Time 2 Cruise

Comparing a Cruise to an All Inclusive Resort

2009-09-09T18:06:00.004-07:00

The month of August was crazy for us filled with weekend trips but ending with a whopping 9 day vacation at the Wyndham Resort and Spa in Cozumel Mexico. For us this was the first time in an all inclusive resort and it was not hard to compare the experience to cruising. So that's what this is going to be all about. The compare and contrast of a typical cruise vacation to my resent resort stay.

First thing that jumped out at us was that is was "all inclusive". From a cruising experience the main difference was drinking. Drinks were flowing all week and then some at the resort. I have talked to people who said drinks are watered down and all I have to say about that is order a double. We had no problem getting strong drinks. When it came to food, of course meals are included while on a cruise as well. Now I am biased here and say that the cruise ship won this one compared to my first experience at the resort. But it may have been the resort itself. The part that hurt the Wyndham was that the menu never changes. So if you are a picky eater you may really limit your choices every night. Now the Wyndham had 4 restaurants on site but because it was "low season" many were closed nightly, they required reservations daily, and after 10pm there were no options for food.

When it comes to activities, a cruise ship has tons of options that are usually laid out in some sort of daily newspaper. The resort has many beach toys and non motorized water sports to chose from at your leisure. Our resort had an indoor theater that had shows but not to the caliber of a cruise ship. But we like to snorkel (newly found hobby) and were able to do this daily without risk of time frames which was great.

Location when it comes to vacation is a big part of everything. One of the best parts of a cruise is that you get to sample places and wake up the next day in a new place to play. One of the worst parts of a cruise is that if you fall in love with your new found place you have to say goodbye to soon. With the Resort we got to spend a lot more time exploring and finding hidden little gems that we would not have had time to when on a cruise ship. But depending on local and lifestyle that be a quick thing for some (it wasn't with us). We left our vacation after 9 days knowing we fitted all we could in and still had things we wished we could have had time for.

Tipping is a fact of life when it comes to cruising. Everyone who has been on a cruise knows the drill of the daily per person gratuities added to the room tab at the end of a cruise. All Inclusive Resorts are different. Most state that the tips were all included when you booked already. And many of those even go as far to state that it is not allowed to tip extra. The resort we were in Mexico did state tips were already included but had no rules on extra tips. We found that with some staff tipping extra did bring better service while with others it seemed as if the extra tips were expected. We even had a case where we tipped the staff that stocked our minibar fridge along with a request to get specific things. It worked for that day but for the rest of the week we got nothing almost as if we now had to pay to get our fridge filled. I don't think that the request that we had was all that extraordinary. We asked to get diet soda instead of regular and extra bottled water.

And the last thing I want to compare and contrast is the friendliness of the staff. For the most part this is a very subjective topic. Individuals can have a bad day anywhere so when I talk about friendliness of the staff, I am referring to getting answers and solutions. On our cruises we have always had good luck with the wait staff, bar staff, and hotel staff. The management (pursers desk in this case) has been hit and miss. At the resort I would have to say that it was a similar experience with wait staff. They were eager to please. Bar staff was hit and miss. Hotel staff in our case seemed to get worse as the week went on. Hotel management seemed to be disturbed when we had problems or questions, and we had more than a couple over the course of 9 days. And this was not just our experience. Other guests had major problems this week.

In all, we had a great time, and would do an all inclusive again in a heartbeat. By no means will it replace cruising for us completely. We are branching out with our vacation plans not changing them and currently we are not deep in research for the best way to do England that fits our style. When we do, and we go, you know I will talk about it here.

The Orbitz Lowest Price Deal Explained

2009-08-09T09:08:00.003-07:00

Most of us have seen the commercials. Book your hotel with Orbitz and if the someone else books at a lower price, they will refund you the difference. You don't have to do anything yourself. Cool right. The thing that the commercial does not mention is that you have to only book the hotel with them. Package deals that include flight and or car rental don't count. So if the hotel portion goes down there will be no refund coming. This works well for the company because most people are getting package deals. We booked a package deal for an upcoming vacation months ago with friends. The price has gone down. Our friends who kept an eye on the prices contacted Orbitz. The answer they got was "Package deals would be to difficult to keep track of which part actually decreased." I actually understand the explanation, but think that something than tiny print on a TV or osmosis is the way to explain that to customers. We are still happy with what we paid, otherwise we would have never booked our vacation in the first place. But to anyone who is thinking of using Orbitz because of their guarantee, just know that it only works if you only book the hotel.

