Saturday, April 30, 2011

Getting To The Ship On Time!

 U.S. home porting has expanded greatly in the past 10 years — making it easy for many of us to pick up a ship on the East Coast, the Gulf of Mexico, or the West Coast. Unfortunately, there is still no way to sail from, let's say, Denver, Colorado! Or maybe you are one of the lucky ones to live in a home port city like Miami, but you want to sail Alaska! Traveling by air to meet a ship is just a standard part of most cruiser's vacation plans.
 Fortunately, you have an array of choices for air arrangements including making your own reservations or having your Cruise&Vacation Specialist utilize the cruise lines' air! sea programs and make air reservations for you. Good news! The cruise lines have been making your cruise connection easier and more affordable with their newly created or improved air/sea programs. Here is an overview of just a few cruise line air offerings that are available through your Cruise & Vacation Specialist:

The Royal Caribbean family of brands, which includes Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises and Azamara Club Cruises recently launched a new air program called ChoiceAir. With this program, your Cruise & Vacation Specialist purchases airline tickets on your behalf at the best available scheduled air price and you'll be able to choose your own flight schedule. A ChoiceAir flight schedule will follow the cruise line parameters and the cruise line will have the ability to monitor your travel progress. There is a nominal fee for this service. For a slightly higher fee you can upgrade to ChoiceAir Plus. Based on your needs, for example, additional flight options, travel arrangements for multiple guests or a more complex itinerary, your Cruise & Vacation Specialist may determine that ChoiceAir Plus is best for you.

 Princess Cruises offers their new Princess eZAir program. A selection of preferred airlines, flights and travel dates can now be confirmed at the time of booking. One added benefit of this program is ‘Next Port Protection" — if you miss your flight due to an airline delay or service disruption, they will work with the airline to provide flights to the next appropriate port, at no cost to you.

 When using Carnival Cruise Lines ' FLY AWEIGH program your travel arrangements are also monitored by the cruise line for any delays or interruptions to ensure you meet your ship. Plus, should you experience a flight problem or delay, Carnival will be responsible for getting you to your next destination by securing flights, hotels and meals, if applicable, at no cost to you.

 Did you know, Norwegian Cruise Line was the first line to offer an air/sea program? Today, they currently offer airfare from over 100 departure cities across North America, and transfers are included. And now, rather than hauling your luggage while trying to enjoy the last day in port, you can take it easy with NCL's new BAGS program. Using nine major air carriers, NCL will arrange (for a very reasonable fee) to collect your bags the last evening of your cruise and transfer them to the airport — allowing you to sail past long airport lines, since you are already checked in.

Let's not forget our river cruise partners. For example, Viking River Cruises offers the convenience of purchasing trans-oceanic air through your Cruise & Vacation Specialist for their river cruises and cruisetours. Under their Viking Air Plus program (fee based) they will work with your Cruise & Vacation Specialist on such services as a deviation to an alternate city or a stopover in a city other than your cruise departure city.
Something you may also want to consider is arriving into your departure city at least one day early. During the winter months — with the possibility of inclement weather — coming in a day ahead is highly recommended. Imagine the peace of mind you will have when you know you are not in danger of missing your cruise due to a flight delay.

 Once you arrange to come in early, you can take advantage Cruise-N-Stay program. Many  of our conveniently located hotels are near the port and include free transfers. Contact your Cruise & Vacation Specialist  for assistance with all your travel needs, including getting to the ship on time!





Eric & Barb Svenson
(866) 559-2269 - (937) 747-2269
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Each CruiseOne Franchise is Independently Owned and Operated.
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Do I Really Need Travel Insurance? Yes, You Do!

