In my last article I focused on some very good reasons why there may be times when you want to book your cruise excursions through the cruise line rather than through a tour operator or going it alone. I promised that I would do the companion piece about when the opposite holds true, so here we go.

First of all, if you have a travel agent who is working with you on your trip, for Pete’s sake use their expertise. That is after all the point, right? So if you are going to new and exciting places, talk with your travel agent and make sure they know the kinds of things that interest you, and let them take it from there. At the very least they can provide recommendations, and at the most (and most fun) they can put together a curated adventure that really reflects the kind of experience you want to have. As an example, I had a client this spring that went to Italy and Greece for two weeks. They had never been to any of the places before, so after talking with them about it I put together a complete itinerary that included not just hotels and transfers but all of their tours and activities. We then went over it together, made a couple of adjustments, and voila — done! Yes, of course, they had a great time, and some of the things they loved the most were the off-the-beaten-path tours that they probably would not have picked on their own. So use your resources.

In that last example they had never been to those cities before, but venturing out is also a great idea if you have. So let’s say you’re on a cruise that stops in Cozumel. If you live in Texas as I do, you know that pretty much every cruise out of Galveston stops in Cozumel, so we have all been there ALOT. You are also usually there for a whole day, so just hanging out in the port area can get old — there are only so many times you can get the fish pedicure and pick up new t-shirts! So in these instances, there’s a good case to be made for venturing out and looking beyond what the ship offers. Not only might you find something new, but the pricing is likely to be much better than the ships pricing.

Somewhat related, whether you’ve been somewhere before or not, sometimes you just don’t want to spend a whole day on a bus, or be locked into having to do something specific. On most cruises we’ve been on there’s usually at least one day where we just play it by ear — we get off the ship and see what we want to do from there. Sometimes it ends up being just hanging around the port area, or taking a taxi to a local beach, or doing the tried and true Hop On Hop Off bus. I’ve said this before but I’ll say it again — this is YOUR vacation. Don’t feel compelled to run yourself ragged, or drop serious change doing a big excursion in every port, unless you want to. If you decide you’ve overscheduled yourself, you can usually cancel a ship excursion at least 24 hours out and get your money back, but check your tickets and know your deadlines to be sure.

My last reason, for now, to break out beyond the ship excursions is when you are with a group. If you have 6, 8, 10, or more people, you can often book a private tour for just your little group and pay less than being on a bus of 40. It also gives you the freedom to decide exactly what you want to do, and usually, the drivers and guides are not only flexible but are great at doing things in the opposite order of the ship excursions so you avoid the crowds. Sometimes they will really hustle first thing to get to the first stop 20 minutes before they know the first big bus will arrive, and then you’re golden all day.

So whatever you decide, you now have at least my perspective on when you might want to book through the ship, and when it totally makes sense to branch out. Ultimately, it’s your vacation and you need to do what you’re comfortable with and what makes you happy. Just go!

Breaking Away While Cruising was originally published in Globetrotters on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

For those that cruise, one of the biggest reasons they like to cruise is the opportunity to visit so many places over a short period of time. The challenge with this can be that while you will certainly arrive in port, what you make of your time and what kind of experience you have is largely left to your discretion.

If you’ve traveled a ton and know exactly what makes you happy on a trip, this can be a plus as you have a lot of control over designing your adventures. But if like many cruisers you are newer to travel, or haven’t been to that part of the world before, having someone share 100 options with you for an 8-hour day in port can be wayyyyyyyyyy past overwhelming. Total analysis paralysis. Next thing you know you’re wandering aimlessly around the port gift shop trying to figure out what went wrong.

People who cruise can have strong feelings about lots of things, from buffets to check-in times to their pillow preferences. How you choose to experience the ports you visit while cruising is often on that list — you will talk to folks who would ONLY use a cruise ship excursion and others who would NEVER DO SUCH A THING! Well like most things in life, the reality is probably somewhere in the middle.

To help both those newer to planning as well as the pros, I wanted to do two articles that will talk about your options, and why one in any particular circumstance once might make more sense to you over another. To give the cruise lines a fair shake, I’m going to start with this article on 5 times when you might want to book your excursions through the ship, and then my next article will talk about when you might want to venture out on your own. So let’s get started, shall we?

The first two reasons go back to the quandaries above — sometimes there are just too many choices and it can be overwhelming.

So the first reason you might want to go with the ship’s options is that you are not working with a travel agent — no worries, I’m not that kind of sensitive. Part of what a travel agent will/should do when working with you is to help you to narrow down your choices based on what they know about how you like to experience a place, provide you with recommendations and potentially assist with booking your selections. I’ll talk more about this in the next article, so hang tight. If you aren’t working with a travel agent and you don’t want to put your happiness in the hands of the wonderful but random World Wide Web, go with the ship’s options.