Summer Vacation Time?

2009-06-14T09:31:00.003-07:00

Its hurricane season again. For those that are not familiar with the time frame, the season runs from around the end of May beginning of June all the way through November. The seasons on average ramp up slowly and have a peak in late August early September and then start to calm down again. As I just said, its on average. Each season is different and the only thing that you can count on is that the season will happen. Now with every season comes the seasons predictions and this one is no different. The predictions for this year seem to point to an average season, lighter than in the recent past which is a good thing if the predictions hold true. So as travelers, what does this mean to us? The way we look at it in our house is this. Its a great time to find bargains, and this year is no exception. In fact, this is the year to find the bargain of bargains. Hotels, resorts, and cruise lines are worried with the economy and are doing just about anything to fill their rooms. We have a vacation booked that was just one of those things that we couldn't let pass because of the price. A trip to Cozumel for 8 days in an all inclusive resort for $900 a person which includes flight. And you know what, there are others that even did better than us.

Now, being hurricane season, there is one thing that we make sure to do that we sometimes have let slip in the past. We got trip insurance. When doing this, you have to be very mindful of what you want and what you need. We wanted insurance that covers trip cancellation and what is called trip interruption. This way we can get any unused portion of our vacation reimbursed. Currently with the swine flu problems that have not been making things better for airlines, hotels, or vacationers alike, it just adds another reason to have insurance. And the best thing is that the insurance is affordable. We got all the coverage we wanted for about $40 a person. That's paying right around 5% of the cost of the trip for peace of mind. Alone, that makes me feel better.

Hurricane Season Predictions Are In

2009-04-08T19:09:00.002-07:00

The experts have consulted their crystal balls and are predicting an average season for the Atlantic. Storms to hit land that progress to getting names is expected to be around 12 with half making it to hurricane size. Of those, only 2 are expected to be a category 3 or bigger. This should come as good news compared to years past as the cruise lines struggle to get passengers on board. The decrease in numbers comes from the cooler temperatures in the waters where the hurricanes usually form. I wonder what the over/under is in Vegas on the numbers?

Great Cruise Deals Easily Found

2009-03-24T19:35:00.002-07:00

Just poking around, I have found 4 day cruises for under $200 per person. That's $50 per day! We all know why the deals are there and yes they are working. Carnival Cruise Lines recently announced its January and February numbers and bookings are up slightly. Don't think that the cruise lines are hurting to much. If they aren't filling ships, they will be hurting, but so far that has not happened and the deals that are out there are the reason. They know that once on board, that most passengers will make the best of the discounted rate with alcohol purchases, pictures and souvenirs. Carnival also announced a profit over the last quarter, which means that people are spending on board. It may not be as much as in the past, but they are still spending, and like I mentioned previously, they have a little more to spend when they got a good deal on their cabin. Many people budget a set amount for vacation that they plan on spending, so if they save on one area, the money usually get spent in another. The cruise lines are betting on savings on the cabin being spent on board the ships and you know what, it works for everyone. As passengers, its fun to have a little more to spend on board and you can have more fun for the same amount of money. So if you have the time, and are looking for more bang for your buck, a cruise is a great way to go and you don't have to search far for those deals that used to be elusive.

Think Safety at Spring Break

2009-03-11T21:08:00.002-07:00

It's that time of year when all the college students take off to burn off some steam. And as with this time every year, you have to think safety first when on spring break. Whether you are in Daytona or Mexico, its a good thing to pay attention to your surroundings. If traveling outside the county, check and see if there are any warnings for the area you are going. Play it safe this spring break and make it a good one.

