Hawaiian cruises can be joyous, peaceful, and splendid. As soon as you step on board, you will find an amazing range of activities to do and see.
You can sample exceptional dining, exciting entertainment, and new activities each and every minute of your holiday.
To learn more about your vacation of a lifetime to these wonderful islands, keep reading.
Some of the friendliest of the 137 Hawaiian Islands now have more and more cruise ships scheduling frequent stays there. you’ll find destinations to the major Hawaiian ports such as Kauai, Maui, Kona, and Hilo commonplace.
From water activities; to sunbathing; to snowboarding, these Islands have everything. The climate is excellent and calm almost year round and you can even catch some excellent, cool snow in the mountains of Maui!
Although definitely a part of the U.S., the Hawaiian islands all have their own very unique and varied culture. It’s cosmopolitan history has led to a curious mixture of almost the whole world’s cultures and ways of life.
Those who know, believe the first permanent inhabitants of this fascinating area sailed from far away, in the middle of the first millennia and their descendents are generous peoples, known for their kindness and friendliness.
Cruises generally stop at a number of the popular locations. The different Hawaiian Islands all have their fans for their variety.
Hawaii has it’s mountains and the Kilauea Crater, which some think is home to a fire goddess! Maui is popular for it’s wonderful waterside facilities and natural beauty, whilst Honolulu is a nature lover’s paradise, with beautiful cliffs and waterfalls. Each of the islands shares a natural character of welcoming.
A vacation on a cruise here will without question give you heaps to remember. For a vacation on a Hawaiian cruise in the near future, remember to consider the following.
*Kids vacationing without their parents, need the right paperwork to travel with friends. Because if problems arise, this will be vital.
*In most cases, you will need proof of citizenship and identity to board ship, wherever you are from.
*Prepare ahead of time to choose carefully your Hawaiian cruise.
*Get yourself a cruise ships that offers you the best value, of course, as well as being high standards.
However you decide to choose, get exactly what you want by picking a cruise that suits your idea of that dream vacation.
For more information, don’t forget all the forums and blogs about Hawaiian vacations telling you all you need to know about what things to take, when to go, and what are ‘must do’ activities. Online is a great resource for finding out about your vacation and the possibilities.
Whilst each island has much to offer, your cruise liner itself offers exquisite arrangements! So, make sure you appreciate the value of this amazing vacation.
Plan well, seek out the information you need and remember the incredible joy you found on your on your Hawaiian cruise for years ahead.
Martin Haworth
http://www.articlesbase.com/travel-articles/your-hawaiian-cruise-vacation-remembered-for-a-lifetime-121200.html
You really want to take a cruise but you also really want to go to a spa for physical fitness and maybe a little pampering. In the world today you can do both. Years ago you were lucky to find a spa on a cruise ship. If there was one, it was in a really remote area of the ship. As for physical fitness there was very little equipment and most of it was tired. When people started to become more conscious of their looks and health the cruise lines revised their way of thinking. Cruise travel now can double as a spa vacation as well as learning a new physical fitness program.
The newer cruise ships have gone to great lengths to accommodate the cruise passenger who also wants to beautify and tone up. The cruise lines have installed state of the art equipment, added numerous exercise classes, and offer the newest beauty treatments available. Many of the cruise lines have relocated their fitness centers to the top decks of the ships with lots of windows so you can have a view while you are on the treadmill, bike, or lifting weights. Tucked up into the corner is a big TV so you can watch the news from back home. The cruise ships now have three distinct areas, one for fitness, one for spa treatments and one for the beauty salon.
As mentioned, the fitness centers on cruise ships are now a thing to behold. They all will definitely have treadmills, Stairmasters, free weights rowing machines and bikes. Some cruise lines even have complete Nautilus machines. Popular exercise machines, especially on sea days, may require you to sign up for a particular time of day and will limit the amount of time you can use the machine.
If you want to use your cruise travel as a vehicle to start an exercise regime there are physical trainers onboard. Their services, however, will cost you extra. The trainer will ask you lots of questions about your health and diet and then will come up with a personal regime for you. He or she will then book times through the week for you to work together.
All cruise lines offer exercise classes, yoga, aerobics, dance, water aerobics, even Pilates and kickboxing. Some of these may require a slight fee. To find out when these classes are held consult your daily bulletin for times and fees, if any.
