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Cruise questions, answered
What a cruise really costs, which cabin is worth the upgrade, and what the brochures leave out. Written for people deciding, not for people already booked.
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The short version
Every guide opens with the answer. The detail comes after, for when you want it.
The most useful first cruise tips are about timing. Fly in the day before, because the ship sails without late passengers. Pack medication, documents and swimwear in a carry-on, since checked bags can arrive after sailaway. Check the daily program for all-aboard times and clock changes, watch your…
Read the full answerThe best cabin location on a cruise ship is midship on a low or middle deck, where the ship moves least in a swell; the CDC's advice for motion sickness is to avoid places of maximum motion such as the bow. Then check the deck plan for what…
Read the full answerWhich cruise cabin to book depends on the itinerary more than your taste. On a port-heavy Caribbean week, an inside or ocean view cabin is the better buy, because you are ashore all day. On Alaska, the fjords, the Panama Canal or any cruise with four or more…
Read the full answerCruise gratuities are a daily charge added automatically to your onboard account: $17 to $20 per person per night in standard cabins on the big mainstream lines in 2026, and $19 to $25 in suites. Children usually pay too. Bars, specialty restaurants and the spa add a separate…
Read the full answerBefore you book
Your First Cruise
The most useful first cruise tips are about timing. Fly in the day before, because the ship sails without late passengers. Pack medication, documents and swimwear in a carry-on, since checked bags can arrive after sailaway. Check the daily program for all-aboard times and clock changes, watch your onboard account as you go, and do not book a flight home before about noon.
Cabins & Ships
The best cabin location on a cruise ship is midship on a low or middle deck, where the ship moves least in a swell; the CDC's advice for motion sickness is to avoid places of maximum motion such as the bow. Then check the deck plan for what is directly above and below your cabin, and avoid sleeping under the pool deck, buffet or jogging track, or above the theater, nightclub or galley.
Cabins & Ships
Which cruise cabin to book depends on the itinerary more than your taste. On a port-heavy Caribbean week, an inside or ocean view cabin is the better buy, because you are ashore all day. On Alaska, the fjords, the Panama Canal or any cruise with four or more sea days, a balcony earns its premium, about $380 per person a week over inside on Carnival in 2026. Suites pay off mainly for their perks.
Costs & Money
Cruise gratuities are a daily charge added automatically to your onboard account: $17 to $20 per person per night in standard cabins on the big mainstream lines in 2026, and $19 to $25 in suites. Children usually pay too. Bars, specialty restaurants and the spa add a separate 18 or 20 percent. For two people on a seven-night cruise, the daily charge alone comes to $238 to $280.
Costs & Money
How much a cruise costs for two comes down to choices: a seven-night Caribbean cruise for two adults costs about $3,400 all in for a typical trip in 2026, and anywhere from $1,400 to $6,300 depending on choices. The fare is less than half: Carnival's inside cabins had a median of about $635 per person. Gratuities add $238 to $280 for two, and flights, excursions, drinks and Wi-Fi make up the rest.
Costs & Money
Cruise drink packages are worth it only for heavy drinkers. Carnival's CHEERS! package costs $83.94 per person per day in 2026 once its 20 percent service charge is added, and at Carnival's own menu prices you need about seven drinks every day of the cruise to break even. Every adult in the cabin usually has to buy it. Bundles that also include Wi-Fi and gratuities, such as Princess Plus, change the math.
Your First Cruise
On a mainstream cruise, wear casual resort clothes by day and smart casual in the evening, such as slacks or nice jeans with a collared shirt, or a sundress. Most seven-night cruises add one or two optional dressier nights where passengers wear cocktail dresses and suits, though smart casual is still accepted in the main dining room. Swimwear, tank tops and bare feet are not allowed in dining rooms at dinner.
Planning a Cruise
Pack for a cruise in two parts. Your carry-on holds everything you need for the first afternoon: travel documents, medications in original containers, a swimsuit, a change of clothes, chargers and any wine you are allowed to bring. Your checked bag holds the rest of your clothes, toiletries and extras. Leave behind irons, steamers, candles, CBD and marijuana, and on most lines surge-protected power strips.
Costs & Money
A mainstream cruise fare includes your cabin, meals in the main dining room and buffet, most casual food venues, basic drinks such as tap water, coffee, tea and lemonade, the theater shows, pools, fitness center and kids clubs, and transport between ports. Gratuities, alcohol, soda on most lines, specialty restaurants, Wi-Fi, shore excursions, spa treatments and often room service cost extra.
Cabins & Ships
Cruise fares are priced per person based on two people sharing a cabin, so a solo traveler booking a standard cabin pays a single supplement, often up to 200 percent of the per-person fare, which means paying for both berths. You can avoid it by booking a dedicated solo cabin, such as Norwegian's Studios, Celebrity's single staterooms or Holland America's solo ocean view cabins, or by watching for reduced-supplement promotions.
Planning a Cruise
US citizens on a closed-loop cruise, one that starts and ends at the same US port and visits Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean or Bermuda, can legally re-enter with a birth certificate and government-issued photo ID instead of a passport. You do need a passport book for one-way cruises, some ports such as Panama, Colombia and Martinique, and any flight home from a foreign country.
Planning a Cruise
Most big lines accept babies from 6 months old, or 12 months on longer ocean crossings and itineraries with several sea days in a row. Daytime kids clubs are free, typically from age 3 and often only for toilet-trained children, with separate teen clubs. Children usually pay a reduced fare as third or fourth guests, but they still pay taxes, port fees and, on most lines, daily gratuities.
