A glance at CruiseCal.com, loaded with information.
After having a few sailing under my belt, I have a checklist that I use to make sure I have all my bases covered. Since a big part of my job is bringing the vacation experience to you, I have to make sure I don’t miss the perfect shot or miss out on that once in a lifetime place to snorkel.
Here are five great cruise resources to check before you sail:
1. CruiseCal. Before I crate any type of port game plan, I have to know how many ships are in port. Nassau, Bahamas can have up to six ships in port at one time, depending on the ship, that can be over 21,000 people including crew and guests. CruiseCal.com tells you what ship is in port during what day. Knowing what ships are in port let me know if the streets, excursions or public transportation will be running normal or tortoise slow.
The site’s premium membership lets you drill down to the port, ship itinerary and other cool features. I’ve been a member for three years.
2. Message Boards. These boards have saved my butt in a lot of ports and have saved me $1000s of dollars in excursions over the years. Sometimes I don’t feel like doing an organized shore excursion and want to do it on my own, that’s when I turn to CruiseCritic.
There are other forums out there like Cruise-Addicts, CruiseMates and CruiseLineFans.
3. Shore Excursions Group. Cruise line shore excursions can be quite costly. I was talking to a family of five in Cozumel recently and it was $475 for their family to do one beach excursion there. Most third party shore excursion companies offer the same guarantee as the cruise lines and a smaller more intimate excursion. You can check out Shore Excursion Groups port offerings by clicking here.
4. Local Tourism Boards. This is an excellent starting point when it comes to finding out the inside information about your cruise port. You can find out some great insider information, weather, tourism numbers, places to go and details on public transportation from the tourism board. It’s also a great place to get links about your destination like where the wifi, how many people are projected to be in port and the ferry schedules.
Recently I learned a lot about St. Thomas by visiting VInow.com.
5. Social Media. Do a quick hashtag search on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or Pinterest and you’ll see that a lot of people are tweeting, posting and pinning about your destination. You may find yourself getting some inspiration and ideas from other peoples postings.
Do you have any favorite cruise resources?
Have you subscribed to Cruise Radio yet? Subscribe to us on iTunes and Stitcher Radio Network.
The post 5 Cruise Resources to Check Before You Go appeared first on Cruise Radio.