Sound Advice on Audio for Your Cruise Vacation (CruiseCompete Cruise Bite #1)

This Cruise Bite is about sound advice—how to help maximize your enjoyment of your cruise  by controlling what you hear and don't hear throughout your cruise vacation.  Covered are the gadgets to bring, how the keep them running, and the entertainment you will want to pre-load onto your devices before you leave home. 

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:18

Hi, Bob Levinstein here with a CruiseCompete Cruise Bite. Today I'll be giving you some literal sound advice about how to help maximize your enjoyment of your cruise vacation by controlling what you hear and what you don't. We'll get into it right after this. CruiseCompete.com is a simple concept. We give you the tools to find the perfect cru ise an d request quotes. Independent travel agents can then see your requests and they respond with the best custom cruise offers they can all competing to offer you the best deal. You compare these offers in one convenient place along with consumer ratings and reviews of the agencies as only the best agent survive in this competitive environment. You'll have some great options to choose from you then remain anonymous unless or until you decide to contact the ag e nt by phone or by email to ask questions or to book. Find out why more than a million cruisers are members of our free unique service and start saving both time and a significant amount of money on your cruise vacation at CruiseCompete today. The sounds of live tropical music and happy people are a big part of cruising, but there will be times onboard, in port and traveling to your ship when you want to tune out and control your audio environment. To that end, here are some tips for a sweet sounding cruise vacation. Here's a quick rundown on the gadgets, the power and the entertainment you'll need. First, the sound gadgets. I highly recommend a pair of over the ear, ear muff-sstyle wireless headphones. Whether you're trying to watch a movie on your device over the noise of the airplane engine or you need to hear an important phone call in a crowded environment, over the ear headphones that block ambient noise or a must, you can buy very good quality passive noise cancellation headphones, which just means the padding blocks out sound for about 40 bucks on Amazon. Higher end active noise-canceling models start closer to$100 if you can find them on sale. The noise-canceling does make a big difference and I really recommend these. Secondly, in-ear wireless headphones. You can get decent quality in your wireless headphones for about 20 bucks. Styles that have magnetic earpieces are recommended as they connected into a necklace when not in use. They're very small and easy to carry all the time. They clipped the neck of your shirt and they're always available for when you need to hear a phone call or just want to zone out to your own music. Unlike the high end earbuds, it won't be a crushing blow when you or your kids invariably lose them. While a little bit harder to lose, you may want to bring an extra pair of the a in ear headphones just in case. Next on the list, a portable Bluetooth speaker. Whether in your hotel room or on your cruise balcony or especially when you're on the beach, a small speaker is a must. A huge variety of good quality waterproof models are available from 25 to 150 bucks. They're easy to pack, easy to carry(pro tip: add a carabiner clip so you can hang it up) and the batteries often last 10 hours or more. Finally good old fashioned earplugs. Cheap effective at taking up almost no space. Ear plugs are a great way to shut out the noise when it's time to sleep. Next, the power. Your devices aren't worth much if you ca n't k eep them running. First. I recommend a mobile charger for about 20 to 50 bucks. You can get a two to three port mobile battery charger for the size of one or two packs of cards. Th ey w ill keep all of your electronics ch arge f or days. It's great on planes if you have multiple flights and easy enough to throw in a pocket or purse when you realize that you forgot to plug your phone in last night. Secondly, Multiport wall chargers, especially when traveling with family, you may find that there aren't enough plugs to go around. Multi outlet plugs and Multiport chargers are a small inexpensive solution that lets you charge a bunch of devices at once. Finally, extra power cords for when the ones you have get left in the hotel room by mistake or they just mysteriously stopped working. Instead of spending your vacation hunting around to try to find the right cord that works with your phone. Just pull an extra one out of your bag. Now you can't count on having good or free wifi when you travel. So think ahead and download the entertainment that you want to watch or listen to before you leave home. I would recommend different music playlists for different moods, maybe one for sleep, one for dancing, one for working out, one for relaxing, et cetera. Next, a selection of movies and shows to watch on airplanes or for entertaining the kids. Now, both Netflix and Amazon prime video allow downloading content free as part of their subscription, and you can also buy on store content on your device. You may be interested in recorded books or perhaps a podcast or two. These tips will keep you and your family and friends relaxed and entertain throughout your cruise travels. I'm Bob Levinstein and this has been a cruise compete cruise by.