Open the pod door, HAL: The Future of Mainstream Cruising Has Arrived

A couple of decades ago, Celebrity Cruises enterred the premium cruise niche previously owned by Holland America, which is to say they stressed fine dining and outstanding service as part of a moderately priced but elegant mainstream cruise ship experience.

Much like new Apple Computers, which Celebrity features prominently on its ships with the only Apple stores at sea, advanced training onboard for Macs and iPhones, and even iPad menus at their Qsine restaurant, Celebrity Cruises did not need to be "backward compatible" for the benefit of long-established customers.  While not having returning guests certainly may have been seen as a disadvantage, Celebrity could cater to baby boomers using a concept they now call Modern Luxury, using ships generally larger than Holland America.

Holland America, established in the early 1870's to provide "Trans Atlantic Steamship" service between Rotterdam and the New World, has over a century of returning customers who want to be comfortable with the gradual evolution of the line, but now HAL is aggressively re-establishing itself at the vanguard of cruising in the 21st Century marketplace.

Interestingly, Holland America has teamed with Microsoft, which has always strived to be backward compatible for computer users, bringing in Microsoft-trained Techsperts to conduct educational programs similar to those found in Celebrity's iLounge. 

To up the computer ante, Koningsdam will have much greater band width, allowing guests to add unlimited internet for only $60 per week or $15 per day.  For those who are happy to just check-in with social media like Facebook on sea days, there will be choices of $5 per day or $25 per week.

In many other ways, Holland America has made it clear in recent years they will no longer cede the baby boomer market to Celebrity, and their newest ship Koningsdam, set to arrive in early 2016, will of course embody all of their latest theories on Classic Elegance and Understated Beauty.



Some of Koningsdam's features have proven their popularity on other ships in the line within the last few years and will eventually be expanded to cover the fleet.

One highlight of expansion and improvement that I've been most excited about in recent years has been Holland America's entertainment. Through collaborations with B. B. King's Blues Club, Billboard Magazine, Lincoln Center and Dancing With the Stars, Holland America doesn't plan to play second fiddle to anyone.

By the way, if you're a dancer, did you know you can learn routines like those you love on "Dancing With the Stars" and then compete in an onboard version, partnered with professional dancers? Each year, the winners from each sailing will be enterred to win a free 7-night cruise on which they will compete in the grand finale at sea, with one champion from each ship attempting to win the DWTS crown.  Some special sailings feature the stars and celebrities from the TV series.

On Koningsdam, Holland America will introduce its new LED Theater Concept, World Stage.  In a nod to the past, I see traces of Anaheim's Melodyland Theater, where I saw my first concert (Tennessee Ernie Ford) with my parents. This state-of-the-art "theater-in-the-round," however, has a backdrop of a 270 degree LED screen that is two stories high and 250 feet long.  It will be dazzling and also allow for easier set changes, which translates into greater variety.  



By the way, it should be obvious by now, but cruise ships provide amazing opportunities for talented performers to ply their crafts, so when you cruise, you support the arts.

I want to stress that Holland America also wants to encourage families with children to take advantage of their large staterooms and terrific Club HAL children's program.  Like Celebrity, Holland America may be overlooked by families tempted by Royal Caribbean, Norwegian and Carnival, but surprisingly their prices are not more and frequently even less, especially with free or reduced third and fourth passenger rates on certain sailings.

Koningsdam will offer new Family Ocean View accomodations that hold up to five guests and have 1 3/4 baths.  Yes, there is a separate room with shower as well as the main one with bath tub.

Did you know almost all rooms on Holland America have bathtubs that also have shower heads?  That's very important for parents traveling with toddlers.  They do, but these special family quints will have separate separate shower and bath tub.

I've barely touched on HAL dining, but you can believe it is terrific, and in fact they have re-imagined every venue, including the Terrace Grill by the swimming pool, renamed Dive-In, with signature gourmet hamburgers grilled while you relax in your lounge chair until your beeper summons you to pick up.  And the spacious main dining room is more gorgeous than ever.

Are you tempted by Holland America? 

Better service leads to better trips!

 

Pick a Price OR Pick a Location

I recently received a request from a client to explain why Holland America had prices for Verandah rooms ranging from $1999 to $3299 for a 10-night, peak season Canada/New England voyage on the beautiful Eurodam.  While my reply is skewed towards his particular situation, I think the information will be of valuable as a general primer on the differences in room types.

As a general rule, different prices on balcony rooms have to do with location on the ship, with being more midship and higher considered generally preferable, although some other elements of location, such as being close to the spa or having special spa access and amenities (as in VT and VQ on Eurodam) also come into play.   

On some ships, certain balcony rooms are larger, as in the case of Royal Caribbean where D1 balcony are larger than E1 balcony rooms, but in that specific case it is indicated in the first category letter, making distinction easy.  In the case of Princess, on many of their ships there are balcony rooms on one particular deck where the balconies are about twice as large, but to make it even more confusing, there are other rooms on higher decks with the same designation (BA and BB) that have the normal sized balcony but more midship (in the case of BB) or higher (in the case of BA and BB locations, while Norwegian has larger rooms on some of their ships where they bulge fore and aft.  

Sometimes, essentially the same rooms have different services, as in the case of Celebrity where C1 rooms have concierge services and other special amenities in the room relative to regular balconies, and where Aqua Class balcony rooms have a special restaurant.  Sometimes,balconies have partial obstructions affecting their ranking, but even then they can have higher ranked rooms with obstructions.   

Handicap balcony rooms are larger for access purposes, but those are generally only available to people with disabilities unless assigned to complete sell-out of a voyage, and those are frequently categorized like others that are not handicap accessible.   

