Episode Transcript
Speaker 1 00:00:00 Welcome back to countdown travels. My name is Susie. I'm a cruise acting travel agent,
Speaker 0 00:00:07 And this is episode six, which is dedicated to
Speaker 1 00:00:12 Battle of travel
Speaker 0 00:00:14 All land vacation travel.
Speaker 1 00:00:18 Let's talk about it.
Speaker 2 00:00:20 Welcome back to countdown travels. This is episode number six, and this one I'm calling the travel battle. What does that mean? Because I didn't know there was any battling going on until I started working in travel. This is the battle of what is better all inclusives versus cruise vacations. And yes, it is a thing of course, like a playful thing or a funny thing, or, uh, well, let's talk about it. So why a travel battle? Because there's a constant, uh, which one is better? Is it to stay at one resort where you have unlimited beverages and food, same beach, same destination, or should you get on a cruise ship and visit numerous destinations and kind of experience that even though most cruise ships are not all inclusive. So let's talk about it. I didn't realize this was a thing until I started working in the world in travel.
Speaker 2 00:01:24 And I started seeing that there was a clear divide between those who sell cruise vacations, versus those who sell all inclusives. Are there travel advisors that do both absolutely. Including myself. Do I prefer one over the other? I sure do. And I'll share my opinion later in the episode. So let's talk about what this means. When I started working in travel, I, I thought everyone enjoyed cruise travel back in May, 2019. I went to a bootcamp for travel advisors that are new to the business. And that's when I figured it out. I met a travel agent from Texas who was not a cruiser clearly, and his expertise was all inclusive vacation. And I said to him, I said, why don't you like cruising? And he said, I just don't like being on a cruise ship. I had one bad experience and that kind of ruined it for me.
Speaker 2 00:02:26 And I love all inclusive vacation where you go to one beach, one destination. And I was kind of shook. I, I didn't understand how could people not like cruise travel. Right? And then I started realizing that a lot of travel advisors specialize in one or the other and some do both, but there is a clear distinction between people that sell, travel for cruising. And then those that enjoy selling land vacations or all inclusive vacations. Can you like both? Can you like cruising and also all inclusives and which one would you prefer if I were to offer, for example, to book a, an amazing vacation at the best value that I could find for you, which one would you choose? Would you choose a seven night cruise to the Eastern Caribbean visiting beautiful destinations, like St. Thomas St. Martin, a stop in The Bahamas, or would you rather go to Cancun to an all inclusive resort?
Speaker 2 00:03:36 So let that simmer for a second. And let's talk about the difference between land vacations versus cruising. And we're gonna start off with land vacations. What are the pros to you booking? For example, let's talk on all inclusive vacation. So one of the pros is that your itinerary meaning your schedule of what you're doing, where you're going most likely won't change. So when you book an all inclusive, you, you're not gonna be, uh, getting an email from the resort saying, oh, you can't go here because of weather or because of mechanical issues. Obviously you're not on a moving vessel. You're going to your beach destination, it's staying put, it's not moving. So you're guaranteed to go to that specific resort. And that's what you get. Unless of course there's like a severe, you know, hurricane or something of that matter. A lot of these all inclusives belong to chains, for example, secrets and dreams belong to am resorts, they offer perks.
Speaker 2 00:04:49 So if you go to one, you may get, you know, like frequent flyer type or frequent visitor type rewards. And it's nice too, to know that if you like a secrets property, that you can visit a secrets in Punte or G San Luca or BTA, and they're located, you know, in really beautiful tropical destinations. So if you like one in Cancun, there's a good chance. You might like another one, another secrets in Punta Ghana, all inclusives are land based, so they don't move. So you don't have to deal with, oh, I gonna get seasick, right? <laugh> unless you take a tour that is gonna take you snorkeling or parasiting, that's a whole different story, but the resort itself is put, so you don't have to worry about, am I gonna get motion sickness? There are also currently less requirements to go to an all inclusive.
