About 2 BC (Before Covid) we spent a couple of weeks sailing in the South Atlantic around the Antarctic (Souther Ocean). One of the first things that caught our attention were the penguins in the water around the ship. They weren’t easy to spot at first but after awhile we caught on to what to look for. First they swim fast! Not just fast but really fast and often barely break the surface and in a second are gone. Generally their backs are black so they’re difficult to locate against the dark water but it’s the bursts of disturbed white water that attracts your attention.
FYI – A group of penguins on land is called a Waddle, probably because that’s what they do. But a group of swimming penguins is called a raft, because they often swim on the surface in groups. Penguins spend most of their time in the ocean, diving for food just swimming. Their torpedo shaped bodies are perfectly designed for what looks like high speed flight underwater. If you spend some time watching them swim at a zoo or aquarium with a live penguin exhibit you’ll see what I’m talking about.
I have spent a fair amount of time trying to photograph some birds in flight. It isn’t impossible to do because you can track the bird with the camera. But my best description of a raft of penguins in the water is they’re like jet propelled black beans in a large bowl of black bean soup. Almost as soon as they attract attention they are gone from sight. I took dozens and dozens of photographs that turned out to be just water. And the few images that captured a penguin or two were blurred by motion.
Visiting a Waddle of penguins on land is a whole different experience. We found they don’t pay any attention to people. You can walk right up to the Waddle and into it and most likely they’ll just step aside to let you through.
we still are looking to shoot some more penguins 😉
Getting the best deal on booking a cruise is a process very much like getting the best airfare. Like all businesses, cruise lines want to get the most for every cabin and, like the airlines at the moment of departure, anything unsold has no future value. Economists call these items non-fungible, meaning they cannot be sold or exchanged in the future. Over the course of twenty years we’ve discovered a few tricks in the cruise booking game.
1. Start By Just Doing Some Comparison Shopping
Like the cost of everything, cruise prices are based on market conditions. Prices vary by each cruise line, the various itineraries, the time of year and the cruise’s popularity.
Just like hotels and restaurants, cruise lines are generally priced based on their reputation, expected level of service and their focus clientele. Carnival, an economy line, is structured to appeal to a younger clientele looking a fun vacation – think “The Fun Ships”. Royal Caribbean, a mid-range price point, focuses on young families with a big emphasis on their kids program. Celebrity, is a somewhat higher priced choice, with focus on an older demographic with higher expectations in service. Taking a quick look at a number of similar cruises will quickly give you an idea how this pricing range works.
An owners suite on RCL
Some itineraries are more popular than others and pricing reflects this difference. Alaska can be more expensive than the Caribbean and trans-Atlantic cruises are usually much less expensive than European cruises.
Finally, the time of year has a huge effect on pricing. The easiest example is Caribbean cruise prices in August compared with October. While summer is usually off-season in the Caribbean it is also school break time. By October the kids are back in school and demand has dropped accordingly and so have the fares.
Getting The Best Deal
2. Look at Add-On Expenses You’re Likely to Use
In addition to the cabin rate, you should also consider onboard expenses you are likely to incur. Included services vary by cruise lines and frequent cruiser status. In addition, most cruise lines are now offering onboard packages that can include laundry, internet, sodas, fancy coffees and bar drinks. Another major onboard expense to consider is shore excursions.
Make sure you understand what things are included in a cruise or what they are likely to cost during your cruise. For example, some cruises include all drinks while others charge $500.00 or more for a drink package and paying for individual drinks can run up a serious bar tab. Be honest about what you expect to want on the cruise. Making this price comparison may actually justify the expense of an upgrade.
3. Decide What You Want In A Stateroom
Picking a cabin category isn’t as straight forward as you would think. Most people assume that an inside cabin is the choice for saving money and, often it is, but not always. More and more the cruise lines are offering free add-ons as a sales promotion. These can include prepaid gratuities, drink packages and onboard credits. Sometimes incentives include one and at times all three. Often, inside cabins do not qualify for these free add-ons and that can have a big impact on the overall cost of the cruise.
