5 Tips for First Time Cruisers

When you’re one of the first time cruisers, things start off easy.  You book a cruise and get on the boat.  How hard can it be?

Then you start planning your excursions.  First time cruisers find out that while dinners at the buffet are free, dinners in the specialty restaurants are not.  You can buy a drink package, but you aren’t sure you can drink that much.  The different cruise line policies vary, and suddenly you’re not sure what your friends told you about their cruise even remotely applies to yours, and you have this sinking feeling that you may end up paying too much, or missing out.

Never fear.  We’re cruise experts at Go Port, and we’ve created a handy list of tips to get first time cruisers started.

1: Pick the Right Line

Cruises are not all the same.  What you can expect varies from line to line and from ship to ship within the line. Norwegian Cruise Lines, for instance, prides itself on “freestyle cruising”, an arrangement where you pick your dining times, and do nearly everything else on an as you please basis.  Disney specializes in family cruising with larger staterooms that can accommodate parents and small kids with some privacy, ships with beautiful classic styles, and meet-and-greets with Disney Characters.  Royal Caribbean has built the largest and most modern ships in the world, yet engineering a shipboard waterslide seems to be beyond them.  Carnival has a reputation as party barges—one that they’re trying to change—and the world’s biggest fleet, and on the whole are the most budget friendly cruise line.

Which may make Carnival a good place to start for inexperienced cruisers.

While families may be attracted by Disney’s beautiful ships, they may be put off by their prices.  Instead they may want to consider Royal Caribbean which may lack waterslides, but has DreamWorks characters and activities aboard.  On the other end of the spectrum, solo cruisers get charged extra by most lines, but Norwegian has created special studio rooms and a shared lounge for the lonely hearts club.

2: The Right Itinerary

Knowing where you’re going is just as important as who you trust to take you there.  Despite sharing sandy beaches and the same line in the Beach Boy’s song Kokomo the Bahamas and Bermuda are very different islands.  How long you are at sea matters too.  Shorter cruises tend to attract a more rambunctious crowd.  It’s great if you’re looking for a party.  Considerably less so if you’ve brought small children with you.  Families, and the more reserved, are likely better served by cruises with longer 7 to 8 day itineraries.

There are also a variety of sites to see and activities to experience all across the Caribbean.  Advertising campaigns for the Cruise Lines always show the beach, swimming and snorkeling, and usually finish with an adventure shot of the zip line, or rope course.  There’s history and culture to experience as well.  The Bahamas and Bermuda are both home to fortresses and artifacts from the colonial era, and cruises that swing by Cozumel usually run excursions to local Mayan ruins.  With so many ships and cruise lines sailing from Port Canaveral on short voyages to nearby islands like the Bahamas and Bermuda, or long ones to the Eastern and Western Caribbean you have your choice of destinations to build your perfect cruise vacation.

3: Book the Right Cabin

Vacations, unfortunately, are a balance between what we’d like to do and what we can afford.  Cruise vacations have to strike the same balance.  Many first time cruisers think of a balcony as the default accommodation aboard a cruise ship.  In truth there are an equal number of interior and exterior staterooms aboard most ships, the former of which lack a window entirely.  If you’re the sort that goes 90 miles-a-minute without stopping and views a stateroom only as a place to sleep, then a balcony is probably a waste of money for you.

If you’re the sort of cruiser that likes to spend at least some of your vacation reading in the sun, then a balcony is a must.  It’s a lot more tranquil than a chair on the Lido Deck.  The balconies on the back of the ship are usually larger than those on the side, and they’re the ones that sell first because they’re the most sheltered from the headwind generated by sailing at 20 knots.

4: Plan Your Excursions in Advance

The common habit of first time cruisers arriving in port for the first time is to sleep in.  Have a late breakfast, then mosey over to the front desk to see what excursions are available, only to find out there is nothing left, or that what is left isn’t appealing and overpriced.  Veteran cruisers know that you need to plan ahead to, and now so do you.

Odds are if you look online there are a variety of companies offering excursions.  Often they go to the same places as the excursions endorsed by the cruise lines for a price that is far lower.  With the exception of certain Royal Caribbean ships, you aren’t going to be able to look online while you cruise, but if you make contact and plan ahead not only will you get the excursions you want, you’ll save money.

5: Plan to Arrive a Day Early

Having taken the time to research the cruise lines, their ships, the itineraries they sail, and having booked the perfect staterooms and excursions—all of which is nonrefundable—you don’t want to miss the boat.  In our on-demand world it is easy to plan things too tightly.  We forget that things like flight delays happen.  If you’re flying any distance to get to your Port Canaveral cruise, then the weather in Houston, Atlanta, or Chicago could leave you stranded at the pier looking at an empty berth.  Leaving you to decide whether or not you want to fly from island to island trying to catch it, or returning home.  Both of which will leave you paying the price for a last minute flight on top of the nonrefundable money you paid for your cruise.

Instead of cutting it close why not book a Go Port hotel package that takes care of your accommodation needs and transportation to Port Canaveral?  Not only does it remove the risk of you missing your cruise, it starts your vacation a day early.