Speaker 2 00:05:47 So what does that mean? We're living in COVID times right now, and for cruise travel, there's several requirements that you have to meet in order to get on a cruise ship, to go to an all inclusive. Now, keep in mind that most of these all inclusives are located in international destinations, which require you to have a valid United States passport in order to visit them. So yes, you do need a valid us passport with six months of valid, but you don't need to test negative or be fully vaccinated to go to an all inclusive. So let's talk about some cons about visiting an all inclusive. Now, again, a lot of this is my personal opinion or things that I've seen as a travel advisor. One struggle that I've seen from other travel advisors and myself included is that oftentimes you cannot pick your room. So when you book a all inclusive vacation, it, you can put a request in, but there's no guarantee that you're gonna have that particular room that you want in the building you want in the location at the resort that you want.
Speaker 2 00:07:02 There are certain all inclusives that allow you to pay a little extra, and you can guarantee yourself a room in a certain building or certain location on the resort. But generally speaking, you can put in a request and if you get it, you get it. But there's a good chance that you may not get it. So as a travel advisor, that is something that I do for my clients. If they are traveling with a group, I just, just make sure that you tell your people, or you know, that there's no guarantee. It's all based on availability for me, a con in all inclusive travel is it's the same thing, just a different day. Let me explain when you visit an all inclusive resort, unless you do excursions, it's the same property, and yes, they have activities during the day. Very similar to what you would get on a cruise ship.
Speaker 2 00:07:59 So there might be pool parties, or they have certain nights that where they bring local local performers. So you may have like a fire show, a dance show, but you're not visiting other countries. You are in the same country that you went to visit. So you, you don't have the opportunity to visit different destinations. And again, you can do different activities, just the same place that you booked. This is a lot, again, my opinion. But when you book an all inclusive vacation, you get to meet some of the locals that live in the area, whether it be people that work at the resort, or if you take an excursion and you get to meet some of those locals, which is very different than when you book a cruise vacation. And I'll explain that when I talk about cruise travel, do you think that there is a community the way that the cruise community exists?
Speaker 2 00:09:04 I don't know. I don't belong to any all inclusive community. And there are several boards on Facebook that you can find for examples, if you're visiting, uh, secret sales Cabos, you can go on Facebook, find a page. Usually it's created by someone in the community or a travel advisor, and you can get information about the resort that way. But I feel like, I don't know. I really honestly, because all inclusives are very different from one another. So a re isn't necessarily, you know, uh, an unco or a hard rock, they're all very different. So I don't know if there's a sense of community and I could be wrong because I don't belong to any, but I just don't see it being as strong as a community as that of the cruise travel community. So those are my pros and cons for land vacations. And it's time to talk about cruise vacations.
Speaker 2 00:10:05 What are some pros for cruise vacations? I've been referring to this you guys for years as cruising being an appetizer sampler. Let me explain. So when you go on a cruise ship, if you book a cruise to the Caribbean, you get to visit different destinations in a week long cruise. On average, a week long cruise to the Caribbean will include three ports of calls. So if you book a cruise going to the Western Caribbean, you may be able to visit countries like Mexico on ludas. You may be able to go to grand Cayman, Jamaica, all on one trip. Usually again, they include about three ports of calls on, on average, on a seven day cruise. So each, each country is very different. They're not all alike, even though they're in a general Caribbean vicinity. So the beauty of cruise travel is let's say it is your first time to the Caribbean, and you want to take a Western Caribbean cruise to visit some of these countries.
