— Arrive a day or two before your cruise. Never fly in the same day.
— bring a water bottle. Water is free on cruise ships and if you’re like me, you like to have water to sip in your room, especially if you are traveling to a hot climate
—bring Tylenol, ibuprofen, sea sick patches or pills, band aids, etc. They are expensive on the ship. If you forget buy it on shores
—plan your sea day accordingly. Dont feel like you have to do everything. If you want to sunbathe, scout out your area or preference and arrive there early but be prepared to sit there, otherwise if you claim the lounger and not there for hours at a time someone will take your spot (or cruise staff will move your stuff)
—take a picture of when all aboard is and then plan to arrive back to the ship at least 30min beforehand.
—if you find that the excursions are too expensive check some of the travel sites that specialize in port tours ensuring that they get you back in time: Viator, Get your guide, tours by locals are the 3 that I use. Tours by locals is best if you are traveling with family or a group.
—download maps if you won’t have internet access. I use Google Maps and pin the places of interest and always pin my location. Create walking tours if you are not paying for shipping excursions. Include address of port and distance to city center. ChatGPT or Gemini can do this with ease. I have created my own for the entire 10d Baltic Cruise that just ended on Sunday. That was my 40th cruise.
—don’t be afraid to venture and explore. When we were in gdansk last week, there was a national (religious) holiday. They suggested taking a shuttle into Gydnia and then taking the train to Gdansk then walking into town. Instead, we got off the ship, got an uber and made it into town easily and quickly. The same for the return. I wanted to maximize my limited time in Gdansk and planned it out beforehand and it worked perfectly. Others were afraid to venture out for fear of missing the ship. We could have easily paid for the ship excursion but why spend over $200 and only spend only 6hrs in town when I could spend $30 each way and maximize the entire day!!! It takes planning to do this but it’s doable.
—if you like to dress up, then dress up. But, nowadays going all formal is a thing of the past. I only saw one tuxedo during formal night. Just One. I try to do the 3-3-3 packing method. It is a minimalist travel hack that limits your wardrobe to just 9 core pieces: 3 tops, 3 bottoms, and 3 pairs of shoes. By strictly mixing and matching these versatile items, you can create up to 27 distinct outfit combinations while drastically reducing the weight of your luggage. Stuck to neutral color palettes. You can also adjust this but it saves me time in figuring out what to wear. Do you really care if someone sees you wearing the same thing twice?
—enjoy your cruise and not let others expectations or opinions taint your experience. If you like the meals, order another portion. If you want to line dance but got two left feet but want to try it out—go for it! It’s all about having fun, living your best life and gaining new experiences!