If your group is big enough, you might even be able to book a private tour with an independent tour operator. Plus, they often come with excellent service. ToursByLocals has staff on hand around-the-clock to respond to questions, and — for those of who worried about missing your ship — they offer a return-to-ship guarantee with every tour.
Some lines will let you sign up for shows, tours and other activities including meals at specialty restaurants in advance of sailing using online portals. That said, whether or not you need to race to sign up for activities at the start of a voyage depends a lot on which ship you are on. Related: 12 giant ships that are packed with fun features. In fact, you should force yourself to try to not do it all. Take some downtime. Sit on your balcony, if you have one, and just stare out at the ocean for a couple of hours.
This can happen when you leave your phone turned on and, say, watch videos on the internet. There are ways to make calls and access the internet from ships without spending a boatload of money.
You can buy a Wi-Fi package, for instance, that will let you make FaceTime calls and stream videos on some ships by Wi-Fi without using phone data. Some phone companies also have cruise-specific plans you can buy in advance of a voyage. But I personally never go that route. I keep it simple. I just put my phone in airplane mode the moment I step on board a ship and never switch it back on.
A growing number of lines now have apps that you can download to your smartphone in advance of sailing. The apps vary in what they offer, but many will show you a daily list of activities and all of the things that you have reserved.
Many also will let you make restaurant reservations, and book shore excursions and other activities, and a few will let you order drinks and other items to wherever you happen to be standing. Related: New cruise app lets you order pizza anywhere onboard. Given the complexity of booking a cruise — there are a lot of decisions to make during the booking process, trust us — we recommend that you use a seasoned travel agent who specializes in cruises to help you arrange things.
A good travel agent will quiz you about your particular interests, travel style and preferences, and steer you to the perfect cruise line, ship, itinerary and cabin for you.
They also can help you if something goes wrong just before, during or after your voyage. In addition, travel agents often can you extra onboard credit and other perks that you might not be able to get by booking directly with a line. Related: 4 scenarios when you should use a travel agent. We hate to even bring it up, but you might need to cancel your cruise in advance due to the sudden onset of an illness.
Related: The TPG guide to travel insurance for cruises. Not every cabin on a ship is created equal. When choosing a room on your first cruise, you might want to stay away from those near elevators and just above nightclubs and other late-night venues. They can sometimes be noisy. Cabins just below the pool deck and near the anchor also can be problematic as well as cabins near casinos.
Related: 8 cabin locations on cruise ships that you definitely should avoid. You saw this one coming, no?
The way to do this is to tie a credit card that offers extra points for travel purchases to your onboard account. Related: How to book a cruise with points and miles. Such automatic gratuities also are becoming more common in ship spas. Otherwise, you may end up tipping twice. Related: Everything you need to know about tipping on a cruise ship. Scroll around a little, and you may never pay cash for a flight to a cruise ship again.
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This site does not include all credit card companies or all available credit card offers. Great way to try something new and it is usually delicious. One of the biggest mistakes of first-time cruisers is only ordering a single item at each dinner course. Since dinner in the main dining rooms is one of the few amenities included in your cruise fare, take advantage of it by trying as many dishes as you please without worrying about the cost.
There are plenty of options for people like us who don't get around very well. We found excellent hour van-bus trips at reasonable rates that were available right on the docks at Juneau and Sitka. If the heart of the port city is easily reached from the dock without the need for shuttles or tender boats, take a stroll to stretch your legs and readjust to dry land. In walkable ports like Venice, it's easy to step off the boat and explore. Just like with boarding the ship on embarkation day, you should aim to be the first or last off the ship.
If you don't want to be rushed, wait for a port day to go mini-golfing. Everything is negotiable! Though Americans often consider haggling a sign of cheapness, most vendors in the Caribbean and Europe rarely expect you to pay listed prices. Check out this article for some tips on how to talk sellers down to a reasonable fee. Thank you for subscribing!
Got it! Thank you! By Thomas Faddegon Cruiseline. Planning and Booking 1. Budget properly. Timing is everything. At peak hours, boarding lines can get absurdly long. Always make time for your evening entertainment.
Never pay full price for anything you buy from a vendor. Get Inspired for Your Next Vacation. Frommer's, and carefully selected third parties, use cookies on this site to improve performance, for analytics and for advertising. Learn more about gratuities in our piece on cruise line tipping policies. Meg, sailing on her first cruise, made a few important discoveries during her introduction to cruise travel, one of which involved a heavy downpour during a port call in Roatan, Honduras.
Unless things get particularly dicey, shore excursions will run, rain or shine. Back on the ship, it was clear to see that Meg wasn't alone in getting soaked to the bone or being forced to improvise with garbage bag ponchos, as other cruisers did. The tropical Caribbean climate is mercurial, so high on our list -- and now hers -- of must-pack items is a lightweight, waterproof jacket or poncho.
For a broader look at what to pack on your upcoming cruise, check out Cruise Critic's Cruise Packing story. Being an independent traveler type who's visited six continents, Rich only recently went on his first cruise.
Like many first-timers, he had heard about passengers staying well fed. But how can cruisers balance the intake -- multiple lobster tails, cream sauces, molten chocolate cake -- with health concerns? We definitely concur. Considering the flights of stairs on a deck cruise ship, all that climbing will help to keep off the extra pounds.
If exercise is your thing, hit the ship's gym or sign up for a cycling or Boot Camp class to more quickly burn off those extra-large buffet meals. Don't like to exercise? We've got more tips on how not to gain weight on a cruise. While debarkation day certainly ranks as the worst day of the cruise, embarkation day is a close second. For many, it starts with an early morning jolt out of bed, continues with a lengthy sojourn to the port, and concludes with lots of thumb-twiddling in a bleak, amenity-free terminal.
All this pre-cruise time makes the soon-to-cruise hungry. And once onboard, the mad dash to the buffet begins. Ottawa native Sheila, a cruise vet, offers a solid tip for those looking to avoid the famished throngs during embarkation day: Bypass the buffet or pool grill, where the masses gather, and head to a dining room for some peace. One note: Not every line opens its dining rooms for lunch on embarkation day.
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