House Swapping is Big

2009-03-05T19:48:00.002-07:00

You may have read recently about how people are doing house swapping as a way to sell their homes. Well, its not just for sellers and buyers, it is for vacationers as well. If you live in an area that has attractions that may appeal to others, you may be able to swap homes with someone that has a house where you want to visit. There is a membership site called homelink that allows you to do just that. The site requires an annual fee so it isn't for everybody. But for those that do it, it can be a great way to decrease expenses when on vacation. Imagine swapping houses with someone from Europe or South America. It can happen if that's what you are looking for. You may be worried about your house and I have to agree that is a valid fear to have however you have to remember that the other family is doing the same thing with their house for you. Still it would be smart to put away things that you don't want touched etc... Like I said, this would not be an option for everyone, but for some, it could save major cash in hotel costs.

Carry On Luggage Problems Continue

2009-02-26T19:44:00.002-07:00

It has been over six months since the airlines have been charging for checked luggage. Since this has happened, people have been more app to pack as much in their carry on luggage as possible. We all know that the airlines have policies about the number of carry on luggage that people are allowed to have with them. But have you noticed that this is not enforced until late in the boarding process? This past weekend, we were flying on American Airlines with a layover in Dallas. On the second leg of our journey home, we had boarding zone 6 and there were only 6 boarding zones in total. People in the early boarding zones had two and sometimes 3 bags. When they got to boarding zone 6, people were told that there was no room on the plane and all remaining luggage would have to be checked unless it fit under the seat. This was on a MD S80 which only has 5 seats per row in coach yet has the same amount of luggage space that a plane with 6 seats in a row would have. So what does all this mean? Its actually quite simple. If you don't want to have your carry on baggage taken from you, then try to make sure you get a seat in the rear of the plane which puts you in an early boarding zone, or if you don't mind, then don't worry, because they (so far) don't charge you for checked luggage based on their fault. If they break their own system then why should we be the ones to suffer.

Negotiating Prices

2009-02-14T17:38:00.003-07:00

Right now cash is King no matter where you go. And its as good a time to haggle when shopping. So, could one negotiate a price when booking a vacation such as a cruise? The answer could just be yes. But given the current prices that have been popping up lately, you may not have to. Deals like $599 per person for a 7 day Alaskan cruise with a balcony is not unheard of. But who knows, even that could be negotiated.

Road Rage

2009-02-12T20:07:00.002-07:00

Here is a topic that isn't going away anytime soon. At least weekly if not more often then that there is a story on the news somewhere about a road rage incident gone bad. The fact that they used the words road rage should be enough to get ones attention. Road rage comes in many forms, but we only hear about the ones that make the news where the end result is people doing the unthinkable and many times dangerous act of confronting another motorist. The fact is most of us deal with road rage on a daily basis if you live in a fairly good sized city. When on vacation it can become a double edge sword. As the person driving in a foreign city or even county, it can be frustrating dealing with the way the locals drive. And you know they are going to be just as frustrated with the person in the rental car that doesn't have a clue what they are doing. As a driver, there is really only one thing you can do, and that is take the higher road (pun intended) when the situation causes a little rage while on the road. As for when going on vacation. The best advice is to plan your trip wisely and map where you are going. Even better is to have a GPS device with you on vacation. They have become popular in recent years and come as options from many rental companies. Because, even the best driver can become the recipient of horns and some hand gestures from other motorists when they are in an unfamiliar place.

Is The Free upgrade Worth It?

