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You are here: Home / Travel Tips Around the World / 50 Best Cruise Hacks: Tips to Save Money, WiFi, Weight & Hassle in 2020

50 Best Cruise Hacks: Tips to Save Money, WiFi, Weight & Hassle in 2020

February 7, 2020 By John Widmer 129 Comments

Cruises can be costly, full of hassles and ridden with hidden expenses. But it doesn’t have to be this way.

During the past few years of traveling the world, we’ve now spent more than a half year as passengers on cruise ships. With all that time out at sea, we’ve learned so many great cruise hacks and cruise tips.

Having spent eight months on eighteen different cruise ships, across eleven different cruise lines, we’ve become expert cruisers. In the process, we’ve uncovered all the best cruise hacks to save money and avoid the many excess costs so often incurred while cruising.

We even pulled off the ultimate cruise hack by achieving what only seems impossible: an affordable world cruise. We used a series of budget travel tactics in combination with many of the cruise hacks laid out in this article to cruise entirely around the globe on a budget of $60 per day (more on how we accomplished that is revealed at the end of this post).

During all this time as cruise passengers, we’ve developed an arsenal of cruise hacks in addition to collecting many cruise tips that other savvy cruisers have passed on to us. From cruise wifi hacks to cruise packing hacks, we’re now happy to share these secrets of the sea with you!

Whether you’re about to embark on your first cruise or are a seasoned cruising veteran looking for a few new cruise tips, we hope these cruise hacks help you to save hassle and money on your next cruise. Or maybe even help you to save a few pounds too!

Man using wifi on laptop from a cruise ship balcony

Cruise Hacks: Table of Contents
πŸ–₯️ Booking Cruise Tips to Save

πŸ“±Cruise Hacks for Electronics

πŸ“Ά Cruise Wifi Hacks

🀒 Seasickness Cruise Tips

⚠️ Cruise Insurance Tip 

🍽️  Fun Food Hacks on a Cruise

πŸƒ Health & Weight Hacks for Cruising

🍹 How To Drink for Free & Cheap

🏝️ Top Cruise Shore Excursion Tips

πŸ’΅ Cruise Hacks to Get Cash

🚒 Cruise Hacks to Know Around the Ship

🧳 Cruise Packing Hacks & Checklist

 

Cruise Booking Hacks – Buy a Cruise for Less!

As we’re always looking for the best values around the world, one of the questions we receive most about cruising is when to book a cruise to get the lowest price possible. Like airfare prices, cruise prices tend to fluctuate greatly and there’s no surefire way to guess exactly how those cruise fares may change. But based on past booking patterns, it is possible to have a good idea of the direction that cruise prices may be trending.

Often booking a cruise very early is the best advice. In other instances, last-minute cruise deals are a way to achieve rock bottom cruise prices. Follow these tips when booking your next cruise and you’ll be sailing into an awesome deal.

1) Hack the Cruise Prices – Book Against the Grain

Always consider shoulder seasons and off-peak cruise times to secure the best cruise prices. Definitely avoid Spring Break sailings, if feasible. You’ll not only save money but will also save yourself sanity, as it helps to avoid a cruise full of unruly kids or drunk college-age partiers.

Similarly, it can be a wise call to avoid winter holiday sailings and peak summer sailings. A simple rule of thumb is to book cruises when school is in session, if possible.

Some great cruise bargains can often be found in Fall, soon after kids go back to school. During the early autumn time frame, weather tends to remain moderate in most cruise destinations throughout the world. Even with nice temperatures, prices tend to drop low during this time when a lull in vacation travel occur.

Late Spring brings another dip in cruise travel that tends to usher in attractive pricing, but not necessarily for Caribbean cruises. Instead look for some ultra low-priced deals on Mediterranean and Alaska cruises in May, before Labor Day.

Cruise hack – Where & when to find lowest cruise rates:

  • Caribbean cruises – Sept, Oct, and into early Nov. Also early Dec.
  • Alaska cruises – Before Memorial Day (May) and after Labor Day (Sept)
  • Mediterranean cruises – April and into early May. Late Sept and Oct.

Not only will rates drop during these off-peak time periods. Cruise lines will further offer enticing incentives to attract customers to come aboard during these less desirable times of year.

We recently used this strategy to snag an awesome two-week Eastern Caribbean cruise deal with Holland America during the early December period. They enticed us with prepaid gratuities, a $100 onboard credit, free beverage cards, and even reimbursement on travel expenses to get to the port. It all totaled about $700 of value. And that was on top of a highly-discounted off-season cruise deal listed at $500/pp. So it was almost like they were paying us to take this off-season cruise! We essentially cruise hacked our way into an almost-free two-week Caribbean cruise. And that’s what booking during the off-season is all about!

Holland America Koningsdam cruise docked in St Thomas with an iguana in front

 

2) Book Early but Monitor Prices

It can be a safe bet to book a cruise as early as possible to lock in a low rate. Booking a cruise more than a year or two in advance of the sailing often yields attractive prices. But when booking early, it’s extremely worthwhile to continue monitoring fares.

If the price of a cruise changes, then you can usually change your booking to take advantage of the new pricing. Unlike when booking airfare, most cruise fares are cancelable and changeable up until a month or so before the sailing date. So after booking a cruise, keep a watchful eye on those prices. If you find a more attractive offer to the cruise you’ve booked, call your booking agent immediately to have them either change your reservation or to cancel the old reservation and rebook the better deal.

But don’t only monitor cruise price itself. Although you may see prices are remaining the same, there could be attractive promotions making it worthwhile to alter a cruise reservation. It could make sense to rebook your cruise if you later notice valuable promos being offered. Cruise lines love to entice passengers with offers such as complimentary beverage packages, onboard credit, or free cruise wifi minutes.

Cruises usually offer free cancelation as long as you do so before the cancelation period, which varies by cruise line and itinerary. Typically the cancelation period for a cruise is a month or two before the sailing date, so you can usually cancel without penalty anytime before then to rebook the better deal you’ve found. (Note: there are certain early booking fares like Carnival’s Super Saver, that are non-refundable. So when booking, verify that your deposit is indeed refundable.) 

Be diligent to check the price often or consider paying for a service to alert you of price drops. Whenever we book a cruise, we simply bookmark the cruise listing and check it regularly for price changes. If you have a really good travel agent, that’s something they can keep an eye on for you.

There are also cruise fare monitoring services can alert you to a change in prices for a fee. But those services are unable to track and compare all the different promotions that may be on offer. Hence, tracking prices manually can be a be a worthwhile effort.

langkawi Malaysia from cruise ship

 

3) Or Book a Last-Minute Cruise Deal Under the Right Circumstances

If all of the following circumstances apply, you can usually find the best cruise deals ever by booking last-minute:

  1. You don’t have a strong preference as to a specific itinerary, cruise line, or ship
  2. You are considering a cruise not during a location’s peak cruise season
  3. You are comfortable booking a non-refundable cruise within a month or so from departure
  4. You live within driving distance of the departure port or within a cheap flight away

Getting last minute cruise deals can be tricky and a bit of a gamble. But that gamble often pays off with slashed prices on undersold itineraries. If you don’t have a strong preference on a particular ship and just want to go cruising at a very low price, booking last-minute can be a great cruise hack to accomplish that.

The timing of the cruise will help to increase your odds of securing an incredible cruise deal. These last-minute bargains aren’t available during the height of a cruising high season. For example, don’t dare wait to book and expect a last-minute deal on an Alaskan cruise during the middle of summer or a Caribbean cruise during the height of Spring Break. Prices will likely rise or sell-out closer to the sail date.

Instead, wait for last-minute rates during those unpopular times we mentioned earlier. We’ve seen weeklong last-minute Caribbean itineraries out of Florida in the Fall months for as low as $199! We’ve similarly seen last-minute Mediterranean and Alaska cruise deals drop below rates of $50/night during late Spring. So if you can hold out, try waiting about 45 days prior to the cruise in order to book a fantastic last-minute cruise bargain at a non-cancelable rate.

Cruise ship deck while docked in Alaska

 

4) Consider Repositioning Cruises for the Lowest Deals

Repositioning cruises occur when cruise lines relocate their ships from one region of the world to another, based on seasonal changes and travel trends. And we firmly believe they are the best travel value in the world.

Here’s an example of how repositioning cruises work. Once it starts to cool off in Europe in the Fall, many cruise lines tend to reposition their ships across the Atlantic, towards Florida ports for the winter high season serving the Caribbean. As a result, the cruise lines form a repositioning cruise across the Atlantic, often stopping at interesting far-flung islands and unusual ports along the way. It’s a full-service cruise and usually they’ll even bring on extra entertainment to account for an influx in sea days.

But transatlantic repositioning cruises are just one example. These seasonal one-way cruises operate all around the world. You can find them voyaging across the Pacific, between Asia & Europe, between the Americas, and even down to Africa. And they’re all exceptional deals!

Despite exotic ports and extra onboard activities, prices for repositioning cruises tend to be super low due to supply and demand. That’s because people tend to avoid repositioning cruises for practical reasons since they are lengthy voyages (usually 2 weeks or more), tend to have an abundance of sea days, are one-way (requiring return transport), and these unique cruises simply aren’t promoted.

So prices drop, sometimes dramatically. We once even scored a two-week repositioning cruise across the Atlantic for only $159. That breaks down to about $12/day for a luxury cruise across the Atlantic!

If intrigued, be sure to read our separate post about:

  • How to Find the Cheapest Repositioning Cruise Deals 2020

Pullmantur Monarch bow of ship

 

5) Why Use a Travel Agent or Third Party

With most things travel-related, we often advocate booking directly with the travel company to get the best price. Middlemen can take a cut and inflate travel prices. But this is absolutely NOT the case when booking a cruise. We always suggest booking with a third-party instead of the cruise line directly. In doing so, cruise agencies can frequently find perks, promotions, and occasionally even lower prices.

Sometimes 3rd party travel agencies buy a block of cabins that they resell. If the agencies feel the need to unload them, they can be aggressive with pricing and promotions that can beat what the cruise line is directly offering.

For example, we regularly book our cruises on CruiseDirect and score some great perks with them. Most of the deals we previously mentioned were booked with them. Usually, they have the lowest prices, which can be comparable across other agencies or booking directly with the cruise line. But they regularly throw in additional perks that we rarely see when booking directly with the cruise line.

On our last cruise, we simply got a $100 onboard credit that the cruise line and no other agencies were offering. Another revent cruise, we received an included drink package and wifi package. Whatever the case, these promos were only available through the third party and not offered directly with the cruise line, even though the price was the same.

Search CruiseDirect for Latest Deals & Promos.

Celebrity Millennium cruise ship docked

 

6) Book a “Guaranteed Stateroom”

We’re big proponents of booking what’s called a “guaranteed stateroom” to get the absolute lowest price on whichever cabin type you’re interested in (inside, outside, balcony, suite). With a “guaranteed” cabin, you are guaranteed a room within that particular type of stateroom range or higher. You simply do not get to choose the cabin’s exact location on the ship. The cabin location will be assigned to you prior to your cruise departure.

Booking a guaranteed cabin can perhaps be a slight risk. Naysayers will cite the potential of being placed in undesirable areas such as under a nightclub, galley, or in the ship’s bow. We always book “guaranteed” and have never been assigned one of those undesirable locations of a ship.

Quite the contrary, actually. It’s always been better! We once even booked a guaranteed inside cabin and ended up in an awesome balcony stateroom. We believe that you stand a much greater chance to be placed in one of the many great locations on the ship, rather than a bad one. And you could even score an elusive free balcony upgrade, as we did once when simply booking an interior guaranteed stateroom.

Cruise hack: A guaranteed stateroom on a cruise can sometimes even yield a great balcony upgrade that this one on the Norwegian Bliss

The one thing to keep in mind is that these guaranteed cabins always have the absolute lowest price for their category. So if you’re a price-sensitive cruiser like us, and simply looking for the best cruise deal, then booking a guaranteed cabin is the cruise hack to help accomplish that.

For more on how to get those upgrades, Read: 10 Secrets on How To Get a Free Balcony Upgrade on a Cruise Ship

 

Cruise Hacks for Electronics

In today’s digital age, there are many tech-savvy cruise hacks to stay abreast of before your sailing. These cruise hacks and tips will help you avoid drained batteries, make the most of cruise wifi, and keep you connected while out at sea.

7) Pack This Handy Device To Keep All Your Gadgets Charged

With only one or two electrical outlets in most cruise staterooms, this poses a problem to keep all those cameras, phones, tablets, and laptops charged. It can be very wise to pack a compact travel adapter in order to charge multiple devices and avoid drained batteries.

But power strips with surge protectors are actually banned from cruise ships, as they pose an electrical hazard. If you bring one, they will get confiscated from your luggage and returned at the end of a cruise.

Yet this special Cruise Power Strip solves that issue, as it is a power strip that was designed specifically to be compliant with all the major cruise lines. Power strips with built surge protectors or extension cords are what poses an issue. When such power strips are found in luggage by security, they get confiscated during the cruise. So this Ship-Approved Power Strip excludes extension cords and a surge protector to become a completely permissible devise to plug into the outlets of all the major cruise lines.

This cruise-approved power strip turns one outlet into three, plus two USB ports! So it gives the ability to charge five gadgets at once. We never cruise without a portable power adapter like this.

Check the 5-star Amazon reviews here.

Buy this Cruise-Approved Power Strip

 

8) Use the Shipboard App

Most cruise lines now have their own app you can use onboard the ship, complimentary. Simply connect your phone to the ship’s wifi network and you’ll be able to use this app without incurring any wifi charges.

These cruise apps are free to use for tasks such as checking your onboard account balance, browsing the day’s up-to-date activities, reading up on your next port, checking menus, accessing a ship map, or even making dinner reservations.

Be sure to download the app prior to your voyage so that you don’t incur wifi fees or roaming charges that you’ll otherwise get hit with if you wait to download the app while at sea.

Here’s a listing of the major cruise line’s app to download before you embark.