In the case of Holland America, it is mostly ship location that determines the price differences, although looking at the deck plan, it seems that there could be some slight variations on balcony size, such as between VD on Upper Promenade with larger balconies relative to VC on Verandah Deck.  

Being on the Upper Promenade Deck would be considered less preferable to Verandah Deck in general due to being lower.  Being right atop the main nighttime entertainment area of the ship could raise a red flag for some people.  An optioned in a Category VH, if you look at the deck plan, would be one of only four of that category, all located directly above the big theater for the production shows.  That could mean you would hear music despite excellent sound proofing on the ship.  It would obviously be better to have an extra deck or two between you and the sound.  However, because there are only four of those rooms and HAL is selling lots of those guarantees, most likely you will be upgraded to a different category at no charge.   

Upgrades are based on how many cruises you've taken with that cruise line, how much you paid and when you booked, plus basically how well it fits into what the cruise line wants to do with the ship. Unlike the small ships like those of Regent Seven Seas and Oceania, that are almost sold out as they frequently are a few months before the ship sails, a large ship such as Holland America Eurodam will have availability longer, and when the final payment date comes, there is the real possibility that some people will cancel and get their deposits back.  This will open up space that is a problem for HAL, and so they may offer "last minute deals," especially if air prices have zoomed up to make the total vacation price too expensive to sell at earlier rates.  Those who booked earlier and paid more, of course, will not be put in line behind these late comers, so they will be essentially pushed higher in the categories.  If the least desirable rooms are indeed filled, as they likely will be, they will be filled by the last ones to sit down in this game of musical chairs, which would be the last minute deal people or somebody being upgraded from an ocean view, unless for some reason somebody asked for a specific room, in which case they would get the room they wanted.

I personally believe on Holland America and Princess, it can be a good gamble to take the least expensive balcony and wait to see where you get upgraded, but it also can be a great idea to choose the exact location you like and grab that while you see it, even if you have to pay more for it.  If the price is reduced later on that category prior to final payment, I can usually re-price the room.  Something that happens very regularly on Holland America is that if they have extra rooms in the mini-suite type categories (SY, for example) after final payment, they ask if the passengers in lower rooms might be interested in paying an additional amount for an upgrade, leaving the total price still lower than it would have been had they booked it early.  This is kind of a secret sale that, as I said, I have seen very regularly.  Sometimes, staying flexible can really pay off big.  

By the way, the aft rooms overlooking the wake are frequently a little larger on many ships, but that is an acquired taste.  I have some customers who insist on those, but my own wife, upon being booked into one with me, said she would not want to be back there because of the inconvenience of being so far from midship, combined with concerns of how the ship would bounce if we hit heavy seas.  My client Ron, on the other hand, always gets aft rooms if they are available, paying whatever premium might be in play, simply because he loves cruising out of ports and watching the view from there across the ship/s wake.  

Holland America's Deck plan is easier to read than most, because they put the room category before the room number.  That way, you can look at the deck and see which rooms are which.  If, for example, you want a midship room on the verandah deck on the port side of the ship, you would want category VE.  That would give you a baffle of one extra deck between your room and the main nighttime entertainment area, easy access to the midship elevator and both ends of the ship, and a smooth ride through the ocean.  This would be a category worth upgrading to for the location, and it is the kind my wife likes best.  I'd also surmise it is the most likely category to have people locked into specific rooms, especially on the port side for this voyage, since many people prefer to be on the land side when starting on a northbound voyage, although certainly many people pay good money for an ocean front house that has no land in site across the waves.  

Going to higher decks put you into suites in that midship area on many ships, including Eurodam, which has two decks of midship suites.    

Category V on the Navigation Deck one deck above the mini-suites is considered preferable because it is again midship and also are slightly larger than the verandah rooms labeled by V followed by an other letter.  The Lido Deck, however, is immediately above, which is a concern for some people.  I personally am one of those people who is not bothered by distant noise, but some people explicitly refuse to be near elevators or busy areas.   

You know how sensitive you are to sound, ship movement, desire to be mid-ship, etc.  I can help you get exactly what is important to you, if you share that with me, and then you can decide how much it is actually worth to you.

Sometimes a better price may take precedence over the ideal location.  Holland America, like other cruise lines, has simply segmented its offerings to charge additional for what most people consider preferable.  

If you go with the least expensive balcony, you can play the upgrade game and hope to end up someplace better, which is likely, but probably give up the chance of being someplace great with a free upgrade.  You can pick your location, and know that you have a great spot for you trip, paying a little more for that convenience during the trip and peace of mind beginning immediately.  In either case, you may be offered the chance to upgrade to a mini-suite for a smaller premium than is currently available.

I hope that makes it clear.  Holland America tends to make the price spreads larger than on some other lines, and because each line seems to have laser-like focuses on their clientele, they undoubtedly have valid justification for their price differences. 

As you know, Holland America does a great job, and while they are large ships, they definitely feel less crowded than a line like Royal Caribbean, both due to the number of passengers booked and the activity patterns of their clientele.

Cadillac Cruising

"Aim for success not perfection... Remember that fear always lurks behind perfectionism. Confronting your fears and allowing yourself the right to be human can, paradoxically, make you a far happier and more productive person." --- Dr. David Burns

The cruise industry continues to morph into new shapes to better fit the future. Holland America regularly wins awards for "best cruise value" from its legions of satisfied customers, having carved out a comfortable niche as a "premium" cruise line somewhere between "mainstream" like Carnival and "luxury" like Regent Seven Seas. As highly satisfied customers aged, HAL's client base became centered on senior citizens, and as people with the money, time and inclination to travel in pampered style, that has proven to be a solid base for their white gloved excellence in cruising.