When you consider a reservation, this can be a false economy. When these promotions are being offered, an ocean view or veranda cabin can be less expensive than an inside cabin. Just like in airfare pricing there have been cruises where an inside cabin costs more to book. This often happens when you book early and the cruise ship is trying to keep these cabins in reserve for a number of reasons.
When we select a cruise we often let the itinerary dictate which cabin we want. Long ago we decided that we have no problem with inside cabins. On most cruises we actually spend very little time in our cabin so upgrading means little. On one cruise we were upgraded to an owner’s suite and while spacious and beautiful, it really seemed a waste of space and certainly would not be worth it to us if we had to pay full price. On a trans-Atlantic, an inside cabin is fine with us but, in Alaska, getting a veranda cabin usually is a must. Often it is all about the view.
Food, food,and more food
4. Book Early
Many times the best prices are available when a cruise is first announced. After the initial listing period the cruise company can decide that the cruise is getting a good response and the simple rule of supply and demand allows them to increase fares.
Unlike airlines, the cruise company often allows you to take advantage of price reductions right up to the final payment date. That policy usually includes reduced fares, upgrading the cabin or taking advantage of free add-ons.
There are also situations where the opposite strategy can produce big savings. That is last minute bookings, usually only a few days or weeks before sailing. Faced with empty cabins and no revenue, many cruise lines will offer super last-minute discounts. This is partly because the cabin fare is only part of the potential revenue from each passenger. Casinos, drink sales and tour fees add up to big money. We generally do not use this option in our planning but will take advantage of last minute cruises if the price is too good to pass up.
5. Always Book Another Cruise While Onboard A Cruise
The likelihood of a passenger returning to the same cruise line is actually very high and with frequent cruiser programs the likelihood is even greater. Most ships have a future booking office onboard and to get you to commit they offer additional incentives. These may include fare discounts, greatly reduced deposits and special free add-ons. Since you can take advantage of price changes or switch cruises up to 90 days before the cruise and also get your deposit refunded if you cancel, this is a great opportunity*.
6. Watch and Take Advantage of Incentives
Even after you have confirmed a reservation and put down a deposit you can take advantage of special incentives. If you are a member of a buying group (Groupon, AAA, AARP), or an online travel service (Expedia, PriceLine) that sends you emails of special offers, get in the habit of reviewing these on a regular basis. If you see a good offer, see if you can add it to your reservation. Most times these offers are not exclusive regardless of what the travel agency says.
7. After You Book Keep Watching the Fares
As likely as fares are to go up, price reductions also happen, but you can’t take advantage of them if you don’t know about them. Get in the habit of regularly checking the prices on cruises you have already booked looking for opportunities to save or upgrade.
8. Work with a Good Travel Agent
There may not be such a thing as a free lunch, but travel agents are actually free (at least to you) when booking a cruise. We strongly recommend getting to know a good travel agent and getting in the habit of booking everything through them. They actually will appreciate the business and most consider it their job to help you manage saving money. They are also much more effective at dealing with the cruise lines when getting fares reduced or adding on incentives. Your way to contact the cruise line is to call a company inside agent but the travel agent has a marketing representative that they routinely deal with and have less difficulty negotiating changes.
Also, if your agent is affiliated with one of the growing super agencies, they can offer you specials provided by their agency in addition to the cruise line. Often their agency has packaged a popular cruise as a group rate and they can add you to the group and get you an additional discount, onboard credit or freebees. At times they also offer their own promotional specials like a free port tour or an additional onboard credit.
The best way to connect with a good agent is to ask friends or fellow travelers for their recommendation and ask questions about their experiences.
Those Exclusive Deals That Really Aren’t
In closing, you need to understand the truth about all those agency advertised specials. Everyone sees ads or gets emails from travel agencies constantly screaming about their exclusive special deals from this or that cruise line. Usually the truth is they are not exclusive deals and they are cleverly misrepresenting the price structure**. Does “Cruises from $499.00 with a $700.00 onboard credit” seem odd? It may be true that an inside cabin can be booked for $499.00 but it is not usually eligible for any onboard credit; the $700.00 credit is only for a suite. We have rarely found a unique special offer but if we see one that seems interesting it can be a clue that there are price reductions happening with a particular cruise line. Contact your agent to find out if this opportunity is available.
