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If you’ve been thinking about taking a cruise, you’re not alone. A recent study conducted by the Cruise Lines International Association says that 51 million people in North America plan to take a cruise in the next three years. For those who have not yet taken the plunge, here are some answers to the most frequently asked questions about cruising:

Is cruising expensive?

Just like land-based resorts, cruises come in a wide variety of prices, ranging from budget to ultra-deluxe. The price you pay will vary depending on the quality of the ship, the length of the voyage, the range of the itinerary, the type of cabin selected, and the time you choose to sail. Prices can range from a low $55 per day for an inside cabin to as much as $1,000 per day for a penthouse suite with hot tub and balcony.  

What does my fare cover?

For one all-inclusive rate, passengers get a cabin, meals, entertainment, on-board activities, the use of most shipboard facilities and transportation to every port of call on the ship’s itinerary. Airfare is available from the cruise line for an additional cost.

Will I get seasick?

Modern cruise ships weigh thousands of tons, have stabilizers to keep swaying to a minimum, and use radar to steer the ship away from bad weather. As a result, most passengers don’t notice much movement after the first few hours at sea.  If you’re sensitive to motion or the ship passes through stormy seas, there are a number of remedies available from the ship’s gift shop, including anti-motion sickness medications, an ear patch, wrist bands.  

Don’t cruises cater to an older demographic?

Not any more. The average age of cruisers has been on the decline for the last 25 years and is now below 45 years of age. The reason for the decline is the growing number of ships aimed at people with active lifestyles and families.  

What can I do when the ship is at sea?

You can literally be run off your feet if you choose to participate in the dozens of activities available every day.  For example, most cruise ships have exercise equipment, fitness classes and jogging tracks. Many have paddle tennis courts, basketball hoops, and golf simulators. Some have wave pools and skating rinks.  And every ship has a wide variety of seminars ranging from dance classes and cooking demonstrations to lectures on history, finance and beauty. 

What can I do when the ship’s in port?

There’s a wide range of excursions in every port of call. For example, you can take a bus tour, ride a boat, take a hiking trip, go snorkeling or scuba diving, attend a beach party or just go shopping. In some locations, you can even cycle down a mountain, float over wineries in a hot air balloon, explore the ocean bottom in a submarine and fly above glaciers in a helicopter. 

What’s the food like?

On most ships, the food is comparable with what you’d expect from a first-class restaurant. At dinner, you’ll get a five-course meal with soup, salad, appetizer, main course and dessert, all of which you can choose from a variety of selections. Most cruise ships also have alternative restaurants that specialize in a certain type of cuisine such as steak, Italian, or Asian. 

Are kids allowed to cruise?

More and more parents are taking their kids on cruises – around 20 percent according to the Cruise Line International Association.  The key is to select a cruise ship that has an organized program with activities geared to the ages of your children.   When kids stay in the same cabin with two adults, they also get a reduced third or fourth-person fare. And from time to time some cruise lines may offer “kids sail free” promotions. 

Cruise lines have been floating some tremendous deals over the past month in order to fill ships in a slow economy. And in the last week alone, there have been a flood of great offers.

For example, there are free upgrades from ocean view cabins to balcony staterooms on selected summer sailings with Princess in Europe, Alaska and Bermuda; Caribbean cruises this winter starting at just $50 per day from Costa; a 31-day world cruise segment from Cunard on the QM2 beginning at just $2,995; and a flotilla of discounted cruises from Royal Caribbean, Carnival and NCL. And it’s expected the deals will continue to flow.

But how can consumers stay up to date on the best offers? And how can they decide which offers are a great deal or no deal?

Staying in the know: It’s important to find out quickly when cruise lines offer special deals because most are capacity controlled, subject to a short booking window, and have limited cabin selection. The best way to do this is to regularly check online cruise sites like www.tripharbour.ca which posts cruise specials, sign up for special alerts directly from the cruise lines, or ask your travel agent to advise you of special deals to destinations that you are interested in. When booking a cruise, it’s also a good idea to ask your cruise professional if she or he is aware of any special offers that are similar to the cruise you are interested in. If you are flexible about the cruise line, ports of call and departure dates, you stand a better chance of getting the best deal.

Different types of deals: There are a variety of special discounts and benefits being offered by cruise lines to lure people up the gangplank. Some are going for straight cash discounts off the regular brochure rate; others are offering cabin upgrades; while some are giving shipboard credits that you can spend on the vessel. In addition, most have lowered the deposit amount required to reserve a cabin, and many have made their cancellation policies more generous. So it’s important to understand the value of the non-cash benefits before doing a price comparison.  

