Firestyle Magazine Issue 3 - Spring 2016 | Page 50

TRAVEL

Flying to your initial point of
departure opens up a whole new
set of destinations and itineraries,
from cruising the Mekong river
through Cambodia and Vietnam to
whale watching in Alaska.
If you fly then you are restricted to
the luggage weight limit of your
airline, otherwise cruising has no
weight limitations.
Once you have a feel for where you
want to go we can find a cruise with
the itinerary that really ticks all the
boxes for your ideal holiday. We use
an agents tool that lists every cruise
from every port around the world
on a day by day basis, so once we
have your criteria we can access
the data base to search for exactly
what you want, and recommend
the cruise line that will best fulfil your
expectations.

Once you have decided on
when and where, then we need
to go into the detail of your cruise.
What type of room, where is it
located on the ship? If you are
going to use your stateroom, i.e.
cabin, mainly for sleeping then
probably a basic inside cabin
would be your choice. If you
see yourself sitting on a balcony
sipping a glass of white wine,
whilst coming into port, then
an outside cabin with balcony
would be what you require, and
an inclusive drinks package!
Many first-time cruisers ask about
the best location for stability for
ocean cruises and we would
recommend a mid-ship location,
although, in reality, today’s ships
are fitted with stabilisers so only
very rough seas would incur any
discomfort.

Once you have chosen a
stateroom we can then give
you a quote. Most ocean cruise
packages include everything,
even tips, although this is
discretionary and does differ
from company to company.
Drinks packages may also
be included and are quite
often used as an additional
promotional offer at key times of
the year. On board spend is also
often included as a promotional
extra. Shore excursions are extra,
but these can be booked and
paid for prior to the start of your
cruise. You can chose to not join
a shore excursion but go ashore
on your own.

So what did we find for our new cruising clients?

A flight from Manchester to Barbados to pick up The Britannia with P and O, visiting Curacao and Aruba in the
Dutch Antilles, Grenada, St Vincent in the Grenadines, St Lucia, Dominica, Antigua and St Maarten in the Leeward
Islands and returning back to Manchester from Barbados, after 14 nights on board and 8 beautiful Caribbean
destinations visited in an ocean view cabin with balcony. A wonderful journey to see some of the jewels of the
Caribbean and a not to be missed first venture into the fabulous world of cruising.

Tracy, Paula, and Jackie can be contacted to offer advice at Tracy Mason Travel, on 01785 712332

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