'Most Americans don't realize their regular health insurance may not cover them when traveling outside of the United States'

•Travel Arrangement Coverage
•Medical Protection
•Worldwide Emergency Assistance
•Baggage Protection

When your sights are set on an exciting vacation filled with sun- splashed beaches, it's not much fun to stop and consider the options that protect against unforeseen events that may mar your getaway (not to mention the additional cost). But it's time for a reality check. Whenever a problem occurs during a trip, it's almost always the traveler that loses out. They lose either time or money, but most often it's both.
 In addition to illness and accidents, here are some other unforeseen (and unhappy) events you may encounter prior to or during your travels:

 You've paid for your cruise six months out and a crisis hits: you're down-sized out of a job, there's a death in the family, or some other catastrophe strikes and you're unable to get away. While the deadline for a "free" cancellation has passed, you may think that the cruise line or resort will be able to waive the cancellation penalty, but unfortunately, they cannot. Travel insurance has you covered.
 A big snowstorm hits the day you're scheduled to start your vacation, and your flight is cancelled. Or your flight is delayed — as a result, you don't make your connection in time and arrive after your ship has sailed. Ultimately, you catch up to your cruise ship, but you've missed several days that you paid for. You've also incurred the costs to change reservations and arrange flights to the next port of call. Is the cruise line or the airline responsible? If you read the small print on your tickets you will find that they are not. Only travel insurance will make up for this loss.
 Cruise lines and airlines cannot claim responsibility for anything that's beyond their control. If you miss your plane, there's no reimbursement for days missed aboard ship. In the event of a weather or carrier-created delay, no airline is obligated to connect you with your cruise ship — they're only obligated to get you to your ticketed destination. Similarly, your cruise line isn't required to pay any extra costs involved in connecting you with your ship, and your resort is not obligated to reimburse you for days missed. Travel insurance, however, would give you some recourse in all of these instances.
 It's also important to know that if a serious health issue arises on your vacation, you shouldn't expect to find medical conditions comparable to those found in most U.S. hospitals. For example a cruise line is not required to conform to American medical standards. Their ability to handle a critical situation is limited — if you fall ill, the ship's doctor will either contact your insurance carrier or put you ashore at the next port of call where you'll be met by an ambulance and taken to a local hospital. And, conditions at foreign hospitals are frequently not up to American standards.

 It is very common that people shut down when they hear the word insurance." Even though it is an extra cost, it's invaluable if you have a problem. It can get really expensive when you don't have insurance.
 Additionally, there's the added security that comes with knowing that insurance can offer full or partial compensation in the event you can't travel. Buying insurance doesn't guarantee your trip will be worry free, but it does help alleviate enormous concerns that can arise when trouble occurs before or during your hard- earned vacation. For many, it's a small price to pay for peace of mind.


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Sunday, April 10, 2011

Port Web Cams

 It's a beautiful Sunday morning here in Central Ohio. Spring has finally discovered us. I love anything to do with the ocean, beaches, islands, ships, that's why I decided to go into this business. So I have to share with you a passion of mine, well maybe it's an obsession. On Saturday & Sunday morning's and then again in the afternoons, I love to watch these cams, see everybody boarding the ships and watching the ships pull away for an adventure, imagine what everyone is doing. If it's their first cruise, they're checking out their surroundings, ' Where does this hallway lead to, Where does this elevator take you,  Which bar do I hit first???'

The other half of the CruiseOne team onboard the Sovereign of the Seas, Port Canaveral.
  In the past when we have gone, we would stake out a place near the rail pull up a couple chairs and open our bottle of champagne for the sail away party.  The music is playing by the pools, everybody is in a festive mood, boat drinks in hand, then the fun is put on hold temporarily, it's time for the lifeboat drill.


Everyone has to grab their life jacket and report to their muster station, initially, there is a lot of confusion, but the ships crew is always very helpful, guiding everyone to their stations if they are not sure.



Once everyone has reported to their stations and been accounted for, there are some brief informational announcements and then everybody's dismissed.  It's time to party on the pool deck during the sail away party!!



 I'm sorry, my original intent when I started out here was to share some links to some web cam sites, then my mind started wandering, thinking about sailing away again.

I have these links posted on our fan page on Facebook as well.

