TIPS for Cruising the High Seas

 My wife and I have been on TWELVE (12) ocean cruises of 7 days or longer since 2015.

We have been on the following Cruise Lines:

• Carnival
• Celebrity
• Norwegian
• Royal Caribbean

Our list of cruises:

• East-West-South Caribbean
• Mediterranean Sea
• Alaska
• Hawaiian Islands
• Bermuda

Debarkation Ports:

• Baltimore
• Ft. Lauderdale
• Maimi
• Vancouver, Canada

OUR TIPS:

1. Try to get on board as early as possible
2. Have a day bag in case your luggage arrives late
3. Confirm your restaurant reservations before lunch
4. Familiarize yourself with the ship before ship leaves port

What to bring with you:

1. 2-3 pairs of shoes (flip flops for pool, sandals for dinner, tennis shoes for visiting ports
2. Sunglasses and hat
3. bug spray 
4. suntan lotion & ChapStick
5. sea sickness pills
6. bring your passport and driver's license for ID.
7. buy lanyard to carry your sea pass card.
8. wash your hands often.
9. bring large empty water bottle for port visits and fill up in cafeteria.
10. most places will take any credit card but there are transaction fees and exchange rates
11. bring packages of handwipes for port visits
12. use your phone as an alarm clock if you have an inside cabin without a porthole.
13. wear flip flops in shower
14. keep valuables in safe
15. bring zip lock bag for your phones.
16. your medications (we use an AM/PM pill case and put it inside a sock to keep it from opening)
17. Dress pants/knit shirt or slacks/blouse for dinner
18. One bathing suit - difficult for most ladies
19. underwear for each day
20. 2 pairs of shorts only along with 3 tops for each pair
21. magnetic hangers
22. phone charger - can use your phone in ports but not on ship - make sure your provided knows where you are going and take out text messages to contact home if you need to - cheaper than making phone calls.
23. use phones as camera and leave camera at home, heavy and bulky
24. bring light weight back pack or tote for excursions
25. at each port you are allowed to come back on ship with 1 liter soft drink per person
26. bring cash and a fanny pouch to carry it in to prevent theft
27. bring small power strips.  we found a square one that had 4 plug ins and brought two
28. we did not bring dress clothes for dinner as they ships never enforced the rule...  they are claiming that they are going to
29. bring small umbrella and plastic poncho
30. bring two containers, one for coffee and one for juices...  beverages in cafeteria are free all day long
31. bring clamps to hold towels to chair on sea day...  get up early to get chair you want but you cannot save for very long...  this may require you eating meals one at a time while the other one saves the chairs.
32. Beverage packages are expensive so the choice is yours
33. Rooms are small so you don't want to bring large suitcases with all sorts of clothes and have them take up space
34. we always got inside rooms on lower levels so we could spend more money on excursions...  but when passengers were on ships that were locked down due to covid, they were forced to stay in those inside rooms...  something to think about.
35. oftentimes, you can arrange your own excursion with taxis that are half price of what the excursion charges but you need to be well prepared with what you want to see.
36. we always went to the early dinner so we could see whatever entertainment there was after dinner.
37. attend the free sessions that tell you about what to see at each port.
38. be prepared to gain 5-10 pounds or follow the three to four bite rule.  Just take 3-4 bites of everything you want to eat.
39. we would put fruit and cereal boxes in the backpack for snacks when we visited the ports.
40. Set a gambling limit each day and walk away.  We used $20.