Networking - Personally Recommended

A few years back, when were first thinking about going cruising, I had to research sea sickness tablets for my partner. I stumbled across a cruise blog called the Cruise Note Book. Anyway I ended emailing some questions to Mike up in Canada and he got back to me with info about Bonine. Which was really great advice as it allowed my partner to go cruising for the first time, and since then we've become fully certified cruise crazies.

Last Nov (2011) we signed up for a Trans-Atlantic on Celebrity Eclipse. And guess who popped up on the Cruise Critic Roll call, none other than Mike and his partner. Cruising is like that, you make life long friends and often with out planning you eventually end up on the same ship.

Here is link to Mike's record of that cruise. Great pictures of Celebrity Eclipse (My fav ship to date). His blog is chock-ablock full of beautiful photographs and tips for cruises new or old.

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Also on that same same cruise was Monica and her husband from Maryland USA. We hit it off straight away on the Cruise Critic group and when we met onboard it was like we were old friends. Monica is a busy little bee and has some great blogs and websites.

From a her travel journal, Travels with Monica, to a cruise specific website (above). Monica also takes amazing photographs which are a wealth of information when choosing a cruise.

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If you have your own cruise or travel related blog, journal or website, or you know some one does, please share the details below.

Or if you want to start you own let us know, we'll help get you started.

Activities on board

Every line and every cruise ship is different.

The other variables are the itinerary, the weather and the crew.

But no matter what or where you cruise there will be a wealth of activities on board to keep you engised or relaxed, however the mood takes you.

From zoomba classes, to art auctions, pool games, and enrichment options like educational lectures there is always something to do. And all of it is detailed in a daily newsletter you will have placed in your cabin every night. These not only details all the actives, they highlight key points of the cruise, future ports, entertainment and special cocktails of the day.

POSH - That's really Posh!

Now we all know the term "Oh that's Posh", but did you know where it comes from?

In the old glory days of the transatlantic liners only one side of the ship used to get the sun in cooler months.

Hence preferred cabins were always

Port over, Starboard home.

Tipping

One of the contentious and confusing aspects of life at sea, especially to Australians.

NB Tipping is not a broadly accepted part of life in Australia, at least not to the same degree that it is in the USA or Europe. And when we do tip it is general spare change instead of 10-15%. As international cruise ships started to be based here this caused major problems to the entire financial model enable cruise lines to remain viable and staff able to survive. Most cruise lines now have raised prices for Australian based cruises that include a premium to allow companies to pay staff the tips they are used to, and rely on, in other parts of the world. Therefore the comments below relate to tipping as it operates on ships cruising in other regions apart from Australia.

This is one of the few costs that are not 'all inclusive' in your fare. It was always been thus. Cruise employees generally come from third world countries, work extremely long hours and get a very low, unsustainable base pay. Staff simply would not be able to survive without tipping to supplement their meagre wages.

Like it or loath it, baring absolutely appalling service there really isn't an option not to pay, because it is such an entrenched part of cruising.

NB This chart is not in $AUD. Useful as an overview only

Recommended tipping rates are published by all major cruise lines and naturally they vary, but plan one approximately $10-12 per person in your cabin, per day.

On the last night of the cruise envelopes are provided for you to add cash so that you can personally hand them to each of the staff concerned.

Cash can be problematic and hard to obtain as ships generally operate as a cashless society at sea. By ticking a box on your ship board account the cruise line will charge the tips to your credit card and then provide vouchers to be placed in each envelope which you then hand to staff. These act much like cheques that staff redeem.

This system has been entrenched as a part of cruising since the days of the Titanic and it all worked swimmingly when everyone had a set dining time and was served by the same wait staff every night. With the advent of freestyle dining where people sit at different tables every night the cruise lines needed someone to ensure staff still received tips - as the whole system of the companies paying minimum wages would have collapsed.

And this is why you want to enjoy Freestyle dining you must select this prior to the cruise commencing and pay your tips up front.

Recommendations as of May 2012 - In USD.

