In the span of just a few weeks, the United States has seen a trio of fatal plane crashes in Alaska, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C. The latter resulted in 67 deaths, making it the deadliest aviation accident in the country since 2001.
31.01.2025 - 16:55 / insider.com
2024 was a big year in our household. All three kids were graduating — our oldest from high school and our twins from junior high.
When it came time to celebrate these achievements, we gave them an option. We could throw a party or use the money for an awesome family vacation instead.
So, before our oldest left for college, we came together one last time for a seven-day trip to Alaska on our first-ever cruise.
We were all excited about the idea, and honestly, everyone had a fantastic time. However, I don't think any of us were completely prepared our first cruising experience.
Here are four things I wish we had known before boarding the Celebrity Cruise ship.
Our phones are such an important part of our lives that it's almost unheard of to go without them for minutes, let alone days. However, we purposely didn't purchase the ship's WiFi package because we wanted a chance to disconnect and enjoy Alaska's beauty.
What we were unaware of, however, is that once we got away from land, we should have put our phones on airplane mode. Since we didn't, they switched to a service called Cellular at Sea, which uses satellites to keep the phones connected. However, this can be expensive.
Luckily, after racking up $100 in charges within hours of setting sail, AT&T cut my device off until I contacted them. However, this was a costly lesson. Next time, we'll be sure to turn on airplane mode and call our cellular provider to talk about cruise packages.
Typically, we're a jeans and T-shirt family. It's not that we don't clean up well; it's just that we don't do it often, so a formal night wasn't even on our radar.
We knew we needed nicer clothing for our dinner reservations on the ship, but we didn't know that one night, everyone would go all out.
We skipped dinner that night and hit the buffet instead (which, honestly, we did more often than not anyway), and we certainly weren't the only ones not dressed up.
However, I wish we had known about this in advance, as it would have been exciting to join in on the fun.
It's no secret that cruising isn't cheap. So, when it came time to book excursions, we knew they would be pricey. However, we still weren't prepared for just how pricey they would be.
Luckily, almost every port we stopped at had third-party companies who would pick passengers up at the dock and take them to do fun and exciting things.
For example, being in Alaska, we wanted to learn about and visit a dog-sled team. Although the cruise line offered this experience, we saved more than 50% by booking with an outside party.
However, it's important to know your schedule and check to make sure the third party will guarantee you'll be back on time — because if you're not, the ship won't wait for you.
On the days the
In the span of just a few weeks, the United States has seen a trio of fatal plane crashes in Alaska, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C. The latter resulted in 67 deaths, making it the deadliest aviation accident in the country since 2001.
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