2009-02-01T08:30:00.002-07:00

When my wife and I went on our first cruise we had an inside cabin on the lowest passenger deck on Carnival's Holiday. I distinctly remember other passengers at our dinner table telling us how they had a better cabin being on a different deck. Over the years we have had the opportunity to have a variety of cabins in different locations on different ships. One of the biggest up sales that cruise lines use is the "free upgrade" option. The question is whether is truly an upgrade. And based on personal experience the answer is maybe, but most times not. The only way that I would accept an upgrade as a benefit is if I was going from one type of cabin to another. So if you book at an inside cabin rate and get an outside cabin or a balcony then it is a good deal. But if you book a cabin on a lower deck and get upgraded deck wise to a similar cabin, you really are not getting any benefit, and could actually end up regretting the upgrade. On the first cruise that we booked a balcony cabin, we were upgraded by 4 decks and received a midship cabin. What did the upgrade get us? We were only 1 flight of stairs under the Lido deck, meaning we were very close to the pools and the buffet. Sounds ok right? Well for us it was not because while not earliest to bed, we went to bed before the parties that took place on the Lido deck took place. With a balcony, we had little that was buffering the noise from the deck above. For the party person who may spend the late hours up this would not be a big deal. For us it changed our vacation habits for that week. This was a case of me not being familiar with what I was getting. Now, when offered the "free upgrade" option, I make sure that I know where my cabin is going to be. What you have to do it know, or have a good idea, of what you plan on doing on the ship. Knowing that we are in bed before midnight on most nights, we try to get a cabin that is not near any nightlife area such as Lido Deck, or any of the nightclubs on board. A good rule of thumb is that if you are a light sleeper, is to stay away from rooms that are adjacent to any public areas. This even includes the dining rooms, because even tho they are closed during late hours, there is work going on and the movement can be felt in any cabins above or below. So when offered anything for free, be careful what you are getting and know what you want.

New Word? Staycation!

2009-01-24T22:28:00.002-07:00

More and more people are choosing to stay home rather than travel for vacation this year if they take any time off at all. But unlike last summer, its not the price of gas that is the reason. If anything, the cost of gasoline may be one of the few factors in the plus column if planning a vacation right now. Unfortunately the economy keeps heading in the wrong direction. Unemployment is on the rise and Wall Street doesn't know what way is up right now. Everyone from cruise lines to hotels are reporting major decreases in the number of bookings. I see daily emails on new deals and specials that top each other. Just this week a price war has begun amongst the airlines. Southwest started with very low one way fares, as cheap as $49 one way, causing many of the other airlines to act quickly to decrease their prices as well. But will the deals work or is the word for 2009 going to be "staycation". Its looking my vocabulary will be increasing if the experts are right and it will not be until late this year at the earliest that things may start to turn around. Until it does, the movie rental stores may be seeing more action as families stay home this year.

Will Cruise Lines Fuel Surcharge Suspension Increase Bookings?

2008-12-28T19:36:00.002-07:00

Pretty much all of the cruise operators have done away with the fuel surcharge for 2009 bookings with the price of oil dropping way down over the last two months. With oil now hovering around $40 a barrel, its is hard for the cruise lines to justify the added charge that varied from $7 to $15 a day per passenger depending on the cruise line. There is no saying how long this could be. If oil shoots back up, it wont belong before the surcharges get reinstated so this could be as good enough reason to book now. But oil is down for a reason, and that reason is the economy is down as well. This is going to have some impact on bookings for 2009. Just how it will affect bookings will not be known for some time but dropping the surcharge can't hurt their image and hopefully encourage those who may have not booked before change their mind. Ships don't want to cruise empty and people will be looking for deals. I don't see the former happening, but a lot of the latter being the norm this year.

The Delay's Outside Are Frightfull

2008-12-24T17:15:00.003-07:00

The holiday flight season has been a hectic one this year and it does not look like its going to get much better. The weather around the country has caused delays everywhere as people are trying to get home to friends and family. This is a time for cooler heads to come forward. Passengers who argue are not going to get home any sooner. In fact, they may be increasing their odds of increasing the delay for themselves. So if you are flying this holiday season, keep a positive attitude and may it get you home faster.

Time for Airlines and Others to Hedge?

2008-12-20T15:49:00.002-07:00

With the price of oil hovering at $40 and just under lately, it may be time for the airline industry and cruise industry to think about trying to lock in prices for the future. While there is talk of gas which is around $1.50 right now possibly going as low as $1 there is really no way to know for sure that it will. OPEC has already started to announce decreases in production and made promises (or threats) of decreasing output even more. If/when this happens, prices are going to go back up. The members of OPEC have become increasingly dependant on the high price of a barrel of oil in the past couple of years and some are actually hurting financially with the current drop and will do almost anything to get prices to rise. Knowing this, the odds of the price going up is better than the odds of prices dropping much more. Everything is a gamble, but being that the current prices are "good" for business now, is taking the gamble worth it? It may just be.