Cadillac, however, a car maker that traditionally has appealed to a similar demographic, now blasts Led Zeppelin in their commercials to attract buyers, and Holland America, while definitely not becoming the "heavy metal" cruise line, is re-positioning itself to appeal to the baby boomers while still serving their traditional base. The service, comfortable accommodations, elegant public areas and gourmet dining remains top notch, but as new, larger ships replace older ones in the fleet, and ten year-old ships, which like all Holland America ships are quality-built and always immaculately maintained, are retro-fitted to include features like teen clubs and cooking demonstrations stations, Holland America is upping the ante in a play for baby boomers.

Choosing a cruise line that's right for you is only one element in finding a cruise. There are the choices of the specific ship within the cruise line, the type and position of the stateroom, the itinerary, and the relative value among possibilities, to name but a few. I will always do my best to fit you with the best possibility for you, not simply because I want you to be happy, but because satisfied customers buy again and also refer their friends. Cruise lines understand this, and that is why they, NOT YOU, pay my commission out of their lowest available price. They don't want to be inundated with self-service shoppers who choose the wrong cruise for the wrong reasons, because those are the most difficult people to please, and they stir discontent among others who are ready to enjoy a great cruise.

Cruising Versus Cruising

Pat, Gloria and Wes about to head east in 1976.

As you may have noticed from recent articles, I enjoy a good road trip.

However, in terms of relaxation, a car can't compete with a cruise ship for a long voyage.

While anyone taking a drive may enjoy seeing the countryside, road warriors must contend with road construction projects, speed traps, accidents, rubber necking, driver errors (both your own and other) and inevitable disagreements with passengers squeezed into a cramped space together for hours upon hours.  "Are we there yet?"

Holland America Pool

By comparison, the longest distances traveled by cruise ship leave you free for dining, enjoying world class entertainment, sleeping, relaxing, ocean gazing and laughing with friends and family.  On a cruise, you pack and unpack only once, and you arrive at your ports relaxed and ready to explore.

I'm sure you get the idea without my connecting all the dots for you. 

What else could you ask for?



How about free beverages?  On all cruise ships, you enjoy free regular coffee, tea, lemonade and milk to accompany fantastic dining, but right now, if you book an ocean view or higher on select sailings, Holland America offers their Signature Beverage Package as part of their Explore 4 promotion, which also includes reduced rates for third and fourth guests, 50% off deposit and a free Pinnacle Grill Dinner.

Aruba

Imagine embarking a fabulous Panama Canal cruise on February 2, 2015, with sensational port days on the Caribbean side of Costa Rica at Puerto Limon, two Dutch West Indies ports of Aruba and Curacao, the beautiful private island of Half Moon Cay in the Bahamas, and exotic Cartagena, Columbia, with Verandah (with private balcony) rooms starting at only $1799.  Choose this Holland America Zuiderdam cruise, and you'll receive Explore 4 as your bonus.

Peterhof in St. Petersburg, Russia



Or choose a different 2015 Holland America cruise featuring Explore 4.

In fact, you can go about anywhere else in the world you can imagine by cruise ship.

Where in the world would you like to go?



Have Courage...and Buy Insurance

Yesterday my youngest daughter and I made Beef Bourguignon for dinner. Amy read the ingredient list to me over the phone while I walked through Ralph's collecting the necessary items.

Back home, we began peeling carrots, chopping onions, slicing mushrooms and browning stew-beef. 

By the time all the ingredients, including a bottle of Temecula Valley's own Callaway Merlot, had been prepared, combined in the pot and simmered, it took about three hours.

Neither Amy nor I had ever made this dish, but we had the courage of our convictions, and it turned out great. The risk was that we might create an inedible meal, wasting about $20 of ingredients. In any case, we would have fun cooking, and I was able to do my high voiced impersonation of Julia Child. When booking a vacation, the stakes are much higher. If you book the wrong trip for your family, you may not hear the end of it. You don't want to spend a miserable week away from home with unhappy family members. However, you have a friend in the travel industry who can help you avoid making the wrong decisions. That's me. If you share where you want to go and, more importantly, who you are and what you like in a vacation, we can deliver a wonderful trip and amazing memories for years to come.......

   

…....as long as nothing unexpected happens to ruin your plans. That's where travel insurance comes in. While I don't want to be pushy, the longer I have been selling travel, the more I have realized the value of insurance. As a disclaimer, let me state that I rarely buy travel insurance for my own family, but I understand exactly what the risks are. If I'm not able to go for any reason, I lose the money I paid for my trip. If I get sick on the trip, I have to pay the bills and then fight my insurance company for payment. If I lose my luggage...well, I simply don't give my luggage to anyone, carrying only one small suitcase no matter how far I go or for how long. If you don't have insurance, then there's frequently nothing that can be done if something bad happens that forces you to change your plans. A few months back, you may remember the volcano erupting in Iceland that basically shut down air travel in and out of Western Europe. One of my clients who lives in Hawaii called a month before her cruise to ask what could be done. She hadn't purchased insurance, but she wanted Princess to allow her to move to a different itinerary. She reasoned that it wouldn't cost Princess anything to move her, since they would still keep the amount she paid for the cruise and probably even make a little more on the other cruise. As I explained, the cruise industry has built a high reputation for customer satisfaction and providing excellent value by adhering to their business model, and part of that is charging cancellation penalties beginning about 75 days before a cruise embarks to ensure that almost everyone who books goes on the trip. I counseled her to wait it out, because a lot can happen in a month, and sure enough, by the time her Scandinavia/Russia cruise came, she had no trouble getting to or from Copenhagen, Star Princess' home port for summer. However, it could have turned out differently. The point is, none of us knows what potential problems the future may bring, whether it is based on weather, health, airline difficulties or other factors. However, we can bring that risk to a tolerable level by adding travel insurance for a small fee.

