First-Time Cruise Tips: 30 Things Nobody Tells You Before You Sail
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BOTTOM LINE: A first cruise is a great vacation, and a very different kind of vacation from a resort. The cruise fare covers your cabin, most of your food, and the entertainment, and roughly the same amount again goes to gratuities, drinks, Wi-Fi, excursions, and extras. Know that going in, check in the minute the window opens, and book the things that sell out on embarkation day. Do those three and you are already ahead of half the ship.
I have sailed on more than 40 ships across pretty much every major cruise line, and I run a travel agency where I book cruises for clients every single week. I hear the same first-timer questions over and over, so this post is the list of 30 things I wish somebody had told me before my first cruise. Some of these will save you money, some will save you time, and a few will save you from being that person on embarkation day. The full video version is below if you would rather watch.
First Cruise Tips Before You Book
1. The cruise fare is only about half of what you will spend
This is the biggest surprise for first timers. When you see a cruise advertised for $499 a person, that price gets you a cabin, your meals in the main dining room and the buffet, and the entertainment on board. It leaves out gratuities, drinks beyond water, coffee, tea, and some juices, Wi-Fi, specialty dining, shore excursions, and anything from the spa. I tell my clients to budget roughly the same amount again on top of the fare for a realistic total, and that is before a single souvenir. Once you know that going in, the pricing is easy to live with. It is just a very different model from a resort. I have line-by-line breakdowns of what Royal Caribbean includes and what a Carnival cruise really costs if you want to see the math for a specific line.
2. Book through a travel agent
I am not just saying this because I am one. The cruise lines pay the agent's commission, so the price you pay is the same or better than booking direct. What you get on top of that is somebody who watches for price drops, knows which cabins to avoid, and can call the cruise line for you when something goes sideways. I reprice client bookings all the time and save them $300 or $400 they never would have known to ask for. If you would like that kind of help with your first cruise, request a free quote from Jackson Jetsetting and we will walk you through all of it. And if you are going to book direct anyway, at least read the deposit and cancellation terms before you hit purchase, because those vary a lot between lines.
3. Pick the ship before you pick the itinerary
First timers almost always shop by destination first. I do it the other way around, and so do most experienced cruisers. Two ships on the exact same itinerary can be completely different vacations. A Radiance-class ship like Jewel of the Seas and an Oasis-class ship like Wonder of the Seas both sail to the Bahamas, and I promise you they are not the same trip. One is a quiet, mid-sized ship where you can see the ocean from most places on board. The other is a floating city with a Central Park and a water park. Figure out which of those you want first, then find the itinerary. My Jewel of the Seas review and Wonder of the Seas review show just how far apart two Royal Caribbean ships can be.
4. Shorter is fine for a first cruise
I have done two-night cruises on Quantum of the Seas and Norwegian Joy, and three and four-night sailings on more ships than I can count. A three-night sailing out of Florida is a perfect test drive. You get an embarkation day, a full sea day or a port day, and you find out whether you like being on a ship without committing a full week of vacation to it. If you love it, you will be booking the seven-night before you even get off.
5. Cabin location matters more than cabin category
Everybody gets hung up on inside versus ocean view versus balcony. What I actually pay attention to is where the cabin sits. Mid-ship on a lower deck is the most stable if you are worried about motion. A cabin directly below the pool deck or above a nightclub is going to have noise. A cabin at the very front of the ship feels the waves more than anywhere else. When I book clients, I would rather put them in an inside cabin in a great location than a balcony in a bad one. On some ships, like Quantum of the Seas, the inside cabins have a virtual balcony, a live feed of what is outside the ship, and it is actually kind of fun. I go deeper on this in my inside versus balcony cabin guide.
6. Check whether your ship was just renovated, or is about to be
Cruise ships go into dry dock every few years. Sometimes that means brand new venues, and sometimes it means a ship with scaffolding and closed areas right before the dry dock. When I am booking a ship I have not been on, I look up when it was last refurbished. The Disney Dream is a great example. I sailed it right after its renovation and it felt like a new ship. A ship a year out from dry dock can feel very tired.
First Cruise Tips Before You Leave Home
7. Do your online check-in the minute it opens
Every cruise line opens online check-in at a set point before your sailing, and the earlier you check in, the earlier your boarding time. On Royal Caribbean and Carnival, the good early boarding windows go fast. The short version: set a reminder for the day check-in opens, have your passport photo ready, and grab the earliest arrival time you can. A noon boarding versus a 2:30 boarding is two and a half more hours of your vacation.
8. Bring your passport even if the cruise line says you do not need it
For a closed-loop cruise out of a U.S. port, you can technically sail with a birth certificate and a driver's license. I never recommend it. If you get sick in port, miss the ship, or have any kind of emergency, you need to fly home from a foreign country, and you cannot do that without a passport. It is not worth the risk to save the passport fee. Full details are in my post on whether you need a passport for a cruise.
