The Informed Traveler
The Informed Traveler
Cruise Beverage Packages & The Trans Canada Trail
One of the questions that comes up when taking a cruise is; is it worth the money to add a beverage package before sailing. So on this week's podcast Travel Expert Onanta Forbes will be here to talk about the pros and cons of beverage packages for cruises. And with spring upon us that means more people will be out on the hiking trails. That includes the Trans Canada Trail so a bit later in the podcast Stacey Dakin, Chief Program Officer for the Trans Canada Trail will join us to tell us all about the Trans Canada Trail.
Well, hello and welcome to the Informed Traveller podcast, a weekly travel podcast where our goal is to help you become a more informed traveller. And I'm your host, Randy Sharman. One of the questions that comes up when taking a cruise is, is it worth the money to add a beverage package before sailing? So in a few moments, travel expert Onanda Forbes will be here to talk about the pros and cons of beverage packages for cruises. And with spring upon us, that means more people will be out on the hiking trails and And that includes the TransCanada Trail. So a bit later in the podcast, Stacey Dakin... Chief Program Officer for the TransCanada Trail will join us to tell us all about the TransCanada Trail. But first, let's kick things off chatting with travel expert Onanta Forbes, who joins us each week to discuss some of the travel news and travel trends. You can follow her adventures on Instagram, Facebook, and X at Onanta Forbes. Onantaforbes.com is her website. Hi, Onanta. Hello. We're going to talk about cruise beverage packages. There's all kinds of different types of, well, different types of cruise lines to go along with different types of cruise beverage packages. So let's break it down. I kind of don't know where to begin here. I guess we could just say not all cruise beverage packages are created equal, are they?
SPEAKER_00:No, they're not. And it's really good that when you look at your cruise package, you have to see exactly what's included. You have to read the fine print. You have to know what beverage is included, if it's right for you. There's a latte in the morning here, a pina colada by the pool there. On a cruise, ordering drinks can rack up a steep bill before you know it. And so like you have to also consider what's included. Is it water? Is it regular coffee, iced tea, lemonade? Those are generally included, but others can cost extra. And that's where your drink packages come in handy. But you have to, I would say, think about, you know, how much you consume a day. How many drinks do you typically do daily? If you're somebody that really enjoys different beverages, a package is likely worth it. Are you ordering expensive drinks? If so, a package can save you money. And don't forget to factor in service fees when calculating the total cost of drinks, both a la carte and with a package. You know, one thing I've noticed when we're going on different cruises is that pre-booking can sometimes offer a discount compared to purchasing on board. And then your budget, like calculate how much you really want to spend a la carte to see if a package price is worth it. But in essence, a drink package is good for those who enjoy a variety of drinks throughout the day, tend to order more expensive drinks, and prefer the convenience of having unlimited options. If you don't fit in that category, you may be better off paying for drinks individually. And as you say, each cruise line has a different package system. So You can think about like some packages typically range from limited sodas to coffee packages to those that cover a wide range of alcohol and other drinks because that's important too is what you drink, right?
SPEAKER_02:Mm-hmm.
SPEAKER_00:And they're typically priced per person, per day, sold for the duration of the cruise. And sometimes all guests of a legal drinking age in the same stateroom are required to purchase a drink package if any guest in the cabin wants to buy one. So you have to consider all those thoughts.
SPEAKER_01:Well, you do. And like we were saying, not all drink packages are created equal, but a lot of them do include non-alcoholic beverages. And a lot of people now who don't drink alcohol, like the non-alcoholic mocktails, which can be pricey on a cruise ship as well. So there's that to consider. It's not just alcoholic drinks too nowadays. And yeah, if water is included, if you're going on a shore excursion or something, or you're going to a Caribbean cruise, for example, you can drink a lot of water and it can add up too.