   

One of the easiest ways to add insurance is with the cruise line. Almost every cruise line has a unique policy, even if they are under the same corporate umbrella, like Carnival's World's Leading Cruise Lines, where Carnival, Princess and Holland America have radically different policies geared to their unique clientèle. To make a long story short, let me just say that cruise line insurance in general has become far more competitive in the last few years, with Royal Caribbean and Celebrity supplementing the standard 100% cancellation refund for serious health problems or death in the family with some independent air coverage and 75% future cruise credit for “any reason” cancellation. Royal Caribbean, Celebrity and Carnival charge based on brackets of cruise prices, whereas Princess and Holland America charge percentages of the trip cost. It's complicated, but when it comes time to add insurance, I'm happy to explain it and forward information specific to that line. All have two things in common. You must purchase the insurance before final payment, and pre-existing medical conditions are not covered by the 100% cancellation coverage. By pre-existing conditions, that doesn't mean that you can never have been sick. It means generally that no change in your medical condition has occurred in the past few months. If you had a heart attack two years ago and been on the same medication since, then that generally wouldn't be considered a pre-existing condition that would be excluded, but if a month ago your doctor decided to change your medication because your condition had deteriorated, then it would. For that reason, many people with health problems prefer Access America insurance. Access America is a third party insurer, and they have the best coverage there is. However, their policies are based on age as well as trip cost, with percentages increasing with age, much like life insurance. For younger people, Access America is actually less. 

By the way, in the twelve year interim since writing this blog initially --- I editing this blog on April 1, 2022 --- several things have changed, including the fact that as a senior citizen I now always buy travel insurance to cover medical while out of the country, and Access America is now called Allianz, but the basics remain true.  I had to change the insurance company video at the top and am inserting a Jimmy Buffett video here, because I must have had a different expired video in this long block of uninterrupted text text.  

Anyway, you get $1 million emergency medical evacuation, for example, compared to $10,000 to $50,000 on cruise line policies. If you buy Access America insurance on or before the official final payment date for your vacation, then your pre-existing conditions are covered too, with the caveat that you must be healthy enough to have a reasonable expectation of making the trip at the time you make the booking. While this policy can get more expensive for older travelers, making the cruise line policies relatively inexpensive, if they seniors have serious pre-existing conditions, this may be a better choice. The “cancel for any reason” clause of many cruise lines has eroded this advantage to some extent. The most obvious time to buy insurance is at the time of booking, so that you are covered immediately and don't forget to add it later. What if you book Access America insurance but cancel your trip before cancellation penalties come into play? Your policy is good for 770 days from the day of purchase. As such, you can apply it to a different trip. Access America has an option called the Biz Pack, which covers work-related reasons for cancellation, but that must be purchased within 14 days of trip deposit to be valid. The second time to think about insurance is with final payment. With Access America, this is your last chance to get full coverage, and it is your last chance to buy the cruise line travel protection. Don't forget to ask about insurance, if you don't already have it at this point. However, if you get to the day before your cruise and decide you really would like to be covered for trip interruption, lost baggage and 100% of all your emergency medical and dental requirements (up to the policy limit), you can still buy Access America insurance. One other note, Access America also offers a “Cancel Anytime” policy, with 80% cash refund for non-covered reasons, but the amounts of coverage are smaller (i.e., trip interruption only covered to 100% of trip purchase price versus 150% for the standard policy), and it isn't available after final payment for obvious reasons. I have just touched the surface of travel insurance, and I've still probably bored you, but remember you shouldn't be afraid to pursue your dreams. Just invest a little to insure yourself against the worst.

 

Cha Cha Cha Changes on the Mexican Riviera!

For Californians, the most convenient cruises usually visit Mexico. We will have three great ships to enjoy all summer long in 2008!

Carnival Pride continues her year-round presence visiting the traditional Mexican Riviera itinerary of Cabo San Lucas, Puerto Vallarta and Mazatlan on seven night cruises roundtrip from Long Beach. Royal Caribbean Vision of the Seas will carry on her similar itinerary from San Pedro rather than reposition to Alaska this year, and that is great news. A third ship, Disney Magic, will also follow a similar itinerary this summer. For families with young children, no other cruise line can measure up to Disney, but strong demand will keep prices considerably above the competition. Availability on Disney Magic is already scarce for summer.

Three and four night trips on Carnival Paradise and Royal Caribbean Monarch of the Seas will continue through the summer. Paradise cruises from Long Beach to Ensenada on the Friday evening departures and to Ensenada plus Catalina for the four nighters that embark on Mondays. Monarch's San Pedro departures on the same days are similar, but the four nighter also adds the wonderful port of San Diego to the mix. Royal Caribbean recently announced transferring Monarch's sister, Sovereign of the Seas, to another line, and Monarch will cruise from Los Angeles through the Panama Canal in October, eventually taking over the Bahamas itineraries vacated by Sovereign. What does this mean? Starting in October and for the foreseeable future, we will go back to having only one ship doing the three and four nighters from the L.A. area, possibly skewing prices a little higher.