Now, you’re thinking why would I start a physical fitness regime while on a cruise ship, especially since they serve all that food, 24 hours a day? Well along with the newer, shinier and better facilities the cruise lines have also instituted what they call spa cuisine. Everyday they will offer a “lighter side” menu if you are really serious about you new physical fitness regime.
Don’t assume that if the ship is older, it won’t have a decent fitness and spa area. Check with your cruise travel agent to find out what facilities are onboard the cruise ship you have chosen. For instance, the QE2 is an older ship but it has a beautifully outfitted spa with a large staff. Celebrity’s slight older Century has a Thalassotherapy pool for their passenger’s enjoyment and it has become quite popular among their cruisers.
When you board your cruise ship go to the spa area. Usually on the first day the staff will be explaining their treatments and occasionally demonstrate how it is done. Sometimes they will raffle off treatments, so go to the demonstration just for that reason. If you have definitely decided that you will be doing some treatments, book them on day one to get the best times. Any beauty salon appointments should be made then too, hair appointments for formal night go very quickly.
Many times the spa and beauty staff will discount their services on days when the ship is in port. If you are going to a few cruise destinations that you have previously visited, take advantage of these offers. You will find that you can pick your time of day to get these treatments done with little or no competition. If you are an early riser, choose an appointment in the morning and then get off the ship to enjoy that port. Or, conversely, disembark early to explore your new port, and then return to the ship in the early afternoon to take advantage of a discounted treatment.
When you go to your spa appointment, do not wear jewelry or fancy clothes. Most treatments are a bit messy and you don’t want to ruin any of your belongings. It is best just to wear a robe. When you get there an attendant will give you a towel and a private locker to put away your things. You may then be asked to wait in a room. Your technician will come out to take you to the room designated for that particular application. You will also fill out a form on your health and any surgeries that you have had. The room you are in will most likely have a shower. It will definitely have a sound system to play soothing music and there will be an array of exotic oils and creams.
The cruise ship spas have gotten quite creative. They now offer couples massages where you and your partner are in the same room with different massage therapists. Then there are four hand massages where two people work on you at the same time. Some of the cruise lines offer in suite massages and some even have massages on the deck.
By far the highest percentage of staff are women but there a few men. If you have a preference between male or female spa technicians, state it when you make your appointment. Some people are uncomfortable lying naked on a table with a therapist of the opposite sex. Check the cruise ships policy on tipping. Some cruise lines automatically tack on a 15% charge to your bill while on others you may have to pay in cash. To save embarrassment, check at the time you make your appointments.
There are three lines that allow you to make your spa appoints before boarding the ship. Princess, Windstar and Celebrity all offer this option. In some cases they even have packages that you can book in advance. Be careful here though, they may give you some very early morning appointments which means you have to go and change them on the very first day. This is not the best policy since they should be giving you prime appointments for booking ahead.
Beauty salons will offer a full array of services. You can have your nails done, your hair colored or hand and foot treatments aside from just a trim. Most of the beauty salons have Europeans staffs. That is not necessarily a bad thing. Places like Austria require their beauty students to go to the equivalent of our college.
See, it is possible to turn your cruise into a spa vacation or physical fitness week. Just follow what your trainer or your beauty technicians tell you and eat the spa cuisine. You’ve just achieved three goals, a little bit of pampering, a fitness regime, and a light and healthy diet. This may be a new way for you to view cruise travel.
Happy Cruising!
Copyright © Mary Hanna, All Rights Reserved.
This article may be distributed freely on your website and in your ezines, as long as this entire article, copyright notice, links and the resource box are unchanged.
Mary Hanna
http://www.articlesbase.com/travel-articles/cruise-travel-for-physical-fitness-or-a-spa-vacation-54475.html
While your cruise is paid approximately 85% in advance, more than likely you’re going on encounter some onboard expenses like alcoholic drinks and soda-pop, gambling in the casino or playing bingo, tipping, shore tours, and purchases in the shops found on-board…which will all go on your on-board account. In other words, cruising isn’t a pay as you go system. Instead, when you board, you’re given a card that is the size and shape of a credit card. This card is your ID, your room key and your onboard charge card. So, you want to buy a beer? You turn over the card and it’s charged to your room. Want to buy a shirt with the cruise line logo on it? You turn over the card and it’s charged to your room. I think you get the idea.
Your onboard charge card is secured with a credit card or debit card such as VISA or MasterCard or you can put down cash. All three ways (charge card, debit card, and cash) are accepted on all major cruise lines.
