But, what’s to happen to writers who aren’t enthralled by everything Oasis? (ok I may be the only one)   Why even writing about Carnival’s new Dream, or Norwegian’s new Epic makes us look like also-rans. Just writing about the odd looking “Top Hat” designs of Norwegian Epic’s Courtyard Villa area, makes it appear we’re really just championing the design of Oasis of the Seas.

I’m in desperate need of the cruise industry to step up to the plate and supply us with some truly bizarre incidents, and innovations to supply me with non Oasis material. Anyone working on a ship that can fly?

For awhile we thought we had something to write about when Norwegian announced the massively popular Blue Man Group would be leaving their Las Vegas venue, and appearing as a regular act on the Epic.  It certainly seemed to us that, that was going to be a major innovation for cruise ship entertainment. But it appears that poor NCL got upstaged with the recent announcement that Rihanna will play a concert, at the Aqua Theater, during the inaugural 3 day cruise on the Oasis of the Seas; though to my mind Blue Man Group has broader overall entertainment appeal, and the fact they’ll be a regular act as opposed to a one time concert, should garner more attention.

But I always seem to be swimming upstream against the Oasis hype juggernaught. I’d hazard a guess that all media outlets will be shouting the praises of this ship when she finally debuts; particularly as the first few pre-revenue sailings will be filled with invited media types, industry insiders, and travel agents.

D’ja ever wonder why they don’t save all the “Special Events” for the first round of paying customers, who actually pay a premium to be in the “Inaugural Cruise” (when they really aren’t)? They should at least save some of that “pre-inaugural”  Xtra large shrimp for the paying customers.

The coverage is going to let loose a torrential display of verbiage, with outlet after outlet attempting to find more “saucy” terminology to describe every detail about the ship. And what am I going to be writing about?  Like this blog… I’ll keep my tongue in my cheek and probably just be “Gone Fishin”, at least mentally.

-          A View From the Kuki Side of Cruising -

No, it’s not how much are hookers in Paris?…. Though I really don’t know the answer to that either. It’s “how much money should we take on our cruise?”.

To even begin to discuss this question we have to decide if the question is addressing both “ship expenses” (those normally paid for using the ship’s onboard “charge” card) as well as any expenditures one will actually use cash or their own credit cards for.

Onboard the cruise lines model is set up as a cashless society. That certainly doesn’t mean you don’t spend money onboard. It means they offer you the “convenience” of a  “ship’s charge card” to make spending your money onboard much more convenient, and no doubt to assure you have a tool to make spur of the moment purchases without having to dig in to your pocket for actual currency. These charge cards purchases are guaranteed by you during the embarkation process, either by presenting a credit card or by leaving a cash deposit on hand. And should your charge card purchases come close to exceeding the credit available on your credit card, or the amount of cash deposit you’ve left, you’ll be called to Guest Relations to present a manner of further guarantee. Indeed, if you have no other means of available funds you can find yourself cut off from making any further purchases.

Here’s a laundry list of things you’ll be charged for onboard using your ship‘s charge card:
- Gratuities for staff (can run from $10-$15) per person, per day (varying by cruise line).
- Drinks- all alcohol, soft drinks, specialty coffees on some lines, some types of juices
- Spa treatments
- Alternate restaurants (on ships which offer this option)
- Shore excursions - if purchased from the ship for tours in ports of call
-  purchases from in suite mini-bars on ship equipped with them
- all purchases made from ANY of the ship stores, or sales; weather it’s logo wear, clothing, jewellery, sundries, or duty free liquor
These days many ships will display their wares outside of the shops, either in the hallways or on the pool deck to encourage sales, but wherever the purchase is made onboard, you’re BUYING it from the shops.
- art auctions - if you decide to indulge
- bingo
- It’s also becoming more common to see some forms of the ship’s activities coming with a surcharge to participate - eg. Wine, beer, or martini tastings, palates classes, some craft classes, etc. The ship’s daily newsletter will note which activities come at an additional cost.
- some cruise lines now also charge a fee to use some spa areas, as well as “Serenity” areas on deck.

