Why NOT to arrive on-time for your next cruise…

Mary Yohannan on

Don’t get on your cruise too early you might run into this…

When it comes to traveling we try our best to get to the airport, the port of embarkation, or the car rental place before our scheduled time.  Now when it comes to your flights I always suggest you be there on-time. In fact, most airlines require that you must be checked in 90 minutes prior to the flight.

Cruising is a whole other ball game.  If you get to the port of embarkation at the time the cruise line suggests (usually 1 pm), you end up getting there when everybody else does.  The lines to check-in can become horrendous!  This is especially true of those very large ships that can accommodate up to 3,500  passengers.  Nobody wants to be in line with 3,500 other people for check-in and then upon embarking waiting in the “let’s start your cruise off with a picture” line.

If you embark early you will be able to beat the some of the crowds.  You may still encounter some lines at check-in but these are the early morning travelers who have just flown into town.  But don’t go too early because you won’t be allowed onto the ship until after all of the previous passengers have gotten off.  So there is no need to be there at the crack of dawn!  If you do embark early then you can enjoy the welcome buffet or explore the ship.

Some of these ocean mega-liners seem to take days to explore so you could get a head start on finding all of the amazing features of your ship.

 

 There is one caveat about embarking early, you won’t be able to access your room until a certain time.  This is to ensure that the crew has had plenty of time to change out everything from the previous cruise.

The best time to check in is after the cruise line suggested time frame.  Now if you decide you are going to embark at the last minute you must be pre-registered with the cruise line.  Each cruise line has to submit their passenger lists to the law enforcement authorities prior to departure.  If you pre-register on-line they will already have your information.  If you haven’t pre-registered on-line then you must check in at the port of embarkation before the cruise line submits the passenger list.  

If you miss this time frame you will be unable to board your cruise.  The are some perks if you check-in later. You will most likely be able to access your room immediately, still enjoy the welcome buffet, and have only little time in port so you can start winning your millions at the casino as soon as you hit the open water.  Well, I am not quite sure if anybody won a million dollars at sea, but whose to say that it couldn’t happen.

Just remember that you don’t want to be too late that you miss your cruise all together, and you don’t want to arrive on-time to stand with the masses at check-in.  Try to time it right because if you start off your vacation on the right foot it makes Life Better Traveling.

Call us today to book your next cruise vacation.  Did you know that our travel agency is able to get you extra amenities like FREE excursions, food tours, and beverages, and extra onboard credits?  You won’t get these if you book through the cruise company or with an online travel agency?  Call us today to find out more.

What is the third letter of the alphabet?

 

This Ancient Italian City is Worth the Visit

Mary Yohannan on

Pompeii, Italy should be on the list of 100 places to see before you die.  If you ever take a Mediterranean cruise this is always one of the optional tours or included as a portion of one of the optional tour.  Pompeii is very close to Naples.  To get there by bus it usually takes 30 minutes to an hour, depending if you have any additional stops along the way.

This Roman city was thriving until the volcanic explosion of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD which buried it under volcanic ash for centuries.  Pompeii was considered to be a modern city with an amphitheatre, a public gymnasium with a swimming pool, and an aqueduct.  The aqueduct would supply water to street fountains, public bath houses, and if you were really rich you would have water in your house.  The city streets were also very modern for their time.  They had curbs and there were houses or shops on both sides of the streets.  To ensure that people would stop at intersections when on horse or horse-drawn carriage they had circular stones at the end of the streets.  This was like a modern day stop sign or speed bump.

Now I truly believe that Pompeii was a city that wanted to be alive.  Even though it was buried for almost two-thousand years, due to the lack of moisture and oxygen it remained very well-preserved.  A large percentage of Pompeii has been excavated but there is still some of the city that wants to be re-discovered.  Today there are millions of visitors to this ancient city every year.  Now Pompeii is a large city.  Some people think that when they take a short day tour to Pompeii that they are seeing the whole site.  You really need a whole day to see the entire excavated portion of the city. 

 

 

I have yet to take a whole day tour.  I have always been on a tour where we are there for just a few hours.  Regardless of which tour you choose you will still be amazed by the site.  Most tours will take you to the outdoor warehouse which houses some artifacts and moldings of those who were frozen in time by the ash.

If you are lucky enough to get to walk through some of the houses you will be able to view the beautiful mosaics.  We were told that this was a sign of wealth.  So the wealthier you were the more mosaics you would have in your home.  These mosaics also told stories so they were unique.  All I could think when viewing these mosaics is what the excavation process was like.  You really have to be extremely patient and meticulous to ensure that you don’t ruin it.  I will say this over and over again in my blogs but when you are standing on a site that is thousands of years old you really appreciate your life and realize how fast it goes by.  Pompeii is one of these cities where I realized that Life is Better Traveling.

Mosaic in a Home

 

Ready for a Quote?  Simply fill out the form below and we will be in touch soon!

 

What is the third letter of the alphabet?

 

Verified by MonsterInsights