SPEAKER_00:Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. Don't always, you know, think that water is included in your cruise passage price as well. So, um, if, if, uh, if you don't decide to buy that beverage package ahead of time, you can, you know, there are some cruise lines, ocean and river that allow you to package, you know, buy the package when you go on board. So, um, think about that as well as, you know, the... Some of our guests asked, can I bring my own drinks on a cruise? And it depends on what it is. So beer and hard liquor usually aren't allowed. Sometimes wine and champagne, you may want to do it. But just consider you may have to pay a corkridge fee if you drink it outside your cabin. Like for an example, Princess charges a$20 fee. And it's like should guests wish to consume their wine or champagne in the public areas? according to the passage contract. Guests may also be able to bring non-alcoholic drinks on board, like bottled water, sodas, milk, but policies may vary by line. I know when I was on my river cruise in portugal last year and of course portugal is a great wine region so um they actually said you know encouraged it like they said yeah if you want to buy a bottle of wine at destination while you're out they didn't charge you a corkage fee so it was kind of good in that regards and i thought that was you know um you know you're getting the experience of your destination as well because um it's nice to have a glass of wine of the region that may not be purchable at your home city or your town, right? Yeah,
SPEAKER_01:exactly, exactly. Well, there is to the peace of mind and budgeting. Like if you don't want to worry about the cost of every drink that you order or it's in the back of your mind, how much is this one? And you're kind of tallying your beverage bill towards the end. There's that where you can just, okay, I don't have to worry about it. And then the flip side is, well, now you've paid for this. Maybe you'll drink a little bit more because you want to get your dollars worth, right?
SPEAKER_00:Right. Yeah, absolutely. Guests are willing to pay money for not being nickel and dime when they go up to the bar. And absolutely. Maybe it's an opportunity if you do have that beverage package to try something different. You know, but you may not because definitely the bartenders on board are very inventive and creative or you're at a destination where maybe a different kind of hard liquor or wine is available to try as well. So I think it's nice to be able to try different things. I'm that person sometimes that like, oh, I'll just try it, but I don't always finish it. Or I finish too many, you know, one of the two. But yeah, it's... it, it, it's, it, It is, you do definitely have to do the math on it at times just to see. And it's easily found on the Cruise Lines website or if you just Google it and, you know, AI will pop up a, you know, a beverage menu for you. Certain beverage packages have different levels, you know, depending on the value of the drink. You know, you could buy a premium or a press and then you can, you know, elevate your type of drink. There's a lot of scotch drinkers out there that might want a more upscale package so that they can try different scotches. Because, again, it's a really good way to try different things to see if you like it. Yeah,
SPEAKER_01:exactly.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, I had a friend that went to Portugal and she came back loving port, you know, for the rest of her life. So I like that. I like the opportunity to try. And to me, that's what travel is all about, is to try different things. And also, you know, there's a lot of coffee drinkers out there and there's coffee packages and so on. But just be careful that, you know, some of those beverage packages exclude drinks like, say, served in a licensed Starbucks store. That's on board the ship as one of the vendors. Keep that in mind too. Maybe the beverage package doesn't cover All the different places where you could get a drink or a coffee beverage.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, exactly. Just I guess the takeaway is know what you're getting in your individual beverage package. And then I guess each individual can do the math. Like if it fits into your lifestyle and you think it's worth it, go for it. And if you think that you're not going to use as much as the package costs, then don't. Simple as that, right?
SPEAKER_00:Right. Yeah. And at the end of the day, you want to have a good vacation experience. You don't want to worry about costs. You know, budget is always important, but that's one of the things that you're going to have to, with your travel advisor, you know, just chat in general and just, you know, so that you can see what's right for you. And
SPEAKER_01:we forgot to mention, too, there are some cruise lines that have, include beverages in your cruise package some of the higher end cruise lines that do that. So it's almost like an all-inclusive type of cruise line, right?
SPEAKER_00:Absolutely. Yeah. And that goes for river and ocean. And it's nice to have that option, to be honest, like as a person that has cruise. I like knowing that, you know what, I don't have to worry about what else I have to buy or add on to buy. It's just part of the cruise passage rate. Exactly.
SPEAKER_01:Always good tips. Sonanta Forbes is a travel expert. You can follow her on Facebook, Instagram, and X at Sonanta Forbes. SonantaForbes.com is the website. Thanks, Sonanta. Thank you. This is the Informed Traveller podcast. I'm Randy Sharman. Just want to remind you of our website, theinformedtraveller.org. That's where you can find our contact page if you have any questions or comments about the podcast. You could also email me too with any questions you might have. My email address is randy at theinformedtraveller.org. And if you want to get up-to-date travel info through the week or just see a few amusing travel stories and links, you can like us on Facebook at facebook.com slash informedtraveller, on Instagram at informedtraveller, or on X at Informed Traveller. Plus, you can also sign up for our monthly newsletter. It's released at the beginning of every month. Our May issue is now available. Just go to our website, theinformedtraveller.org, click on the newsletter button, and it'll take you right there. Or better yet, just subscribe to it and have it arrive in your inbox each month. So a spring upon us, that means more people will be out on the hiking trails, and that in Hi Stacey! Hi, how are you doing?