9. Fly in the day before
I have watched people run down the pier at Port Canaveral with their luggage as the ship pulls away. Flights get delayed, especially in winter, and the ship will not wait for you. Fly in the night before, stay at a hotel near the port, and start your vacation a day early. I keep updated lists of hotels near the Fort Lauderdale cruise port, hotels near the Miami cruise port, and hotels near Port Canaveral if you need ideas.
10. Pack a day bag with everything you need for the first six hours
Your checked luggage may not show up at your cabin until late afternoon. Your day bag should have your swimsuit, sunscreen, any medications, your phone charger, and whatever documents you need. That way you can go straight to the pool while everybody else is sitting around waiting for a suitcase. My cruise packing list covers the rest of the bag.
11. Download the cruise line's app before you leave home, and download your shows too
The app is how you will see the daily schedule, book dining, and on most lines, message the people you are traveling with. Get it set up on land where you have good internet. The ship's Wi-Fi is fine for browsing, but if you want to watch something on a sea day, download it before you go.
12. Buy your drink package, Wi-Fi, and specialty dining before you sail
Pre-cruise pricing is almost always cheaper than the price on board, sometimes by 20 or 30 percent. I go through the cruise planner for every sailing a few weeks out. One trick: prices in the cruise planner change. If you buy a package and then see a lower price later, you can usually cancel and rebook at the lower price before you sail.
Cruise Money Tips for Life on Board
13. Do the actual math on the drink package
A drink package on most lines runs anywhere from $60 to over $100 per person per day, and everyone in the cabin usually has to buy it. Cocktails on board are about $12 to $16. So you are looking at five to seven drinks a day just to break even. For some of you that is easy, and for a lot of you it is not. My Royal Caribbean drink package guide walks through the numbers line by line.
14. Gratuities are added to your account automatically
Most lines charge somewhere around $16 to $25 per person per day, and that goes to your cabin steward, dining staff, and the crew behind the scenes. You can prepay them, which I do so there is no surprise on the final bill. Please do not remove them. Those crew members work incredibly hard and gratuities are a big part of how they get paid. See my Carnival gratuities breakdown for a typical example.
15. The casino is fun, but know how the money works
Every casino on every ship I have been on lets you charge chips or slot play to your room account, and some add a fee for that. Set a budget before you walk in. If you enjoy playing, sign up for the casino loyalty program on that line, because casino play is one of the fastest ways to earn status and get discounted future cruises. I covered this in my Carnival Rewards post.
16. Skip the photos, the art auction, and most of the shopping
The ship's photographers are great, but a single print can run $25 to $30. The art auctions are a whole thing I am going to leave alone. The shops on board are mostly duty-free liquor and watches. Buy the fridge magnet, take your own photos, and spend the money on a specialty dinner instead.
17. Watch your onboard account in the app every day
Mistakes happen. Charges get put on the wrong cabin, a drink gets rung up twice. If you check the app every day, you catch it and guest services fixes it in two minutes. If you wait until the last morning, you are standing in a very long line with everybody else who waited until the last morning.
Embarkation Day Tips on Royal Caribbean, Carnival, and Disney
18. Eat lunch somewhere other than the buffet
The buffet on embarkation day is the single most crowded place on the entire ship for the entire week. Every line has a quieter option. On Royal Caribbean it is Park Cafe or the Solarium Bistro, on Carnival it is Guy's Burgers or the deli, and on MSC and Celebrity there is almost always a pool grill or a cafe that is open. You will get a better meal and you will get it in ten minutes instead of forty.
19. Do the muster drill immediately
Every line now does some version of a digital muster drill where you watch a safety video on the app and then check in at your muster station. Do it the second you get on board. They will not let the ship sail until everybody has done it, and they will hunt you down over the intercom.
20. Book the things that sell out on day one
On Quantum of the Seas that is the North Star and iFly. On the Oasis-class ships it is the shows. On Disney it is Palo brunch. On Celebrity it is the Magic Carpet dinners. Every ship has two or three things that fill up by the end of embarkation day, and the app will tell you what is bookable as soon as you connect to the ship's Wi-Fi. This is one of the first things I do on every single cruise.
21. Take a lap of the ship before it gets busy
Grab a drink, walk every deck from top to bottom, and figure out where things are while the ship is still half empty. You will find the quiet spots that way, and every ship has them. On the Oasis-class ships, the Solarium is the spot. On Carnival, Serenity. On the Disney ships, the adults-only Quiet Cove pool.
Cruise Tips for Sea Days and Life on Board
22. Sea days are for the ship, port days are for the port
A lot of first timers try to do everything on the ship every single day and end up exhausted by day three. My approach is that sea days are when you do the ship: the shows, the pool, the specialty restaurants, the activities. On port days, get off the ship. The ship will be there when you get back, and it will be a lot emptier if you stay on board on a port day, which is also a legitimate strategy.