The second but related reason is that it’s a port that you’ve never traveled to before. The ship often has excursions that cover whatever the main points of interest are in that port (in Rome, the Vatican; in Grand Cayman, snorkeling; in Australia, well you get my drift). So if you don’t want to do something esoteric but want to visit those postcard spots, booking a ship excursion can be an easy win.

While the first two reasons are about choices and deciding what you want to do, the next three reasons are more practical, more about logistics, and covering your bases. If you know me, you know I’m a belt and suspenders kind of lady. In other words, I always have a Plan B, definitely, got Plan C covered and am hiding Plan D in my back pocket waiting for the need to arise :)

My own personal number 1 reason to use a ship excursion is when the time in port is tight, or where we want to go is far. The very simple reason for this is that if you take a ship excursion, they have to wait for you. Bus gets caught in traffic, the ship waits. Bus gets a flat tire, the ship waits. Driver gets lost or totally messes up local time vs. ship time, the ship waits. I cannot stress enough how reassuring this can be. Let’s go back to that Rome example for a minute. So if you go to Rome on a cruise, you port in Civitavecchia, which is about 90 minutes from ROME! So let’s say you have a 6-hour port time — 3 of that is back and forth. One false move or traffic jam and you’re toast. So whenever I want to do something that I think has the potential for drama, I go with the ship. We have an inside joke in our family — when you are on a ship excursion you have to wear a numbered sticker all day long, usually, it’s a circle and the whole city knows you are on bus 31. We affectionately call that the safety sticker, because you know when the ship leaves port you’ll be on it.

The next reason is also kind of logistical in nature. You may or may not know that a ship can, at any time, change the itinerary of your cruise. This means it could change 6 months out, 6 days out or 6 hours out. A recent example of this was a ship that just last week was not able to port in Labadee because of weather. Their passengers ended up with an extra day on the cruise line’s private island, and the cruise line refunded all excursions that had been booked with them for Labadee. With late changes like this, your private excursion may or may not be so accommodating. When the ship makes a change they automatically issue the refund, you don’t even have to trek down to guest services to ask about it. So while this is not the biggest issue in the world, or even my top reason for using ship excursions, let’s call it a nice feature, an added plus.

You will notice that I’ve only got one reason left to share at this point, so let’s deal with the elephant on the pool deck. Your ship excursion is very likely NOT going to be less expensive than booking something independently. So if you’ve been waiting for that shoe, it’s not dropping here. Ship excursions are usually a bit, to quite a bit, more. That said, for the reasons above and the final reason (drum roll) there are lots of times it can make sense.

Having a great experience on an excursion requires a few different stars to align. When all goes well, it leaves on time, goes to the places you were expecting, gives you the experience you were hoping for, and comes with a great guide to boot. Let’s take a recent example from a cruise we took this year that had a stop in Scotland. The port was Greenock, and we wanted to go to Glasgow, which was more than an hour away. So you guessed it — ship excursion for us! The bus left on time, and we (with a little traffic) pretty much got where we needed to be on time (think castle, Crown Jewels, you know).

Where things started to go off the rails was when we got off the bus. The guide ran (literally) ahead to “get the tickets” so that we could enter the castle. The only problem with that was he left about half the group behind in the process. Being a tour guide means you follow the military motto “no [person] left behind”, so this was a problem. We caught up and managed to get our tickets, but part of the group never found him as he kind of disappeared once he felt he had dispensed enough tickets. We went into the castle, wandered around, and saw the fancy stuff, but it wasn’t really guided since all he did was get the tickets. The tour carried on pretty much like this for the rest of the day. So yes the transportation worked out, we pretty much saw what we thought we would, but the guide was a real bust and folks were pretty steamed. If this happens to you on a tour you purchase on your own, you are not likely to get much response. You can leave a bad review, but the tour operators are all subcontractors to whoever you probably purchased from (Viator, GetYourGuide, etc.) and they don’t do a whole lot so long as the excursion actually happens.

Which leads me to my final reason — the ship will. As I said, some folks were pretty steamed, and apparently, word got back to the cruise line — I’m guessing at least a few folks made a beeline for the shore excursions desk when we got back from our adventure. While we did not, that night a refund of our excursion amount showed up on our shipboard account. The cruise line didn’t just refund the folks who complained — they proactively refunded the entire bus of people. So while I wouldn’t make a habit of trying to get a refund after every excursion, it is nice to know that when things aren’t up to snuff they go for the simple solution — $$$.

I think these are all pretty good reasons why you might sometimes want to use a ship excursion vs. booking separately, but there are always two sides to every coin, and my next article will look at excursions from the other side.

