My name's Emma and I'm a blogger at CruisingsNotJustForOldPeople.co.uk
My name's Danielle, but I'm best known to my readers as Cruise Miss.
I'm Dave Monk, otherwise known as Ship Monk. My name is Flavia Gray and my
website is
ShipsAndChampagne.com and I'm Gary Bembridge of Tips For Travellers.
So let's go in hear the best cruise tips that we have for you.
I like to pack things like dresses and blouses on the hanger so that when I get
on board all I have to do is open the case,
get all the hangers together, lift them out and put them straight in the wardrobe
with the clothes already attached to them. And ladies let's face it, even if we took
every single hanger out of our wardrobe we would still be looking for more.
When I get on board, one of the things I find really challenging when I'm on a
cruise is keeping the cabin tidy - especially if there's more than two of
you sharing a room. So I found the solution to this is to buy one of these
over the door shoe hanging racks, and they have 24 pockets in them. You can put
practically anything in them from sunglasses, sun cream, medicines. These
are really easy to get on eBay, you can just order them online. And another
little tip is I pre-packed the pockets at home and then I rolled it up
and put it in the suitcase. So when I arrived in the ship all I had to do is
unroll it and hang it up. So one thing that I recommend, and I always do,
is take my own tooth repair kit. So while ships have medical centers on
board, they do not have dentists on board. So if you have a problem with your tooth,
you know filling falls out or a tooth cracks or something, if you have one of
those little tooth repair kits - you can buy them from a drugstore or from a
pharmacy - they're great for patching up little problems, solving problems. It can
either tide you over until you get to the next port where there is an emergency
dentist that you can try and see, or it can often just tide you over until you
get back home and see your own dentist. If, like me, you travel with lots of
different pieces of technology: a laptop, mobile phone, camera, iPod and got hair dryers,
straighteners, things like that. It really does make sense to a pack a small extension
cable. I've been on cruise ships where they've had USB outlets in the cabin,
they've had English sockets, they've had European sockets - it's been marvellous as you
can plug everything in and don't need to worry about it.
However, I've also been on ships that have got one lonely plug socket and if
you're traveling with a friend who also has 10,000 different bits of equipment
it can become very tricky. It really does pay. Even if it's just an extra two
outlets, it's real gonna be worth it. I'm going to be
cruising on Independence of the Seas and if you're going on a ship like that,
there's a few things you're going to need to remember to take. For the
rock wall they require you to wear a pair of trainers. If you or your family are
looking to use the ice rink, then you need to make sure you pack a pair of
long trousers and a pair of socks. For those of you looking to use the
FlowRider, ladies please pack a swimsuit because a bikini will not stay on with
the force of the water. Also guys, have a pair of swim shorts with the drawstring,
do it up really tightly and you'll be sure not to lose them. If you like doing the
behind-the-scenes tour then going into the galley or visiting the bridge you
are required to wear a pair of shoes with closed toes.
No matter what cabin you've booked if you book an inside or balcony book a
guaranteed version of that cabin, and it will be cheaper than a cabin where
you've picked the specific cabin because you you sort of end up with the leftover
cabins. But if you don't mind being at the back of the ship or lower down, which
I don't at all as price is the main thing for me, I don't care where I am. A
guaranteed cabin can be assigned at any point up to your cruise. It could be a
week before, it could be a month before, it could be a day before, you will at
least get the category that you've paid for - and you could get an upgrade, which
would be fantastic! But worst case scenario you get what you paid for. So
that's not too bad a risk. Make sure you know what your cruise is
really going to cost you, and budget appropriately. Cruise Lines largely price
fares to get people on the ship, and once you're on the ship they want you to
spend as much money as possible. The things to really watch out for are
gratuities, secondly excursions. Wi-Fi is also very expensive, and also very
importantly is drinks. Most cruise lines do not include drinks. They can
mount up pretty significantly. The fifth thing that you should really watch out
for is specialty dining. More and more cruise ships have alternative dining
venues which they charge for above and beyond the buffet or room
service or main dining room. Don't assume that drinks packages are cheaper
than buying drinks as you go. Before you get a drinks package, work out how many
drinks you're likely to have a day - and see how much that's going to cost you
compared to the drinks package. Because sometimes it can be like you have to
have eight drinks a day to save money with the drinks package.
I just couldn't do! If you've got a port intensive cruise, it might not be as
worthwhile having a drink package as you're probably not going to drink as many
cocktails. So just have a look before you cruise. Always have travel insurance.
In recent years a lot of travel insurance providers have been catering
towards cruise passengers, and there are cruise specific policies available.
These can often include things like emergency formal wear, missed ports,
airline issues and cancelled shore excursions. If you need to see the onboard doctor, for
whatever reason, it can run incredibly expensive. It can cost anywhere between
£50 and £100 just for the consultation, before you even have any
tests and before you have any medications prescribed. It really does pay
to have a good policy, and it definitely pays to have a cruise specific policy.
Consider an inside cabin. Not just because they're cheapest, but you get the
best night's sleep in the entire world. It's so dark. You save quite a lot of
money by booking an inside cabin. It can sometimes be hundreds and I would prefer
to spend that on a beverage package or an excursion than a window or balcony
So at least consider an inside cabin.
Use your phone. Not always in the way that you normally would because the cost
of calls and Wi-Fi can be expensive. First, take a picture of your room
number. It can be very easy to forget where you are,
and it's not always on your card. Secondly when you get off the ship to go
on a shore excursion, take a picture of the back on board time because the one
thing you don't want to do is miss the boat! Don't always trust the time on your
phone because if you're on a ship you might go through a time zone and the ship
doesn't change its time but your phone does. So always make sure you're on ship time.
Thirdly, remember as well with phones to keep them away from your key card. This is
because the magnetic strip at the back can become de magnetised. There's nothing
worse than walking back to your room at one end of a big ship trying the key
card and it doesn't work. Keep your card in one place and your phone in another.
So one of the things that I like to do, also because I like to self explore more,
is use the hop-on hop-off buses in ports and cities where the cruise calls. Because
someone has worked out, and curated, the best places to go. They will have a route
which covers those most efficiently. They'll have a map showing you
where they are and also they will have commentary, so you'll get an
overview of the city, their history, what it's about and you'll get taken to all the
must-see places. A stop will normally be at or near where the ship calls at,
and if there isn't a regular stop there: they will often add in a specific stop
for when ships are in port. It's a good idea to book some things before the cruise like
shore excursions, spa treatments and restaurants. But don't go too mad -
remember a cruise is a holiday not a marathon! Leave yourself some free time.
It's a good idea as well to make a schedule before you go. That sounds a bit
organised, but at least you'll know where you're eating, what you're doing, where
you're going, what time the shore excursions are. Of course you'll get
reminders and the tickets on the ship, but it's always good to know
"what amI doing today?". Don't forget to leave
an outfit out the night before disembarkation. As you know you have to
leave your cases outside of your cabin the night before you leave the ship. And
nobody wants to see a naked passenger running down the gangway! Follow and
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