Home | About Smarter Cruising | Contact Us | Newsletter | Testimonials

Smarter Cruising Newsletter -- December 2006

===============================================

"Smarter Cruising" Newsletter
December 6, 2006 -- Issue #1

===============================================

In This Issue:
 
1) "Welcome to the First Money-Saving Issue of the
Smarter Cruising Newsletter!"

2) "Grab the BEST CRUISE DEALS by Booking Late"

3) "Take Advantage of These Great Last-Minute Deals!"

4) "Hot Deals on Cold-Weather Cruises"

5) "Smooth Sailing Tip: New Passport Regulations"

===============================================

1) "Welcome to the First Money-Saving Issue of the
Smarter Cruising Newsletter!"

===============================================

Welcome, Smarter Cruisers! I'm Clark Norton, a professional
travel writer who's been writing about cruises for 25 years.

Every month in this newsletter, we'll take an insider's look at
the latest developments and the hottest deals in the
world of cruising.

Our goal is simple -- to help you save a lot of money on
your next cruise vacation!

You can count on Smarter Cruising for objective advice. Unlike
most other cruise-related websites, we don't sell cruises or
accept advertising from cruise lines. We're travel journalists,
not travel agents.

But enough about us. Let's get down to the business at hand:
saving you a lot of money on your next cruise!
 
==================== FEATURE EDITORIAL ====================

2) "Grab the BEST CRUISE DEALS by Booking Late"

=======================================================

Many cruise lines, travel agents, guidebook writers, and "cruise tip" websites
will try to convince you that booking as early as possible will result in
the best cruise deals.

But that's not always true.

The fact is that the hottest deals and deepest discounts in cruising are
usually available within two to three months of sailing, or less. That's when
cruise lines mark down their cabins that they're afraid will go empty unless
they cut the rates drastically.

It's not uncommon to see "last-minute" discounts as high as 60 or 70 percent
off the brochure rates -- or more.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Is a last-minute cruise deal for you?

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Late booking is not for everyone -- you need a fair amount of flexibility in
your travel plans to take advantage of it.

If you have to sail on specific dates, or over a holiday period, or if you have to
have a certain type of cabin or are traveling with a large group, then booking
early will assure you of meeting your needs.

But if your main goal is to snag a great bargain and you aren't too particular
about where and when you sail, or in what style, then patience can not only
be a virtue but can save you big bucks.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Where do you find the best last-minute deals?

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

They're usually offered by big travel agencies -- especially Internet
mega-discounters -- that have special relationships with the cruise lines.

The cruise lines make their best deals available to them, and the
mega-discounters pass them on to you.

Sometimes the big agencies will buy up large blocks of cabins and then
re-sell them to their clients at bargain prices, making their profits from
bulk sales. 

The result for you is the same -- you can pick up a great deal on a cruise!

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Websites to check out for great last-minute deals

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Here are some great sites to check out for last-minute deals:

www.vacationstogo.com -- check out their "90-day Ticker" for cruises
leaving in the next three months

www.hotwire.com -- check out their "Last-Minute Cruise Deals" page
for cruises leaving in December and January

www.ecruises.com -- click on their "Last Minute Deals" for cruises
leaving in December and January

www.lastminutecruises.com -- click on their "Last Minute Cruise Deals"
for cruises leaving December until April

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

For more insider's tips to Booking the Best Deal on your cruise

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Did you enjoy learning how to book a great cruise deal by booking late?

That's just the tip of the iceberg (in keeping with this month's "winter cruising"
theme…) of what you'll find inside "How to Save Money on Cruises -- Part I:
Booking the Best Deal!"

There are actually NINE MORE insider's tips and techniques in the guide,
and we go into much greater detail about each one of them than we did here.
 
I don't want to take up too much time here telling you all about the
CRITICALLY IMPORTANT! money-saving tips and techniques you'll find
inside... I tend to get a little excited when I talk about it (can you tell?)

So let me just say that if you're interested in saving hundreds -- or even
thousands of dollars -- on your next cruise, I highly recommend that you
check out "How to Save Money on Cruises -- Part I: Booking the Best Deal"
here:

www.smartercruising.com

=================================================

3) "Take Advantage of These Great Last-Minute Deals!"

=================================================

One of my favorite online cruise discount agencies,
Houston-based Vacations to Go, is listing some special offers
if you book particular cruises through them by late December.

These offers are in addition to the deep discounts the agency
already offers on these sailings.
     
