simply ca not be beat for cost, convenience or pure fun. When you book a cruise vacation, you are booking an exciting getaway where the world does not interfere with all of its troubles and inconveniences.

If you have never considered a cruise before, this is the year to check it out. With the economic turmoil, most cruise lines are going all out to offer tempting deals to attract vacationers of all kinds. Shop around online and take a look at all the options and advantages that a cruise vacation offers.

New to cruising

New to Cruise

Your complete guide

1st Time Cruising

IS IT YOUR FIRST TIME ….. ON A CRUISE?

OR….. NEVER BEEN AND THINKING ABOUT IT?

Taking a cruise is the IN thing in the holiday world – lots of people take their first cruise in trepidation with lots of misgivings only to find they are not true and wonder why they never cruised before. Many get the bug and end up taking a couple of cruises each year. Cruising is the fastest growing sector of the holiday industry with more than a million people in the United Kingdom taking a cruise each year.

Here‘s why:

CRUISES COST TOO MUCH

When asked – most non cruises expect Caribbean cruises to cost upwards of £1500 per person and Mediterranean cruises to anything from £1000pp. Also many people are not sure what is included in the cost – many think that flights and tax are additional. Here – at Jetline we have been at the leading edge of the cruise industry for the past 10 years bringing to the public new and innovative ways to enjoy a cruise holiday. Our collective expertise and contacts in the cruise industry mean that we can provide amazing cruise deals and great prices which are hard to match elsewhere. We pride ourselves in being the first to find incredible prices, exclusive offers and bespoke packages.

Cruises start from only £399 into the med for a week, Caribbean from £699 and the Nile from £399 including 10 excursions. These prices include stateroom accommodation, any flights that are required to take you to your port of departure, food virtually 24 hours per day and all port / air tax and fuel surcharges.

Also included are the majority of facilities and entertainment on board such as – theatrical shows every nights, nightclubs, variety shows, fitness centre, swimming pools, hot tubs and much more. Plus you will always find tea and coffee on tap 24 hours a day. Extras may include: tips foe the cabin crew, transfers ( in the case or our exclusive low cost tailor made cruise holidays), on board drinks that are served to you at the bar and at dinner, specialty restaurants, excursions and any additional service such as massages etc.

CRUISES ARE FOR SNOBS

Gone are the days of the Titanic with the first Class people on the upper deck and steerage passengers in the bowels of the ship. Cabins are priced from the bottom upwards and all passengers have access to all public areas of the ships. Cruises these days are a classless society.

CRUISES ARE FOR OLD PEOPLE

Cruises were traditionally the realm of the retired – but these days the average of the cruises if around the mid forties. Gone are the days of sedate cruises sitting in a deck chair under a tartan blanket, dressing up, ball room dancing and perhaps a game of shuffleboard for the energetic. Cruise ships have an incredible range of facilities and are built to appeal to all age groups. Perfect for families with a wide range of children’s clubs and facilities which far surpass the best land based resorts. Ideal for couple young and old and amazingly satisfying for the most energetic of holiday makers. After all you would not catch grandma in the video games arcade, scuba diving, rock climbing or ice skating … would you???

CRUISES ARE TOO FORMAL

Pardon – no way. Gone are the days of dressing for dinner every night and jostling for position at the captain’s table. Some cruise lines even go out of their way to market themselves as informal – one tag line sums it all up – “The cruise for people who don’t do cruises!”. During a standard 7 day cruise most cruise ships will hold only 2 formal nights in the main restaurant for dinner only. Formal could mean as little as a business suit for the gentlemen and trouser / skirt suit for the ladies. If you did not want to participate you could simple eat in one of the many other places on board. Throughout the day casual attire (as you would wear in any beach resort) is the norm. Even on Cunard you could get away with cruising without any formal clothes at all.

CRUISES ARE TOO CONFINED AND ORGANISED

Imagine standing outside a 14 storey office block that is the length of four football pitches. The building towers above you and stretches further than the eye can see without turning you head. This is the size of typical modern cruise ship above the water line – confined – I don’t think so. Ships are being built bigger and bigger – the average size of ships these days being twice the size of the Titanic and 1.5 times the size of the QE2. Quite often with so much to see and the different ports of call many people disembark without having seen the whole ship. As with any beach resort hotel there are organised activities – but equally passengers are free to do their own thing: many cruise ships having dining options at any time, pool areas that have no organised events and each port of call you do not have to book organised excursions – you simply get off and do your own thing. Also you can escape the crowds and find quieter parts of the ship and bars to enjoy some solitude if needed.

CRUISES ARE BORING

Imagine a hotel with the following : 13 bars, 9 restaurants, 3 swimming pools, 24 hour pizzeria (free), rock climbing wall, ice skating rink, 1400 seat theatre, mini golf course, in line skating, night club, shopping mall, casino; state of the art panoramic fitness centre, saunas, hot tubs, steam rooms, thalasso therapy pool, thermal relaxation lounges, sports court, surfing pools, 4 kids clubs, internet café, video arcade, and cinema. Plus when you walk out of your hotel you can visit a different set of beaches, local shops, historical sights and places of interest each day. Ask yourself again … Are cruises boring????

CRUISES TAKE TOO LONG

That’s the point – see more and do more whilst your floating resort cruises between destinations. Avoid travelling time in planes, trains and automobiles and enjoy all your floating resort has to offer as it takes you on to the next destination. Wake up at a different destination each day and take several holidays in one.

CRUISES ARE TOO COMPLICATED

You check – as you would a hotel. Drinks and excursions are charged back to your room – as you would in a hotel, the difference being that there is so much more choice on a cruise than the limited facilities of a hotel resort. Everything is at hand at no extra charge – unlike a hotel. No need to find other places to eat and drink unlike the limited choice at a hotel. No need to work out how far places are and what taxi’s cost to see different places of interest – unlike a hotel. What could be simpler than a cruise?

CRUISES DONT HAVE ENOUGHT TO DO

Cruise lines such as Royal Caribbean Cruises are actually floating luxury hotels and some of the larger ones have more facilities than your local town. Imagine Ice skating in the Caribbean, rock climbing in Alaska or catching a wave on their brand new surf simulator called the flow rider. These ships have everything on them from gyms, theaters, libraries, internet cafes and more bars and restaurants than you can imagine. If just sitting down reading a book is your thing then you can do as little or as much as you want. And remember nearly everything is covered in the price.

PEOPLE GET SEASICK

Yes they do – if they are ultra sensitive or crossing the Atlantic in a Force 10. The majority of cruise holidays cruise around sheltered waters such as the Med, the Caribbean or the Alaskan coastline. All modern ships have stabilisers on them which reduce the rocking motion and all public areas and passenger accommodations are on decks above the waterline. Quite often passengers do not realise the ship is moving until they look out of the window! If you are ultra sensitive – book a cabin in the middle of the ship on a low deck when any motion is minimal.

Seasickness – not an excuse!

….. GO ON TAKE A LEAP OF FAITH – BOOK YOUR CRUISE – YOU WILL GET HOOKED!