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Best Ways to Cruise More Responsibly

7/31/2014

7 Comments

 
Tracy Arm AlaskaToss nothing overboard. That way, we can keep the waterways in Alaska and other parts of the world pristine.
By John Roberts

I was participating in the Sunday Brunch Travel Chat on Twitter last week (#SBTC) and the topic was "green travel." We always try to have as light an impact on the environment as possible when we are out on the road. This discussion in the Twitter chat made me wonder how we can do even more -- especially on cruises -- to be environmentally conscious.

I've come up with a few ideas based on certain behaviors I have witnessed during my 24 cruises. If we all do a little bit more to conserve, we can help to keep cruising more affordable while aiding the health and sustainability of the planet and its inhabitants.

1. Take only what you need and eat all that you take. The biggest peeve of mine is the wasteful behavior of my fellow cruisers. You are entitled to be as gluttonous as you want. We all overindulge a bit on vacation, sure. But you can go back to the buffet as often as you like or order more in the main dining room if you are still hungry. So, there is no reason to pile gigantic portions of everything you come across as you circle the buffet area only to leave heaping plates barely touched. This wasted food all gets thrown away. 

Why not browse the entire lay of the buffet, then carefully select a nice variety of food and scoop a modest portion onto your plate. Did you especially like something? Fine. Go back for more. Didn't like something? Good. At least you didn't take too much, so you won't waste much.   

Finish your first plate and still hungry? Awesome! Go back and try some other items.

Celebrity Cruises is trying a new system to address waste concerns. Seeing that some people just can't control themselves -- or simply don’t give a damn how much they waste -- Celebrity Summit's buffet features preplated items in small portions. We'll see how this flies with passengers. I'm sure there are going to be unintended consequences because people like to have more control and choice.

All I can suggest is that we exercise a little bit more common sense and self control in an effort to eliminate some of the waste I see going on.

2. Don't toss anything overboard. This would seem to be common sense. Mainly, we need to be careful not to have anything accidentally fly off your balcony in the breeze, too. Cruise lines are especially concerned with smokers tossing their lit cigarettes and cigars into the oceans. Besides spoiling the waters, this can be extremely dangerous. The smoking materials can easily blow into a lower deck and start a fire onboard.

3. Towels can be used more than once. This practice applies anywhere you travel and are provided towels at the pool or in your accommodations. On a cruise, though, people tend to be extra wasteful with their towels. Many simply use them as lounger savers. That is, they rise early grab a batch of towels and drape them over the poolside loungers to selfishly save seats that many of them never really intend to use (I guess they want to reserve the option and the hell with the rest of us!). Well, these towels also must be gathered up by the pool attendants and washed. How thoughtless and wasteful is that whole cycle?

These are just a few concerns that jump out at me as I cruise. Please chip in with your ideas for how we can be more responsible as cruisers.

As always, thanks for reading.

JR


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7 Comments

Independent Excursions vs. Cruise Ship Excursions

7/24/2014

2 Comments

 
It's all about the money, flexibility and comfort for your adventure ashore
Snorkeling Klein Bonaire reef
One of our best excursions was a drift snorkel experience we booked on our own in Bonaire.
By John Roberts

Easily the best times we've had on our cruises have been during our adventures onshore at the port stops. We have had great success in booking our excursions independently. This is for a number of reasons.

1. The Cost. When you book on your own, you can plan well in advance of your sailing. We have locked up an excursion more than a year in advance for Barbados, for example. Doing thorough research online helps you find the exact type of experience you want. Go to the forums on Cruise Critic or read the reviews on TripAdvisor to check what others have enjoyed in their port stops.

You might find specific recommendations for independent excursions and the names of well-regarded outfitters. Or you can at least learn the best type of activities for a certain locale. In Costa Rica, for example, we found out that ziplining would be a great option. So, we started focusing our web searches on "best ziplining Costa Rica" and the like. We ended up negotiating a good price and locking up our adventure ashore more than six months ahead of our cruise (make sure you understand the tour guide's cancellation policy) and had one of the best excursions ever. Cruise lines' shore excursion desks offer outings for prices that typically will average 20 percent to up to 100 percent more than you can negotiate on your own for a similar outing.

