Jo's Cruise Tales

Looking at cruising for the first time with your family?

2011-07-01T04:26:00.000-07:00

Most ships have a great range of activities onboard for children of all ages, teenagers and Adults. If you are looking at taking your family onboard a cruise here are some things you should know.

Cruise lines normally divide children up for the Kids clubs according to their age, these ages are normally 3 to 6 year old, 7 to 10 years old and 11 to 17 years old (but can change from ship to ship). Infants between the ages of 6 months and 3 years are allowed to access these with a Parent or Guardian at all times. But please note if you have two children in two different age groups they will not be together while in the Kids club unless there are not many children onboard and in that case they could well be all together.

Some great cruise lines and ships for the best activities for children would be the following. But its all up to personal preference and whether they suit your families needs or not.

Royal Caribbean's - Voyager-class ships (Such as Voyager of the Seas, Adventure of the Seas, Explorer of the Seas, Navigator of the Seas and Mariner of the Seas) and the Freedom-class ships (Freedom of the Seas, Liberty of the Seas and Independence of the Seas) - This because they have Rock climbing walls, ice skating rinks, miniature golf and roller blading, a basketball court or pool games. Plus, Freedom, Liberty and Independence of the Seas offer the FlowRider.

Princess Cruises - All Princess ships -These ships were designed with families in mind, with expansive programs, facilities and accommodations for parents and children. There is also a Splash pool dedicated to children.

P&O Cruises UK - Ventura - This ship was launched in April 2008 and has an expansive area at the aft of the ship dedicated to kids and the first circus school at sea, it's a great ship for you to take the kids on for their first cruise.

P&O Cruises AU & NZ - Pacific Pearl, Pacific Jewel, Pacific Sun and Pacific Dawn - is a great line for kids for a number of reasons - its relaxed and informal vibe, great kids' facilities and the array of special shore excursions on offer for them. The activities range from Art and Crafts, Movies and Cartoons, Scavenger hunts, Disco nights, Pizza parties, Talent shows and Hip-hop classes.

Be sure to book your family's cruise early if you are wanting to cruise through any of the school holidays as they have limited child space for most sailings.

You can book these through www.cruisesalefinder.com.au/ www.cruisesalefinder.co.nz or www.cruisesalefinder.co.uk

Enjoy your 1st cruise!! :)

P&O Cruises UK World Cruises 2013

2011-06-23T05:52:00.000-07:00

P&O Cruises biggest world Cruise program released for 2013!!

P&O Cruises UK have announced their biggest world cruise program ever. They will have four ships cruising the world in 2013, one of these will be Azura which carries 3,100 passengers. Setting sail on her maiden voyage the Azura will be the largest ship to cruise the world and will visit Australia in February 2013.

Her sister ships Arcadia and Auroa which are also doing their world cruises will be cruising through both New Zealand and Australia. While the smaller ship Adonia will cruise on a South American explorer. In total these four P&O Cruises UK ships will be visiting 94 destinations in 52 different countries which means in total they will cover 130,000 nautical miles. The program represents a 23 per cent increase in world cruising cruise capacity compared to 2012.

To view Itineraries and prices please visit www.cruisesalefinder.com.au, www.cruisesalefinder.co.nz or www.cruisesalefinder.co.uk

**This information was correct at the time of blogging**

Cash onboard Yes or No?

2011-06-14T08:52:00.000-07:00

A very common question from my clients who are new to cruising would be how do I pay and is there cash onboard the ship...?

On arrival you will be given your ID card and or a key card for each person in the cabin. If travelling with Children you can choose for them to be on an adults card for purchasing drinks but they can get their own individual cards for the cabin key and drinks. This should be on you at all times because it will be the key for your cabin and also your card to pay for your purchases onboard.

The ID card will be the only form of payment you will need while you are onboard your cruise and there will be NO exchange of cash. Your ID card will be able to be used for all purchases onboard including, Drinks, Spa treatments, Service charge restaurants and any extras you would like to buy. You will just need to hand over your card and sign once they have processed your order. The card will also be your key card to disembark and embark at each port.

If you have been lucky enough to receive Onboard credit for your cabin. This will be applied to your card automatically by the cruise line. Whether you have two, three or four people in your cabin you would need to ask the person checking you in to split the amount how you would like it to be (just incase they apply it to one persons card and saves time later once onboard).

On some cruise lines you will be able to check your onboard account on your Television set in your cabin. In other cases you will need to ask at the Pursars desk for a print out of your current balance.

