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Smarter Cruising Newsletter -- February 2007

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"Smarter Cruising" Newsletter
February 2, 2007 -- Issue #3

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In This Issue:

1) "The Benefits of Taking a NICHE CRUISE"

2) "Special WAVE SEASON Offers"

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

4) "Smooth Sailing Tip: Search Cruise Fares at Kayak.com"

5) "Rough Seas Ahead?: New U.S. Passport Regulations"

6) "Visit Clark's New SMARTER CRUISING BLOG!"

==================== FEATURE EDITORIAL ============

1) The Benefits of Taking a NICHE CRUISE

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The vast majority of cruisers sail on one of the mainstream
cruise lines such as Carnival or Royal Caribbean. No surprise
there -- that's why they call them mainstream.

Besides offering tried-and-true itineraries and lots of varied
activities on board, mainstream cruise lines tend to have the
lowest initial fares and often terrific special bargains
to boot.

With ever-expanding ships -- in the range of 3,600 passengers
and climbing -- they make their profits by doing
volume business, and by charging for lots of optional extras
once you board the ship.

But if you're looking for a smaller ship -- especially one
that ventures a bit off the beaten track or appeals to a
particular interest -- don't overlook the benefits of taking
a niche cruise.

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What's a niche cruise?

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In many ways, niche cruises are the opposite of
mainstream cruises.

Rather than trying to appeal to a mass market and
offering something for just about everyone, niche cruises
target smaller groups of like-minded passengers -- say,
those who are particularly interested in wildlife-viewing
or in specific destinations, or who just prefer watching
beautiful scenery to living it up in the ship casino.

In short, niche cruises are specialty cruises of one type
or another. You're more likely to find guest lecturers on
photography or the history of your next port of call than
Broadway-style shows.

One big benefit is that their typically small to medium-sized
ships can venture to out-of-the-way ports that the mega-ships
can't reach.

Typical destinations might include Antarctica, the Galapagos,
the Volga River, or the islands off New England rather than
regular cruise stops such as Grand Cayman, Bermuda, Jamaica,
or Juneau.

Some of the better known niche cruise lines include
Star Clippers, Discovery World Cruises, Peter Deilmann
Cruises, Norwegian Coastal Voyage, and the new Majestic
America Line (which incorporates Delta Queen and American
West Steamboat Company).

Some others include Orion Expedition Cruises, River Barge
Excursions, Imperial River Cruises, Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines,
American Cruise Lines, Antarctic Dream Expeditions,
Galapagos Explorer II, and Imperial Majesty.

While these -- and many other -- niche cruise lines are a
diverse group, they all have one thing in common: they don't
aim to be mass-market.

However, their base is expanding rapidly, especially among
baby boomers.

As Larry Dessler, a cruise industry veteran and now executive
director of the Niche Cruise Marketing Alliance, puts it:

"We (baby boomers) have been to most of the standard places.

"Now we want to experience the more out-of-the-way places,
but with a degree of comfort -- walk with penguins in
Antarctica and then come back to the ship for a hot meal
and a good bottle of wine.

"And then maybe learn how the wine is made as well,
all on the same vacation."

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The Niche Cruise Marketing Alliance

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The Niche Cruise Marketing Alliance is a group of 13 niche
cruise lines that have banded together to spread the word
about niche cruising, especially among travel agents.
But the alliance also reaches out to the public.

Its website (www.nichecruise.com) includes a special
feature that allows U.S. residents to enter their zip codes
and find nearby travel agents who are well versed
in niche cruising.

(And believe me, a lot of travel agents can't -- or don't want
to -- see beyond the mainstream lines.)

The website's database currently contains about 2,500 travel
agents, a good place to start if you're interested in booking
a specialty cruise.

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Initial cost versus overall value

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Make no mistake: with a few exceptions (such as Imperial
Majesty's three-day cruises to the Bahamas), niche cruises
tend to be more expensive than mainstream cruises --
at least initially.

But it's important to take overall value into account.

Dessler contends that the best value isn't necessarily
the cheapest.

"If you want to go to Antarctica, you just have to accept that
it's going to cost you at least $5,000," he says.

"But at the same time, niche lines aren't trying to vacuum out
the money from your bank account or zero out your bank card
once you get on board."