Cruise Ship Excursions was originally published in Globetrotters on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Those that know me know that I love a cruise. Maybe not any cruise, because I have gotten a bit spoiled but put me on the open water and I’m in my happy place (small closets aside). As I sit here writing this I am actually supposed to be getting ready to leave tomorrow for a cruise on the brand-new Norwegian Prima. You’ll be hearing about that next week for sure!

According to a survey by the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA), about 92% of cruise travelers say they will likely or definitely book a cruise as their next vacation.

Like with anything else, we all have our own reasons for why we do (or don’t?) love cruising. Whether you already love it or are unconvinced, there are 5 tips that will enhance your experience.

Arrive a Day Early

While I know there are many people that prefer to save the night of hotel costs and fly in the day of the cruise, if at all possible please don’t do this to yourself. With all that you have probably read, and maybe even experienced, about what is going on with the airlines these days, now is not the time to gamble on your flight being the one that’s on time and has your bags arrive with you!

Depending on the port, there are often hotels very close by that offer transport to the pier, and if it’s someplace new for you, take the opportunity to start your vacation a day early with a little exploration.

If for some reason you absolutely cannot do this and MUST arrive the day your cruise starts, please please please be on the first thing moving! The first flights of the morning can be more likely to leave on time since the plane generally arrives the night before and is already waiting for you.

Board Early

When you check in online the cruise line will assign you a time to arrive at the pier, and post-COVID they are trying to not have everyone arrive at once. If you check in for your cruise as soon as you are able (usually 30 days out) you will have more choices for times. I’m a strong advocate of boarding your cruise as early as possible — another reason to fly in the day before!

So why get on early? You can check out the article below, but to sum it up, why not? After all, you are already paying for it, so you may as well get on board, enjoy your lunch and a beverage and get to know your new home!

Cruising — Day One Pro Tips for Smooth Sailing

Do The Free Stuff

Every ship has a schedule full of things to do every day, above and beyond your port adventures. Some of these will come at an additional cost (wine tasting, spa treatments) but there are plenty of things to keep you busy even if you don’t want to spend extra money for those activities. Nowadays your daily activity schedule is not only printed out but also on your app, so you can get a bit ahead with your planning.

One thing we like to do is take the schedule for the next day to dinner with us and review it over our appetizers to see what we want to do the next day. Some things are more popular than others, so if you are the folks that like to be in the front rows of the evening shows, plan to get there early.

Check out Specialty Dining

Yes, I did just get finished saying you should do the free stuff, and now I am also saying you should try a specialty dining restaurant at least once during your cruise. Now we all know that there is more than enough food already included in a cruise that this is not a necessity by any stretch. Whether you are the Captain of the Windjammer Buffet or known to every waitstaff in the main dining room, getting off the regular rotation at least once during your vacation can add a little extra flair. Most of the cruise lines these days have multiple specialty restaurants to choose from, and almost all have a steak house, an Italian restaurant and perhaps an Asian or seafood restaurant as a starting point. If you are on a ship with a large main dining room, this gives you an opportunity to have a more intimate, more restaurant-like experience. The menu is usually slightly more specialized and the beverage options can often be beyond what is offered in other places. For example, the by-the-glass wine list in the steak house usually has a larger selection than the list in the main dining. If this all sounds great but isn’t in your budget, they often offer lunch options as well that might work better for your wallet and your schedule.

You Do You

Finally, please remember that this is YOUR vacation and nobody else’s. Not even mine. Once you have picked the cruise line and itinerary that match your vacation style and goals, the most important thing is to make your vacation what you want it to be.

So yes, most cruises do still have a “formal” night at least once during the sailing. If you want to wear a ball gown you’ve been saving for the occasion, go for it. More comfortable staying on the casual side, go for it. Here is what I tell my clients — no matter what you wear (so long as you have clothes on when you leave your cabin) there will generally be plenty of other folks who also decided to wear gowns, or tuxes, or jeans or shorts and flip flops.

The same thing goes for activities and excursions. Everyone has their own travel style. I have clients that could care less about where the boat is going because they don’t plan on getting off — the ship is their adventure. On the opposite end, there are plenty of folks who want to be the first one off and last one back on, and they view the ship as a convenient method of transportation. Whatever works for you is what you should do. So let go of your FOMO (fear of missing out) because your friends have a different travel style, and do what makes you happy.

Please take a moment to consider following me!

5 Ways to Win at Cruising was originally published in Globetrotters on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Whether you are on a 3-night “happy hour” cruise or an extended journey over weeks, starting your adventure off on the right foot can make for smooth sailing (ha ha!) the rest of the trip. Whether you are a first-time cruiser or Diamond member who knows all the captains by name, below are just a few recommendations for how to spend the first day (or at least the first few hours) of your cruise.

