Celebrate the Bride or Groom at Sea

A cruise is a special travel experience, and a cruise ship is a terrific venue for all kinds of celebrations – including a pre-wedding bachelor or bachelorette party. Some of the best things about cruising fit beautifully with the goals of a bachelor or bachelorette getaway. Here are a few examples:

It’s a brief, but exciting getaway. A three-day cruise from a U.S. port lends itself well to a bachelor or bachelorette party schedule. It’s enough time to relax and enjoy yourselves without taking too much time away from work and wedding preparations at home. Itineraries to consider include:

·         Three-day cruises to the Bahamas from Miami or Ft. Lauderdale. These are offered by several popular cruise lines, including Celebrity Cruises, MSC Cruises, Norwegian Cruise Line, and Royal Caribbean. Some Royal Caribbean and Norwegian Cruise Line itineraries include a day on their private islands in the Bahamas, which are a treat to visit.

·         Princess Cruises offers some three-day itineraries along the Pacific Coast, starting from Los Angeles or Vancouver.

·         While you may not want to travel too far for a short cruise, three- and four-day itineraries are available in other parts of the world, including the Mediterranean, Northern Europe, Asia and Australia.

It’s a great value. There are short cruises available at very reasonable fares that include comfortable accommodations, delicious dining, and access to pools and many other onboard activities. Your group can discuss the purchase of extras – like shore excursions, beverage packages or spa services – and decide what to do as a group and what to leave to individual preferences.

It’s a lot of fun. Cruises are known for an easygoing but lively onboard atmosphere. Activities include lounging by the pool (where there’s often live music or a DJ playing tunes), joining in deck games and friendly competitions, working out in the fitness center, or enjoying relaxing treatments in the spa. On shore, there may be beaches and water sports or cultural sites to explore. In the evening, your group can enjoy live performances, along with music and dancing in the bars and lounges. Bring your coordinating t-shirts!

It’s easy to plan. The bride or groom can simply select a destination, ship and sail date, and a professional travel advisor can take care of the rest. Unless you live close enough to drive to the port, Anita, your travel advisor, can also arrange everyone’s air travel and provide more tips for a great pre-wedding cruise experience.

Find us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/AtthetaTravel

 

Why Use a Travel Advisor

1. Relationships with suppliers – you know when you’re visiting your neighborhood restaurant where the servers are familiar and give you a new dessert to try with your meal sometimes? Companies and people love to reward loyalty and the same is true about travel providers. Travel advisors have relationships with these companies and their staff and want to keep that relationship mutually beneficial! The suppliers know that if they can keep their travel advisors’ clients happy, they’ll be more likely to send more people their way. Sometimes this can translate into extra attention, free upgrades, or even things like chocolate-covered strawberries in your room!
2. Knowledge about products – what’s the best travel insurance and should you get it? If something were to go wrong or there were any last-minute changes, which suppliers have the best cancellation policies? Ask your advisor! They treat knowledge about travel like it’s their job (because it is!)
3. Better rates / added benefits – you won’t always get better rates booking with an advisor, but you’ll often get more value added. In the age of online booking, it’s easier than ever to find “deals” online, but when you go through a massive online booking company, oftentimes, you’re not seeing the whole picture. Is that hotel room so cheap because it’s on the side of the building next to train tracks and faces a brick wall? With an advisor, you know exactly what you’re getting and what added benefits are coming along with it. Travel advisors also stay updated on what kind of sales are happening. If they know you’re looking for a river cruise to Europe and a big sale starts, they’ll know to pass that information along to you!
4. Translating dreams to reality – How do you take your vague notion about a dream vacation and turn it into reality? Ask your travel advisor! They’re able to translate your wants into real locations and help you identify what pieces of your trip will matter the most.
5. Travel logistics – How much time do you need for a layover? Would it make the most sense to rent a car, hire a driver, or something else altogether? If even starting down that train of thought is giving you sweaty palms, take a deep breath and call your travel advisor.
6. Peace of mind – In the unfortunate event that something does go wrong, having someone on your side to help you through it and advocate for you is invaluable. Instead of being stuck internationally frantically trying to track down all of the people you need to call, you can make one call to your travel advisor and trust them to figure out the best plan for you.
7. They get to know you – The more you use a travel advisor, the more valuable they are. With each trip you take through them, the more feedback you’re able to give them on what worked for you and what you’d skip next time, making each subsequent trip even further beyond perfect.

Making Friends on a Cruise

Cruising with friends is always fun, but a cruise is also an opportunity to meet new friends. On a ship with hundreds or thousands of passengers, how do you find those you’d like to spend time with?

Connect with your fellow passengers before the cruise begins. Groups for passengers of specific cruises can pop up on social media well before the departure date. Future shipmates use these groups to share tips and recommendations and make plans to meet on board. Ask your professional travel advisor where to look for social media groups for your upcoming cruise.