Among them are:

    **Discounts of up to $300 per cabin on select Royal
       Caribbean cruise tours (which include land-based tours
       along with the cruises) if you book by December 27

    **Up to $400 per cabin on select Celebrity cruise tours
       if you book by December 31

    **Up to $200 per cabin on most 2007 Crystal sailings
       if you book by December 22

The agency is also listing a number of other special discounts
without expiration dates, but which are subject to availability
and could be withdrawn at any time.

Among these are:

    **Shipboard credits of up to $500 per cabin on select 2007
       and 2008 Oceania sailings

    **Shipboard credits of up to $1,000 on select upcoming
       Silversea sailings.

Check out these deals and many more at

www.vacationstogo.com.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Oceania 2-for-1 fares to Europe, with free air

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The excellent premium line Oceania, which consistently offers
one of the best values in cruising, is offering two-for-one cruise
fares and free air for several alluring 2007 European itineraries
if booked by December 31.

The rates below represent one-half of the full brochure fare
per passenger, which amounts to a "two-for-one" deal in a
double occupancy cabin.

Among the possibilities:

    **A 13-day June cruise from Rome to Istanbul starting at
      $2,999 per person based on double occupancy.

    **An 11-day April cruise from Barcelona to Piraeus, Greece,
       starting at $2,299 per passenger in double occupancy.

There are also two attractive two-week transatlantic
repositioning cruises available this spring:

    **From Miami to Marseilles
   
    **From Rio de Janeiro to Barcelona

each starting at $1,299 per passenger in double occupancy.

Also keep in mind that you can request a discount for not taking
the "free" air, so if you can find a better deal to Europe than
Oceania's total air allowance, you may save even more money.

(You're unlikely to be able to match it for the repositioning
cruises, however, since you can't take advantage of roundtrip
fares when starting in Miami or Rio and ending in Marseilles
or Barcelona.)

Contact Oceania at www.oceaniacruises.com
or 1-800-531-5658.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

For more on "2-for-1" cruise deals and repositioning cruises

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Do you know how to track down 2-for-1 deals?

Do you know what a repositioning cruise is?

These are only two of the dozens of money-saving topics we discuss in detail
inside "How to Save Money on Cruises -- Part II: Tracking Down Discounts!"

If you're interested in saving hundreds -- or even thousands of dollars -- on
your next cruise, I highly recommend that you find out more about "How to
Save Money on Cruises -- Part II: Tracking down Discounts" here:

http://www.SmarterCruising.com/TrackingDownDiscounts/index.html

=================================================

4) "Hot Deals on Cold-Weather Cruises"

=================================================

Maybe it's the first snowflakes of the year falling outside my
office window this morning, but I've got cold-weather cruising
on my mind.

No, not places to escape the cold-weather -- I'll be thinking
about those in the January newsletter, I promise -- but places
to actually cruise in cold weather.

Places like Antarctica and Arctic Norway.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Cruising the Arctic -- or the Antarctic!

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I recently returned from a week-long cruise along the coast of
Patagonia -- through the Straits of Magellan and the Chilean
fjords to Cape Horn at the tip of South America -- on a ship
called the Antarctic Dream, and it got me dreaming of Antarctica
in the near future.

(The Antarctica cruise season runs from mid-November to
early March, and I was just a tad early for that -- but the
Chilean fjords and Cape Horn were magnificent in their own right.)

The Antarctic Dream carries just 78 passengers and is an
ex-Chilean naval vessel that's been remodeled and transformed
into a cruise vessel, with nice roomy cabins and an adventurous
spirit that includes landings on small Zodiacs to view wildlife
and glaciers.

The captain, Peter Skog, is an old Antarctica hand who
has pioneered new routes there and even has a part of
the southernmost continent named after him.

No cruise to Antarctica is cheap, but I can recommend
the Antarctic Dream for good value: cabins start at $5,800
per passenger, double occupancy, for 11-day expeditions.

And if you'd like to take the same week-long Patagonia cruise
that I took in late October, the Antarctic Dream has similar trips
coming up again from mid-March to early April, 2007. 

Prices are much cheaper for those trips, starting at $1,490
per person, double occupancy. Shorter, even less expensive
Patagonia cruises are also available.

Check out the Antarctic Dream at www.antarctic.cl.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Cruising Norway

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Meanwhile, last June, my wife and I took a week-long
Norwegian Coastal Voyage boat along the coast of Norway
from Bergen all the way to Kirkenes on the Russian border. 

