Travel

Riding the Metro in Barcelona

Barcelona-Metro-Map

I noted in a post last year about how to get the best use of the Metro when travelling in Paris. This year, we traveled to Barcelona and after doing my homework, we were ready. Of course, I printed out the map for the local trains and the metro so that I had them in hand when we arrived in Barcelona. I also downloaded the RENFE application to my phone before the trip. It provides info on the train schedule in Barcelona.

I knew that we would take the shuttle from Terminal 1 to Terminal 2 to catch the R2 train into Barcelona. We would get off on the 4th stop at Passeig de Gracia. You should know that the name you see on the map is not always the name that you see on the board on the train. For example, our stop showed up as pg Gracia not as Passeig de Gracia. I always count stops so that I don’t miss my stop. A couple we met from Grants Pass missed their stop, the one at Sants, before our stop at Passeig de Gracia. We helped them off the train and over to the platform to get them back to their stop before we proceeded on to the Metro.

My wife saw some pickpockets getting ready to put the squeeze play on the man and she rushed them and shouted at them to leave the man alone and they snuck off into the crowd. Another thing that we noticed when we got on the train was the “helpful” man that assisted people with their luggage, placing it on the far side of the train, out of sight of the “victim” where their partner in crime could take the bag while the victim was still getting their other bags onto the train. Another reason that we opted for smaller and lighter bags for our trip.

Barcelona-Metro-Map

 

Click on the map to enlarge it.

From there,we would walk over to the L3 Metro, which was three floors below the train, and take it two stops to the Liceu station in the middle of La Rambla. Only a half a block to our hotel from there. My research also provided several additional tips to make it a more enjoyable vacation. 

First of all, I discovered that there are lockers at Terminal 1 in Barcelona where we could store our suitcases while we went into town. I planned a 6+ hour layover because we wanted to leave our carry-on bags in the locker and take our 24″ roller bag to the Citadines Aparthotel, (the hotel where we will stay before our cruise but after a side trip to Malta).  I had made contact with the Citadines hotel on La Rambla to make arrangements to leave our suitcase with our cruise clothes so that we did not have to haul them to Malta and back. If you remember my earlier blog about Paris, we stayed at a Citadines Aparthotel there and loved it. It was a 1 bedroom apartment in the hotel. The one in Barcelona, we chose to use, is a studio apartment in their hotel right in the middle of the action. They are a great chain of hotels and apartments. When we vacation in England in the next year or two, I have already picked out a Citadines that we will be using there.

Second, to make the process a little easier, we purchased the 10 ride metro ticket that was good on the train as well as the metro.  My research told me that I would need to have some Euros in small denominations to use the machine to buy the 10 ride ticket. We used 8 rides to make it downtown and back to the airport.  We picked up second 10 ride ticket at the same time so that were ready for our return from Malta without having to pick up the extra ticket during the rush. We had 6 rides left when we started our cruise and gave the ticket to a couple we met from Tazmania who were going to spend a couple of days in Barcelona after the cruise. Even with giving the left over rides away, it was still cheaper to buy the 10 ride tickets than to buy single ride tickets for each leg of the journey.

If you are thinking of visiting, you may also want to have a look at this video. We did not make it but want to share it with you.

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Turning Dreams into Memories,
One Vacation at a Time.
Bon Voyage!!!

As you might guess, this document is a compilation of information from our travels as well as from other travelers. I hope it has been of value to you.  Check out the important links below.

Don’t hesitate to email us when you return from your trip with any suggestions that will make this document better for you and your fellow travelers!

You may also want to visit our Facebook page, www.Facebook.com/TeamEdwardsTravel

Simplify Your Vacation — Buy Your Train Tickets Online

Rail Europe

A major part of our planning process is to make sure that we have all of our connections such as airline reservations, train tickets, etc… pre-purchased before we leave home.  Of course, you can have your travel agent do that for you, which is one of the many reasons to use a travel agent.

If you are the independent type and don’t use a travel agent, then at least follow their lead and make your reservations and purchase your reserved tickets before you leave home. Make sure that you give yourself plenty of lead time, at least a month or two, so that the tickets can be shipped to you.  That way you know that you have a seat on the airplane or train and won’t be going standby or with an open ticket. Once you start looking, you will find everything you need on Rail Europe.

