Cruising during the recession. Save Money!
Vacationing during a recession may seem like a luxury that might not happen for some people. Fortunately there is an affordable method to enjoy yourself and relieve stress. This method comes in the form of a cruise. Cruises are an affordable luxury and rival the prices of a cheap hotel stay. Depending on the amount of people the cruise is cheap for both a family and a couple. For single people the cruise may look even more appealing.
In a bad economy such as the one we are witnessing, there are small drops in the cruise lines revenues. This leads to ridiculous deals on cruise ships year around. On Norwegian Cruise lines the 3rd and 4th passengers are from $99. Other cruise lines have special deals for the children to ride free. For taking a cruise with family keep to a strict budget. The money you save on the base cruise price can easily be spent on extras one your on the cruise.
Book your own shore excursions. Spending time on the internet looking for excursions ahead of time will save you money. Another method of overcharging the passengers is by selling excursions for pumped up prices. Doing a little bit of research on the islands will allow you to enjoy more of your time on vacation.
Drive to the location of the cruise port. Airfare can add to the prices of the cruises and sometimes may even cost just as much as the cruise itself. If you can take the time off to drive to the cruise ports (Usually Florida) then you can save loads of cash. In order to try and drive to the port the suitcases should be well planned out so that you can maximize your car space. Dont limit yourself to one port though because their are more than 20 cruise ports within the United States. There is definitely one within driving range from your residence.
Comparing the prices of different vacations shows the great deals on a cruise. Let me compare the prices for two people on a vacation. One hundred dollars a night is a fairly cheap price for a hotel stay. Now add in three meals a day and your at about 100 more dollars. Other activities and excursions would cost under 50 bucks a day on top of this. The average cost for a cruise is 88 dollars a day. The difference per day is substantial for a couple and even larger for families. In conclusion, cruises are a affordable and enjoyable vacation.
Packing for that upcoming cruise. Do not stress!
Packing for that upcoming cruise is always stressful. Getting everything done early always helps the situation. For every vacation creating a list allows me to make sure that I have all the stuff I need. Of course who doesnt get writers block every so often? In case of that, I kept a list I had written down as a checklist for my last cruise. Here it is:
- Cruise Documents
- Passports/Identification (Driver License)
- Wallet
- Water-Proof Watch (I went scuba diving and recommend it)
- Medications/Prescriptions
- Sun Glasses or Reading Glasses
- Reading Material (You will probably get some on the cruise)
- Plug Adaptor
- Cell phone and charger
- Digital Camera and charger or extra memory cards
- Ipod and Earphones
- Hand Sanitizer (If your taking a plane you might have problems bringing more than 3 ounces)
- Enough Casual outfits for the amount of day and half those days worth of formal/evening clothing.
- Sneaker with socks
- Sandals/Flip flops
- Sweatshirt and Jackets
- Hair products (Gel, Conditioner, Shampoo)
- Toothbrush and toothpaste (Usually given to you in the room)
- Make-up
- Deodorants/Anti Perspirant and Colognes
What you need to know before choosing a cruise
So, you want to go on a cruise! It’s exciting, it’s fun and it’s your way of enjoying the great life. But how do you make the choice of where to go, when and with whom? There are so many choices with respect to cruising nowadays that it can be very confusing. Here are a few tips to consider helping you decide which cruise is right for you.
Listed below are few examples of the types of cruise you may wish to take:
1. Mediterranean cruise
2. Caribbean cruise
3. an Alaskan cruise,
4. a cruise down the Amazon or Panama Canal
5. a Transatlantic ocean crossing
6. South Pacific or Hawaiian Island cruise
7. River cruises (the fjords in Norway, the Danube in Europe, the Nile in Egypt, the Mississippi in United States)
8. Polar cruises to see the penguins in the Antarctic
9. Russian waterways cruises
10. Galapagos Island cruises
11. New Zealand or Australia
Each can be very appealing but are also very different.
1. The first thing to consider in taking one of these cruises is when you want to go—the time of the year can dictate the type of cruise. Some cruise ship lines do not offer cruises to the Mediterranean in the winter months, but transfer their ships to the warmer waters of the Caribbean. Alaskan cruises only run in certain months also due to weather conditions. Ocean crossing cruises (Transatlantic) take place only as the seasons change so that cruise ship companies can reposition their ships to match the high seasons’ tourist industry.
2. You also have to decide on the length of your cruise. A typical choice is a 7-night cruise, but you can take cruises from 3-4 nights to over a month in length, or more. The length of your vacation time available may limit you, but taking a cruise for the first time may also be a consideration. Limiting your cruise to a manageable shorter cruise may help you decide whether a longer cruise at another time may be more advisable. In other words, do you get seasick? Do you like the variety of visiting different ports? Do you wish to simply stay at one destination and relax? Do you like the busy atmosphere of the many activities on a ship?
