When planning a travel vacation or cruise vacation, the last thing that one wants to think about is trouble or cancellation. Thus travel and cruise insurance is often left on the back burner. However, when the time comes to purchase your vacation insurance, be sure that you compare cruise insurance and travel insurance policies to ensure that you are getting what you expect. As always, it's "buyer beware"!

That's not to say that all insurance policies and companies are out to deceive you or hide the terms of insurance pay-outs. In fact, most are very reputable. The problem comes when trying to economize while buying insurance. You really do "get what you pay for" in most cases – especially when you compare insurance policies.

There are often so many variables when purchasing cruise insurance or travel insurance that we can become somewhat complacent with what we are purchasing. Again, "Buyer Beware!" Make sure you know what's available and what's included in your insurance policy package. As an example, insurance companies like Travel Guard International, America's largest provider of travel insurance offers a wide range of benefits with their Comprehensive Coverage. Included in Travel Guard's packages are the following benefits:

· Trip Cancellation – Providing reimbursement of 100% of trip cost if the trip is cancelled under the terms of the insurance policy.

· Trip interruption – Providing reimbursement of trip cost if the trip is interrupted as covered by the insurance policy such as evacuation due to hurricane.

· Trip Delay – Providing reimbursement for additional accommodations or travel expenses if the traveler is delayed for more than several hours.

· Lost, Stolen or Damaged Baggage and travel documents – Providing reimbursements if luggage is lost, damaged or stolen while the insured is traveling, or if travel documents are lost or stolen.

· Baggage Delay – Providing reimbursement for the purchase of essential items if your bags are delayed more than 24 hours.

· Medical Expenses – Providing reimbursement for necessary medical expenses up to one year after the illness or injury providing the insured traveler sought medical treatment while on the trip.

· Emergency Medical Transportation – Covering the cost of evacuation and transportation to the nearest adequate medical facility.

· Travel Guard Assistance – A 24 hour hotline for emergency assistance, medical referrals, prescription replacement assistance, replacing travel documents and more.

· Livetravel – Travel Guard's round the clock travel agent service for emergency or last minute travel changes such as rebooking flights, arranging hotels and ground transportation and tracking lost luggage.

· Concierge – 24 hour worldwide access to restaurant referrals/reservations, event tickets, tee times, floral services, ground transportation and more.

As well, in many cases, travelers purchasing Travel Guard insurance within 15 days of making their initial trip payment also receive at no additional cost:

· Pre-Existing Medical Condition Exclusion Waiver – protection if pre-existing medical conditions force cancellation or interruption of a cruise or trip.

· Default Protection – providing reimbursement of trip cost if the tour operator, cruise line, airline or other travel supplier declares bankruptcy more than seven days after the effective date of the policy.

· Change Your Mind – protection against cancellation fees when a trip is cancelled for any reason.

Please keep in mind that these benefits are subject to change, but at the time of this printing, are available. The above describes a comprehensive cruise or travel insurance policy. However, as they say, one size dose not fit all. You need to match your coverage requirements and budget restraints. Again, dealing with Travel Guard International, some of their popular products include:

· Cruise, Tour and Travel – Travel Guard's most comprehensive travel insurance plan.

· ProtectAssist – Solid travel insurance for the budget-conscious traveler – and Travel Guard's most popular plan.

· Cruise Guard – Travel insurance designed to surpass the protection plans offered by the cruise line.

· Air Ticket Protection – Protects air ticket investment against change fees, adds other assistance services.

· Student Travel Guard – A portfolio of student travel insurance plans protecting students on virtually all types from Spring Break to Semester Abroad.

We have identified, through the use of Travel Guard International's plans and policies a vast number of cruise insurance options. We have stated before, but at the risk of being too repetitive, I think that it is important to re-iterate. "You get what you pay for. Buyer beware!"

If you would like more information regarding

Travel Guard International or would like to get a quotation for cruise or travel insurance, check out our article "Travel Guard International Cruise Insurance". For more informative articles, check out our Article Map. If you are looking to choose or book a cruise, our main Discount Cruises pages have plenty of merchant links with great cruise pricing.

You've researched for your special cruise. You've found a fantastic cruise deal on-line. You've booked that cruise on-line. You've protected your cruise vacation investment by booking your insurance on-line. Now all that's left to do is to get excited!

Brian A Schmidt is the author and web publisher of your #1 source for cruise information, discounts and great deals! Visit Discount Cruisesto book your fabulous cruise vacation! For more interesting articles visit our Article Map pages. If you have any questions regarding how to choose a cruise line, contact us at info@ with the subject line "Questions".

We all travel a lot more now than our ancestors did. We travel all over the world and only think of the jet lag, and not the vast distances we cover. Our world has become smaller and more reachable. And this is a good thing. It helps us to understand different cultures, different people with different ways of living and working. But there are a few essentials you should always check before setting off.

1. It may seem obvious, but many people don't bother to find out the most basic things about the country they will travel to. You should do this to avoid surprise or disappointment.

2. Check on the kind of weather you will find where you are going. If you live in Florida and travel to northern Greenland, you will be in for a shock unless you know that much colder weather is normal there.

3. Be sure that the medical and general insurance coverage you have (you do have, don't you?) is adequate for your destination.

4. Do you have all the paperwork and documentation required for your trip? If not, get it!

5. Are there any diseases you will need immunization against where you are going? Check and find out before getting exposed.

6. If you plan on driving in the place you intend to travel to, check that you have an acceptable licence. You may need an international driving licence, for example. And are you familiar with the local driving laws where you are going? If not, become familiar, fast.

7. Finally, the most obvious one of all: is your passport up to date? And if not, do you have enough time to renew it before you set off? You'd be surprised, amazed even, at how many people get this one wrong.