Here's what he means: the mainstream lines fill up their
mega-ships by using pricing as their main marketing tool --
i.e., they offer sometimes incredible bargains on their
base rates, knowing that once they get you on board,
they have a good chance to sell you all kinds of extras
(such as shore excursions, "premium" meals and coffee,
spa treatments, and casino visits).

Niche cruise lines tend to offer far fewer initial discounts,
keeping pricing pretty much the same for everyone
in the same cabin category.

One reason: "On small ships," Dessler acknowledges,
"everyone can find out pretty quickly what
everyone else is paying."

But at the same time, niche lines seldom depend on
making their profits by selling you all kinds of extras once
you're on board.

Some may include shore excursions in the base rates,
for instance, or dispense altogether with casinos, spas,
tipping, or other costly temptations.

So, if you think you might be interested in taking
a niche cruise, go to www.nichecruise.com and check out
the search engine for nearby travel agents who are
knowledgeable in the subject.

Niche cruises aren't for everyone -- but then,
that's the point!

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For insider tips on Booking the Best Deal on your cruise

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Our new eBook, "How to Save Money on Cruises -- Part I:
Booking the Best Deal" is loaded with insider tips and
techniques -- all geared toward saving you lots of money
when you book your next cruise.

Here's what one of our satisfied customers had to say:

"If you have booked a cruise and have not read 'How to
Save Money on Cruises -- Part I: Booking the Best Deal'
by Clark Norton cancel the cruise immediately.

"Rebook the cruise only after you have read every word
and have memorized the 'Smooth Sailing Tips.'

"Not only will you save money and time, you will feel you
are in the know and that you are in charge and
control of your vacation.

"It will really be smooth sailing."

-- Louie Richmond, Seattle, Washington

I know that many of you are planning to book a cruise
for 2007 in the next month or two.

Don't go into "battle" negotiating your fare
without being armed with all the money-saving secrets
contained in "How to Save Money on Cruises -- Part I:
Booking the Best Deal!"

To learn more about "How to Save Money on Cruises --
Part I: Booking the Best Deal," check out:

www.smartercruising.com

And if you order right away, we'll even throw in FREE
bonus books on saving on airfare, and on how to avoid
airfare altogether!

Don't miss out! Visit:

www.smartercruising.com

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2) Special WAVE SEASON offers

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"Wave Season" is a cruising industry term for the months of
January through March, so called because more cruises
are booked during these three months than in any other
comparable period during the year.

It's also a time when cruise lines traditionally offer a
number of incentives to convince prospective passengers to
book their voyages early.

(As I pointed out in the January edition of the
Smarter Cruising Newsletter -- which you can find archived
here -- cruise lines love to convince customers
to book early.)

Wave Season offers sometimes sound better than they
actually are -- for example, $300 off a luxury cruise
is still going to cost you plenty.

But if you can get free upgrades from inside cabins
to ocean view or even verandahs -- and you were planning to
spring for them anyway -- you might end up saving quite a lot
of money.

Some Wave Season special offers expired at the end of January,
but a number of others are valid until later this month or
even the end of March.

Here are some that have recently crossed my desk:

** Carnival Cruise Lines is offering stateroom upgrades
of up to two categories on most of its 2007 sailings
(ranging from three- to eight-day itineraries),
if booked by February 15.

** Costa Cruises is offering upgrades from inside to
ocean-view cabins or from ocean-view to verandah on
selected Caribbean and European sailings if booked
by February 23.

** Holland America Line is offering passengers upgrades
to verandahs from outside or even inside cabins on many
of its 2007 sailings (ask for the "View & Verandah"
promotion), if booked by the end of February.

** MSC Cruises has a kids sail free offer for selected
sailings in Europe, and a "Better than 2-for-1"
promotion for some 11-night Caribbean and Panama Canal
itineraries through April (but book soon).

** Norwegian Cruise Line offers a two-category upgrade
and an onboard $150 credit per stateroom on 2007 and
2008 cruises booked by the end of February.

** Uniworld Grand River Cruises offers savings of up to
$300 per couple on a number of European and Russian
cruises if booked by March 31.

Remember to weigh any such offers against other deals
you might find, especially from Internet discounters
who offer last-minute specials.