Since at one point we sailed hundreds of miles north of the
Arctic Circle just before the summer solstice, we found that
the sun shone for 24 hours a day -- while 4 p.m. looked like
4 p.m., so did 4 a.m.!

The reason I mention this now is that you can experience
the same trip -- or rather, its flip-side, with near-24-hour darkness --
in winter if you're willing (admittedly, it's not for everyone).

The price is certainly right for expensive Norway: cabins start
at $1,099 double occupancy for six-day voyages in winter season
(January through March) as opposed to $1,499 in June and July.

Rates include three meals a day -- and all the reading light you need!

If you book by December 31, you can take advantage of the line's
Early-Bird Special, saving $350 per person on any 12-day cruise
or $225 per person on any six- or seven-day cruise during 2007.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Cruising Greenland

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

How about an exotic voyage to Greenland? In May 2007,
Norwegian Coastal Voyage will launch the MS Fram, the first
cruise ship built exclusively for sailing to that seldom-visited island.

If you book a 2007 trip by December 31, you can save
$300 per passenger off the fares; AARP members can save
$150 more per cabin.

Check out Norwegian Coastal Voyage at www.coastalvoyage.com.

And here's another good website to look at for a variety of
Antarctic or Arctic voyages: www.polarcruises.com.

=================================================

5) "Smooth Sailing Tip: New Passport Regulations"

=================================================

You may have read about the new Western Hemisphere
Travel Initiative that says that everyone traveling to or returning
to the United States -- including U.S. citizens -- must carry
valid passports.

This regulation will apply to trips from Canada, Mexico, Bermuda,
Central and South America, and most of the Caribbean
(except, for U.S. citizens, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico).

But the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. State
Department have bandied about so many different dates for
implementation that the public has been left in a state of
bureaucratic confusion.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

When will I need a passport?

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Here are the latest dates, and if you're planning a cruise outside
the U.S., it's extremely important to know about them -- or you'll
risk not being able to take your planned cruise.

That could lead to severe disappointment and aggravation --
not to mention costing a good deal of money if you have to
forfeit your deposit.

If your cruise requires air travel across U.S. borders, you'll need
to carry a passport to enter or re-enter the United States on
or after January 23, 2007 -- just a few weeks from now. 

If your cruise doesn't require international air travel, or if you're
traveling by land, you'll be given an extra year -- until
January 2008. That date could stretch out as late as
June 2009 -- but don't count on it. 

So, if you're departing, on, say, a Caribbean cruise that leaves
from Miami, you will still be able to board your ship and
return legally to the United States in 2007 (as long as you
bring a driver's license and birth certificate or other
acceptable identification).

But if you have to fly out of the United States in order to join
your cruise, you will need a passport as of January.

Needless to say, State Department officials are expecting
a crush of applications once the public learns about
the new regulations. Only one-fourth of all U.S. citizens
now have passports.  

Processing a new application normally takes at least six weeks
to two months, so my advice is: get started now, whether or not
you've already planned a foreign cruise for 2007 or even for 2008.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

How do I get a passport?

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

You can apply at one of thousands of passport acceptance
facilities across the U.S., including many post offices,
government buildings, and libraries.

For more detailed instructions, go to the State Department's
website, http://travel.state.gov/passport/passport_1738.html.

If you have a cruise coming up imminently and need to expedite
the process, you can do so by paying an extra fee of $60; again,
see the State Department website, http://travel.state.gov,
for full details.

Don't overlook your children, either: even newborns will need
passports. For more detailed information, see my Web article at: http://www.babycenter.com/expert/baby/babytravel/7339.html

Meanwhile, stay tuned for more bulletins; for example, the
State Department plans to issue special "Passport Cards" --
which will be less expensive -- for travel to Canada, Mexico,
Bermuda, and the Caribbean, but no date has been announced
for when they'll be introduced.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Enterprising Caribbean Resorts and Passports

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Some enterprising resorts in the Caribbean are making inventive
offers that could save you money if you have to get new passports
for you or your family. 

Here's one: Cruise ship passengers who book pre- and post-cruise
stays in 2007 at one of nine SuperClubs resorts in four Caribbean
countries (Jamaica, Bahamas, Curacao, or the Dominican Republic)
can get their passport fees (up to $97 per person) included free
in their all-inclusive packages.

Bookings must be made by January 23, 2007. 

For more information, go to www.SuperClubs.com
or call 1-800-467-8737.

Happy cruising,

Clark Norton

The Smarter Cruiser

Click here to return to Smarter Cruising