Food

If you want to go a la carte, it’s possible to spend vast amounts of money dining at the alternative onboard restaurants. But with a dining room and various buffets as part of your fare, you can eat virtually round the clock at no extra expense. If you want to experience the delights of alternative dining, why not treat yourself to it every three or four days instead of daily.

Likewise, it’s possible to spend a small fortune in select cafes and coffee bars. But most ships provide complimentary tea and coffee 24 hours a day.

Gratuities

Onboard tipping is rather a thorny issue. A number of cruise lines include tips and gratuities as part of the fare. Other companies don’t include tips, but strongly advise that you reward good service. And on many ships, the management suggest a daily gratuity level which may or may not be automatically added to your onboard account. If you don’t agree with this, take the matter up at the Purser’s Office.

Ultimately, it’s up to you. But I will say one thing; the staff on most cruise ships are low paid. Most of them rely on tips to supplement their income. If passengers don’t provide tips, many of the staff may leave and seek work elsewhere. And in many cases that will lead to a drop in the quality of service, or a rise in ticket prices (if the cruise lines have to pay higher wages to attract workers).

Internet

Internet access from ship to shore is normally expensive. It’s not unusual to see charges of up to $10 per minute. So if you have to use the internet make sure that you keep your eye on the clock. Alternatively, some ships provide each person with a set amount of minutes online as part of your overall fare.

If you want to keep in touch with people while at sea, email is cheaper then telephone, but the connection speed on some ships can be rather slow. So if possible, wait until you arrive in port. Either the price of the onboard connection will be cheaper or you can use one of the onshore internet cafes which are much faster and much cheaper.

Oh, and one final word on email. Most ships will provide you with an onboard email address. Don’t use this as it will be slow and expensive. Before you leave, set up a free web based email account. There are plenty to choose from, such as Yahoo, or Google’s Gmail, and they’re all free. They can be accessed from anywhere in the world and are generally much faster that your onboard email account.

Laundry

Most laundry services will be charged per item, at rates commonly applied in land based hotels, so your costs can rise quickly. However certain cruise ships provide a complimentary laundry service in the top rooms. But I guess if you can afford those rooms you won’t be too worried about a few onboard expenses.

So if you think you’ll need to do laundry while onboard, look for a cruise line that provides a low cost self service laundry facility. Alternatively, pack a bottle of washing liquid and hand wash essential items in your bathroom.

Medical Expenses

Injury or illness can happen to anyone at anytime, so it’s best to prepare for all possible eventualities. First check out the position from the point of view of your home country. For citizens of the US, medicare does not apply when they’re out of the country. Next, look at the medical insurance position. If you already have medical insurance, make sure it will cover you when at sea. If not, consider buying medical travel insurance to provide you with adequate cover. Even the cost of a simple visit to the ship doctor will account for the whole cost of a simple travel insurance policy.

Photos

Most ships will have a photographer who is willing to take a portrait photo of you and your travelling companions…for a price. So save money by taking your own camera and asking one of your fellow passengers to take a few photos.

Shopping

Onboard ships stock many exquisite items that will remind you of your days at sea forever. Everything from jewelry and ornaments to cigarettes and alcohol is available, but it will cost you dearly. So try to limit yourself to things that are necessary. And if you forget to pack anything, it can often be cheaper buying them at the next port of call rather than paying the inflated prices at the shops onboard.

For anyone who has not gone on a flight before, his or her first time through the airport can be a puzzling and taxing experience. There are inflexible rules to follow, queues to stand in, and loads of people to move around. If this is the first time flying, some essential air travel tips will make the experience safer, less demanding and will help a person to get from his home to his destination without a problem.

Reach there early:

One of the most imperative air travel tips, the one that will help a person to make up for any other problems along the way, is to reach the airport before time. Most airports do not let a person get a boarding pass unless he turns up at least 30 minutes prior to his flight. He has to go through the security checkpoint. Most people who fly propose arriving at least two hours earlier to the flight’s departure time. No one wants to get jammed in the middle of the security line when his plane leaves the gate.

Pack Light:

Though every person’s definition of packing light is personal, this is another one of the air travel tips that will make flying experience comfortable. Rather than try to handle the largest carry-on bag one should pack a small bag with a book, some magazines, or whatever one will need through his flight, and pack a second bag that with which one can check. If your bag is small, then you can comfortably fit it under the seat in your front, which makes you getting on and off the flight easier.

Eat Before the Airport:

In this set of tips for air travel; this is one that your wallet will be glad about the most: one should eat before he goes to the airport. Many airports have a superb variety of businesses in their terminals so one can grab a bite to eat while waiting for his flight. However, mostly it has fast foods, which are spicy, greasy and expensive too.
Relax

Of course, above all other air travel tips, is the suggestion that one should relax when flying. All the issues which one has to face at the airport, the check-in process, the long security lines, and so on, add up to a flying experience that is reliable than ever before. Airline employees and airport staff do everything they can to take the anxiety out of a rather busy experience, so be rest assured that accidents will be diminished.