The planning for this cruise started different than any of the previous cruises we have been on. We purchased and booked this cruise on our thanksgiving cruise in 2014.
We learned quite a bit during the process. The cruise booking was easy, since we booked onboard we got good rates and great cabin location. The onboard ship credit we received as a result of this booking was better than normal. We also purchased tickets under the buy one get one 50% off so we ended up with a nice cabin as well.
One major lesson learned relates to cruise insurance. There are many options available. Of course you can buy insurance through the cruise line itself. Or, you can buy insurance through a third party insurer.
Cruise line insurance generally covers the basics. In most cases they don't cover cruise line specific issues.
Independent insurance coverage can be offer different coverage and price ranges.
On this cruise we elected to buy our insurance through cruiseinsurance.com. They did a good job of finding a balance between cost and coverage levels.
The one thing we didn't know is, you have to buy the coverage within 14 days of making the initial deposit. If you don't there are limitations applied to the coverage. One of those items are pre existing conditions. This was a concern.
This is a tough item to balance. You have to buy insurance within 14 days of initial deposit. At the same time you don't have to make your final cruise payment until roughly 75 days be or your cruise.
In short, I guess you need to be sure you are going on a cruise when you book it. You also need to buy your insurance within days of making th deposit.
Another difference with this cruise was that we did not embark from a port in Florida. We had to fly to San Juan, Puerto Rico. This involved added planning and added costs.
This was fun and expensive. The flights we wanted were over $1,000 per person for the flights we wanted. Time to dig further. Finally find flights on her blue. The best fair had us arriving at 3:00 am. There was no way we were we was no way we were going to do this. We worked our way through the fairs and found a flight leafing at 6:20 am, arriving at 10:04 am. Our flight was expensive. It was not as expensive as the flights we wanted that arrived nearer the ships departure time. It is amazing how supply and demand works.
Next was figuring out what we wanted for shore excursions. Another round of fun. Read lots of reviews making a decision and redoing this several times. We did this up to the last possible to make changes. Still second guessing ourselves we will have to visit the excursion desk when we get in the ship. We will make changes at that time if needed. Oh well.
As we approached our cruise date. We began to encounter more medical issues with us and our pets. We ended up making the decision to go until the night before we left. Nothing like dong things at the absolute last minute.
This was fun and expensive. The flights we wanted were over $1,000 per person for the flights we wanted. Time to dig further. Finally find flights on her blue. The best fair had us arriving at 3:00 am. There was no way we were we was no way we were going to do this. We worked our way through the fairs and found a flight leafing at 6:20 am, arriving at 10:04 am. Our flight was expensive. It was not as expensive as the flights we wanted that arrived nearer the ships departure time. It is amazing how supply and demand works.
Next was figuring out what we wanted for shore excursions. Another round of fun. Read lots of reviews making a decision and redoing this several times. We did this up to the last possible to make changes. Still second guessing ourselves we will have to visit the excursion desk when we get in the ship. We will make changes at that time if needed. Oh well.
As we approached our cruise date. We began to encounter more medical issues with us and our pets. We ended up making the decision to go until the night before we left. Nothing like dong things at the absolute last minute.
We purchased the transfer to and from the ship so we didn't have to worry about toting our luggage and us to the ship. We figured out while sitting in the airport that that wasn't the smartest thing to do in this case. We should have done a little more search and taken a cab instead. There were several people waiting for the shuttle who got frustrated. They ended up taking a cab at an added cost.
The one thing we did right was getting signed up for the DHS Global Entry program to get the TSAPre benefits. This got us through security at both the Orlando and the San Juan airports.
We have also decided that we will be working with a travel agent for our next cruise. We are now trying find an agent with the appropriate credentials and cruise experience. We will see how this goes on our next cruise.