Cruise lineiPhoneAndroid
CarnivalCarnival HUBCarnival HUB
CelebrityCelebrity CruisesCelebrity Cruises
DisneyDisney Cruise Line NavigatorDisney Cruise Line Navigator
Holland AmericaHolland America Line NavigatorHolland America Line Navigator
NorwegianCruise NorwegianCruise Norwegian
Royal CaribbeanRoyal Caribbean InternationalRoyal Caribbean International

 

9) Ditch the Walkie-Talkies and Instead Chat with the App

It has been a long-used cruise tip to bring walkie-talkies like these onboard cruises to be able to communicate with your cruise mates during the voyage. It makes it easy to meet your friends or family members while going separate ways on these massive ships.

But you can now forgo using this dated technology and instead communicate using the cruise line’s app. This capability often comes with a fee, but that fee will likely cost far less than the price of a pair of walkie-talkies. And the messaging app will work better too.

So how much do these cruise messaging services cost? It can vary by ship and even by each individual cruise itinerary. But to give some indication of costs during a recent sailing, Norwegian’s app – Cruise Norwegian – offered messaging service for a one-time fee of $9.95. This allowed for voice calls and text, through the app, to fellow passengers during the entire cruise. It was a 13-day cruise, so that came out to less than a dollar per day. We find it to be a very fair price for this messaging service.

Norwegian cruise app allows you sot stay connected onboard with Norwegian iConcierge. Make calls and send texts to other mobile devices registered to your stateroom and to other passengers using the app. Make unlimited onboard calls and send unlimited onboard text messages for one flat rate for the entire voyage.

 

Cruise Wifi Hacks

Wifi can be extremely expensive onboard cruise ships and it is notoriously slow. We found rates as hight as $0.95 per minute and the least expensive package was $9.95 for 15 minutes of wifi. Eek! Wifi prices and speeds are improving into 2020, but they’re still a very costly add-on to any cruise vacation.

Unfortunately, there is no easy way to hack the cruise wifi network to get free wifi on a cruise. But there are easy ways to exploit cruise wifi, extend it, connect multiple devices to the same account, and even get a wee bit of free wifi on certain cruise lines.

So here are some tried and true cruise wifi hacks to minimize your cruise wifi expenses and maximize your time online during your cruise.

Laptop on a cruise balcony with screen reading "I need Wifi"

10) Always Buy Wifi Before You Embark on Your Cruise

You can find nominal savings on a wifi package if purchasing it before your cruise. Typically most cruise lines give a 10%-15% discount if you book a wifi package before you get on the ship. You can find these discounted wifi packages by logging in to your online account directly with the cruise line, before your embarkation day. It’s there where you browse the different wifi packages the cruise line offers for your specific itinerary.

Also, before booking a cruise, keep an eye out for promotions that may even include a free wifi package. Free wifi on cruises is becoming a more common promotion that cruise lines are offering to tempt you to book.

wifi computer station on a cruise

11) Get Free Push Notifications on Your Phone

Be sure to enable the wifi on your phone even if you don’t intend to purchase a wifi package. On some cruise lines’ wifi networks, push notifications and messaging apps been known to slip through for free! We have regularly experienced this cruise wifi hack firsthand on Celebrity and also on Royal Caribbean.

Without purchasing a wifi package, we were able to receive notifications to our phone when simply connecting to the ship’s wifi package while on airplane mode. When this occurs you may not be able to respond to any notifications, without an internet package. But it can still be a nice albeit tiny perk to be able to receive push notifications on your phone, free of charge.

Other Royal Caribbean cruisers have reported messaging apps, such as Google Hangouts, working in full function throughout their entire cruise, despite not purchasing a wifi package.

So put your phone on airplane mode, then enable your wifi to see if you may be able to potentially receive push notifications or even get free messaging on your phone during your cruise.

12) How to Get Free Wifi on Cruise Ships: Use 29 Seconds Per Session

Some cruise ships’ wifi will only deduct usage from your account if you’ve been logged onto the wifi for 30 seconds or more.

We first discovered this when logging on to Celebrity’s wifi for 29 seconds or less and noticed it didn’t deduct any minutes from our usage. So you can use the wifi for free if you’re able to keep your session under a half-minute! Just be careful to watch the time ticker and act quickly!

When using Holland America wifi, it also didn’t deduct any usage from our account when using it for less than a half-minute. Not all cruise lines use this practice though, as we discovered using Norwegian’s wifi for even a second deducts an entire minute. But this cruise wifi hack is definitely worth testing out on your next cruise to see if you can use 29 seconds of wifi for free.

While you admittedly can’t do much browsing in that very short amount of time, it is a great way to quickly pull in new emails or send out a prewritten email. Similarly, you can pull up a webpage within those 29 seconds, then log off and read the content after you’re logged out. This can be a great cruise wifi hack if you only need to occasionally check or send emails.

cruise wifi at sea

13) Use Wifi During Off-Peak Hours for Maximum Speed

If you did purchase a cruise wifi plan, use those minutes at times such as late at night or early in the morning. Or consider using them during peak meal times and during a popular show. You’ll find the speed to be blazing fast compared to other periods. These off-peak times may vary by ship and itinerary. Ask the Internet Desk Manager for the best times to log on.

πŸ’‘ Pro-tip to test wifi speed on a cruise: Use a cruise’s complementary sites to assess how quickly the free pages load.

For example, on Holland America, they provide complimentary access to nytimes.com. So we use the ship’s online portal to browse the news site for free. We’re doing so not to actually read the news, but rather to simply to gauge how quickly those NY Times pages are loading. When they load fast, we know this is a good time to actually log on to our paid wifi plan to get more efficient use of our limited wifi minutes on the cruise.

14) Get Your Minutes Refunded

If the Internet is painfully slow (as it can be), do inform the Internet Desk Manager of your troubles. He or she will almost always reinstate the minutes used during your sluggish wifi session(s), no questions asked.

Sometimes cruise ship’s wifi systems become overloaded or have outages, leaving passengers to squander those expensive wifi minutes they’ve paid for. If the Internet is really bad and you find yourself waiting five minutes for a page to load, it is unfair to be charged for that when wifi minutes on a cruise are so costly. If you do have a legitimate wifi problem on your cruise, don’t hesitate to visit the Internet Desk Manager to get it fixed and have those cruise wifi minutes refunded.

For example, during a transatlantic cruise on the Norwegian Bliss, I once logged in and pages didn’t load after several minutes. After trying many times, it unnecessarily burned through the precious small allotment of wifi minutes. When I addressed this with the Internet Desk Manager, he confirmed that there was a satellite outage. So he credited the lost wifi minutes from those sessions back to our account.

Such instances are usually only credited if you are proactive in requesting them, never automatically. So if you experience a session in which pages aren’t loading, be sure to speak up.

15) Use Free Wifi in Port and Find the Best Locations

Wifi on a cruise can be pricey, but you can always wait until you’re in port to connect for free. There’s almost always a place to connect to wifi right at the cruise terminal where you’re docked. However, those in-port terminals are often for a fee and can be expensive. Occasionally they’ll have free wifi, but such connections will be painfully slow since many passengers and crew will all be trying to log on at the same time, clogging the network.

Instead, walk a few blocks away from the cruise terminal to find free wifi with better speed. Go to a local cafe, a bar, or even a fast-food restaurant. Even some malls or town plazas will have free wifi.

Sometimes the port maps you can get from guest relations on the cruise will have such free wifi spots marked. If not, ask your favorite crew member where he/she goes to use the wifi. If you’re on a ship with a regular itinerary, crew members will know all the best places in port with free wifi and fast speed.

16) Use Phone’s Data on the Cruise to Access Internet When Near Land

computer search on cruise

Whenever in port or even near land, consider using the data plan on your mobile phone to connect to the Internet. Before you cruise, be sure to check your phone carrier’s international roaming coverage. Some carriers, such as T-mobile or Google Fi, provide free data and texting in over 170 countries. That’s exactly what we use and it has worked very well for us all over the world.

But using your phone data plan is not just limited to being in port. When we’re cruising through areas within a few miles of the coastline, it’s possible to connect phones to have Internet access through mobile data while on the cruise.

When on the cruise, take a look at the route map to note if you’ll be passing by any islands or coastline where you may have data coverage. For example, during a sea day on a recent Caribbean cruise, we noticed that we were passing within close proximately to a Bahamian island. So we strategically checked our phone’s data signal when the island was near. Turns out, we were indeed able to access the Internet for nearly an hour since Google Fi’s coverage covers the Bahamas.

In addition to always having data while in port, we often had data on our phone while cruising through the Panama Canal, in Alaska’s inside passage, cruising along the coastline of SE Asia, and even while cruising through the Suez Canal in Egypt. If you already have an international roaming plan, this is a great free way to access the Internet on a cruise. Whenever land is near, connect your phone to access the data network!

You can even tether your phone data to a laptop or other device while cruising near land. Just be sure that when you’re attempting to access land-based mobile data, that you do so outside on your balcony or on deck. We’ve found the cruise ship walls can sometimes block data signals to interior spaces of a cruise.

 

17) Cruise Hack to Connect Multiple Devices Using Only One Wifi Package

When purchasing a cruise wifi package, passengers are only permitted to connect one device at a time. So when there are two (or more) people in the same cabin, they cannot be logged in at the same time. Similarly, if you want to connect your mobile phone and your laptop at the same time, this cannot be done simultaneously. For either of these scenarios of connecting multiple devices, you would need to purchase multiple wifi packages on the cruise.

But there is a way that you can easily bridge the cruise’s wifi network to create your very own wifi network right from within your stateroom. Shh… this is a cruise wifi hack the cruise lines don’t want you to know about. Here’s how it works:

All you need to do is pack a wireless travel router, like this one. Once on the ship, set the device to “bridge mode.” Then it can be paired to the cruise wifi network to create a new mini wireless network right within your cruise stateroom. Essentially it acts as a wifi repeater, allowing you to connect all your devices using only one wifi package.

Doing this cruise wifi hack works particularly well if you have an unlimited wifi package during your cruise. Set up your own localized network in your cabin and just let it run during the entire length of your cruise. Then you can connect as many phones, tablets, and laptops as you’d like. All of those devices will remain connected whenever you’re in your stateroom.

It’s super easy to use and this device tends to be prices under $50. Meanwhile, if you were to purchase a second unlimited wifi package, it would cost hundreds of dollars! So a wireless travel router easily pays for itself and it can be used similarly in hotels that charge for wifi, per device. An added bonus is that this particular wireless router also functions as a backup battery that fits in your pocket. So it can serve a secondary function of keeping your mobile devices charged while ashore. This travel router has additional vacation uses too, such as allowing you to share photos & files between connected devices.

Check prices and reviews for the HooToo Wireless Router on Amazon.

 

Cruise Hacks to Avoid Getting Sick

If the motion of the ocean has you feeling ill, try some natural seasickness remedies. Seasickness medication, while usually effective, will often make you drowsy. So instead of spending your entire cruise in a Dramamine-induced coma, use these natural methods to improve your state of being and enjoy the ride!

While the well-known tactic of staring at the horizon can be effective, here are other ways to avoid seasickness on a cruise that you may not have known about.

Furthermore cruises are an environment where viruses, colds, flus, and other illnesses can easily spread. But we have one simple little trick to help thwart illness from ruining your cruise vacation.

18) The Best Stateroom Location to Avoid Motion Sickness

If you’re prone to seasickness, consider booking a lower stateroom, midship. You’ll find the motion is much more subdued on the lower, central areas of the ship.

To further help with sea sickness, keep your air-conditioner on iced-cold. Experts have suggested that cold air is known to help fight off motion sickness.

It’s worked for us! We once sailed through the remnants of a hurricane in 20-foot (6-meter) seas when crossing the Atlantic. Nearly everyone on the ship, including the crew, were plagued by seasickness. Yet we had a cool, lower midship cabin and felt just fine!

Holland America Volendam cruise crossing Pacific in ocean swells and waves

19) Go To these Unintuitive Spots on a Cruise if Feeling Queasy

Not in lower mid-ship stateroom? Then head to the casino. Yes, the casino!

On nearly every cruise ship, the casino is conveniently located in the lower mid-ship. This is the sweet spot on a cruise to avoid motion. Cruise lines don’t want their gamblers becoming ill.

Cruises also don’t want poker chips and dice sliding around. But they do want a central location to tempt people to stop in for a slot pull. So casinos are always central and tend to be low to. If feeling nauseous, go there. Or find a pleasant interior space near the ship’s casino.

slot machines in a casino on a cruise ship

Another unconventional place to retreat if you’re just feeling mildly queasy is the ship’s pool! Here you’ll get a double-whammy of help.

First, the pool water itself will feel refreshing and cool. Secondly, you’ll move with the water in the pool rather than with the ship, which can with the disagreement your inner ear is having that’s causing the sea-sickness in the first place!

Just don’t go to the pool if you’re ready to blow. Your fellow pool-goers certainly won’t appreciate that.

20) Natural Sea Sickness Remedies that Are Free on a Cruise

Green apples can be a natural seasickness remedy you can find aboard cruise ships

We recommend green apples and saltine crackers as natural seasickness remedies that are totally free on a cruise ship. All the crew members strongly advocate these tried-and-trusted natural remedies. You may even notice cruises more prominently offering green apples and saltines during any particularly rough days.

Also, try ginger pills or buy a can of ginger ale as a tried-and-true natural remedy.

Did you forget to pack medicine or didn’t expect to get seasick? All ships sell seasickness medication at the gift shops. Instead, simply ask Guest Services, the clinic, or even your stateroom attendant for some seasickness medication. They’ll provide it free of charge. Even though it’s sold in the cruise gift shops at outrageous prices, all cruises will actually provide some sort of seasickness medicine entirely gratis. Just ask.

We have received ginger pills on some lines. Other cruises, ships have provided Meclizine Hydrochloride (generic Bonine). 