Vegas? for the Holidays

2008-12-18T19:15:00.002-07:00

Las Vegas is hurting for visitors and the hotel prices show it. Right now you can find deluxe rooms for under $30 for Christmas Eve and Christmas night. The weekends go up a little but not much with rates in the $50 dollar range per night very common. Look hard enough and you can even find incredible rates in luxury hotels right on the strip. But if your looking for a New Years getaway expect prices to be much higher. Even in the current economy, Vegas is a destination of destinations for New Years.

Will It Be a Big or Small Christmas?

2008-11-30T11:29:00.002-07:00

November has been a roller coaster ride of emotions. The stock market hit new lows and highs within days of each other. And everyone started to talk about how "black Friday" was going to be a bust. Now just a few days later, as reports are coming in, it looks like this year is up over three percent from 2007 numbers for the day after Thanksgiving. Stores took big steps in luring in customers and it seemed to work. This same week, shortened by the holiday saw multiple days of increases in the stock market as well. Many vacation related companies like the cruise lines made gains on the low stock prices of late. As we head into December, the question is whether last weeks trend will continue or will the roller coaster hit another downswing. Only time will tell, and even the "experts" differ greatly on what to expect next which is not saying much with the track record of just the last 3 months alone. However, one thing is for certain. The bargain hunter can find some great deals right now, even in purchasing vacations. When its cold outside and there is snow on the ground depending where you live, it can be a warm feeling to get the gift of a vacation even if the vacation is a month or two out. A picture, boxed up with either the plane tickets or a brochure can bring a smile this Christmas. Just look hard to find the best deals. They are out there.

Packing For Holiday Flights When It Costs To Check

2008-11-24T20:32:00.003-07:00

You may have heard that the Government is opening up more flight paths again this year which is a good thing. But will the airways be as packed as holidays past? Every airline has cut flights by as much as 10% this year. This means that flights are going to be full. not that this is a shock but with the new baggage fees it means those overhead bins are going to be full as well. If my recent flight on Continental is any indication, people in the first 5 or so rows behind first class are going to be hard pressed to even get any space in the overhead.
Most all airlines have the same rules of one carry on and one "personal item". This personal item is supposed to fit under the seat in front of you. When we travel, we take a backpack that doubles as my laptop bag. On the recent flight I had to fight with a flight attendant over the fact that it would fit under a seat and that there was no way I was going to just give up my laptop bag when they neglected to enforce their own rules for the first 90 people that they let on board. I can't say this clear enough. It is never a good thing to argue when you are going to be the one that gets the most disappointed with the end result. I won my argument by sliding my bag under the seat but I was lucky to get my bag that far before having it stripped from me. I was lucky that my personal item was my carry on and I was not standing there with 2 parcels.
So if your looking to save some money and pack everything into your carry on luggage, take a look at your seat assignment. It could mean the difference between being frugal and wasted effort.

Southern Caribbean Cruise in November on Princess

2008-11-23T09:30:00.003-07:00

We just got back from our first cruise with Princess. Ok, we got back a week ago but after a vacation like this I needed time to relax. As the title of post states, it was the Southern Caribbean. We cruised out of San Juan, and only had one sea day making for a pretty busy week. The weather was very cooperative the entire week with very minor rain in the mornings that burned off quickly as the sun came up. The temps were in the high 80s.

The Ship: The Caribbean Princess
My wife fell in love with the "movies under the stars". Every night they played fairly recent (with a few exceptions like the night they ran the Rocky horror Picture Show) movies. A couple of which we had not seen yet ourselves. There are 2 decks in which you can watch the big screen from. Our recommendation is the lower deck of the 2 (which was Lido on this ship) for the best sound quality.
There were 5 dining rooms on board ship. One for standard dining with assigned times, two for "anytime dining" and 2 specialty (a Steak House and an Italian) that carried a cover charge. The steak house was $15 and the Italian was $20. We did anytime dining, which went over very well with most of our party of 7 adults. There were a couple that would have preferred to have the same server every night but all worked out well. We did go to the Steakhouse on one night. We made reservations a day earlier for all 7 of us being its a very small restaurant. All I can say is if you are a fan of steak, this was well worth the extra charge.
Our cabin was a balcony cabin on Deck 10. By luck this deck happened to have the biggest of the standard balconies of any deck. Our balcony was twice as deep as any of the others we could see from ours. This included our friends balcony on deck 12 that seemed tiny in comparison. While this may not sound like a big deal, it came in handy with a group of 7 where 2 of the cabins were inside. We had a couple of "balcony parties" at sail time in which none of us felt like sardines on the balcony.