Speaker 2 00:11:17 You go to Jamaica and you're like, eh, you know what? I'm so glad I not did not book that week long vacation to Jamaica. Um, cuz I really didn't like Jamaica as an example, by the way, a little plug here, uh, I will be cruising to Jamaica on MSC on the beautiful MSC seashore, this July, 2022. So if you don't follow me yet again, I'm plugging myself in, but if you don't follow me yet on social media, you can find me on Instagram at cruise underscore. Yes. Underscore please, or on TikTok at cruising Susie, I will posting a lot of cruise content, uh, about, uh, my cruise to the Western Caribbean with MSC. Okay. Back to my podcast. So appetizer sampler gives you a little taste of each country and then you can decide if you wanna go back and maybe book an all inclusive in Jamaica, another pro for cruise travel is the crew.
Speaker 2 00:12:13 Can we just talk about the crew? You guys, if you've been on a cruise, you know what I'm talking about, where you get to meet people from so many different countries, Indonesia, you get to meet people from the Philippines, from the UK. I mean, I can go on and on so many different types of crew that you get to meet and engage with and learn about and hear the story. It is one of my favorite things about cruising and each cruise that I go on. I become friends with some of the crew and it really makes an impact in my life. Or, you know, it's the people that you meet another amazing pro to cruise travel is that you get to unpack once and one and done. So when you go on a cruise, you don't have to unpack and unpack the way you would sometimes on a land trip or you're visiting, uh, numerous destinations.
Speaker 2 00:13:10 A <inaudible> travel is oftentimes those sea days, the days that you're sailing is part of the experience. It's amazing sunsets and sunrises and that connection to the ocean, possibly getting to see some sea life like sea turtles and dolphins and whales, and really kind of letting your worries go and embracing nature and getting that serenity you do from the ocean that is part of cruise travel. You also get the best sunsets at sea. One thing that I absolutely love about cruise travel is that I can pick my room for myself and my clients. That is like a huge pro. So if I'm booking a family that has numerous rooms or a group, I know exactly where to put them on the ship. And I know exactly that, well, they're gonna get that room so I don't have to worry about, oh, are they gonna be close together or on the same deck or any of those concerns that I really do get sometimes when I book all inclusive travel, lastly, one of the biggest pros for cruising is the cruise community.
Speaker 2 00:14:25 And it's one of the reasons why I created this podcast because I've made so many friends in the cruise community, whether it be other cruisers like myself, travel agents, cruise line reps, uh, influencers, uh, content, creators, YouTubers crew. I mean, I can go on and on about, I really feel like we are a community. I feel like, you know, even those of us that sell travel, two of my closest friends are travel agents like myself and we are here for one another. We help each other out. I am friends with creators that, you know, just really provide a service to the industry by sharing their knowledge and information, cruise line reps. I mean, I feel like this is a huge sense of community and for that, I am truly, truly blessed and it's evident and it's seen, and I can't, I'm just lucky to, you know, have so many people in my life that are part of the same common entrance interest, the love of cruising.
Speaker 2 00:15:32 And it's just really, truly awesome. All right. So not my favorite thing to talk about, but let's talk about it. The cons, what are the cons of cruising? All right. Let's talk about the biggest one weather. I mean, that's something we can't control, right? And oftentimes the, the biggest reason why cruise travel is impacted is because of weather. So it's like I said, something we can't control, but it might make some changes to your cruise itinerary. And you have to be aware that that can happen because you guys, mother nature will always win no matter what you are not guaranteed. Those ports of calls when you book a cruise vacation. So I kind of wanna touch on this because a lot of my first time cruisers, if they're like Susie, I really wanna go to St. Martin. I tell them, okay, let's book you on a cruise with St.
Speaker 2 00:16:32 Martin. But if you are booking in the middle of hurricane season, you need to be aware that if there is a hurricane during your cruise, a ship is not gonna take you through a hurricane. They are gonna go around it. So you may not end up on that Eastern itinerary route. The cruise lines will always do what is safe, the most safest route. So they, their priority is safety. That means that they will put you on a Western Caribbean. So instead of going to St. Martin, you may end up in Coel. You just don't know. Oh my gosh, I can't believe I said, Coel Goel go Susie. I am you guys. I am, I'm completely bilingual. So I know Spanish fluently, but I catch myself. It's kind of like this, this thing. Okay. I'm totally digressing, but I need to talk about it. Have you guys seen the movie sele and um, Edward James, almost who plays Salina's father talks about how it's hard being Mexican American.
