THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, January 21, 1996 TAG: 9601190137
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY FRANK ROBERTS, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 172 lines
I WENT on my first cruise, and that's all it took. I'm hooked. I'm a cruisaholic.
I am delaying putting a new roof on my home. New carpeting? I've come to appreciate bare floors.
My grown children will have to fend for themselves. My Reader's Digest subscription has not been renewed.
I am saving my dollars for Cruise II.
Sailing over the bounding main, to ports exotic, is a delightful way to vacation.
It is not as expensive as you might have imagined, once you learn the tricks of the cruise trade:
Learn to throw away those ``congratulations-you've-been-selected'' certificates, which offer a cruise as an enticement to visit a condominium site. Some of these offers are legitimate, some are not. At best, you'll still have to endure a long sales pitch.
Ignore the brochure prices; you can do better. Discounts abound.
``No one pays what's in the brochure, like no one pays the full listed price for a car,'' said Donald Lansky, senior vice-president of The Cruise Line in North Miami Beach, specializing in discount cruises on the major cruise lines. ``Each line has the equivalent of early booking discounts. The lines want people to book early so they can manage their fleet.''
The company specializes in arranging other discounts such as 2 for 1, dollars off for senior citizens and/or groups, and stand-by cut rates if you book a few weeks before sailing on a ship that is looking for more passengers.
If there is room aboard a ship as the sailing date approaches, The Cruise Line will be notified, because sailing with a skinny passenger list is a cruise ship no-no. To fill up, prices are reduced, sometimes by more than half. Savings can run from $600 to $2,000 per cabin, depending on the ship and how long a vacation you take.
Working with that company or a local respected travel agency - or both - are the best ways to arrange for a cruise.
The largest company in our area, CI Travel, has 21 offices in Norfolk, Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, Portsmouth and Smithfield, and on the Peninsula.
``A lot of people like to deal locally,'' said Mary Burgett, a CI travel consultant. ``We work through the cruise lines and try to find the best deal. Companies in Florida do last-minute bookings - discounts. We don't do that. We're not cruise-only. We do airlines, hotel bookings.''
For a really local touch, Celebrity Cruises sails the SS Meridian to Bermuda from the Newport News Marine Terminal, twice a year - seven-day trips leaving May 12 and Sept. 29.
The Cruise Line works best for Helen and Bill Millar, of Newaygo, Mich., friends we met aboard our ship. They paid less than $200 each for their four days at sea. That price more than covers the food alone.
They are old hands - about 25 cruises since he retired, at 48, in 1988.
``I keep in constant touch with The Cruise Line,'' he said. ``After this trip we'll be back on land for four days, then we'll come back for another cruise on the Dolphin.''
Sailing vets like the Millars know how to work it. First-timers, such as myself, learn as they go.
We sailed out of Miami for a four-day cruise aboard the Dolphin IV, part of the Dolphin Cruise Line, with half-day stops at Key West, Fla.; Nassau, Bahamas; and an island called Blue Lagoon.
Once at sea, I quickly learned a couple of things: Don't count on resting, and don't count calories.
The food, even those dishes you don't understand, is superior to anything you will find in just about any restaurant, and it's served by waiters and busboys who pamper and spoil you. They are like salaried grandfathers. A teeny crumb in front of you? Flick - off it goes.
This Corn Flakes-in-the-morning writer breakfasted aboard ship as if tomorrow were never coming. Lunch and supper were deliciously prepared and beautifully served. The silverware, cutlery and glasses were Ritz-like.
And there is an equally huge and sumptuous midnight meal.
Eateateateateat. Aboard, it seems as commonplace as breathing.
A lot of time is spent in the elegant dining rooms. That is where you often make lifelong friends.
Once assigned a table, you join the same people during the rest of the tour.
We lucked out, getting together with some of the nicest folks we've ever met, most of us staying together for the shipboard activities and the visits on land.
We're hoping to cruise together again.
``This happens all the time,'' said Stewart Chiron, vice-president of Corporate and Incentive Sales for The Cruise Line. ``It's compatibility. People do get together, later, for cruises.''