We recommend bringing ginger pills on board with you to use as a natural remedy. They’re also super cheap online, so order a bottle on Amazon before you depart and there will be no need to approach the customer service desk with a green face.

free sea sickness medicine on cruise - Meclizine Hydrochloride

21) Tip to Avoid Catching a Virus while Cruising

While most cruise lines take very good cleanliness and sanitary measures to prevent the spread of illnesses (and increasingly so, these days), much of the responsibility remains on fellow passengers. Of course, you already know to wash your hands often with hot soapy water when cruising. But there’s another simple little trick that we always employ that’s helped us to never get sick during our many months on cruises.

The buffets are arguably one of the easiest places to spread germs on a cruise and hence the place to be most vigilant in prevention. At the entrance to buffets, cruises have hand sanitizing stations for passengers to clean their germ-ridden hands before reaching for the tongs. The problem is that hand sanitizer only lasts for a minute or two. So all the passengers who touch their hands to their face or cough, then return to the buffet for seconds, are infecting the entire buffet line.

Unfortunately you can’t rely on other passengers’ hygiene to keep the germs away.

So here’s the tip! Use that hand sanitizer a second time after you’ve touched all the potentially infected buffet tongs. Most passengers only sanitize before visiting the buffet, which protects other passengers from your germs. But almost no one sanitizes after, which protects YOU from other passengers’ germs. So protect yourself!

This double-sanitization technique may seem like an over-cautionary step to take. But it’s so important.

We’ve now been on three cruises where a virus spread and we were among the minority that never succumbed to illness. During our last cruise, there were so many passengers with a nasty cold, as coughing was rampant. Yet we were careful to always sanitize immediately after retrieving our food from the buffet and before eating. No sickness for us. Ever.

Bathroom sinks on cruise ship

 

The Trip Insurance Cruise Hack You Need to Know

22) Here’s Why to Always Book Travel Insurance with a Third-Party

When booking a cruise, most cruise lines or agencies will offer you something called “trip insurance” or “travel insurance.” It’s very important to have travel insurance on a cruise, but NEVER book travel insurance with the cruise line directly. The cruise hack is to book with a third party travel insurance agency instead.

First, why do you even need travel insurance for a cruise? There are endless reasons to protect yourself. But here’s just a sampling of why you need travel insurance: trip cancelation, medical coverage on a cruise, lost baggage, flight delays, etc.

  • If you get sick during the voyage and need treatment, you’ll be stuck with an extremely expensive medical bill when visiting the ship’s doctor. But travel insurance covers such exorbitant expenses, should they arise.
  • What if there’s an extreme health emergency, in which you’re in need of a medical evacuation? That’ll cost somewhere in the ballpark of $50,000-$100,000 (or more) for those without the proper travel insurance.
  • If your flight is delayed to your cruise port causing you to miss the ship, travel insurance would fly you to the ship’s first port or could cover the costs of the having to cancel your cruise.
  • If your luggage goes missing, travel insurance will reimburse you for new clothes and other essentials. (we’ve actually used this one and got to go on a shopping spree that netted $800 worth of new clothes!)
  • If you got sick before the cruise or something unfathomable like a death in the family prevents you from going, travel insurance would cover all or a portion of your otherwise non-refundable cancelation.

Why not book trip insurance with the cruise line: Policies from cruise lines often contain minimal coverage at inflated costs. And we’ve found it to be painstaking to track down specifics of what their coverage includes. Also, these policies often cover only the cruise itself. That means if you’re staying in the port city of embarkation before or after your cruise, you may not be covered during your pre- and post-cruise travels. Furthermore, your flights to the cruise port probably aren’t covered either unless you booked them as part of a package with the cruise. And if for some reason the cruise line financially defaults, the cruise line’s own insurance policy won’t be able to help you out at all. For all of these reasons, it is important to instead book a separate policy with a third party travel insurance company rather than with the cruise line itself.

Be careful when booking your cruise: Many cruise lines and online booking agencies will try to pull the deceptive tactic of automatically including trip insurance with your cruise package. When booking a cruise, be sure to specifically ask that they do not include travel insurance. If they do add this expense to your booking, insist that you’d like it removed.

Where to book travel insurance for a cruise: There are many third-party travel insurance companies and we’ve carefully scrutinized all the top ones, comparing the costs and coverage to uncover which ones have the best value. For travels that are less than a month in length and coverage specific to cruising, we’ve found the best value for the coverage offered to be with travel insurance provider Arch RoamRight Travel Insurance. Hence we personally use and recommend it for cruise travel. Policy costs will differ based upon the length of cruise and price paid, but you can expect to pay about $50 per person (maybe less) for a weeklong cruise. Simply enter your dates and costs to get a quick trip insurance pricing estimate. (Takes about 1 minute.) This small expense is well worth the peace of mind to protect yourself against unexpected travel mishaps that would potentially ruin a cruise vacation and cost thousands of dollars.

Helipad on bow of cruise ship

 

Food Cruise Hacks

With so much deliciousness on a cruise, it can often be a happy problem to navigate all of those delectable culinary treats. So here are a few cruise hacks to help you maximize your intake of all those tasty dishes!

23) Order Two Main Courses

two main courses at a cruise dinner: lobster on one plate, beef wellington on another

Can’t decide between the steak and the lobster? Get both!

Your waiter will gladly oblige with your request for two main courses if there are two options that both look enticing. This also applies to starters and desserts. Hope you’re hungry!

24) Request a Main Course for Your Appetizer

Despite wanting two mouthwatering main courses, you may not have the appetite to eat both. The solution: order one of the mains as an appetizer instead. Personally, we find that vegetarian main courses can make for particularly awesome starters.

Sometimes you can even request smaller appetizer-sized portions of main course dishes. Ask and you shall receive!

25) Eat Free Dessert in the Cruise’s Coffee Shop

Cruise hack: Eat free desserts in the coffee shop

The specialty coffee shops on board cruise ships are revenue centers where passengers can spend money on expensive cappuccinos and lattes. But what many cruise passengers don’t realize is that you can also find beautiful desserts at the ship’s coffee shops that are all complimentary.

Those wonderful cheesecakes, cookies, and pies won’t cost you a dime. No coffee purchase is required to indulge in them. So if dinner is running long and you need to make it to a show, skip dessert in the main dining room and instead enjoy an alternate sweet treat later at the coffee shop.

26) Get Free Room Service on a Cruise

room service on cruise: chicken skewers and salad

Room service is often associated with high fees in hotels. Yet unbeknownst to some passengers is that many cruises offer room service complimentary to guests.

As of 2020, Princess, Celebrity, Holland America, and Disney all still offer a nice room service menu that is free. After briefly disappearing in 2019, even Carnival has brought back free room service to passengers now in 2020. Throughout each of these cruise lines, some premium items (perhaps a steak) may have a small charge. But menu items like sandwiches, salads, burgers, pizza, etc are often available free of charge. Desserts too!

Personally, we like ordering a cheese plate to snack on while getting ready. Celebrity’s grilled chicken skewer’s with yogurt sauce is a particular favorite for a tasty snack. How about late-night cookies & milk? Yes, please!

Do check to confirm if your cruise has complimentary room service. Or just look for the menu in your stateroom. Note that Royal Caribbean and Norwegian do not offer free room service on their cruises. Yet even those two cruise lines still offer some limited cold breakfast offerings and coffee as a complimentary room service options in the morning hours.

Cruise LineRoom Service Fees
PrincessFree
Holland AmericaFree
CelebrityFree
DisneyFree
CarnivalFree
Royal Caribbean$7.95 per order + 18% gratuity
Norwegian$9.95 per order

27) How to Get Free Candy on a Cruise

Cruise hack: get free candy from the ice cream station on a cruise ship

Have a sweet tooth? Don’t buy the overpriced bag of M&Ms for $5 in the ship’s duty-free shop.

Instead, simply head to the ice cream stand and ask the scooper for a cup of toppings of your choice. We’ve noticed that Celebrity’s ships tend to have a particularly nice range of candy to choose from. You can often get a cup of M&Ms for free, so there’s no need to pay for overpriced candy in the cruise gift shop. Personally, we go for the Sour Patch Kids to chew on by the poolside – yum!

28) Why Go to a Specialty Restaurant on the First Night and Never Formal Night

Filet Mignon and wine at Cagney's Steakhouse, a specialty restaurant on the Norwegian Star, which may offer a discount on the first night

If you want to try out one of the ship’s specialty restaurants, do this on the very first night of your cruise. On the first night, passengers tend to choose dining in the Main Dining Room. This leaves the specialty restaurants with several open tables. Therefor cruises will have special offers on these specialty restaurants during the first night of the itinerary.

So consider going to the steakhouse on the very first night and you may find such deals like a 50% discount and a free bottle of wine! Check the Day 1 itinerary for such a promotion after embarking, or enquire directly at the premium restaurant. If there’s a good offer, go for it! That promotion likely won’t come back again later in the cruise. The specialty dining deals on Day 1 are usually the most generous of every cruise.

Meanwhile, those who choose to go to the specialty restaurant later in the cruise, will not only pay full price, but they may also miss out on a great complimentary meal in the main dining room.

Some cruisers like to splurge on a specialty restaurant during formal night. But that is the worst possible time to do so. We suggest to always eat in the main dining room on formal night! That’s when cruises tend to serve the best complimentary dishes, such as lobster and chateaubriand, for example. You don’t want to miss these amazing complimentary meals by paying for an alternative at a specialty restaurant! So dine at the specialty restaurant on the first night instead.

29) Skip the Buffet on First Day

It is usually a complete cluster at the buffet during lunch on the first day abroad a cruise ship. Passengers have just gotten on the ship and are starving. The buffet is the most logical place to flock to. But don’t follow this herd mentality once you board the ship! There are usually a few other complimentary dining options available during lunch that most passengers haven’t taken the time to scout out. So there’s no need to wait in a long buffet line to fight for the salad tongs.

Instead, start your cruise off right and find out what other complimentary restaurants may be open for lunch. You’ll eat better, avoid the crowds, and have a much more enjoyable beginning to your trip. Again, check your Day 1 itinerary once you embark which will clearly detail what other dining options are open.

During a recent voyage on the Norwegian Bliss, everyone crowded the buffet. We instead sat right down at the Local Pub, which was virtually empty, as most people just boarding the ship had yet to figure out that this complimentary restaurant served lunch. So while everyone else flocked to the buffet, we enjoyed table service at the pub’s casual and crowd-free setting, with an order of fish & chips and a fantastic Reuben sandwich.

 

Health and Weight Gain Cruise Tips

cruise gym

With all that eating, it may be worth watching your weight and burning a few calories. Between those decadent desserts and the midnight buffet, you may worry about your waistline expanding during all those wonderfully gluttonous meals at sea.

But you’re on vacation. It can be fun to indulge! So use these simple cruise hacks to enjoy all of that fantastic cuisine, without disembarking ten pounds heavier.

 

30) Why Weighing Yourself on Day 1 May Give You an Excuse to Gorge

woman standing on scale in cruise ship gym

Yes, really. Just do it.

You can always find a scale in the cruise ship’s gym or the medical office. Find that scale to weigh yourself, even if you have no intentions of using the gym during the rest of your voyage.

Weigh yourself as soon as you get on board so you can keep tabs of any weight gain during the cruise. This a particularly good idea if you’re on a longer cruise itinerary.

After your initial weigh-in, weigh yourself periodically throughout the remainder of your cruise. By doing so, you may actually find that you’re not packing on the pounds as much as you feared. Many people are more active on cruises, burning calories while ashore or on the ship. So this can give you a well-deserved excuse to have a cheat day of gluttony.

 

31) No Need for the Gym When You Can Use Stairs!

Using the stairs on a cruise ship will burn 5 calories per flight, making for a good cruise hack to not gain weight

You’re on vacation. There’s no need to spend it at the gym unless you really love a good workout.

Instead, simply hold firm on always using the stairs. Most large cruise ships have a minimum of 10 passenger floors (often more). Set a firm rule to never use the elevator and you’ll end up burning lots of calories simply by trying to get from one place to another on these megaships. Often, you’ll get there faster too. That holds particularly true if your cruise ship has many aging passengers who must use elevators or kids who like to press elevator buttons.

If your cabin happens to be on a lower level, simply taking the stairs up to the upper deck for lunch and back down will burn approximately 100 calories, based on the estimate of 5 calories burned per flight of stairs. Considering that you’ll likely be making multiple trips up and down the ship’s stairs throughout the day, you can realistically burn several hundred calories just by going about your normal day aboard the ship. Do so. Then don’t feel bad about getting the chocolate lava cake later in the night.

Take your FitBit or bring along an inexpensive pedometer like this which will track all your steps and calories burned too. You may be surprised at just how much walking you can inadvertently do on a big ship!

 

32) Have Bread WITH Your Meal, Never Before

Dinner bread basket on cruise

A lovely basket of bread is always immediately delivered to your table upon getting seated for dinner on a cruise. It’s so easy to butter up those tasty rolls and load up on all those carbs before your appetizer has even hit the linen.

As a result of eating all the pre-dinner bread, you may even find yourself too full to finish whatever delicious main course you’ve chosen to dine on for the night.

To avoid that fate, make a special request for your server to only bring out the bread basket when your main course is served. Remove that carbtastic temptation from the table prior to your main course.

If you’re still hungry while eating your meal, enjoy some of that tasty bread. You won’t gorge yourself with this filler as you may have prior to your meal’s arrival. Save your appetite for the main course and forgo the seduction of all of those unnecessary carbs, before your meal.

 

Cruise Tips for Drinking on the Ship

Drinking on cruises can be notoriously expensive. But it doesn’t have to be. Use these cruise hacks to quench your thirst without breaking the bank!

33) Drink for Free and Cheap on a Cruise

drinks at cruise bar

We have so many drink-related cruise hacks to share, so we’ve actually detailed them all in a separate posts detailing all the different tips to get free & cheap alcohol on a cruise.

We show how to get hooked up with a beverage package and what the the truth about sneaking booze onto a cruise. Happy hours can make for happy cruisers. But knowing when the free cocktails are served is even better! Yes, many cruises regularly give passengers unlimited free drinks for short periods for those in-the-know. Cheers to that!