RailEurope

We recently took a grand vacation to Europe that involved a flight to Zurich, Switzerland, a train trip from the airport to the city of Zurich, a bus tour to the Alps, a train trip to Basel, a river cruise down the Rhine to Amsterdam, two bus tours plus an on-off bus tour and a canal cruise in Amsterdam, the high speed train to Paris, intercity train and subway to our hotel, several trips on the subway, an on-off bus tours of Paris. the intercity train to the airport, and finally the flight back home.

Thalys-train-brussels

Over 90% of all of the tickets were purchased and in our hands before we left home. No fuss, no muss. No worrying if we will be able to get from point A to point B or how to do it.

So, I will walk you through the process for getting tickets for your train travel in Europe just in case you don’t want to use my services as a travel agent to do it for you.

The first job, of course, is to decide where you are going and when you are going.  For our recent trip to Europe, everything revolved around the Romantic Rhine River Cruise with Viking River Cruises. The cruise was scheduled from May 5th to May 12th. To deal with jet lag, we flew to Zurich early, leaving home on the 2nd of May.

Here is where the first issue comes up. We arrived, because of the time difference, at about 11:00 on the 3rd of May. So, make sure to double check for the local time. That meant that we needed a train or a tram ticket from the Zurich Airport to the City of Zurich at about noon. I wanted to take the train because I was going to be taking the train from the Central Station to Basel in a couple of days, and I wanted to be familiar with the train station. I also considered taking the tram if it would deliver me directly to the hotel.

1024px-BOB_Interlaken_Ost_Station
I Googled, “train from Zurich airport to Zurich Central Station” to locate the info that I needed. I also read several of the posts to get some insight from other travelers. After some searching I discovered that I could take the #10 tram and it would deliver me directly to the hotel. It would take about 30 to 45 minutes because of all of the stops enroute. The train would get to the central station in about 10 minutes. Since our hotel was only a few blocks from central station, we opted to take the train.

Almost everything you need to know about trains is found on the Rail Europe website.   Here was the site that we used for additional information.  Just fill in the blanks, and order your ticket, but don’t forget to look at the fine print.  After looking at the fine print, I discovered that there would be an $18 fee to order the tickets and have them sent to me. That combined with the fact that the trains ran every 15 minutes or so, left me to decide that we would buy our tickets when we arrived at the airport. I just had to make sure that I had Swiss Francs available to make the purchase. I will talk more about Swiss Francs and Euros in another blog post.

So, even though I am not booking this part of the trip before leaving home, I am not done yet. I still want to know how to get from the arrivals gate at the air port to the departure gate for the train. More homework.

To find out about getting from the airport to the train, I went back to my original Google search and found the link for Swiss Federal Railways – Zurich Airport. After clicking on this site I found that the train travel center was located beneath the airport. Looks like all-in-one service from this airport. I also found that the tram also runs every 15 minutes as well. I spent a little extra time on the airport site to check out the info on getting through customs.  Now,  I have done my homework and know that it will be an easy transition from the airplane to the train.

I also spent a little extra time online learning about the Central Station in Zurich.  I found that there was a complete shopping center under the train station, including a grocery store, bakery, deli, etc… Our favorite was the Migros grocery store. We saw them every we went in Switzerland. Not mom and pop stores like we would look for in France, but very convenient and with decent prices. We picked up fresh bread, pastries, wine and cheese to take back to our room.

MigrosUnderTrainStation

They also had a separate entrance for their Migros Take-Away, a deli where you could get sandwiches to go. Great for taking on the bus trip to the Alps.MigrosTakaway

For the next leg of the journey, I went back to the Rail Europe website and checked the schedules for the train from Zurich to Basel, our next major connection. Just like before, I typed in the from and to cities and found fares from about (25 Euros) $35 to $48 for economy and up to $74 for comfort seating per person. The trip would take about an hour.  There were very frequent trains so I wasn’t too worried about getting tickets. I checked into the Basel area and found that there was more than one train station, so I checked to see which station would be closest to the pier where we were getting on the ship. The ship was closer to Basel Bad Bf than it was to Basel SBB, but it would require a transfer to an intercity train and it cost more, and the baggage would be more of a hassle, so I opted to take the train to the Basel Central Station and then take the taxi to the pier. A quick check on the taxi fares showed that it would be about $35 Swiss Francs, total for both of us.