Carnival Elation will continue her four and five night cruises to Cabo San Lucas from San Diego. The five night itineraries add Ensenada as a second port, and on October 31, there is a special Halloween cruise that adds the seldom visited port of La Paz to a six night itinerary. This ship is a great alternative to the usual short cruises to Mexico, because Cabo is truly one of the best ports on the Mexican Riviera.

More changes are afoot for next season, as Norwegian Star drops the eight night cruises that got as far south as Acapulco in favor of a traditional seven night Mexican Riviera when she returns from Alaska next fall. Carnival Spirit will stay with her eight night itinerary when she returns from Alaska, visiting the unique itinerary of Acapulco, Zihuatenejo and Manzanillo.

Even longer itineraries will be offered by Holland America after summer. Ten day Sea of Cortez itineraries from San Diego on Ryndam bring such exotic ports as Loreto, Guaymas, Topolobampo and Pichilinque, spiced with more traditional Mexican Riviera ports. A special fourteen night holiday cruise embarking December 21 brings you the Best of the Mexican Riviera, visiting Manzanillo, Acapulco, Huatulco, Puerto Chiapas, Zihuatanejo, Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlan, Loreto and Cabo San Lucas. The beautiful Holland America Oosterdam returns in the fall to San Diego for seven night traditional Mexican Riviera cruises.

Of course, from Los Angeles, the line that made cruising the Mexican Riviera popular with "The Love Boat" television show returns, this time with Sapphire Princess from San Pedro. Star Princess will cruise ten night voyages from the San Francisco, visiting Acapulco, Puerto Vallarta, Zihuatenejo and Cabo San Lucas. Sound kind of familiar? It's essentially the itinerary vacated by Norwegian Star, except this time it starts considerably further north, adding an extra two nights of cruising to make the roundtrip possible from the Golden Gate. Act quick if you want this San Francisco departure, as Star Princess will only be doing this trip a handful of times before she repositions down to South America in mid-November.

Believe it or not, there's still more BIG news. Carnival will replace Pride with the brand new Carnival Splendor in March. Splendor will make her debut this summer in Europe, and then cruise transaltantic and then around South America's horn on her way to her new home in Long Beach. By the way, the itineraries before Splendor arrives to the Mexican Riviera are all spectacular and highly recommended.

Not to be outdone, Royal Caribbean will bring one of her magnificent giants, Mariner of the Seas, to the West Coast to replace Vision of the Seas. Almost twice as large as Vision of the Seas, this 138,000 ton ship redefines cruising. You expect the rock-climbing wall, but can you imagine ice skating on a cruise ship? Prepare for your jaw to drop when you walk her Royal Promenade, unlike anything else in the cruise world.

If you're looking for a convenient vacation from California, you can't beat a Mexican Riviera cruise. People come from all over the world to visit these ports, and the quality of cruise ships in California has never been better. Call Wes today at 866-554-5553 to book!

Planning Your Alaska Cruise Tour for 2019

Several cruise lines add land tours to north and south bound Alaska cruises, but Princess has more possibilities than anyone but Holland America, so I am going to use Princess specifics to address the general issue of cruise tours.

Before getting into the tours, we first should consider what you gain by paying more to go in the heart of the season starting the last week in June through the end of July.

You undoubtedly have longer days. That's a simple scientific fact that we've all recognized since we were told to come in from playing when the street lights came on.

It usually is warmer and sunnier when summer officially starts and going through July, but any given week can be the exception.

If you live in a place that gets hot in the summer (and that's most of us), the idea of it being cooler, however, isn't necessarily a bad thing.

In Alaska, cooler in August could easily be in the 50s and warm days in July rarely get above the lows 70s. You're looking more 60s as a general rule, and dressing in layers is always recommended for changing conditions.

Any given week can be unseasonably warm or cool. Once again, that's something we all know, although in California it does seem to take us by surprise when the weather changes appreciably from one day to the next, and of course rain is almost unheard of.

Not so in Alaska. It could rain at any time.

In Ketchikan, I read once that if you can't see the distant mountain peak, then it is raining, and if you can see it, that means it is going to rain. We didn't actually have rain when I was there, but I tend to be pretty lucky with weather when I travel, with the only exception having been an hour in Nassau when it suddenly became like a hurricane after we had snorkeled, forcing us to actually get a taxi rather than walking back to the ferry, but I digress.

When I was cruising Alaska in July a few years ago, it was beautiful, but I heard that the week before they had rain. My sister-in-law is on a Celebrity Alaska cruise as I write this, and based on her photos, it has been on the cool if not cold side.  Among her photos was an incredible shot of bears coming to the pond where they were fishing.

On the other hand, some friends cruised Alaska in early May, which is usually cooler than August because Alaska is still defrosting from winter, and they reported every day was sunny.

It is always a bit of a gamble, but July is the best bet for the sunniest weather. The pricing difference between the weeks will be similar to what you would see in the brochures, subject to what is actually available on any given ship.  As I mentioned, I am going to use Princess specifics as examples.

The Princess brochure for Alaska linked here has lots of cruise tours in it beginning on page 22.  These tend to be templates for those of most other cruise lines (except Holland America, which has some very unusual Yukon tours), with the exception that only Princess has Direct-to-the-Wilderness rail available between the cruise ship port in Whittier to Denali National Park and also has its own wilderness lodges, including two in Denali.

Regarding ships, Island and Coral Princess are narrower ships with fewer interior rooms, making them tend to feel less crowded, because people with interior rooms are most likely to spend more of their free time in public spaces.