Shipboard casinos are generally the one place onboard where cash is used, but many cruise lines allow you to charge a limited amount of playing chips or tokens to your shipboard charge account (but most charge a service fee on those transactions).

Above we’ve listed a multitude of things that you’ll have to pay for, above the cost of your cruise fare. However, it should be obvious that much of it has to do with how much you “buy into to”. There is no answer. There is no average expenditure. Most of the charges are optional, and strictly determined by you deciding how much you’re going to buy, and what you chose to pass on, attempting to stay within your budget.

If you think that list seemed long, now we have to talk about how much you’ll spend off the ship, in ports of call, during your cruise.

If you book ship’s tours in port the actual excursion will be charged to your shipboard account, but you could need cash (or credit cards) to buy drinks, souvenirs, food, and tips for servers and guides.

If you pass on taking ship’s tours in port, then you have to account for transportation expenses (taxis or rental cars), food and drink expenses, attraction entrance fees, and any shopping purchases.

In some ports of call cruisers have been known to organize their own private tours with local tour operators. If these aren’t paid for in advance, then you have to remember to take into account the money you need for payment, as well as tips for guides and drivers. And you must be sure to note whether your tours include attraction entrance fees in the cost.

There’s truly no way to quantify what might be the appropriate amount for people to budget for their extra expenses on a cruise vacation. Some will spend only few hundred more, others will spend thousands of dollars more.

Here’s the one thing each of us needs to consider:

HOW MUCH CAN I AFFORD?

Then we MUST budget accordingly!

Don’t go on a cruise vaction because you want to, or because you feel you deserve it, UNLESS you can afford it! It’s not pleasant at all coming home with a financial hangover; they can last a very long time.

- A View From The Kuki Side of Cruising -

Along with the declining prices we’ve seen more complaints about the decline in quality of food on many ships, and the decline in the levels of service, and the increase in “nickel & diming” onboard. Have we also seen a decline in the quality of the cruise passengers?

While all of use enjoy the benefits of less expensive cruise vacations, are we also becoming leery of the lower standards that come with it, including the lower standards of behaviour that some believe have come with it?

Some argue that there’s been indicators of this building in the cruise industry for several years. When such things as evening dress codes continued to be relaxed over the past 24 months or so, they state that those policies have also led to a less stringent code of behaviour and civility for the passengers.

These types of statements aren’t necessarily new; over the years we’ve seen many people voice complaints about some sailings from San Juan, Puerto Rico, where it’s been quite common for locals to be offered extremely low pricing on cruises which weren’t selling well. I think some of the conflicts in those situations may have been caused by the differences in culture and social mores. And that could indeed be the same cause of friction we’re seeing in other cruise areas.

As the world of cruising has opened up for people who previously could not afford to cruise before, perhaps their social norms are different enough from other cruisers to be seen as conflicting with the standards of more affluent long time cruisers.

No doubt there will be those who read this blog, and think of the discussion in terms in class.
But, I think that may be the very short sighted view of the topic.
I believe it’s more a case of people being less accepting of the diversity that lower cruise pricing has brought to the passenger base of cruise ships.

For many years Carnival Cruise Line gained the reputation of being a “floating frat party”. The reputation, whether deserved or not, had many people claiming that Carnival cruises were only suited for those who wanted a non stop Spring Break Party atmosphere. For years Carnival has battled the negative views which came implied in that reputation. They put new policies in place, including restricting the minimum age for passengers booking without being accompanied by parents or guardians (which was later followed by most other cruise lines). Yet, even today there is the occasion breath of that long dead reputation.
In the past 2-3 years, on several Royal Caribbean ships, they experienced problems with groups of teenagers getting out of control, vandalizing the ship, and such ridiculous things as throwing deck furniture overboard. In reaction they put curfews in place to curb such activities.

Though not common place, there’s certainly been anecdotal evidence supporting the view of the decline of civility onboard. Perhaps this is because today’s media is more interested in the reporting of these incidents.. that existed but were never reported before. Or perhaps it’s because the growth of the “information highway” has put the cruise industry, and every incident which occurs, under a microscope.