Get involved in onboard activities. Be sure to choose a cruise that offers activities you enjoy, whether that’s sunning by the pool, working out, going on shore excursions, playing deck games, listening to guest speakers, or taking in a live performance. The activities will get you out of your cabin and into the mix with people who enjoy the same things you do.

Sit with others at dinner. In the ship’s dining room, ask the maître d’ to seat you at a larger table where you could start or join a conversation. If you don’t connect with anyone, simply ask to be seated at a different table the next night. And if you meet friendly shipmates during the day, suggest gathering for dinner or drinks that evening.

Ask the social staff to introduce you to other passengers. The cruise director and the rest of the social staff manage all onboard events and activities, so they meet lots of passengers who are friendly and welcoming to new people. An assist from a member of the social staff can help you overcome any initial shyness about introducing yourself to your shipmates, too.

Consider a theme cruise. Your professional travel advisor can help you look at special cruises that are centered on a theme, which means you’ll automatically have something in common with everyone else on board. There are theme cruises for a wide range of interests: everything from TV and movies to music, sports, crafting, fitness, dancing, LGBTQ+, cars, wellness, cooking, beer and wine…the list goes on.

Stay in touch. After you make some new acquaintances, use the cruise line’s app to message each other while you’re on board. And before you leave the ship, get contact information for the new friends you’d like to stay in touch with.

Find us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/AtthetaTravel

 

A Fleet of New Ships

Cruise fans have a lot to look forward to because a new crop of cruise ships is preparing to debut in 2025.

New ships can be many years in the making; they are marvels of modern engineering. Planning and design often take several years, and the actual construction of a ship – from laying the keel to the first float out – can take 18 months or more. For example, Royal Caribbean’s Icon of the Seas, first announced in 2016, just entered service in January 2024.

Here are some of the ships scheduled to make their first voyages in 2025:

MSC Cruises is planning an April launch for World America, which will be dedicated to the North American market. The ship will have lots of bars, lounges, and dining spots, a 350-foot-long promenade, fabulous waterparks, an 11-story drop slide, and an over-water swing ride. With a passenger capacity of 6,762, World America will sail the Caribbean from Miami.

Norwegian Cruise Line’s Norwegian Aqua is also set to launch in April. It will have the line’s biggest variety of cabins to date, including more accommodations for solo cruisers. The ship can accommodate up to 3,571 passengers, who will be thrilled by the world’s first hybrid waterslide and rollercoaster. The Aqua will sail a variety of itineraries from New York, Port Canaveral, and Miami.

Royal Caribbean will launch Star of the Seas, the first sister ship to Icon of the Seas, in late August. The ship can take up to 5,610 passengers (in nearly 30 different cabin categories) on 7-day Caribbean itineraries from Port Canaveral. Each sailing will include a day at the line’s private island, CocoCay.

Virgin Voyages will add Brilliant Lady to its fleet in September. Up to 2,700 passengers will enjoy signature features like a boxing ring, stylish lounges, and theme parties. Brilliant Lady’s inaugural season offers itineraries from multiple U.S. ports, including New York, Miami, Los Angeles, and Seattle.

Princess Cruises is scheduled to launch Star Princess in early October; up to 4,300 passengers can enjoy more than two dozen bars and restaurants, along with an infinity pool and other places to relax. The ship will sail two Mediterranean cruises before crossing to the Caribbean in late October.

More new ships for 2025 include Oceania Cruises’ Allura; Celebrity’s Xcel; and Ritz Carlton Yacht Collection’s Luminara. To talk about how you can sail on these and other new ships, contact Anita, your professional travel advisor.

Find us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/AtthetaTravel

 

Millennials Take to the Seas

Those who think cruising is only for travelers in their golden years haven’t seen this survey statistic from CLIA, the Cruise Lines International Association: the average age of cruise passengers is 46, and more than a third are under age 40.

This means that millennials – loosely defined as people born between 1981 and 1996, who are now aged 28 to 43 – are likely to find quite a few of their peers on a cruise ship. Millennials now make up about 22% of cruise passengers and 88% of those who have cruised plan to do so again.

Millennial interest in cruising may originate in cruise trends like more relaxed onboard dress codes, more adventurous cuisine, more modern ship décor, and more accommodations that suit solo cruisers (a growing number of passengers, currently almost 10%, sail on their own). Like passengers of all ages, millennials are drawn to things that cruises excel at, like visiting multiple destinations and providing vacation value.

If you’re a millennial new to cruising – or you know a millennial you’d like to treat to a cruise – here are some cruise destinations to consider.

The warm and balmy Caribbean is a top choice. Itineraries range from two days to 14 or more, and you can sail from a variety of home ports, including Houston, New Orleans, Tampa, Miami, Fort Lauderdale, and others farther north along the East Coast. You can visit the beautiful small islands of the Eastern Caribbean; the Yucatan Peninsula in the Western Caribbean; or the islands of the Southern Caribbean. Some cruise lines maintain private islands in the Caribbean, which are wonderful places to spend a day.