Speaker 2 00:17:31 And for those that don't know, I am Mexican American. My first language was Spanish and I learned English in schools. I don't have an accent in, in English. So, you know, I speak fluently in both. Um, but like I get caught up and I'm like, Kamel. I'm like, no, Susie. It's it's, it's a struggle. You guys to be Mexican American in the United States. Okay. Back to my podcast. <laugh> so yeah, you are not guaranteed port. We can obviously book you, but just be aware, be flexible and make the best out of your cruise vacation by going to a different port. If you are not able to make the one that you originally scheduled for, another thing is mechanical. You guys are on a moving vessel. So things might happen where something might break down. Um, it's off. You often see it where, uh, something last minute happen.
Speaker 2 00:18:23 No, the ship, the ship is not gonna sink you guys when I'm talking about is like, um, there might be something where they can't dock at a certain, uh, port or just, I don't know, just small mechanical things that might happen to a cruise that you may not be able to go to a certain port. Another con is how, what ship do I book on? I have no idea because, and I've talked about this kind of on my TikTok, two ships in the same fleet are not the same thing. Okay. So if you book on the carnival ecstasy, you are not gonna get the exact same experience as if you were to book on the carnival Mardi GRA, even though they're on the same fleet. So how do I know which one to pick? Well, that's when you talk, that's when you talk to your travel agent, right?
Speaker 2 00:19:08 Who specializes in cruise travel? Now let me, let me kind of emphasize on that for a second. Um, this is not like a plug for me. This is just, this is general information. Okay. When you book on online with an online agency like Costco or Expedia, most of the times, those people that you book online, or if you call, they've probably never been on a cruise. So they don't know anything about cruising one most of the time, and yes, I've been doing this for a while. So I know this for a fact. And then two, some travel agents don't know a lot about cruise travel. So book with someone that knows cruise travel and another con is not knowing what you buy. So you may have in your head that you wanna be on a cruise ship with not a lot of kids. And then you book on, you know, a carnival or rural Caribbean ship during spring break guarantee, you guys you're gonna be on a ship with a lot of kids.
Speaker 2 00:20:06 So a lot of it is not knowing exactly what you're getting or even picking that state room that you're just not sure of. You see an amazing deal. You book a guaranteed state room because it was so good, guaranteed interior have no idea what that means. And bam, you get placed right in front of the ship, um, on an upper deck and you get on the ship and you're like, what just happened? Get me off the ship. I can feel so much movement. I'm feeling nauseous because you did not know what you were getting. So who wins? I did a little poll on my Instagram and I gathered some comments from my followers. Again, you can follow me on cruise. Yes, please. On Instagram. And I asked them, why do you love cruise travel? So let me share some of those comments with you. Someone said you see different places and only unpack once.
Speaker 2 00:21:04 That is something that I, I already talked about, right? Somebody else said being on the water is my place, my escape, my relaxation, my, my getaway from being a mom, someone else said, I like having the option to drive to port and visit different ports without flying or driving home. That is a great point because from the east to the west coast and in Texas, we have numerous United States ports that offer cruise travel that give you the flexibility to visit other countries without having to fly. What that also means is that if you book a cruise that starts and ends in a us port, you do not need a valley United States passport. Now it's recommended that you have that passport because if you get stuck in an international country, you cannot fly home, but it's not required. So if you take a cruise from Galveston, Texas, you need a valid us birth certificate and a valid state issued ID, but you're able to visit on ludas and you're able to visit Mexico and other Caribbean destinations.