Of late there’s also been reporting that due to declining prices there are more people who’ve cruised on the mass market lines attempting to “move up” and give the luxury cruise lines a try. Perhaps an attempt to return to the more traditional cruise experience they remember.

One of the big attractions to me about cruising is that I’ve always felt a comfortable acceptance by passengers of the diversity of other passengers onboard. I’ve always felt the community or society created on a cruise ship was the most accepting I could experience anywhere. And frankly, I personally believe that is still the case.

What are your thoughts? Do you believe this acceptance of diversity onboard has disappeared, and the civility and compromise necessary to create a meshed society onboard has diminished? Is it getting worse? Are tensions onboard mounting?

Is any/all of this a result of lower prices and economic problems, or is this entire topic simply blowing isolated incidents out of proportion?

If you think the problem does exist, is it a reflection of the problem of society in general becoming less accepting of diversity? What a shame that would be after all the gains we’ve made!

- A View From the Kuki Side of Cruising -

Amongst our largest and most popular cruises in our group cruise program have been those which did Hawaiian Island itineraries, which we affectionately labelled Let’s Get Lei’d. They were so popular in fact that every few years we’d put together another Hawaiian group cruise. Now, responding to many members requests we’re pleased to have #5 in the series ready to go… It’s Let’s Get Lei’d Five-0.

On previous “Get Lei’d groups” we’ve sailed from Vancouver to Hawaii, as well as Hawaii to Vancouver, and LA. Those required either flying to or from Hawaii, which made the logistics a bit more complicated. Our last “Get Lei’d Group” was a return trip itinerary that sailed from LA (San Pedro) to Hawaii, and back to LA (San Pedro), and it was my favorite by a long stretch. It offers relaxing and fun-filled sea days both prior to Hawaii, as well as post cruise ,as we made our way back to the mainland. It also made flights much less expensive, and much less cumbersome for anyone living in North America. Therefore we’ve decided to repeat the LA to Hawaii and return itinerary for Let’s Get Lei’d Five -0.

This itinerary features 8 sea days; 4 while crossing from L.A. to Hawaii, and 4 more while returning from Hawaii. The sea days are when we step up to offer many “CruiseMates activities” (in addition to all the activities the ship schedules). We do our best to make our activities fun, social gatherings, where everyone in the group gets to meet and enjoy the company of others in the group. Some of the antics from previous CruiseMates groups will likely be repeated, and we always try to include some new “antics” for entertainment.

Previously on “Get Lei’d cruises” we’ve flown kites off of the stern of the ship; we’ve had team tug-o-wars over the pool; we’ve had target practice using water guns and spouses, we’ve had costume parties when it wasn’t Halloween; we’ve had ugliest aloha shirt contests; we’ve done dinner table team trivia; we’ve had some very unusual treasure hunts, as well as less “Kuki” activities such as gift exchanges, door decorating contests, cocktail parties, bridge tours, mini golf tournaments, group shore excursions, etc.

On this trip we’ll be sailing on the beautiful Sapphire Princess, featuring one of my personal favorites, the 24hr. Horizon Court - a great place to meet to socialize over late night coffees or drinks.

If you’ve ever sailed with one of our CruiseMates groups, you’re going to want to join us again. If you’ve never joined one of our group cruises, you aren’t going to want to miss being a part of Let’s Get Lei’d Five-0

BOOK IT DANNO!!

