Going on my first cruise was a wonderful experience. It was my first time out of the country, first cruise, and my first mother-daughter trip. We had an absolute blast and got to see so many things we wouldn’t have been able to on a different type of trip. However, there are some things we learned along the way that I wish I’d known from the start. Here are some tips for your first cruise!
Don’t forget the aloe
Bringing sunscreen is kind of a given but we completely forgot the aloe! I definitely had strong enough burns that we needed to buy it and it was around $15 on (and off) the ship. Yikes.
Buy only one pop (soda) cup and share
Many cruise lines will offer packages to buy a reusable soda cup that you can refill around the ship. We only bought one and shared between the three of us. We never would’ve used it to the fullest individually and this saved a ton of money!
Eat at the main restaurant
There will be a buffet and a main restaurant that the ship will offer. We avoided the main restaurant for most of the time because we thought that it was super selective and you had to dress up every time. While we had nice clothing along we were under the impression that it meant formal clothing and only went one night, on one of the last nights! Then we realized that many people were there in far less formal clothing than we had and the food was much better, so we went for the remainder of the time unless we were on a time crunch.
Try out those free shows
The cruise will have SO many activities to do every day and as tired as you’ll be, I highly suggest going out there and doing them. I went to watch a musical and it was actually pretty good. I found that the mystery dinner that we paid for was not as great of quality as the free show was, funny enough.
Be ready to go before you port
People will be lining up to get off the ship even before they open the doors and you should too! At least be ready when they finally give the ship the green light because you’ll want to make the most of your time off ship – it flies by!
Start heading back at least an hour before
Getting back to the ship, unless you’re taking a cab, will take way longer than you’d imagine. This is not the place to take the chance – if you miss this port, you’ll have to try to find a flight to catch the next destination because they don’t wait!
Don’t pay for a cab
Unless you have the money or there’s no other option, walk out around the port first. A lot of the time you can walk, enjoy the view and save yourself the money!
Xo,
Gina
PS: Got any tips from your first cruise? Leave them in the comments below!
© Gina Johnson Spoden 2019
