Some folks resistance to cruising is that “there are too many people on those big ships”...especially first time cruisers as well as some who have limited cruising experience. But really, it has been my experience on some of the largest cruise ships in the world, that after you get checked in and on board, there is really no feeling of there being a lot of people on board. Yes, a lot of people or not, the day of embarkation is typically a little hectic and chaotic, until you get on board.
We have visited before about the value of having travel insurance especially when one has a significant investment in the trip. Most travel companies, if not all, refer to this as “travel protection”, with cruise companies especially using this title for coverage. Most folks take the travel protection to provide protection if they have to cancel the reservations. There are other coverages too including accident, sickness, lost baggage, and delays.
Back in 1981, five years after I had been in the travel business, I finally was able to get on a cruise....with my wife. I had always wanted to, and had the opportunity to sell many in those previous years, but of course, I really didn't know what I was selling. Finally, I convinced my wife to go with me on a cruise I had earned, and we sailed out of New York on a Holland America ship to Bermuda. One of the clinches in getting her to go,(because she was afraid of getting motion sickness), we got one of the first prescriptions for what is now known as the “Transderm Patch”. That was the “ticket”....we've been on about 85 cruises since, and she has never had motion sickness. So..that's my solution to one objection we hear of going on a cruise vacation.
A couple years ago, we took the family on a cruise out of Ft. Lauderdale on a Royal Caribbean ship named Allure of the Seas. At the time, she and her sister, the Oasis of the Seas, were the largest passenger ships that have ever been made. They topped out at 225,000 tons and had a passenger capacity of 5400 passengers.
In a news story from the Seattle Times, they note that the airlines started charging for checked luggage in 2008 and fees have climbed steadily since. In fact the report came out yesterday that the U.S. airlines collected more than $6 billion in baggage and reservation change fees from passengers last year.
I am out and about in the community in a lot of social, business, and church settings, and for the past two weeks, since the Carnival Triumph unfortunate situation, there is always someone wanting to know how my cruise business is doing. . .asking that question with a sly smile on their face. I know they’re thinking that cruise sales are in the tank. . .but in reality, they are not!! Thank goodness!!