As I discussed in the December edition of my Smarter Cruising
Newsletter (which you can find archived here, sometimes
you can find much better deals booking late than booking early.

Keep in mind that you do risk losing your top choices in
dates, itineraries and cabins by waiting too long.

Generally speaking, the more flexible you are on when, where,
and to what degree of luxury you travel in, the more sense
it makes to wait -- and vice versa.

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

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As always, the huge Internet discounter VacationsToGo.com
is offering some excellent "Fast Deals" at its website.

These include:

** A seven-day Royal Caribbean cruise to the Caribbean
out of Miami leaving February 17 and starting at $449.

** A seven-day Norwegian cruise in Hawaii departing
Honolulu April 15, starting at $542 (a savings of
81 percent off the brochure rate).

** A seven-day Holland America cruise to Alaska
departing Seattle on May 5, starting at $554
(67 percent off the brochure rate).

** A 10-day Holland America cruise to the Panama Canal,
departing Ft. Lauderdale April 2 and starting at $899
(58 percent off the brochure price).

VacationsToGo.com routinely offers last-minute
discounts ranging as high as 75 or 80 percent
or more off brochure rates.

I highly recommend you check out this site.

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For more insider tips on Tracking Down Discounts
on your cruise

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Do you know how to track down discounts and deals
like the ones listed above?

If not -- or if you simply want to save hundreds or even
thousands of dollars by landing great discounts on your
next cruise -- you can check out our new eBook,
"How to Save Money on Cruises -- Part II:
Tracking Down Discounts" by clicking here.

It's filled with all new information about snagging discounts
for families or other groups, singles, and seasonal specials,
among many other money-saving topics.

And if you order this eBook right away, you'll receive two
FREE bonus books:

1) How to Cruise for Free

2) Go Mini-Cruising

... perfect for weekend getaways!

Click here to find out more.

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4) "Smooth Sailing Tip: Search cruise fares through kayak.com

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Kayak.com, a website that I often use for finding
great airfares, has recently added a cruise component
to its site.

Kayak is a search tool, not a travel agency, and allows you
-- all in just one click -- to search multiple websites
to find a wide range of possible fares, depending on
your preferred dates, destinations, cabin type,
and cruise lines.

For example, I found a week-long Royal Caribbean cruise
in the Western Caribbean leaving March 3 from New Orleans
and starting at just $359 for an interior cabin;

and a March 11 Costa seven-night Eastern Caribbean cruise
out of Port Everglades, Florida, starting at $399,
both available from cruise411.com.

As of now, unfortunately, kayak.com has fewer
websites in its cruise database than its airfares database,
but my guess is they'll expand it.

And while you're there, you can check out a whole range
of airfares for getting to your embarkation port as well.

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5) Rough Seas Ahead?: New U.S. Passport Regulations

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In case you missed it, the U.S. State Department has issued
new passport regulations (as of late January) that require
anyone -- including all U.S. citizens -- to carry
a valid passport when entering or re-entering
the United States by air.

That means that if you have to fly out of the country
(including flying to Canada, Mexico, and the Caribbean
except for the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico)
to board your cruise, you'll need to have a passport.

And within another year -- as soon as January 2008 and
no later than June 2008 -- you'll need to carry a passport
when re-entering the U.S. by land or sea as well.

That means that within a year or so, if you board your
Caribbean cruise in, say, Miami, you'll need a passport
to return to the U.S.

With millions of applications for new passports expected
this year -- only about one-fourth of U.S. citizens
now have one -- it pays to apply as soon as possible
(and before the summer crush).

Getting a new passport by mail usually takes six weeks
to two months, though if you have an imminent trip coming up,
you can get an expedited passport by paying an extra fee.
Go to the U.S. State Department website for more details.

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6) Visit Clark's New SMARTER CRUISING BLOG!

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I'm excited to have recently launched my new
Smarter Cruising Blog, which you can find at
SmarterCruising.blogspot.com.

Please come for a visit -- I've already done postings on
Alaska cruises, free cruises for Iraq war veterans,
new passport regulations, and other topics that I'm sure
you'll find of interest.

And keep checking back often -- I'll be posting new items
several times a week.

Happy cruising,

Clark Norton

The Smarter Cruiser

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