If you live in the western U.S., you can head to Los Angeles or San Diego for a cruise of Mexico’s Pacific Coast. Itineraries often include classic cruise destinations like Cabo San Lucas, Puerto Vallarta and Acapulco. These cruises offer terrific scenery, with lovely beaches, rugged mountains, and dramatic sea cliffs.

If you have a little more time, you can fly across the Atlantic for a cruise that calls on the historic port cities of the Mediterranean. Itineraries can include stops in Barcelona, Marseille, Rome, Naples, Venice, or Dubrovnik, as well as islands like Mallorca, Malta, or Sardinia.

There are so many more regions of the world to explore via cruise ship; no matter what age you are, talk with Anita, your professional travel advisor, about destinations and ships that will thrill you.

Find us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/AtthetaTravel

Bucket List Cruising: The Galapagos Islands

Situated along both sides of the equator in the Eastern Pacific Ocean, the Galapagos Islands are an enchanting place where endemic species – including some found nowhere else on Earth – live in unspoiled settings. These beautiful, volcanic islands are part of Ecuador, which is about 550 miles to the east. Cruising is a wonderful way to explore this bucket-list destination.

The amazing animals that inhabit the islands include giant Galapagos tortoises; marine iguanas, the only iguanas known to feed in water; flightless cormorants; Galapagos penguins, the world’s only tropical penguins; several species of tanagers, also called Darwin’s finches, whose characteristics vary from island to island; and blue-footed boobies, named for their bright blue, webbed feet. There’s also magnificent sea life, from hammerhead sharks to frigatebirds and albatrosses; and unusual plants, including lava cactus. Most cruises sail with experienced guides who help you prepare for and understand what you’ll see and experience.

Cruises to the Galapagos are expedition cruises; they use smaller ships that don’t have as many features as today’s big ships but are still very comfortable (some are quite luxurious). Popular cruise lines that visit the Galapagos include Celebrity Cruises, Hurtigruten Expeditions, Lindblad Expeditions, and Silversea Expeditions.

On a Galapagos cruise, you won’t miss a big ship’s amenities because there’s so much to see and do. Expect to be very active: each day will include one or more excursions on land, on the water or both. While the islands are close to each other, you’ll discover that they are also distinct from each other, hosting different species or variations of common species. At night, the ship will move between islands while you sleep.

Because the islands straddle the equator, they experience almost 12 hours of daylight daily and warm temperatures all year. But, some seasonal variations in the weather might determine when you want to sail. From December through May, expect sunny skies with a few showers and daytime temperatures in the upper 80s. But from June through December, a seasonal ocean current brings cooler water to the islands, which makes the sea a bit choppier; daytime highs are still about 80 degrees, and there’s little rain.

Anita, your professional travel advisor can give you more details about Galapagos cruises, available ships, and the specific islands they visit. Consider the possibilities for pre- or post-cruise stays in Ecuador or elsewhere in South America.

Find us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/AtthetaTravel

Tips for Packing Small

This is a truism for any type of travel, and especially for cruise travel: the less luggage you bring along, the better. Less luggage is easier for you to handle and keep track of; airline baggage fees can add up if you have too many or overweight bags; and, you’ll want to have some extra luggage space for gifts and mementos you acquire while cruising. So, here are some tips for packing small.

Start by making a list of what to pack, because an hour or two of wardrobe planning can help prevent overpacking. Make a list of things that are right for the climate where you’ll cruise; add any special items for theme parties or shore excursions, as well as essentials like a swimsuit, pajamas and underwear. Then, take a deep breath and pare the list down, keeping only items that can be mixed and matched to make multiple outfits. Be sure to ask your professional travel advisor about your ship’s laundry and dry-cleaning services; using them may help you pack even less.

Special note for cool-climate cruises: instead of bulky sweaters, pack lighter items you can layer.

Shoes deserve special attention because they take up a lot of luggage space. Try to limit yourself to one pair for daytime excursions and one pair for evenings on board. If you don’t have shoes versatile enough to go with everything in your suitcase, a new pair of fashion sneakers may be a good investment.

Many travelers swear by rolling clothes, rather than folding them, to save luggage space; there are some good online videos on this topic. As you pack, try to put smaller items inside others: for example, put rolled socks inside your extra shoes or rolled t-shirts inside a sunhat.

Some travelers use packing cubes to help keep different types of clothes neat and organized, or to keep the pieces of an outfit together.

Also, don’t pack large containers of toiletries or medications; put enough for the length of your vacation into smaller containers.

Finally, be sure that one of your bags is a carry-on that will stay with you. In addition to essential paperwork and medication, use it to store a pair of pants or shorts and two tops. This will give you a little more room in your main suitcase and ensure you have fresh clothes if your luggage is delayed at any step on your journey.

Find us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/AtthetaTravel