10 Things I Learned on My First Cruise
If you have never been on a cruise before, you may have some reservations. I know I did! I did NOT like the idea of being out in the middle of the ocean unable to see land. After hearing from friends and others, who have cruised before, how much fun they had and how it was one of their favorite ways to travel, I finally decided to try it. Spoiler alert! Cruising is now my favorite way to travel and eventually led to me becoming a travel advisor to share my love of traveling with you. In this post, I’ll cover what I learned from my first cruise and hopefully this will help you as well. Maybe after reading this you too will be ready to take your first cruise.
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I’m sure there are more than 10 things I learned and if you’ve cruised before, you may have a different 10 and that’s OK. This is designed to give you some insight and minimize any fears you may have around the idea of cruising.
1. How friendly the crew is: the crew work exceptionally hard and do it with a smile. No matter how many times we saw our cabin room keepers, they were always happy to see us and hear about our day. I feel the crew’s energy and excitement is at a whole new level now with the return to cruising. They are so happy to serve us and be back working again.
2. Specialty dining is worth the extra money: you still get high quality food in the main dining areas; however, specialty dining takes it one step further. With specialty dining, you have themed restaurants that focus on a certain genre of food, or a dining experience you won’t have in the main dining areas.
For instance, the main dining area may offer an Italian dish or two, but if there’s a specialty dining Italian Restaurant then you’ll have a menu dedicated to that style of food and likely more gourmet options.
Other specialty dining styles may include: Asian, steakhouse, sports bar, or even experiences like having the food prepared right in front of you. Specialty dining gives you that feeling of luxury.
3. CocoCay surpassed all expectations: this destination is only available on Royal Caribbean as it’s their private island; however, I feel it’s still worth mentioning in case you’ve heard of it and have been wondering if it’s worth all the hype. YES, yes it is!
Royal Caribbean has the best private island experience in the Caribbean, in my and many others’ opinion. The island is laid out well with what feels like endless activities without feeling like everything is on top of each other. If you want to relax away from kids, you can do that. If you’re traveling with a small group, they have full-service cabanas to rent that include a mini slide into the water. They even have complimentary shuttles to take you around so you don’t have to walk everywhere.
4. More food variety than I imagined: like most of us, food is very important to me; especially, when traveling. I consider myself a foodie and love to try new, local dishes when visiting different areas.
The food offered on cruise ships is spectacular! Even the buffets change daily, unlike when staying at an all-inclusive resort where you tend to see the same foods. I learned ships, while at port, get fresh local foods to serve their guests. This is wonderful in many ways. It not only supports local communities, but also gives us guests a taste of the local fare. It’s a great way to try new foods you might otherwise pass on. For instance if you order something and don’t like it, no problem, you can order something else without paying extra.
Looking for international food options? They have that too such as Indian, Italian and Asian. Plus, they work with those of us with food allergies or preferences like kosher, vegetarian and gluten free.
5. Sea days are welcomed: anyone who knows me, knows I’m a busy body. I get bored easily and like to always be in motion. Trips are no different. I want to do, see and eat as much as I can. However, having a day or two at sea is actually quite fabulous. This way you can relax after excursions and take advantage of all the activities onboard your ship. I’ll touch on this next but it’s also really nice to relax on your balcony.
6. Balcony Rooms are amazing: even if you don’t spend much time in your room, I feel a balcony is a must have to give you a little extra space and make the room feel larger. Standard rooms, though well laid out, are small, so having that extension on your room helps it feel more spacious.
As mentioned before, they are so nice to enjoy on sea days. You can read a book, journal, or watch the serene blue water. You never know what you might see jump out of the water. Another option is ordering room service and enjoying your meal alfresco. You also have a private way to watch a sunrise or sunset.
7. Drink packages are not necessary: this one depends on a few factors: itinerary, price and who you are cruising with. If your cruise itinerary doesn’t have sea days, you’ll likely be drinking less onboard and may not drink enough to make it worthwhile. Each cruise line offers different packages, and they all have different rules, so understand what’s included to figure out if it’s cost effective for you.
Lastly, what I’ll say about drink packages is who you cruise with may determine if you get a drink package or not. If you’re traveling with small children, you may drink less vs if you travel with a group of friends. Sometimes if one person wants a drink package and the other in the room does not, the cruise line may require both to purchase a package. Again, know the rules and do the math to see if it’s worth it for you. I talked about drink packages more in depth in another post and I’ll link that here if you’d like to learn more about drink packages.
8. Resist FOMO by the number of activities offered on the ship: most likely your first cruise will be on a larger ship. These ships are massive and offer what feels like endless activities. Don’t burn yourself out on trying to do it all. Instead, focus on what you really want to do/try and if you don’t get it all done – great! Now you have a reason to take another cruise. Ships are designed by class and ships within the same class will have a similar design and therefore offer similar activities.
9. Cruise ships are cold inside: this one really surprised me. My first cruise, over 15 years ago, was the eastern Caribbean. I thought, I’m going where it’s always warm, I don’t need warm clothes. WRONG!
If you’re like me and get cold easily, pack a couple cardigans or light jackets to wear when inside the ship. If you travel someplace hot, the temperature difference will feel quite extreme. I’ve learned for these types of trips to pack summer clothes to wear during the day and spring/fall clothes for at night when on the ship. Every cruise ship I have been on, I’ve had the same experience.
10. How much walking one does every day: as mentioned previously, ships can be quite large and by nature require you to walk more. Add your excursions to that and it adds up quick. I mention this so you can be mindful of what shoes to pack.
Think about what footwear you’ll need for your excursions - likely sneakers and/or sandals. At night if you choose to dress nice for the evening, you’ll want a comfortable dress shoe.
If your ship has formal nights, you can bypass this if you want to and eat in the buffet style restaurants. This tip is for those who wish to pack super lite and not bring dress clothes or shoes.
This concludes my top 10 list from my first cruise. Thank you so much for taking the time to read this post. I would love to hear from you. Drop a comment below to let us know what you learned from your first cruise. OR if you’ve never been, tell us what you look forward to when you decide to try one.
Bianca Ramos – Travel Advisor
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