Jill Newry is a freelance travel writer who lives in San Francisco with her husband. She loves travelling to distant lands, and when she can't, she manages her air travel finder website.

Rick Archer sat down with Don Nadeau, the president of BidonT which provides Priceline bidding advice.

RA: Why would anyone want to use Priceline?

DN: You'll save a lot of money.

RA: Yes, but who wants to get up in time for a 6:00 a.m. flight? You can't pick your departure times or airline or anything like that.

DN: Well, just use Priceline for air tickets when you're going to Australia or traveling at the last minute. You'll save hundreds of dollars. When you can plan your U.S. travel well in advance, Priceline may not be your best bet.

But always bid on Priceline hotels. That's easy and you don't have to get up at 4:00 a.m.

RA: Sure, but I don't want to stay in some crummy place.

DN: No, no, no. Bid for three or four-star hotels. You pick the quality.

You'll end up at a Hyatt, Hilton, Holiday Inn Crown Plaza, Sheraton, Marriott, or Doubletree-someplace like these.

And, over a few days, you'll save hundreds of dollars.

In fact, I predict you'll save on average at least $100 a night over the prices you get on Expedia, H or similar discount hotel sites. Priceline hotel savings average some 40 percent over these sites.

RA: What about location?

DN: You pick that, too.

In the Orlando area, you have a choice of 11 neighborhoods, in or near San Jose, eight.

RA: So you can't pick a specific hotel, just a general neighborhood?

DN: That's right.

That's why hotels use Priceline to sell excess inventory at prices they don't want their regular customers to find out about.

RA: So would it be correct to assume that if there's a big event going on in the area and hotels are heavily booked, rooms won't be available through Priceline?

DN: Actually not.

Groups can book large blocks of rooms at hotels, then find out not as many are traveling, and release some rooms back to hotels. I once got a Priceline discount at the headquarters hotel of a huge medical convention at the last minute.

Priceline tells you if rooms are available before you bid.

RA: How do I know what to bid?

I have an entire site devoted to that! Go to the Priceline Hotels section of BidOnT

RA: Just give me three main tips.

DN: Okay. First, bid on three or four-star hotels. That's where the real savings are.

Second, look up the best prices for the star quality and neighborhood you want on a site like H Knowledge is power, and that way you won't overbid.

Third, find out what H charges.

Hotwire is Priceline's main competitor in the 'you don't find out the name of your hotel until you pay category,' and it's prices are usually a bit higher than Priceline's.

Therefore, bid 10 - 20 percent below Hotwire's price.

See BidonT though, if you want to refine this process to maximize your savings.

RA: What if I still overpay?

DN: Priceline has a best price guarantee.

If you book a room on Priceline, and then find a lower price on another website for the same type of room at the same hotel or resort on the same dates, Priceline will refund you the difference. There's some small print, such as "this rate has to be available to the general public and you have to make your claim within 24 hours of booking," but you really can't lose.

RA: There must be some drawbacks to using Priceline for hotels.

DN: There are.

Most importantly, you'll get no refund if you cancel. You won't be able to change dates.

Also, you'll usually end up with a standard room. At some hotels, these may not be large enough for more than two people.

RA: What about smoking or nonsmoking?

DN: This is never absolutely guaranteed regardless of where you book.

When using Priceline or other online sites, I usually call the hotel directly to make sure it has me on its nonsmoking list. I also try not to show up too late, when the hotel may have run out of certain types of rooms.

RA: Thanks. I'll try bidding next time after reading the tips on your site.

Rick Archer is President of SearchSummit, a Search Engine Marketing company.

An extensive world traveler, Don Nadeau, president of BidonT taught world geography for many years in both Canada and the United States, and developed the first high school level Urban Studies program in the U.S.Don loves helping people travel "on the cheap," and frequently uses the advice found in BidonTravel to make his own trips more affordable.

An increasing number of individuals utilize the internet to make travel reservations. Potential travelers often make their arrangements through the company or website offering the lowest prices. Popular sites such as Hotwire offer highly discounted rates on various types of travel packages. However, these types of sites do not disclose certain information such as name of hotel or airline until after the customer has made the non-refundable purchase. Alternative travel agents generally offer similar rates to one another. However, it is possible to save significantly on your travel, vacation packages and entertainment.

Every day, thousands of tickets and fares become automatically discounted by companies due to unclaimed or unsold status. Tickets are discounted by travel companies and direct providers for a variety of reasons such as unclaimed status, unsold status, discontinued status, midnight fare recalibration status and more. These tickets are then sold to travel customers for up to 90% off the original price.

Previously, these types of direct discount purchases were generally only available to authorized travel agents. However, there are currently internet databases which provide these tickets for purchase to members. Anyone is eligible to join these sites. Members are provided with a searchable database of discounted flight tickets, vacations, cruises and entertainment packages. Flights and cruises are available to hundreds of destinations worldwide on every major airline and cruise line. A variety of travel options are accessible, including trips to exotic destinations, family holidays, romantic getaways, weekend deals and more. Entertainment packages include tickets to sports events, concerts, theater plays and many more. Upon sign up, users are given access to the database which usually contains listings of thousands of available packages. Members book directly with special discounts through wholesalers, travel discounters, last minute specials and air couriers.

Unlike more popular discount sites, users are provided with full details before purchase. Buying through unclaimed ticket databases provides consumers with huge travel savings. Now individuals previously considering a vacation but were unable to afford it may now have the opportunity. Regular travelers can also benefit from the significant cost savings.

For more information on purchasing discounted tickets visit

Feel free to print/reprint this article in its entirety in your ezine or website as long as you leave all the links in place. Don't modify the content and include the resource box as listed. Please send a note when it is used. Thank you.