3. Next, the ports that you wish to visit can be a great part of which cruise is the right choice for you. Have you always wanted to visit Tortugas, the Bahamas or Cayman Islands? Here is your chance to get a taste of it. Make sure that one of your chosen destinations is on your cruise itinerary, and there are endless choices of various itineraries available. Cruises are great ways to experience various places. Then you can decide which destination you would like to see more of on a future vacation.
4. Another consideration in choosing a cruise is the amount of time you wish to be “At Sea”. For a Transatlantic voyage you are at sea for many days at a time, which limits you to being within the confines of the ship at all times. This can be a bonus if you don’t want the hustle and bustle of visiting different ports, but it can also be a downside if you want a lot of variety on your vacation. Some cruises offer very little time at sea, being in a different port every day, and this flurry of activity can be too overwhelming for some vacationers. I would recommend a bit of both—for a 7-night cruise a good happy medium would be 2 days at sea with the other days stopping at various ports of call.
5. Once you have narrowed down your choice of cruise to when and where you wish to visit, the next hardest choice is the cruise line and size of ship you want to use. The size of ship can dictate the cruise line, as some cruise lines offer significantly larger ships than others. Some cruise lines only use smaller, more intimate ships for smaller groups of people. Other cruise lines offer huge ships with passengers in the thousands. You must decide whether you like a small personal touch or like the larger groups. (We found that even on a larger ship, there were still areas where we could go to get away from the crowds. Crowding on the huge ships was not a problem at all.)
6. Fitting the cruise line to your individual personality is perhaps the most important factor in determining your cruise enjoyment. There are many different types of ship lines that cater to varying personalities. Of course, the Disney Cruise Line caters to families, but others such as Carnival Cruises cater to more of a party atmosphere for adults, or Norwegian focuses on a more conservative group. Discuss with your travel agent which cruise line fits you best. Cruise lines also offer themed or special interest cruises, such as an art collectors cruise, golfer’s cruises or culinary class cruises. These may be great to fit in with the interests in your life-style.
7. Once you have found the best itinerary for you on the cruise line that suits your personality, at the best time of year for you, there are still other choices you need to make. Some cruise lines offer “freestyle cruising”, which simply put means that you don’t have a set dinner time at a set table, but you can choose to eat whenever you wish. On most cruises, however, you have a preset dinner time at an assigned table. You can choose an early dinner (usually around 6-6:30) or a later dinner time (7:30-8:00). In choosing your dinner time, take into consideration your off-ship excursions. You don’t want to have to rush back from your shore excursion just to get back in time for dinner. You also usually have a choice of how many people you wish to sit with (usually from 4 to 8 -10 people at a table.) Our travel agent suggested a table of 8 on our cruise—she stated that if you were at a table for 4 and you didn’t get along with the other couple you were stuck, but a table for 8 offered more chance of finding congenial soul-mates.
8. Shore excursions can also be a major part of your cruise experience. There are many different shore excursion packages available, from visiting butterfly farms, swimming with dolphins, exploring ancient ruins, to snorkelling or scuba diving. Of course, if you wish you do not need to go on any shore excursions. You can simply choose to stay on-board and take advantage of the ship’s amenities, or you can simply walk around and visit or shop in the port-of-call.
Choosing a cruise can seem overwhelming, but the main point is to suit the cruise to what you want to get out of the experience. If you want a whirlwind of activity choose a party cruise line with that in mind. If you want a more relaxed atmosphere, choose more time at sea. If you want to sample various cultures, choose a destination-rich cruise. Different types of cruises offer at of those things, and more. Hopefully the above has given you an idea in the choices you need to make to get the most enjoyment out of your cruise. Happy cruising!
Atlantis Resort Review: An Amazing Find
From The Guest Writer Philip:
I recently traved to the Bahamas where I stayed at the Atlantis Resort on Paradise Island. It was one of the most enjoyable experiences of my entire life. From the mysterious underwater tunnels, to the adrenaline pumping waterslides, the Atlantis resort was a spectacular place. In the following parts of this review I will go over the restaurants, entertainment, attractions, and anything else you might ever want to know.
Accommodation:
The Harborside: I stayed at the Harborside which is near the Marina. The Harborside is one of the most spacious resorts in the Atlantis. It is not the most luxurious but is great for larger groups.
The Reef: The newest of the resorts at the Atlantis, the Reef is the most luxurious and also very expensive. The rooms are beautiful and look very comfortable.