Celebrity:

Tipping Guidelines Added to onboard account. Cabin Steward, $3.50 per person/day ($4.00 for Concierge/Aqua class). Butler (Suites only), $3.50 per person/day. Waiter, $3.65 per person/day. Asst. Waiter, $2.10 per person/day. Maitre'd, $1.00 per person/day. Other personnel, $1.25 per person/day. Total, $11.50 ($12.00 for Concierge/Aqua class, $15.00 for Suites) per person/day.

Royal Caribbean:

Tipping Guidelines Waiter, $3.75 per person/day. Asst. waiter, $2.15 per person/day. Maitre'D, $.75 per person/day. Housekeeping staff, $5 ($7.25 for suites) per person/day. Total, $11.65 ($13.90 for Suites) per person/day. 15% tip included on beverage orders.

Princess:

Tipping Guidelines $11.50 - $12.00 per guest, per day (depending on stateroom category) automatically charged to onboard account (amount can be adjusted according to quality of service received). 15% tip included on beverage orders

More info re tipping at Cruise Critic

Myth Busters

There are a lot of myths out there about cruising.

In this section we will confirm or deny them -  so ask away!

Cruising is only for old people.

False.

Yes there are ships that appeal to an older demographic, but then there are others that would have few people over 30. The key is careful research. Know what you are getting before you book.

Large modern ships don't move much.

False.

No matter how big the ship, there is always some degree of motion on the ocean. Larger ships do tend to be more stable, however in heavy seas, or a strong ocean swell all ships will rock and roll.

I'll get bored.

Not Plausible.

On a good ship with even just a standard activities program it's almost impossible to be bored. Again this comes down to careful planning. Careful research will endure you only book a cruise that has an activity program that is in sync with your interests and age range.

Cruise Critic - What How Why

Cruise Critic is perhaps the best resource available online for researching a specific cruise line/ship.

If you've heard of Trip Advisor, you will know how useful that site is for reviews of hotels and local attractions. Cruise Critic is owned by Trip Advisor and is focused on all things cruising.









STICKY VICKY Note: If you haven't used Trip Advisor before, you should. An essential tool for research of any city in the world. Insanely good.

Originally it was set up as an online forum where people could post reviews of ships they had cruised on. However people soon discovered it was actually a fantastic way to meet up online with people going on a future cruise. 


From this grew the concept of roll calls where people join an online group to talk about and plan their cruise. What is great about this is that for people new to cruising these roll calls have have become the best place to ask questions as there are invariably people who have cruised on that specific ship before. 


It is now also very common for these groups to plan pre sail away parties, onboard get togethers and their own day trips, at considerable saving to those offered by the cruise lines. The cruise lines have embraced the idea and now often throw parties for cruise critic groups, and these can swell to several hundred people.

Where it all began - The very first original Cruise Crazies!

CAPTAIN CRUISE says: This was the start of my addiction and where the name cruise crazies came from. My long suffering partner has since always referred to Cruise Critic members we meet up with as my Cruise Crazies.

The Cruise Critic site is massive with hundreds of thousands of cruise reviews, however there are three main sections:

1/ cruise line profiles written by travel writers, 
2/ cruise reviews written by people like you and me, 
3/ Roll Calls. 


Some roll calls for individual cruises can often have tens of thousands of page views and hundreds of pages. Use the links below to take you to each of the various sections.

Cruise Critic - General Questions and Answers
Cruise Critic - Cruise Line Profiles
Cruise Critic - Roll calls by ship

WARNING: Cruise Critic groups can be very addictive.

Boarding Mainfest

If you are just about to go on a cruise, or have just come back, you can add your details and share information, questions or stories about the ship or the line.

So that we can pool our collective cruise knowledge please add details of a past or future cruise you have planned. Eventually I'll break these up by cruise line and ship, until then please use the following format. NB You can copy and paste this into the comment box.

Ship name:
Cruise Line:
Ship Class:
Cabin/Deck:
Date of cruise:
Your name:
QF or home Location:
Comments and questions:
How best to contact you - email - Facebook (Optional).