Creating your own mini-bar is another fun drinking cruise hack we regularly employ. And those who want better coffee without paying for inflated specialty coffee prices, we show how to be-your-own barista!

Be sure to check out these two articles where we reveal all of our secrets for more economical boozing on the high seas:

  • Read this: 20 Proven Methods to Get Free & Cheap Drinks on a Cruise

 

Shore Excursion Cruise Hacks

Shore excursions can be tricky beasts, particularly if you’re new to cruising and don’t want to pay for the often exorbitant fees charged by the cruise lines. Booking excursions through the cruise line can be very convenient and offers a hassle-free experience, but you’ll pay a hefty premium to do so. These cruise tips should help get you on shore with some spare cash to spend while you’re there.

34) The Best Wake-Up Call on a Cruise

Cruise hack: wake-up call of free coffee room service

Instead of setting an annoying alarm clock or getting a wake-up call on your stateroom phone, just preschedule complimentary room service breakfast to be delivered to your cabin at whatever time you’d like to be woken up. Instead of a buzzing alarm or a loud phone ring, you’ll wake up to a soft knock on your door and have a cup of coffee in your hand within minutes of waking. Then enjoy a leisure breakfast-in-bed as you pull into port.

If you’d prefer to eat a more proper breakfast, then just schedule a pot of coffee or tea to be delivered to your room. Once you’re done sipping and the caffeine has you moving, head up to the main dining room or buffet for a full breakfast. Continental breakfast items and coffee is almost always complimentary on any cruise, even when room service is not. Check your specific ship to be certain.

35) Do-It-Yourself Cruise Excursions Will Save Big

Cruise docked in the Azore islands where there are lots of options for a DIY shore excursion which is a cruise hack you can use in any port to save you money

Go out on your own or book excursions directly with local companies operating in the area, which will undoubtedly save you hundreds of dollars across multiple ports. Just be absolutely sure that you get back on the ship before the β€œall-aboard,” because late passengers not on the cruises’ excursion can get left behind.

In some ports, do-it-yourself sightseeing is easily accomplished independently. Do some port research in advance to see what’s near the port before you arrive. Do some Googling about the ports, read travel blogs, and/or buy a travel guide. Once you have a solid game plan, then you can simply hop off the ship and sightsee on your own.

In some locations, a rental car can be the way to go for those comfortable with driving internationally. Popular rental car agencies often have locations directly at cruise ports. This helps to make rental cars a convenient and economical option to cover a lot of ground during the short time you have on land.

Not comfortable with driving? Then consider a taxi tour. There’s usually no shortage of taxis waiting around for some cruise passenger dollars. But taxis at many cruise ports are notorious for overcharging unsuspecting cruise passengers. Be sure to know the going rate in advance. Also, we’ve found that taxis often cost less (and are more pleasant) when catching them from town, rather than directly from the cruise port.

In most popular cruise ports, it can be easy to find an independent local tour just as you walk off the ship. Those prices are sometimes negotiable too, so don’t be afraid to haggle or ask for a deal.

But if you do want to do a tour while in port, it’s wise to plan and book a tour in advance. That way you won’t end up wasting what little time you have on land to seek out an excursion that may become sold-out, or not available. You can sometimes find tour operators by Googling or searching through Tripadvisor, which then results in a back & forth email exchange to actually book the tour and possibly the unnerving task of sending funds as a deposit. Instead, we recommend this next tip…

36) Use Viator as a Safe Way To Save Money on Ports of Call Tours

Viator can be a great website to book cheap shore excursions on
We’ve found the best website to book a good value shore excursion is: Viator.com. They have the lowest prices and tend to have the largest inventory of excursions available in all the popular cruise ports. This makes booking an independent shore excursion so easy. You can quickly browse through and reserve a variety of day tours, which pick you up right from the ship. We’ve found that many of the shore excursions offered on Viator are the same or similar to those offered through the cruise line directly. Yet Viator often has them at a fraction of the cost!

We love booking shore excursions through Viator because they have a low price guarantee. This protects you from getting into the port and finding the same excursion at a lower price. Yet we further appreciate that Viator has 24-hour live phone support and their tours are usually fully refundable if canceled at least 24-hours in advance (for those who may be indecisive like us). But best of all, Viator has tours specifically for cruise passengers with dates & times that align with your cruise ships’ itinerary.

These Viator shore excursions also include what they call a “Worry-free Shore Excursion” policy, which will ensure your timely return to the port for each activity. In the extremely rare instance (if ever) that some freak occurrence causes you to miss the ship, Viator will actually arrange and pay for transportation to the next port-of-call.

Also if your cruise happens to get delayed or diverted arriving to a port altogether, making it impossible to attend a shore excursion you booked, then your money gets automatically refunded in full. All of these assurances give us the confidence to book with Viator. We’ve done this for so many shore excursions now that it has probably saved us hundreds, or thousands, of dollars during the past few years of cruising.

You can start searching for shore excursions directly from the Viator homepage. Or below are some links to Viator shore excursions for some of the most popular cruise ports. Of course, it’s best to book these excursions as far in advance as possible. Popular excursions do get booked full since many savvy cruisers are now using Viator to book their shore excursions at a discount. So get saving!

Search for Inexpensive Shore Excursions in Each of These Ports

Western Caribbean, Bahamas, & Mexico

  • Nassau, Bahamas
  • Freeport, Bahamas
  • Key West, FL, USA
  • Cozumel and Costa Maya, Mexico
  • Cayman Islands
  • Jamaica (Montego Bay, Ocho Rios, & Falmouth)
  • Belize
  • Roatan, Honduras
  • Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic
  • Grand Turk, Turks & Caicos

Eastern Caribbean

  • St Thomas, US Virgin Islands
  • St Martin
  • San Juan, Puerto Rico
  • Antigua

Europe & Mediterranean

  • Rome, Italy
  • Naples, Italy
  • Venice, Italy
  • Barcelona, Spain
  • La Havre, France
  • Marseille, France
  • Cannes, France
  • Monaco
  • Athens, Greece
  • Santorini, Greece
  • Mykonos, Greece
  • Dubrovnik, Croatia

Other Locations

  • Bermuda cruises
  • Hawaii cruises
  • Alaskan cruises

37) Why It’s Worth Actually Attending Port Lectures on a Cruise

cruise shore excursion lecture

The port talks are sometimes designed to sell you the ship’s shore excursions, so you may want to skip them in favor of other more fun shipboard activities. But port lectures can sometimes be non-excursion related and very helpful even for those who don’t intend to purchase a shore excursion through the ship.

Even if the port talk is based upon all of the excursions the cruise is attempting to sell, the lecturer will still highlight and show pictures of popular things to do in port on these tours. For those comfortable with independent travel, use this info to help decide which sights you may be able to see on your own.

Yet these excursion-related talks tend to have further benefits to entice and reward your attendance. Often at the lectures, they give away money-saving coupons to use onshore or other shipboard freebees too. If so, that will be listed in the ship’s daily program. So check it and you may find what they’re giving away something that’s worthwhile to attend.

38) Where To Find A Super-Helpful Port Map

There are some very informative port maps and mini-guides available for every port of call, but for some strange reason these maps are typically not distributed out to all passengers. Sometimes they’re handed out at the port lecture, so you may find them there.

But not to worry if you’re unable to get to the lecture. Just ask guest relations for a port map to get the scoop on where everything is once you get off the ship. These maps tend to contain a plethora of helpful information such as sample taxi fares, ATM locations, and wifi hotspots. Be sure to grab one the day before you get into port! These port maps are always available but never pushed out.

39) Use Water Bottles on Shore

Filling a water bottle onboard a cruise ship will save you money from buying expensive bottled water onshore and will also help the environment

It’s important to keep hydrated while on shore. Yet in some of the more touristic ports, bottled water can often be outrageously priced. In a scorching hot situation, you may be thirsty enough to pay it. Instead, be prepared and bring a water bottle filled with the ship’s drinkable tap water to bring on land with you. You’ll be saving a few bucks with this environmentally friendly alternative to buying expensive bottled water on shore.

Pack a refillable lightweight water bottle like this CamelBack.

40) Stop Paying for Expensive Rentals: Bring Your Own Beach Gear

beach rental prices in cruise port of Key West

At nearly every cruise port where there are beaches, you can guarantee that there will be no shortage of vendors offering pricey beach chair rentals and snorkeling gear. Many ports (particularly cruise lines’ private islands) have beautiful reefs that you can swim to from shore. We love snorkeling while in port as a DIY activity ashore.

Yet it can be a little gross to think about the dozens of people who put that snorkel in their mouths before you and the sanitary conditions of such island gear. And mask & snorkel rentals are way overpriced.

The funny thing is that if you plan in advance, you can buy some nice mask and snorkel sets for about the same cost as renting it once you’re on the island. Often cruises will rent out snorkeling equipment for $15-$30, or even more. This popular Mask & Snorkel Set is a great mask that’s often on sale for the less than it would cost to rent it when you reach the islands. Or consider these full face snorkel masks have become all the rage.

   

Meanwhile, at the beach, you’ll certainly want to stay out of the sun and have a place to relax. A pair of beach chairs with umbrella regularly start at $30 and higher throughout most Caribbean ports. For nearly the same price as those one-time rentals, you can buy a pop-up beach shade tent like this to use over and over again.

And don’t forget the sunscreen either! We’ve seen astronomical prices for sunscreen throughout the islands and in the cruise ship gift shop, well in excess of $20 for a small bottle. Meanwhile, Amazon has great prices on BananaBoat. So be sure to add a few bottles to your Prime order, to ensure you’re well-stocked before your next cruise.

 

The Cruise Hacks to Get Cash

41) How to Turn Onboard Credit into Cash Money

If you have onboard credit and you don’t spend it, you will lose it. You cannot simply go to guest relations and ask for this onboard credit in cash. As its name suggests, this is a credit to spend onboard. So they won’t ever give you cash.

Instead of blowing your onboard credit on overpriced souvenirs that you didn’t really want to buy anyways, this simple cruise hack will allow you to transform your credit into cash money. Just head over to the casino!

The cruise casino, like this one on the Norwegian Bliss, is where you can turn onboard credit into cash

Here’s how to turn onboard credit into cash: Insert your cruise card into the slot machine. Add whatever is left of your onboard credit to the slot machine. Although you don’t technically have to gamble at all, consider betting a nickel or so on a slot pull just for fun. (Don’t get carried away though. The slot odds are pretty bad!)

Now that your funds are loaded as gambling credits, you can simply cash out those casino funds with the casino purser. You will have just turned your onboard credit into cold hard cash. Jackpot!

Be sure to do this while in international waters. If not, the casino will be closed once it nears port, and you will have lost the ability to cash out your onboard credit.

Note for 2020: Although we have successfully used this casino cruise hack many times and on many cruise lines to turn onboard credit into cash, some cruises are beginning to catch onto this trick. During our last Holland America cruise, our onboard credit was marked as not usable in the casino. So just be forewarned that while this can indeed be an effective tactic, it may not always be possible.

Whatever you do, just don’t let your onboard credit go to waste! Either retrieve it as cash using this cruise hack or spend it on something before you get off the ship.

 

42) Use This Cruise Hack to Avoid Expensive ATM Fees

ATM machine on a cruise ship

Cruise ships have notoriously high ATM fees onboard. We’ve seen transactions come with an ATM withdrawal fee as high as $15! So we always recommend bringing cash, should you need it ashore, during or after your cruise.

But if you need more cash while on the cruise, you could incur that outrageous ATM fee simply by using the shipboard ATM. Instead, you can use a similar method, as described in the cruise hack above, to get cash from your onboard account.

Simply go to the casino and buy chips of casino credit as if you were to use them in the casino. You can use a credit or debit card to do this. It makes no difference. After you buy your chips, don’t actually gamble away your casino credit. Just cash out at the purser’s desk!

Some cruise lines will charge a small fee to get casino chips using your credit card and they may impose a minimum threshold to withdraw. For example, on a recent Norwegian cruise, they charged a $3 fee and there was a $100 withdrawal minimum. Still, the $3 fee is significantly less than the $15 fee that the shipboard ATM would have charged. So there’s absolutely no need to visit the ship’s expensive ATM with this nice little casino loophole to access cash! Just buy some casino credit for a $3 fee and then cash it out immediately.

 

Cruise Hacks Around the Ship

One of the best cruise tips there is, is to simply get to know your ship. Check out the ship’s deck plans before you get onboard and use these hacks to help make the most of the ship itself. Avoid the crowds and enjoy the cruise to the fullest!

43) Get a Free Balcony Upgrade

Achieving a free balcony upgrade can be more difficult than ever these days. But we’ve actually managed to score a free balcony on three of our past four cruises. It can be very tricky to actually land these free stateroom upgrades, so we’ve actually detailed a very informative guide on exactly how to do so.

See post:

  • 10 Secrets on How to Get a Free Balcony Upgrade on a Cruise

veranda stateroom on a cruise with woman looking out at volcano

44) If Booking a Balcony Cabin, Know the Best Side of the Ship to Book: Port vs Starboard

If booking a balcony stateroom, take a moment to research whether the starboard or port side of the ship will have a more scenic view. Really, it depends on your specific cruise’s itinerary on whether to book a port or starboard cabin.

If your ship’s itinerary is going in a closed-loop and visiting mostly mainland ports, book a port (left) side stateroom for a clockwise route. Book a starboard (right) side for a counter-clockwise route. In doing so you’ll be treated to better views when cruising in and out of ports.

If your itinerary is taking you in a circle visiting islands, the best views can be a little more uncertain, as it will depend on which side of the island each specific port is on. If splurging on a balcony it can be worthwhile to take a closer look at the route map for your cruise itinerary. In doing so, you can determine whether the port or starboard side of the ship will be facing land more frequently, providing you with more scenic views.

45) Get the Good Seats at the Theatre

good seats at the theatre aboard the Norwegian Star cruise ship

Most big cruise ships will have at least four entrances to the main theatre (upper starboard, upper port, lower starboard, and lower port). On some ships, one of those theatre entrances may be accessed at a non-thru corridor. This means there isn’t a hallway extending throughout the length of the ship to the main dining room, where many passengers will be coming from.