*Unfortunately, in the last year, a number of cruise companies have started adopting a policy of non-refundable deposits and this changes the process some. Currently, cruise lines are offering lower fares for those non-refundable deposits so this is going to cause some rethinking of how you address some booking in the future.
**To be fair there are some deals that can be exclusive to a travel agency but in most cases the agency had an opportunity to reserve a group that gives them an additional discount. This allows them to give away some of the discount to promote a lowered fare.
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They are found everywhere on our planet and many can be extremely dangerous. Active, dormant or extinct they seem to draw people into visiting. Perhaps it is the ability to witness unfathomable power or its aftermath up close that draws people. Beyond that there are literally millions of people living under the threat of being killed by still active volcanos even today.
One of Africa’s iconic sights is Mount Kilimanjaro, a dormant volcanic mountain that has not erupted for over 360,000 years. However, it is still considered a potentially active volcano.
Mount Fuji in Japan with the last eruption occurring in 1707-1708, known as the Hoei eruption. It lasted for about 16 months and was one of the longest eruptions in history. Since then, Mount Fuji has been dormant and has not erupted again.
Alaska’s Mount Edgecumbe is located at the southern end of Kruzof Island, Alaska, about 15 miles west of Sitka and is considered still active.
Mount Etna -Mount Etna, or simply Etna, is a very active stratovolcano on the east coast of Sicily, near the Metropolitan City of Catania, between the cities of Messina and Catania. It lies above the convergent plate margin between the African Plate and the Eurasian Plate and often produces regular lava flows down its slopes.
Hawaii’s iconic Diamond Head is one of the most recognized extinct volcanos in the world standing above Waikiki Beach on Oahu. The entire Hawaiian chain is a string of volcanic islands being created as the tectonic plate moves NNW over an active “hot spot”.
Kilauea is an active shield volcano in Hawaii and represents a National Park. It erupted in May 2018 and continued to spew lava and ash for several months, causing destruction and forcing thousands of people to evacuate. It remains a favorite tourist site.
Another volcanic National Park in Hawaii is Haleakala with a summit that stands at 10,023 feet above sea level. While not extinct it has behaved itself in recent times.
Stromboli is an island volcano in the Tyrrhenian Sea, off the north coast of Sicily and one of the four active volcanoes in Italy. Cruise ships regularly pass the volcano while smoke and ash plumes from its top. Considering its activity it’s strange that there are two villages on the island.
Mount Rainier is one of the two most dangerous volcanos in the world based on the size of the population threatened by an eruption. It is such a serious threat that Redmond schools actually conduct volcano evacuation drills on a regular basis. This volcano is a large active stratovolcano in the Cascade Range of the Pacific Northwest in the United States. The mountain is located about 59 miles south-southeast of Seattle, Washington.
Mount Vesuvius is the other most dangerous volcano located in southern Italy, that threatens the whole metropolitan area of Naples. Vesuvius has erupted over 50 times in recorded history. The most famous eruption occurred in 79 AD, which completely destroyed the Roman cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum. The volcano is still considered active and is closely monitored.
Santorini is the location of one of the civilized worlds largest volcanic eruptions. Known as the Minoan eruption it was a catastrophic volcanic eruption that devastated the Aegean island of Thera some 3,600 years ago. It destroyed the Minoan settlement at Akrotiri, as well as communities and agricultural areas on nearby islands and the coast of Crete. Subsequent earthquakes and paleotsunamis probably account for the end of the Minoan civilization. Today when cruise ships drop anchor they are in the caldera of Santorini in the center of the Christiana-Santorini-Kolumbo volcanic field, comprising the extinct Christiana Volcano and the island of Santorini.