Royal Princess is the largest, newest Princess ship in Alaska, and because it doesn't have ocean view rooms, entry level balconies with views partially obstructed by lifeboats ---basically, you may see the top or bottom of a lifeboat from your balcony --- may be lower than entry level balconies on other Princes ships, even though the ship itself often costs a bit more.  The other ships are more the standard Princess offering, and for the most part, going on any of them feels pretty similar if you've been on Princess previously, with the true exception being their small ship, Pacific Princess, which will not be in Alaska in 2019.  As a general rule, the newest ships cost more per day.

Below are some key items that differentiate Princess cruise tours from each other, and you can apply the basic principles to cruise tours on other lines. 

1. Perhaps most important is the question of which places you want to see in Alaska's interior. You will get at least one night in Denali. Princess has two lodges in Denali that show you different parts of Denali, but you still barely scratch the surface of its 6 million-plus acres.

I like tours that include both (and you can do something similar with other lines like Royal Caribbean), because you can then go for hikes to see what you can see in two different areas whether or not you take an excursion.  The ride between these wilderness lodges is really sort of like an excurison in its own right.

The question of Fairbanks or Anchorage is the one most people focus on.

Fairbanks is a rustic gold rush town. Some excursions include panning for gold and a paddle wheel river boat ride, but you would need a full day there, not just an overnight stay.  Princess does not own the hotel in Fairbanks, and I don't receive nearly the same positive feedback I receive for their own wilderness lodges.

Anchorage is a beautiful, modern city in its own right, and there is a lot of gorgeous countryside just outside of city limits.

I have really simplified the choices for the purposes of this presentation, but these are the ones most people choose for their first cruise tour.  Many people love this vacation so much that they think about doing it again to visit other places like Copper River, although you certainly can choose one of those more off the beaten path itineraries the first time, if you like.

2. What exactly is included can be a major factor. The easiest way to get a lower price other than choosing a lower-demand month is to choose a cruise tour with fewer inclusions, like Princess Cruise Tours that end in X.

Sometimes, "On Your Own" AAX costs hundreds less than "Denali Explorer" AA3, with the differences being that instead of Direct to the Wilderness rail all the way to Denali at the beginning of the tour --- which truly is quite an awesome way to start a cruise tour --- you have a shorter rail trip from Talkeetna to Anchorage after your stay in Denali.  Also, AAX wouldn't have the natural history tour that is included in AA3, although you may add that separately as an excursion for an extra fee.

"Off the Beaten Path" tours take you to some less visited places like Copper River, tend to be longer (though not always) and inevitably cost more. Other than Holland America, these out of the way places are not the norm for most cruise lines. 

The Cadillac approach --- should that be Tesla these days? --- is "Connoisseur Escorted," which includes more pampering, including most meals, and of course is the most expensive.

3. Basically, it often comes down to when you book and what happens to be available in live inventory. The earlier you book, the greater your probability of having every possibility on the table. 

Alaska cruise tours are extremely popular with seasoned travelers, so guests book early to choose the best rooms.

It may be that based on brochure rates, one cruise on July 24 seems to cost less than the one on July17, but when we get down to the nitty gritty of actually choosing rooms, the least expensive categories may not be available on what is theoretically the lower priced date, making the higher priced date more competitive if not less expensive, depending on the exact room selected.

For Alaska in particular, port or starboard side of the ship seems to matter quite a bit to passengers, most of whom wish to be on the land side of the ship, so either starboard on north bound cruises or port side going south.  The ocean is a pretty nice view in itself, and that could be the side of the ship the whales decide to play on, but it is a fact that the land side of the ship sells out first, and staying on that side of the ship could end up costing more due to meta-category availability.

When it is time to book your Alaska cruise tour, you may have a wide selection of cruise lines, and I'm not trying to force you into Princess as a one-size-fits-all solution.  Princess does a great job, but primarily I use them as an example because of the variety of their offerings and the fact that they simply have more cruise tours than almost anyone else.  Most people, in my experience, will choose 10 or 11 nights with either Anchorage or Fairbanks as one of the bookends for their first Alaska cruise tour.

Maui: September, 2005

Before getting to Maui, I really need to address the most annoying facet of Norwegian Cruise Lines. Let me preface my remarks by saying that I have many clients that return from cruises aboard newer NCL ships like Star, Dawn, Spirit and Pride of America with high praise for the entire cruise experience. Based on my recommendations, most of these clients go in staterooms with private balconies, taking advantage of the newest ship designs which include more balconies that in turn leads to a lower price differential between ocean view and balcony categories. On my recent cruise aboard Pride of America, I heard a few people complaining that their rooms were small. Norwegian's standard rooms are a bit small, especially compared to Holland America, Carnival and Celebrity, but Balcony rooms often cost less on newer NCL ships compared to other cruise ships. Here is what people who choose to take the cheaper route must understand: NCL offers very low lead rates, and the standard interior and ocean view rooms can be super-bargains. BUT, once on board, DON'T FORGET your original reason for choosing an inexpensive room. You probably told yourself you would never be in the room anyway, and that is perfectly legitimate for some people. Or perhaps you could not afford to spend more. If you booked a family of four into the cheapest interior room available, taking advantage of miniscule third and fourth rates, then you need to get a grip on reality before complaining about the fact that NCL accommodated your thriftiness by giving you the opportunity to cruise on a limited budget.

If you could have spent more on your room and regret your decision once on board, make a note to yourself to never repeat that mistake and then make the best of your trip. Oh, and by the way, Freestyle Dining means you won't have the same waiter every night. If that is essential to you, then book on Celebrity or almost any other cruise line. Don't whine to fellow passengers about YOUR CHOICES. It dampens the buzz for the rest of us. In short, my pet peeve on NCL or any cruise is that some ill-informed people try to ruin the trip for the rest of us. Okay, I'm off my soap box.