Here’s all the pricing and information details for booking…

Let’s Get Lei’d Five-0
On Sapphire Princess
Feb. 26/2011
14 Nights LA- Hawaii - LA

Staterooms:
Interior Double: I $1618.00 *pp
Interior Double: II $1645.00 *pp
Interior Double: JJ $1589.00 *pp
Mini Suite with Balcony: AB $2869.00 *pp
Mini Suite with Balcony: AC $2779.00 *pp
Oceanview Double with Balcony: BA $2399.00 *pp
Oceanview Double with Balcony: BB $2347.00 *pp
Oceanview Double with Balcony: BC $2284.00 *pp
Oceanview Double with Balcony: BD $2239.00 *pp
Oceanview Double: D $2014.00 *pp
Oceanview Double: DD $2059.00 *pp
Oceanview Double: E $1834.00 *pp
Oceanview Double: EE $1969.00 *pp
Oceanview Double: F $1744.00 *pp
Oceanview Double: FF $1789.00 *pp

All prices include port charges & taxes. You also receive $50 per cabin onboard credit, a cocktail party, enjoy Cruisemates Activities, & a tote bag. Book during our reduced deposit promotions with only $100 per person deposit and also receive 2 onboard coupon booklets per cabin. Other categories, 3rd & 4th person rates are also available, call for information. Past Guest also get an additional discount of approx $100 per person off of these prices for a limited time.

*prices are subject to availability.

BOOK IT DANNO
Nancy Bogert (800-561-0802)

Cruise Planners

Email: nancy@planningcruises.com

1.- A Good Attitude is the absolutely most important thing one needs to take on their cruise. This may sound simple; after-all everyone should be excited they are heading out on well earned vacations. But far too many people carry their stress in their carry-ons. You can see it during the check-in and embarkation process, when the impatience of some shows in their clenched teeth, jut out jaw, faces. They allow this stress to control the beginning of their vacation, which often carries over well into the cruise.

In most cases a good attitude will carry you through any glitches you may encounter on the way to a perfect cruise vacation. It allows you to “slough off the small off”. And a good attitude will also allow you to enjoy the company of your fellow ship mates, and all the staff and crew you spend your time with.

2. A Passport - There seems to be a considerable amount of resistance by people to getting a passport. It may be because people view it as a non essential cost, but a passport is simply the easiest and most widely accepted piece of identification a person can have. Mentally amortizing the cost of your passport over the term limit your country has set for it makes that cost seem much more reasonable, which it really is. The fact that passports are universally accepted, and supply the least hassle in situations where identification is required makes carrying one an absolute must in my view.

3. Travel Insurance - Life is full of unexpected occurrences. Some of them are pleasant, some of them are not, and travel insurance is there to assist in making some of the unpleasant ones more manageable, and more tolerable.

There’s hundreds of articles around about travel insurance, but I can’t stress enough how important it is to purchase! If you don’t purchase travel insurance, you are self insuring. Simply- that means you are going to be stuck with the responsibility of paying for anything that happens that would have been insurable.

Once again the resistance to purchasing travel insurance seems to be mainly financial considerations. However, with many third party insurers being available, the price of coverage is much lower than you think, and offers peace of mind, and much needed assistance in the event difficult situations arise.

4. Money - Whether it’s cash or a credit card (with available credit), or a combination of the two, you should expect to spend more than you might budget for. One of the most difficult questions to answer is: “How much money should I take?”, and that’s because it’s dependant on how much each individual drinks, gambles, shops, and how many organized excursions one wants to participate in.

In my experience, over the years, I’ve generally worked with counting on $100 per person per day of the cruise, as “ flexible spending money”. That is $1400 for a couple on a seven day cruise.

Some folks will spend more than that on drinks alone, and certainly any large ticket item shopping will send you way over that number.

5. Duct Tape - while you may never have to use it, it can fix almost everything except for a lack of #1 thru 4.

- A View From the Kuki Side of Cruising -

We do occasionally see people coming out and publicly praising a cruise line for their handling of a customer service issue. However, it’s much more common to see complaints of rather pathetic attempts at resolving customer service issues.

I believe much of this arises because the cruise lines don’t seem to have any standard policies which customers can read and understand easily and simply. The quality of the experience dealing with Customer Service departments seems to rely entirely on the luck of the draw, dependant on whether a customer with an issue finds a sympathetic or unsympathetic ear during their initial contact.

After 30 years in the hospitality industry my experience taught me that though on rare occasion a new problem occurs, the vast majority of customer service issues are reoccurring (with some variances), and can be dealt with effectively and quickly by having a set resolution policy in place.

