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Choosing A Cruise

So, you want to go on a cruise! Its exciting, its fun and its your way of enjoying the great life. But how do you make the choice of where to go, when and with whom? There are so many choices with respect to cruising nowadays that it can be very confusing. Here are a few tips to consider helping you decide which cruise is right for you.

Listed below are few examples of the types of cruise you may wish to take:

1. Mediterranean cruise
2. caribbean cruise
3. an Alaskan cruise,
4. a cruise down the Amazon or Panama Canal
5. a Transatlantic ocean crossing
6. South Pacific or Hawaiian Island cruise
7. River cruises (the fjords in Norway, the Danube in Europe, the Nile in Egypt, the Mississippi in United States)
8. Polar cruises to see the penguins in the Antarctic
9. Russian waterways cruises
10. Galapagos Island cruises
11. New Zealand or Australia

Each can be very appealing but are also very different.

1. The first thing to consider in taking one of these cruises is when you want to gothe time of the year can dictate the type of cruise. Some cruise ship lines do not offer cruises to the Mediterranean in the winter months, but transfer their ships to the warmer waters of the caribbean. Alaskan cruises only run in certain months also due to weather conditions. Ocean crossing cruises (Transatlantic) take place only as the seasons change so that cruise ship companies can reposition their ships to match the high seasons tourist industry.

2. You also have to decide on the length of your cruise. A typical choice is a 7-night cruise, but you can take cruises from 3-4 nights to over a month in length, or more. The length of your vacation time available may limit you, but taking a cruise for the first time may also be a consideration. Limiting your cruise to a manageable shorter cruise may help you decide whether a longer cruise at another time may be more advisable. In other words, do you get seasick? Do you like the variety of visiting different ports? Do you wish to simply stay at one destination and relax? Do you like the busy atmosphere of the many activities on a ship?

3. Next, the ports that you wish to visit can be a great part of which cruise is the right choice for you. Have you always wanted to visit Tortugas, the Bahamas or Cayman Islands? Here is your chance to get a taste of it. Make sure that one of your chosen destinations is on your cruise itinerary, and there are endless choices of various itineraries available. cruises are great ways to experience various places. Then you can decide which destination you would like to see more of on a future vacation.

4. Another consideration in choosing a cruise is the amount of time you wish to be At Sea. For a Transatlantic voyage you are at sea for many days at a time, which limits you to being within the confines of the ship at all times. This can be a bonus if you dont want the hustle and bustle of visiting different ports, but it can also be a downside if you want a lot of variety on your vacation. Some cruises offer very little time at sea, being in a different port every day, and this flurry of activity can be too overwhelming for some vacationers. I would recommend a bit of bothfor a 7-night cruise a good happy medium would be 2 days at sea with the other days stopping at various ports of call.

5. Once you have narrowed down your choice of cruise to when and where you wish to visit, the next hardest choice is the cruise line and size of ship you want to use. The size of ship can dictate the cruise line, as some cruise lines offer significantly larger ships than others. Some cruise lines only use smaller, more intimate ships for smaller groups of people. Other cruise lines offer huge ships with passengers in the thousands. You must decide whether you like a small personal touch or like the larger groups. (We found that even on a larger ship, there were still areas where we could go to get away from the crowds. Crowding on the huge ships was not a problem at all.)

6. Fitting the cruise line to your individual personality is perhaps the most important factor in determining your cruise enjoyment. There are many different types of ship lines that cater to varying personalities. Of course, the Disney Cruise Line caters to families, but others such as Carnival cruises cater to more of a party atmosphere for adults, or Norwegian focuses on a more conservative group. Discuss with your travel agent which cruise line fits you best. Cruise lines also offer themed or special interest cruises, such as an art collectors cruise, golfers cruises or culinary class cruises. These may be great to fit in with the interests in your life-style.