First, get on early. When you check in online the cruise line will assign you a time to arrive at the pier, and post-COVID they are trying to not have everyone arrive at once. If you check in for your cruise as soon as you are able (usually 30 days out) you will have more choices for times. Getting on early provides for a few less wrinkles.

First, you will obviously have fewer people in front of you. That means your luggage also gets on earlier and will likely get to your cabin a bit sooner. Second, in the hopefully unlikely event that you have any hiccups with the process, it gives you plenty of time to get them sorted out without stressing yourself.

I have had clients forget their bag tags, their Sea Pass, leave their passport at the hotel, and being at the port early has meant these issues were easily solved in plenty of time and without anyone having to make a run for the ship.

So you’re onboard early, now what? Well if you’re not ready for lunch yet, there are some things that you can do to get ready for the fun! First, take a moment to exhale and if you haven’t already, officially turn your brain to vacation mode. Grab a beverage and knock out the following items:

Wifi. If you have purchased the wifi package, log on and make sure you are not having any issues. If you are, heading to the wifi service desk (often located by guest relations on Day 1) right away will put you at the front of the line. It tends to get really busy after lunch once folks are turning off their cellular and switching over.

If you were waiting to get onboard to purchase, the same thing applies. Go ahead and get it done and set up. If you have to work during the cruise, now is also a great time to ask them where on board the wifi signal is the best. Some ships (thank you Celebrity Edge) now have access points in the cabins to boost your signal, but others (I still love you Cunard) have you propping your cabin door open with a shoe to let that magic in.

Dining. If you do want to do speciality dining and you have not already made reservations, take care of this now. Now that folks can make reservations and purchase through the app, the most popular days and times can often be fully reserved before you even board.

So if you haven’t already gotten everything settled, now is the time. Similarly, if you have an assignment for Main Dining that does not work for you (you wanted early and got late, you have anytime dining and want reservations), head to the main dining room to get this sorted. You may need to ask which deck of the dining room is set up for this purpose.

Spa. Whether you need an appointment, want to check out the fitness classes or get a look at the specials, stop by on Explore journey. The best deals for treatments are usually found if you are willing to make multiple appointments, or to have an appointment while the ship is in port.

Always ask about the specials, as it may be the one you want isn’t the one they are promoting at the moment, but it still exists. If you are thinking you might want to get your hair done for the formal night on night 5, book it now. Just be clear about their cancellation policies in case you change your mind.

Oh, and if you do decide to use the spa services, a friendly reminder that you are not required to buy the products they use. If you really like something, wait until you have wifi and check the pricing to buy it back home.

You can always run back over to the spa and pick it up if its that great a deal or something you can’t otherwise get. Oh, and when you are buying those full sized creams and cleansers, do a mental check of your packing situation and how you will get them home.

Explore! Especially if you are new to cruising, or on a ship that is new to you, take some time to get to know it. If you have more than 1–2 sea days in your itinerary, scope out those nooks and crannies where you might want to hang out.

Just by taking care of the items above you may already have seen quite a bit of the ship, but often these items are consolidated onto 2 or 3 decks so maybe not. My preferred method, once I have taken care of business, is to go to the uppermost deck and work my way down.

This is because oftentimes I don’t naturally make it up to the top of the ship — I’m not playing basketball these days — and they have added so many things now that I would otherwise miss. Many ships have “rooftop” bars and terraces, movie areas, mini golf and other activities going on up there.

I like to see the space so that when I see activities on the schedule I have a better sense of what they are talking about. An added benefit is I get my steps in walking down the stairs deck by deck.

At some point during this list you may have already stopped to have lunch, but if not now is a great time to do so. You can check out the buffet, and on some ships the main dining room is open as well. Often they may also have an embarkation day special for lunch in the specialty restaurants, and this can be a lovely way to settle in and fully commit to vacation mode.

By the time you have accomplished all of this, it is pretty likely that your cabin is available. If so, absolutely check it out. If you have been lugging your carry-on around with you, dropping this in your cabin at the first opportunity makes the Exploring so much easier :).

The rest of your luggage may or may not already be there, but getting a sense of your cabin’s amenities and where it is located in reference to other things can help to get your internal map set up. If your luggage is there, and you are like me, you may feel compelled to unpack. I know I do.

I like to knock it out first thing, as once I get going I find my time filled with so many more interesting things to do than decide where to stash my toiletries. If you are going to need extra hangers, also good to be at the front of that request line with your room steward.

This long list may make it seem like your vacation just turned into a whole bunch of logistics and work- not a vacation at all. Absolutely not. After all, it’s still YOUR vacation, so you can make it whatever you want it to be. In fact, you can ignore this article and my feelings won’t even be hurt (after all, I won’t be there to know). However, if you play along and try this just once, I think you will find that a couple of hours of exploring and making sure everything is as you want it to be will leave you with little to do the rest of the trip but enjoy. And please do. Enjoy, that is.