The only complication in that system is making the determination as to whether the customer making the complaint has a valid issue which should put the resolution machinery into effect. That means having a well trained customer service staff, and that’s where the cruise lines systems seem to fail too often.

Granted, as anyone with much time spent working in those departments will tell you, it’s somewhat difficult to not get cynical after spending time dealing with customer complaints. It is difficult dealing with people who expect perfection, when you’re dealing with imperfect products, or when perfection is in the eyes of the customer. But better training, and set policies would simplify this process.

I believe the Customer Service departments don’t have much vision into just how much an unsatisfied customer, with valid complaints, can cost them in lost future revenues. Instead they concentrate too much on minimizing the immediate, short term, cost of resolving the matter.

In this regard, my own story is an example. In 1995 I sailed on the second sailing of the Celebrity Century, along with 11 other family members. I won’t go into all the details of my complaints at the time, but a combination of “new ship glitches” along with service and stateroom issues, and what I felt were inappropriate responses by the onboard management dealing with them, left me unhappy about that cruise experience. I believed I had valid and defensible complaints and wrote a letter to Celebrity attempting to address them. Their response (if memory serves me) was an offer for a 10% -15% discount on a cruise, to be used on a future booking, valid for 12 months. I felt the $300 -$400 value of that offer was not adequate compensation, and declined the offer… and didn’t sail on a Celebrity Cruise Lines ship again for 6 years (until I decided to give them another chance).

During that 6 year time frame I became a message board monitor and hosted live on-line chats for Cruise Critic on AOL, and went on to become a writer and ship reviewer for CruiseMates. During that time I “talked” to thousands of cruisers, and put in place a group cruise program for CruiseMates. During that time frame I also went on perhaps 18-20 cruises… and none of them were on Celebrity Cruise Line. 

I discussed this with a friend who is an Actuary, and combining dollars I personally spent on those cruises with that spent by people cruising with me over that six year period, he said he would conservatively “guesstimate” my situation may have resulted in $400,000 + of lost revenue for Celebrity.

Now my story may not be the norm. But I suspect most people who have similar unsatisfactory resolutions to their problems are more vocal than I when sharing their dissatisfaction with others. I quit cruising on the cruise line for some time, but others, more vocal “word of mouth” types, sharing their dissatisfaction could have cost the cruise line even more revenue.

In my case, an apology admitting the problem was theirs not mine, rather than sending me a “gesture of good faith” letter, and a couple of hundred more dollars in compensation, would have meant they’d have received at least a significant portion of that missing revenue.

They needed to step up and accept responsibility for their failures, just as I implore passengers to accept their responsibilities in the partnership. The combination of the two is what creates great cruise experiences.

- A View From The Kuki Side of Cruising -

I have little doubt that the excitement of the debut of the Oasis will receive unprecedented media coverage; filled with glowing adjectives about the never before seen innovations, and the truly remarkable technology and design features which will adorn the largest cruise ship ever built. And in many ways it will be justifiably earned. I’m also quite certain this ship will be a huge hit for Royal Caribbean, and for quite some time garner higher demand for bookings, and higher fares than other ships in the Royal Caribbean family, and indeed competitor’s ships, new or old.

Oasis wasn’t built just slightly larger than the presently largest ship in the world, she’s almost a half again as large as the largest cruise ship presently at sea. Also, she isn’t going to be just a larger version of the same ships which came before her. She will be jam-packed with features never before seen on cruise ships. You can read about many of them here…
CruiseMates Oasis of the Seas Article Compendium

There are some concerns voiced that a ship this size will overrun the islands she visits on port calls because of the shear volume of passengers she carries. Frankly, I don’t see that being a problem. There is going to be so much to see and do on this ship on a seven day cruise that I envision a great number of people who sail her not getting off the ship at all during port visits. And that is where some of my concerns about her impact on the industry begins.

With all she is going to be will Oasis simply be a resort, which happens to be on water, rather than on land?