Understanding the extra costs: The price that is quoted for a cruise usually excludes other costs such as port charges and taxes, which can add another $40 to $100 per person, per week to the overall price. In addition, some quotes do not include fuel supplements, which can run between $8 to $10 per person, per day to a maximum of around $140. So it’s important to understand what’s included in the price being quoted, and to add extra charges to the total before deciding how good a deal it is.

Comparing one deal to another: The easiest way to compare cruise fares is do calculate how much the total cost is and divide it by the length of the cruise. For example, a seven-day cruise that costs $700 would work out to $100 per day. The lower the per diem cost, the better the value. Of course, you also need to look at the standard of the cruise line and compare the “deal rate” to their regular brochure rate. A rate of $175 per day on a luxury line like Crystal or Regent would be a huge bargain, while the same rate on a contemporary line like Carnival or Royal Caribbean would be a lot less appealing. An experienced cruise agent can walk you through the best values.

Factor in the air cost: The cost of airline tickets can vary widely depending on destination, date of the cruise, and your own flexibility. For example, the increased cost of flying during holiday periods like Christmas, New Year’s, March Break and long weekends can totally offset the reduced rate of the cruise. So if you have to fly to the city where the cruise departs, check out your airfare before finalizing your cruise purchase. Also, compare the cost of cruise line’s air package and flight routing to what you can purchase directly on your own. The main advantages of buying the air package from the cruise line is that they are responsible for getting you to the ship if there are any delays, and they provide transfers from the airport. In addition, if your cruise is not roundtrip from your port of embarkation (e.g. it’s Miami to Los Angeles), it may be more expensive for you to book two one-way flights than what the cruise line charges.

Deal or no deal: No matter how good the offer appears, it’s only a deal if you get what you want for a lot less than you would normally have had to pay. The more flexible you can be around departure dates, cruise ships and air routings, the more likely you are to get the best deal. And if you can make your plans on short notice – four weeks or less – you’ll usually have a wider choice of discounted cruises to choose from.  

The bottom line is that cruise lines cannot afford to have empty ships sailing the seven seas, and will continue to offer great deals to get passengers up the gangplank. With cruise fares starting as low as $50 per day, it’s getting much tougher for landlubbers to resist the call of the sea.

The beauty of online communities is that we all benefit from sharing our experience, curiosity and knowledge. It’s called the “wisdom of crowds,” and it means that we all get to make more informed decisions about the things we want to buy and what we should pay for it – in this case, cruise vacations.   

That’s the objective of Tripharbor. We want to provide a way for online shoppers to get independent information about cruise lines, ships and destinations. We want a way for them to share experiences and ask questions. We want to improve their chances of finding the best cruise experience at the best possible price. And we want to do it through our community by letting them do the talking!

That’s why I’m delighted that Tripharbor has just appointed four “Cruise Directors” to help me provide knowledgeable insights and opinions on our community forums and boards. They’ll join me in serving as a resource that visitors to Tripharbor can use to get informed views and answers to their questions on cruising and cruising related topics.

The four newly-appointed Cruise Directors are Jackie Condie, Winston Kassim, John Wolbert and John Smith. They were chosen as Cruise Directors because of their cruising experience and port knowledge, and their activity level in posting comments on the community forums. Together, we have sailed on more than 20 different cruise lines including Carnival, Cunard, Celebrity, Crystal, Holland America, NCL, Princess, Royal Caribbean, Regent, Silversea, Seabourn, Star Clipper, and Windstar, and have visited more than 100 destinations. 

Jackie lives in New Jersey and loves cruising so much that her family is threatening to hold an “intervention.” I hope they stage it on a Royal Caribbean ship in Alaska and invite us! 

John W. lives in Florida and loves driving to the pier. He’s spent so much time in the Caribbean that they may name an island after him. Uhhhh…I think they already have – it’s called St. John’s, USVI!!

Winston lives in Ontario and loves seeing the world through a porthole. His last cruise was to the Baltic, but he’s thinking of doing a Panama Canal or South American voyage next if he can talk his wife into it. I’m betting he’ll succeed!   

John Smith lives in Ontario but hails from London, England. In between sailing the Greek Islands, he spends a great deal of time in Bermuda, the Bahamas and Europe, and has journeyed as far as South Africa. He’s the guy you want on your Trivial Pursuit team when the final question involves famous destinations! 

I know Jackie, Winston and the two Johns will be a great resource for our community. And I hope you will look for their comments and advice as you go about planning your next vacation at sea.