Have some idle time on Saturday or Sunday afternoons? Want to daydream a little? Come check out these Cruise Port Web Cams. The next best thing to being there? Well, not quite, but they're fun to watch. If you want to get onboard, give us a shout at  CruiseOne Eric & Barb Svenson

This is one of the best cams I've come across, they follow all of the ships as they're leaving the port and zoom in on the folks on the decks and their balcony's.
Fort Lauderdale Port Everglades Webcam - A Fort Lauderdale Cruise Ship WebCam
http://portevergladeswebcam.com/ 

The Mallory Square cam at Key West is pretty cool, everybody congregates down on the square every evening for the sunset celebration. There are vendors and street performers and a lot of interesting characters about. Even if there aren't any ships coming or going, it's fun to watch. One of the times we were down there we were able to call back home, they were able to get on the cam and we waved to the unfortunate ones we left behind, sorry Kyle, Jenna & Ryan. We did take them with us the next time we went. The Sloppy Joes cam is on the stage in the bar and in the evenings you can check out the live bands.

Key WestMallory Square Cam - See the sunset and Key West Harbour from the live webcam
http://www.floridakeyswebcams.tv/msindex.htm



Port Canaveral
There are several cams at Port Canaveral, the first one is at the port and is usually pointed towards the ships if there are any in port, other times is looking down the channel towards the ocean.



Radisson at the Port Cam

Both times we've sailed out of Port Canaveral we stayed at the Radisson. It's a beautiful hotel and very conveniently located close to the port. They run a shuttle for guests around the Port Canaveral and Cocoa Beach area if you don't have a car with you. In October we were there with friends, we took the shuttle, went over to Fishlips by the port, had a terrific dinner, watched some of the cruise ships leave. After dinner,called the driver and he came back and picked us up and returned to the hotel.



Sunrise Marina Webcam
This one you can usually catch the ships sail by a few minutes after they move out of view of the Port Canaveral cam.
http://sunrisemarina.com/web-cam

Cocoa Beach Beach CamThe Cocoa Beach cam at Ron Jon's Resort, this one picks up the ships as they are leaving the channel and heading out to sea, usually about 10 mins or so after leaving the Port Canaveral cam. http://www.ronjonresort.com/beachcam.aspx



View looking south towards Cocoa Beach as we're leaving the channel from Port Canaveral.


Galveston
Cruise Web Cam Live From Galveston Texas

Unfortunately, we haven't cruised out of Galveston yet. We did spend a couple nights there a few years ago. Would love to go back and cruise from there.

Barb & Ryan up on the seawall.

Northeast view along the seawall.


Southwest view along the seawall.

The Gulf from our hotel balcony.

We ate at a fantastic restaurant, right across from the sea wall, Gaido's, http://www.gaidos.com/. Do yourself a favor and stop in for dinner if you get the chance.


New Orleans


We have to get back to New Orleans. We've cruised from here twice, but didn't stay overnight. We took a road trip down through Louisiana and Texas, spent the night in Slidell, stopped over in New Orleans on the way over to Galveston and San Antonio. Picked up some CDM coffee at the grocery store there. If you like Cafe Du Monde coffee, this is the same stuff, just not packaged under the brand name and much cheaper, it's delicious, we brought back a few pounds. While we were there, we wandered around the French Quarter, it was during the day so there wasn't much going on. Took a tour of one of the cemetery's, very interesting.


 Ended up at Cafe du Monde for some coffee and beignets then walked up along the river to catch the view.

North towards the Riverwalk and the Julia Street pier where the cruise ships dock.





I love the full size mural of the clarinet on the wall of the Holiday Inn!
Well, sorry I've been at this for so long, I initially intended to just post some links for cruise port cams, while I was at it I got a little sidetracked. Hope you enjoy some of the insights and the pictures. If you want to see some more, just let me know.

Now it's time to get back to finishing off the taxes and it's getting closer to departure time, the ships will start pulling away between 4:00 - 5:30 pm.
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