We paid $75 for our Costa Rica ziplining trip, which included a range of other activities. A similar tour available from our cruise ship cost $129.

Visiting a fresh fruit stand in Costa Rica
In Costa Rica, our guide pulled over to a local fruit stand so the four of us could sample the fresh delights.

2. The Flexibility. When you book your own excursion, you often get to design your day so that it's just the way you want it. We love snorkeling, so we'll seek out a catamaran sailing that makes stops at a couple reefs, offers time at a beach along with lunch and drinks. You might get all of that on cruise line's excursion, but you also often will find that you must sacrifice at least one item on your ideal list. 

Perhaps you want a full day checking out all the highlights on your island. You can design an island tour with your outfitter that includes as much time as you would like at the beaches, shops, bars or historic sites. When you go on the ship's tour, the day is more regimented because the group is large, so the activities can’t be customized to meet the preferences of everyone. 

During our day in Costa Rica, we went ziplining, toured a banana plantation, spent time at a beach, ate at a roadside fruit stand and stopped to spot howler monkeys and sloths in trees that our guide had seen (along with other wildlife and plants). And when I mentioned that I liked to sample beers where I visit, our guide Danilo Hall, went to a grocery store and bought us a sampling of the island brews at no extra charge. You are not going to get that unless you book an independent tour.

We've also had good luck in negotiating a good price and customizing our tour by simply walking off the ship with no specific plans and heading right to an excursion kiosk dockside and seeing how desperate the operators are to make sure they make a sale that day. Wait until most of the organized prebooked tours have cleared out, then go do your wheeling and dealing with the tour operators who have been left on the dance floor without a partner. You can get a greatly reduced rate if you can approach your day in port as a wildcard, not knowing exactly what's on the agenda.

3. The Intimacy. Cruise ship excursions cater to extremely large groups. I've found myself frustrated on several occasions when I've felt like nothing more than cattle being shuffled about all day. Nope, that is no fun at all! You end up in long lines on big tour buses and moving only as fast as the slowest person in the group. Book your own tour and you can limit the number of people you will be spending the day with. We've often been in groups as small as four of us (just our family or friends) and usually about eight to 10 people. This works great because you will all get along because you obviously have similar interests and travel experiences. Yes, this is a lot of fun!

John Roberts, In The Loop Travel, ziplines in Costa Rica.
Plan your day, your way, and you'll consistently enjoy your active adventures during your cruise port stops.

NOTE: There is one great reason that so many people book the excursions directly from the cruise line. You get a guarantee that the ship will not leave you behind if your tour runs behind schedule and your group is late back to port for the ship's scheduled departure time. You are out of luck if you are late for some reason on your independent tour. We have never had a problem, but there are tales of those who have had to make arrangements to meet the ship at the next port stop after they pulled up to the dock too late after a tour and watched the vessel pull out to sea while they ran down the pier hoping the ship might stop and return for them. (It won't.) 

Give your guide on an independently booked tour constant reminders of when you MUST be back to your ship.  

Thanks for reading.

Travel happy,

JR
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2 Comments

3 Top Tips for Universal's Islands of Adventure in Orlando

7/9/2014

1 Comment

 
Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal's Islands of Adventure in Orlando, Florida
By John Roberts


I've been to Universal's Islands of Adventure at least four times. Oh, yes, I will be going again. It's that much fun, even for a guy nearing 50 years old. We have loved the fast and innovative rides there since our first trip many years ago. Spider-Man and Hulk are my favorite, along with the log-flume ride Ripsaw Falls and the Jurassic Park River Adventure raft ride.

This time, CMac was pumped to finally explore The Wizarding World of Harry Potter (at top), which debuted in 2010.

