Empty your pockets of loose change.  Wallets and cell phones should go into one of those little bins they provide also.  Remember heavy watches, bracelets, and belt buckles can set of the alarm, so take those off, and stow them in your carry-on bag before you get to the front of the line or put them in the bins.

Consolidate books and snacks so you won’t have as many things to gather back together once you’ve been screened.

In the United States, you have to take your shoes off.  Slip-on shoes will come off and go on faster.  Zippers and laces will slow you down… have your shoes untied or unzipped before you get to the front of the line.  (Take care when you put them back on that you don’t trip before you’re put back together!)

Have your one quart/one liter plastic bag with your liquids, creams and gels out of your carry-on, and put it in a bin.  Remember each liquid should be 3 ounces/100 ml or less, right?  There shouldn’t be any loose liquids in your carry-on bag.  If you have “medically necessary” liquids or baby food, in most countries, those can be outside of your plastic bag allowance, but you must notify a screening officer.

Have a plan when you put things into bins on the screening belt.  If you put things through the screening in the right order, you’ll be able to put yourself back together faster afterward.  Here’s a good way to do this.

First put your shoes, coat and your carry-on “personal item” (usually your smaller bag) in the first bin.   They will come through the x-ray first, and you can be putting them back on while you’re waiting for your other items to be screened.

If you’re carrying a computer, put your carry-on bag for your laptop in the bin ahead of your computer, then when your computer comes through, you’ll have the laptop bag ready to slip the computer right into it.

If it’s going to take you a long time to put your shoes back on, collect all of your belongings and move to the side so the line doesn’t get jammed up.  There are usually a few chairs against a wall nearby where you can sit down and put yourself back together.

You will annoy your fellow travelers AND the screening agents if you stand there and try to put those shoes on…. leaving your bin on the screening belt with others backing up behind yours.  Airports report that almost half of all security checkpoint bottlenecks are caused by people putting themselves together after screening without moving to the side…. don’t let this be you!

Do you have any good tips for getting through the airport security checks easer? Leave us a comment below.

11-NT Celebrity Mediterranean Cruise from $1029. Calls on Provence, Nice, Florence, Rome, Ajaccio, Casablanca.

5-NT Royal Caribbean Western Caribbean Cruise from $459. Calls on George Town and Cozumel.

6-NT NCL Bermuda Cruise from $699. Round trip from Baltimore. Calls on St George.

7-NT Holland America Alaska Cruise from $623. Calls on Ketchikan, Juneau, Skagway, Glacier Bay.

7-NT Princess Alaska Cruise from $563. Calls on Ketchikan, Juneau, Skagway, Glacier Bay.

7-NT Carnival Exotic Eastern Caribbean Cruise from $749. Calls on Half Moon Cay, St Thomas, and Grand Turk.

Personally I like the idea of volunteering and there are actually sites that talk about this – very cool! On the free side there is a site called Couch Surfing which connects you with others who love to travel and you can work out an arrangement to stay with them.

Anyway there are tons of great tips – check out 50 ways to get other people to pay for your vacation

You can get the report at cruise.firsttimersrulebook.com

Caribbean Vacations for families

A Caribbean vacation has something to offer the entire family. The hardest part of a family vacation is usually finding something for the younger members of the family to do. The Atlantis resort on Paradise Island Bahamas has a great children’s program. They offer an Aqua Tots program for kids 3 years and older. Kids can chose from water sports such as water bikes, kayaking, and snorkeling. Teenagers can also enjoy their own nightclub called Club Rush.

The Westin Resort St. John also offers a kids club including many of the water sports activities and special amenities just for kids. They also have a special program just for infants. Some of the cool activities include kids club sailing lessons, floating trampolines, and movie nights by the pool.

Next time I’ll talk about Caribbean vacation activities for newlyweds or anyone looking for a romantic getaway.

1. Kalik – Bahamas
2. Banks – Barbados
3. Stingray – Cayman Islands
4. Kubuli – Dominica
5. Presidente – Dominican Republic
6. Dragon Stout – Jamaica
7. Biere Lorraine – Martinique
8. Blackbeard Ale – U.S. Virgin Islands
9. Piton – St. Lucia
10. Carib – Trinidad and Tobago

On the top of the list (my list) would have to be Red Stripe. If you haven’t tried Red Stripe, you don’t have to go to the Caribbean to get it. Most stores now carry Red Stripe.

Remember, it’s 5 O’clock somewhere!

John

Rum Punch
1 1/2oz. Dark Rum
1/4oz Lime Juice
2oz. Orange Juice
2oz. Pineapple Juice
A dash of bitters

Give it a try and let me know how you like it. If you have a easy Rum Punch recipe I’d love to know about it. Leave your comments below.

Stay warm – summer will be here before you know it!

John

• I want to make this blog more personal. I have received several comments from readers who feel this blog is a place just to find cheap deals. Yes the name of the site may lead you to think that, but I want to make this blog much more than that. I will be highlighting different places to visit in the Caribbean from personal experience and from research I have done for my future Caribbean visits.
• I will be focusing more on cruises. Taking a cruise is a great way to see the Caribbean and it’s now I was introduced to some amazing places in the Caribbean.
• Less typing, more video. I have been learning about vlogs (video blogs) and some of the finer points of publishing video on the web. I’m looking forward to bringing you some great information via video and screencam movies as well as other videos I find online.
• More than one voice. I want to introduce other authors to the site and allow you the reader to contribute to the content and the topics of the site. If there is something you want to hear more about, please let me know via the post comments or the contact page.
• Of course more great deals. As we move into the new year I want to bring more deals and tips to you. Many of the past tips have been very popular and I plan to continue with great tips and deals.

I’m excited about what 2008 has to offer and all of the great things to come. As always I’d love to hear what you think. Please leave me a comment below.

–John

Ok, I don’t see any flight status here. What’s up Google? The good news is the first search result is for flightstats.com to tell me about the flight. Ok, flightstats.com 1 – Google 0.

Let’s try another flight. I’ll go to one of the next flights which is Delta 1137 coming in from Atlanta. The flight hasn’t even taken off yet (it’s only 8pm here). Let’s see what Google has to say.

Ok, this looks more like it. Google tells me it’s on schedule. That’s good news. This feature was just released so I’m not surprised that it has a few bugs. If you are heading to the airport this could be a quick way to see if your flight is delayed. It’s interesting that Google links you to flightstats.com anyway. I give credit to Google for making things easier. Too bad there isn’t a single place to find all these shortcuts that Google offers. That sounds like a good future post

Some tips that I thought were great:

Bring along some clear plastic baggies. You can help speed up through the line by making use of some simple sandwich baggies when going through security. Place all allowable liquids in your carry on into one, as well as all items from your pockets into another so they’ll be easy for security to check and easy for you to keep track of.

Dress appropriately. This may sound like a silly bit of advice, but you’ll save yourself a great deal of trouble if you aren’t wearing something that just screams “troublemaker” or makes you look suspicious. You’ll undoubtedly be subject to greater hassles from security and maybe even your airline, as passengers have been removed from planes for wearing clothes that were too sexy or offensive. It may be unfair that security gets to police your fashion choices, but you’ll move through much more quickly if you work with it and not against it.

Anything that saves time and reduces stress at the airport is a great thing.

Do you have any tips for dealing with airport security? Leave a comment below and share them with us.