Since 1950 volcanic eruptions have claimed thousands of lives worldwide with somewhere over 100 million people living dangerously close to volcanic threats. The following list of eruptions and deaths since 1950 and is nowhere near complete:
1951 – 2,942 killed Mount Lamington, Papua New Guinea
1964 – 25 killed Villarrica, Chile
1968 – 87 killed Volcán Arenal, Costa Rica
1979 – 9 killed Mount Etna, Italy
1980 – 57 killed Mt. St. Helens, United States
1982 – 1,900 killed El Chichón, Mexico
1985 – 23,000 killed Nevado del Ruiz, Colombia
1991 – 847 killed Mount Pinatubo, Philippines
1991 – 43 killed Mount Unzen, Japan
1993 – 79 killed Mount Mayon, Philippines
1993 – 9 killed Galeras, Colombia
1994 – 64 killed Mount Merapi, Indonesia
1997 – 19 killed Soufrière Hills, Montserrat, WI
2002 – 245 killed Nyiragongo, Congo
2010 – 353 killed Mount Merapi, Indonesia
2011 – 31 killed Nabro Volcano, Eritrea
2014 – 63 killed Mount Ontake, Japan
2018 – Up to 2,900 killed Volcán de Fuego, Guatemala
2019 – 22 killed Whakaari/White Island, New Zealand
The symbol of Alaska’s indigenous peoples is the totem poles and they are more than just art. These iconic symbols tell stories, celebrate clans and can honor individuals and in some cases shame them. The states largest collection of these monuments can be found in a park in Sitka managed by the National Park Service.
For more information on Alaska totem poles CLICK HERE.
Along the Southern Chesapeake Bay in Virginia are three of the most important sights in the history of the settlement and founding of the United States Of America. They include the sight of the first English settlement in the country, the town that was the first legislative government and the battlefield where America won its independence.
Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia
Colonial Williamsburg is a living-history museum in the city of Williamsburg, Virginia. The area is an interesting blend of American history and popular tourist attraction. The colonial town is the anchor of a historic triangle in Tidewater Virginia that includes a restoration of the Jamestown colony (the first successful English settlement in North America) and the Yorktown Battlefield National Park and Museum celebrating the victory that brought an end of the Revolutionary War.
Within just moments walking through town you get a sense that you have been transported back in time some 300 years. If there weren’t groups of tourists that at times disturb the illusion, the feeling would be overwhelming.
The historic town of Williamsburg is a 300 acre area that encompasses several hundred restored or re-created buildings from the 18th century, when it was the capital of Colonial Virginia. A living interpretation of a colonial period American city, the historic district includes three primary streets and their connecting side streets that represent the accurate character of 18th-century America. While it is faithful to the period with costumed employees who work and dress as people did back at that time, it is also a current residential neighborhood with private residences mixed into the historic buildings.
Conceived in the 1920s, the restoration and re-creation of colonial Williamsburg was championed as a way to celebrate our countries revolutionary patriots and the history of the early United States. The project got its start with seed money in a grant from John D. Rockefeller Jr., and his wife, Abby Aldrich Rockefeller.
Major buildings include Raleigh Tavern, the Capitol building, the Governor’s Palace (all reconstructed), as well as the Courthouse, the George Wythe House, the Peyton Randolph House, the Magazine, and the functioning Bruton Parish Church (all originals). Four taverns have also been reconstructed for use as restaurants. There are historically accurate craftsmen’s workshops for trades, that include a printing shop, a shoemaker, blacksmith, a cooperage, a cabinetmaker, a gunsmith, a wigmaker, and a silversmith.
Colonial Williamsburg is also intertwined with America’s second oldest college, William & Mary, which has its campus attached to the west side of the historic district. A newer commercial area that includes a number of upscale shops and a campus book store and coffee shop that connects the two properties.
Jamestown Colony, Virginia
The United States of America owes much of what it is today to a strip of land between the James and York Rivers as they flow into the Chesapeake Bay in Virginia. This strip of land is where the first successful English colony was established in America, was one of the locations where the political foundations of the American Revolution were laid and where the final battle for independence was fought and won.
