Tuesday Travel: Get Out There!

Today's travel is a little bit different since I'm going to talk about a way to travel and enjoy destinations.  I am going to spit it into at least three parts.  I love to travel.  People have asked how I have gotten around so much and I have to say cruising is mostly the way I have been to so many places.  My former husband was a volunteer dentist for Holland America Cruise Line.  We would do work on the crew while on days at sea, and the cruise line comped us tickets.  It was a win/win situation and I enjoyed the time spent on board as the crew was mostly Asian and so gracious and appreciative.

But what it also did was give me a cheap way to get around and see what is out there.  I heartily recommend cruising if you aren't sure where you want to go and want to explore different places from a moving base.  So here's a few tips and pointers I've picked up in my journeys.  First, where to go. To start for most people, that is the Caribbean or Alaska.  I'm going to tackle the Caribbean and take on Alaska in another post.  Caribbean cruises are generally divided into three main routes:  Eastern, Western, and Southern.  Variations are added as islands add new cruise stops.  My favorite is the Western which picks up places like Grand Cayman, Cozumel, Belize, Honduras, and Jamaica.  It's my first choice because I prefer the diving in that part of the Caribbean and I love Mayan ruins.  If you want a more European flavor with forts and history, the eastern routes pick up places like St. Thomas, St. Martin, Turks and Caicos, Tortola, and the Bahamas.  The Southern route brings diversity with places like Grenada, St. Kitts, Barbados, Antigua, Bonaire, and Aruba.  Undecided?  Throw a dart at the map and most likely a ship goes there.  I think I'm going to try that, it might be an exciting way to decide where to travel.  Fear you will run out of ports?  Not likely, I have been to 28 in the Caribbean and haven't hit them all.  If you get one shot at a dream vacation and that's it, I suggest looking at the classic Eastern or Western because they are a good place to get your feet wet with pretty diverse ports used to heavy cruise traffic.

Most cruises to the Caribbean leave from Miami, Ft. Lauderdale, Port Canaveral, New Orleans, and Galveston.  The easiest I have found is Ft. Lauderdale with Miami a close second.  Both ports are near the airports and there are plenty of hotels around with shuttles to the cruise terminals.  Fort Lauderdale isn't as congested as Miami and I feel a bit more comfortable walking around looking for a place to eat or  pick up something last minute.  Port Canaveral requires a flight into Orlando and an hour drive or so.  It's a good thing if you would like to add Disney World, Sea World or any of the other parks in that area.  Galveston is about an hour drive from Houston and that port services mostly Mexico.  I haven't been out of New Orleans but would love to try it.  The Southern cruises generally leave from San Juan, Puerto Rico.  A bit longer flight but a fun port to explore.

A couple of tips for the cruise terminal ports.  BUY TRIP INSURANCE:  It's cheap and can cover many of the travel mishaps that can happen.  If you can, fly in a day early and leave the day after you disembark.  Why early?  You want to make sure that flight delays in or baggage problems can be taken care of over night and it is so much less stressful.  You can be one of the first to board and enjoy settling in and exploring the ship plus, you can check out the port.  Why later?  I can promise you that disembarking can be one big headache.  You can't get to the airport for the many early departures that are often the best flights.  It is stressful recovering your baggage and hustling to find a cab, check in etc.  Those are long days indeed.  It is nice if you are in no rush, to have a leisurely breakfast on board, disembark with out chaos, head to a hotel and relax for the afternoon.  Then get up, catch the early flights and have a much more pleasant travel day.  You can also do port excursions like the Everglades after the cruise.

Next week, I'll review the cruise lines I'm familiar with, cabins, ship size and all sorts of tips for the high seas.  So Bon Voyage and I'll catch you later.