The tough part is telling people how much to expect to spend on their onboard account. Heavy drinkers are often shocked when they receive their end of cruise statement and it’s well into the thousands of dollars…trust me, there is at least one on every cruise! So, to help you estimate your spending while onboard there ship, here is a list…well at least a list of everything I could think of…that will or could be charged to your on-board account:
- Tips (gratuities). The latest trend which has been in place for a few years now is automatic tipping. In other words, in days gone by, it was customary to give the people who worked hard for you during your cruise, such as your waiter, assistant waiter, and cabin attendant a gratuity for their services. Often times people didn’t tip them at all and, since this is major part of their salaries, the cruise line decided that automatic tipping would help to discourage this practice of non-tipping. While you can still remove tips (and that does remain your right) or increase them if you had outstanding service, you can expect to see this expense on your end of cruise bill which will be charged to your credit card or withdrawn from your debit card or cash reserve. What needs to be understood is that if you see recommended tips are $68 per guest for the week…that goes for every single person in the cabin INCLUDING children. So if the recommended tip is $68 per guest, a family of four can expect to be charged $272 for a week’s worth of service. Which roughly breaks down to $9.71 (US Dollars) per day, which is split between your waiter, assistant waiter, cabin attendant, etc.
-Drinks. There are some drinks such as tea, ice tea, coffee and sometimes juices that are complimentary on most of the major cruise lines. Everything else is going to be charged. So from bottled water to ginger ale to cola to beer to mixed drinks and wine…expect a charge. Pricing varies greatly but, on average you can expect soda-pop to run between $1.50 – $3.00 (depending on the cruise line) per glass or can; beer runs between $4.00 – $6.00 (again depending on the cruise line) per glass or can or bottle; and wine, figure $4 per glass and up. There are some cruise lines, usually, the more upscale cruise lines that include drinks in their prices but, if your traveling on the mainstream cruise lines like Carnival, Celebrity, Disney, Holland America, NCL, Princess and Royal Caribbean…you’re going to be charged for these drinks. Only you know what you drink and how much…budget accordingly.
-Gambling. I don’t think anyone out there expects this to be free, so, again, you know your habits in gambling situations….use your own judgement and budget accordingly.
-Shore Tours – Depending on the cruise line, chances are your shore tours (sightseeing and activities in the various ports of call) are not going to be included with your cruise fare. Some cruise lines allow you to book and pay for your shore tours prior to coming aboard and others simply allow you to reserve them and then you pay for them once you’re on board. Of course, you can wait and book onboard too. Shore tour prices vary greatly, so, check with your individual cruise line for pricing.
-On-board Shopping. You’re going to have the opportunity to purchase many trinkets and silly items onboard your cruise ship. Some of the more common things you’re going to find will be “An Inch of Gold” or “An Inch of Silver” where they sell an inch of gold or inch of silver starting at $1 per inch. Of course, you have the onboard shops which will sell everything from sunscreen to cruise line logo shirts to liquor to magazines. These things add up quickly, and, expect to pay premium prices on most items. One trick…if you want things like logo shirts, wait until the very end of the cruise…that’s when everything goes on sale!
-Unforeseen Expenses – Most of the newer, larger mega ship now offer alternative restaurants onboard. These restaurants are usually an outstanding value for the quality of food and service, however, just be prepared to pay extra for it. The average alternative restaurant runs about $20 per person. Spa Services and the Beauty Salon services never come cheap on land, so, don’t expect any discounts while at sea…figure the pricing to be about the same as you’d pay in any major city. Another new trend is to add Coffee House type areas on the ship. You can expect to pay premium prices for your latte and they often have pastries and cakes for purchase at these stands as well. Another money pit is the game room…I was on a Carnival ship in Europe in 2005 with one of my closest friends and her then 16 year old son. I went into the game room with him for a while and we played air hockey and several video games and within an hour, I dropped $40 without a sweat…so unless you have deep pockets, encourage your children to save and bring their own money along for the game room…and help them out by budgeting them an allowance each day.
I’m sure I’m forgetting to list a few things but these are the major expenses you’ll have to plan for while on a cruise vacation. And, believe it or not, even with all of these “extras” factored in…a cruise vacation is still one of the best values for your money in today’s vacation market!
I hope you’ve found this tips helpful in planning your cruise vacation.
Tina Rinaldi
http://www.articlesbase.com/travel-articles/what-the-brochures-didnt-tell-you-onboard-charges-72364.html