Cruises
The cabin you book is the trip you get.
Two cabins on the same ship, on the same sailing, at nearly the same price, can produce completely different weeks.
One is under the pool deck. One is forward on a ship that handles North Atlantic swell badly. One is perfect. The booking sites can't tell you which is which — that's the job.
Sailing from the Northeast
One of the real advantages of living here: you can drive to your ship.
- Manhattan — Midtown terminal (Manhattan Cruise Terminal)
- Brooklyn — Brooklyn Cruise Terminal (Red Hook)
- Cape Liberty, Bayonne — Royal Caribbean and Celebrity's home port
- Boston — Bermuda, Canada and New England sailings
- Baltimore and Philadelphia — occasionally worth the drive for the itinerary
Driving to your ship eliminates the single biggest cruise risk: a delayed flight causing you to miss embarkation. For a first cruise I'll usually steer you toward a drive-to port for exactly this reason.
The lines I book, and who they're for
Virgin and Carnival attract entirely different people. Matching the line to the traveller is most of the value.
What I do that a booking site doesn't
Read the deck plans
Noise, motion, obstructed views, connecting cabins, and the difference between a guarantee cabin and a chosen one.
Know when the price will move
Cruise pricing is dynamic. Booking early is usually right, but not always — and many lines will honor a price drop after booking if someone asks. I ask.
Stack the promotions
Onboard credit, prepaid gratuities, drinks packages and group rates can often be combined in ways that aren't obvious from the booking page.
Plan the shore days
Ship excursions are convenient and expensive. Independent operators are usually better and occasionally risky. I know which ports are which.
Insist on insurance
More than any other trip type. Medical evacuation from a ship is genuinely expensive, and standard health plans generally don't cover it.
First time cruising?
Start here: a four to seven night Caribbean sailing from a drive-to port on a mainstream line, in a balcony cabin. It's the lowest-risk way to find out whether cruising suits you — and if it does, you'll know exactly what you'd change next time.
If it doesn't suit you, you've lost a week rather than a fortnight. That's a reasonable bet.
It costs you nothing
The cruise line pays my commission. You pay the same fare — often with more onboard credit than you'd have gotten yourself.
And in many cases I can book the very same sailing, still earn my commission, and get you on board for less than you'd pay booking it yourself. When I can't beat the fare, I'll tell you. Here's how I'm paid, and what you pay.
Tell me where you want to go.
No fee, no obligation. Most first conversations take twenty minutes and end with a couple of ideas worth thinking about.
Start Planning