Cruising into 2020

The following article is an interview with Brooke Wilson Jones who is organizing a cruise for lung cancer patients, survivors, advocates, and caregivers.

Fun, sun, and sailing with the lung cancer community

Dusty:Can you tell us a little about the purpose of this cruise?

Brooke: This really came about through Juanita’s live podcasting she does on Facebook. It was just kind of thrown out there that maybe lung cancer patients, their caregivers, and advocates should spend a little more time outside of the clinics and the hospitals and the conferences where we spend so much time being educated. What if we all got together just to release a little steam and have a little bit of fun? The goal is really just to get the lung cancer community together to spend some time encouraging each other, having fun, and enjoying each other outside of those educational experiences.

Travel itinerary

Dusty:What's the basic information about the cruise?

Brooke: It’s a seven-night, eight-day cruise from March 1 to March 8 (Sunday to Sunday). We’re sailing out of New Orleans, sailing on Norwegian Cruise Lines Getaway, which is one of their newer ships built in 2014. We’re going to cruise the Western Caribbean. We’ll spend two days at sea and we will have stops in Costa Maya, Mexico, Belize, Harvest Caye and Roatan, Honduras.

New Orleans was a good port to sail from simply because if you’re simply looking to extend your vacation what better place to do it than New Orleans with all of its history. Bourbon Street is right there. So if you come in a day early, you literally have to pass through the French Quarters to get to the port. So it’s just kind of a neat place to leave out of.

Let’s discuss the costs

Dusty:What is and is not included in your trip?

Brooke: There is a cost range, depending on the type of cabin. You can go from the cheapest inside room to an expensive huge balcony. Our cheapest room right now is just over $1,000 per person, with the most expensive balcony type coming in at almost $1,500 per person. Those are based on double occupancy which means you must have at least two people in a room.

For people who have never cruised before, all your dining -- as long as your dining in one of the main dining rooms -- is all complimentary. Some people were asking, ‘How many meals do I get?’ You can eat as much as you want. All the food you can eat, but only from the complimentary dining rooms.

There are also several complimentary restaurants you can choose from, including the ship’s three main dining rooms, a buffet, as well as other grills and cafés. They also have specialized dining, but that’s going to be an add-on package. That’s if you want to eat at their four- or five-star restaurants that have top chefs.

As far as your beverages, water, tea and (non-specialty) coffee are included. Everything above that, you have to pay for. They’re going to have specialty java shops where you can get your caramel macchiato but you’re going to have to pay extra for that.

In the prices I posted on the Facebook page, I included taxes and fees. I also included the prepaid gratuities. So what you see is an all-in price, so we’re not nickel-and-diming people to death afterward.

To learn more about the cruise, check out Part II and Part III.