If you’re thinking about setting sail on your very first cruise, you’re planning an awesome vacation experience – if it’s done right! While cruising may feel a little “different” to you, as with any vacation, planning ahead is the best way to make sure you have smooth sailing throughout your trip. Here are a few things to think about.
Cruise Pricing is Best When It First Opens – While you may hear a lot about ‘last-minute cruise deals’- and those certainly do exist – the best pricing for cruise itineraries is typically when they first open, which is usually over a year in advance. If you want to truly get the best pricing on your preferred itinerary and stateroom type, you’ll want to plan ahead. Planning ahead also means you can make payments over a longer period of time, which is a bonus!
Stateroom Location Matters – Cruises allow you to choose your specific stateroom when you book, and there can be a lot of different choices and locations – and as with real estate, location matters. For quieter locations, it’s best to avoid staterooms located above or underneath popular venues like the pool deck, night clubs, or kids’ clubs. For those looking to avoid the feeling of motion on the ship, it’s often a bit more stable mid-ship than aft or forward. There are also other things to consider, like if you want to be close to the nearest elevator, to the nearest laundry, to the kids’ club, and so on. Your travel agent can help you to navigate the options and make a good choice for your stateroom.
Plan for Gratuities – Gratuities on a cruise don’t quite work like tipping on land. Most cruise lines have automatic gratuity amounts that cover the staff that you interact most consistently with on your cruise – your stateroom attendant and your dinner wait staff – and these amounts are automatically charged to your onboard account. If you prefer, these amounts can also be pre-paid before your cruise. You’ll also want to note that gratuities for other things onboard, such as spa services and bartenders, are usually already included in the bill. If, however, you book any land excursions at a port of call, you may find that gratuities for that are not included – so be sure to check in advance so that you’re not surprised when you get there!
Arrive the Day Before Your Departure – If you need to travel to get to your cruise departure port, especially if you have to fly, it’s best to fly in the day before. This will make sure that you don’t miss your cruise departure because of flight delays, which can happen at any time (and not just for weather). Cruises depart promptly to keep their schedule, and cannot wait for late guests, so if you don’t want to take the chance of missing your cruise, be sure to give yourself a nice buffer to arrive at your departure port in plenty of time to board your ship.
Bring Those Passports – While there are some cruises that do not technically require a passport, I always strongly recommend getting a passport (if you don’t have one) if you’ll be going on a cruise, even if your cruise says it’s not required. Because a passport is always needed for flying internationally, if an emergency occurs during your cruise requiring you to fly home, not having a passport will add additional challenges to being able to return.
Bonus Tip – ALWAYS Get Travel Insurance – While I am always an advocate for protecting your travel investment by purchasing travel insurance, with cruises it is especially important because most cruise lines have hefty penalties once the cruise is paid in full. This means that if something happens and you have to cancel a week or so before you sail, there is a very good chance that you will lose everything you’ve paid. If you have travel insurance however, if cancelling for a “covered reason”, you may find that you’ll be reimbursed for most of what you paid. Plus, travel insurance will also be there for you if you have a medical emergency onboard or in a foreign port (where your regular health insurance isn’t valid). While there is an additional cost for travel insurance, the few hundred dollars pales in comparison to the tens of thousands of dollars that you could quickly rack up in a foreign hospital for example, if you have a health emergency requiring care and/or hospitalization.
Now that you know how to have a fabulous cruise, are you ready to set sail? Let’s chat about the perfect cruise vacation for you! Bon Voyage!
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