Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Know The Ins And Outs Of A Cruise Vacation, Part 2, What To Do On Board

In my previous article I talked about what items you need to consider, to get yourself on a cruise. We covered everything from picking the destination, to choosing the cruise line, and everything in between. In this session I want to talk about what to do on board to maximize your enjoyment. Due to the fact that there are so many things to do while on a cruise ship I am going to break this segment out over multiple articles. There just isn`t enough room in one session to talk about it all.

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As I mentioned before I have been on nearly a half dozen different cruises, so I have a pretty good amount of experience when it comes to talking about this subject. Although, I have met couples who have been on over 20 cruises and one couple who have been on nearly 30! Now that is a lot of sailing.

The first thing that comes to mind when you say what is there to do and almost everyone will invariably say eat. Yes that is true, on most cruises (not all however), you can eat outside of your room, 24 hours a day for the entire trip. I want to go beyond eating, as, although I do enjoy the wide variety of food offered, there is so much more you can do.

Are you into fitness, do you like to take that morning run, walk or hit some weights? Not to worry all cruises ships (at least the 5 different ones I have been on) all have state of the art workout facilities. You name it, they have it. Now most ships offer the use of these facilities for free, I understand, however that there are some cruise lines that make you pay additional. If using the fitness center is on your "to-do" list, check with your cruise line to see if it is additional. The last thing you want on your vacation is to be surprised with hidden fees.

So you are crazy over artwork. Maybe you don`t know your Van Go from your Rembrandt`s, but you do enjoy looking at different paintings and their abstracts. Again, you can relax. Cruise ships are always having daily art auctions. Some even offer complimentary wine or champagne with cheese and crackers to add to the ambiance. The best part, you don`t even have to buy if there is nothing you see that fits what you are looking for. You can just sit back and partake in the event by watching it unfold around you. I am not much into artwork, but even the one auction I attended was fun to be a part of.

Let me first start off by saying I am by no means a wine connoisseur, but my wife is very knowledgeable about the subject, more on that in a second. On every cruise ship I have been on they usually have one or two (depending on the length of the cruise), wine tasting classes. In these classes, you will learn everything from how to choose the right wine for dinner, to swirling the wine and why that is important and of course what to look for when you taste it. These classes are done very well, and the one`s I have attended were lead by some of the most intelligent wine enthusiasts around the world.

So you are probably wondering why a person with no real urge in regards to wine, attended a wine tasting class when there are so many other things to do. The answer is simple. I mentioned just a moment ago how my wife is really into the subject of wine, where and how they are made, etc., well she `drug` me along, and now I have to say , that although, I still do not drink a lot of wine, this class was fun to be at, and very educational. I would highly recommend it.

As you can see just talking about these three items alone has taken a lot to cover. In my next article, I want to go over dining at some of the board private restaurants, using the pools, saunas and Jacuzzis, and of course the ultimate relaxing, getting an on-board massage.

By: Bruce A. Tucker

About the Author:
Bruce A. Tucker is the Associate Director of http://www.Indocquent.com, an online resource that allows travel agents, cruise lines, and vacation desitnation businesses to post their products and services for sale and in 20,000 cities throughout 200 countries around the world.


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