Valium-free Cruising: 25 Tips

While cruising is a joy, the most relaxing carefree vacation possible, you’ll still want to check out 25 cruise tips for saving wear and tear on body and soul to avoid potentially irritating scenarious like arriving with wrinkled clothing, waiting in long lines at the pier and cutting onboard costs.  And, because air travel is so unpredictable, several tips are especially important and noted as a NEW RULE

1.  To arrive with wrinkle-free clothing for dressy nights, put each outfit in a plastic dry cleaner’s bag and lay in suitcase. I put items on hangars so they go directly from bag to closet.

2.  You’ll encounter the longest, slowest lines on the pier the closer you arrive to start of embarkation.   I suggest arriving at the pier an hour or so later.  For example, if boarding is scheduled between noon and 4:00 p.m. (very common) lines will be shorter after 1:00 p.m.

3.  When flying to meet a ship sailing from a port that is more than a ten minute ride from the airport, buy an airport transfer from the cruise line through your travel agent.  Saves time, money and aggravation.

4. Never cruise without buying insurance from your travel agent.   I’ve been told by knowledgeable insiders that Travel Access and Travel Guard are more likely to reimburse justified expenses than the cruise lines’ own insurance company.

5.  I never board an airplane without ear plugs or an iPod.  Crying babies drive me nuts!

6. If you’re sailing from New York’s Manhattan or Brooklyn pier, take Amtrak to avoid driving.  Not only is gas prohibitively expensive but it costs $30 per day to park a car in the Manhattan port parking lot.

7.  Take a bunch of singles for tipping all the people who have earned a gratuity along the way.

8.  When flying to meet the ship, don’t pack any items in your suitcase you can’t stand to loose forever.  These include documents, medication, jewelry, eye glasses, electronics gear.

9.  I consider a carry-on bag with wheels necessary because of all the stuff I have to haul because my suitcase may not arrive outside my cabin door for three or four hours.  In addition to the items cited in the above tip, add a change of clothes and shoes plus toiletries.

10.  I don’t believe in purchasing items for a cruise that won’t be used again.   If formal nights are scheduled on your cruise women can save a bundle by taking a black skirt or pants plus blouses or tunics.  Then accessorize, dress them up with scarves or sparkly jewelry.

11. When planning your own shore excursions, take the name and phone number of the cruise line’s local port agent, which is listed in the daily program delivered to your stateroom.   If a problem or delay occurs, it’s an important contact number to have.

12.  The moment you board the ship plan to run to the spa to book treatments, the VCR library (the best go first) and make reservations in an alternative restaurant.

13. Is it me or have cruise lines reduced staff on the pier, resulting in extra long waiting time to process documents and board the ship?   Take the torture out of waiting by having an Ipod, trashy book or magazine to read while standing in line.

14.  If you plan on buying a cruise line T-shirt in the ship’s boutique, wait until the last day when stacks of them are on sale.

15.  The key to cutting onboard costs such liquor, spa treatments, boutique purchases and shore excursions is to plan by pre-cruise planning.  Once I board the ship I automatically drift in cruise la-la land and become incapable of making an adult decision.  However, if I arrive knowing I plan to cut back on spa treatments it’s fairly simple. 

16. No, you can’t bring bottles of any alcoholaboard ship.  But you may be interested in reading what other cruisers do to bypass this rule at ShipCritic Blog.

17.  You can determine the age of passengers likely to sail on a ship by checking the duration of the voyage.  Two-to-five-day cruises carry the youngest passengers, on one-week voyages there will be a predominance of passengers aged 25 to 60 and on cruises over a week, most passengers are retired.

18.  To save money aboard ship, decide your cruise will be alcohol free.  If you have a problem doing that, check out “Friends of Bill W” meetings scheduled daily aboard the ship.

19.  Nearly every cruise line offers pre-cruise shore excursions on Internet and I strongly recommend taking care of this detail before departure to avoid waiting in line aboard the ship.

20.  A night light comes in handy because black-out drapes mean the cabin will be pitch dark. It helps to avoid crashing into furniture when trying to reach the bathroom during the night.

21.  NEW RULE! Sometimes cruise lines offer lower-priced airfare to entice you to cruise (a good deal).  However, be sure to double check the air rate yourself.  If you’re booking far out, it may be better to purchase your own air — especially with cruise lines who won’t guarantee the air rate until the final payment is made.

22.  Before booking a cruise that will require you to purchase an airline ticket, make sure seats are available to and from the ship’s home port.

23.  Never, never, never select one ship over another based on price alone, especially when food and service, children’s facilities or the itinerary is important.

24.  If you contact a travel agent to book a specific cruise line and the agent tries to steer you to another cruise company instead, I suggest finding a new agent.

25. Royal Caribbean, Carnival and Norwegian Cruise Line carry the most families with children.  While there are few kid-free cruises today, especially during school vacation period, you’ll find fewer children on Princess, Holland America and Celebrity if that’s what you’re seeking.

Copyright Anne Campbell, 2009.  All rights reserved.