SPEAKER_03:I'm
SPEAKER_01:well, thank you. Tell me about the TransCanada Trail. How did it come about and what is it exactly? I know it's a trail, but more to it than that, isn't it?
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, there's a lot more. So as of today, the TransCanada Trail is 29,500 kilometers of trail that runs from coast to coast to coast in Canada. So it touches all three coastlines. We start, you know, Zero kilometer is in, we have four of them. So Cape Spear up in Newfoundland, Victoria in BC, when you go from east to west. Tuktoyuktuk in Northwest Territories is the north and down to Windsor in the south. So we have the longest multi-use trail in the world. We came together in 1992 as an idea. The idea came from a Quebecer, Pierre Camus, and an Albertan, Bill Pratt. And it was around the 125th anniversary of Canada. The idea was to create a symbol, something around national unity, something that was a means of connecting Canadians to each other and to nature and creating community. And so for the last third years, we've been building this trail. We were successful in connecting it. So from 1992 was the idea. It was connected after 25 years in 2017 in time for the Canada 150 celebrations. At the time, there was about 24,000 kilometers. So since 2017, we've grown and we're continuing to grow. Lots of trails across Canada want to be part of this unifying brand, this concept of, you know, I'm in Nova Scotia and I can speak to my friend in Calgary and we can be on the same trail at the same time and be connected to each other.
SPEAKER_01:That is cool. It's a cool concept. And like you said, it's been going for a while and growing every year. What does it take to become part of the TransCanada Trail? What criteria are you looking for?
UNKNOWN:Thank you.
SPEAKER_03:So there's a lot of evaluations that we can do on the trail itself. So the quality, you know, what kind of grade in terms of elevation, what kind of terrain is it, what kind of use. So we're looking mainly for non-motorized use. So greenway trails, as we call it, we want to be able to walk, to cycle. And in the winter, you know, use your snowshoes, snowmobiles possible in the winter. But really, we're looking for something that is safe for people to engage on. We need a trail, ideally, that is connected to the TransCanada Trail. There are sections if you look at the map that are a little bit let's say isolated they don't join exactly that's okay it's because we're hoping over the long term we'll be able to connect them but the ideal is that you can go straight across or you can do a loop in certain places that you can do certain points like maybe you can do a province or you can do a certain community but really we're looking for trails that are insured that they have a trail group that's owning managing and operating them And that there's some funds available either through TransCanada Trail who grants funds to groups for maintenance of their trails, but also other groups. We don't want to be the only ones who are funding a trail. We want to make sure that there's some organizational stability there.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, so it's not like you've started at one point, built a trail and kept on building new trails. These are trails that have already existed or somewhat existed. And they come to you and say, hey, can we be part of this, right?
SPEAKER_03:A hundred percent. So TransCanada Trail, the organization who my employer is, is really the advocate, the steward and the champion of this trail. wide network in Canada. So we're looking at a trail system. So how do we connect the dots across Canada? We're not the owners and managers of the actual trails on the ground. So for that, there's about 900 municipalities that are engaged in this, over 600 trail sections, and the trail sections sometimes are owned and managed by more than one group. So you might have a provincial group, a local group, and sometimes indigenous community, a federal park. So a span of a trail could be five kilometers, but it could And so is the
SPEAKER_01:degree of difficulty, it varies depending on the trail or do you try and keep it as easy as possible so everyone can participate?
SPEAKER_03:So we go from very rural settings or more rural is maybe a little bit of an understatement, but more wilderness-based sections where you really have to be an avid hiker or cyclist to get through there to trails that are in cities. And so you can walk on paved asphalt. So it really ranges. You just need to take a look at the TCT, the trail map that is on TCT.ca. trail.ca and you can, you know, see what section is available near you. What can you do on that trail? What is the level of difficulty? And you can even look at, you know, what is the terrain? Am I on gravel? Am I on asphalt? Am I walking on grass? Is it mud? You can see those things from, from the trail, but yeah, all levels are possible. You just have to be an informed hiker or walker and make sure that you can do the section of the trail that you're heading to.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, the interactive map, I've looked at it briefly. It is a cool way to, you know, you just pick a spot closest to you, I would think, or a place maybe that you're visiting this summer or in the fall or something and decide how much you want to do, as little or as much as you want to do. So it's a kind of cool way of doing it. In my head, I'm going like, how long would it take to do all the trails? But I didn't want to do the math there. It would take a long time, wouldn't it?
