Cruise travelers continue to be engaged with destinations visited by ship, now more than ever before. It makes sense if you think about it.  After all, don’t ships take us from place to place around the globe in a cost- and time-efficient way like no other? Sure they do.  But not all that long ago, cruise lines were keen on creating onboard programming, venues and events that seemed to want us on the ship, not off and exploring.  Call it destination engagement, doing it like a local or simply going on tour in some interesting place; travelers are taking a more active role in designing an enriched travel history.

Your Enriched Travel History
Thinking Beyond The Itinerary

What if I told you it was possible to visit nearly anywhere a cruise ship goes, for free?  Would you be interested?  Well, say an upcoming cruise sails round-trip from somewhere in Florida and you live in the midwest.  How about adding pre- or post-cruise hotel stays?  You’re already there, brought to Florida by air anyway.  This is a way to enrich your travel history while minimizing the cost and taking full advantage of already being on location. While this is not an original idea, it is one travelers usually either think of and do on a regular basis or avoid altogether.

In a way, this is turning the tables on one of the key features of cruising we like best: value.  We commonly suggest verifying the value of a cruise by pricing an itinerary without the ship. Port by port, see what it would cost for comparable hotel rooms and dining.  Forget the casino, spa, entertainment and activities for now. I do this at some point for every cruise, just to keep track.  The comparison has never, ever come out in favor of land options for value.  Simply put: that amazing place you saw on your cruise will probably cost you a whole lot more to visit and linger a while.  All those times you said “I could live here”? Sure, but at what cost?

Top reasons to avoid the practice of coming in early or staying later include time available for travel and budget concerns, both of which can usually be addressed with enough forethought.  So let’s address that now as well.

Your Enriched Travel History
Making It Work For You

Very few travelers consider the notion of coming in early or staying later after a cruise for budgetary reasons.  For them, some tips increase the travel fund while not sending the kids to school with empty lunch boxes.

Regardless of how we plan and book travel, making a booking and paying a deposit is just the beginning of the process. There are many other ways to save money and stretch the travel budget after booking, most of which are not given a second thought by most travelers.

1. Keep Pricing On A Regular Basis- We’ll assume that no matter how you buy travel, you did a good job. Congratulations; you have the best deal possible.   More accurately:  Congratulations, you had the best deal that was possible on the day you booked.  The world of cruise sales was not notified that you booked and then just gave up promoting the idea of a cruise vacation.  Pick a day of the week and schedule time to check pricing on your cruise.  Once a week over 6 – 12 months should do it.  More often, obviously, is better.
2. Don’t Price Everything-  Taking advantage of all possible promotions, deals, offers and pricing programs was a good idea when looking for a cruise; trying to decide on the cruise line, ship, sailing date, etc. Now that you have locked in on a specific sailing, don’t start over.   Stick with your booked travel but look for better offers, new promotions or pricing trends that could bring you a lower price.   That said, forget about the price of the cruise from this point on in this article.
3. Immediately After Booking, Look At Onboard Options–  All You Can Drink Packages are popular but are a work in progress.  Keep an eye on pricing and do the math to see if you would come out ahead either because you drink a lot or because you simply don’t like to pay for everything all the time with your little cruise card. Along the same lines, Dining Packages offered by some cruise lines that bring a discount over pay-as-you-go.
4. Nice To Do Things On Ships Can Be Far Less On Land-  I can go to the corner shopping center by where we live and get a Pedicure and Manicure for $40.  On the ship, that combo is often twice as much and no better. Still, having one is part of our cruise rituals; things we do on a cruise.  Doing it on land though, we can prance about the pool deck with our attractive toes for quite a bit less $.   The same goes for most spa services. Best value in the spa:  A day pass to use their facilities.
5. Pre-Pay Gratuities And Mean It- Almost all major cruise lines offer this ability, mainly just to get it out of the way right up front.  Industry-wide, about 20% of all cruise travelers prepay gratuities and mean it; adding no more tips for the entire journey.   Others dole out more cash along the way for whatever reason; not necessary.
6. Walk On Your Own Bags- Not that a buck or two per bag to pierside porters is a lot, it’s not.  The huge gain from walking on and off the ship with your luggage is convenience.  After checking bags on a cruise that sailed round-trip Barbados, we arrived and our luggage did not.  When we finally got it, several shirts of mine were gone.  While the idea of some Barbadian sitting on the beach enjoying  my “<–I’m with stupid” t-shirt was disturbing, its not so much the monetary loss that hurts. That the thieve’s friends think he is hilarious while wearing MY shirt that is most painful.

 

Your Enriched Travel History
The Payoff

At this point one might ask “Ok, so I came in early, stayed later and generally thought of the big picture.  What did I gain?”.   Excellent question.  My reason behind the promotion of pre- and post-cruise hotel stays is simple. But before we wrap this up, the obvious reasons that really have nothing to do with this.

It’s not to enjoy a seamless experience by booking hotels, transfers and the cruise through the cruise line. That’s true but actually the easy way out of this. It’s a step in the right direction but has more to do with planning travel than getting something out of it.

It’s not to buy a more expensive stateroom than you might have otherwise.  That also could happen as a result of being aware of your cruise history; where you have been and where you want to go.  A bucket list will take care of that quite nicely and is well-defined.  For our purposes here, stateroom category or location is totally irrelevant.  In fact, from a local viewpoint, we are all ‘visitors from the ship’.

No, a positive effect on your travel history will take getting out on the street during those pre- and post-cruise hotel stays.  Viewing the city surrounding your secure hotel will not cut it.

The payoff:  a more realistic global worldview. Back home watching the news, you will be armed with the knowledge that people are people, no matter where they are.  When we get to the place that we realize we’re all on the planet for a limited amount of time, views change. Iconic landmarks and famous places, as much as they may drive us to travel, will probably outlast us. The bond we share with other humans on the planet is not nearly as strong as it should be. There is really no excuse for that.  Ships sail to all continents on the planet, safety and securely.  Nice to know but one of the most enduring parts of the deal is memories of the people we meet along the way.  Make more of those by seriously considering the enduring results of your enriched travel history and what you will do with that.