Crowds: The cruise ships today have made great strides in creating spaces where people can spread out and have space. You feel alone when you walk out to sea in the evening and the sky and sea are vast, and you are small! Recently I was surprised how a newer ship that accomodates 5600 passengers felt more spacious than a smaller one that held 3,000 passengers. They've made great strides in spacing, seating and optional dining venues.
Boredom: What entertains a person is subjective. How port intensive your cruise is will effect how busy you are. If you want to lay out in the sun and drink for a week versus do a day trip at every port. Onboard there are things like wine tastings, trivia, scavenger hunts, gambling lessons and dance lessons. We enjoy drink making classes on some cruise lines. Probably the most fun thing we did on a cruise was a pub crawl & Silent disco/dance party. Gone are the days of hitting golf balls off the back of the ship (We're sorry dolphins!) and sumo wrestling. The belly flop contest is still one of the favored events!Belly Flop Contest on Allure of the Seas
Sea Sickness: This is a real thing. I have an Aunt that loved being at sea, but the motion made her curl up in a ball on the bottom of a boat. They tried many things, including scopalamine patch wees (not a bad idea to have on hand), but it wasn't until she tried Sea Bands that she was able to cruise. She's just taken her third cruise & loves cruising. Keys to keeping from getting seasick is staying well hydrated (don't rush to drink that first night at sea). Keeping your stomach full and hopefully avoiding getting a cold/earache. Mostly just enjoy the rock and sway. I always feel like I'm a baby being rocked in the sea's arms and the more the motion, the happier I am. Now the most fun I've ever had being rocked was this video where we were crossing the Tazzie (from New Zealand to Australia) faster than usual because we had a medical emergency onboard. So this is the most I've rocked & LOVED it. Try to ignore Jim's pocket sticking out of his trunks! Most seas do NOT move like this, so enjoy something you'll probably never see.
First things first: The first thing that you need to do is pick an itinerary. Where do you want to go? How are you getting there? What is your budget? Do you need a passport? Apply for a Passport
Plan on the passport process taking possibly up to 6 months. I would settle those questions about 9 months in advance, as you'll need to obtain a passport.
Decide if you want to book directly through the cruise line and arrange your own transport or get a travel agent. The upside to booking yourself is that you have control over the booking. Cruiselines won't talk to you once you have an agent. The upside with an agent is they can get bigger rooms/better perks at the same price. You can book the cruise yourself and transfer the booking to an agent as well.
Then plan your arrival & departure days. I STRONGLY recommend going in a day early, especially if it's during fall or winter. Are you changing planes in Atlanta or LAX? Do you really want to run through and airport stressed out about missing the ship? Why not start your vacation a day early & relax? We just got back from 2 days pre and 1 day post in Puerto Rico and loved it!
Boarding the ship: Once you get to the pier (I recommend between 12-1pm), you'll have a few security checks. Depending on the port and cruiseline. Usually you need to have your luggage scanned then your body/carryon. Don't bring on any alcohol- it's just easier. No food is needed either. You'll go to a cruise agent where you'll give them your paperwork, method of payment for onboard expenses and get your security photo taken. They hand you a sea pass card.
Cruise Ship Photos: They are expensive, so if you get 1, get a package. We just love posing for them and never even looking at our pictures. Plan on photos when you board, formal night and everytime you get on and off the ship.
When you board you'll also be asked to buy drink/internet packages and book specialty restaurants. We love both. I don't like vacations following me home financially, so it feels great to board and have all of this taken care of & paid for! The average drink on a cruise ship is between $10- $12 so the package with internet at $55/day is reasonable if you like morning lattes, water for excursions, afternoon boat drink and wine with dinner. Usually there are 3 types of specialty restaurants: Italian, a Steak house and something unique- Asian, Mexican or quirky like Qsine. I'd recommend trying all of them. They really are much higher quality than what the dinig room offers. And while we're discussing the dining room- take advantage of their breakfast and especially their lunches on board. Lunches in the dinig room are my favorite meal. You can go to the top deck buffet, but it really is chaotic and not something I enjoy. A word of advice for the buffet.... everyone goes right, but the same food is on the left. Make sure you wash your hands when you enter, again before you eat and afterwards. And always go left to avoid more people!
Dining times: You can do early seating : 530-6pm, late seating 8-9pm or "my time " dining which is eating when you want but no consistent waitstaff. You may also miss out on the dancing if you are on a cruiseline, like Carnival, that does that.Carnival Dancing
On Board: Once you get onboard most likely your room will not be ready until after 2pm. So pack your evening outfit and swimsuit in your carryon and keep it with you. (We wear our swimsuits under our clothes when we board). Have lunch at the Windjammer and get a boat drink! Go to the pool.
Pools: There are a few pools onboard. The general pool where most hang out in the full sun, party music. The kiddie pool where there are slides and swim diapers and then the adult pool area. We head to the adult pool area called the Solarium. It's somewhat shaded and quieter music. Very relaxing for us. Most don't know about the Solarium day 1 so it's a good place to get a chair and relax.
Muster: Every ship is legally required to have a muster. This has to happen within 24 hours of the sailing. Usually for ships departing around 5-6pm the muster is between 4-6pm. You will be directed to your life boat station (Leave the life vest in the room) & told what to do in the rare event of an emergency. If everyone shows up on time with no alcohol, it goes much faster. Also Schat Harding is the name of the life boat maker, but in honor of Jim please stop make a constipation joke.........Bon Voyage!
On the TV show "The Love Boat" I used to get so excited when they showed a large goup of people at the pier waving the ship 'Bon Voyage' out to sea.
You can keep track of where you are while at sea on your television. Ask your cabin steward to take away the tiny table if you're not using it!
On larger ships they offer zip line,
rock wall climbing,
At your port: Try to pre-book all of your excursions. I try to avoid cruise ship based excursions and have had great success. I find the Ports of call section on cruise critic.
Ports of Call Boards
From there I read about other's experiences and begin my research. It's usually a third of the people and half of the price. Recently on a snorkel trip in St. Martin we had a group of 6 and got to visit 3 snorkel spots and 2 beaches. The cruise ship with 20-30 people only made 1 stop and beach. 10 minutes each way for everyone to get in and out of the water to boot. Better yet, find people sailing on your ship on cruise critic (it's called a 'roll call') and pre-plan excursions with them!Cruise Critic Roll Call
I can't tell you how much money this has saved us! Always plan on being back 1 hour before "all aboard" time. That way you don't miss the running of the drunks. Last cruise we watched them breaking down the gangway
Departure (AKA "Sad Sunday") You can keep track of your expenses all week on your TV, so no surprises when you get the bill, right?
You'll be seated in a theater and wait for them to call your number. Everyone needs to be out of their state room by 0800! Sitting there for possibly upwards of 2+ hours is the worst part of cruising! That is the beauty of an extra day post cruise in a port.