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, I mean, we don't really promote for people to do the whole trails. 29,500 kilometers is a long time. There are a couple, a handful of people who have done it. They've done it over many years. So, you know, it is something that is not for... it's not for everybody. You have to be, you know, ready and willing to put your life aside to be able to do it. But we do encourage people, you know, for looking for ways, you know, especially now, right? They're looking for ways to stay into Canada and to travel in Canada, you know, find a section either near home or, you know, take a look. You want to go to Calgary and you're based in Montreal. You want to go to Prince Edward Island or to New Brunswick, you know, take a section, take a look at the map, look at a section of the trail and you can plan your travel accordingly, right? There's, always lots of activities going on around the trail. So, you know, you can cycle to a festival, you can walk to a craft sale. All these things are possible. You just have to look at the map to see where is it positioned in a community, where is it that you want to go, and then you can benefit from, you know, walking, running, cycling, you know, a variety of ways.
SPEAKER_01:Well, I was going to ask you too, what's the best way to explore the trail? I think you've kind of answered that. First, find a spot that's close to you or a place that you're going to and and then just sort of take it from there based on your abilities.
UNKNOWN:Yeah.
SPEAKER_03:A hundred percent. So my favorite way is on two feet. I like to walk, not much of a runner. And I find it so easy to find places to go. I mean, every community that you go to, you know, there's apps that you can look at. There's maps you can look. Our map that we have on our website is probably the best map for the TransCanada Trail. But really, we want to promote all trail usage. So even if you get to a place and the TransCanada Trail is only a small section, don't stop at the small section. Do the loop around. explore the whole community. It is a great economic driver to bring people to communities. It's a way it's free, you know, trails are free. You just have to show up, shop your boots on, get on your bicycle. You know, kids like to use those little, Oh, in French, we call them little scooters, but I guess they are scooters in English as well, but you know, they put some nets. You want to get on those little three wheel things or two wheel things with the kids. The point is to get out and explore nature. to explore your community, explore a new destination wherever you're going. And from a trail, you kind of get the insider feel, right? Like if you're on a road in a car, you're limited in terms of what you can see and experience. But when you're walking, you get to see the birds, you get to see the plants, you get to hear the sounds, and it's a completely different experience.
SPEAKER_01:Would you know, like you mentioned, the trail might come to an end on a different trail, but would you know when you're on the trail and when you're not? Is it well-marked?
SPEAKER_03:Generally speaking, it is well marked. There are always, you know, regulations and communities that prevent us sometimes to put up as many signs as we'd like to. But yes, there are trail markers. So generally there's a trailhead. It will tell you, you know, What are the trail options? Because you might get to a different park where there's four or five different trail options. So you can choose the one that fits your level. Then once you're on that trail, you will be able to follow the markers and the signs that will tell you, you know, how often you'll know how long you have left to do, which direction you need to be going in. And yeah, so you can follow the signs.
SPEAKER_01:Well, it's a great way to explore our country. You can check out the TransCanada Trail at tctrail.ca Anything you want to add I might have missed?
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, I think that the best way to engage too while you're there is take pictures and share. This gem that we have in Canada, the Trans-Canada Trail, the longest in the world. Not everybody even knows sometimes that they're on the Trans-Canada Trail. But if you see a sign, we'd love for you to take a picture, to caption it on your social media, tag the Trans-Canada Trail, talk about it, enjoy it. Put it in your travel plans for the summer because, you know, it's not far. We want to build the economy in Canada. We want to keep being united. And yeah, I mean, what's better than going out into the Canadian wild and wilderness and just enjoying a day in the sun and sometimes even in the rain? It doesn't
SPEAKER_01:matter. It's
SPEAKER_03:bad. You can enjoy the rain and the
SPEAKER_01:beauty of it. Stacey Dakin is the chief program officer for the TransCanada Trail. Again, tctrail.ca is where you'll find lots of information about it. Appreciate your time, Stacey. Thank you.
SPEAKER_03:You're welcome. Have a great day.
UNKNOWN:Thank you.
SPEAKER_01:And that is our show for this week. If you have comments or questions, we'd love to hear from you. If you have a show idea, send that along as well. My email is randy at theinformedtraveller.org. And if you like what you heard, tell a friend. You can check out our website too at theinformedtraveller.org. In the meantime, thanks for listening. Travel safe and be an informed traveller.