Please take a moment to consider following me!

Cruising — Day One Pro Tips for Smooth Sailing was originally published in Globetrotters on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Every year from June until well after Halloween, you might notice that those of us in the travel community are just a little bit more on edge than usual. The problem, you see, is that hurricanes tend to hang out and visit some of the most popular places for people in the US to vacation — Florida, Caribbean Islands, and Mexico. So yes, we hold our collective breath, monitor the weather channel more than usual, and try to have Plan B, C and D already thought through.

Last year the Atlantic hurricane season produced 21 named storms, the third most active season recorded.

Now look, this is basically half the year, so believe me I get that people are going to travel. Hell, I want you to travel. It’s kind of my gig after all. But since we can all agree that we are going into this together, what do you say we agree on some ground rules? While these suggestions are focused on weather-impacted travel, I’d suggest they are good practices for any trip.

First, please say yes to Travel Insurance. I’m not an insurance broker. And I’m happy to report that since COVID people have been much more open to protecting their travel investment. But still. Telling me “I’m going unless I’m dead” isn’t really a travel strategy. I get it, we all plan on going no matter what. But “what” has been named Fiona and Ian in the last two weeks, and they had an entirely different take on the situation. So know these things:

1. Buy your travel insurance early, as in when you put down your deposit. Many insurance companies only provide coverage if you buy it BEFORE a storm is named. And storms tend to get named way before the cable news starts talking about them.
2. Travel insurance generally only covers arrangements that are non-refundable. You need to understand what the cancellation policies are for your arrangements and plan accordingly. Not to pan them, but this is especially true if you are using AirBnB, VRBO or another private home arrangement.

Even if you are not planning to travel to the locations noted above, pay attention to where your flights connect through. Miami and Orlando in particular are very popular hubs for some airlines, and for obvious reasons, there are lots of folks who were going somewhere other than Florida or the Caribbean this week who have had their plans all jammed up. In general, longer connections are better in the summer because even regular summer storms can (and do) create chaos.

Possibly the only thing more stressful than having your trip cancelled before you leave is having your trip go off the rails once you are already traveling. There’s not necessarily anything you can do to avoid this, but a few suggestions for being prepared might be in order.

Pack your pills. If you are going on a 7-day trip, pack at least 14 days of your medication, along with copies of the prescriptions in case they have to be refilled. That way if your return is delayed you have one less thing to stress about.

Get your money right. Even if you have Travel Insurance it is often reimbursing you after you have already spent the money on that extra hotel, flight change or extra meal. Many people like to travel with just one credit card (the one they are earning points on) but you should maybe think about having a second “in emergency break glass” card on you in case something comes up.

Download the apps. Often flight delays and cancellations come through first to their apps and folks who have signed up for notifications. Some apps to download:

1. Your airline — again, you will often see notifications and status updates here first. Depending on the airline, sometimes you can rebook yourself through the app faster than the folks standing in line at the customer service center. I’ve been on a delayed flight sitting on the tarmac and rebooked a group of 20 through the apps before we even took off. When we landed and we had of course missed our original flight, we went straight to the new gate and the rest of the plane went to customer service (ouch).
2. Your hotel chain — whether or not you have status, the contact info for the hotel is there, and many of them have a chat function. Even if you are only delayed, reach out and let them know so that you don’t lose your room as a no-show.
3. Your cruise line app — allows you to see not only your reservation but any tours you might need to cancel, etc.
4. YOUR TRAVEL AGENT’S APP — Yes, I have an app, and lots of other travel agents do too. This should have (I can’t speak to what other agents load in) all of your itinerary details, 24/7 emergency phone numbers, copies of your identification docs (passport photo pages, etc) along with a texting function so you can reach your agent if something comes up. If we have to change something mid-trip (you’re stuck in a random city and need a hotel) I can upload your new documents here so that you have them when you show up to your new spot.

And just for fun, get your Twitter handle warmed up! Many airlines and hotels are surprisingly responsive to the little blue bird.

Finally, as with all things these days, pack your patience. A sense of humor doesn’t hurt either. So long as you and your loved ones are safe, the rest can be handled. Be careful out there, and have fun!

Unless You’re A Storm Chaser, You Need to Know This About Hurricane Season Travel was originally published in Globetrotters on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Long before I ever became a travel advisor I loved to travel. I traveled for work, I traveled for fun, I traveled whenever I could make the time and money align. While people would comment on how much I traveled (especially for work) no one ever asked why I loved it. I suppose it seemed self-explanatory. After all, enough folks say they love to travel that it doesn’t really seem to require a justification, a rationale, or as my 4 year old self would say, a “cuz why”.

