How To Look Great On Your Cruise

If you have a cruise vacation coming up in your not so distant future, you will want to be ready to set sail looking your absolute best. However, simply packing the same beauty supplies and equipment that you use at home for your hair and skin care may not cut it when you are out on the open sea. For example, you may be heading to a tropical climate that will require you to shift your skin care and beauty regimen to take into consideration the additional heat and humidity that you will experience. 

You will also probably want to toss a few extras into your bag that will allow you to glam it up for the evenings in the dining room. And as you are thinking about the many items that you will want to have available for the many types of activities that you will be enjoying, you also know that packing for your cruise has to be done as efficiently and compactly as possible. So what is the solution? The good news is that with a little preparation, you can get ready to hit the high seas with everything you need to stay on top of your beauty routine. 

Keeping Your Cool 

The first step in looking great on your cruise vacation is to learn some tricks for keeping cool when the summer sun begins to bite. One of the best ways to refresh is by using a scented body spray after showering. These sprays can also be a more effective fragrance for the warmer weather, since the light scent will not become overpowering in the warmer temperatures. There are also a number of lotions and makeup products on the market today that will give you a cooling sensation as you apply them to your skin. Make sure that you take along a deodorant that will be easy on the skin as well as effective. To combat the harmful effects of the sun’s rays, don’t forget your sunscreen, including a lip balm with an SPF to keep those lips moist and ready for your evening lipstick. 

Heat-Proof Hair 

Your hair will take plenty of abuse in the sun and surf, so pack the products that will offer additional nourishment and moisture to keep that shine in the evening hours. Your stock should include a conditioner, as well as a hair cream to keep your locks manageable and looking their best. One great technique for ensuring that a day at the beach doesn’t do in your hairstyle is to comb a hair mask through your damp tresses in the morning and then sweep your hair back into a loose bun while basking in the sun and sand all day. By evening, your hair will be soft and silky, and ready to hit the ship disco in style. 

Cruise vacations are a time to take plenty of pictures, so you will want to be sure you look your best for those photos. By tucking a few key products away in your makeup bag, you will be ready to meet the sun and surf with style to spare. Enjoy that cruise! 

Travel Agents

Travel Agents not only cost you nothing, they more and more frequently becoming your only hope to finding a good cruise that is right for you at a good price.

There are more and more internet cruise brokers every day.

YOU DO NOT WANT TO DO BUSIINESS WITH THEM AND YOU SHOULD COME OUT BETTER IN THE LONG RUN WITH A REAL TRAVEL AGENT

Internet Discount Cruise Brokers have just one thing in mind: taking your money.  There is NO personal commitment to you as much as they might have you believe there  is.  You need to develop a long-term business relationship with a travel professional that will keep up on the ever-changing world of travel and watch out for you.

Think of it like this:  What if a trusted friend owned a car dealership and they could sell and service any car you wanted.  I mean someone you REALLY trusted.  Would you just walk in to any old car dealer and buy a car?  Of course not.  You would go with someone you know, someone you trust and you would know that you’re going to get a good deal up front and honest service after.

Go to a shopping mall and meet a travel agent face to face, work with someone you “know” from online, ask around and get a personal recommendation from a friend…..all of these are better than trolling through the Internet looking for the one that has the lowest price.

That would be fine if you were looking for an easy to identify household item like a vacuum cleaner.  You could pick the model number, plug it in to your computer and search for the best price.

In that case, low price is THE major factor in your decision process.  Shipping policies and fees are probably next followed by a distant third-place customer service, in case it would get lost in the mail

Buying a cruise is nothing like that.  Nothing at all.

There are so many other variables in the purchase decision that you NEED a professional for whom crusing is their business if not their life, to keep abreast of what you need to know right now.  Not yesterday, not last week, RIGHT NOW.
One of the most important features of a good cruise travel agent is efficiency. You need the behind the scenes part of your booking to be handled correctly and on time. Attention to detail in this area is a must.

But you need to be your own advocate too.

You’re doing that right now by coming here to learn about this stuff and gain valuable information that could make or break your cruise later.

To find a travel agent, much like finding an insurance salesman, you can look to professional organizations like the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA,www.cruising.org ) who helps train and certify cruise travel agents. They’ve gone through training, attended seminars and toured various cruise ships to get a goodunderstanding of what they need to know.

Another professional organization that is a good indicator that an agency is at least doing some business is The American Socisty of Travel Agents (ASTA, www.astanet.com), the members here have rigorous criteria to meet in order to join and maintain membership.

If you do an Internet search for travel agents remember that in many cases the listings you see first are sponsored meaning those people pay the search engine to be listed at the top of the list.

Word of mouth, of course, is one of the best sources of finding a good travel agent. Because recommending specific travel agents on an Internet based forum such as this is NOT the same as a recommendation from, say, your neighbor we don’t allow it on Cruise Critic and you should be happy that we don’t. The people you come to “know” here could be travel agents, sales people, trying to make a sale without the best interest in mind that your neighbor might have.

My point here is to find neutral, unbiased sources, ones with documentation to support their recommendations if possible like your state attorney general or consumer affairs office.

Personally, I think its important to develop a good business relationship with your travel professional, be that an agent you find from one of the professional organizations, a neighbors recommendation or, yes, even an attractive yellow pages ad.

Armed with the right information about agents and the knowledge to ask the right questions you’ll fare much better than blindly accepting somebody’s suggestion.

Before you contact that agent get an idea of what you want. Search online or send off for some cruise brochures. Read reviews and other first timer information here. Ask questions (there are NO dumb ones) and get answers from the members here.

THEN make that call