First Time Cruise Tips

Before you sail

• Fly or drive in the night before: the ship waits for no delayed flight, and the missed-boarding stories all start with a morning arrival.
• Pick the right first route: 7 nights Caribbean or Bermuda for balance, 3 to 4 nights to test the waters cheaply, and see our line comparison for which ship personality fits yours.
• Complete online check-in the day it opens: earlier boarding groups mean lunch aboard while others queue.
• Buy wifi and drink packages pre-cruise where they are 10 to 30 percent cheaper than aboard.
• Insurance is a real decision, not an upsell checkbox: our cruise insurance guide gives the honest math.

Boarding day

• The day one carry-on rule: checked bags reach cabins by evening, so carry swimwear, medications, documents and chargers on with you.
• Eat at a sit-down venue instead of the buffet scrum: most ships have one open and empty on boarding afternoon.
• Do the three bookings immediately: specialty dinners, shows and kids club registration all cap out by night two.
• Attend the muster drill without grumbling: it is fifteen minutes and it is the law of the sea.

The money and the myths

The fare is roughly two-thirds of what you will spend. Gratuities run about $17 per person per day (details in our gratuities guide), drinks and excursions add fast, and the ship runs cashless against your onboard account, check it mid-cruise, not at the desk queue on the last morning. The two myths worth killing: seasickness is mostly solved by ship scale and stabilizers (pack tablets anyway, the ship shop sells them at ransom prices), and you will not be bored, the daily program is a small newspaper. The one real warning: the ship's cellular network bills like a hostage negotiation, airplane mode at sailaway is tip number one for a reason.