Sea sickness cures and remedies

Sea sickness is probably the number one worry for first time cruisers so I thought it was about time I gave a bit of advice about what it is and how best to avoid/overcome it.

Sea sickness is caused by a conflict between your senses. You have a very sensitive canal in your inner ear filled with fluid that acts a lot like a spirit level. This controls your sense of balance. So whilst you’re on a cruise ship, even though you might not be able to feel it, this inner ear canal well be aware of the slight movements of the ship. However because your eyes are telling your brain at the same time that your not moving the conflict caused leads to the sense of nausea you experience. This is also what causes motion sickness on land, in a car for instance.

So now you know what it is, what can you do about it?

Dress codes on a cruise ship

I've lost track of the times someone has asked me about dress codes on cruise ships; what they were expected to wear and when. Whilst I've never minded explaining to people what the different dress codes are and when and where you have to wear them it occurred to me that there might be a lot of people out there thinking the same thing but not wanting to ask, so todays post will be about dress codes on cruise ships.

Which cruise ships have Wi-Fi?

Gone are the days when friends and family could expect a postcard to arrive from you aboard your cruise ships two weeks after you actually got home. Well I say gone, if we left it up to Royal Mail it still might take that long. Fortunately, these days we're all pretty much firmly plugged into the world wide web so it's getting more and more important for people to be able to access their emails, Twitter and Facebook accounts whilst aboard their cruise ship.
In regards to this a few of my passengers have been asking me who provides wi-fi at sea for their laptops so if you check below you'll find a quick and handy guide to use showing who provides what and where. If you have any more questions about it feel free to email me. 

It's not always our fault

You all know the feeling, you've just got back from the travel agents with a brochure, you've spent hours pouring over it looking for your perfect cruise. You find the cruise, you check the dates with work and it's all OK to book. You ring your favourite cruise travel agent, (us hopefully), only to be told that price isn't valid anymore.
Well that's not fair, you can see the price printed there in black and white.
Is it all a massive conspiracy to get extra money from you?
Is your travel agent to blame?
The cruise line?
None of the above actually, (well not totally; see below to see why).

First, Second and Freedom Dining on a cruise ship – Explained

I’ve been surprised this week by the amount of cruisers who were still confused about freedom dining. This is still a fairly new option in cruising terms but is getting more and more popular, but is it as good as it seems or are the other two options better for some people? Today I’m going to be talking a little about the different dining options available on cruise ships with their associated pros and cons.

Cruise Line Cabin Grades – Explained

Well Christmas is definitely over!
I’ve been absolutely swamped this last week with people looking to sort out their summer holidays for this year. The surprising thing about many of these enquiries though is the amount of first time cruisers calling up excited to try a cruise for the first time.

Anyone who’s ever booked through Cruise.co.uk before will vouchsafe to you that we’re always willing to take the time to explain all the little details of a cruise to someone who’s never done it before, all those silly little things that more experienced cruisers take for granted. Like Onboard Credit, like Gratuities and like what the different cabin grades actually mean. I must have explained at least fifteen times over the last week what the difference between an inside, outside and balcony cabin is.
It did get me thinking though that if so many new cruisers are asking me what the cruise lines different cabin grades mean; how many are looking for the answers online?  So.........

Booking a Shore Excursion Through the Cruise Line vs. Doing it Yourself

Should I just book all my shore excursions through the cruise line, or should I organise them all myself?

This is always a difficult one to give advice on as it really does depend on what kind of person you are. It’s true that as cruise prices become more and more competitive, as cruise lines strive to compete with each other, they need to find another revenue stream to increase their profits. Cruise line shore excursions are a very easy way of doing this by adding surcharges to them. Massive savings can be had if you’re prepared to organise them yourself, but a lot of people aren’t comfortable with this for several reasons........

On Board Credit - Explained

There’s no such thing as a stupid question. Especially if you’re booking your first cruise.

It’s a phrase I find myself repeating quite often to people nervous about their first booking. A lot of the terms we regular cruisers use, and take for granted, can if you step back and think about it be quite confusing for anyone about to book their first cruise holiday.
Guaranteed cabins;
Formal/informal nights;
Obstructed views;
and onboard credit.

Obstructed Views - Yay or Nay?

It happens quite often that someone, looking for a last minute deal, will turn up there nose at a cabin with an obstructed view. But what is an obstructed view? What’s obstructing it? Why is it obstructing it? And are there any pros or cons to an obstructed view? Fingers crossed I will try to answer some, if not all of those questions here, (with simple to understand pictures as well, because I’m just that helpful).

Should I book that guaranteed cabin?

It’s a question I get asked a lot by people and to be honest there’s no easier answer. There is however a list of pros and cons that probably should be considered before booking.

Young Children on Long Haul Flights

I was pricing a cruise up recently for a customer for November. They wanted to get away somewhere warm for the winter, so naturally I suggested the Caribbean. They end up booking on the Independence of the Seas, from Southampton to the Canaries and back.

Why?
Because they didn’t want to take their two little children on a long haul flight. Completely ignoring the thought of child jet lag, they were worried about keeping them entertained for an 8hr+ flight. It got me thinking, not only is it hard to keep young kids entertained on long haul flights; it’s hard to keep them disturbing other passengers as well. It’s with this thought in mind I put the following guide together – How to keep kids on long haul flights happy.

How to Disembark Quickly

One of my friends just got back from a Disney cruise I had booked for him and his family; and they had a great time by the way.
My friend, whilst a really nice guy, is a bit of a stickler for rules and protocols and emailed me the following list after he got home because he thought it might help all my customers, so I’ve decided to blog it here, you’ll have to let me know if it is a help or not.

Cruising for Dummies

I was reading an article over the weekend about first time cruising, (yes that’s how exciting my weekends really are), and I was surprised by the figure of how many people on an average sailing had never cruised before.
35%!
Well over a quarter of the people on a cruise will have never been before, and the thought occurred to me that many may not have a clue as to what they are doing, what’s going on or what other passengers/crew are talking about.

I sat down and thought back to my first cruise and highlighted some of the points that I know now that I wish I knew then. Hope this helps......

Honeymoon Cruising

                                                              Honeymoon Cruising.

O.k., so just got back from my honeymoon and wanted to give all the prospective grooms out there a bit of advice……… Don’t let your wives to be book the honeymoon for you!

I came home from work to be told she’d found an amazing last minute deal and had booked it on the spot. Now to be fair it actually did look like quite a good offer but after reading through it I asked why she had booked an inside cabin, rather than an outside.