In 1607 three English ships, the Susan Constant, Godspeed, and Discovery, sailed into the Chesapeake Bay and 104 settlers set out to establish an English settlement in North America. They named it Jamestown. Many of those first settlers died of disease and from Indian attacks but new arriving ships brought more settlers and by 1610 the colony was firmly established. An extended peace was established after the marriage of colonist John Rolfe to Pocahontas, the daughter of Powhatan the regional native chief. During the 1620s, Jamestown expanded from the area near the original fort into a small town. It remained the capital of the Virginia colony until 1699 when the capital was moved eight miles northwest to the larger settlement town of Williamsburg.
Thus began the successful English colonization of North America. Within less than another one hundred years, on that same strip of land General George Washington of the Continental Army would defeat the English army under the command of Lieutenant General Charles Cornwallis. That victory established the security of America as a new nation.
Visiting this area of Virginia is as near as you can get to traveling back in time to explore the beginnings of our nation.
The Yorktown area features the Yorktown Battlefield National Park along with a truly impressive American Revolution Museum. On the property of the museum stands a reconstruction of a 1780’s period farm as it would have looked at the time of the battle along with a Continental Army encampment featuring live demonstrations.
Not far from Yorktown is the Jamestown Settlement historic site. It features a demonstration Powhatan tribal village developed from actual drawings of the historic period. An informative museum dedicated to the history surrounding the Jamestown settlement and the people that made it possible, along with a replica of the original Fort James. Tied up on the river next to the fort are reproductions of the boats Susan Constant, Godspeed, and Discovery that carried the first settlers to this new world. Also nearby is the archaeological site owned and managed through a private/public partnership between Preservation Virginia and the National Park Service to excavate and explore the actual site of the original fortified town.
If you really want to see where this nation was born come and visit Tidewater Virginia.
The Yorktown Battlefield National Park
The Yorktown Battlefield Park is a National Park where the last major battle of the American Revolutionary War took place. The Battle of Yorktown was a crucial battle fought during the American Revolutionary War. It marked the final major battle of the war and ultimately led to the surrender of British forces. The battle lasted for approximately three weeks, from September 28th to October 19th, 1781. The Yorktown Battlefield Park in Virginia marks the location of this historic battle and is an important site for understanding the significance of the American Revolution.
In the Yorktown Battlefield Park is the Surrender Field that marks the spot where British General Charles Cornwallis surrendered his army to General George Washington on October 19, 1781, effectively ending the Revolutionary War. In the field surrender monument and a recreated version of the field as it would have looked during the battle.
Also located near the park is The Revolutionary War Museum featuring exhibits and artifacts from the American Revolutionary War. Visitors can explore the galleries and learn about the war’s causes, major battles, and key figures. Some of the museum’s highlights include George Washington’s field tent, a reproduction of a Continental Army soldier’s campsite, and a multimedia theater experience.
We’ve been traveling the world most of our lives and posting as The Intentional Travelers for over five years and we have also done a good deal of cruising. Since 1999 we have taken over sixty five cruises stopping in more than one hundred ports. Five years ago in conjunction with The Crafts Mart we’ve been designing and producing graphic tees.
Under the name Cruise Life we’ve offered a number of shirts that are great for both ship n shore – designs that are easy to dress up but are also casual enough for beach or pool deck. Featured here are two of our most popular T-shirts dedicated the cruise life…
Cruise Life – This Is My Happy Place T-. A premium cotton tee shirt available in a full range of sizes and a number of colors. Each order is custom produced. For options and to select a shirt click below.
Please Note: Currently because of the complexity of international shipping we can only sell in North America We also regularly provide two options for ordering:
Etsy – For those concerned about the safety of their transactions Etsy, one of the worlds largest shopping sites offering one of the best shopping guarantees on the internet.
Direct – Get faster delivery and a better price place your order directly with our production facility.
Cruise Life A Day At Sea T-shirt. A premium cotton tee available in a full range of sizes and a number of colors. Each order is custom produced. To see options and to select a shirt click below.
The Intentional Travelers 