A Beginner’s Guide To Getting The Most Out Of Your Vacation Cruise
When my family wanted to go on a cruise together, we didn’t know what we were in for. Joel and I had never been on a cruise before. All we knew was that we would be on a ship for 7 days and were going to dock in other countries on 3 of those days. I’ve decided to share with you what we learned and how we could make it better for the next time.
Before you go
Before you embark on your cruise here are a few things you should do and find out. First, take the time to check out the cruise line’s website. Check out the FAQs, their tips and browse around for any more information that they want you to know before boarding. Another thing that you could do if you prefer convenience, is link your credit card to your room/account number. This should be done ahead of time on the cruise line’s website. You have to carry your “cruise card”/ room key anyway, so if you link your card ahead of time you do not have to carry a wallet or purse for purchases. For obvious reasons, this can be dangerous, but you can keep tabs on your total throughout your cruise at the customer service desk.
Don’t forget to not only keep your plane tickets handy while you’re packing, but also your passport or passport card. Even though you won’t need to it fly, you won’t want to dig through your luggage while in line at the cruise port. You don’t want everyone “giving you the look”. 🙂 I actually kept our passports and plane tickets in an envelope all together in my carry on. It was very handy and then I could easily slip our IDs in during the boarding process so everything was all in one place. I just made sure to have that envelope handy during the flight there and back home. You could also use one of these travel wallets to keep everything in one spot!
Things To Take
As a red head, I don’t go anywhere warm and sunny without my sunblock, so I highly recommend that 🙂 But I also recommend lotion (or aloe) for after the sun. I have had my fair share of sunburns, and I hate aloe. It gets sticky and doesn’t absorb very fast. Yuck. In my many years of experience, I’ve learned to put on lotion as soon as I realize I’m sunburned and that actually helps to keep me from peeling most of the time as well! I actually really love this Shea Moisture lotion. It’s non toxic which I love because then I’m not putting any chemicals on my already sensitive skin, plus it’s a little thicker than most lotion so it doesn’t feel watery like some lotions do. Plus it helps with skin drying out after being in salt water and chlorine water so much.
A cruise ship room is relatively on the small side, and the bathroom even smaller, so one thing that I love is my Mary Kay Roll Up Travel Bag. It has 4 separate pouches that keeps your toothbrush separate from your perfume and make up, etc. I like that I can put my husbands toiletries in one, our toothbrushes in another with the toothpaste and still have two left over for skin care and jewelry. Each pouch fits quite a bit, so you can pack it full of stuff! One feature that’s really nice about it is the built in hook that allows you to hang it, so it’s off the counter and doesn’t take up valuable space. This is especially important in a cruise ship bathroom. 🙂
If you are a wine drinker, you can take your own bottle of wine on the cruise ship with you. If you have a favorite kind that you’d like to be part of your special formal dinner night or sip a glass on the balcony while reading your favorite book, you can purchase it prior to embarking and save a little bit while you’re at it. Check out your cruise line’s website to double check the amount you’re allowed to bring. Don’t forget to pack a corkscrew or you’ll be screwed. 🙂
When you board, you will be separated from your luggage and may not see it for hours. If you have your swimsuit and a change of clothes in a carry on/tote bag, you’ll be able to enjoy several activities onboard while you wait to depart. This bag will also be helpful on days when you have excursions and need to take and bring stuff with you (change of clothes, sunblock, souvenirs, etc). Here’s a waterproof one if you’ll be out on the water during any excursion.
If you’ll have fun at the ice skating rink, don’t forget to take pants and socks. Also, if you will be attending formal night in the main dining room, make sure you bring formal clothes (cocktail dress or suit).
These days with technology at our fingertips, you might forget about a wristwatch but I recommend taking one. We turned off our cell phones for the full week (1- to avoid international charges and 2- to enjoy our time on vacation!). It was really nice to be “Away from it all” with no contact to the outside world for a little bit. With that being said, we still needed to be places (activities, meals, excursions, etc) at certain times and this is where a watch comes in handy!