At the end of your cruise you will be able to pay with your credit card/ debit card and sometimes they will take cash this will need to be advised at the time of check in.

Have a great cruise!!

---The information posted was correct at the time of blogging---

Voyager of the Seas heading Down Under!

2011-06-09T03:18:00.000-07:00

Some great news!

The Voyager of the Seas is heading to the Australasian area at the end of 2012.

You will be able to enjoy 12 popular itineraries throughout the season including 50 ports of call to New Zealand ports in a total of 7 cruises throughout this period.

There will be cruises from one to 18 nights sailing ex Sydney and Fremantle. She will also be cruising to the South Pacific for a number of cruises.

The Voyager will also be cruising through Asia between June and October 2012 so check out these Itineraries and prices on our website at www.cruisesalefinder.com.au/ www.cruisesalefinder.co.nz and soon to be www.cruisesalefinder.co.uk

---This information was correct at the time of blogging and could change---

Held a cabin but do not have a cabin number?

2010-06-09T19:51:00.000-07:00

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Held a cabin but do not have a cabin number?

Cruise lines often bring out cheap rates once a sailing is getting full or if need to be filled. Which means we have fantastic cheap fares on the lowest grades (sometimes Insides, Outside obstructed views and Balconies) on the sailing with no cabin number the cruise lines call this a Guarantee basis. If your cabin is on a guarantee basis your cabin number will be assigned closer to sailing date (this category or higher although may not be be a higher deck).

If you are booked on this basis and are traveling with several other cabins and people we can not guarantee cabins will be near each other in this instance, so please be aware when booking this category of cabin at the cheaper fare.

Please let one of us cruise consultants know if you have any questions with regards to the above blog :) ...

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Traveling with children or young adults under the age of 17 years of age? - P&O Cruises (Australia)

2010-06-09T19:45:00.000-07:00

Traveling with children or young adults under the age of 17 years of age? - P&O Cruises (Australia)

P&O Cruises (AU) go by four different age groups which are 12 months - 2 years, 3 years to 6 years, 7 years to 10 years and 11 years to 17 years. They only have limited space for each age group per cruise, so in peak periods such as School holidays and the Christmas break these book up fairly fast. The age which tends to full up first is 11-17 years old.

This makes it very hard to book last minute for families and large groups of people traveling with young adults or children. I would always recommend booking in advance (sometimes 1 year before sailing date) to avoid being being disappointed closer to the sailing date. Booking early also gives you a chance of having cabins close by to each other.

If you do wish to book and the child space for your child's age group is full the best we can do is place you and your family on a waiting list. The waitlist sometimes does clear but we can not guarantee it will.

Please note: That the child availability on the cruise has nothing to do with the Kids club and if your children do wish to go to the Kids club onboard you will need to register them once onboard the ship with a child registration form.

Please let one of us know if you have any questions with regards to the above blog :) ...

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Kids Clubs - Pacfic Jewel

2010-06-01T19:04:00.000-07:00

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While onboard the Pacific Jewel I had a tour around the Kids clubs. They have four different age groups Turtle Cove (3 to 6 years), Shark Shack (7 to 10 years) these two are located on deck 12 in the AFT. Also HQ (11 to 14 years) and HQ + (15 to 17 years) located on deck 2 Mid ships. All P&O Cruises AU have the same age groups but are located in different areas. Infants between the ages of 12 months and 2 years and 11 months cruise for free but cannot be minded by staff onboard the ship however they can be accompanied by a Parent or guardian in the kids club if needed.

To register your children you will need to obtain a Child registration form which needs to be completed by a Parent or Guardian upon arrival. They have limited daily numbers (approx 40 children per session) and hold two sessions a day so be sure to get in quickly if you wish to secure your children a place.

If you have two or more children in different age groups they have very strict rules and you are unable to place them into the same group due to the limited space in each session. But not to worry as you will find they will make new friends fast!

Babysitting is available for children over the age of 3 years old, this will begin at 5 pm and will cost approx $5 per child per hour.

The kids club do take the children to dinner if needed this is normally between 4 pm and 5 pm in the buffet restaurant (could differ on each ship). They also attend the Theatre with the children after hours.

During the day children can enjoy fantastic activities like Arts and Crafts, Disco parties, Talent shows, Pizza partys, Movies and cartoons, Scavenger hunts, PlayStation and WII games and alot more (All activities differ for each age group and can be found in the P&O brochure or website)

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