Vicky NOTE: Make sure you hit the subscribe button located below the comment box, this way you will be notified when someone adds information.

Broken links/Errors - Please report them

From time to time on most websites external links and photos will not load or open.

Additionally you may well find errors, omissions or mistakes (including spelling or grammar).

Please report them as you come across them by simply adding a comment on the page with the broken link or error.

If it relates to a link from one of our indexes on the right side please log them here.

Cruise Crazies - Join the crew

Get on onboard and join the crew here at Cruise Crazies.

There are loads of ways you can become involved, from just asking question, to writing a ship review or even becoming a regular contributor.

Join the Discussion

This is something you don't need to plan. Have a look around and if anything grabs your interest simply jump in and join the discussion or ask a question. All you have to do is click the comment section below each post.

Share your adventures

If you have cruised before we are very keen for you to share your memories, inside tips and ship reviews with other Cruise Crazies. Additionally if you have any photographs, videos or travel journals we'd love to be able to post them in one of our various sections.

Become a certified crew member

We need regular contributors to form our core team of writers, editors, photographers or reviewers and if you feel creative you can even choose your very own unique character just like Vicky your Cruise Director.

Club Development/Direction/Board of Management

Finally the most important part, we need people to come on board and help in the running of the Cruise Crazies.

As in any club we have some legal obligations we must meet along with planning policies and procedures to protect the interests of our members.

Use the form below to make contact or ask any questions about these or other club issues OR your ideas/suggestions to make Cruise Crazies even better.

Cruise Crazies - Who are we?

Cruise Crazies are people who are just crazy for cruising. 

                                    

G'day and Welcome Aboard. 

I'm James and I'm the creator of Cruise Crazies.

Over the years I've worked for QANTAS in various roles from reservations, to the airport, and more recently as cabin crew in both the short and long haul divisions. 

I've had a life long love of cruising and over recent years this passion has become a serious addiction. Because of this my mates and family, have always called me Vicky, the Cruise Director from the Love Boat.

Some might consider this a term of affection - except when you remember that Vicky was actually rather rotund. How very rude! Anyway I've decided to 'embrace' the sarcasm of my mates and use Vicky as a way of highlighting my personal opinions here on this site.

I make no pretence to know everything about cruising, and that's why I need your help to jump on board so that we can pool our collective knowledge and share our mutual passion and addiction.

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Although I now call Australia home, I was born and bred in England and first came out to Australia when I secured a contract to work on a cruise ship departing from Sydney. Hence my passion for cruising was born.

My background is a kaleidoscope of wonderful travel industry experiences including 20 years with Qantas Airways, 2 years in hotels, and the highlight was 4 years spent working at sea on board a variety of cruise lines.

I had a charmed life working on the ocean waves and seeing the world which created a passion for cruising that has never left me. I now enjoy the benefits of being a passenger as often as possible and am excited to share those benefits with you.

If you are already a dedicated cruiser, no doubt you share my passion. If you are considering a cruise for the first time, allow me to assist you to choose the right fit for you from the immense choice of cruise options. But be warned, once cruised, you could get hooked like the rest of us!

Happy Cruising!

Carrie Stalbow 

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My name is Amanda Cashel and I've been with Qantas since Aug2004, I started working at Qantas Holidays Brisbane until they closed the contact centre then I moved to Telesales Brisbane. 

Since starting at Qantas I have tried to travel as much a possible, which I have enjoyed so much and also learnt an incredible amount about the world. In the last 3years I have been on 3 cruises but in total I've been on 5, the first one I did was P&O Pacific Sky to the South Pacific then Superstar Virgo around Asia and more recently Princess Cruise to Alaska and of course Allure and Oasis of the Seas to the caribbean.  

Cruising is such a great way to travel as once your onboard there is very little expense with lots to see and do, you will never get board. I love talking about my trips and happy to help in anyway.- 

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This could be you! Become a travel writer today.

Eventually I want to have a whole host of people featured on this page as our regular contributors, reviewers, staff writers, editors, photographers and even cruise virgins. 