One other thing that I love to take on all my vacations is a water bottle. I’m pretty sure most of my family thinks I’m the water bottle queen. LOL (you could always use a refillable cup as well) I can fill it with ice and a drink at the buffet, water before we head to the pool or just have a nice large vessel to use instead of tiny little on board cups. I can take it anywhere on and off the ship. It saves money throughout the trip, plus with handles or clips, they are easy to take everywhere we go. 🙂
Of course you’ll want to capture memories on a beautiful trip! Check out this post about a camera that I absolutely love for travel and why.
Things To Do
Whether it’s a 4 day or 7 day cruise, you’ll have many activities to choose from in each port. It’s recommended that you check out the cruise line’s website ahead of time to get information about and select your excursion. Some sell out, so it’s best to do it ahead of time, but if you don’t get the chance to you can also book them on the cruise up until the morning of the excursion. I highly recommend reading reviews about them as well to find out more information from someone who has done it already. When we were looking at our choices, there were a few that sounded great, but the reviews told us otherwise. This was very helpful in selecting a good one. For example, some of the options are to go to a resort where you can use the facilities and enjoy the beach. Sometimes food and drinks are included and sometimes they are not. Sometimes they include the bare minimum to call it an excursion, but this is exactly why the reviews are helpful! Don’t go by just the excursion information, check out the reviews and find the best choice for you.
Most of the excursions aren’t cheap, so if you’re looking to save a little bit you don’t have to go on an excursion. At each port there’s a shopping area, some larger than others, and you can check it out for souvenirs, get a local bite to eat or you can even just stay on the boat. Many people will get off the ship, so you can possibly have a pool or hot tub to yourself (yourselves). On our cruise, we stopped in Cozumel, Honduras and Belize. Since we were with family who had cruised before, in Honduras we actually went to a resort without having an excursion booked. I assume it’s a little known secret, but we went outside the “walls” of the cruise port area to find drivers waiting. They offer to take you to the beach inexpensively, so at the advice of someone experienced, we hopped in a driver’s van and had him take us to a nice beach. About 5-10 minutes later we arrive at a resort where it costs $10 per person to enter and use their facilities. It was a beautiful place with a fountain, beautiful pathways, music, lounge chairs and more. We made our way to the soft white sand and crisp blue water of the Atlantic Ocean! Beach chairs and palm trees lined the coast along with food stations and waiters to serve you. It was a beautiful place to enjoy the ocean breeze, dip your toes in the water or walk down the shore to check out the local vendors. Food and drinks were not included, but overall this was a pretty inexpensive way to enjoy an “excursion” without pre-booking something two or three times the price.
On the boat there are usually a ton of things to do. Ours had flowmaster surfing, a dance club, a casino, nightly shows, a skating rink, miniature golf, hot tubs, pools, outdoor movies and much much more! There’s always something to do for any age so check out the schedule of activities for tons of free fun right on the ship!
One “hidden gem” that was really special to me was right as we departed! As we pulled away from the dock there were dolphins and as we set sail there were dolphins swimming alongside the ship for quite a while. I loved being at the front of the ship (feeling like “king of the world” LOL) and see everything around us including these graceful beauties!
Where to eat:
One thing we found out from our cruise was that if you wanted to, you could literally eat 24 hours a day. On all ships most of the food is included with your cruise, including one (or more) place that’s open 24 hours a day! We sailed on the Liberty of the Seas, Royal Carribean and they had the Windjammer Cafe which was a family buffet style eatery. There were lots of choices and you could eat when your schedule allowed. It wasn’t open 24 hours, but it was open several hours for breakfast, lunch and dinner!
The Dining Room is also open for all three meals and offers several choices with full service. Whether you choose the traditional dining with dinner at the same time and table, or the My Time dining where you can dine at your conveniece, you’ll get more gourmet choices (and you can get more than one entree if you want) than at the buffet. Keep in mind, with this dining room there is a dress code which you can find out more about on their website.
The Cafe Promande is open 24 hours and offers sandwiches, pastries, snacks and more. Whether you want something different that the Windjammer and Dining Room or you want a late night snack, this is a great choice.
There are a few other restaurants where you can eat, some included and some at an extra cost. These include cupcakes, pizza, steak, and more. You can check out the restaurants on the website ahead of time if you think you might like to make reservations.
With a cruise offering so much, I’m sure I forgot something! If you have been on a cruise (or read a tip elsewhere while getting ready to go on a cruise) and have something you think I should add, please let me know! I’d love to hear from you in the comments below…
