I'm going to focus on Twitter for this post, although I also use other forms of social media (Facebook being the other big one).
I know most people see Twitter as just a way to post updates (much like Facebook statuses) in a compact form. 140 characters is not a lot if you have a huge rant, or just a lot to say. But I use Twitter in a way that many people may not even think--I use it to talk to other people.
The majority of my Twitter people (as I call them--the ones that I talk to on a regular basis, the ones that I read their updates and they read mine, and we interact with each other in 140 characters or less) are members of the travel industry. And most of those are members of the cruise industry. Each day they post articles, reviews, posts, rants, commendations, sales, deals, pictures, podcasts, and radio shows dealing exclusively with the cruise industry.
I am not in the cruise industry. I am not a travel agent, I do not work for a cruise line. I am just a regular stay at home mom that likes to have some adult interaction during the day while the kids are napping or watching their educational tv. (how much Sesame Street can an adult watch before they turn into a muppet?!) Since I don't really know any adults that don't work during the day (I am one of the very few SAHMs of parents that I know), it's hard to work out play dates and such. So to the internet I turn when I have a few minutes free from other pursuits.
So I talk to people that share my passions--traveling being the big one. And the cruise industry seems to attract some of the nicest people. And since I'm a fan of cruising, ships, the ocean, etc., I gravitate to them.
So I'm sure you are wondering what I am rambling on and on about. I'll get there!
Tuesdays are #TravelTuesday--people of the travel industry make sure they are online so they can discuss all the new stuff going on, there are "parties", meaning people use a specific hashtag to pinpoint what their tweet is about. The one I participate in is #CruiseChat. It's an hour long question and answer period. The host (or hosts, depending) post questions, and participants answer. It provides a lot of interaction with other people, sometimes it gets a little crazy trying to follow along, as hundreds of people participate. And lately there have been contests. So even more of a reason to participate!
This week the prize was a $50 American Express gift card from sponsor @CruiseGiant. It's simple to enter the contest, you just retweet the specified post, and you are entered! (you have to have participated in the chat, however) So...this week, I WON! I never win anything! How completely awesome is that!?
Yes, this ties in with our vacation, because I plan to use that gift card towards something for/on vacation. Every little bit helps!
Also this week (I'm on a roll!) I won a free night at a Hilton hotel, from @HiltonHHonors. All I had to do there was tell them what I would go with a free night in one of their hotels. (it was a twitter contest they were having) And since we are going to have to stay over night in Baltimore before our cruise, well that's where I would use the free night!
So this week has been very unusual for me. I never win anything, yet since planning this cruise, I have won a free night in a hotel, (from my favorite hotel brand!) a $50 gift card, and earlier in the month a $50 on board credit .
So Twitter can be more than just a waste of time. It can be a great help in planning, booking, and paying for a vacation!
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Monday, November 28, 2011
My end goal with this blog
The whole reason I started this blog was not just to chronicle our vacation and experience leading up to it. Yes, that is a very nice side effect. However, my reasoning is thus: cruise blogs, reviews, etc., never have all the information that I want.
So after all is said and done, after our cruise is over, this blog will have all the information that people never put. Like what? you may be wondering.
1. Are there diaper changing stations in every public bathroom, and if not, where are they located?
2. More detail about kids clubs. The pictures online don't give much detail (hoping to get pictures and video of club).
3. Better video/pictures of stateroom. (I really had to search for pictures of the balcony for our stateroom, and video? Nope.) If people take pictures/video they do not post them for the public.
4. More small kid related things--how scary are the toilets to toddlers/preschoolers? Can they open the balcony door? Bed set-ups (may have a crib for 2 y/o, it all depends on how hard I push transition to bed from crib beforehand)--can our 4 year old sleep in the upper bunk without falling or being scared? Kids reactions to being on such a ginormous ship/the ocean/beaches, etc.
5. How do other cruisers respond to our adorable kids? Granted this will be purely for our own benefit, but I'm interested in how little kids are treated by strangers in a closed environment like this.
6. How do Carnival employees treat our boys? In public, kids get all sorts of reactions from employees of various places. Generally, they are ignored by hotel employees. Will the cruise staff be different?
