Air Travel

Making air travel arrangements. Air/Sea Transportation: When making air transportation arrangements for cruise vacations, consider the advantages of purchasing the flights from the cruise supplier. The cruise supplier handles the choice of air carrier, routing, flight time and city airport from each gateway city. In most cases the cruise supplier will be able to make arrangements for you to reach the ship if air delays occur. If you make air arrangements other than the cruise supplier, the cruise line or agent assumes no responsibility. Additionally, if you encounter delays and miss the ship, you assume all responsibility for, but not limited to, loss of time, money or property. However, personal arrangements for price savings or other reasons are a valid choice, provided important precautions are observed. IF YOU ARE MAKING YOUR OWN AIR TRAVEL ARRANGEMENTS, PLEASE OBSERVE THE FOLLOWING GUIDELINES: • Plan to be at the ship AT LEAST 4 hours before scheduled departure time. • Have a MINIMUM of one back-up flight that will get you to the ship before it sails. Recognize that one back-up can be insufficient under many situations. • Always allow time to get from airport to pier, (traffic can be unexpectedly heavy/slow due to security and other reasons at the ports). • Because of the strain of same day travel and the possibility of unexpected delays, we strongly recommend arriving a day ahead of the cruise if you possibly can. Port cities usually have hotels where you can stay overnight, park your car free of charge, and get shuttle service to/from the ship (free or for a modest charge), all of which can be a very competitive alternative to parking at the pier. We can help locate hotel accommodations. • Schedule your return flight for not earlier than 4-5 hours after the ship's scheduled return, as stated on your itinerary, to allow enough time for ship processing, disembarkation, baggage retrieval, immigration and customs clearance, transfers and airport processing. • For more information, see the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) home page. Conquering Jet Lag. When you travel rapidly through several time zones you could be headed straight for jet lag! That's the zone where you experience sleep disturbances, daytime fatigue, maybe a headache, and probably some irritability. That's not the way you want to begin a vacation. So you might not want to lag on following these tips... • Get a good night's sleep before you board your flight. • Change your sleep pattern gradually a few nights before you take your trip, go to bed early when traveling east and late when traveling west. • If you need to take a nap, keep it short (30-45 minutes), to help you sleep better at night. • Choose daytime flights whenever possible, to minimize sleep loss. • Drink plenty of water and avoid alcoholic and caffeinated beverages. • Spend time outside in order to get some fresh air and expose yourself to some sunshine. Light plays an essential role in resetting your biological clock. • Remember to exercise before, during and after your traveling. • A warm bath helps the brain readjust in a new time zone.