Having joined the travel industry some years ago now, I have found that there are as many different “cuz why’s” as there are individuals. People love to travel to escape, to have new adventures, to one-up their friends (yes I said it), to see the things they have only read about, etc, etc. It’s not my gig to question or second guess, just to understand their motivation. After all, why you want to travel will form the basis of what you need the experience to be to enjoy it. As a travel advisor, seems like something I should know about my clients. So I’m really not being nosy :).

In 2020 a survey found that 95% of people planned to travel in the next 15 months

To level the field a bit, let me tell you my “cuz why”. It shapes how I view travel as much as anything else does.

When I was in high school in a Boston Public High School, I was lucky to be in a magnet school, an “International” school that was the smallest public high school in the city where foreign language was a required course to graduate. Truth be told, it was the closest high school to my house so it was more out of sheer convenience than anything else. We actually had a teacher who part of their job was to find summer abroad programs that we could apply to for scholarships. Now I don’t know you, and maybe your crowd had passports before they could walk and expected summer in Europe, but in my crowd I was pretty cool because I had been all the way to Pennsylvania. Nothing against Philly and all, but not exactly the be all and end all as far as travel goes. So to cut to the meat, through a confluence of events I ended up in Zacatecas, Mexico for 6 weeks between my junior and senior year with a group of kids from all over the U.S.

So now to my “cuz why”. I learned on my first day with my host family that not everyone has soda in their fridge. Hell even as a poor kid in Boston I had Mountain Dew on a daily basis. But when I was asked what I wanted with my lunch, I, figuring they might not have Mountain Dew in the house, just asked for a soda. Any soda would do really. I didn’t really understand what was going on when a conversation ensued and my 8 year old host family brother shot out of the house to the corner bodega, but I got clear pretty quickly when everyone else was drinking water or rehydrated milk and I was the only one with a soda.

Over those six weeks I came to understand that a poor kid from an inner-city public school still had so many advantages over families in other parts of the world that weren’t even considered poor by their standard. To say my mind was completely blown is an understatement. My chip, which I carried very firmly on my shoulder all over Boston, also got knocked around a bit as I realized that even at the bottom I was better off than many.

It would take another 7 years before I truly understand that I had to create my own reality, which through sheer unwillingness to back down (and a well-timed move to DC) was the beginning of changing the trajectory of my life. So today, 35 years after that trip to Mexico, you have the person you see before you (metaphorically of course). A you-get-what-you-pay-for headshot, a successful owner of multiple business that allow me to live my passion, and a concrete belief that travel changes people. It might change your thought about a specific historical event, or a culture, or where you fit into the global reality. But one way or the other, you cannot come back the same as you left.

So that is why I love travel. I believe in travel as a conduit to change. And I believe in you as travelers and your ability to absorb the small details of what you see and experience, and that they then become part of you. So on your next trip take a moment and just savor it. For me, and for all those that will never get to wherever you are standing in that moment.

Personally, I am going to admit up front that I am not actually a lover of chocolate, at least not as a food group. I’m more of a starburst kid. That said, what I appreciate about chocolate is that other people like it, and it’s a pretty safe bet when looking for a hostess gift, quick “I’ll bring the dessert” option, etc. It’s also a great gift to bring back from places that are known for their chocolate, like Belgium. The chocolate we brought back from our last trip to Brugges made us very popular for more than a minute.

In fact, more than 80% of the U.S. population will eat chocolate this year.

A few weeks ago I was flying back home from a work trip to San Diego and had to connect through Las Vegas. When you live in San Antonio you get used to not having a whole lot of flights that are nonstop, so it is what it is. Since I was flying Southwest, I was on in the early A’s and lucked into an exit row seat. Yes. I know. I’m short. I still like the exit row. That’s an entirely different conversation.

Getting the exit row often means you have quality time with the flight crew since that’s often where they park to watch the silliness ensue. Our little exit row group ended up talking about the specialty chocolatier in the Vegas airport (I’m not naming names Ethel) that the woman across the aisle from me had done some serious damage at, and the flight attendant mentioned that while they love all gifts, any chocolate is usually of the snickers variety. Yes, people bring flight crews gifts. I’ll talk more about this in a moment, but just take my word for it.

So tonite, I’m back flying to California, which means transiting once more through Vegas. Since I had a bit of time, I stopped by Ethel’s and grabbed a little something for the crew. Of course I am back to my exit row seat, and when I gave it to the flight attendant with a thank you and an explanation of the prior conversation with a colleague of hers, she was speechless. Not just that I had brought a gift, but that I remembered the conversation and brought that specific chocolate. I think she was only sad knowing there was about to be some sharing going on with the rest of her team. And I enjoyed my flight knowing their evening was a bit more fun.