The last major connection would be from Amsterdam to Paris France. Back to the Rail Europe site once again. Searching from Amsterdam Central Station to Paris Gare du Nord shows that we would be using the Thalys Rail Service for this trip. The cost for economy was from $124 to $206.

Thalys-train-2nd

We did book this one online because we wanted reserved seats for the longer trip and I wanted my tickets in hand before leaving home. Also, I wanted to make sure that we were going forward, not backward. If you are traveling as a family with 3 or 4 people, you can get facing seats with a table in the middle if you want. (see the photo above) Regular seats have a drop down tray table just like an airplane. Just like ordering airline tickets online, you just fill in the blanks, provide the credit card info, and you are finished. The $18 fee for having the tickets sent to me was worth it to know that it was already paid for and we did not have to worry about getting a seat on the day we wanted to travel.

Always get to the train station early so that you don’t have to rush. We made sure to stop by the train station a day or two before we were leaving to find out where we would be catching the train. In fact, unlike air travel, you can actually go out to the loading platform where your train will leave from to really get the lay of the land. We also found out where to look on the side of the carriage, next to the door, to see about where to expect our carriage the next day so that we were there and ready to go when the train arrived for us.  Just hop on, put your big luggage on the rack, sort of like the one on the airport shuttle, and take your carry-on back to your seat and put it in the overhead area just like on an airplane.

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Turning Dreams into Memories,
One Vacation at a Time.
Bon Voyage!!!

As you might guess, this document is a compilation of information from our travels as well as from other travelers. I hope it has been of value to you.  Check out the important links below.

Don’t hesitate to email us when you return from your trip with any suggestions that will make this document better for you and your fellow travelers!

You may also want to visit our Facebook page, www.Facebook.com/TeamEdwardsTravel

Before and After the Cruise–Do it Yourself or Buy a Packaged Deal

the-bridge-in-lucerne-photo

No matter what kind of cruise you plan to take, it is always a great idea to plan to arrive in port at least a day early to get over any jet lag and to make sure that a flight delay won’t cause you to miss your ship.

Once you accept the need for the early arrival, you now need to consider arriving a couple of days early so that you can take in the sights of the port city. Sort of a mini vacation before you start your cruise.

Do you want to do this on your own, or do you want to be fully pampered? If you do it on your own, you will have to take care of your airline reservations, your transfers (taxi or shuttle) to your hotel, and the subsequent transfers to the ship the following day or even a couple of days later.  You also need to make sure that all of this time is covered by your travel insurance so that any problems won’t come out of your pocket.

The same set of issues come up at the other end of your cruise, but remember that the larger the ship the more time it will take to clear the ship and head to the airport. All of that adds stress that you just went on vacation to relieve. I would suggest that you really make the best of your vacation and add a little time to each end of your cruise so that you can enjoy each port and so that you can leisurely arrive at the ship and so that you can leisurely disembark as well.

The real question is – do you want to plan all of this yourself or do you want to let the cruise line take care of it all? Generally, it may be a little cheaper to do it yourself, but it will be a lot easier to let the cruise line do it all.

Quite often, many cruise lines, especially if you are cruising in Europe, will give you special prices on airfare if purchased with your cruise, and they will arrange that airfare to fit around your before or after cruise stay in the port city. They will also take care of all transfers of luggage from the ship to your port city hotel. Additionally, they will be able to set up shore excursions in your port cities so that you will be able to see the local sites.

If that is not enough, the better companies, such as Viking Cruse Lines, will have someone there to meet you and to lead you through the process and they will also be available at your hotel should you encounter any issues. Although, more for the adventure and the experience of doing it the hard way, I booked all of my before and after cruise activities myself for our most recent European vacation, my neck and back still aches from lugging the suitcases from the ship to trams to trains to hotel rooms.

