ELIMINATING ANXIETY FROM A CRUISE

If you are eager to plan a cruise, you probably have tons of questions.
Then, as you pick up brochures and pamphlets from your local travel
agent or visit with family and friends who have taken a cruise, chances
are you will have even more questions.  Keep reminding yourself that the
cruise should be relaxing so you do not want to start the planning
process already feeling stressed.  Therefore, the best place to start
is with a budget.

Your budget will need to coordinate with the date of the cruise.  For
instance, if you can afford $1,000 in six months, then you would plan
your cruise six months down the road.  However, if you want to go now and
have $500 on hand, then a three- to five-day cruise could be taken right
away.  In addition to the budget for the base price of the cruise, you will
need to set a budget for items you want to buy onboard.  These things would
include items not included in the cruise price such as alcoholic
beverages, massages, and gambling, among others, as well as souvenirs
and gifts you might want to purchase for family, friends, and even
yourself from the wonderful cruise ship shops.

Next, most people who go on a cruise want to have a new wardrobe.  To
ensure the right clothing is taken onboard the cruise ship, you want to
find out what activities are planned, if there will be a theme or formal
dinner, and what types of excursions you can enjoy.  Now, while you could
easily spend hundreds if not thousands of dollars on clothes, you might
consider buying items through discount shops or online auctions such
as eBay.  With both, you can purchase beautiful designer clothes for a
fraction of the normal cost.  As an example, let us say you needed an
evening gown but the one you have your eye on costs $300.  However, you
look online at eBay and find a similar gown for just $75!  In other words,
while you want to dress nice for a cruise, you do not have to spend a
fortune to do so.

Another consideration is jewelry.  Many people will take expensive
jewelry onboard a cruise ship and if they wear it at all times, that is
probably fine.  Most cruise ships do have safes where you can store
expensive items but even so, you always risk something happening.
Therefore, a common practice, especially among the rich and famous is
to wear costume jewelry that is not expensive at all.  In this case, if a
person normally wears a real five-carat diamond ring worth $35,000 or
more, they will find a cubic zurconia ring they like and wear that
instead, leaving the real diamond at home in a safe deposit box.  Todayís
costume jewelry is gorgeous and so well made that telling the fake from
the real is near impossible.

Another way to eliminate stress is to arrive at the port of embarkation
one day early.  By staying in a hotel near the port, you do not have to feel
rushed to fly into the port of disembarkation.  Instead, you can wake up
fresh and get to the cruise ship ahead of most other people so the hassle
of being rushed is eliminated.  In addition, be sure you carry your
important documents (visa, passport, driverís license, airline
tickets, discount coupons, travel agent contact information, etc)
with you.  That way, if your overnight bag should become lost, you have
the most important items with you.  In fact, keep your travelerís checks
with you or at least the numbers for the checks.  However, you must
choose travelerís checks such as American Express that will reimburse
you immediately should they become lost or stolen.

Even if you are told by people not to buy it, always invest in traveler's
insurance.  For the small amount of money it costs, you would be saved a
huge headache in cases of delayed arrival to the cruise ship, injury, or
illness while onboard.  Finally, to avoid the common practice of
airlines putting air/sea passengers through the worst route,
specifically ask your travel agent to contact the cruise lineís air
deviation desk to reroute the trip better.  While there might be a $20 to
$35 charge for this service, it is well worth it.