For some time the cruise industry has seen land based resorts and all-inclusive as their primary competitor for people’s vacation dollars. Over the last decade all of the cruise lines have been adding features which they believe help them to compete with that land based market. Such things as additional dining choices (along with flexible dining times), increasing choices for entertainment and shipboard activities, variety in stateroom plans and choices, and doing away with the traditionally more restrictive dress requirements cruise ships used to adhere to, have become common on all new ships from all the cruise lines… all in an effort to compete with land based vacation options.

Like most people I’ve appreciated many of the changes I’ve mentioned above. I enjoy the additional options and amenities. Yet, I do have to wonder if the Oasis won’t take this that step too far; a step that may change the industry as we know it.

I worry that Oasis, and her sister Allure currently under construction, will become the template for the cruise industry. Will the other cruise lines within the mass market cruise industry feel they have to go down the same road to compete with the sure success of the Oasis of the Seas?

In my mind I still see a cruise as holding a bit of sense of mystery and adventure. I’d be rather disconcerted if down the road that feeling dissipates and I start looking at them as nothing more than amusement parks at sea.

Will the Oasis of the Seas be a boon to the industry; a boost it needs in tough economic times, or will it set in motion a change in the industry that we’ll someday regret?

I admit it will take a long time before these types of ships begin to dominate the industry. But a decade goes by surprisingly quickly. Will we soon see the cruise industry as nothing more than a sea full of floating resorts, where the best thing about them is seen as a choice where you never want or need to get off the ship? If that turns out to be the case, they could save fuel and just remain tied up at the pier. At least that would lower the cost of the “cruise”.

- A View From the Kuki Side of Cruising -

I just recently returned home to Canada from Scottsdale, Arizona, where I own a condominium. This trip I purchased a bit of a jalopy to leave in my garage, for use when I visit, rather than renting vehicles. When I went to purchase insurance for the vehicle I was advised to buy insurance that would cover me in the event I was in an accident that was the fault of an uninsured driver. It was explained to me that though it is illegal to drive a vehicle in Arizona without insurance, it is not at all uncommon to find people operating uninsured vehicles.

I’d think most readers would agree with me in thinking how utterly irresponsible people are to drive vehicles without insurance.

Yet, how many of those who would agree will book a cruise (or any type of travel) without purchasing available travel insurance. For some strange reason many people seem to think that should “something” bad happen, the responsibility, both financially and morally, should, or will, fall to someone else.

It seems almost constantly we see discussions on our message boards about yet another story in the media sensationalizing reports of cruise passengers being put off the ship in port, with no assistance from the cruise lines because of medical emergencies.

And these threads almost always illicit posts by people who were forced at the last minute to cancel their cruises because they or a family member suddenly took ill, or passed away. I’ve seen some admittedly tragic stories of this nature and it does “tug on your heart strings”. However, it seems far too many, including some of the sensationalizing media, expect the cruise lines to bear the financial responsibility for everyone’s circumstances.

So many speak of the great customer relations the cruise lines can show, by showing they care, and issuing complete refunds to people who have to cancel cruises because of ill health, or a variety of reasons.

We seems to always look to the “deep pockets” of the cruise lines to “do the right thing“. Shouldn’t we ask ourselves why we aren’t responsible for ourselves?

Frankly I think the cruise lines are too soft on these issues. Most have a policy stating — though the policies are stated clearly, if asked, they’ll review each circumstance on a case by case basis. Their ambiguity creates a window of opportunity for people to hope that should something happen they can convince those in control at the cruise lines to assist their particular and “unique” situation.
This of course only serves to blur the line of “what’s right”. The cruise lines instead should be standing firm on their policies, and not fall pray to every sad story. Why? Because insurance is available for purchase which cover most unexpected events, and at a reasonable cost. Many people seem to believe the adage, “it won’t happen to me”. However, even if you’ve just left a doctor’s office after a complete medical exam, there’s no guarantee you won’t get ill, or hit by a car stepping out of the office.