A cruise is a voyage of discovery, an experience of cultural extravaganza of various civilizations. Cruising can reveal the biggest continents with the lengthiest coastlines and the highest mountains of the world.To explore the true majesty of our world and its magnificent past, to experience the magnanimity of its religions and its peoples, embark on a cruise . You will never ever forget the experience.

Of all the cruises that I have been on, I liked the Asia cruise because it takes you to Singapore & Hong Kong. It was definitely worth a look. The temples in Thailand , the temples of India , or the peaceful eyes of Buddha, redefine spiritual faith of the believers and non-believers. Native women display graceful dance forms of India , the Japanese tea ceremony and the Chinese theatre. All of these wonders have enormous cultural significance that are and integral part of the region's tradition. It is a pleasure to be a spectator of such enormous cultural and traditional environment intermingles with every walk of life, so alike to each other yet so very regional in its own right.

The Asia cruise takes the traveler along the Malaysian, Vietnamese and the Thai seas. Splurge on pretty gifts from the fabulous shopping arcades of Singapore and Hong Kong . Take time to spoil yourself in Dubai . Be a part of a once in a lifetime shopping experience with discounts and promotional offers like you have never seen. Come to Bollywood, know what family entertainment can be found and enjoyed by watching a Hindi film.

Your Asia cruise can be a channel and opportunity to explore the cultures and land masses with their own unique spirit and expression. You can go on an Asia cruise to suit your own needs whether it is Far East or the southern pacific. Every cruise has its mystique and its own story to unfold.

After you have chosen your cruise, you should expect elegance and no gimmicks. You can enjoy your vacation at your own pace as if you were still at home but better. If you like solitary experiences then you can jog unmolested, swim a lap in warm pools or read a great book. You should, however, take part in some of the free activities. Join the exercise classes, get a soothing massage, and enjoy a relaxing sauna.

Some cruises offer aerial sightseeing, white water rafting, and hikes amongst other things. You can find spas, health clubs and even wedding chapels on your cruise ship.Children have special play areas or centers with lots of fun and entertainment. The cruise agency often invite at least one guest speaker to share their experiences about the region you are traveling through giving you funny and sometimes curious insights. Most of the cruise staff provides excellent service and all guests get first class attention.

The dedicated staff looks after you very well and is there at your beckoned call. You can find the vital information you need from the staff and other places on board about where to find souvenirs, to shop for local handicrafts, or nice restaurants that are sure to delight and amaze you.

Asian cruises have exotic entertainment billings that showcase authentic entertainment and special theme events, hilarious comedies, and regional musicals. The exquisite dance performances will most assuredly leave you spell bound.

Spellbound and mesmerized will be the mood for you when your cruise journey ends. Surely, you and the ones you love will benefit in more ways than one from a trip of this magnitude.

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If the workaday world has worn you down, you may be interested in taking a truly memorable holiday trip or vacation. In this regard, you might want to consider a Celebrity Cruise Line trip. A Celebrity Cruise Line trip truly would be a vacation of a lifetime.

(Keep in mind that while the Celebrity Cruise Line is discussed with specificity in this brief article, nothing in this piece should be construed as an explicit endorsement of the Celebrity Cruise Line or its services. Rather, the materials presented in this article are provided for informational purposes only. As you plan your own holiday or vacation, you need to undertake your own course of research to determine what sort of trip is most appropriate to your own travel needs and desires.)

Celebrity Cruise Line provides a wide range of destinations and points of call for its guests, including:

- Alaska

- Bahamas

- Bermuda

- Canada

- New England

- Caribbean

- Europe

- Galapagos

- Hawaii

- Mexico

- Pacific Northwest

- Panama Canal

- South America

- Trans-Atlantic

In addition to providing its guests with a wide array of different, interesting ports of call, Celebrity Cruise Line also schedules cruises of different lengths. From longer journeys to various ports of call to shorter jaunts that provide perfect breaks from the hustle and bustle of daily living, Celebrity Cruise Line has it all.

When it comes to onboard entertainment on the high seas, Celebrity Cruise Line works hard to have "something for everyone." One of the most popular entertainment features offered on most cruises is a "lavish Vegas style spectacular." These dazzling performances are thrilling to see.

For those people who prefer something more laid back after a day of cruising, Celebrity Cruise Line includes a Michael's Club on every ship. These richly decorated piano bars provide a perfectly relaxing venue for travelers.

The Celebrity Cruise Line has worked hard in recent years to develop a unique set on onboard amenities. Included within the Celebrity Cruise Line scheme is "Acupuncture at Sea." Through this program and regimen, the cruise company is working to give its traveling guests the opportunity to recover the balance between "the physical, emotional and spiritual." Acupuncture is a natural, comprehensive health care practice that is said to strengthen a person's immune system through the use of thin needles used at specific energy points in the body. The company created the "Acupuncture at Sea" program as part of its overall commitment to its guests. Celebrity Cruise Line believes that a cruise should be a restorative process on all levels for its guests.

Excursions to the shore are a vital and interesting part of nearly every Celebrity Cruise Line voyage. At Celebrity, you have a number of different options when it comes to going ashore. Of course, if you are so inclined, you can spend your time onshore "doing your own thing." On the other hand, Celebrity always has available knowledgeable and professional guides that can make your time onshore truly memorable. Celebrity can arrange a wide array of different types of onshore excursions -- everything from historical and cultural tours to wildlife adventures.

For more information on Celebrity Cruise Lines, please visit

One of the most famous natural attractions in Grand Cayman Island is Stingray City. This is an area in the ocean not far from the northern tip of Grand Cayman where tourists can get up close to hundreds of friendly stingrays. Stingray City will be one of the organized tours from cruise ships visiting Grand Cayman as a port of call. There will also be tours available from local operators in the town of Georgetown where the cruise ships dock and bring passengers into town via tender boats. The cruise organized tours will almost always be the more expensive option.