So what are you waiting for. C'on and join the crew here at Cruise Crazies.

1 Cruise Crazies - Who are we?

2 Cruise Crazies - What are we?

3 How to use this blog

Cruise Crazies - What are we?

Primarily we are a travel club, focussed on 'all things cruising' open to all current and retired staff of the QANTAS group, their family and friends.

But we are so much more than that, because we are also a travel blog primarily written by people who are simply crazy for cruising . . . . hence our name . . . Cruise Crazies!

Although cruising is our speciality, we will also devote a lot of time and energy to help find you the best discounts at hotels and apartments across the world.

Whether you are new to cruising, or a devoted fan, Cruise Crazies is a place not just to help you plan your next cruise, but also share your previous adventures.

Here at Cruise Crazies you will find an enormous amount of information from ship and cruise line reviews, to photographs and videos, along with insider tips, and hundreds of external links to the best cruise related websites. 

Cruise Crazies is a networker's dream as you will be able to find people who have either booked the same cruise as you in the future, or have previously travelled on the same ship. But better than that we will be sharing intelligence on the best and biggest discounts, and how to get them.

Our aim is to assemble the very best cruise related tools in one place.

But for that to happen we need your input, ideas and most of all reviews and questions.

Cruise Crazies is just in its infancy and it will naturally evolve over time as we continually add to, and refine, the information already on here.

If you can't find the information you need, please let us know and we'll add it for you.

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S.O.S. Ask Your Questions Here:

This is the place to ask all those questions you for which you can't find the answer. 

So ask away and quick as a flash someone will come back and answer your question, or tell you were to go to find out.

VICKY writes: Remember to click subscribe below and you will be notified when some one answers your question!

Cheers Vicky.

How to use this site

We are continually adding information to this site on a daily basis and already there are hundreds of pages of information and just as many links to external sites.

So how do you find your way around?

We have tried to group posts by descriptive labels and included lots of cross referencing.

Key Terms and Navigational Elements:

On the right hand side of this blog you'll find several indexes.

BLOG TITLES
These are every post on this blog sorted by title and date. (NB Triangles reveal/hide additional posts).

LABELS
Every blog post is tagged with labels that group related entries together.

CRUISE TOOLS/WEB SITES
The very best cruise related links and personal favs.

THE NEWSROOM
Live google news feed about the cruise industry.

BOARDING MANIFEST
List your past and future cruises - see who has sailed on the same ship.

PORT MOVEMENTS
Listing by individual ports of all planned visits by cruise ships.

SOS - GENERAL QUESTIONS

Can't find what you want - ask any question here.

"SHIP NAME" - Fast Facts  (eg Rhapsody of the Seas - Fast Facts)
Comprehensive links for each ship listed to reviews, videos, pics and features of each ship.

"CRUISE LINE" - Profile
General information about distinct characteristics of each line

BROKEN LINKS
Please report any broken links, spelling and grammatical errors.

Additionally through out this blog you will see Vicky from the Love Boat pop up at various times.

Whenever you see her smiling face it will be accompanied by insider tips and advice to save you both time and money.




1 Cruise Crazies - Who are we?

2 Cruise Crazies - What is it?

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Welcome to Cruise Crazies

The online travel club for QANTAS staff, their families and friends.

If you love cruising . . . or you've always wanted to sail away but didn't know where to start .... Cruise Crazies has been designed just for you.

Cruise Crazies is a place where we can share our collective knowledge to help you find that perfect cruise . . . at an even more perfect price. 

And if by chance you can't find exactly what you looking for, simply post a question under our SOS section and we'll get back to you, quick as a flash, with the answer. Cruising has many traps for new punters and it's often that case that you might not even know what questions need asking. We do!

There is no membership, nor are passwords required and it's all 100% free. :)

All we ask, is if you like what you find here, or we manage to help you in even just a small way, please spread the word about Cruise Crazies to all of your mates and family.

We'd especially love you "like us" on Facebook.

How to use this blog