7. Can our boys sit through dinner in the main dining room? We never go out to eat, so this may be an issue.
8. Is a stroller a help or hinderance?
9. Doing laundry. Carnival has self-laundry facilities. I plan to poke around them, and use them! to see how well they do with kid mess on clothes.
10. More more more! I know there's a ton more stuff I will be looking into. This cruise isn't just a vacation for me. I hope to help other families with their cruise decisions. Months of research and slogging through forums and blogs isn't most people's idea of fun before their vacation (it's my idea of fun though!) so if I can cut down on the work for anyone, yay!
If anyone has anything they want me to look into while we are on Carnival Pride, please post here and let me know.
So after all is said and done, after our cruise is over, this blog will have all the information that people never put. Like what? you may be wondering.
1. Are there diaper changing stations in every public bathroom, and if not, where are they located?
2. More detail about kids clubs. The pictures online don't give much detail (hoping to get pictures and video of club).
3. Better video/pictures of stateroom. (I really had to search for pictures of the balcony for our stateroom, and video? Nope.) If people take pictures/video they do not post them for the public.
4. More small kid related things--how scary are the toilets to toddlers/preschoolers? Can they open the balcony door? Bed set-ups (may have a crib for 2 y/o, it all depends on how hard I push transition to bed from crib beforehand)--can our 4 year old sleep in the upper bunk without falling or being scared? Kids reactions to being on such a ginormous ship/the ocean/beaches, etc.
5. How do other cruisers respond to our adorable kids? Granted this will be purely for our own benefit, but I'm interested in how little kids are treated by strangers in a closed environment like this.
6. How do Carnival employees treat our boys? In public, kids get all sorts of reactions from employees of various places. Generally, they are ignored by hotel employees. Will the cruise staff be different?
7. Can our boys sit through dinner in the main dining room? We never go out to eat, so this may be an issue.
8. Is a stroller a help or hinderance?
9. Doing laundry. Carnival has self-laundry facilities. I plan to poke around them, and use them! to see how well they do with kid mess on clothes.
10. More more more! I know there's a ton more stuff I will be looking into. This cruise isn't just a vacation for me. I hope to help other families with their cruise decisions. Months of research and slogging through forums and blogs isn't most people's idea of fun before their vacation (it's my idea of fun though!) so if I can cut down on the work for anyone, yay!
If anyone has anything they want me to look into while we are on Carnival Pride, please post here and let me know.
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
Travel Insurance
Holy cow. I know we need travel insurance, I have discussed it before in the blog. But holy cow are there a ton of options/plans. So how on earth do you know what you need?
Well, our wonderful TA showed us the plan that his company uses (recommends?) and for the price, I don't think either of us were impressed with the coverage. Don't get me wrong, it seems to be good basic insurance, but for less money, we could get more coverage from a 3rd party source. (Don't worry, we're looking at highly recommended companies from http://insuremytrip.com.)
So what do you need? The more coverage the better, I'm guessing. But where we are dithering right now is, do we need "Cancel for any reason" coverage? I've heard pros and cons for it, so...what to do?
We ended up, after comparing dozens of plans, getting insurance through Travel Guard. The gold plan includes a 50% cancel for any reason policy, so that's at least something. And it's pretty affordable.
It pays to research, and pray that you don't have to use it. Isn't that the thing about insurance? You pay for it (monthly in some cases) and pray that you never have to use it.
Well, our wonderful TA showed us the plan that his company uses (recommends?) and for the price, I don't think either of us were impressed with the coverage. Don't get me wrong, it seems to be good basic insurance, but for less money, we could get more coverage from a 3rd party source. (Don't worry, we're looking at highly recommended companies from http://insuremytrip.com.)
So what do you need? The more coverage the better, I'm guessing. But where we are dithering right now is, do we need "Cancel for any reason" coverage? I've heard pros and cons for it, so...what to do?
We ended up, after comparing dozens of plans, getting insurance through Travel Guard. The gold plan includes a 50% cancel for any reason policy, so that's at least something. And it's pretty affordable.
It pays to research, and pray that you don't have to use it. Isn't that the thing about insurance? You pay for it (monthly in some cases) and pray that you never have to use it.