The next time, I will follow the lead of my friends on our Viking Romantic Rhine River Cruise and let them handle all the work. If you are less adventurous or if you don’t really want to have to lug your suitcases around as you go from air travel to train travel to subways or taxis, etc… I would suggest that you opt for the cruise line’s before and after the cruise offerings.

Friends that we met on the cruise did both and we have exchanged emails since returning home and they had nothing but wonderful compliments to Viking River Cruises for their experiences before and after the cruise.

For example, most our recent cruise, the Romantic Rhine River Cruise from Basel, Switzerland to Amsterdam, was with Viking River Cruises.  They provide a 2-night Lucerne package for $599 per person and a 2-night Amsterdam package for $499 per person. They provide all transfers from airport to hotel to ship and from ship to hotel then to airport on the other end. They also provide something that is very important: a real live meet and greet person wearing a Viking River Cruises red jacket and signs so that it will be easy for you to connect with them. All you need to worry about is your carry-on and going through customs. They will walk you through everything else.  They have also set up excursions at each end of the cruise as well. Visit the world-renowned museums featuring works by the Dutch Masters in Amsterdam and explore the traditional Swiss town along the banks of Lake Lucerne with its dramatic Alpine backdrop.

Best of all, is that with Viking River Cruises they regularly offer 2 for 1 pricing on their cruises; and they also provide discounts for air fare on the all-inclusive trips. You will also find that they include beer and wine with lunch and dinner without any additional cost and they provide excursions in each port, also without any additional costs to you.  If you did not see enough with the provided excursions, they do provide additional excursions at some ports at an reasonable additional cost.

For more information about their cruises, please spend some time on our website at www.TeamEdwardsTravel.com to look at the videos. Then, click the banner and it will take you to the Viking River Cruises website where you will find more information about their cruises. We will be happy to make your reservations for you.

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Turning Dreams into Memories,
One Vacation at a Time.
Bon Voyage!!!

As you might guess, this document is a compilation of information from our travels as well as from other travelers. I hope it has been of value to you.  Check out the important links below.

Don’t hesitate to email us when you return from your trip with any suggestions that will make this document better for you and your fellow travelers!

You may also want to visit our Facebook page, www.Facebook.com/TeamEdwardsTravel

Panama Canal Cruise, Off To The Airport In The Morning

Norwegian Pearl Photo

It is Friday, April 13th. I catch my flight to Fort Lauderdale tomorrow morning, but I am not worried at all.  I followed my check list and I am ready to go.

ONE WAKE-UP AND I AM ON MY WAY!!!

A year’s worth of planning and it is almost time to take our cruise of a lifetime.

I guess I better get my checklist out and go over everything one last time..

  • Finalize packing, check!
  • Confirm flight times and print out boarding passes, check!
  • Confirm shuttle service, check!
  • Confirm hotel reservations, check!
  • Make sure to put your passports, confirmation paperwork and cruise docs in carry-on, check!
  • Set alarm and go to sleep.

I am still wondering about staying in touch.  I have read everything that I can find, but I still wonder.  I know that we will purchase a package of minutes of computer time so that we can stay in touch. Don’t expect my cell phone to work as anything but a camera until we make it to Puerto Vallarta.  I have put everything that I need to have handy in my carry-on bag: Tickets, passports, confirmations, cruise docs, money, meds, cameras, books, e-reader, chargers, etc…

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Turning Dreams into Memories,
One Vacation at a Time.
Bon Voyage!!!

As you might guess, this document is a compilation of information from our travels as well as from other travelers. I hope it has been of value to you.  Check out the important links below.

Don’t hesitate to email us when you return from your trip with any suggestions that will make this document better for you and your fellow travelers!

You may also want to visit our Facebook page, www.Facebook.com/TeamEdwardsTravel

Panama Canal Cruise, 7 Days Before Departure

Norwegian Pearl Photo

Today’s email from Norwegian Cruise Lines, “Ready, Set Cruise!”

ONE WEEK LEFT!!!

I cannot believe that we only have two weeks to go before we take our cruise of a lifetime.

I guess I better get my checklist out and go over everything to make sure we are ready.