If your specific cruise has a theatre entrance with this configuration, that is the entrance you should always use to get the best seats in the house, particularly if you’re arriving just minutes before the show.

You may be surprised to find many empty seats right in the front in this particular corner of the theatre. During sailings on the Norwegian Star and the Holland American Volendam, the non-thru lower port-side theatre entrance was a sure bet every single time! While the starboard side was packed full every night, we’d easily slip into a front-row seat within minutes of the start of the show.

 

46) Tips to Avoid the Crowds while Cruising

Cruises tend to get a bad wrap when it comes to crowds. It’s not entirely unjustified, as crowded spaces most certainly do exist on cruises. Yet it’s so easy to avoid the crowds on these enormous ships with some minimal efforts.

For a quiet space during the day, go to this unlikely area: the club. Yes, the club!

The cruise’s disco may be rocking at night and into the wee morning hours. But during the day, it usually sits empty. While cruise spaces like the library can sometimes become full of people during the day, there’s usually not a soul in the club. That’s where we go for quiet time and never disappoints!

Empty chairs in club on cruise ship

Typically, the most crowded area we find on a cruise is the buffet during lunch on a sea day. Any crowd-averse cruisers should make a point to avoid the buffet from Noon-1:30. Simply get a seat in a restaurant instead to avoid the midday cluster and enjoy a crowd-free environment. Or go to the buffet outside of those hours.

Catch some rays on the pool deck in the morning. The cruise’s lido deck can get crowded during the mid-afternoon hours. Instead, simply enjoy the pool before lunch. The morning is always our favorite time to head to the lido deck. As other cruisers nurse their hangovers or head to a late breakfast, the pool decks can be unusually empty in the morning hours, making for a much more enjoyable experience.

pool deck with no crowds

Find Your Secret Spot on a Cruise

When a ship is filled to capacity, it’s nice to have a pleasant place to retreat to for some serenity. Yet with a finite amount of public passenger space, this can often be challenging. But if you thoroughly explore all the out-of-the-way ship locations, you can be rewarded with your private area of zen.

We suggest to stroll all around the ship on embarkation day to discover such hidden nooks.

Empty tables on back of ship

On the upper decks, take some time out the day to see what is at the very aft of the ship.

Then go all the way forward towards the bow. Since all the action tends to center on the middle of the ship, the aft and bow tend to be two very overlooked places to relax onboard. They also tend to come with excellent views!

secret empty space on Holland America cruise away from any crowds

Try this: On the main pool deck (lido deck) go to both ends of the ship, then check both up and down a few decks deck. You may have just found your secret tranquil oasis and escape the crowds!

47) When it Rains: Use the Pool, Hot Tub, and Slides

Norwegian Bliss empty pool deck on rainy day

If you don’t feel like squeezing into a cramped hot tub with a dozen other strangers, simply go when it rains. You’re getting wet anyway and the pool deck will be completely empty. Unless it’s a really bad storm or lightning is in the area, the pool facilities will remain open and functioning. You’ll also find no lines at the waterslide or at the bar. Enjoy!

 

48) Use Limited Spa Amenities for Free

spa shower on a cruise

Even if you aren’t planning to splurge on that massage, don’t be a stranger to the spa, which may also have some minimal complimentary facilities.

If nothing else, the spa can provide an alternative place to shower. So if there are two people in the same cabin who need to get ready quickly for formal night, the spa’s shower facilities can allow for someone to shower up there. You’ll find towels, hairdryers, and everything. Also, some cruise spa showers are known to have some nice complimentary soaps and shampoos available too!

So if you have a spouse that takes ages getting ready in the bathroom, take it upon yourself to use the spa’s shower facilities for free.

49) Magnets Keep You Organized on Cruises

magnet hooks used on cruise ships

Did you know that your cabin’s walls are actually made of metal? They are! So before boarding your cruise, grab your favorite magnets from your fridge at home. Or, better yet, buy these cool heavy-duty magnet hooks which hold up to 22 pounds and will really help to avoid clutter in your small cabin!

You can repurpose the magnets onboard the ship to keep track of daily guides, receipts, and other pieces of paper that may otherwise start cluttering up your room. It’s a great way to stay organized and create additional storage space.

You can also have fun with magnets on the exterior of your cabin by decorating your door or leaving notes for fellow cruisers to let them know your whereabouts. We see lots of people having fun with these magnets on the exterior of their staterooms. Hanging something on the outside of the door makes for an easy way to identify your room.

Buy Magnetic Hooks on Amazon

 

50) Shop ’til You Drop on the Last Day of the Cruise

If you’re planning to do any onboard shopping, consider waiting ’til the last full day of the cruise. Often the ship will have a big sale on the last day of a cruise. There will be greater odds of this happening and better deals if you happen to be on a repositioning cruise or if the ship you’re on is about to change itineraries.

Check the daily program on the final full day of your cruise to see if there will be a big sale. Towards the last day of a cruise, we regularly see sales in which all items in a certain store are priced at $10 or $5 and below.

Also, if you purchase alcohol from the duty-free store on the afternoon or evening on the last day of a cruise, they’ll usually allow you to bring the bottle back to your cabin. If bought any other day, it’s held until the end of the cruise.

cruise shop

βœ… Bonus: Cruise Packing Hacks & Checklist To Save

Besides your usual clothing and toiletries, here’s a checklist of cruise specific items to remember to pack:

  • Waterproof Your Phone – If you don’t have a waterproof phone, you’ll want to make sure your phone doesn’t become victim to pool splashes or ocean sprays. You also may not be comfortable leaving your phone unattended on a lounge chair. So with this Phone Dry Pouch, you can bring it in the pool with you and even dunk it in the water or bring snorkeling when ashore! It’s also a convenient place to keep your cruise keycard. It’s usually priced under $10 too, so it’s a great buy. Check colors available and prices here.
  • Bottle of wine – Most cruise lines (not Norwegian, but most all others) allow you to bring aboard 1 bottle of wine per person. Be sure to take advantage of that. You must pack it in your carryon luggage and you must open it in your stateroom to avoid a corkage fee in the dining room.
  • Use an over-the-door organizer for the bathroom – It seems there’s never enough space in cruise cabin bathrooms. We love this skinny and compact travel organizer that conveniently hangs from the back of the bathroom door to hold everything we need.
  • Binoculars – If you’re going to be cruising around scenic coastal stretches, like Alaska’s Inside Passage (See: Glacier Bay Photo Essay), then don’t forget a pair of binoculars. Big cruise ships can’t get too close to shore, so if you want to see towns, glaciers, or have a closer look at a wayward whale – be sure pack a pair. These Bushnell Falcon binoculars are great quality and the price is pretty incredible. Check prices and recent reviews.
  • BYO Collapsible Travel Straw – Did you know that most cruise ships slowly phased out straws during the past year? The straw-free movement is an environmentally friendly initiative currently sweeping the world. Some cruises have switched to paper or provide them by request. Yet these reusable travel straw so that you’ll be able to sip your piΓ±a colada the way it was intended but without that harmful plastic.
  • Water bottle – Stay hydrated onshore excursions without buying expensive bottled water. Pack a refillable lightweight water bottle like this CamelBack.
  • Sunscreen – Of course you want to protect your skin. But if you use all of your sunscreen and need to buy more on the ship, expect to pay upwards of $20 for a small tube in the ship’s overpriced gift shop. Instead, stock up before you go. Amazon has great prices on BananaBoat.
  • Mask & Snorkel – Don’t pay the inflated prices to rent a nasty used snorkel. Buy one in advance, instead. This popular traditional Mask & Snorkel Set is a great mask that’s often on sale for the less than it would cost to rent it when you reach the islands. Or consider these full face snorkel masks that people rave about.
  • Pop-up Beach Tent – If you’re taking a beach-heavy cruise like a Caribbean itinerary, this compact foldable pop-up beach shade tent can be a great accessory to bring with you.
  • Seasickness Prevention – If you don’t have your sea legs, come prepared with a plan. We find Bonine works well and has less drowsiness effect than the popular Dramamine. Alternatively, go natural and try ginger pills, which tend to calm nausea associated with seasickness without any side effects.
  • Prevent a Stinky Bathroom – When sharing a bathroom with loved ones in the close quarters of a cruise cabin, sometimes “ship happens.” πŸ’© Things can get smelly. But that can be easily prevented. Use this Pou-Pourri before-you-go toilet spray and no one will ever know it happened.
  • Stay organized with magnets – Yeah, we just mentioned this in cruise tip #49, but it’s such a fun item to bring aboard. Plus these magnet hooks are inexpensive, so it’s worth repeating here in this cruise pack list.
  • Travel scale – If you’re flying home after a cruise, this tactic will help to ensure that you’ll be under the weight restrictions imposed by airlines. We use a little travel luggage scale to keep tabs on our bags’ weight.
  • Backup Battery – If you’re going to be out on all-day shore excursions and have a mobile phone or camera that won’t hold a charge with all the pictures you’ll be taking, then be sure to pack a backup battery. We personally use (and love) this Anker PowerCore Backup Battery that is very lightweight, yet will recharge your cell phone many times over.
  • Cruise-Approved Power Strip to keep all your electronics charged with a single outlet. We never travel anywhere in the world without one!
  • Passport – Very important, don’t forget! (An ID + original birth certificate may suffice with some cruise lines/itineraries. Check before you depart.)

Speaking of packing… After constantly traveling around the world for the past five years on cruise ships and other forms of transportation, we’ve finally developed the perfect packing list. We have meticulously detailed all of our travel gear recommendations. So for a more all-encompassing pack list, see our big Ultimate Travel Packing Checklist & Tips to ensure you don’t forget to pack anything important for your next trip.

The ultimate travel packing Checklist

 

Bon Voyage!

cruise ship cruising over the Atlantic Ocean

We hope these cruise hacks have been helpful and that you’re now all ready to set sail!

Wait, don’t leave us just yet. If you liked these cruise hacks, let’s stay connected!

If you’d like to receive more travel tips and inspiration, the best place to continue receiving updates from us is over on Facebook.

Be sure to follow Roaming Around The World on Facebook to see where in the world we are today and receive updates about future blog posts. We also use Facebook to post daily travel tips or travel inspiration from where in the world we’re currently roaming

Also, if you cruising and would like to read more of our blog, check this post out. We recently completed cruising entirely around the world without using a single flight. We accomplished this ultimate world cruise using 4 different ships and on a super low budget around $60 per day! We basically spent a year living on cruise ships and it actually cost us less than our former working lives back on land. See this video we made of all the highlights.

  • Continue reading here: How To Achieve the Impossible: A Cheap World Cruise

50 cruise hacksLastly, with so many cruise tips in this post to remember, be sure to bookmark this page or “pin” the image to the right to your Pinterest boards to save for later.

Happy cruising everyone!

Publishing note: This Cruise Hacks post is continually updated, most recently in January 2020 after our latest series of cruising around the world.

Related Posts

  • How To Achieve the Impossible: A Cheap World CruiseHow To Achieve the Impossible: A Cheap World Cruise
  • How to Get Cheap Drinks on a Cruise ShipHow to Get Cheap Drinks on a Cruise Ship

Filed Under: Travel Tips Around the World, Cruising Tips, Travel Bargains

Comments

  1. markali says

    September 7, 2020 at 4:32 PM

    I would like to find out which cruise lines have it so you never have to get all dressed up for dinner. We are more simplistic and would like to keep everything very casual. Thank you for any input you may have.

    Reply
    • John Widmer says

      September 8, 2020 at 6:35 PM

      Among the larger well-known cruise lines, Norwegian is one that does not have any formal nights. It’s casual every night there. Most of the other cruise lines typically have 1-2 formal nights for a week long cruise, and keep it casual on the other nights. But don’t necessarily let a formal night or two completely dissuade you from one particular line. Those who don’t want to get dressed up for formal night can always choose to remain casual by simply eating dinner at the buffet, instead of the main dining room. It’s always casual at the buffet. But if you want to eat in the main dining room every single night and still keep it casual, then Norwegian is probably your best bet.

      Reply
  2. Sara Grimes says

    February 19, 2020 at 12:21 PM

    How do you “MONITOR PRICES”? I booked thru a travel agency and cannot find any website that will actually give me the rates. I would like to try to upgrade, but I can’t find out what the rooms are currently going for (or if the one I am currently booked into has lowered in cost.

    Sorry to not know much,
    SaraSue

    Reply
    • John Widmer says

      February 20, 2020 at 12:16 PM

      Good question – happy to provide a little more detail. Personally what we do is simply find the exact cruise listing on an online cruise agency, like CruiseDirect. Once I have I have the pricing page pulled up, I simply bookmark it in my browser. That way, it takes all but 5 seconds to simply click that bookmark and see if the price has changed. It’s a quick and easy task we’ll usually check each day.

      Alternatively you can try asking the cruise agent you booked with to monitor. Some of the really good agents will do this, but it’s not the norm.

      Lastly, there are some cruise fare monitoring services you can try. There’s a free app that you can download – Shipmate – that will alert you of price changes. Or you can try services like CruiseFish.net or CruiseFareMonitor.com that will alert you of price changes. We’ve never used these firsthand, so cannot personally vouch for them. Also, sometimes the perks/promos will change but not the prices and I don’t believe you’d be alerted in those instances. Thats’ why we just like to manually monitor prices and see and changes.

      Hope that helps! πŸ™‚

      Reply
      • Michelle says

        November 24, 2021 at 7:47 PM

        Carnival has lowered my fare 3x simply by my own fare monitoring. If I find the same itinerary at a lower price, carnival has never argued. I cruise Feb 2022 for 530$ total for 2ppl , 5 day cruise in a cove balcony. My rate 6 months ago was over 1300$
        Do your leg work and don’t give up, it will be worth it.

        Reply
        • Cammi says

          March 1, 2022 at 2:42 AM

          So if you find a lower price, do you call or email them? Does it matter?

