Dave's Travel Tips

As a travel agent myself, it is in my best interest to tell you that you should absolutely book your vacations with an agent.  The truth is that you certainly don’t need to and that it’s a personal choice, but there are some benefits that you might want to consider, and travel agents are not going to disappear anytime soon.  In this article, I will share three reasons you might want to consider partnering with an agent instead of planning and booking everything by yourself. I understand that people are nervous about dealing with salespeople.  I never would have expected that I would become a salesman myself, but here I am.  The truth is that the vast majority of travel agents and other salespeople are regular and honest people who are just trying to make a living like everyone else. Reason 1: It does not cost anything extra to book with an agent People often wrongly assume that dealing with a travel agent is a needlessly more expensive way of booking travel.  Pe...

Monetary transactions on cruise ships function differently than what you are likely used to on land, but the good news is that making purchases and monitoring your spending while cruising is very simple and straightforward.  There are a few important things you need to know. Cruise ships are mostly cashless Cash is not accepted on cruise ships to make purchases, and carrying cash is also not necessary for tipping service staff.  All purchases and charges are facilitated through an onboard account that essentially functions like a credit card.  Charges are posted to the account, and you are obligated to pay off the balance later.  When checking in for your cruise, it is essential to register a credit card that will be directly linked to your onboard account.  At the end of your cruise, your credit card will be charged for the amounts owing in your onboard account. When making purchases on the ship, all transactions are processed by using your key card, or in the ...

If you are interested in trying a cruise, then you will have to make the tough decision about which cruise line to sail with.  There are a few major players in the cruise industry that you should know about.  In this article, I will discuss the largest cruise lines in the “contemporary” and “deluxe/premium” segments of the cruising industry.  Other segments including luxury, river, and expedition cruises also exist, but these are more niche and they are too different from contemporary and premium ocean cruises to be discussed together.  These are also not suitable options for most first-time cruisers. Contemporary Cruise Lines There are four major cruise lines in the “contemporary” segment: Carnival, Royal Caribbean International, Norwegian Cruise Line, and MSC.  These cruise lines all offer a modern, mainstream cruising experience that appeals to a wide demographic and have a wide range of price categories.  Ships operated by these brands are among the lar...

Welcome to my travel blog!  I am a travel agent from Ontario, Canada and I decided to start this blog to share my knowledge and unique perspective of the travel industry with you.  My primary interest and area of expertise at this time is cruising, so you can expect to see many articles about cruise vacations in the early days of this blog. Over the next few weeks, I am going to share many articles that serve as an introduction to ocean cruising for those who have never cruised before.  Over the past year, I have learned a lot about the cruising industry through industry training and personal experience, and I am going to share the most important information that I think all new cruisers should know.  Cruising is a vacation style that many people are not familiar with, especially my fellow Canadian travelers, and there are some differences between cruising and other resort-style vacations that you might be more familiar with.  If you’re reading this then you pro...