The Ports:
The ships itinerary swaps between 2 different sets of ports depending on the week. This week we had stops in Barbados, St. Lucia, Antigua, Tortola, and St, Thomas. We had tours planed for every stop. Every Island became our favorite until the next day when we visited the next. From talking to other passengers, you cant go wrong with any of the tours offered. This was our first trip where my wife and I attempted Snorkeling and all I can say is that we are hooked. While in St. Thomas, we took a ferry over to St. Johns and snorkeled at Trunk Bay. Any snorkeling fans that have not been to this place needs to put it on their wish list. Unfortunately for us we have been told that most places we will visit in our future adventures will pale in comparison.

Overall, it was a great trip. They always are for us. There are always hick ups along the way and just rolling with them has always worked. This trip we had our tour in Tortola delayed for over an hour. Being it was an afternoon trip and the the time was getting short, we canceled and did our own exploring rather than worry about being late back to the ship. Being late we were told would not be a problem being it was a Princess booked tour eased others minds, but we just were not comfortable with the idea. I think our choice worked best for us because I would not have had as much fun otherwise. But whats a vacation worth unless there is at least one thing to throw a wrench into the mix.
Of all our cruises, this was the first one that we did not plan but was planned by others in our party. Because of this we over packed, hoping to be ready for whatever came up. This really worked out for us, and we ended up finding an occasion for everything we brought to wear. Being this cruise (and the airfare) was booked prior to the luggage price rates for the airlines, we did not have to pay for our bags flying to San Juan. We did pay for one of our carry ons to become a checked bag on the flights home but that again worked to our favor. Every flight we were on was oversold and flying home it was night to have the leg room.

We are currently in the pre planning stages of our next vacation. While the economy may have an impact on when it will happen, it wont have any impact on planing it. Looks like we are headed to Club Med next. As avid cruisers this will be a switch up for us but other members of our group like the Club Med appeal and after dragging them on a couple of cruises its time to return the favor.

Put Your Cell Phone To Use On Vacation

2008-10-31T21:14:00.002-07:00

Just about everyone today has a cell phone. And when on vacation many of us wish we did not have to take it along. But it can be a useful tool that you may not think of using. Whether its the note taking tool that most phones have, text messaging, or the camera, your phone can be helpful in remember little things. Here is a short list of things that you may want to keep using your phone while on vacation.

Use it to remember your parking spot at the airport.
Keep your confirmation numbers on hand.
Store the address of your hotel.
Keep important numbers such as hotel and taxi.
Take a picture of your luggage in case lost.

This is a short list of many uses that your cell phone has that people don't think of using it for when traveling. There has been a couple of occasions when we have been traveling in the past where we could not find confirmation numbers and had to make phone calls to get what we need. Using the phone as a simple message keeping tool has removed the need to spend wasted vacation time on the hold trying to get information that we needed.

Will The Economy Keep You Close To Home

2008-10-24T22:01:00.002-07:00

The Holiday season is closing in fast. Halloween is just a week away and Christmas items have been creeping onto store shelves for over a month now. With Thanksgiving just a month away, the travel industry is wondering if people will be on the planes and in hotels. The economy scare is causing many to rethink those holiday travel plans. Staying home is looking like a good option to many. While gas is still higher than it has been in years past, it has been dropping and and driving may look like a better option for families. Thanksgiving is traditionally the busiest travel time of year and while it will probably still be very busy this year, its looking like it will not be historically busy. If you do plan on traveling this coming holiday season, this is a good time to look for deals.