Scuba divers can book specialized dives at Stingray City through one of the many diver operators in Grand Cayman. The scuba diving at Stingray City is at a deeper section away from the tourist crowds who are usually brought to a very shallow area where one could even stand in waist deep water. Certified scuba divers and even snorkellers are recommended to take the dive trip option with the dive shops to experience Stingray City with fewer crowds. For non-divers, the sandbars here are high enough to offer such shallow waters and stingrays will come to these areas. It is believed that many years ago, sailors visiting the area threw fish remains overboard and soon noticed the stingrays coming for the free food. These particular stingrays became conditioned over the years to the humans and the food handouts unlike stingrays elsewhere in the Caribbean.

The stingrays here are friendly enough that people could touch them and local guides have been known to even hold them. The guides will warn everyone that even though these stingrays appear to be quite friendly, they should still be regarded as wild animals so it is never recommended to touch them by their razor sharp tails or abuse them in any manner. It is possible to feed them with the squid parts provided on site. The mouths of the stingrays are located underneath their bodies and people are instructed to hold the food in their palms flat facing up. With their keen sense of smell, the stingrays will hover towards and over the food to collect their snacks.

Although Stingray City can be crowded at times due to its popularity, it does offer a very unique experience to see these wonderful sea creatures up close. Stingrays are usually very shy animals and will swim away from scuba divers and snorkellers but not here at Stingray City in Grand Cayman.

Clint Leung is owner of Free Spirit Gallery (http://www.FreeSpiritGallery.ca) , an online gallery specializing in Inuit Eskimo and Northwest Native American art including carvings, sculpture and prints. Free Spirit Gallery has numerous information resource articles with photos of authentic Inuit and Native Indian art as well as free eCards.

When we took a cruise of the Western Caribbean, it included Grand Cayman as a port. We were able to scuba dive one of the shore dives there. There are actually two shore dives off the downtown area of Georgetown which were recommended to us. For cruiseship passengers, it is fairly easy to locate. As soon as the tender boats arrive at the pier, we walked to the right and less than 5 minutes, we arrived at Eden Rocks Dive Centre. Don't be fooled by a new competitor they have just before it. Eden Rocks Dive Centre is closer to the dive sites than their new competitor.

Cayman Islands are relatively expensive for diving with an average of $85 US for a two tank boat dive trip. However, with limited time as with cruiseship passengers, we were able to do decent diving for much less. If you are bringing all your gear except for tanks and weights, you can rent them for about $10 US. Even renting complete gear will run much less than a boat trip. Eden Rocks has a patio with lockers in the back and an area with a ladder where the entry to the water is. The two dive sites are called Eden Rocks and Devil's Grotto. They are reached with a short swim out towards some various buoys that mark the sites.

We ended up doing Devil's Grotto which had some nice coral formations. The maximum depth was about 46 feet with a water temperature of about 80 degrees. The visibility was even better than what we experienced in Key Largo just a few days prior. There was a very nice large swim through tunnel and several smaller ones throughout the site. Inside the large tunnel, we saw a large resident tarpon. The fish life including parrotfish, groupers and tangs was healthy at this shore dive and it is interesting to note that it even exists so close to the cruiseships. Other divers said they saw some turtles too.

We would like to do the other shore dive site, Eden Rocks which is to the right of Devil's Grotto during the next time we are in Grand Cayman. These sites are ideal for beginner level divers. My partner was a newly certified diver and had no problems with this shore dive.

Clint Leung is a NAUI certified Master and Rescue Scuba Diver. He is also owner of Free Spirit Activewear , an online retailer and designer specializing in premium quality activewear with specialty sports themes including scuba diving, skiing, snowboarding and martial arts. Free Spirit Activewear has numerous information resource articles on scuba diving and other selected specialty sports as well as free eCards.

Made up of about 700 islands and located just a short flight or cruise from the mainland United States, the Bahama Islands are a wonderful tropical retreat. It is perhaps the most popular destination for cruisers, especially first time cruisers. Like its Western "cruise cousin", the 3-day jaunts to Ensenada and points in Nortwest Mexico, a Bahamas cruise is a great choice of busy people who need a few nights away from it all.

Nassau, the capital city on the island of New Providence, is an easy to explore city with losts of history, shopping and food. A day's excursion brings with it ample charm by exploring it's grand architecture and getting to know its charming residents.

The architecture is mostly 18th and 19th century colonial which remind one of the city's origins as a modern city. Be sure to see Parliament Square when you tour the city to get a real feel for the history of the islands.

Like tropical beaches? Make sure to leave time for relaxing on the Bahamas' warm Caribbean beach and waters. Here you'll find sailing, snorkling and diving opportunities. Or, just kick back and enjoy the wonderful tropical sun.

And, when you're ready to kick up your heels and party, the nightlife in Nassau is alive with great dining and casinos and nightlclubs.

Freeport, the Bahamas' second city on Grand Bahama is a must visit. Like its name implies, Freeport offers duty free shopping in its huge internationa bazaar. Bring your credit card!

But Freeport is not just for shoppers. It's night life is known the world over. It offers world renowned entertainment and cuisine.

The Bahamas are just a short hop away. But, even though close, offers American travelers a whole different world. Visit this tropical paradise. You won't come away dissapointed.

Shirley Bullington is a webmaster who loves to travel with her family to relax. She operates , a site devoted to the tropics. For a great resource on the tropics, be sure and visit often.