23. The main dining room is better than you think, and the buffet is worse than you think
The main dining room on most ships is a legitimately good meal, with a menu that changes every night, and it is included. The buffet is fine for a quick breakfast or lunch, and it gets old by day three. If you have a longer sailing, a specialty dining package can be a very good deal, especially on Royal Caribbean where the unlimited package includes lunch on sea days. I break down the value in Is specialty dining worth it?
24. Learn your ship's quiet hours and busy hours
The pool deck is packed from 11 to 3. The buffet is packed from 8 to 9:30 in the morning. The theater fills 30 minutes before showtime. The gym is empty at 4 in the afternoon. Once you know the rhythm, you can be everywhere when everybody else is somewhere else.
25. Prepare for motion sickness even if you have never had it
I do not get seasick, but I have had clients who were miserable for a day because they did not bring anything. Bring Bonine or Dramamine, or the patch from your doctor if you know you are sensitive. Green apples and ginger ale from the buffet actually do help. And book that mid-ship, lower-deck cabin from tip five. More in my guide to avoiding seasickness on a cruise.
26. Tip for real service, on top of the automatic gratuities
I bring a stack of small bills. If a bartender takes care of me all week, or the cabin steward goes above and beyond, a cash tip at the end goes a long way. It is not required. It is just a nice thing to do for people who make your vacation better.
Cruise Port Day Tips and Shore Excursions
27. You do not have to book excursions through the cruise line, but be smart about it
Ship excursions are more expensive, and they come with a guarantee: if the tour runs late, the ship waits for you. Independent tours are cheaper and often better, and if you are late, that is on you. My rule is that if the excursion is a long drive from the port, or the ship is only in port a few hours, I book through the ship. If it is a beach day or a walkable town, I go on my own. For independent tours I use Viator, which lets you filter by reviews and see exactly how far each tour runs from the pier. Browse the top-rated options for the most common first-cruise ports: Nassau tours on Viator, Cozumel tours on Viator, Falmouth, Jamaica tours on Viator, San Juan tours on Viator, and Ensenada tours on Viator. I also have my own port guides for Nassau, Cozumel, and Falmouth.
28. Ship time versus local time will bite you
The ship stays on the time zone of its home port for the entire sailing on a lot of itineraries. Your phone may switch to local time when you get off. Set a watch to ship time and go by that. This is how people get left behind.
29. Private islands are the best port days for a first timer
Perfect Day at CocoCay, Castaway Cay, Celebration Key, Ocean Cay, and Great Stirrup Cay are all run by the cruise lines. Your food is included, your drink package works there, and you cannot miss the ship because you can see it from the beach. I have been to every one of them, and my guides to Perfect Day at CocoCay, Castaway Cay, and Celebration Key cover what to do on each one.
Cruise Disembarkation Tips for Getting Off the Ship
30. Disembarkation takes longer than you think, so book your flight accordingly
The ship docks around 6 or 7 in the morning, but you are probably not walking off until 8 or 9, and then there is customs and the drive to the airport. I tell my clients not to book a flight home before noon, and at Fort Lauderdale or Miami, even that is tight on a busy day. If you want to walk off early, you can self-assist, which just means you carry all your own bags off with you and skip the luggage hall. I do that on almost every cruise. My cruise disembarkation guide has the full morning timeline.
Mark's Top Three First Cruise Tips
If I had to pick the three that make the biggest difference for a first timer, they would be: know what is actually included before you book, do your check-in the second it opens, and book the things that sell out on embarkation day. Do those three and you are already ahead of half the ship. For the flip side of this list, read my post on the cruise mistakes first timers make.
If you have cruised before and you have a tip I missed, put it in the comments on the video, because I read every one of them and the comments on these videos end up being better than the video.
Ready to book your first cruise?
Whether you are starting from scratch or you want somebody to look at the sailing you already booked and make sure you are not overpaying, request a free quote from Jackson Jetsetting. We do this every day and we would love to help.
First-Time Cruise FAQ
How much should a first-time cruiser budget beyond the fare?
Plan on roughly the same amount as the cruise fare again to cover gratuities, drinks, Wi-Fi, specialty dining, and excursions. A $499 per person fare usually ends up closer to $1,000 per person once the trip is over.
Is a three-night cruise long enough for a first cruise?
Yes. A three-night sailing out of Florida gives you an embarkation day, a sea day or port day, and a disembarkation morning, which is enough to find out whether you enjoy cruising before committing a full week.
Do I need a passport for a closed-loop cruise?
Technically no for a closed-loop sailing from a U.S. port, but I always recommend one. If you have to fly home from a foreign port for any reason, a birth certificate will not get you on the plane.
Should I book shore excursions through the cruise line or independently?
Book through the ship when the tour is a long drive from the pier or the port stop is short, since the ship waits for its own tours. For beach days and walkable towns, independent tours are usually cheaper and just as good.