  • Finalize packing list, check!
  • Extra batteries, chargers, memory cards, etc…, check!
  • Finish most of the packing, check!
  • Go through your wallet/purse and remove stuff you won’t need.
  • Make copies of your passport and leave copy with someone at home and put copies in your suitcases.
  • Confirm flight times, etc… Do this again the day before you go to the airport.

One of the things I read about a long time ago is to pack half of your stuff in your bag and half in your partner’s bag. Of course, half of your partner’s stuff in her bag and half in your bag. A very good plan, just in case one of the bags gets lost in your air travel or even lost between the airport and your cabin on the ship.

Also, you want to make sure that you have followed your checklist for the essential carry on bag so that you have your important documents, money, meds, cameras, books, e-reader, chargers, etc… in your carry-on bag. In my case, it is a lightweight backpack.

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Turning Dreams into Memories,
One Vacation at a Time.
Bon Voyage!!!

As you might guess, this document is a compilation of information from our travels as well as from other travelers. I hope it has been of value to you.  Check out the important links below.

Don’t hesitate to email us when you return from your trip with any suggestions that will make this document better for you and your fellow travelers!

You may also want to visit our Facebook page, www.Facebook.com/TeamEdwardsTravel

Panama Canal Cruise, 15 Days Before Departure

Norwegian Pearl Photo

Today’s email from Norwegian Cruise Lines, “Two weeks to go. Start packing your excitement!”

TWO WEEKS LEFT!!!

I cannot believe that we only have two weeks to go before we take our cruise of a lifetime.

I guess I better get my checklist out and go over everything to make sure we are ready.

  • Go over the cruise docs again, check!
  • Get the luggage tags ready, check!
  • Start packing, check!

Since I am still working, a little, I need to make sure to get everything organized for my friend, so that she can take care of business for us while we are gone. I will probably spend the next week or so doing that. I also need to notify clients so that they know who to call, if they need assistance.  Wow, so much to do, maybe I should have started earlier.

I think I will log on and book some more dinners and excursions.  Don’t want to miss out on any fun.

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Turning Dreams into Memories,
One Vacation at a Time.
Bon Voyage!!!

As you might guess, this document is a compilation of information from our travels as well as from other travelers. I hope it has been of value to you.  Check out the important links below.

Don’t hesitate to email us when you return from your trip with any suggestions that will make this document better for you and your fellow travelers!

You may also want to visit our Facebook page, www.Facebook.com/TeamEdwardsTravel

Panama Canal Cruise, 24 Days Before Departure

Norwegian Pearl Photo

Today’s email from Norwegian Cruise Lines, “Do this, Do that, Do it all!”

Yes, we are less than a month away from our cruise. More excited everyday.

Back to the checklist…

  • Cruise documents, check!
  • Double check with the State Dept to see what is happening with the places we will visit.
  • Go through the packing list again.  It is time to start removing things from the pile. I really don’t need all those clothes. (My wife doesn’t necessarily agree <grin>)
  • Time to double check to make sure that any necessary prescriptions are up to date.

Just for the fun of it, I go back online to the Norwegian Cruise Line page to check out the dining options and excursions. I think I will book a couple more so that they are out of the way and we don’t have to worry about missing out if they get booked up.  We really want to do the zipline excursion in Costa Rica. Don’t want to miss that one. Better pre-book online.

I am sure you remember my blog post about excursions. Yes, you can often get them cheaper if you book them off the ship or through independent vendors online. My biggest concern for an excursion is that it takes the whole day, and the possibility of getting back to the ship late and missing the departure.  If I book it through the cruise line, they get to worry about me getting back to the ship. I don’t want to have to worry about that.

Only about 3 weeks left to go.

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Turning Dreams into Memories,
One Vacation at a Time.
Bon Voyage!!!

As you might guess, this document is a compilation of information from our travels as well as from other travelers. I hope it has been of value to you.  Check out the important links below.

Don’t hesitate to email us when you return from your trip with any suggestions that will make this document better for you and your fellow travelers!

You may also want to visit our Facebook page, www.Facebook.com/TeamEdwardsTravel

Panama Canal Cruise, 38 Days Before Departure

Norwegian Pearl Photo

 Just received another email from Norwegian Cruise Lines(NCL).  38 days before departure with “Roam, ramble or relax. How do you want to explore?”.  The excitement builds as we count down the days. Time to think about booking excursions.