One of the most popular ports of call for Caribbean cruise ships is St. Thomas, one of the U.S. Virgin Islands. On the three Caribbean cruises that I took so far, two of them included a stopover in St. Thomas. On both occasions, there was a consensus among other passengers we met that St. Thomas was one of the nicer islands visited. Although the driving in St. Thomas is on the left hand side, it is still U.S. territory so this Caribbean island features many other conveniences of being American soil. These included easy telephone connections for calls back to the mainland, the use of U.S. currency and English as the main language. St. Thomas is also one of the cleanest of Caribbean islands and the locals do not aggressively hustle the tourists like they do on other islands. Many passengers stated that St. Thomas is a place they would like to come back to in the future.

During my first visit to St. Thomas, I took the Atlantis submarine excursion which took tourists down to see an actual ocean reef. It was a bit pricey but that was expected. Seeing an ocean reef with the marine life up close for the first time during this submarine ride actually influenced me to take up scuba diving. During my second trip to the island, we decided that we would spend some time snorkeling in the local waters since at that time, my partner wasn't a certified scuba diver yet. My advance research suggested that Coki Bay on the northeast side of St. Thomas was a nice place to snorkel. When our cruise ship docked at Charlotte Amalie, the capital city of the U.S. Virgin Islands, we hailed one of the many taxi cabs at the port. It was a $15 US fare to Coki Beach where Coki Bay is located. It took only about 15 minutes to get there. The scenery along the way was magnificent as we went up a hill and saw our cruise ship in the distant harbor below. The island itself is very lush with greenery everywhere.

At Coki Beach, my partner rented her snorkeling gear for $20 US (I brought my own). To my surprise, the rental attendant gave us each a hard biscuit to feed the fish while we were in the water. Once we got into the water, dozens of tropical fish immediately crowded around us. I guess they knew the drill quite well. We ripped off small pieces of the biscuits and the fish went for it, even if the food was just inches away from our face masks. The yellowtail snappers, sergeant majors and occasional parrotfish displayed no fear of us at all. At one point, my partner held out a larger piece of her biscuit and some of the fish darted in to nibble at it. After about an hour in the warm water, it was time to say goodbye to our new aquatic friends. This experience at Coki Bay with the fish was one of the factors which eventually influenced my partner to become a certified scuba diver herself.

Another $15 US cab ride took us back to the cruise ship port where we spend the rest of the day browsing the many duty free shops located there. A similar snorkeling trip arranged through the cruiseship would have cost us double the amount we paid. St. Thomas is definitely not an inexpensive island for either cruise ship passengers or resort tourists staying there but extra comfort and quality of the island are quite noticeable compared to many other Caribbean destinations. From my readings, the other main islands of the U.S. Virgin Islands which are St. John and St. Croix, are more laid back and less commercialized than St. Thomas. I would like to visit them in addition to another return trip to St. Thomas in the future for a multi day scuba diving trip. For those thinking of going on a Caribbean cruise, I would definitely recommend one that has St. Thomas as one of its ports of call. It is one of the better islands on any Caribbean cruise itinerary.

Clint Leung is owner of Free Spirit Gallery , an online gallery specializing in Inuit Eskimo and Northwest Native American art including carvings, sculpture and prints. Also numerous information resource articles with photos of authentic Inuit art and Native American Indian art.

One of the most used departure ports for cruise ships in the Caribbean is San Juan in Puerto Rico. We decided to arrive a day early to San Juan in order to see some sights before our cruise ship departure. San Juan, known as 'La Ciudad Amurallada' (the walled city), was founded in 1521 and is the oldest city under the US flag. During the 16th century, the Spanish used it as a point of departure for expeditions to the New World. Fortifications in the Old San Juan section of the city repulsed numerous attacks from the English and the Dutch during those years. Today, Old San Juan is a charming seven square block commercial and residential area with cobblestone streets.

The cruise ship terminal is actually located near the south side of Old San Juan so instead of booking a hotel in the beach resort area of San Juan, we decided to book one right in the old section for close proximity to the terminal as well as the local sights. The $17 US taxi ride from San Juan's airport to Old San Juan was about half an hour. During the ride, I was impressed by how developed the city was compared to many other cities I've visited in the Caribbean. The beach high-rise hotels along the north side of San Juan were visible from the highway. Our stay for the night was at the Hotel Milano which is right on Calle Fortaleza, which is one of the major commercial streets in Old San Juan. The hotel was clean and comfortable but not luxurious which was okay with us as the price was very affordable. Its quality was probably comparable to a Travelodge or Days Inn. A very pleasant surprise was the free continental breakfast at the hotel's rooftop restaurant. It gave a nice view of the neighborhood from the top.

We spent the day and evening walking the many cobblestone streets and alleys in the area. There are over 400 restored colonial buildings from the 16th and 17th century here. There were also several plaza squares and parks. One of the nicest services offered in Old San Juan is a free shuttle bus which covers two different routes through the district. There was a bus stop about 1/2 block away from our hotel which was very convenient. Riding on the shuttle buses through both routes gave us a good overview of Old San Juan. We were able to stop off at several points of interest including the huge El Morro fort. After our visits to each attraction, we just had to

wait for the next bus to come by to continue our tour. In the evening, we did get lost while walking since many of the streets look very similar. But with our map, we eventually found our way back to the street where the Hotel Milano was. We decided to dine at one of the nearby restaurants for authentic Puerto Rican cuisine and were not disappointed. My lady especially adored the two different plantains we ordered.

When it was time to go to the cruise ship terminal, we just took a short five minute ride from our hotel. Our short stay in Old San Juan was definitely worthwhile and hassle free. A stay in Old San Juan is highly recommended for those who will be taking a Caribbean cruise with San Juan as the departure point. The only disappointment I had with San Juan was that I was hoping to do some scuba diving in the area but from the reports I read, the waters off the city are quite murky with limited marine life to see. This is likely the result of San Juan being such a busy port. The decent scuba diving sites are about 2 hours east of San Juan. So perhaps in a return trip to Puerto Rico, I will plan to make a trip to the east part of the island.

