By Lori Wilk  Article Word Count: 534 [View Summary] Comments (0) |
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In interviewing a group of seniors from South Florida, California, and Phoenix, AZ., I learned that they rave about taking cruises because they know that once on board they have organized fun, food, entertainment, and other people to socialize with. The possibilities with cruises for variety of ports to leave from and ports to visit, length of the cruise, and pricing seem endless.
Jules Glastein, a former Independent Cruise Consultant, decided to retire at the age of 92 from helping people plan their cruises vacations. He offered a wealth of information about cruising and he explained that the best way to know if you love cruising is to take a cruise and get started.
I asked if it was best to start by taking a 3 or 4 day cruise to determine if cruising was right for you. Jules made it clear that cruisers usually don't take too much luggage with them and once they get settled on the ship and start having a good time, 3 or 4 days disappears and then it's time to go home. He also let us know that if all you have available is 3 or 4 days, by all means, don't stay home, take the cruise.
His first recommendation would be a 7 day cruise to experience a more complete vacation. Let's face it, there's stress in getting ready to go away, packing, getting to the port, waiting to get onboard, finding your cabin, settling in to your vacation, and learning your way around the ship. Once your comfortable, you don't want to go home.
In fact, chances are that while you're on board, you'll probably want to book your next trip. Many of the decisions you'll make about the type of cruise you want to take will be about where you want to depart from and what ports of call you'll be visiting on the trip. You also might want to consider the type of weather and experiences you want for your vacation. For example, you're not taking the Alaska Cruise if you want to defrost from living in a cold climate.
There are many tropical destinations to discover and it's a tough choice between the Eastern and Western Caribbean. If you've got the time and the money to spend, opt for a longer cruise crossing the Panama Canal, or aybe 14 days around Europe. For a leisurely cruise and warm temperatures a cruise around all the Hawaiian Islands is delightful.
You will also decide about the cabin you want for the vacation and you can go from bargains to absolute luxury.
I learned from the travellers that planning a cruise gives them something to look forward to and it's really made their lives better. This group of retirees told me they are happier and they enjoy being around new people, having new experiences, and they're taking more cruises next year.
One word of advice from Jules was not to be fooled by prices seem too low when advertised. Be sure to understand the price of the cruise, plus the cost of taxes and port charges, plus how much you'd have to pay for insurance if you can't make it to the cruise or something happens.
| Lori Wilk, a Las-Vegas based speaker, hosts the daily talk show Successipes at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/successipes For more updates on our events or shows go to http://www.lvpublicity.com c.2009 Lori Wilk. All rights reserved. If you enjoyed this article, syndicate me, add me to your website, or call us on the show. Reprint rights: You may reprint this article if you do not alter it in any way, give author name recognition, keep all links active, and follow the ezine articles guidelines for publishers. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Lori_Wilk |  |