The Cove: One of the most modern buildings of the Atlantis, you are close to everything if you stay here. Only a couple minutes walk to the beach and you’re just as close to the slides!
Dining:
Buffets:
The Mosaic- A nice buffet restaurant with a beautiful atmosphere. The Mosaic has excellent food and a good amount of variety. The atmosphere and the design of the restaurant was extraordinary. The only cons to the Mosaic is that it is expensive (but so is all the food at the Atlantis) and that it didn’t have that big of a selection as I had hoped. 9/10
The Marketplace- This buffet had more of a selection and just as good food although the environment of this buffet was more family oriented and louder and busier. Though if you choose to go here I suggest that you try the sushi. It was great. 8/10
Casual Dining:
Bimini Road: A great place for a family, this restaurant is fun to be at. Live music is played there and it gives the restaurant a vibrant feel. The food was good and it is definetely worth it to try this place out. But be forewarned, when they say its “mildly” spicy, its more like VERY spicy. 8/10
The Point: A nice place to stop and eat if you’re at the beach. It provides shade and good food and a relaxed atmosphere. 7.5/10
The Lagoon Bar and Grill: Another great place to stop for lunch if you’re close to it is the Lagoon Bar and Grill. It is a beautiful place and its roof is a giant “seashell”. Very good food and I recommend the sandwiches for they were exceptional. 8.5/10
Norwegian Jewel offers long relaxing cruises in Europe
For the end of summer the Norwegian Jewel will be repositioned to Europe for the remainder of the August/September sailing months. As of July 9th the ship will sail round-trip around London. This will continue on into early September. Highlights of this cruise include St. Petersburg, Helenski and Berlin. It seems that the majority of older folks who took this ship for the trip highly enjoyed themselves. They believed it was well priced and showed them a lot of great sights.
The last of these tours of London will be on the 7th of September. After 12 days of sailing around London and its beautiful surroundings it will pick up more members for a relaxing cruise on the 19th back to New York City. According to many reviews though the cruise ship does stop on its journey to New York, the younger crowds found it boring and not up to far with the Carribean cruises. The Ship will then continue its sailing in the Caribbean from November to April offering cheap rooms.
Norwegian Epic finished and cruising begins Summer 2010
The building of the Norwegian Epic has finished. As of June 17th the last block of the ship was lowered onto the monster vessel. At 153,000 gross tons, 1068 feet and room for 4200 passengers this ship is massive. Exploring this ship as i love doing on larger ships is going to be great. The boat has an aqua park including three water slides, two illuminated pools, and five nice sized whirlpools. Do you enjoy rock climbing? Well this new ship has a 33 foot rock climbing wall with two seperate levels. Theres a great kids and teens club, seperating the tweens and the teens. Even if this doesnt impress you, theres 6 bowling lanes on the ship. Now stop and think about that, a moving, rocking ship has 6 lanes. That has got to be one of the coolest parts of the ship. The epic theater, Norwegian confirmed will be housing the Blue Man group as well as the Cirque Dream and Dinner expierience. The Norwegian Epic is certain to be known for their Nightlife as well. Theres a variety of clubs available of different themes and areas. Luxury clubs can be found on a variety of decks. Many of the ships are transformed into adult free lounges late at night. On top of all this the Epic Casino has a elegant yet simple appearance. It even offers free gambling lessons for passengers on the ship.
Everyone knows that food is a major part of any cruise. Buffets on any ship no matter what time they open and close gets hit the hardest by both the critics and the average cruisegoers. Fortunately if you are in the mood for something different while you are on the cruise, you have 17 different dining options. These options include Italian, Japanese and Chinese American food. With a selection like this the dining is sure to please. For the passenger with cash to spend your cruising expierience can be even more exceptional in large suites such as the Studios and Villas.
%
Skateboarding! Tips to Take to the Streets
From the Guest Writer (Philip I.)
I remember not being able to do any tricks 
. I was getting frustrated and was ready to give up. Then I decided to find tips to help me land those tricks perfectly. Now I am going to share what I learned for some of the more basic moves with you.
NOTE: This is based on preferance and opinion. If you find another way that you prefer and that works, feel free to share this way I can add them to this article if I feel that the tips have merit (I will try to give credit as much as possible for those tips that you share).
NOTE #2: If you would like tips for other moves please just comment below and well be sure to include tips for those moves in the follow-up post.
Tips for Ollies:
-Don’t give up. The key to nailing this trick is practice, practice, and more practice. I thought i was doing it wrong but low and behold after a week of doing it over and over again the same way, I landed my first ollie.