When things do go wrong people understandably feel great stress. Possibly their view of the situation does get blurred by the stress involved, but I have a difficult time pointing to the cruise lines to deal with the financial loss, rather than the victim of the circumstance. I know it feels like that is placing extra burden on people who are often already in a difficult situation, but the fact is it would all be dealt with in orderly fashion IF they HAD purchased proper travel insurance.

Instead, way too many people are willing to throw the dice, and if it turns out snake eyes, turn to the cruise lines to make good on a mistake they themselves made.

That’s my unsympathetic ….

- View From The Kuki Side of Cruising -

This is an illustration of what happens to the mind of a dedicated cruiser when they’re stuck on land for too long… as has happened to me.

For the past six months my life seems to have got in the way of me cruising. Silly things, like helping to plan (and pay for) my first son’s wedding, getting my other son back to college (and paying for it), Mrs. Kuki’s job, and other oddball family obligations have forced me to stay away from the sea. I have indeed missed the smell of the sea, the motion of the ocean, and the friendly, gracious service one always gets on a cruise ship; not to mention the fun and food.

Every once in a while an inevitably long thread appears on the message boards about how people manage to cruise so often. It’s surprisingly not that uncommon to hear from many people who cruise multiple times each year. And not surprisingly there’s many who wonder how the heck they do that. Personally, I’ve been very lucky, in that I’ve perfected counterfeiting various currencies in my basement… and found a job writing for CruiseMates.

Honestly, of those we hear from who do perhaps cruise several times per year, I don’t think we’d find that most are independently wealthy, or are travel writers. There are many factors at work, but I think a couple of the most important are choices they make during their everyday lives to cut back in other areas, and understanding the great value of cruises, and knowing  how to hunt down the terrific deals available.

For example, they’ll know that in the Caribbean some of the very best deals can be found sailing dates between U.S. Thanksgiving and Christmas, and some of the very least expensive cruises in all areas of are for repositioning cruises; when cruise lines are moving ships from one area of the globe to another, due to seasonal demand. That is ships heading from the Caribbean to Alaska in the spring, or back in the fall; as they also do to Europe in the spring, and back in the fall; or simply business decisions to reposition ships to new ports.

However, I don’t think anyone; from those who cruise multiple times during the year, to those who cruise each year, or those who can only take a cruise every two or three years, take their opportunities for granted.

The majority of people on cruise ships are very “happy campers”! They usually appreciate that for at least a short time they are blessed to be “treated like royalty”, and experience one the very top end means of vacationing and travel.

And that’s precisely why, after being landlocked for awhile, that yearning to set out to sea again is growing within me. Maybe I’ll just tell Kuki Jr. (who told me today he needs two root canals and two crowns) he can do without teeth, while I set out on a world cruise. I’m ready now. My underwear just came out of the drier!!

Who else out there is just itchin to go on cruise?

-A View From the Kuki Side of Cruising -

Aside from the cruise lines themselves, the only place to buy cruises is from a Travel Agent.

Do the above two statements confuse you? Are they contradictory? While they may be confusing, they are not contradictory.

Aside from the cruise lines, any entity that can sell you a cruise is a Travel Agent. Whether it’s major, well-known national brands such as Travelocity, Expedia, Orbitz, AAA, etc.,  Internet web sites, or one of the ever growing number of home-based neighbourhood agents, affiliated or simply working with travel agencies,  or travel agencies with walk in offices (known as “brick and mortar agencies“), they are ALL travel agents.

So, from the literally hundreds of thousands of choices, how is one to know which is the best choice? Of course, there is no answer to the question, but discussing it may end pointing people in the right direction.

A crucial point everyone needs to understand in the relationship between customer, cruise line and travel agents, is that the cruise lines pay the travel agent (on a commission basis).The customer does not pay the travel agent, nor do they pay anything extra if they use a travel agent.

The exception is some travel agents who may charge or attempt to charge a surcharge or premium above what the cruise line charges for the cruise fare. It’s important to know that those travel agents exist, and important to know I recommend you run, not walk, away from any agent or agency whose business model includes those types of charges.