Monday, November 21, 2011
So....changes
You can all go ahead and forget reading that post Deciding on Disney. Reasons? Because we are canceling the Disney cruise and booking with Carnival.
I know, I have already been told that we shouldn't--that Disney offers so much more than Carnival. Honestly? We've been dithering about this (and driving our travel agent, Simon, completely insane) for a few days.
We were booked on a 4 night cruise out of Port Canaveral. 20ish hours away, which would lead to a minimum of 3 nights in hotels (2 before the cruise, at least 1 after). Plus gas. Plus food. Plus the aggravation of driving for 20 hours with 2 small boys. And the cost of just the cruise? Slightly under $2800.
So Carnival has these balcony rooms on the Spirit class of ships. They are a secret to only a few (and now more, since you are all reading this). The rooms themselves are regular balcony rooms (something like 187 sq ft with a couch and shower, that type of basic room), but the balcony. Oh the balcony. Approximately 105 sqft, practically a bowling alley. (there are a couple pictures here, but those are not my pictures, so...yeah. No credit for me there.) I've been lusting after that balcony since I first saw pictures of it. But initially, the cruise was out of our price range. Even with the closer port (which equals less travel time, less gas, less hotels, less food) it was out of our budget. But then! Carnival dropped the price. Which brought it into our price range. As a matter of fact, since we canceled Disney way before penalty time, it's actually at least $200 cheaper than Disney (end cost after hotels, gas, etc.). Added to that, it's a whole lot closer. It would take 40 hours (minimum) of driving to get to and from Port Canaveral. Port of Baltimore? Under 24. May not seem like much to some, but when it comes to traveling with 2 tots? Oh yeah.
Thankfully, you need pretty much the same thing for a 7 day cruise as a 4 day. So my researching will not have been in vain!
I know, I have already been told that we shouldn't--that Disney offers so much more than Carnival. Honestly? We've been dithering about this (and driving our travel agent, Simon, completely insane) for a few days.
We were booked on a 4 night cruise out of Port Canaveral. 20ish hours away, which would lead to a minimum of 3 nights in hotels (2 before the cruise, at least 1 after). Plus gas. Plus food. Plus the aggravation of driving for 20 hours with 2 small boys. And the cost of just the cruise? Slightly under $2800.
So Carnival has these balcony rooms on the Spirit class of ships. They are a secret to only a few (and now more, since you are all reading this). The rooms themselves are regular balcony rooms (something like 187 sq ft with a couch and shower, that type of basic room), but the balcony. Oh the balcony. Approximately 105 sqft, practically a bowling alley. (there are a couple pictures here, but those are not my pictures, so...yeah. No credit for me there.) I've been lusting after that balcony since I first saw pictures of it. But initially, the cruise was out of our price range. Even with the closer port (which equals less travel time, less gas, less hotels, less food) it was out of our budget. But then! Carnival dropped the price. Which brought it into our price range. As a matter of fact, since we canceled Disney way before penalty time, it's actually at least $200 cheaper than Disney (end cost after hotels, gas, etc.). Added to that, it's a whole lot closer. It would take 40 hours (minimum) of driving to get to and from Port Canaveral. Port of Baltimore? Under 24. May not seem like much to some, but when it comes to traveling with 2 tots? Oh yeah.
Thankfully, you need pretty much the same thing for a 7 day cruise as a 4 day. So my researching will not have been in vain!
Thursday, November 17, 2011
"Leave the kids at home!"
The thing I have heard most when I ask friends for cruising tips, or look online for cruising with kids advice is that--"Leave the kids at home." :-\
I can't tell you how annoying that piece of advice is. Maybe other families can afford to have nannies, but we can't. Unless my parents watch them, we have no babysitters. (not for lack of want, more like lack of trustworthy people) Which means that if we want to go on a long vacation, the kids go with us. (by long, I mean more than 1-2 nights) Beyond that, we have planned this vacation as a FAMILY vacation. So why, when I ask for advice for cruising as a family, do I hear "Leave the kids at home"?
Yes, traveling with kids is rough. If you've read my past posts, you'll see that we are not flying for this vacation, because of the kids. The thought of the kids in an airport gives me a panic attack. So what could be a 3 hour flight is now a 20+ hour drive. When I ask for tips on how to keep the kids entertained for that time, I do not want to hear "Leave them at home."