-While popping the board, scrape your foot up towards the the nose immediatly after. Dont wait till the board is already in the air at an angle because it will become harder to straighten out the board and land evenly.
Tips for Kickflips:
-Some intructional videos will tell you to start practicing kickflips on the bolts and then flicking, but if you already can land a solid ollie I suggest starting off in the middle of your board. The way that works is when you pop the board up you drag your foot up similar to an ollie but when your toes reach the bolts you flick your toes towards the bottom right corner of your board.
-Practice it stationary until you can land about 4/5 attempts. Then begin to start practicing kickflips while moving. Make sure you’re you start off slower on your first tries.
Manuals:
-I suggest you first learn to balance on your board. To do this you find an object that you can put your hands on to steady yourself and practice shifting your weight while on your board. Do this until you find the balance of your weight that rewards you with the manual position (tail partially down without touching the ground and the nose off the ground).
-Once you can keep yourself balanced in the manual position for more than 8 seconds its time to try without your arms steadying yourself against an object. When you have that down perfectly, its time to try it moving.
GOOD LUCK TAKING THESE MOVES TO THE STREETS 
How safe is Paintball really?
Thinking about the concept of Paintball it seems like anything but a safe sport. In reality Paintball is one of the nations safest sports. The risks of Football and similar injuries are 12 times greater then that of Paintball. One in four thousand paintball players will succumb to a paintball injury. Of course there still are a variety of ways to get hurt in paintball. Small Welts and bruises are rarely avoidable in Paintball. When playing on outdoor and indoor fields strict rules limit the injuries. You need to remember that when playing on a commercial field that the owners of the field are most likely insured. The first safety regulation forces all players to wear goggles as long as they are on the field. Taking off the mask on the field disqualifies players from playing because it breaches the rules on most fields. If you rent a gun on fields, 300 fps is considered the recommended and safe power for play. On outdoor fields this may be higher due to the larger distances. When using a personal paintball gun from home, most fields force players to lower or higher the fps to the recommended speed. Hands down the most important safety regulation invloved in commercial fields are the gun plugs. As long as your gun is off the field it must have the gun sock over it which blocks the barrel of the gun. This certifies that even if the gun goes off by mistake and the safety is off, no damage occurs to anyone around the gun or the person handling the gun. Following common sense when playing paintball and playing on fields using safety regulations ensures that your games will be fun and safe. Lastly paintballs might sting, its part of the game. The little pinch allows the player to realize they have been hit and break the paintball. (Really it isnt bad at all, most of the time you barely feel the ball hit you.)
Infomercial star Billy Mays dies at 50
On June 28th Billy May’s was found dead. Only 3 days after the death of Michael Jackson Mays dies at the same age as the King of Pop. Billy is most recognizable from from commercials selling products such as Oxiclean, Orange Glo, Orange Clean and Kaboom. Recently Billy Mays is also the star of his show named Pitchmen. Billy Mays dies at a high point in his life. Billy had a iconic bearded face that is unforgetable. Foul play is not suspected at his house in Tampa, Florida. His death is believed to be linked to a rough landing on U.S airways flight 1241 on saturday afternoon at Tampa International Airport. Mays was interviewed after the landing and said “All of a sudden as we hit you know it was just the hardest hit, all the things from the ceiling started dropping. It hit me on the head, but I got a hard head.” The family asked for privacy in their time of mourning. Billy’s dominant and persuasive selling techniques will be sorely missed and my heart goes out to his family.
King of Pop Michael Jackson found dead
Michael Jackson was found dead at his residence Thursday June 25th. The iconoc pop singer, dancer and entertainer was found unconscious on the scene when peramedics found him. Multiple attempts to resuscitate him were unsuccessful on the scene. He was later taken to UCLA hospital and later pronounced dead. The call to 911 from Mr. Jacksons residence was at exactly 12:22 p.m. Paramedics noted that he was in cardiac arrest when he was discovered. Assistance was at the Neverland residence within a little over 3 minutes. Attempts to resuscitate him continued for an hour after he was found and continued to be unsuccessful. At approximately 2:25 P.M Michael Jackson was pronounced dead. Two autopsy’s were administered on Michael’s body in order to discover the immediate cause of death. An official cause of death could take weeks or months in order to be reported. As of now the abuse of severe pain medications are one of the causes of death under investigation. Jackson’s family backed by Reverant Jesse Jackson asked for a second autopsy to be performed on Michael Jackson in order to looks in more detail over Mr. Jacksons body. At the moment Michael Jackson, the king of pop’s death is unclear. Millions of fans worldwide grieve over Michael’s Death and there is not much more to say but that a great entertainer who will never be topped died much to young.
