Tips for Cruising

Thinking about taking a cruise for your next vacation? Good choice! I have been on five cruises with four different cruise lines so I may be able to help with any questions or concerns you may have.

Cruising is one of the easiest ways to travel today. You are vacationing and having fun WHILE traveling to different destinations. Depending on what cruise line you use, you can get more bang for your buck, which is always a perk.

Here are some tips I would give you to getting the best experience out of your cruise vacation:

Purchase your cruise through a third party- Using a third party can be cheaper than buying directly through the cruise line. I personally use CruisesOnly.com (I’m not sponsored by anyone just my opinion!) and usually get tickets at a pretty substantial discount.
Purchase tickets closer to the sail date- If you are able to do a spur of the moment kind of trip, try to buy cruise tickets closer to the sail date. The cruise line will be trying to fill cabins and will most likely offer an incentive or discount.
Drink Packages- If you are not an alcoholic drinker, skip the drink packages. Most cruise lines only offer lemonade, tea, and water for free. If you want to drink pop or alcohol they’ll try to convince you to buy a drink package. Packages are by no means cheap. For a five day cruise, it is usually between $100-$300 extra. Some people want to drink the whole trip which is cool, in that case, I would say buy the package but if you just plan to have one drink a day, just outright buy that single drink, you’ll save a lot more money.
Wifi- They offer an internet package for your trip. Don’t buy it. You’re on vacation and it is pretty much the best excuse to unplug. Enjoy your cruise, pick up a book, and relax! If you feel like you cannot do it for the entire trip, try holding out until you reach land, you can usually make calls and texts at cost depending on your cell phone provider.
Buy shore excursions before the cruise- Once you board the ship, they like to double the prices of activities to do off the boat. If you book through a third party, it’s always good to ask if they have any special offers on shore excursions.
Shopping- Do all your shopping in international waters because they do not tax! Just be careful because their are certain things that are not allowed back into your country. Check with customs to see rules and regulations.
Money- You don’t need any cash or credit cards while on-board. There is usually one credit card that is linked to the room you’re staying in, all you have to do is show your room key and they’ll charge it to the room. Make sure you do bring some cash off shore to shop, eat, and do activities. Depending on what country you are in, they may or may not take cards.
Choosing a cruise right for you- I do very extensive research when trying to decide what cruise line I want to use. Go onto any of their websites and it’ll show each individual ship and what it has to offer in food, activities, spa services, excursions, etc. If you want to take a romantic cruise, look for cruise lines that offer a 21 and up area of their ships to avoid kids. If you want a kid friendly cruise, check out their kids programs. A lot of cruises have special clubs for age groups to do activities, dances, dinners etc. Do you’re research!!
Air-to-Sea Travel- This service is offered with most cruise lines. Once you know what date you want to sail, they’ll have an agent set you up with airfare to coincide with your sail date. What is nice about that is they guarantee you won’t miss your cruise and if something does go wrong, say a flight delay and you end up missing the boat, they’ll fly you to the first destination to meet up with them! (This happened to us)
Travel Insurance- Always always always buy the travel insurance whether it be a cruise of a flight. You cannot predict illness or death. You want to make sure you can get you’re money back if have to end up cancelling. Some cruise lines will rebook you instead of giving a refund so make sure you read the fine print.
MyTime Dining- Most ships have two specific dining time, usually 4pm and 8pm. If you don’t like having a set time with a set table for the entire cruise, see if they offer MyTime dining. With MyTime, you can choose when you want to eat each night. Just be careful because during peak dinner times, you may have to wait a while to get a table.
Cabin type- Ive stayed in interior, porthole, and balcony and they’re all great. Interior cabins are usually the cheapest and are on the inside of the ship so their are no windows. Porthole cabins usually have a small window. Balcony cabins have a balcony, duh. I would splurge for the balcony if you do not buy any shore excursions, drink or wifi packages. Whichever cabin type you pick, just remember that you are usually out of the room more than your in it!