          Reply
  3. ISMAEL says

    February 11, 2020 at 7:28 AM

    I love your posts as its easy to since you share lots of information, thank you

    Reply
  4. Naxos says

    October 25, 2019 at 1:00 PM

    Excellent, what a webpage it is! This web site gives helpful
    data to us, keep it up.

    Reply
  5. Mark Filip says

    September 14, 2019 at 10:51 AM

    Great tips! We appreciate this information and will add some of these to our trip checklist. I’d like to give back by suggesting some of our own tips and one comment.
    Comment: On a RC cruise last year my electronics bag (laptop/phone accessories) was inspected and my power cube (small 3 outlet cube you get at Home Depot) was taken from me. It had not surge protection, just a simple 3 outlet cube. They said there was potential for fire hazard if too may power plugs were used in cabins. Maybe this is a RC thing?
    Our tips:
    We have a checklist for each trip that includes columns for the period of time before a trip/cruise (ie: 2 weeks out, 1 week out, 3 days out, up until day of trip) Each column has a checklist item that might need to be done (update apps/laptop, stop mail/paper, copy files/videos/movies to laptop, etc.) In all we have probably 100 things, most of which are in the separate “what to pack” column. You’d be surprised, when you add up everything you need to do before the trip and what to remember to pack how many things there are to do!!
    Regarding tips for a cruise: we also have used magnets and they work well however the command hooks work exceedingly well on most surfaces and are totally removable. We re-use the actual hooks and only buy the two sided adhesive strips. We use them on backs of doors, inside the shower, or anywhere we need to hang something. They come in a variety of sizes and designs for most needs.
    We also pack a “fly bag” or “cruise bag” which contains items we need to use before we have access to our luggage (phone chargers, toiletries, hand sanitizer, etc.)
    Again, great tips, thanks!

    Reply
    • John Widmer says

      September 14, 2019 at 7:07 PM

      Yeah, the cruises can be strict on some of the outlet devices. Usually it’s the surge protector that causes issues, but there can be other reasons. The power-strip device we recommend is approved for RC and all major cruise lines. We’ve never had issues.

      As we’ve just packed for our latest cruise that we’re on right now, we can definitely relate to all the many to-do’s involved to prepare for the voyage. πŸ™‚ The checklist by time period is such a great idea – love that! We love the magnets but may need to try those hooks out too. The cruise/fly bag is such a smart move! Not only to have the items you need immediately, but also just in case of lost luggage issues.

      Thanks so much for the suggestions and happy cruising! We’re always updating this post and may have to add in some of your ideas!

      Reply
  6. Toni Allison says

    August 25, 2019 at 2:42 PM

    We’re are traveling on NCL to Alaska at the end of September. This article is great! In your article, you mentioned their app for staying connected to each other on the ship. The price you stated was $7.95. It is now $9.95 per their onlie FAQ. It is also called Cruise Norwegian now, not Norwegian iConcierge. Just keeping you up-todate. Thanks for the helpful info!

    Reply
    • John Widmer says

      August 28, 2019 at 10:34 PM

      Thanks so much for the update! Much of this info is always changing, so really appreciate being alerted to such changes. We’ll update this post to reflect the new pricing. Thank you!

      Reply
  7. Adam says

    June 21, 2019 at 11:19 AM

    Love the blog!!

    Would you happen to know why NCL restaurants close while at port? Looking at a Western Caribbean out of Miami and the ports are all back to back for four straight days. It forces everyone to one, 24 hour restaurant. Any tips?

    Reply
    • John Widmer says

      June 23, 2019 at 6:26 PM

      I’d guess they close many of the restaurants during lunch hours on port days because there is significantly less demand for lunch on the ship. They’ve likely figured that the majority of passengers will be onshore on these port days, so it may make sense for them to close some of the restaurants. It’s been our experience on NCL that they usually keep at least one sit-down restaurant open (like the main dining room) and the buffet when the ship is in port. If your ship has one of NCL’s pub on it, that’s usually open for lunch too on port days, even though that may not be listed. It has some good burgers, sandwiches, wings, fish & chips, etc. So you may have a few options after all. Have a great cruise!

      Reply
  8. Amie says

    June 13, 2019 at 2:30 PM

    Thanks for blogging. I felt like a student I took so many notes! We’re traveling for my step daughter’s 18th and high school graduation so these space & money saving tips will come in handy!

    Reply
  9. Reynaldo A says

    June 7, 2019 at 1:18 AM

    HI, great Blog. I have a cruise planned for this July, would be my third. But my first with my wife, we will be taking the cruise as part of our honeymoon. A 12-day cruise to the Greek Islands. Do you have any recommendation for a newlywed couple to get the most out of the cruise? Thanks for all the recommendations.

    Reply
    • John Widmer says

      June 11, 2019 at 3:03 PM

      Congratulations on your marriage! Enjoy your honeymoon cruise – it should prove to be amazing. Having gone on a Med cruise for our own honeymoon, one thing I can suggest is to see if the cruise might have some sort of honeymoon celebration package that you can add on using the cruise line’s online check-in portal. Check to see if your cruise may have something like that. We did this with cruising with NCL and they brought together all the other honeymooners with a really nice spread and lots of champagne. What was even better than the champagne was the opportunity to meet other honeymooners, some of which have become life long friends of ours that we would have never met otherwise. Have a great honeymoon cruise!

      Reply
      • Reynaldo Azpurua says

        June 11, 2019 at 3:24 PM

        Thanks for your recommendation, we will try to do that. THanks again for your congratulations. Reynaldo

        Reply
  10. Alice Marie says

    February 28, 2019 at 12:15 PM

    We have been on many cruises and developed some of these same hacks over the years. I so much appreciate having them all in one place and more than we came up with!
    We are going on a family reunion cruise and I will definitely share this with them. I also have a travel group that follows me, and so I will share with them, hoping they will also follow you.
    The only thing I can add has to do with how we pack. You know those plastic covers that pillowcases, sheets and blankets come in? They make excellent packing cases for travel. Some have zippers. I pack like things in a case, then pull out the case and throw it into a drawer when we arrive on the ship. Also, cruise ships usually offer discounts on laundry. With two of us in the room, we each get a discount bag and send our laundry down twice during the cruise. That way we pack less. Consider the cost of an extra bag is usually 25+ on an airline. With the discount, cruise laundry is usually $20 a bag, and we can really stuff that bag. Of course you can always do your own laundry on most ships.

    Reply
    • John Widmer says

      March 3, 2019 at 12:48 PM

      That’s great and what a great idea of reusing those plastic covers as a cruise packing hack to help stay organized. Love it! We’ve been relying on “packing cubes” to help keep us organized and use a similar technique to dump our stuff in the drawers and closets once we get on the ship. And yes, those stuff-the-bag laundry promotions can be great! We find that the per-piece pricing tends to be very high, so it’s really nice to take advantage when those promos come around. πŸ™‚

      Reply
    • Britton says

      May 21, 2019 at 5:54 PM

      Is this discount bag for laundry something obtained on the ship or something you’re bring on-board from home?

      Reply
      • John Widmer says

        May 23, 2019 at 5:50 PM

        It’s obtained on the ship. Not all cruises do it, but most cruises we’ve been on do. Basically, they provide a medium size laundry bag and will wash everything in it for a semi-reasonable set price instead of the priced-per-item list that most cruise lines use. These laundry bag promos are never announced ahead of time, so you can’t really plan for it. Info about the laundry bag promos can usually be found in the dailies or in the material the stateroom attendant leaves. At the beginning of the cruise, you could ask your stateroom attendant if he/she knows if and when they typically do a laundry bag promotion.

        Reply
  11. Scorpio says

    February 10, 2019 at 3:43 AM

    Cruising makes it easy to visit several places in a single trip without the need to repack your belongings and sit in a car/train/bus/plane to travel to each one; your hotel room comes along with you, and even provides the transportation. This will surely save lots of money during the trip.

    Reply
  12. Lisa says

    January 20, 2019 at 3:33 PM

    Room service on Royal Caribbean now has a $7.95 charge…..unless it’s continental breakfast (a hot breakfast will cost you though).

    Reply
    • John Widmer says

      January 21, 2019 at 2:56 PM

      Thank you for pointing that out. πŸ™‚ I’ve just updated the post to reflect that.

      Reply
  13. Stacey Connor says

    January 18, 2019 at 1:10 AM

    Awesome post! Thanks for sharing such useful information

    Reply
  14. MJL Things says

    January 1, 2019 at 8:23 AM

    You have smartly covered every single topic and your tips are awesome. Thank you for these real money saving tips.

    Reply
  15. Ellen says

    September 25, 2018 at 9:02 PM

    Great tips & Hacks! I will defitnitely check out the resources to use on my upcoming crusie! Just wanted to reiterate on the “Cruise Checklist” for bottled wine. I have cruised several times on Carnival and each time I carried aboard one bottle of wine (per adult), water, and sodas.
    Below is Carnival’s Beverage Policy:

    Bringing Liquor and Beverages Onboard – Embarkation

    Guests are prohibited from bringing water, sodas and other non-alcoholic beverages onboard that are packaged in bottles.

    A small quantity of non-alcoholic beverages (i.e., sparkling water, sodas, juice, and milk) packaged in cans or cartons may be brought onboard on embarkation day and must be in the guest’s carry-on luggage. A small quantity is considered a maximum of 12 sealed, unopened cans/cartons of 12 ounces each or less per person.

    Guests are prohibited from bringing alcoholic beverages on board with the following exception – At the beginning of the cruise during embarkation day only, guests (21 years of age and older) may bring one 750 ml bottle of sealed/unopened wine or champagne per person in their carry-on luggage. All liquor, beer, other forms of alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages outside of this exception are strictly prohibited in both carry-on and checked luggage and such items will be confiscated and discarded and no compensation will be provided.

    Reply
    • John Widmer says

      September 29, 2018 at 4:32 PM

      Yup, it’s such a great tip to legally bring some vino onboard! We always check the alcohol policies to see what’s permitted. Most of the major cruise lines (NCL being the exception) tend to allow either a bottle of wine per person or two bottles per stateroom. Always a good idea to take advantage of that! πŸ™‚

      Reply
  16. John D. says

    September 23, 2018 at 11:25 AM

    Regarding travel insurance, you should check your credit cards to see if they include insurance as part of their benefits. Most credit cards targeted to travelers include coverage for trip cancellation, interruption, lost luggage, etc., and it’s included in the card’s annual fee. If you’re a Costco member, their card is free and includes $3,000 of coverage per traveler, with no limit on the number of travelers. Others, like Chase and AMEX travel cards (United, Sapphire, etc.) cover up to $10,000 (and some up to $20,000) for two people with some restriction on the relationship of the travelers. The only requirement is that you pay for the travel with the credit card. We took a particularly expensive Galapagos cruise last year and we paid for it using three different cards so that, in aggregate, we were able to cover the full cost of the vacation without spending an extra dime for coverage. Each card will reimburse however much you’ve paid on it, and it’s totally legit. We have had to make only one claim in the last 10 years, and it was virtually no-question-asked, just provide proof (a doctor’s note, cancellation notice, death notice, or the like), and the receipts for the expenses, and the insurance is paid as promised. I highly recommend this approach as travel insurance is a money-making scam for the travel industry. Not to say it isn’t good or necessary, only that it’s overpriced, rarely used, and is a big commission maker for agents, who will almost never tell you to consider whether you already have insurance via your credit cards. I know, because I’m a part-time agent and see how the agencies push the insurance. I always tell my clients to check their cardsl–it’s one of the biggest money-savers you can use to reduce the cost of your cruise. If you don’t have a travel-based credit card, go get one. The small annual fee–usually about $95 to $150–gets recovered on the first cruise you take without having to pay for the supplemental insurance. You also earn points toward travel, so the cards are a double win!

    Reply
    • John Widmer says

      September 25, 2018 at 2:17 PM

      I can only partially agree with this. Yes, a good travel credit card that includes travel coverage can be very beneficial, such as trip cancelation and lost luggage benefits that many do include. But, first of all, not everyone has a good travel credit that includes this coverage. We do, but we still ALWAYS take out a travel insurance policy and recommend. Why? Because credit card’s travel coverage does not include any overseas medical coverage, travel accidents, assaults, theft, natural disasters, emergency evacuation, and other cruise-specific coverage. If you need to see a doctor on a cruise, you’re looking nearly $200 just for a simple, quick check-up, let alone something more serious which could run into thousands of dollars. Your credit card coverage isn’t going to reimburse you for that, but travel insurance most certainly will. The trip cancelation and luggage coverage that many popular credit cards have is a great benefit to consider using when booking a cruise that we’d likewise recommend. But we prefer to have more than just our cruise cost and baggage covered, to ensure our health & safety is insured, which no credit card coverage includes to our knowledge. If we have a medical emergency out in the middle of the ocean, we’re relieved to know that our travel insurance will help us out.

      Reply
  17. Shannon Morgan says

    July 21, 2018 at 9:01 PM

    I have not read through everything and I am loveing it all so far so thank you! I was just reading about the messaging service instead of a walkie talkie and I was wondering if you have heard of the Voxer App which turns your cell phone into a walkie talkie then you don’t have to pay for the service. I use it for my small business and communicate with everyone in the US. They have another app for international messaging that does the same. They are Free!!

    Reply
    • John Widmer says

      July 25, 2018 at 5:27 PM

      Yes, have heard of Voxer but it wouldn’t really work well on a cruise ship. Push-To-Talk apps like Voxer are free to use but require a data or wifi signal in order to send and receive messages. So it would work on a cruise only if you purchased an unlimited wifi package for each phone, which would end up being a very costly way to use the app, given how expensive wifi plans our on most cruises. The ships’ own messaging apps would likely be a much more inexpensive messaging solution.

      Reply
  18. Jamie Cordon says

    July 17, 2018 at 2:46 AM

    I’ve been wanting to have a vacation on a cruise ships and this is probably the best cruise tips i’ve read so far. This is really helpful.

    Reply
    • John Widmer says

      July 25, 2018 at 5:37 PM

      So glad to hear this post has proved helpful to your future cruising!

      Reply
  19. Sue Dallas says

    July 12, 2018 at 4:50 PM

    What a great find! We are taking our first 2 week cruise out of Amsterdam through the Baltics. I found some great ideas on here. I have a hint about cabin space, specifically bathroom storage space. Two cruises ago, I purchased a 12 mesh pocket over the door , (shoe) storage hanger from Amazon (MISSLO Heavy Duty Over the door Storage with 12 Mesh Pockets (White)) . There are 3 sizes available. When my husband and I get into our cabin, we unpack immediately and store our luggage under the bed. Then we unpack our toiletry kits. I use one side (6 pockets) of the mesh pocket hanger and he uses the other 6 pockets (he even stores some of his electronics in these pockets). We leave this on the inside of the bathroom door and it saves space on the small countertops. It comes with 2 removable hooks that fit over the top of the door. If it doesn’t fit, you can hang it by 2 strong magnets. We have used this on 2 cruises and also in hotel rooms when we are going to be there for more than a few days. My husband loves it! No more packing and unpacking toiletries, make-up etc. and the bathroom stays uncluttered. Thank you for all the work you did into putting this list together. We found it very helpful. Love your around the world cruise plan…have fun.

    Reply
    • John Widmer says

      July 25, 2018 at 5:43 PM

      Oh yes, we love those mesh hangers and travel with one ourselves. Although we’re not quite as organized with a his-&-hers section, but love that idea and we may have to now implement that! You’ve also just given me the idea of adding a hanging organizer to our section of packing suggestions for the next time we update this article. Thank you! Will have to look into the Misslo one you mention – it sounds perfect! Hope you have a wonderful Baltics cruise ahead – bon voyage!

      Reply
  20. Khourshem says

    May 15, 2018 at 3:02 AM

    Glad that wine and gelato made everything better. I got a chance back in the 90s to explore Northern Italy but we only went to Milan. I really need to go back and explore Venice and the islands. Sorry you didnt find George but Lake Cuomo is beautiful.

    Reply
  21. Sharon says

    April 14, 2018 at 8:27 PM

    Like most people, we are cruising more and finding out the benefits of cruising compared to conventional holidays. And we are loving it.

    Thanks for your additional tips and guidance. Really helps us.

    Cheers Sharon…

    Reply
  22. Beth says

    April 9, 2018 at 6:05 AM

    Several of the suggested packing lists I have seen mention packing a pressure extension rod. What use with this have on a cruise ship? Thank you!

    Reply
    • Heather Widmer says

      April 9, 2018 at 7:45 AM

      That’s a new one for me and had to Google it myself. I read that some cruisers pack a tension rod to have extra space to hang clothes in the small closets of their cabins. I can also see it coming in handy to put in the shower to hang wet clothes. Thanks for the tip!

      Reply
  23. Manish says

    February 2, 2018 at 2:05 AM

    Hey John,
    Such a nice blog i have come across. great article with some amazing images. Cheers!!

    Reply
    • Heather Widmer says

      March 20, 2018 at 8:59 AM

      Thanks for the kind words Manish, much appreciated!

      Reply
  24. Jpax says

    November 30, 2017 at 5:52 PM

    These are some really GREAT Tips! We have cruised several times and have discovered several of them on our own, but learned many new ones!

    An unusual question. We have been beginning to talk about going on a “Bucket List” retirement World Cruise, but our research so far has shown that the typical daily costs per person are MUCH higher than for other cruises. Do you have any thoughts or tips regarding these long cruises??

    Reply
    • John Widmer says

      November 30, 2017 at 7:25 PM

      Glad you found them helpful! πŸ™‚

      Regarding the world cruise and costs, we’ve found it to be a much more affordable approach to string together repositioning cruises and smaller segments of world cruises, taking advantage of ones with deals and/or promotions. That’s essentially what we’re in the midst of right now. We cruised from Vancouver to Japan, now traveling independently to Hong Kong, will cruise from Hong Kong to Singapore, and then likely Singapore to Dubai, Dubai to Barcelona, Barcelona to NYC – for what will amount to 2.5 months on 5 cruises. We’re estimating that our daily cost will be somewhere around $75 per person, per day, for the cruises specifically (including taxes, fees, and gratuities). So a bit more than $5,000 total per person for the cruises, which is a fraction of the price we’ve seen on world cruises. We spent a lot of time researching, had some luck catching deals, and are lingering in countries in between cruises (which is not for everyone and incurs additional costs, albeit lower per day than on the cruises). Anyhow, once we finish this journey later next year, we plan to write a very detailed account of our costs and strategies on how we managed to do this. But in the meantime, hope this reply may give you a few ideas for your bucket list retirement world cruise! πŸ™‚

      Reply
  25. Mike Smith says

    October 30, 2017 at 11:19 PM

    When we cruise, it is always more economical to find a local when at port and book a cruise with them. The prices are always way less expensive than going directly thru the cruise line. We visited Roatan and saved over 70% by using local tours. Common sense goes a long way when wandering around in another country. Just be respectful and mindful of your surroundings and have fun.

    Reply
    • John Widmer says

      November 6, 2017 at 2:09 AM

      We completely agree with that. In fact, the last time we docked in Roatan we simply rented a car and drove all the way from the cruise port to Camps Bay. It was a great experience!

      Reply
  26. Carol Jordan says

    October 7, 2017 at 6:13 PM

    Thank you so much for such a wonderful blog full of helpful tips. Found you through Pinterest. I have only been on one other cruise before; a 3-day to Nassau about 12 years ago, but am going on my second cruise, a 5-day to Costa Maya/Cozumel leaving 10/16. I am single, going with a group from church. Thank you for the drinks tips especially! I don’t drink enough to justify $50 A DAY for their Cheers package; although the $46 for the week for all other non-alcoholic drinks is well worth it. Your blog has me stoked for a really great time! I am a little jealous of your traveling. Give me 10-12 years, maybe I’ll be that Granny living out her retirement on a cruise ship! πŸ˜€

    Reply
    • John Widmer says

      October 25, 2017 at 12:03 AM

      Am so glad you found these cruise tips to be helpful and we hope you had a great cruise to the Yucatan! Yes, it’s important to weigh out whether the drink packages are worth it or not, depending on how much you drink. We also usually find that it’s not worth it for us, but it is nice when we can find a cruise that includes it as a perk! We’ve read about those stories of people living out their retirement on cruises – in some cases, it can be even more affordable than retirement on land!

      Reply
  27. Mywifiext says

    October 4, 2017 at 1:05 AM

    very well written post …great collection of pics…and very great and helpful Tips.Thank you

    Reply
    • John Widmer says

      October 25, 2017 at 12:31 AM

      Glad you found the post helpful. Happy cruising!

      Reply
  28. [email protected] says

    September 22, 2017 at 7:05 AM

    Very great tips, I like the all of you suggest, its quit help at cruise holidays

    Reply
  29. [email protected] says

    July 17, 2017 at 7:31 AM

    Superb cruise hacks and tips, its very helpful cruise holidays post for the people who travel pr planning their first time cruises holidays.

    Reply
    • John Widmer says

      July 18, 2017 at 9:46 AM

      Thanks! Yes, we hope this resource helps first time cruisers and hope that even seasoned cruisers may still pick up a tip or two! πŸ˜‰

      Reply
  30. John says

    May 24, 2017 at 5:47 AM

    These are great tips! We have been on several cruises but never with our little one. I can’t wait to take him on one, saving these for later!

    Reply
    • John Widmer says

      May 24, 2017 at 9:07 AM

      Glad you found them helpful. Hope you and the little one get on a cruise soon to put some of these tip to use! πŸ™‚

      Reply
  31. Krystyna says

    May 20, 2017 at 4:00 AM

    Hello! This is my first visit to your blog! We are a team of volunteers and starting a new initiative in a community in the same niche.
    Your blog provided us beneficial information to work on. You have done a marvellous job!

    Reply
    • John Widmer says

      May 20, 2017 at 4:00 PM

      Thanks and we’ve glad you found us and stopped by. Best of luck in your volunteer efforts!

      Reply
  32. Hazel says

    May 13, 2017 at 4:18 AM

    This tips are awesome! I am planning to take a cruise soon and I find this very useful. Thanks for sharing this!

    Reply
    • John Widmer says

      May 16, 2017 at 12:28 PM

      So glad that you found these tips useful. πŸ™‚ We hope you have an an awesome cruise and these tips help to make your trip even better! Bon voyage!

      Reply
  33. Yilliang Peng says

    March 30, 2017 at 9:17 PM

    Thanks for the advice on how to arrive at your cruise ship with style. I had never thought of using a taxi or some kind of shuttle to make sure I get there safely and on time. This information would be perfect for anyone who might be stressed about their cruise and maximizing the fun.

    Reply
    • Heather Widmer says

      April 3, 2017 at 11:36 AM

      Hi Yilliang,
      Thanks for the comment. We firmly believe in maximizing our time at the ports of call!

      Reply
  34. Bright Joe says

    March 29, 2017 at 11:11 AM

    Whew, thanks for sharing this tips. Basically, I have a dream to travel the whole world with my 3 bros! I often read your blog, thanks for sharing all these! πŸ˜€

    Reply
    • Heather Widmer says

      April 3, 2017 at 11:06 AM

      Hi Joe,
      Thanks so much for the kind comment. Traveling around the world with your three brothers would be amazing! So glad to hear that we’ve provided some travel inspiration and thank you for following us along on our journey πŸ™‚

      Reply
  35. VW says

    February 17, 2017 at 6:55 AM

    Great blog, really enjoy all of your tips. Question regarding turning credit into cash. You mentioned to do it before you hit US waters. What if our cruise is to Alaska? How does that work?

    Thanks!

    Reply
    • Heather Widmer says

      February 18, 2017 at 2:24 PM

      Hey VW, thanks for the comment and question. Your Alaskan cruise route is likely going to be at least 2 miles offshore at periods of time during your sailing. During this time, the ship will be in international waters and the casino will be operational. You’ll then have an opportunity to turn your credit into cash.
      Enjoy your cruise!

      Reply
  36. Maria Morris says

    February 11, 2017 at 12:18 PM

    My husband and I are looking into a cruise for the first time and we can’t seem to come across answers to a lot of our questions. Love this article! Helped us incredibly! Couple more though if you don’t mind.
    Does it cost any money to just get off the ship during regular stops, and hang out at the beach?
    I expect to be spending some extra money on tips. I’m sure not only is it expected, but I’m sure the crew relies on it as a part of their income.
    I would expect the typical 15-20% on dining. What is a typical tip for a free meal? Or room service, and turn down services? Where else am I expect to tip that I’m not thinking of?

    Reply
    • John Widmer says

      February 11, 2017 at 12:32 PM

      Hi Maria! So glad you found this to be helpful! We’re happy to answer your questions…
      No, it doesn’t cost anything to get off the ship and walk around independently, go to the beach, etc. That’s often what we do! πŸ™‚
      As for tipping, the cruise will automatically add “gratuities” to your onboard account, which is charged to the card you have on file on the final day. The exact amount varies by ship, but usually it’s somewhere between $10-$15 per person, per night. These gratuities cover your tips for the wait staff and your stateroom attendant (cleaning, turndown service, etc.) It’s not necessary to tip the wait staff on top of the gratuities they receive, but you can certainly adjust the gratuity amount higher or lower, if you desire, based on the service you received. The only other place you would generally tip on the ship is the bar staff and casino staff. They are not covered by the gratuities, so you can tip them directly.

      Hope that helps and you have a fantastic experience on your first cruise!

      Reply
  37. Cyndi says

    January 22, 2017 at 4:53 PM

    We’ve taken at least 10 cruises and yet I still found many of these to be very helpful! Thanks!

    Reply
    • Heather Widmer says

      January 23, 2017 at 5:28 PM

      Hey Cyndi, thanks for the comment! We’re thrilled to learn that you found some of our cruise tips helpful, especially coming from a seasoned cruiser πŸ™‚

      Reply
  38. Matthew Ervin says

    January 21, 2017 at 8:23 PM

    Wow, this is truly amazing. Y’all are so cute together! So happy for your experiences and for going out of your way to share them with us! I have learned A LOT from this blog. Again, thanks! About to read some more!

    Reply
    • Heather Widmer says

      January 23, 2017 at 6:30 PM

      Hi Matthew, thank you so much for the comment and kind words! So glad that you have learned a bit from our travel experiences.
      Here’s to you and future travels!

      Reply
  39. Amy says

    January 14, 2017 at 1:38 PM

    Hey Carrie,
    I loved all the information you have in this post. It has been most helpful as I am preparing myself and my boyfriend for our first cruise for the end of this year. I am an avid planner and all of these tips and tricks are exactly what I have been looking for to get started and are great for my piece of mind. Now I have an idea on where to start as I tackle this huge trip we are taking (it’s only 6 days but in my mind it feels like months).
    I do have a question, I have traveled from state to state before by airplane but I have never taken a cruise and honestly I am deathly nervous. So nervous I don’t even want to to go, but we are going no matter what and I need some advice on how to turn my nervousness into excitement (at least some of it). I need some help; with it being only months away if I don’t change my view I won’t be able to plan correctly or pack correctly or be able to generally enjoy myself when it comes time to go. πŸ™ If you have any sort of ideas or advice I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you very much.

    Reply
    • John Widmer says

      January 15, 2017 at 8:49 AM

      You have nothing to worry about πŸ™‚ Cruising is one of the most fun and relaxing travel experiences out there. You may be nervous now, but once you board that ship you’ll find that all your concerns will just melt away. There’s a stat out citing that ninety-something percent of first time cruisers say they’ll return again to take another cruise. That’s quite the satisfaction rate! The biggest hurdle to get over is just taking that first cruise in the first place. The only thing to be nervous about is the possibility of being hooked on cruising and not wanted to leave the ship after your six days. Get excited! πŸ™‚

      Reply
    • Lauren says

      June 19, 2017 at 9:26 PM

      Hi there. I had to check your post a few times to make sure I hadn’t written it myself!