We get out our checklist and mark a few things off.  Fortunately, we don’t have to worry about child care or having someone watch the house, since our 18 year old son will be holding down the fort.

  • Print out packing list for each of us, check!
  • Start laying out clothes, check!
  • Pre-book excursions, check!
  • Pre-pay gratuity (tip), check!

Since we don’t want to miss out on the city tour in Cartegena, we book it online.  Nice to have it booked and paid for in advance.

We also paid the “Tip” online so that we have less to deal with on the last day of the cruise.  Each ship handles tipping a little differently. At NCL, they collect a tip/service charge that is divided up between the various service staff who provide service to everyone. That does not mean that we won’t tip staff who provide excellent service though.  In fact, we will tip our cabin steward on the second day so that he will really want to provide excellent service, every day, for the 14-day cruise.

Boy, do they know how to get you excited about your trip. But, they also know how to get you ready.

Just a little over a month to go.

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Turning Dreams into Memories,
One Vacation at a Time.
Bon Voyage!!!

As you might guess, this document is a compilation of information from our travels as well as from other travelers. I hope it has been of value to you.  Check out the important links below.

Don’t hesitate to email us when you return from your trip with any suggestions that will make this document better for you and your fellow travelers!

You may also want to visit our Facebook page, www.Facebook.com/TeamEdwardsTravel

Panama Canal, Here We Come: 45 Days Before Departure

Norwegian Pearl Photo

We started our planning over a year ago.  I am sure you remember reading our blog post about the planning process.  I remember looking up the weather at the places we were going to visit because my wife wants to be prepared.  You remember the weather link on our website, right?  As for me, I figured that it would be warm and that I would be wearing shorts and my guayabara shirts.  We are ready to go, other than packing, I think.  I get out my checklist to make sure:

  • Passports, check!
  • Cruise booked and paid for, check!
  • Air travel booked and paid for, check!
  • Travel insurance in place, check!
  • Get walking shoes and start walking to get in shape, double check!

I go through my checklist, one item at a time.

As I am thinking about writing this blog, not sure exactly what else I was going to write, when I received an email from Norwegian Cruise Lines. “Forty-Five days until departure, So Many Dining Options, Reserve Now”.

We were already excited about the great adventure, but getting that email really got us pumped up.  Our plan on this trip was to try out an excursion at each port and to sample each of their specialty restaurants onboard so that we could share our experiences with all of you on our blog. I even go back and change the title to this blog.

We read through all the the information on the dining options.  Well, yes, we had read all of it last year when we booked our cruise, but we read it all again. It made me hungry just reading about it.

We decided that we would book the Italian restaurant, La Cucina, on our first night so that we would be all set considering all of the confusion that would be associated with embarcation.

We are counting down the months. Only a month and a half left to go.

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Turning Dreams into Memories,
One Vacation at a Time.
Bon Voyage!!!


As you might guess, this document is a compilation of information from our travels as well as from other travelers. I hope it has been of value to you.  Don’t hesitate to email us when you return from your trip with any suggestions that will make this document better for you and your fellow travelers!

Look for our cruise travel packing guide, our packing lists and many other travel tips on our website, www.TeamEdwardsTravel.com

I Just Got a Free Cruise; The Follow-up Story

Cruise Ships

Is a “Free Cruise” really free???

In an earlier blog, I talked about the real value of a so-called “Free Cruise“. Recently, I received one and wanted to go through the whole process so that I could describe it fully to you so you could save yourself the wasted effort trying to get a free cruise that will turn out to NOT be free.

To start with, I received a “Free Baja Cruise” certificate after attending a timeshare presentation.  I did not buy the timeshare, but figured that I could use a free cruise, and the two hours spent listening to the presentation would be worth at least $360 in savings on a cruise.  Where else would I earn that kind of money?

I read the cruise certificate, front and back, noticing that they estimated that I would have to pay about $179 per person for port fees and taxes, otherwise the cruise was free… unless I wanted to upgrade to a better cabin or travel during a busy season, which is most of the year here in California for these Baja Cruises.