Clint Leung is owner of Free Spirit Gallery , an online gallery specializing in Inuit Eskimo and Northwest Native American art including carvings, sculpture and prints. Also numerous information resource articles with photos of authentic Inuit art and Native American Indian art.

We were on the Radiance of the Seas for the western Caribbean cruise on November 28/04. This was our second cruise with Royal Caribbean with our first last year on the larger Adventure of the Seas. After one cruise with RCI, I expected roughly the same standards with the Radiance and in general, I wasn't disappointed.

Staterooms:

Our stateroom was an inside aft cabin and we were not disappointed. It was roomy enough and the lighting was adequate. Closet space and drawers were also sufficient for our use. We noticed that the double beds here were actually a bit better than the one we had on the Adventure since we couldn't really feel the split between the two separate beds like we did last time. If there's one thing that can be improved is the shower curtain. The one installed was not adequate in keeping in all the water from the shower. The shower on the Adventure utilized a double glass door system which was far superior. Otherwise, the cabin was nice and dark for sleeping at night. Although we heard a little noise from the cabins next to us, it was minimal. We didn't miss having any window or balcony at all since we were hardly ever in our stateroom. We were either at port or elsewhere on the ship and went back to our cabins just to relax or sleep. We would definitely book an inside cabin again with RCI unless we had a free upgrade.

Dining:

The main Cascades dining room was nice and meals were good. Breakfasts had the same menu every morning. Lunch at the dining room was okay. The dinners were good but not every meal item was a winner. There was the odd appetizer and dessert that was not up to par. One thing that my partner noticed was that the portions of the main courses seemed to be smaller than those served on the Adventure. We usually went upstairs to the Windjammer to get more food after dining at the Cascades. In some parts of the Cascades room, the tables were placed too cramp so walking to out own table was tricky at times. The self serve Windjammer was good. It usually had more variety of food than served downstairs at the Cascades. Breakfast and lunch were busy at the Windjammer but during evenings, most people chose to dine at the Cascades. The two other optional restaurants onboard Portafino and Choppe House were available at $20 US per person but we never tried them since the meals already included at the Cascades and Windjammer were fine by us. Other passengers who did go to these optional rooms told us that they were nothing special. There was another cafe available during late evenings called the Seaview and they provided fare such as sandwiches, salads and burgers. This was a nice feature. One thing we did object to was that they charged for the coffee and tea there. There was also a specialty coffee place on the main centrum of the ship and they also charged. We had more availability of free beverages on the Adventure.

Service:

The service by the stateroom attendants and dining room staff was top notch as expected.

Entertainment:

The evening shows at the Aurora Theatre were a mix of the ship's own crew of dancers and singers plus some outside comics and singers. In general, the shows were quite good. We would have liked them to mix up the entertainment each night rather than allocate music, comedy and magic into different evenings. Rather than an entire show of magic, we would have preferred each night featuring a variety of entertainment. Live music around the ship was a nice added touch.

Amenities:

Although smaller than the Adventure, the Radiance had fine amenities including the gym/spa, mini golf, pools and the shops. There was internet access but at 50 cents per minute, the service is a bit steep. There were things to do during the days at sea such as art auctions, cooking demos and dance classes. However, we felt that there was more offered on the Adventure. As for embarking and disembarking, there was no problem on the Radiance. The 6th level contained the casino and for non-smokers, this was a problem. The ventilation in the casino was not great and as a result, cigarette smoke travelled to adjacent areas near the casino. My partner wanted to avoid going on the 6th level whenever possible.

In summary, we enjoyed our cruise on the Radiance of the Seas. However, comparing it to the larger Adventure of the Seas, we would rate the larger ship a bit higher. We liked the huge promenade on the Adventure which was not available on a smaller ship like the Radiance. Given a choice in the future, we would opt for the larger ship. For first time cruisers, the Radiance would still be a good ship to vacation on. This is simply the case of where veteran cruisers would expect more especially if they have been on higher end ships.

Clint Leung is owner of Free Spirit Gallery , an online gallery specializing in Inuit Eskimo and Northwest Native American art including carvings, sculpture and prints. Also numerous information resource articles with photos of authentic Inuit art and Native American Indian art.

The first port for our Royal Caribbean cruise of the western Caribbean was Labadee, Hispaniola which is actually a part of Haiti. This specific port is leased out to Royal Caribbean so only their cruiseships come here. Labadee is actually a peninsula with a few beaches. Getting to land from the cruiseship is by tender.

There is a small section for kids with floating fake icebergs to climb and water slides but they charge an admission fee. Flotation mattresses are also available for rent for those who just want to float in the ocean. There are also locals who help with getting beach chairs for you but they expect tips. So things here are a money grabber. The cruiseship did have optional tours for snorkelling, parasailing, waverunner and kayaking tours but we thought that they were overpriced. Most passengers just spent the day relaxing around the beaches. The area around Labadee was pleasant enough but the beaches and shores themselves were fairly rocky so wearing sandals in the water would be advised. Royal Caribbean had organized a beach BBQ at an outdoor picnic facility which was okay but nothing special. There is a market there consisting of two buildings. One is a store where the souveniers and items have marked prices and the other building is like your typical market where locals try to hustle you for business. The locals inside the market were aggressive but polite. If you don't mind haggling, you could get some pretty good deals but if you dislike this type of pushy atmosphere, then you best avoid the market except for the fixed price store.