Were The Airlines A Precursor To The Current Economic Crises?

2008-10-10T20:42:00.003-07:00

It sure looks like the health of the airline industry was an indicator of what was to come. But was it? While I think that the airline industries problems are not helping things right now its hard to think that they are the cause of the current global problems going on. This problem has been coming on for a while now, and many economy experts were predicting it for quite some time. One thing you can bank on (pun intended) is that what is happening on Wall Street is not making things any easier for the airline industry. Watching Jim Cramer or any of the other "experts' can be a scary thing to do right now. Only thing worse than that is to open up a 401k statement. But there is light at the end of the tunnel. The question, which we all want to know the answer to is just how long is that tunnel? Is it days, months or even years. My hope is that this economic problem is short lived so we can move on. I want to talk about vacations and the fun of going on them, not the woes of why people can't afford to.

What "Bundle" Did The Passenger Next To You Get?

2008-10-06T18:54:00.002-07:00

Most of us are familiar with bundled packages when it comes to cable, Internet, and phone companies. Well the a la carte era of the airline world can be thought of this way now. MSNBC has an article on how American Airlines is leading the way into the bundled future of the airline industry. The thing is that this is not new. Air Canada has been running this way for a few years now and it was only a matter of time before the airlines in the U.S. followed. A la carte or bundled or whatever fancy new name they come up with, paying for everything is here and it is here to stay. In fact, its just begun. For some passengers, this will not be so bad, because they will only be charged for what they use. But for most passengers, it is going to nickel and dime them for a while. Eventually, the average traveler will learn to adjust but the airlines are seeing dollar signs for at least the near future.

What Better Place For A Mob Museum Than Vegas

2008-10-01T19:33:00.003-07:00

Slated to open in 2010, the museum will be on the site of the formal Federal Court House in Las Vegas. I can't think of a better location that the city built buy the mob. So far it looks like original artifacts will be donated by even the FBI. Even tho the opening is not for over a year, Vegas sees the possibility of upwards of over 800,000 visitors. Being downtown, it will be interesting to see if it will pull visitors away from the strip. If it can, it will a great feat. The choice for the theme of the museum came from polling tourists as they visited Vegas and won hands down over the other options. The goal is not to glorify the mob but to show how it influenced the birth and evolution of the city. When its done, it will be on my list of things to do for sure.

Could Cruise Lines Go Ala Carte?

2008-09-28T20:26:00.003-07:00

Pretty much everything is ala carte when flying with most major airlines now. But would this work with the cruise line industry? In Europe there is a cruise line that has been around since 2005 called EasyCruise that works this way that seems to be doing okay. However, one cruise line is not an industry breaker. Its hard to see cruising following the ways of the airlines if only because the airline industry has not proven to be the best judgement makers on decisions. Cruising is far from all inclusive to begin with except when it comes to a select few luxury lines. Alcohol flows freely on board but is in no way free. Many ships now have alternative restaurants that require a surcharge and a few activities on board will also require a fee such as many of the offerings at the spa. But for the most part meals are included in the price of your cruise unless you choose the specialty restaurants.

Well not so fast. Royal Caribbean is now trying something new and its getting mixed reviews. In the main dining room on their ships they are offering a "special" cut of steak that if ordered will carry a surcharge (currently under $15) if ordered. If it goes over well, it could lead to more "special" items on the dinner menu. Like I stated before, it has been getting mixed reviews. There are some that welcome the addition to the menu and feel that the fee is still far less than what they would pay at a land based restaurant for an equivalent meal. But of course there are many that see this as a predecessor to complete pay as you go menus. its hard to see the latter happening, but I can easily see a "surcharge required" section on future menus for a few reasons. The first being that as long as there are people willing to pay its going to be profitable for the cruise line. The second, being that it gets the cruise line a way to offer items that are normally only offered in the specialty restaurants to passengers that may not want to dress up as much as is required at the more upscale dining options require.

Right now its only a few ships on one cruise line, but if it starts to expand, then we can really start to inquire to just how far this will go. With the other options available, I don't think I will be interested in paying extra when I know there is plenty of good food available that I wont have to pay extra for.