Prepare for Your Vacation

If you do not travel often, call your credit card company before leaving home. You don’t want them to become suspicious and put a protective hold on your card while you are trying to purchase souvenirs & gifts in foreign lands. Tell them where you will be and when so they know it is you doing the spending.

Make plenty of copies. Photocopy your IDs, passport & credit cards. Keep one set in your cabin safe and email scanned copies to yourself so that you can access at any time.

Purchase travel insurance.  You know even the best made plans don’t prevent unforeseen incidents from occurring.  Travel insurance covers what your medical insurance doesn’t when you cruise, or travel to a foreign country.

Call your medical insurance company before departing and find out exactly what is covered while you are away. More importantly, ask what documentation you would need to provide (from both the ship & port) for any reimbursements. Keep detailed notes for future reference if needed.

Don’t take an entire Caribbean guide book on a 7-day voyage. Photocopy only the pages that are relevant and then leave the bulk of the weight at home. Remember, most airlines are charging new fees for luggage, so reducing luggage weight is more important than ever.

Regardless of the class of cabin you book, it is always a possibility that there will be noise that might keep you awake at night. After all, you will be sleeping on board a massive, metal, floating mega-resort. You might hear wind, vibrations & rattling, loud neighbors, banging doors and possibly music from the disco. Ear plugs are a very useful item.  We usually only need one pair per person for the entire trip.

Purchase a pair of acupressure bands to help prevent sea sickness, and wear at least one at all times, even when the ship docks.  If you remove the band, you could forget to put it back on when the ship leaves, and you will not be able to eat for the rest of the evening.  I recall during our first cruise we went on an excursion on a glass-bottom boat and I did not take my band with me.  I barely missed embarrassment by adding pressure to my wrist, where the band would be.  Shower with one and then replace it with the dry band.  Wear it when you retire for the night, as sleeping doesn’t prevent seasickness.

Cruise ships operate on a cashless system, therefore, guests must use the form of identification, usually a card, given to them when they check in.  This device is for purchases, for entering your stateroom, and for identification when you disembark/embark at the ports of call.  You must take it with you everywhere you go, as you will be showing it for identification on and off the ship.  But you’ll certainly need some money for this trip, so be sure to get organized before you leave home and take as much money with you as you think you will spend. US Dollars are widely accepted almost everywhere in the Caribbean and Central America but beware of those hefty ATM fees both on board the ship and in foreign ports. 

Contact us today at Travel, Tours & Cruises to start planning your dream vacation.