| Happy cruise planning! Cruises are great family vacations, IMHO--everyone
gets to do his/her own thing, but the family can enjoy quality time together,
as well. |
| In my and my fiances case, we do the planning, research and packing
together. WE raise the funds together, do the budget -- although usually
I do more of the initial research and he does a little more of the number
crunching. Basically, though, Id say all of the work is split downt he
middle....partly becasue were both really picky people, and partly
because we both *love* to travel and have strong opinions. Glad to report
that *Im* the one who found the *perfect& itinerary for our honeymoon --
two back to back cruises on the Enchantment....June 20 & 27.
(We watned to do Europe but couldnt get the right itinerary at the right
time without blowing our budget!( Once I found the itineraries, together
we selected our cabin, meal sittings, flight times, etc.... Were a good
team :-) |
| Oh, every one with an engine has a range but it isnt a factor in planning
cruises for a real sailing vessel. Or a really long range motor vessel, for that
matter. Our modest trawler has about 1500 miles range which means we could only
go to New England and back without refueling.... not a factor in planning
cruises of less than a full season. |
| You should also pay attention to excursions by timing--for example, you can
only see certain bears in certain months out of certain ports! If you are
planning to cruise in May or September to save money on the cruise rate itself,
some excursions will be unavailable or less desirable in the early/late season. |
| I think a big part of the fun for me is the planning and anticipation.
I even enjoy planning cruises Ill probably never go on (the ones where
I am treating all 16 family members to owners suits). I have all
brochures from most of the lines and at night before I fall asleep I
take them out and look them over and say Where shall I go today... |