One big difference between this port compared to others is that since it is pretty well being used as a private beach, you will not be hassled by locals. The vendors coming around with drinks at the beach locations are actually Royal Caribbean staff so if one wishes to buy a drink, the cruiseship passcard is all that is required. As for concerns about being in Haiti given the poverty and political situation, Labadee was not a problem because the entire site is enclosed by a high steel fence. Other passengers later told us that they wandered off near the perimeter of the site and saw many Haitians along the fence begging for handouts and food. The fencing was mostly concealed in the distance from the main tourist areas.

We found Labadee in general to be a bit of a waste of time for us. The beaches were too rocky and we didn't have access to inexpensive activities since everything was run by Royal Caribbean. If one wanted to just go lie on the beach all day and not much else, then Labadee would be a suitable place. For those who want to experience some culture, do water sports without going through the cruiseship, or shop duty free, Labadee would not be the place to go. We decided to stay on board the ship after the BBQ lunch for the rest of the afternoon.

I like Royal Caribbean and would definitely cruise with them again but would not want to go on an itinerary that included Labadee in the future.

Clint Leung is owner of Free Spirit Gallery , an online gallery specializing in Inuit Eskimo and Northwest Native American art including carvings, sculpture and prints. Also numerous information resource articles with photos of authentic Inuit art and Native American Indian art.

One of the ports of call for our Royal Caribbean cruiseship during the week of November 28/04 was Ocho Rios, Jamaica. Probably the most famous site in the region is Dunn's River Falls and we chose to tour it on our own rather than through one of the cruiseship tours. Once we disembarked from the cruiseship, there were cabs and shuttlebuses available at the pier. Cabs to Dunn's River Falls were $22 US for a return trip. Cabs allowed 1-3 people per vehicle. We were also told at the pier that small shuttlebuses also go to the Falls at $5.50 US per person. These were also based on return trips. The only problem with shuttlebuses was that we had to wait until they filled up the shuttle before leaving for the Falls so since we were the first on the bus, we had to wait about 15 minutes for it to fill up. The driver then asks you when you want to be picked up at the Falls for the return trip. Our driver suggested 2 hours to see the Falls so we agreed on this time duration.

Once at the Falls, a woman then came onboard the shuttle to sell tickets for admission to the site at $10 US per adult person which was the same rate at the park's ticket booth. Once inside the Dunn's facility, there were rentals for special rubber shoes as well as lockers. We carried a small backpack so we didn't require paying for a locker. We also brought along our scuba diving booties so we didn't have to rent those rubber shoes on site either. The cruiseship shop was also selling these rubber shoes in advance. Shoes of some type are highly recommended as the rocks on the Falls can be slippery and some of the bottoms of the water pools are a bit rocky. If you have old sneakers you don't mind getting wet, they will be suitable for the climb up the falls as well. Our scuba diving booties turned out to be sufficient. The entrance to the site is at the top of the falls so we took some stairs that were adjacent to the falls to the bottom where the beach and entrance to the climb were.

There are official guides dressed in blue polo shirts and shorts who will take groups up the falls. Normally, they will ask to carry all cameras for you so they can take photos of you as you climb. Of course, they expect to be well tipped for their services. Also, groups were told to hold hands forming a human chain up the falls. This was suppose to make things safer but as we witnessed, this method of going up the falls is not a guarantee against falling. We saw a woman let go and she fell down the rocks during one of the steeper sections. She wasn't badly hurt but we imagined that she sustained some nice bruises. There are various points along the falls where you could get off the falls and back on the stairs to walk up the rest of the way. Not everyone there attempted to climb the falls as many were happy to just walk dry along the side on the stairs. We chose not to go with any of the groups which tend to go up the left side of the falls. We made our way up on our own mostly on the right side. With some breaks for photos, we made it all the way up the falls in about 30 minutes. Going with a group would have taken longer for sure. The water is a bit cool and if you have a wetsuit, it is highly suggested that you wear it for the climb. Cameras used there up the falls are also recommended to be water resistant since they likely will get wet. We left our digital camera on the ship and took one of those $25 underwater cameras.

After climbing the falls, we headed back down to the relatively small but uncrowded beach where the ocean water was warmer until it was time to depart. The exit back at the top of the falls was strategically located at the end of a market so we did have to go through some locals who tried to sell us their souveniers. These locals who worked inside the Dunn's site were hustling but not as aggressively as those in the town of Ocho Rios. The shuttlebus arrived at the site parking lot on time as agreed. The total amount we spent including the park admission and the shuttle was $31 US for the two of us. Taking an organized tour through the cruiseship would have cost more than double this amount. So it is quite possible to tour Dunn's River Falls on your own rather than take the more expensive tours. We were glad that we did see Dunn's River Falls but we thought that it was not nearly as impressive as depicted on photos in travel brochures.

Clint Leung is owner of Free Spirit Gallery , an online gallery specializing in Inuit Eskimo and Northwest Native American art including carvings, sculpture and prints. Also numerous information resource articles with photos of authentic Inuit art and Native American Indian art.

The island of Cozumel is only 12 miles (19 km) off the Mexican Yucatan Peninsula's east coast and 44 miles (71 km) south of Cancun. For years, Cozumel was a quite sleepy island that didn't get many visitors until Jacques Cousteau did a documentary on it after discovering the world class scuba diving at the Palancar Reefs nearby. Since 1961, Cozumel has been known as one of the best scuba diving destinations in the world. In fact for decades since that time, the only tourists visiting the island have been primarily scuba divers. Mainstream tourists went to the resort intensive Cancun in the mainland instead. However, Cozumel became a regular cruise ship port of call in recent years and today it is one of the busiest with two separate terminals. It is common to have five or even six different cruise ships at port on any given day. I've been to Cozumel twice, the first time staying several days on a scuba diving vacation and the second time for a day via cruise ship (also scuba dived during my second visit).