Pride of America gives passengers two full days in Maui with an overnight on the ship. This allows passengers to take advantage of many great shore excursions from a luau at Kaanapali Beach to downhill bicycling from the top of Mount Haleakala to snorkeling at Molokini. Julie and I chose to simply rent a car again, this time for two days. Free overnight parking is available near the ship. Maui has wonderful places to explore by auto, and like the rest of Hawaii, you can come back repeatedly and still be ready to return soon.

This time, we mainly used the car to take us to our Maui favorite, Kaanapali Beach, with an occasional deviation to places like Wailea and Lahaina. Whaler's Village provides three hours of free parking at Kaanapali with a minimum purchase, so both days we enjoyed a delicious Kapulu Joe sandwich at the Hula Grill's Barefoot Bar. A purchase at the ABC store took care of another three hours of parking.

What can you do with your time on Kaanapali? Our favorite activity is snorkeling at Black Rock by the Sheraton. The water is warm and clear. Diverse, colorful fish seem to enjoy the conditions as much as the humans, so they're plentiful. Lounging in the sand between dives allows time to read a good book or simply enjoy the beautiful views.

A short drive away, funky Lahaina lures visitors to its stores and restaurants, including Cheeseburger in Paradise. On our visit this year, the guitarist singing Jimmy Buffett covers was nowhere to be seen, so it was more of an overpriced hamburger in a tourist trap. The beautiful views from the Hula Grill on Kaanapali make it definitely a better choice for meals or drinks, but you've got to go to Cheeseburger in Paradise at least once.

If you've never been to Maui, then the Road to Hana can be a wonderful driving trip, but allow an entire day. The waterfalls and lush foliage hugging the windy road are beautiful, as are the stops at sacred pools and the black sand beach, but rushing can result in getting car sick. Just ask my nephew, Jered. Cleaning a rental car is no way to spend vacation time.

Back on the ship, we experienced the only "formal" night on the cruise, and only about half of the people dressed for the occasion. You definitely won't feel out of place staying casual on this cruise. Most of the casual diners chose to go to the buffet rather than the dining rooms, and the quality of the buffet on Pride of America makes this a solid choice any time. People who came to the dining room in less than semi-formal attire were welcome there, too.

Are you ready for a simple-to-plan vacation in a casual environment? Would you like to enjoy the best of four Hawaiian Islands while unpacking only once? Call toll free 310-546-9618 to book your next great vacation.

Romancing the Stone?

With the world's focus recently on the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, have you been considering a trip to beautiful, exotic South America?

It is an incredibly diverse region, with sunny beaches, historic cities, penguins, pastoral wineries and craggy mountains easily accessible on the same cruise itinerary around the horn.

With excursions, there's mysterious Machu Picchu, magnificent Iguazu Falls and the wild Amazon.

This season, Norwegian Sun adds some very affordable entry-level pricing for families to the region and also has large suites rich with amenities.

Celebrity always offers fantastic large ships wherever they sail, which includes not only large ship cruises but mega-yacht Galapagos Xpeditions.

Princess seems like they're everywhere you want to go at exactly the right time, bringing you stories of the region on board. Holland America, MSC and Costa will all have large ships in South America, and for those ready to splurge, there are more-inclusive lines like Oceania, Seabourn and Regent Seven Seas with almost everything included in the price.

Unlike Joan Wilder in "Romancing the Stone," you won't be on your own in an exotic foreign land challenged by language and customs.

You will meet dozens of new friends on your cruise or in your tour group, but perhaps when you mention this trip to relatives, you'll discover it's a dream destination for them too.

Just in case the name misleads you, please know that Cruise Planners also has wonderful land tours to fascinating destinations including South America.

Live your dreams!

Is Your Someday Here?

If you remember 1965 as clearly as I do, then you have most likely lived more years than you have left.

I'm hopeful of living to be 125 years old in this incarnation, but any insurance company would be happy to take that bet.

Despite knowing this intellectually, many of us continue to act as if we will never make our transition to the next level of reality or, for atheists, non-existence.

If you're in your twenties or thirties, saying you'll go to Europe or Australia "someday" is logical.

 

You probably need to focus on building your career, buying a home and raising a family.  I remember those days quite well, and I had a lot of fun taking my family for weekend campouts.

 

A cruise to Mexico or the Caribbean might be more within your immediate grasp, and they're certainly fantastic trips that can be enjoyed repeatedly.

 

And by the way, if you prefer returning to your favorite places or enjoying the comforts of your home town, there is absolutely nothing wrong with that, so long as that is your choice, not simply lethargy.

However, once you're looking back fifty years and remembering 1965 like it was yesterday (or scarier still, not remembering many details other than assuming you must have been there based on your date of birth), you need to realize that "someday" has arrived.  The question is, what are you going to do now that you're here?

You should be like my friend Logan, a retired professor who started booking with me after his first wife passed away. 

He had raised his family and also traveled extensively.  After his wife passed away, he eventually decided to venture out again into the world.  I'm blessed that he chose to work with me in his later years.  He has been booking a cruise or vacation package every year since we met.

On the first cruise he booked with me, a European cruise on Holland America, he met a woman named Mary, whom he soon married and took on a honeymoon cruise on Holland America the next summer.

He often takes Mary, a retired school teacher who didn't travel much during her working years, to special places he enjoyed visiting decades earlier, including Japan for cherry blossom time and New England for the changing of the leaves.