The process was different with this certificate, than others that I have seen, in that you are given the choice to either send in the certificate or to log into a website to “Register” your certificate.  You have to register this certificate within 60 days.  If you miss this step, or are late in doing it, the certificate is worthless. I could argue that it is worthless at any time, but, unless you do this first step on time, you have no recourse. Keep in mind that the certificate is only good for one year so every day that you delay in getting the certificate registered, means that you have fewer days to select for your vacation.

After you register, you receive a letter explaining that you need to send in a $100 reservation deposit. With this company, you will receive an email as soon as they get the check so that you can immediately log on and start picking the dates you want to cruise.  In this example, you had to pick your first choice 60 days after the date that they log in the deposit.  You need to pick two more dates, one of them at least 30 days after the first one and the last one at least another 30 days later.  Now you wait.

Generally, about 45 days before the first date you have selected, you will receive a letter telling you that it is time to log in and finalize your cruise date. They tell you that you will be responsible for the taxes and port fees as noted on the back of the certificate.  They also say that after you decide if you want to upgrade to a better cabin, then they will check your dates to see if there are any available cabins of the type you have selected.  If there are cabins on all three dates you selected, you can choose which one you want.  If only one of the dates have the cabin you selected, then you are stuck with that date.

Now, before we move on, I did a little homework on my own to figure out how much I would pay if I bought this cruise through the cruise line or a travel agent.  This cruise was a 4 night, 5 day Baja cruise out of Long Beach. I also looked up the cost for upgrades because I knew that they would be trying to up-sell me to a better cabin.  I also checked the taxes and port charges listed on the cruise line website.  I also knew that this free cruise would be for the cheapest fare available, an inside cabin with the bunk beds. (They call it 1A-Upper/Lower online because that does not sound as bad as bunk beds.  Also, you should know that they don’t have very many of these cabins on the ship, so your chances of going the cheap route is very limited. You will very likely have to upgrade to use the certificate.)

Online, I found that this cruise was advertised at $279 + $41.36 in taxes, per person, for a 1A-Upper/Lower cabin. Further research showed that of the $279, there is $99 in port fees.  So the real cost is $180 + $99 + 41.36 which is important because that means that my free cruise only covers the $180 per person for the cruise.  Therefore, I would expect to have to pay $140.36 in port fees and taxes per person, plus any upgrade that I wanted.  I did not want to sleep on bunk beds and would have been willing to pay the advertised rate for an upgrade to an ocean view cabin. Online, the advertised fee for an ocean view was $319 per person, plus taxes, instead of the $279 per person, plus taxes, which is an additional $40 per person.

So, now I think that I will have to pay $140.36 in port fees and taxes, plus $40 for the upgrade, per person, for a total of $180.36 per person or $360.72 for my free cruise.  Not free, but I am saving about $360 over buying it myself.

To my surprise, that is not what happened.  I was talking on the phone to person about what I want to do and was I ever surprised that they are charging $125 per person for the upgrade that is advertised at $40 per person online. Also, they will be charging the full $179 estimated fee for taxes and port charges.  That means that they want $304 per person or a total of $608 for the free cruise.  That is almost $250 more than the $360 that I was expecting.

The craziest part is that I could buy a senior citizen rate, because I am an old guy, that would give me the ocean view for $279 plus $41.36 in taxes.  The whole package would cost $640.72 for the two of us.  Best of all, I pick my dates, I do it all online, and I don’t have to deal with someone from some sort of call center that cannot really provide the full service that I deserve.

Keep that in mind when you are ready to take a cruise. Talk with a travel agent like me who can look at all of the options and will give you the service you deserve.  Best of all, you won’t have to sit through a timeshare presentation to get a certificate for a “Free Cruise” that isn’t really free.

One last thought.  I did not listen to the call long enough to get into the discussion about travel insurance but I am sure that it would have been twice as expensive as what I could get directly through the cruise line or from a good company as Travel Guard.  Don’t forget to make sure you get travel insurance to protect your investment in a carefree vacation. If you don’t know why, look at my earlier blog about travel insurance and medical emergencies.

I guess it was true; there is no free lunch, nor a free cruise either.

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Turning Dreams into Memories,
One Vacation at a Time.
Bon Voyage!!!

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