The Best Bachelorette or Bachelor Party - EVER

This bachelor/bachelorette party certainly applies primarily to the Florida and the Southern California areas but it is one very cool celebration of the last days of single-hood. Gather your group and set off for a 3-night weekend cruise to the Bahamas or to Ensenada, Mexico. Three days without cooking, cleaning, or driving home from the bar. A time to really let loose one last time before the knot is tied.

This got me thinking, I wish I knew back then, what I know now! I would have jumped on a 3-day weekender bachelor party cruise in a heartbeat. Take off Friday and Monday from work, head off to the cruise terminal around noon and head up to the pool deck to begin the fun. I could party until the early hours of the morning than crash at the cabin for a few hours of shut-eye before heading back up to the pool deck to start all over again. My pals and I could have had an incredible time.

If you have enough people in your group, talk to a cruise travel agent and see if you can qualify for a group cruise. There may be some on board spending for you or other comps. What a great time this could be!

Why Travel Insurance?

Many cruisers think of travel insurance as a protection against missing their cruise but this is just a small part of why we should seriously consider a good travel insurance policy before we embark on a cruise vacation. Do you know that Medicare and most US Medical insurances do not cover you outside of the United States? When you need medical care abroad, in most cases, you will need to pay first before you will be treated. Look at what the U.S. State Department says in the Passport portal:

"Obtaining medical treatment and hospital care abroad can be expensive, and medical evacuation to the U.S. can cost more than $50,000. Note that U.S. medical insurance is generally not accepted outside the United States, nor do the Social Security Medicare and Medicaid programs provide coverage for hospital or medical costs outside the United States."

"If your insurance policy does not cover you abroad, it is a good idea to consider purchasing a short-term policy that does. There are health insurance policies designed specifically to cover travel. Many travel agents and private companies offer insurance plans that will cover health care expenses incurred overseas including emergency services such as medical evacuations."

Considering this, losing the cost of your cruise because of a missed flight is small by comparison.

Check out what else the U.S. State Department says at Medical Coverage Abroad

Now before you jump in and just go along with your cruise line's "trip protection", you need to realize that all insurance policies are not created equal. Take your time to understand the exclusions and limitations. Most cruise line policies do not "protect" your trip if your flight is so delayed that you miss your cruise. By doing a little research into coverage available, frequently you can get more comprehensive coverage from a private agency than you can get from the cruise line and PAY LESS FOR IT! Some insurance plans such as TravelSafe provide "cancel for any reason" coverage and plans that waive pre-existing conditions. So do your homework. Why not start here with Travel Safe. Regardless of who you choose to protect your vacation travels, please consider travel insurance.

Fox News - 8 Money Saving Cruise Tips

Fox News has posted 8 good tips for savings on a cruise vacation. Seasoned cruisers surely knkow most of these but for new and first time cruisers, these are very good tips to keep in mind when planning a cruise vacation. check out the article at 8 Savings Tips

Trying Out Luxevo Travel Club

I love good deals and I also love to travel so naturally the Luxevo Club looks very attractive to me. So, after reading through the material, and then again, and once more etc, I signed up not only to be a Luxevo Club Member, but to also sell the program. The monthly membership is only $19.95 per month with no contract or minimum commitment. Why not?

One of the perks of the Luxevo Club is the Advantage Benefits program which provides a variety of discounts every day whether at home or travelling. So my first test of the system will be to see what savings the Advantage Benefits can provide me. I figure if I save at least $20 then the membership pays for itself.

Feel free to follow along as I "test drive" the Luxevo Club program. I will add on to this post as I use the features of this cool looking program. Stay tuned.

15-Apr-2013, was looking ahead to next weekend and planning to go see the new movie 42. So I checked the Advantage Benefit section and bought a 4 pack of tickets from a major theater chain for $8.40 per ticket. The regular price for non IMAX or 3-D movies is now $11.50. I paid $33.60 for tickets valued at $46. I saved $12.40 right there and I am only into day one. $7.55 to go just to break even with my monthly membership fee. I may go to the movies now more six times per year.

19-Apr-2013, So my kids just called to remind me that it's Friday and PIZZA NIGHT! Friday night is usually the only night of the week that noone has sports or practice or meeting so every other Friday we do pizza night. My Luxevo Club Advantage benefits currently have a 25% off deal on a national chain ordered online. Happens to be one of the two shops where we all like the pizza. I went online and made our usual order except this time used the special code Luxevo provided (sorry, cannot share the code). My usual $19.25 order for two mediums was now $14.44. Another $4.81 savings bringing my month to date benefit savings up to $17.21; my total monthly membership fee is only $19.95. I know at least in two weeks, on our next pizza night will push me past my monthly fee. I am liking this.

26-Apr-2013, I didn't last the two weeks until pizza night again. My wife and daughter were away this weekend which left my son and me to fend for ourselves. So on Friday night I hit up the pizza place again and saved another $3.11. The savings for the month to date now have reached $20.32 and there are two weeks left in the month. So, at least for this first month, membership in the travel program has effectively not cost me anything. Not so bad.

Since I already reached my monthly fee in savings I will start this new month from May 1. Just a little easier to track. With Cinco de Mayo last weekend there was no Friday Pizza night as we just hung out and BBQ all weekend long. We did get back on track with our usual bi-weekly pizza night tonight and saved $4.81 again off the pizza price. We probably won'r be using the offer but I got in email this morning a 40% off deal for a regionally local major theme park's water park. I have no idea what those big waterpark admissions are but if it is like the Theme Parks themselves I can imagine this offer would have been quite a nice savings.

Celebrity Lovers

Keep an eye out next week for a new two day sale coming out. I have heard there will be some nice perks.