He found great happiness in taking Mary's sister, an octogenarian who had always dreamed of going to Hawaii, with them on a Princess Hawaiian Islands cruise roundtiip from Los Angeles. 


On his European cruises, he frequently revisits old favorites but also enjoys new ports.

Almost exactly one year ago, Logan booked a river cruise for September of 2015 for he and Mary, both now in their nineties, so that they had time to save the money to go comfortably.

Living your dreams doesn't mean wiping out your retirement account on a whim, but rather planning your life and budget to include travel to places you've always wanted to go or to share favorite places with loved ones. 

Maybe you need to remember 1965, and recapture those dreams of youth.  If you don't live the life of your dreams, who will?

Find out how affordable living your dreams can be at www.CruisePlanners1.com.

The Real Holland in Zaanse Schans

On a bright, sunny day, contented cows graze in the lush green countryside.

Canals that crisscross the acreage act as fences while enhancing the bucolic beauty.

Beside the fields is a reflective blue lake, and bordering that lake, huge wooden windmill blades reap nature's power to grind mustard seed and grains, saw wood and ingeniously make other necessities inside the attached wooden barns, which in fact are cutting edge 17th Century factories in what is the largest and most advanced manufacturing region in the world of that era.

A gorgeous woman with braided blonde locks cranks the handle on a wishing well, and a bucket emerges with fresh water overlapping the rim.  She takes a long-handled dipper off a bent nail hook and scoops out a cup of fresh, sweet water.

She holds it forth with an inviting smile. 

I drink it all in.

Amsterdam of the 21st Century contrasted sharply from my adolescent imaginings of Holland, but that fantasy/reality still exists in Zaanse Schans,  just a short drive or long bike ride away from the city center. 

Okay, there wasn't a comely milk maid in traditional Dutch clothes offering me a dipper of water, but if you have ever drank well water on a sunny day in the countryside, you know how refreshing and truly quenching that can be, so permit me to fantasize a bit.  The bottle of water offered by my gorgeous wife Julie proved to be a reasonable facsimile.

There were over 600 windmills by these pasturelands at one time, but now there are considerably fewer.  Realistically, major projects like ship building along with so many factories would not have been as tranquil as this scenic tourist village is today, despite their wind-generated power.

The crankshaft, invented and patented in 1593 by Cornelis Corneliszoon van Uitgeest, made Holland's manufacturing prowess possible and has been re-imagined for many purposes since then, including automotive drive shafts. 

Cornelis died just 7 years after receiving his patent and so did not see the many applications of his engineering genius.  To be clear,  he did not invent the first windmill, and other patents had been granted previously for alternative uses of wind power like dredging polders.  His invention used power generated by windmills to go beyond simply rotating in the same manner and direction as the wind blades.

In 1594, Cornelis built his first saw mill utilizing his breakthrough brainchild on a floating raft.  The crankshaft converted the rotation of the windmill blade to a back and forth movement for sawing wood.  It made conversion from raw timber logs into planks thirty times faster.

Rapid production of planks naturally spurred manufacture of products using planks, including houses and commercial buildings.  Ships were natural products for the age of exploration, and with the big city of Amsterdam nearby and great water access, Zaanse Schans became the top ship-building region in Europe, essentially launching the Dutch Golden Age in the 17th Century.

At its peak, 26 shipyards churned out up to 150 ships each year in what is now a quiet pastoral region.

The crankshaft turned Zaanse Schans into the world's first industrial center.

Above, I mentioned "dredging ponders," which probably made you ponder, "What's a ponder?" 

Briefly, ponders are tillable farm lands and even entire regions created from swamps or large bodies of water, like the Zuiderzee, by dredging the water out.  Later in our day trip, we would visit Maarken, located on a peninsula that was formerly an island in the Zuiderzee but now connected by ponder.

Our visit to Zaanse Schans included the tour of a working wind-powerded mill, where the owner demonstrated his methods in a humorous way, explaining that the white powder being ground was not cocaine but an ingredient for paint.

Strolling through the village, we visited a dairy selling delicious cheese and a working mustard factory, where I bought a jar of mustard to bring home which subsequently forced us to check our bags to avoid being branded terrorists. 

By the way, you may be wondering what the relationship is between the Netherlands and Holland, which as school children and beyond most of us believed to be essentially synonymous. 

The Netherlands encompasses several provinces.  The provinces North Holland and South Holland house the country's largest cities, including The Hague, Rotterdam and Amsterdam.  During the Dutch Golden Age, when the Netherlands' power and influence as the world's richest country peaked, North and South together were known simply as Holland. 

While that wasn't actually the entirety of the Netherlands back then either, that's how the country became known, probably because people used that shorthand the same way we might say we're from California without bothering to mention "in the United States of America."

The Kingdom of the Netherlands today includes Aruba and the Dutch Antilles, but in the 17th Century, the Netherlands empire included colonies scattered around the world.

Why are their citizens known to most of the world as Dutch rather than Netherlanders or Hollanders?  "Dutch" originated from the name of their language,  Deutsch, or actually a local dialect of the Germanic language family formerly known as "low Deutsch" and now called Dutch.

"High Deutsch," or Alemanic, is what we now call German, whereas the Germans call that language Deutsch.

Calling Netherlanders "Dutch" is equivalent to calling all Brits "English," although I guess more to the point it would be like calling Americans "English," since that is what we still call our morphed form of the language spoken in Dublin and Edinburgh as well as London and Liverpool.

A couple of days before touring at Zaanze Schans, while still cruising toward the Netherlands aboard the River Queen, a speaker showed the video embedded below, which does a much better job explaining all of this and more in a very amusing way: