We here at Cruises From Charleston care that you get the best experience and value from your trip, so our team has put together a few pointers for you:
Cruises From Charleston-the Airfare Issue
A major advantage that cruise lines promote is that they will hold the ship if for some reason your flight is delayed, if they book your airfare as part of the overall package.. Mike Cordelli, a manager of information systems in New York City, has been on at least a dozen cruises and reports that, although he still often has the cruise company eventually book his fare, he still does his due diligence in checking out fares for himself. Often this has led to significant savings. In some cases, you could save enough to come to Charleston a day early and experience some of the southern charm that makes Charleston itself such a popular tourist destination. Enjoy a ‘free day’ is our advice from Cruises From Charleston!
As Cruises From Charleston stated, however, if ‘weather happens’ or an unexpected problem occurs, the big advantage in booking with the cruise company is that they will make arrangements for you to be onboarded in the next port of call. This advantage can lead to peace of mind for some, as the editors of Cruises From Charleston know from long experience.
Cruises From Charleston - “The Everything is ..Sort of..Included”
In 2009, Carnival brought in 76% of its cruise-related revenue through fares. The basics, from the editoral staff at Cruises From Charleston, are often all that is included in the inclusive nature of most cruise lines The problem is that you are a captive audience and when you compound that with the sun, the festive nature of being on vacation in the first place, and alcohol, the cruiser can find themselves buying picture, massages, and all sorts of other things that they didn’t originally plan on purchasing. Cruises From Charleston says the best thing to do is build a little mad money into the trip.
A factor to consider as well is tipping. many cruise lines encourage a budget for tipping of $10/day per guest. This can cetainly add up to a signifcant expense. Cruises from Charleston urges you to consider this expense while planning!
Cruises From Charleston - “Gourmet is Really Extra”
Although cruise food is often quite good, it rarely rises the the five star type advertising that is implied in many advertisements for cruises. In fact, as in any enterprise where large numbers of people are going to be eating the same entree in a limited period of time, most food is prepared well ahead of time and kept for the on rush on diners. While the food can still be quite good, Cruises From Charleston would urge the true gormet seeking diner to go for the private seating resturants, which can and do charge over and above the standard resturant fare (even in the all-inclusive resturants). Be prepared to pay $30/diner per meal when you include wine or a cocktail or two with your meal. The Cruises From Charleston tip is to do it at least once, early in the trip!
Cruises From Charleston - “Check to See If You Really Need a Tuxedo or Not”
You really need to be careful to understand how the cruise line will treat the dress code, lest you end up at a table in your best evening wear with a guy in a pair of flip flops, with a suggestive (or worse) slogan on his T-shirt…well you get the idea. Cruises from Charleston staff has been there and such boorish behavior can be part of the deal.
From http://wikitravel.org/en/Charleston_(South_Carolina)
The dress code has built in rules or signals indicating the message being given by a person’s clothing and how it is worn. This message may include indications of the person’s gender, income occupation and class, political, ethnic and religious affiliation, and attitude towards comfort, fashion, traditions, gender expression, marital status, sexual availability and sexual orientation, etc. Clothes convey other social messages including the stating or claiming , the establishing, maintaining, or defying social group norms, and appreciating comfort and functionality. Cruises From Charleston suggests you realize that some guests will be less inclined to be socially aware during vacation.
The fact is that people that have paid for a cruise often feel as though they can do whatever they want-and dress however they please to a formal dinner. Often, the cruise lines are hard pressed to enforce their own rules, as ‘the customer is always right’ applies to sea going voyages as well.
We would urge you, as the cruise customer, to make at least some allowances for that. Cruises From Charleston has interviewed many cruise employees informally and discovered that many are concerned with customer happiness above all.