The following is taken from an article by Tom Dwyer and Susan Wagner from ABCnews.com.
Myth No. 1: Cruises Are ExpensiveNot all of them. You can take your family on a cruise to the Caribbean, Mexico or even the Mediterranean for $42 per person per day, according to Rich Tucker of the award-winning travel Web site, CruiseDeals.com. And that includes all meals and shore transfers. "There has never been a better time to book a cruise than now," Tucker said. "The cruise lines are bending over backward to get your business and are offering some of the best prices we've seen in years. On average, cruises are being offered at 20 to 30 percent less than last year's prices."
Myth No. 2: Cruises Are for Newlyweds and RetireesYes, newlyweds and retirees do take cruises, but so do jazz lovers, business people, singles, and groups of friends and families. Families traveling together are a growing trend on European cruises, notes Holland America Line spokesman John Primeau. "In the past few years, the Europe cruises have attracted more and more multigenerational cruising -- grandparents traveling with their baby boomer children and grandchildren," he said.
Mary Dooley from West Virginia recently sailed on Holland America's MS Oosterdam with a group of five family members and friends. "We all thought that taking a cruise together would be a fun way to see and experience Europe," Dooley said. "It's a great way for us to catch up and visit with each other, and visit a unique and beautiful city like Venice."
Myth No. 3: Cruises Are FatteningThey don't have to be. Most cruise lines have taken note that people want to eat healthier at sea. Carnival Corp., the largest cruise line in the world, offers lighter dishes, with menus listing nutritional stats, such as calorie and fat gram counts. Healthy cruising on Norwegian Cruise Line includes dining, fitness and sports.
Courtney Recht, a spokeswoman for Norwegian Cruise Line, said, "Norwegian Cruise Line promotes a healthy lifestyle to all its guests through various healthful culinary options on board and the broad range of activities that are available daily. Our dining rooms feature menus with dishes that are low in calories and fat, with the content of each printed directly on the menus. A healthy cruise on Norwegian is also possible with a workout in our modern fitness centers." Cruise ships have also become more responsive to special dietary needs, offering low-sodium, low-cholesterol, low-fat, Kosher, vegetarian, gluten-free and vegetarian options, as well as meals designed for diabetics. Holland America's Stephen Schuetz, manager of culinary operations, said that nearly a third of the guests on a recent Mediterranean cruise aboard the MS Oosterdam made special dietary requests in advance through their travel agents at the time of booking.
"We've got their standing orders on the computers in our galley kitchens," he said.
Ah, the best laid plans . . . When it's just too hard to pass up that fabulous dessert, there's always a visit to the beautiful Greenhouse Spa and three laps around the deck, which equals a mile on the MS Oosterdam.
Find the full article at: http://abcnews.go.com/Travel/Vacation/Story?id=8351239&page=1
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