Really, who are these people that leave their children (toddlers and preschoolers) for weeks at a time while they go on adult only vacations? Don't get me wrong, I believe that parents NEED to get away from their kids occasionally for vacation. I don't know how my parents managed to never leave us behind. But family vacations include *gasp* the family, and that includes the kids.
I suppose the only point to this post is this--when you are asked for advice/tips on how to travel as a family, don't tell the person to leave part of their family behind.
I can't tell you how annoying that piece of advice is. Maybe other families can afford to have nannies, but we can't. Unless my parents watch them, we have no babysitters. (not for lack of want, more like lack of trustworthy people) Which means that if we want to go on a long vacation, the kids go with us. (by long, I mean more than 1-2 nights) Beyond that, we have planned this vacation as a FAMILY vacation. So why, when I ask for advice for cruising as a family, do I hear "Leave the kids at home"?
Yes, traveling with kids is rough. If you've read my past posts, you'll see that we are not flying for this vacation, because of the kids. The thought of the kids in an airport gives me a panic attack. So what could be a 3 hour flight is now a 20+ hour drive. When I ask for tips on how to keep the kids entertained for that time, I do not want to hear "Leave them at home."
Really, who are these people that leave their children (toddlers and preschoolers) for weeks at a time while they go on adult only vacations? Don't get me wrong, I believe that parents NEED to get away from their kids occasionally for vacation. I don't know how my parents managed to never leave us behind. But family vacations include *gasp* the family, and that includes the kids.
I suppose the only point to this post is this--when you are asked for advice/tips on how to travel as a family, don't tell the person to leave part of their family behind.
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Just won a contest that contributes to cruise costs!
For those of you that don't know (and it's probably most of you) I am a researching fool. I love to research weird things, weird trivia, hard questions. I used to work for ChaCha before they stopped paying well. So when one of my Twitter buds @MeetOnCruise posted that they were doing a cruise trivia contest, I just had to check that out!
Now, it's HARD for me to get online at a set time on a certain day. I have 2 small boys that, frankly, make planning anything close to impossible. Especially something that doesn't rank super-important like a doctor's appointment. (even doctor's appointments are rough!)
So today, my boys were busy putting toys away (for the millionth time since we got up this morning), I parked myself at the kitchen table with my netbook (in full view of where the boys were busy throwing toys at each other and making more of a mess than not...) and fiddled around on the internet. Trivia was scheduled for 1pm (eastern), so I was online by then.
The question was posted on Meet On Cruise's forums and it was NOT easy. But with my Google-fu, I knocked it out of the park. The prize? $50 on-board cash for our cruise in April! Yay!
After that , I proceeded to dance around the kitchen, grinning like a goof, and making a complete fool out of myself. Thankfully, no one saw it, so my pride is intact. I'm still a little giddy and just out of the world. I love winning stuff, and I NEVER do, so this is completely awesome.
Make sure you follow @MeetOnCruise if you do Twitter, or Like them on Facebook to check out their trivia next month (Dec 1) for a chance to win!
Now, it's HARD for me to get online at a set time on a certain day. I have 2 small boys that, frankly, make planning anything close to impossible. Especially something that doesn't rank super-important like a doctor's appointment. (even doctor's appointments are rough!)
So today, my boys were busy putting toys away (for the millionth time since we got up this morning), I parked myself at the kitchen table with my netbook (in full view of where the boys were busy throwing toys at each other and making more of a mess than not...) and fiddled around on the internet. Trivia was scheduled for 1pm (eastern), so I was online by then.
The question was posted on Meet On Cruise's forums and it was NOT easy. But with my Google-fu, I knocked it out of the park. The prize? $50 on-board cash for our cruise in April! Yay!
After that , I proceeded to dance around the kitchen, grinning like a goof, and making a complete fool out of myself. Thankfully, no one saw it, so my pride is intact. I'm still a little giddy and just out of the world. I love winning stuff, and I NEVER do, so this is completely awesome.
Make sure you follow @MeetOnCruise if you do Twitter, or Like them on Facebook to check out their trivia next month (Dec 1) for a chance to win!
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