Now, it wasn’t always this way; I had to really convince my spouse for our first cruise as she had a lot of misconceptions such as “I’m going to be so bored; what could I possibly do on a ship for a week?” Right! I know that some of you might be thinking the same thing. Needless to say, our first cruise was a 7 night sailing on board Royal Caribbean’s Oasis of the Seas and oh boy, were we excited! Well, I was definitely more excited until we boarded the ship. She always describes it as “traveling on a moving city”! Trust us, the Royal Promanade is just that; full of shops, restaurants, bars, a rising bar, full size classic car and so so so much more!
Firstly, we would definitely recommend doing your research on what types of ships are out there, the various cruise lines and determine what fits your personal style.
For someone that doesn’t know much about cruising and really doesn’t have any expectations in terms of the activities and or bells and whistles on a larger ship, we would suggest taking a shorter cruise anywhere between 3-5 days on a medium size ship and see how you like it.
For the individuals that are familiar with what the larger fleet of cruise ships offer and possibly have sailed, we would highly recommend taking one of the larger class ships and experiencing cruising in all of its glory. In addition, we would further recommend going on the larger class ships for your first or subsequent cruise if you have children. The ships have so much to offer from Dreamworks characters (on Royal Caribbean ships) to carousels, kids programs, movies, arts and crafts, slides, kids waterpark and the list goes on. There is something to do for every age group! This is another reason why we love Royal Caribbean’s fleet; its so diverse.
Now that you’ve booked a cruise, what’s next?
One of the biggest mistakes first time cruisers make is not using all of the tools that the cruise line has provided to you before sailing. For example, with Royal Caribbean, you can log online into your account and use the cruise planner (calendar for your sailing) and proactively book all of the shows on board that you would like to see during your sailing. It will list the dates and times of each show so that you can plan everything to your personal preference. You should opt to do the same thing for your dinning weather it be in the main dining room or specialty restaurants, excursions, spa treatments etc. This will allow you to be organized and ensure that you don’t end up missing out on something because of a scheduling conflict.
The other thing that we highly recommend, is booking all of the aforementioned into your itinerary as soon as it’s available on the website. Do not wait just before your sailing date as things do get booked up. This will cause you to have to go through the hassle of trying to get into shows by waiting in the standby lines or missing something all together. Why go through all of that when it can be avoided all together. Trust us, we’ve been there!
Another thing to consider are the internet and drink packages. On Royal, you are permitted to bring two 750 ML bottles of wine per stateroom onboard with you on embarkation day. Keep in mind that there are corkage fees if the bottles are opened in any bar, lounge, restaurant or dinning rooms. There are no fees when you open them in your room; simply ask someone from housekeeping to bring you the adequate number of glasses and a complimentary wine opener.
Another great tip is to purchase dining, beverage and internet packages, excursions and other items you may require for you and your group prior to boarding as they are always available at a better price before sailing.
If you’re going to be sailing for a special celebration, you can purchase decorative items such as a door sign to surprise your significant other, family or friends.
Additional Tips:
1. Research Packing Essentials
For example, we always pack an umbrella as you just never know!
Checkout our blog on cruise packing essentials for everything you need to know.
16 Cruise Packing Essentials + 2 Bonus Tips + List
2. Research Your Ports
This is a must when visiting different ports of call. You’ll need to read, watch videos and basically learn as much as you can about each destination so that you’re well prepared and not wasting valuable time trying to figure out what to do at the ports when you arrive.
We’ve met several people that book an excursion for 1-2 hours and then have the rest of the day with nothing to do and end up staying at the pier or head back onto the ship for the remainder of the day. On the other hand, you may want to visit or do something specific only to find out that all of the tour buses left 1 hour ago.
3. Get To Know Your Ship
As there as so many things to do on-board a cruise ship, it’s always a good idea to familiarize yourself with what you will call home for the next several days. Watch some videos and research the different areas on-board and on embarkation day, take a leisurely walk around to really put everything into perspective. This way, you’ll remember exactly where you need to go for anything that you may want to do.
4. Sea Pass Card
Everything is charged to your sea pass card (your room key card). Before sailing you will opt to either have billed items on your account charged directly to a credit card or paid in cash before disembarking the ship. The card will also serve as your ID onboard and you will need it to get on and off the ship at ports.
5. Currency
You do not need to worry about acquiring local currency for the various ports that you may be visiting. USD is just fine and widely accepted everywhere. We would highly recommend carrying smaller denominations.
6. Parking
If you’re driving to your cruise port, look at the neighboring secure parking lots for cruisers. Many of them will chauffeur you from the lot to the cruise port and pick you up to take you back to your vehicle on disembarkation day.
in addition, there are several hotels that offer parking to their cruise guests while they are away. This is one of the best ways to save money!!
7. Airplane Mode
Don’t forget to place your phone on airplane mode and turn off data roaming on embarkation day before the ship leaves the port! You definitely don’t want to end up with a monstrous roaming bill.
8. Dining Room
A lot of people don’t realize that you can opt to eat in the main dining room for breakfast and lunch. We’ve always enjoyed this option on sea days as you have plenty of time to relax. On port days, we opt for the buffet before we head out to explore the beautiful sites.
9. Itinerary Changes
Unfortunately, this does happen time to time depending on unforeseen circumstances or weather, a port of call might be missed altogether or diverted to a different port of call.
We experienced this once; we were headed to St Lucia and as the new port wasn’t built in time, we were rerouted to Martinique instead.
10. Cheap Drinks?
Drink at the port and save a lot of money! Who doesn’t like a great bargain! $1 beers anyone?
Bonus Tip:
11. Cabin Location
If like my spouse you are prone to sea /motion sickness then we suggest you opt for a cabin towards the middle of the ship. It really does make a difference; she swears by it! Another thing is to opt for a stateroom located on one of the lower decks!
We hope that you found all of the aforementioned useful and would love to hear your thoughts!
Comment down below your tips for first time cruisers.
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Until next time, keep dreaming, traveling, exploring and spreading your footprints.
📸 Thetravelingfootprints ♥️