Cruises are designed to be one-stop vacations. Within a few days on board the ship, vacationers are offered a variety of experiences. Options range from full-service spas to ziplines and rock walls; from towel-folding classes to shopping seminars; from gyms to boxing rings. Not to mention the free food 24 hours a day every day, or the medical staffs that take care of any problem from seasickness to appendicitis, or activities to entertain every personality. Cruises are one-stop vacations where everyone—not just the elite—is treated like royalty.           

Cruises are designed to be one-stop vacations. Within a few days on board the ship, vacationers are offered a variety of experiences. Options range from full-service spas to ziplines and rock walls; from towel-folding classes to shopping seminars; from gyms to boxing rings. Not to mention the free food 24 hours a day every day, or the medical staffs that take care of any problem from seasickness to appendicitis, or activities to entertain every personality. Cruises are one-stop vacations where everyone—not just the elite—is treated like royalty.           

Deals

As with any vacation, getting the best deal requires some shopping around and researching to create the ideal vacation for you. Starting early is one key factor. The sooner you book the cruise, the less expensive it will be.

Carolyn Jenson, an avid cruiser and amateur travel agent, suggests booking between nine and twelve months beforehand. “People usually aren’t thinking that far in advance,” she says, “so the rooms are offered at a lower rate.” Carnival Cruise Lines recently had a deal for early savers that allowed cruisers to book their cruise to the Caribbean for as low as $169.

Check out your favorite cruise line websites for special deals advertised only on the internet. Though it’s not always possible, you can sometimes find good deals as the ship’s departure date draws closer. In efforts to fill cabins, cruise lines may offer discounted prices for the last remaining rooms.

There are many options to finding an ideal balance with shore excursions. Passengers can either book the excursions through the boat or find their own local deals. Booking through the cruise line is generally more expensive because each sale generates commission. However, vacationers are guaranteed to have a quality experience with these cruise line excursions, and if an excursion runs longer than expected and you are unable to return to the ship by departure time, the ship will not leave without you.

Booking through local resources also has benefits and drawbacks. “The locals have cheaper prices, and if you book them for early enough in the day, you don’t have to worry about missing your boat,” Carolyn suggests. “Just make sure you can do what you sign up for. We planned to ride scooters around St. Thomas, but none of us knew how to ride them. It ended up that none of us followed through with the planned excursion.”

Food

Many culinary experiences can be had on every cruise ship. Restaurants ranging from Japanese steakhouses to typical burger joints pepper the boats and allow travelers to eat exactly what they are in the mood for. On his most recent cruise, Andrew Jenson ate at least two bowls of mac and cheese each night for dinner along with entrées of steak and shrimp simply because he could. The best part of all this food? Since you paid for everything up front with your ticket price, it’s all free once you’re on board!

“Make friends with the head waiter,” Nolan Cordon advises. “Often they have a hidden dish they only bring out for the people they like. One time the maître d’ gave out cheese to us because we had been speaking with him in his native Portuguese. He didn’t do that for everyone.”

Fun

Each cruise ship offers different activities on board. Typically cruisers will have the opportunity to attend theatrical shows, participate in poolside activities, party the night away in any number of dance clubs, and much more. Sean Bollinger spent much of his last cruise at a surfing pool on one of the largest ships in the world watching his brother-in-law compete for the honor of “top surfer” of the week.

Peggy Webb, a travel agent, says that “some of the newest ships offer things you would only dream about doing on a ship.” If you want to jump in and get involved, you can often choose from ziplining, rappeling, climbing a rock wall, bowling, sliding down water slides that extend out over the ocean 15 stories high, ice skating, and riding on board surfing machines.

If you’d rather just be entertained, you can watch high-wire acts, cliff diving, glass blowing demonstrations, movies and sporting events at giant poolside movie screens, Cirque du Soleil shows, Broadway entertainment, Hollywood celebrity entertainers and impersonators, and amazing magicians and illusionists.

Your cruise ship might also boast a Central Park with 20,000 live plants, over ½ acre of real grass, full-size tennis courts with spectator seating, an ice bar where you need fur coats to enter, fireworks shot off the ship at night, parades—and the list goes on and on.

Cruises follow travel itineraries in many places around the world—allowing each vacationer to pick the experiences he or she wants to have. Hawaiian, Alaskan, Caribbean, and Mediterranean cruises all offer unique cultural experiences for those willing to disembark for a few hours. “When the ship was docked,” Nolan Cordon says, “I preferred to leave the ship to see the sights and experience the culture.”

Wherever, whatever, and whenever your cruising experience, it is sure
to be a great time because it will be uniquely yours.

—Heather Jenson

License to Dive

While scuba diving may not be the cheapest or easiest hobby to take up, there is no substitute for the experiences you can have exploring the underwater world: forests of kelp beds, underwater caves and lava tubes, historic shipwrecks, and an elaborate ecosystem ranging from small starfish to sea turtles to whale sharks.

How can I become scuba certified?

To become scuba certified, you must complete a certification course offered through various agencies, such as PADI, SSI, NAUI, etc. These courses are administered by local dive shops in your community or can even be taken through a tourist dive shop while you’re on vacation.

What do scuba courses entail?

Scuba classes range from four-week courses held once a week to compact weeklong courses (usually offered by the vacation dive shops). Simple classes usually consist of two afternoons of classroom instruction, two sessions of hands-on experience in a swimming pool or shallow area, and two days of open-water experience practicing and checking off the skills learned. A certification is awarded after you pass a written exam.

How much does a scuba course cost?

Most scuba classes offered locally range anywhere from $150 to $200 per person. Dive shops will often offer specials for groups or promotions during certain times of the year. Most universities also offer cheaper classes for college students, so keep your eyes open. The cost of becoming scuba certified while on your vacation can range from $250 to $500, so while it’s fun to get certified in Hawaii, it’s definitely easier on the pocketbook to do it before you get there. 

So I’m scuba certified—now what?

After receiving your scuba certification, you will be given a card to present to dive shops saying you are a certified diver. Most people will invest in their own mask, snorkel, and fins, but other items required for scuba can be easily rented from shops at your destination. If you still feel uneasy about diving on your own, all dive shops offer guided tours of the local sites, ranging in price from $25 to $50. As you practice your skills, you will become more comfortable in the water.

See “Dive America” (page 78) for diving locations.

—Shanna Warr