Speaker 2 00:22:21 So that is a huge plus to cruises travel. Somebody else said, I wake up somewhere new every day and another, uh, person commented peacefulness of the ocean. One of my followers said there is a ton to do and you get to meet amazing people. A lot of the, these things I touched on in, you know, this episode, but just seeing how a lot of people feel, the way that I feel about COOs travel is pretty amazing. You get to visit many different places in one trip and a ship is a floating city with tons of options. So comment after comment and, you know, gathering this information was pretty impressive. I also ran a poll where I asked him pick cruise versus land. I had over 110 people vote for cruise and 12 for land. Now I do realize that my content is mostly cruise related.
Speaker 2 00:23:23 I do post some Disney and all inclusive. So I know that I might have like a biased opinion from my followers, because most of them are cruisers like myself or interested in cruising. But at the end of the day, who wins, who wins you guys? Which one would you pick? Would you pick an all-inclusive vacation or would you pick a cruise? I mean, at the end of the day, any, I think any of us would pick anywhere to travel. Right. But I, I don't think that there's a right or wrong. I don't any, any time we get to travel, anytime we get to explore, I think it's a wonderful thing. Some people like going to all inclusives because they just wanna chill on the beach and relax. I have way too much energy to do that by the way. But some people love that day after day, just hanging out by the beach is that you are you that person that is okay hanging pool side or by the beach sicking, you know, sipping on margaritas.
Speaker 2 00:24:17 And if it is that's, that's pretty amazing. And if you're more of the type that you like to go into different cities and visit locals and talk to them, try different foods, find out the history. And you know, that, that is amazing too. There's no right or wrong. That's me, by the way I, I am the second one. I, I like a good beach, but I also have major sensory issues with sand. It's kind of ironic that I love the, the ocean and the beach so much, but I, I don't like the feeling of sand on my skin. Like once it dries up and it feels like dusty, it drives me in, it drives me bonkers, but I love the ocean go figure. So or so at the end, really nobody wins. And, and we're all in this together. Those of us that sell primarily cruise travel are all inclusive.
Speaker 2 00:25:08 We actually help each other out. I mean, I have a lot of agents that I know follow me on social media or have, you know, sent me messages saying, Hey, what do you think about this line or that line? And I do the same thing because I am very honest, all inclusive travel is not my specialty. And it's something that I'm still learning about. Um, but I will ask agents that I know have that, you know, specialty of all inclusive for their thoughts and their opinions. When I'm looking at booking my clients, you know, with an all inclusive vacation.
Speaker 2 00:25:54 So just want to summarize, you know, no matter what you pick, you make the best out of it. You have an amazing time. Whether it be you go on a ship, whether it be you go on an all inclusive, because I always say this, you know, tomorrow's never promised. We just never know what, what our lives have in store and enjoy those moments, whether it is that you're on the beach at an all inclusive or you're on a cruise ship, enjoying a beautiful sunset Etsy, take it all in soak every second. And once you're done with that trip, book yourself, another one have something to look forward to. It is so important to have something to look forward to aside from the everyday hustle and bustle of your life. I love having a countdown, a countdown clock that is, and you guys know that my business is called countdown travels, cuz you're listening to the countdown travels podcast.
Speaker 2 00:26:45 And for me it is so important to have a countdown clock, create one for yourselves, get one started. And if you don't know where to start, ask someone that can help you like myself, get you booked on a cruise or add an all inclusive so that you can have that to look forward to. And before you know it, you will be either chilling by that beach, outta your all inclusive or enjoying a wonderful margarita while you sail away on a cruise ship. I hope you enjoyed episode number six, the travel battle of all inclusive versus cruise travel. Just to summarize all travels amazing whether you're on land or on a cruise ship. If you like this episode and want, gimme some feedback, I would love for you to leave me a on apple podcast, email me SU countdown, travels.com. Follow me on social media cruise. Yes, please. On Instagram. And I'm also at using Susie at TikTok. Again, my name is Susie. Thank you so much for listening to my episode today and until the next one, we'll see you guys soon.