As a result of the cruise ship boom, there has been lots of retail development along the main waterfront road of Avenida Rafael Melgar in the island's only town of San Miguel de Cozumel. There are countless jewelry and t-shirt shops most with staff standing in the entrances enticing visitors to enter their stores. Both silver and liquor can be good bargains here. There are also some nice Mexican crafts shops too. The one problem that we found was that after about 4 jewelry shops, they all started to look the same. It was almost a retail overload. For those who came for a wilder time, there are some bars such as Carlos 'n' Charlie. The town's main outdoor square, Plaza del Sol, is just opposite the main ferry dock to the mainland. There are usually street vendors and artists in the Plaza as well local entertainment during some evenings. The artists do some amazing artwork with spray paints and their prices are very reasonable. San Miguel's main tourist area can be very busy during the day when the cruise ship passengers are in town but since most ships depart at dinnertime, the evenings are actually very quiet. The only tourists left at night tend to be the scuba divers staying in Cozumel.

Most of the hotels and resorts are south of San Miguel and are not within walking distance. However, there are numerous white taxicabs that are readily available. The larger and more luxurious resorts tend to be even further south of town along the southwestern shores. This is actually not surprising since most of the best scuba diving sites are southwest of the island. An easy way to see the 33 mile (53 km) by 9 mile (14 km) island is by renting a scooter or a 4x4. I once rented a scooter and zigzagged along most of San Miguel's streets to see the neighborhoods. Then I went on the main road leaving town and went south. After passing by the larger resorts and going around the southern tip of the island, I found the beaches along the southeastern shores. The shores near San Miguel along the crowded west coast are not known for beaches but the southeast part here have some really spectacular ones. Even better is that there is very little traffic here so the beaches are pretty quiet. Sometimes people can park their scooters and enjoy a beach all for themselves. There are a few stops with refreshments and more souvenirs at prices even better than in San Miguel. After traveling north again, there is a road about halfway up the island that goes across and takes you back to San Miguel entering the town's east side. My scooter tour of the island took just over 2 hours and cost $25 US for the rental. Cozumel has several ancient Mayan ruins but they are not nearly as large or spectacular as the ones on the mainland. After seeing some photos of them in advance of my trip, I didn't even bother to see the ruins.

Cozumel is a nice port of call for cruise ships as there are many shopping opportunities. Passengers who scuba dive or snorkel can easily book directly with the many dive shops in San Miguel without going through their cruise ships which will cost much more. For cruise ship tourists who do not intend to do any water sports and have some time after shopping, it is highly recommended to rent a scooter or 4x4 to tour the island. This is also a nice way to spend the last day of a scuba dive vacation in Cozumel.

Clint Leung is owner of Free Spirit Gallery , an online gallery specializing in Inuit Eskimo and Northwest Native American art including carvings, sculpture and prints. Also numerous information resource articles with photos of authentic Inuit art and Native American Indian art.

One of the ports visited on our recent Royal Caribbean cruise was Grand Cayman. This was an eagerly awaited port since I've been there before but wanted to take my girlfriend scuba diving there. We were worried that we might miss this port since the Caymans were hit pretty hard by the hurricanes and indeed, they had closed the islands off to tourist travel for part of the summer/fall. Fortunately for us, Grand Cayman had reopened just about two weeks prior to our cruise at the end of November.

Getting to Grand Cayman is by tender since it had a shallow harbour. This can be a potential problem in itself because we were told that if the wind and waves are too rough, the captain would cancel the port and spend the rest of the day at sea. Apparently in the past, one of the tender boat workers had fallen and got crushed to death between the boat and the dock during one of the rougher wave days. This resulted in the cruiseships being much more careful in deciding whether to allow tendering or not given the conditions. Again, fortunately for us, the weather was picture perfect during the day we were in Grand Cayman last week.

The downtown area pretty well recovered from the effects of the hurricanes and the shopping was business as usual. There were four ships at port during the day we were at port. Grand Cayman is above average in terms of cleaniness and the attitude of the locals for a Caribbean island. It is also one of the pricier island though. Bargains can still be found though, especially in the liquor where there are examples of certain liquors being even less expensive in Grand Cayman than even Cozumel. For example, Malibu rum was $10 US in Grand Cayman, $13 in Cozumel and about $19 back in the Miami home port. Everything else like restaurants and activities were generally more expensive than other islands.

According to other passengers who ventured to other parts of the island, the damage from the hurricanes was more visible with fallen trees and some buildings still not repaired yet. A few of the organized tours by the cruiseship were also not available. We decided in advance to do some scuba diving off the shore and Eden Rocks Scuba Center was a 5 minute walk from the port. There are two decent shore dives right in front of their dive shop and we spend the morning diving the site called Devil's Grotto. Instead of paying $85 US for a typical Cayman boat dive trip, I ended up paying just $8 US for a rental for a tank.

I didn't go to other parts of the island during this trip but have been to the turtle farm, Hell village and Stingray City before. They are all worthwhile sites to visit. I wanted to take my girlfriend scuba diving at Stingray City in the afternoon but for some reason, only the snorkelling sections of Stingray City were available that day. So after returning to the cruiseship for lunch, we went back ashore to do some shopping. We would like to come back to Grand Cayman again for a longer stay in the future.

In summary, most of Grand Cayman appears to be back in business again after the hurricanes. It is one of the nicer but pricier ports to visit in the Caribbean.

Clint Leung is owner of Free Spirit Gallery , an online gallery specializing in Inuit Eskimo and Northwest Native American art including carvings, sculpture and prints. Also numerous information resource articles with photos of authentic Inuit art and Native American Indian art.