So now back to the gift issue. There are plenty of articles and opinions out there about how we as a universe have gotten completely carried away with tipping, with gifts, with showing any sort of appreciation for other humans we interact with. I’m not looking to start a debate (well ok maybe I am) and this is not a directive that you must bring gifts for the flight crew. In fact, I don’t about 90% of the time. If I’m loving the service I tend to tweet their fabulousness, and if I’m not I just focus on the getting there. But I do believe that small shows of appreciation and understanding go a long way in this karmic space we occupy, and this is just a sweet (see what I did there) reminder that sometimes a little chocolate goes a long way.

So in our last article we talked about 5 of the things that we really loved about our recent week on the Celebrity Edge. And all of that was the pure unvarnished truth. Put me back on that ship and I’d be there in a heartbeat. Personal preference aside, as a travel agent I also try to look at every adventure through the lens of what my would be travelers might love, and might not. Celebrity’s older ships are all great, and there may be some reasons that you want to stick with them instead of joining me on the Edge.

Specialty Dining. In the last article I talked about the large number of specialty dining choices. All cruise ships have specialty dining at this point, but on most it’s usually 3 options max. On Edge there are at least double that. While these are great options and some of them were phenomenal experiences, I have lots of clients who when cruising prefer to dine at the included restaurants. So if you suffer from FOMO (fear of missing out) the Edge might not be for you as you’ll always be wondering what’s going on in those other places.

Bye-bye main dining. If you enjoy the traditional main dining room experience (usually two levels, 500–600 cruisers all enjoying a great sit down meal together) then you may not be a fan of Celebrity’s new approach. They have done away with that main dining room entirely, and created four separate restaurants that are included for your choice each evening. While it does what was intended and creates a more intimate feel, if you like the grandeur and scale of the traditional main dining this may disappoint you.

The cabin. The cabin is lovely. It’s way more than “fine” and the updates to the design, such as a shower I can shower in, are much appreciated. But one person’s perfect is another person’s “meh”, so:

1. Infinite Veranda. I talked about this in the other article and I think there is a lot to love about this new concept. But I did miss the feeling like you were actually “going outside” when you went out onto your verandah. The suites and some of the other categories do still have a traditional balcony, so make sure you talk with your travel agent about your preferences.
2. Bring Your Hooks. Over the years, I’ve learned lots of tips about how to maximize space in a cruise cabin. Let’s face it, none of them are BIG (unless you’re in a baller suite), and while I don’t always need my magnetic hooks and shoe organizer, I’ve got to say the closet space in the verandah was a tough pill to swallow. I kept looking for more, and my colleague/roommate for the week got a good laugh out of it. The cabin steward however didn’t seem surprised at my surprise, which at least tells me I wasn’t alone. We managed, but largely because we packed light and both did laundry. On a longer cruise, or without laundry, or sharing a cabin with my husband (eesh just the amount of space those shoes take up) I’m not sure I would have made it.

Wifi. So this one might just be me. Or at least people like me who still have to be able to work while on a cruise, but the wifi was tough. My colleague and I both had the basic package. I upgraded to Premium almost immediately and was able to muddle through, especially at night when others were sleeping. She tried her best to be the control group for me but on day 5 gave up the ghost and upgraded to Premium too.

Wine. As I said when i talked about my foray into the Martini Bar, I am mostly a wine drinker. Ask my non-drinking husband, and he would say I am actually mostly a wine snob. Potato, Potahto. One of the reasons I ventured into the world of martinis was that the wine list was lackluster at best. It was the best in the dining rooms and specialty restaurants, but if you wanted a glass of wine at any of the bars or lounges it was hit or miss. They usually had the basic house wines covered under the classic beverage package, but if you were looking for more you might get your feelings hurt. The caveat to this is if you wanted an expensive bottle of wine In a dining room they probably had it, but I was one lonely wine-drinker and that seemed excessive. Until I know this has changed, I would still go on the Edge (after all it’s still fabulous), but I’d probably use my two bottle allowance to bring on a couple of good bottles to walk around the ship with.

So if you take this article and the one recapping my favorites parts of the Edge, you’ll get a pretty good sense of what to expect. For me, the most important thing is the one I haven’t mentioned yet, and which I believe can truly make or break a cruise experience. THE STAFF WERE AMAZING. PHENOMENAL. WONDERFUL. This isn’t me blowing smoke, since that’s not who I am. Every single team member on that ship was welcoming, friendly, helpful, yadda yadda yadda. So I’ll end this with a shoutout to our cabin steward Thais — Mwah!

