The Truth About Cruises!

Geography of cruises

You can see the prices and rating of cruises on the website cruisecritic .

More recently, it was believed that sea cruises are a boring, measured vacation for very wealthy elderly people. Recently, significant changes have taken place in the cruise industry: cruisers have become “younger”, and the trips themselves have become more interesting and variable in price. Sea and ocean cruises are now considered one of the most promising sectors of the global tourism business. This segment of the international travel industry is developing most dynamically, and the demand for the services of cruise companies is growing faster than for all other tourism products. According to statistics, the majority of cruise sales (77%) are from residents of the US and Canada.

    The whole truth about sea travel Tourists who have been on a cruise, as a rule, are divided into devoted fans of this type of vacation and those who, after the first trip, decide that they will never go on such a trip again. Indeed, sea cruises have both their advantages and disadvantages.

    Among their indisputable advantages is the opportunity to visit several countries at once in one trip. The versatility of the holiday and the variety of experiences that the cruise promises become very attractive factors. Of course, staying in the cities during the cruise is short (usually the liner stays in the port during daylight hours), but even during this time you can see the main attractions. Finally, some tourists like the frequent change of impressions.The second advantage of cruises is respectability and exceptional comfort of rest. Cruise service is very different from hotel service. Perfect cleanliness and “marine” order reign on the liners: cabins are cleaned twice a day, and linen is changed every day. Hence an important feature - the class of cruise liners is always higher than hotels with the same number of stars. That is, four stars in the sea roughly correspond to five stars on earth. 

    What are the disadvantages of cruising? Its main disadvantage is that a tourist sees the sea or ocean every day, but cannot swim in it. The problem is partly solved by the presence of pools with sea water on the liner. To fully enjoy your vacation, travel agencies recommend combining a trip on a liner with a beach holiday in the country from which the cruise starts or ends (usually Spain, Italy, Malta).

    If you buy a long cruise for 2-3 weeks, it is better to ask in advance where in the cities through which the route passes, there are city beaches and how to get to them.Difficulties during the cruise may arise due to tourists' lack of knowledge of a foreign language.

floating hotel 

    Tourists who decide to go on a cruise for the first time are primarily interested in the features of the trip itself: what is a liner, what entertainment is available on it? A cruise ship can be compared to a floating hotel. The ship has a traditional hotel infrastructure. The only difference is that the buildings of an ordinary hotel are scattered around the territory, and on the liner all the rooms are compactly distributed over the decks. 

Every cruise ship has a lot to offer. Most ships have mini-golf courses, basketball and volleyball courts, sports and dance clubs, gyms, several swimming pools, spa centers, jacuzzis. At your service there are children's clubs, libraries, theaters and cinemas, duty-free shops, restaurants and bars. Nightlife on the cruise is also very diverse: captain's receptions, gala dinners, discos, casinos, European and Broadway shows. 

    Many people worry that they may feel like a closed space on a ship. But believe me, this is an illusion. The liner is so huge that during the trip you won’t even have time to get around it! 

Since the ship is a floating hotel, a certain number of stars corresponds to it. “There is no written instruction on assigning stars to cruise liners in accordance with the presence of certain recreation and entertainment centers on them. - Therefore, it is sometimes very difficult to determine how a 4-star liner differs from a 5-star liner. Both ships have a classic set of infrastructure, and the service is equally good. The differences are more noticeable between 3 * ships and luxury liners. 

    Most of the liners, tours for which are sold by Russian companies, are of a very high class. It is necessary to take into account a purely psychological feature. If for the first time a person gets on a luxurious ship with the proper level of service, then later he is unlikely to agree to a less comfortable vacation. 

    The respectability of the ship is also evidenced by the number of passengers: compared to 3 * and 4 * liners, 6 * ships have fewer vacationers on the same infrastructure. Finally, a factor indicating high stardom is nutrition. More precisely, its diversity and the element of payment. As a rule, the choice of restaurants on economy class liners is not so wide, the menu does not differ in a particular breadth of choice, and alcoholic beverages are not included in the cost of meals. On a luxury ship, things are different. Guests can choose from a wide range of restaurants, meals and complimentary drinks. For example, on the Seven Seas Mariner, even expensive alcohol is included in the price of the tour: Hennessy cognac and French champagne.” 

The price of pleasure 

    There is an opinion that a cruise is an expensive trip that only wealthy people can afford. In fact, the prices for cruise tours are very different: from quite economical (from $650-680 for a weekly tour of the Mediterranean on a 3 or 4-star liner) to expensive ($4-6 thousand) and fabulously expensive (round-the-world cruises belong to this category). duration from 70 to 110 days and cost $50-60 thousand). 

    A number of factors affect the price of a cruise. First of all, it is the duration of the trip and the seasonality of the cruise. So, prices in the high season in July-August will be much higher than the cost of spring and autumn tours. The following factors are the exoticism and richness of the route. The cheapest are cruises in the Mediterranean, and cruises in the Atlantic and Indian oceans are traditionally considered expensive.

    The price of the tour is also affected by the class of the ship and the type of cabin. On any liner (with the exception of some luxury ships) there are rooms of various cost and comfort. The cheapest are cabins without a window, with artificial lighting. They are not very presentable, but quite comfortable. Considering that ships have a lot of recreational areas, and passengers spend little time in cabins, this option is ideal for those who want to save money. Not very expensive and cabins with limited views: part of the window is blocked by lifeboats and boats. Next come cabins with a window and cabins with a balcony. 

    They are very different from the two previous types and are much more expensive. Finally, the most expensive are all kinds of suites. Their cost can be several times higher than the price of cabins without a window and with a limited view. Note that the interior decoration and area of ​​the cabins practically do not differ from the "content" of a regular hotel room: similar beds, wardrobes, showers or bathrooms. 

    Finally, the last factor influencing the price of a cruise is the liner's mooring place. Usually ships moor in the port, but they can stand in the roadstead. In the latter case, the cruise company saves significantly, and this circumstance affects the price of the cruise itself. However, parking on the roads is not very convenient for travelers. After all, in order to get ashore, you have to wait until the ship's crew lowers the boats into the water, which takes a lot of time. Moreover, tourists of advanced age are unlikely to be able to afford such a crossing.