The rides were as cool as I remember, and you'll certainly have a blast if you go, but there are a few things I took note of this time -- some of them a bit disappointing -- as I specifically went into the day aiming to capture the adventures for you guys so that I could provide you with some good tips for your travels.

1. No video or pictures allowed on the rides. Staffers at the park were constantly monitoring and making announcements that riders are not to have cameras out on the rides. They even were removing riders from their seats to have them put cameras in lockers before allowing them to ride. This was a huge hassle, and I was almost put off the Hulk roller coaster before I was able to quickly stuff my GoPro into my shorts pocket, which they said was an acceptable resolution. This policy was vastly different from my day at Disney, where I openly wore my GoPro on my head to capture several cool ride experiences.

I was able to wear my GoPro on the first ride of the day to capture the Spider-Man experience (see video at bottom of this post). The staffers must not have noticed in the darkened loading area for the ride. I wasn't hiding my wrist attachment, and I didn't even know of their strict policy yet at that time.

I find no reason for the rule listed among the other policies on the theme park's website. I assume they don't want cameras being dropped from the rides, which could pose a danger. Allowing devices that are well-attached like a GoPro would provide a great marketing advantage for the park, however, as visitors share their thrilling experiences on social media, etc. Your loss, Universal Studios!

So, if you want to take pictures or shoot video at Islands of Adventure, you must plan to do so on the sly.

2. There is a strict backpack policy. You also must stow your backpack, purse or any other bag in a locker before getting on certain rides, such as the Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey attraction. This also differed from Disney staffers, who readily trusted riders to responsibly take of their bags while on the attractions. If at all possible, it's advisable to pack all you need into cargo shorts or pants and arrive at the theme park without bags. You'll avoid the lengthy bag-check lines at the front gate and enjoy a more hassle-free day getting on and off the rides.

3. Go to Harry Potter land early -- but not first! We thought we would be smart and get to the park early so we could check out the Wizarding World attractions before the masses descended upon the ridiculously popular area. Well, we were near the very front of the line at 8:30 a.m. for the park's standard 9 a.m. opening time. However, visitors can get a one-hour-early entry to the park when they are staying at one of Universal's three on-site hotels (they also get express passes to bypass long ride lines). This meant we were behind a batch of people who already were in the park. But it still wouldn't be too bad, right? I mean, we didn't see that many people go in early while we waited.

Wrong!

In addition to those who got in ahead of us between 8 and 9 a.m., we ended up far behind the maniacs in line with us who all burst forth into a collective gallop to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. By the time we made it back there (I was not about to run to a Harry Potter ride!), the estimated wait time for the experience was already 60 minutes.

We quickly surmised that if all the people were at this popular ride, we would take advantage of the chance to ride Spider-Man, Hulk and some others while they were nearly deserted.

Score!

Big time!
Dr. Doom ride at Universal's Islands of Adventure in Orlando, Florida
We got on Spider-Man, then Hulk, then Spider-Man, again, and then Dr. Doom (above) -- all with just five- to 10-minute wait times. 

I thought that if we were going to wait 60 minutes for Harry Potter, we could do it later in the day, anyways. Well, we tried again after our flurry of Marvel character rides and found the wait for Potter to be down to 30 minutes. Then, we popped over to the roller coaster ride in the Wizarding World, and the wait was a mere five minutes. We had gotten in six rides before 11:30 a.m. Not too bad.

Notes: Our entrance cost $96 per person with tickets bought online through AAA, and parking was $17 per car (the evening rate drops to $5 for parking after 6 p.m.)

I hope these tips help you have a great day at Universal's Islands of Adventure.


You can find great deals on tickets for The Wizarding World of Harry Potter and all sorts of Orlando theme parks and attraction by clicking the link below. 

Thanks for reading,

JR

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter - Now Open!


VIDEO: Ride along with Spider-Man in 3D at Islands of Adventure
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