7. Once you have found the best itinerary for you on the cruise line that suits your personality, at the best time of year for you, there are still other choices you need to make. Some cruise lines offer freestyle cruising, which simply put means that you dont have a set dinner time at a set table, but you can choose to eat whenever you wish. On most cruises, however, you have a preset dinner time at an assigned table. You can choose an early dinner (usually around 6-6:30) or a later dinner time (7:30-8:00). In choosing your dinner time, take into consideration your off-ship excursions. You dont want to have to rush back from your shore excursion just to get back in time for dinner. You also usually have a choice of how many people you wish to sit with (usually from 4 to 8 -10 people at a table.) Our travel agent suggested a table of 8 on our cruiseshe stated that if you were at a table for 4 and you didnt get along with the other couple you were stuck, but a table for 8 offered more chance of finding congenial soul-mates.

8. Shore excursions can also be a major part of your cruise experience. There are many different shore excursion packages available, from visiting butterfly farms, swimming with dolphins, exploring ancient ruins, to snorkelling or scuba diving. Of course, if you wish you do not need to go on any shore excursions. You can simply choose to stay on-board and take advantage of the ships amenities, or you can simply walk around and visit or shop in the port-of-call.

Choosing a cruise can seem overwhelming, but the main point is to suit the cruise to what you want to get out of the experience. If you want a whirlwind of activity choose a party cruise line with that in mind. If you want a more relaxed atmosphere, choose more time at sea. If you want to sample various cultures, choose a destination-rich cruise. Different types of cruises offer at of those things, and more. Hopefully the above has given you an idea in the choices you need to make to get the most enjoyment out of your cruise. Happy cruising!

To read travel reviews on various locations mentioned in this articles, visit: www.vacationtravelquest.com.

Denny Phillips writes about what she loves - travelling, cooking and art. To read more articles by Denny, visit: http://www.vacationtravelquest.com or http://www.goodcookingcentral.com.

posted by 19462 @ 2:09 PM 0 comments

Golf Tips To Improve Golf Swing - Tight Is Right

Let's start out by challenging a dearly held belief that prevents far too many golfers from developing a good golf swing. Far too many golfers grip the club loosely, believing that their golf swing will be stiff and robotic if their wrists are too tight. This is not the case. If you want to improve your golf swing, get rid of this faulty idea and realize that you will do much better if you develop a tight grip.

Although many golfers have developed a bad golf swing through holding the clubs too loosely, no-one, except perhaps a few anxious newcomers, harms their swing by holding the clubs too tightly.

Many golfers tend to take a loose grip. This loose grip results in many errors that could be avoided easily. These errors are caused by hands opening at the top, the left wrist collapsing (or the right wrist, if you are a left-handed golfer), over swinging and various others.

You want a tight grip! Grab hold of that golf club and hold it tightly in your hands. Tight is right is your new mantra.

When you swing, your hands should be tight on the club. However, avoid holding yourself so stiffly that your upper back and shoulder muscles are cramped up.

Although the tight grip may feel awkward if you are accustomed to gripping loosely, it braces against multiple faults such as those mentioned earlier. This in turn helps you carry out the swinging motion most effectively.

This is the correct way to grip your club for an improved golf swing. Hold the club tightly enough that almost all fingers grasp the club. If you are a right handed golfer, the last three fingers of the left hand and the first three of the right hand are on the club. left handed golfers will want to reverse this.

Resist the urge to place the forefinger of the right hand lightly on the club. By this, we refer to the finger that you hook round the shaft just below the thumb on your right hand. Be sure you hook this forefinger around the club firmly. This fingers tip should connect with the thumbs tip. Otherwise, at the top of the swing, the club will drop into the Vee that occurs between the thumb and forefinger. When this happens, you lose control at the top, and have to regain this control as the club swings downward.

In short, you want a tight, two-knuckle overlap for your golf swing.

Now, this is the correct way to how to stand up to the ball so you get a good golf swing. Its not difficult, but there are a couple of things to remember.

First, you want to stand in a position that allows you to swing the club back freely before easily arcing the ball downwards towards your feet. Divide your weight evenly between your left foot and your right foot. Slightly flex the knees. You are better off flexing too much than too little when you position yourself for your golf swing.

Bend slightly from the waist. Round or hunch your shoulders. Be sure your head is down. If you are a right handed golfer, you place your right hand further down on the shaft than the left hand. This in tern means that your right shoulder is lower than the left. Reverse this if you are a left handed golfer getting positioned for a golf swing.

Now go for it! follow these golf tips and youll have an improved golf swing.

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posted by 19462 @ 4:37 AM 0 comments