First Cruise Tips: What Nobody Tells You

Most first-cruise mistakes are not expensive, they are just avoidable, and almost all of them happen in the first twenty-four hours. Here is what the brochures leave out.

Embarkation day

Your luggage will not arrive with you. You hand it over at the terminal and it appears outside your cabin some hours later, often not until late afternoon. Carry anything you need for the first half day in a bag you keep: medication, swimwear, a change of clothes, documents, chargers.

Your cabin may not be ready when you board. Boarding often starts before cabins are released. Plan to spend the first hour or two on deck or at lunch rather than standing outside a door.

The muster drill is compulsory and enforced. Most lines now let you do it through the app plus a short visit to your station, but you will not sail without completing it, and they do check.

Fly in the day before. This is the single most important piece of advice in cruising. The ship does not wait for delayed flights, and travel insurance replaces the money, not the holiday.

Money

Your cruise card is a credit card. Everything you buy aboard goes on an account linked to it, and you do not see a total until the end. It is very easy to spend far more than intended because nothing feels like paying.

Gratuities are added automatically, per person per night, including children. On a week for two that is $220 to $280 before you buy anything. Budget them as part of the fare.

Check your account mid-cruise. Errors happen and they are far easier to resolve on day four than in the queue at disembarkation.

Food

Far more is included than you think. The main dining rooms, the buffet, most casual venues and often room service are all covered. You never need to pay for food to eat well.

You can order more than one of anything in the main dining room. Two starters, two puddings, a second main if the first was disappointing. Nobody minds and it costs nothing.

The buffet is at its worst at peak times. Eat half an hour either side of the rush and it is a different experience.

Ports

Ship excursions are marked up and safe. Book independently and you will usually pay far less, but if you are late back, the ship leaves. The line waits for its own tours and not for yours.

You do not have to get off. A port day with most passengers ashore is the quietest and best time to use the pool, the spa and the ship generally.

Ship time is not always local time. When clocks change, the ship may or may not follow the port. Check the daily programme every single evening.

The ship itself

The daily programme is the most useful document aboard. It arrives each evening with the next day’s times, dress codes, clock changes and all-aboard time. Read it.

Book speciality restaurants and shows early if you want them. The good slots go on day one.

Where your cabin sits matters more than its grade. Under the pool deck or above the nightclub will cost you sleep no matter how nice the room is. Check the deck plan before you book.

Seasickness

Most people are fine on a modern ship on a normal itinerary, and modern stabilisers are extremely effective. If you are worried, book midship on a lower deck, bring something that works for you before you need it, and remember that the open sea is usually calmer than the coastal water people imagine.

The last night

Luggage goes outside your door the evening before on most lines, which means packing on the final night and keeping out clothes for the morning.

Disembarkation is early. Ships clear by eight or nine. Do not book a flight home before midday, and preferably not before two.

For the money side of all this, see what a cruise actually costs.