With the exception of those who exercise such policies, I freely admit I am a fierce advocate for the use of trained cruise travel agents. That is because I am a fierce advocate for the cruise passenger, and their ability to get the best price and service available, and have someone to advocate for them to the cruise lines if there’s problems which aren’t dealt with well during your cruise.

Personally, I find it disturbing that cruise lines sell cruises directly to the public. I have several reasons to back up my objections.  The order takers at the cruise lines work for the cruise line, are just that.. order takers. They are not trained travel agents, and in most cases know very little about the cruise business. They know their job is to simply sell cruises on the ships belonging to the line that signs their pay-checks, without even giving thought to if that cruise line is the best line for your particular circumstances. And that premise, of matching clients to appropriate cruise lines, is the very basis from almost the very first page of travel agent training.

Interestingly the cruise lines refer to the Travel Agent network as their travel partners. Yet, it is to the advantage of the cruise lines if you book your trips directly with them, as in those cases they are not paying commission on those bookings.

If they would share an equal portion of the money they don’t have to pay out in commissions with their customers I might be less cynical of their intent to simply keep a bigger portion of the cruise fare to add to their coffers.

If I were an agent I would be very unhappy finding my “partner” won’t talk to “our customers” because they have booked with me. But that is another cruise line policy. They tell passengers booked through agents they are not allowed to talk to them because they are booked with an agent. One doesn’t need much imagination to determine who set that policy… and I suspect it’s very unlikely it was the travel agents. Once again my cynical side pops up, wondering if perhaps the cruise lines are trying to give the customer the impression that it’s much easier booking and working directly with the cruise line.

In the case of Royal Caribbean and Celebrity, they are so concerned with their customers well being they do not allow travel agents to discount the cruise fares lower than they themselves sell it for.  This means agents who might discount from their commissions to possibly compete for some business are denied the ability to make that decision. It’s an odd policy because the amount the cruise lines receive for the fare doesn’t change, even if the travel agents discounted from their commission.

Unfortunately I have to say the flip side of this discussion- the travel agents - have their fair share of problems and issues….. And those issues help create a flow of dissatisfied customers racing to book their next cruise directly with the cruise lines.

There are many, many outstanding, diligent, hard working, well trained and well informed travel agents. However, it can be an arduous, daunting, and even intimidating, task for cruise customers to find them. During the past decade the Internet has certainly opened new avenues to finding the “gold plated” travel agent we all crave. One no longer has to book with a travel agency that happens to be within driving distance. If you’re willing to invest your time in research your chances of finding a terrific travel agent have increased dramatically. Word of mouth recommendations have always been deemed a most effective means of advertising, and with the growth of the Internet there are many more mouths to hear recommendations from.  Indeed one has to approach the overload of information with ears and eyes open wide.

As much of an advocate as I am for the use of travel agents, it is frankly one of the least regulated industries, that needs regulation. There are professional associations offering accreditation for training completed, and every expert advice column ever written on the topic recommends verifying travel agents memberships, probably justifiably. However, including the existing professional associations, there are no bodies regulating the actions of travel agents, other than the “laws of the land”. And that has allowed some less than qualified people into the industry. I think one of the by-products of these people selling cruises, resulting in customers unhappy with their services, if not worse, has also been to drive those unhappy customers to booking directly with the cruise lines to avoid repeating the same mistake.

Considering I railed against the cruise lines selling cruises earlier in this blog, this creates a conundrum on the topic. I do think that unless the travel agent industry creates a body to regulate themselves, with better licensing and higher performance standards that are enforceable they are going to find themselves losing more and more of their sales to the cruise lines. That surely would not be in the long term best interest of cruise consumers.

I’ve touched on a very complicated topic this week, and I’ve only touched on a bare minimum of the details involved, but perhaps all our readers can offer further insights, and offer recommendations on finding all of the terrific travel agents, and ways to make sure they succeed and stay in business.

A closing thought…ever wonder why there are few if any websites with reviews of travel agents? Who would advertise to support them?…. hmmm…. maybe the cruise lines.

- A View From the Kuki Side of Cruising -