Travel plan update: Just Cruisin'

It's time to hit the road again! Or more specifically the sea, and then the road!

We are now counting down the days until we head to Tampa Florida to hop on the Brilliance of the Seas headed for Barcelona

Our time in Lake Louise will end mid-April around the 15th-17th but we are very much looking forward to the next leg of our two year jaunt around the world.

We chose a cruise as a 'cheap' way of getting to the U.K to join Mark's parents on a road trip from London around the U.K.

A one-way flight from Calgary to London could cost us up to $900 or more each.

When we searched for cruises we found a 14-night Mediterranean cruise from Florida to Barcelona for $900. Flights from Barcelona are only about $40!

In our experience it's not hard to find cheap cruises. You just have to be flexable and keep an eye on sales. Visit the big cruise line websites like Royal Carribean and Carnival often, I swear they have a big sales about once a month. Websites like cruiseguru, cruisecritic and cruisefinder are a good place to start.

Cruises are a cheap way to travel because they include all your meals, accommodation and entertainment. If you find the right deal cruises can cost less than a flight and accommodation for the duration of your holiday.

This will be our second cruise and we've learnt a few things to watch out for that can up the advertised price of the cruise.

Hidden cruise costs

Room Upgrades. The 'cheap' cost you see is always for the most basic room, typically an inside cabin. Window/balcony rooms may seem tempting at only a few hundred dollars more but per person it can add another $500-$1000. On our last cruise we got upgraded to a cabin with a window which was a nice bonus.

Gratuity. Most American cruise ships include the gratuity in the cost or on your bill once you board. Tipping is a touchy subject, we're slowly getting used to it but as Aussie's it's not second nature for us. So we opted not to include our gratuity and will decide on the cruise.

Shore excursions. Once you book, the cruise line will email you with your online account settings where you can pre-book shore excursions. Shore excursions can be your friend or your enemy. If you research before you leave you can go your own way. Or if travel around your port is difficult an excursion may be the way to go. We find that booking transport on board can be a big help and usually we'll spoil ourselves on one of the cheaper shore excursions if we don't want to do a particular port on our own.

Alcohol and drinks packages

Alcohol is not included in the price of your cruise and can add a lot to the cost to your trip. The Brilliance of the Seas has a drinks package including alcoholic and non-alcoholic for $97 ca a day. That's $1358 extra for the 14-day cruise. As occasional drinkers we don't need a drinks package and will have only a few drinks over the course of the cruise. Just something else to be aware of.

Taxes -more ports more taxes

Taxes aren't included in the advertised price. Our cruise only has four ports so our taxes were pretty low, about $90pp. A similar 10-night cruise with six ports has another $144pp. Something small to consider.

On board shops

On our last cruise on the Carnival Spirit they hooked me into a few jewellery sales that offered 'once in a lifetime' deals on jewellery only available on the ship etc etc. Most cruises also have art gallarys and have art sales or sell other merchandise. There are also some activities that do cost for materials, often art classes or classes where you take your project home. Pretty easy to use your own judgement on what you want to send on activities, there are so many free things to do all day everyday that it's not often I will pay for something. One thing I do pay for are the photos. Photographers are everywhere taking photos of everything you do, getting on the ship, getting off the ship at each port, at dinner and at formal evenings. I usually buy my favourite one from a formal evening (about $30). I bought two last cruise and one made a great gift for Mark's mum.

An update on where we've been since leaving Australia

October 8: departed

October 9: Reached Los Angeles. Drove the Hollywood Hills, Beverly Hills, Santa Monica and Venice Beach, spent two days as big kids at Universal Studios.

October 16: Played with guns and big trucks in Phoenix

October 19: Partied it up in Las Vegas

October 20-30: Picked up RV, visited Zion National Park, Grand Canyon, Bluff, Cortez, Four Corners Monument, Santa Fe, Armarillo, Oklahoma, Texas.

November 5: Landed in Calgary, Canada! Spent 2-3 weeks sorting our life :-)

November 20 - 27: Spent a week in Banff looking for work.

November 27 - Dec 4: Enjoyed a week in a log cabin with a wood fire, horses, snow, huskies and the mountains.

December 5: Start living and working in Lake Louise. Mostly snowboarding mixed in with some cross country skiing and random snow adventures.

Feburary 16: Awesome snowmobing day

#blog #travel #cruise