Planning to ride on a cruise ship any time soon? Odds are you did some research, compared pricing and availability among sailings and stateroom categories, then locked in when and where you would sail. Done? Not quite.
At this point there are still a few other steps to take between booking and sailing. Some steps are easy, others more complicated. Some are required while others are optional. Still, focusing on four ways to simplify your cruise vacation can break down what seem to be complicated matters at first glance.
KBYG- Know Before You Go (KBYG) is a checklist of information produced by the cruise line and comparable among cruise lines. Every cruise line has one with some more detailed than others. Taking the time to read it checks a whole lot of boxes on information specific to any given cruise line. This is where the people who tag the difference between cruise lines start.
Don’t Complicate Matters In The First Place– While there are indeed a lot more moving parts in a cruise than, say, a weekend at a local hotel, we’re not working with explosives here. Still a bit of caution is suggested. But not much. The fact of the matter is that if we buy the cruise and show up at embarkation with just our booking number and approved identification, we will sail.
Let Someone Else Handle The Details - Unless traveling solo, odds are someone is better at detail-oriented tasks than someone else going with you. They might even enjoy that part. A picky relative is a good choice as is a travel agent.
Some Things Really Are Complicated – As cruise lines continue to launch exciting new ships, more choice comes our way. We do have the complicated task of choosing. Still, which ship and when to sail should really be the most complicated decision we make here.
One last way to simplify your cruise vacation: read the Passenger Contract. Each cruise line has one and we agree to its terms by booking. It’s really detailed and boring to read but I make a point of doing that before every cruise. Knowing the rules simplifies things.
Chris Owen shares frank, inside information about cruise vacations on ChrisCruises.com