My colleague and I were lucky enough to just come off a Mediterranean sailing of the Celebrity Edge, still a babe at two years old. Part of a three ship (so far) class which includes the Apex and the just launched Beyond, Edge and her sisters are Celebrity’s fusion of luxury experiences with a contemporary feel. Turns out luxury doesn’t have to be stuffy and contemporary doesn’t have to be all cold steel, hard edges (get it?) and foam food. While below is not a comprehensive recap, we wanted to share with you five things that if they speak to you mean the Edge is your ship.

1. Bye-bye Main Dining. For those of you that abhor the “main dining” concept where you go to eat all of the same food at the same time as your 600 closest friends, have we got good news for you! Celebrity is already known as the “foodie” ship and with Edge and her sister ships they have re-imagined the included dining as a more intimate, restaurant approach. The Edge has four dining rooms rather than one, each with a slightly different focus and totally different feel and decor.

· Cosmopolitan — Contemporary cuisine, but no worries, no foam or tiny portions here!

· Tuscan — Italian of course!

· Normandie — French inspired

· Cyprus — Mediterranean

Each of the four has a menu split into three pieces

1. Celebrity Classics — the same items that will be available every day in every restaurant
2. Dining Classics — the same items that will be available every day but only in that specific restaurant
3. Daily Selections — these change every day, but are consistent across all four dining rooms

I know it sounds confusing but you’ll get the hang of it — we sure did. Overall it meant everyplace felt less crowded and more like a special experience. With the differences in not just food but decor and design, you could differentiate between the four and actually know where you were.

2. Truly Specialty Dining. Edge has a variety of specialty (or “additional fee”) dining options. So many in fact that in our one week cruise we didn’t get to all of them. They range from burgers and casual cuisine on the Rooftop Garden to a stellar steakhouse at Fine Cut, a meal that will have your phone on video the entire time at Petit Chef and more. From our experience, the meal not to be missed on the Edge is dining at Eden, where every course is outstanding, the decor is other-world and the service is amazing. If you’ve seen the menu online and thought “eh, a bit frou-frou for me” no worries, the menu may not have caught up but the offerings are both accessible and amazing. If you only try one specialty dining, check out Eden.

3. Your Cabin. Let’s assume for a moment that you’re not a suite kind of person (more on that later) but do like a bit of fresh air, so a cabin with a balcony is for you.

• Infinite Veranda — For its balcony (verandah) cabins, Edge has brought the outside in. Rather than a traditional balcony with a curtain, a sliding door and potentially suspect weather, they have expanded your inside space. In lieu of that slider you now have a full size window (think the size of your old balcony), and when you want or the weather merits you can lower the top half to get that wonderful ocean air. You can also use the automatic blind to make the room so dark you might sleep for days. In a best of both worlds approach, it is also possible to close off this space with folding doors so that if you do truly want that separate space it’s there for you. All in all a great additional to the ocean cruise cabin universe.

• Shower space — Gone is the Star Trek-ish ‘beam me up Scotty’ pod that you can’t turn in, let alone raise an arm. Still circular in nature, it now has an actual glass door that opens wide enough for you to actually get yourself all the way in and all the way out. Not quite suite-level, but a huge improvement over the standard balcony cabin of the past.

4. The Martini Bar. Edge has reimagined its public spaces and the Martini Bar in its Grand Plaza (think Atrium of old) not only has a chandelier that doubles as a light show, but live music and a martini menu so interesting even this wine lover had to try it out. Oh, and check out the show the bartenders put on (they are all over YouTube and even Celebrity’s official videos). It is for sure the main hang out space on the ship, and can be seen by the restaurants, bars and lounges on the two decks above it.

5. The Retreat. Last but not least. If you like the idea of all of the options I’ve talked about but really prefer a smaller ship, Edge has got you covered. The Retreat, which includes a separate lounge space, restaurant, pool and outdoor space for all Suite guests, is essentially a ship within a ship. Beautifully appointed and well positioned, a suite on the Edge allows you all of the quiet enjoyment of the retreat along with the ability to access the speciality dining, the Martini Bar and all of the other fabulous spacious onboard.

And yes, they also have shopping (Bulgari, Tiffany, etc) as well as a Casino, spa, great pool deck and lots more. But since the title says “5 Things”, we’ll wrap this one up for now. So if you take this article and the one recapping why you might like their traditional ships more, you’ll get a pretty good sense of what to expect. For me, the most important thing is the one I haven’t mentioned yet, and which I believe can truly make or break a cruise experience. THE STAFF WERE AMAZING. PHENOMENAL. WONDERFUL. This isn’t me blowing smoke, since that’s not who I am. Every single team member on that ship was welcoming, friendly, helpful, yadda yadda yadda. So I’ll end this with a shoutout to our cabin steward Thais — Mwah!