A cruise highlight - like it or not - is the casino. All the Vegas things are there, with most of the attention centered on the slot machines.
The room is usually crowded. Sometimes, you hear the sounds of money jingling out, a sound usually drowned out by moaning and groaning as the house helps itself.
My wife and I agreed - no more than a $10 loss. She won $20 the first night, lost $30 the second. That was it.
Far more entertaining is the entertainment. Larger ships offer larger revues. The Meridian, owned by Celebrity Cruises, even offers summer stock theater.
Our ship, Dolphin IV, one of the smaller vessels sailing about, offered an excellent all-American sounding band of Czechoslovakian musicians, a good magician, a very funny HBO-type comedian and Layla, a fine 47-year-old singer-impressionist who has worked 22 ships.
``I'm female and a concert singer,'' she said. ``My venue is shipboard. Dinner clubs want four sets a night, six nights a week. Hotels won't look at you if you're over 40. Conventions are looking for big names.
``I usually do two performances per cruise, and the audiences are so responsive.''
Why not? After you pay for the cruise all else is free - the entertainment, first-run movies, and such audience participation games as Name That Tune, the Newlywed Game, Bingo and the almost-mandatory Men Dressing as Women. (I came in second, losing to Debbie Reynolds' lighting engineer, who had prettier legs.)
The gift shop items, particularly on the last day, cost far less than you would imagine.
``It's a nice vacation. You don't have to worry about anything,'' said Cathy deSalvo, chief purser on the Dolphin IV who has been working the ships for nine years. ``Something's happening every waking moment.''
And, as it happens, a photographer lurks nearby, snapping away with his Polaroid. You sneeze, he clicks.
On Dolphin IV the pictures are posted. Wanna buy? Six bucks per memory.
We took about 10 rolls on our own, on land and sea - pictures of tourist-oriented Key West, and tourist-oriented Nassau in the Bahamas.
For those of us not bright enough to get around by ourselves, shipboard orientation includes telling us about shops the cruise directors recommend.
When you're not shopping you can take advantage of bus or limousine tours, plus such activities as snorkeling, glass-bottom boat trips, golf and so on.
Most of those activities are fairly high-priced, but not too outlandish.
All of the places you visit have areas that could be referred to as T-shirt heaven. That's where you go to pay for advertisements showing where you've been.
The hawkers in Nassau, who have achieved the closeness of rush-hour subway passengers, will bargain with you, bringing you down to the level they fixed in the first place.
Were we lured by T-shirt values? Not really. We only bought 31 in Key West and Nassau.
The highlight of the Dolphin's off-ship time was the Blue Lagoon, where part of the movie ``Splash'' was filmed as well as some of ``Gilligan's Island.'' The tiny island is about 40 minutes by ferry from the Nassau docks.
About 75 hammocks are slung from palm tree to palm tree. Many a weary traveler grabs one and sleeps for a few hours.
The other attraction on the island is Dolphin Cove, currently being expanded, where you get to pet and play with the friendly bottle-nosed creatures - they especially love having their bellies rubbed.
Fork over $40 and you get a video showing you and your mammal pals.
The highlight of this visit is feeding time. You put the tail of a raw fish in your mouth and the dolphin jumps up and grabs it.
We can make claim to feeding a movie star, mouth-to-mouth: Jake, who portrays Flipper in a theatrical film due for spring release. (Michelle Pfeiffer would have been more interesting for me, Richard Gere for my wife.)
``Friendly'' is a word that best describes cruise ship crews and passengers. Your newfound friends and the crew both make life very enjoyable.
Passengers are fawned over by an international crew, loving you in all accents.
The captain of the Panama-registered Dolphin IV is Greek as are most of the senior officers.
It is not Greek to me why we enjoyed the cruise so much. Credit the three Fs - friends, food and fun.
I'm a cruisaholic. I'm not looking for a cure. I am looking forward to my next trip. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
ROYAL CRUISE LINE
Lunch alfresco is one of the many pleasures a cruise affords.
Photo
ROYAL CRUISE LINE
On a cruise, a lot of time is spent in the elegant dining rooms.
That is where you often make lifelong friends.
by CNB