      We went on our first cruise a few years ago. I’m a bit of a deal maven and got super caught up in a terrific deal I’d found. In all of my excitement of booking the steal, I neglected to acknowledge that I was *terrified* at the thought of the cruise! Some of it was logical – worries about seasickness or not being able to get off the boat. And some of it was illogical – dreading open water, falling overboard, etc.

      As we boarded on our departure day, I was near tears. The enormity of the ship overwhelmed me and I felt like I was stuck doing this thing I didn’t want any part of. Like you I wanted to be excited but was too nervous to think straight. We immediately bought the liquor package (wise) and took our pina coladas to the top of the ship. I was panicked and annoyed with myself and my bf was dutifully trying to calm me. But as the fun music started playing and the boat pulled away with a lot of waving and fanfair, my anxious blubbering quickly turned to giggling and clicking glasses.

      The truth is, the ship is truly akin to a floating Vegas hotel. It feels very safe and the extra traveler insurance I purchased made me feel that we’d be set in case of an emergency. Knowing wifi is avail (if expensive) helps you feel connectivity is possible. And, truthfully, the vibe was so fun and the activities so numerous, we were constantly occupied.

      I scoured the internet for someone who might say the right thing to calm me. You’ve probably come and gone on your cruise by now, but if there’s another fearful adventurer, hopefully this aids in alleviating some of that extra anxiety.

      I even contacted a friend who had been aboard that Carnival ship that got stuck without power for several days. She said she’d have no qualms about returning in a heartbeat, even with that mess.

      It truly is fun and relaxing…even a bit silly. We had a blast and surprised ourselves.

      Reply
      • John Widmer says

        June 20, 2017 at 4:01 PM

        Thank you Lauren for giving your personal story. From trembling to giggling – love it! Perhaps the person who initially wrote this comment has come and gone on her cruise, but am sure someone else will likely stumble across this thread and I do hope your heartfelt words will appease them, and help to get them on the ship so they can go through the same transformation as you have. Cheers to you and we hope you have more happy cruising adventures in the future! πŸ™‚

        Reply
  40. Carrie says

    January 4, 2017 at 12:57 AM

    Great tips – going on our 2nd cruise, this time with Carnival, in February.

    I am “amending” my list of items to take, because of some of your suggestions.

    😊

    Reply
    • Heather Widmer says

      January 5, 2017 at 10:31 AM

      Hey Carrie, thanks for the comment! So glad you found our suggestions to be helpful. Enjoy your cruise!

      Reply
  41. Hokigame.com says

    January 3, 2017 at 3:50 PM

    I am actually pleased to glance at this webpage posts which carries tons of helpful data, thanks for providing these data.

    Reply
    • Heather Widmer says

      January 5, 2017 at 10:27 AM

      Thanks so much for the comment, we’re thrilled that you found our Cruise Hacks to be helpful!

      Reply
  42. AJ says

    December 26, 2016 at 10:29 PM

    Going on our first cruise in January. These tips have been very helpful. One question: Can onboard credit be used for gratuities? Thanks.

    Reply
    • Heather Widmer says

      December 28, 2016 at 2:47 PM

      Hey AJ! Thanks for the comment, so happy you found our tips to be helpful. Yes, most of the time you can apply on board credit toward gratuities. However, this my vary by cruise line and the type of credit you’ve received. We’d recommend calling your cruise lines to confirm. Enjoy your first cruise!

      Reply
  43. Kaitlyn says

    December 20, 2016 at 11:00 AM

    These are great tips! I especially enjoyed the wifi section. I just returned home from a cruise and I was happy to see some push notifications come through.

    I totally agree about checking out the hot tub during the rain – it’s the only time we got to enjoy the hot tub kid-free.

    Reply
  44. J.Sherwin says

    October 28, 2016 at 8:00 PM

    On the first few nights of a cruise, I find it helpful to deploy a thin glowstick on the step-up to the bathroom. It’s easy to stub a toe in the dark until you get used to it.

    Reply
    • John Widmer says

      November 3, 2016 at 10:58 AM

      That’s a great tip – thanks for adding! πŸ™‚ Not only is it great to not stub you toe but also I hate turning on the bright bathroom lights in the middle of the night because it always wakes me up and is hard to go back to sleep. Your glowstick idea definitely solves that. Will have to give it a try next time. Thanks!

      Reply
      • J Sherwin says

        November 6, 2016 at 1:22 AM

        There’s no need to turn on those BRIGHT bathroom lights in the middle of the night if you bring along a couple of cheap battery operated votive lights. We attach super strong neodymium magnets to them.

        Reply
        • John Widmer says

          November 10, 2016 at 12:48 PM

          Also a great idea and another perfect use for those super strong magnets!

          Reply
  45. Janet Comer says

    September 24, 2016 at 7:40 AM

    I have read lots of cruise tips and yours are the best! We are going on Royal Caribbean in Oct I have prepurchased the wifi and was planing to use it with our Laptop. to watch movies, emails and keep up with kids and grandkids I’m going to buy minutes from AT&T for my husband and I to use for finding each other on ship I’m a little nervous about using both correctly. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks for your help

    Reply
    • Heather Widmer says

      October 12, 2016 at 8:46 AM

      Hey Janet! Thanks for the kind words!
      As far as the wifi, we wouldn’t recommend streaming movies on the laptop, as that will quickly us up whatever minutes you purchased. Also, the bandwidth may not be strong enough to stream movies, but Royal Caribbean has recently upgraded their wifi, so maybe it will be. Any other wifi usage on your laptop should work just fine. As for the phone, I’d need to know your AT&T package to comment, but you can connect your mobile device to the ships wifi too. Be sure also to check your AT&T package to understand your exact coverage to avoid costly roaming charges. Have a fantastic cruise!

      Reply
  46. Spy Gear says

    August 3, 2016 at 5:13 AM

    Cool tips! One of my most effective hassle-free and money-saving must-haves during travels is a pair of two-way radio. i use this when with a friend or loved one so we can communicate more easily when we’re apart.

    Reply
    • Heather Widmer says

      August 5, 2016 at 1:38 AM

      Hi! Thanks for the comment! The two-way radio is an excellent idea, thanks so much for sharing!

      Reply
      • Matthew Ervin says

        January 21, 2017 at 8:14 PM

        I have wondered bow well two way radios work on the ships through all the walls and nooks and crannies. Have you had good success with communicating by walkie talkie?

        Reply
        • Heather Widmer says

          January 23, 2017 at 6:51 PM

          We’ve never personally used walkie talkies, so can’t comment from firsthand experience. However, we do see fellow cruisers using them on occasion. I think most people use the cruise line’s app (where available) to stay connected.

          Reply
  47. Mike Klubok says

    August 2, 2016 at 12:38 PM

    Thank you so much for sharing these Wow tips! I will be sharing them with friends and family!

    Reply
    • Heather Widmer says

      August 5, 2016 at 1:35 AM

      Hi Mike! Thanks so much for the comment and sharing!

      Reply
  48. rantin46 says

    July 31, 2016 at 6:58 PM

    Interesting article, im looking for wifi tips and this is it! Thank you

    Reply
    • Heather Widmer says

      August 5, 2016 at 1:34 AM

      Hi! Thanks so much for the comment. So happy you found the tips to be helpful!

      Reply
  49. Always on the move says

    July 11, 2016 at 11:30 AM

    Thanks for this informative post,

    One thing that I noticed last cruise was that when people arrived back to the ship after a day at port, they would bypass the liquor check-in by placing one alcohol bottle in their backpack/purse and checking in a different set of bottles being able to take the unchecked bottle to the room. There are some vendors that deliver the liquor to ship after purchase but there are still a few vendors that leave that task to the customer. I still think that it is easier just to buy the beverage package and not have to worry about it and fully enjoy my vacation.

    Reply
    • John Widmer says

      July 13, 2016 at 4:19 AM

      Interesting observation and thanks for sharing! And having a the beverage package during our last two cruises, we completely agree with your sentiments there. It’s often so worth if you’re going to have more than a few drinks each day. And then you don’t have to worry about your spending – just relax and have fun! πŸ™‚

      Reply
  50. Julie Charles says

    July 5, 2016 at 10:24 PM

    This is well thought out, well organized and extremely valuable information. We’re going on our 5th cruise in August and I’m still very interested in “hacks” or any kind of tip that might enhance my trip. Thank you so much for sharing this information. I too, am a firm believer in treating crew members with the utmost respect and dignity and I often tell them on the first night not to worry so much about our cabin.

    Reply
    • John Widmer says

      July 6, 2016 at 5:21 AM

      Thanks Julie! There seems to be so many cruising hacks out there so this was our attempt at gathering some of our favorite hacks and putting them in one place. Happy to hear you found them valuable. And yes, definitely important to treat crew members well. Often, they’ll treat you well in return! πŸ™‚ We sometimes make friends with the crew, as often times they’ll be surprised to learn that we’ve visited, or temporarily lived in, their home countries. It’s always a fun icebreaker for us. Funny, we do the same as you with our cabin steward. We’re not THAT messy that we need to have our room cleaned twice daily, lol. So we always let them know that it’s A-ok if they ever miss our room. This always seems lift some weight off their shoulders and is our little way of letting them know that we won’t be high maintenance. Hope you have a great 5th cruise in August. Enjoy!

      Reply
      • chaka says

        June 3, 2019 at 7:25 PM

        Oh ya, that’s what I’ll do as well namely hang the “don’t disturb” sign outside and leave the room. I don’t need the room cleaned everyday and it’ll make the Room Steward’s life easier. I worked on cruise ships so I know just how long they’re in their boots everyday.

        Reply
  51. Kiki says

    April 28, 2016 at 2:25 AM

    #18, 19, 24, 25… Among others… How to piss off the crew who serve you and come across as a grade-A cheap-o jerk. We talk about how awful you are in the crew bar every night.

    Reply
    • John Widmer says

      April 28, 2016 at 10:21 AM

      Really? I’m actually quite surprised by this comment.

      #18 Get your minutes refunded. When I spend 10 minutes ($5) for a page to load and it doesn’t load, I would expect to be refunded since I did not receive the service I paid for. If you ordered a beer at a bar and only received an empty cup, would you not complain to the bartender and ask for the beer that you ordered?
      #19 Ask crew for best wifi location. I treat crew members as friends, not servants. And so having a friendly chat with a non-busy crew member about wifi onshore doesn’t seem like I’d be putting them out much and it’s info I appreciate very much.
      #24 Order two entrees. The only reason why I even suggest this is because half of the servers we’ve had on cruise ships absolutely insist on bringing me two entrees despite me only wanting one. This often seems to make them happy to somehow over serve me. I’m actually on a cruise right now and it happened to me last night. I insisted on one, but he insisted on bringing me two because he really wanted me to try a dish he thought I’d like.
      #25 Request an entree as an appetizer. Again, this is another move that is often suggested by the servers themselves. I fail to see how this would make someone a grade-A cheap-O jerk.

      I realize that there can be some very rude cruise passengers and have witnessed it firsthand. I’ll apologize on their behalf if they have left you jaded and bitter, which it seems that they have. But not all of us are “awful” nor do I think these cruise hacks contribute to that. Cruise passengers are often spending large sums of money that they’ve worked hard for and saved hard for to be delivered an incredible experience. This post is an attempt to help passengers make the most of their experience and enjoy cruising, which I’ve received much positive feedback that it, in fact, does.

      Reply
      • Kristine says

        April 14, 2017 at 12:05 AM

        Well stated! I thank you for the time and attention to detail and for sharing all of these wonderful tips. I’ll be going on a cruise at the end of the year and I’m looking forward to implementing all of them. Best wishes…βš“οΈ

        Reply
    • L says

      September 8, 2016 at 2:41 PM

      I am confused about why crew members would mind letting a passenger know where to find wifi at higher speed or lower price?

      Reply
      • John Widmer says

        September 13, 2016 at 1:26 AM

        Yup, was also confused by that!

        Reply
    • Matthew Ervin says

      January 21, 2017 at 8:04 PM

      Kiki, that sounds depressing that you can’t find anything better to discuss with your fellow crew members. I feel sorry for you, and those like you. Maybe some research, or a few visits to a therapist, could enrich your life if you could learn how to be more positive and appreciative. Or, if you really can’t learn to love and appreciate your job, what’s keeping you there? YOLO, find something you enjoy, perhaps. Be happy!

      Reply
  52. Meagan says

    April 6, 2016 at 10:58 AM

    These tips are amazing! I have never been on a cruise before but these will for sure insure I have an amazing time without having to hassle around much because of a lot the tips! Can’t wait for this trip now. Thanks for sharing!

    Reply
    • John Widmer says

      April 7, 2016 at 4:13 PM

      So glad to hear these tip were helpful! Thanks so much for letting us know. We hope you have a great first cruise and that these tips help to make it even more enjoyable! πŸ™‚

      Reply
  53. Rick Scholz says

    February 16, 2016 at 10:44 PM

    Thanks for the great ideas… you gave me a couple new ideas I never heard before.

    FYI, I’ve read multiple reports on Carnival that while power strips (in good condition) are permitted, surge protectors are not (and can be confiscated). Apparently the surge protection interferes with the ship’s electrical system.

    (The Belkin model you recommend is a surge protector, so it would not be allowed under this policy).

    Reply
    • John Widmer says

      February 17, 2016 at 2:38 PM

      Glad we could give you a few new ideas! Some of these tips are tried & true, so we’re always happy when we can share a few fresh ideas.

      Thanks for the heads-up about the surge protectors on Carnival. We’ve used this particular Belkin model on Celebrity, Norwegian, and Royal Caribbean and it has worked beautifully. I have not personally used it on Carnival and don’t know much their surge protector policy. However, I can report that a friend of ours used this exact model on a Carnival Cruise in November 2015. He reported that it worked fine on the Ecstasy and that it was not confiscated. So not sure if it may vary or perhaps they may just be looking to confiscate those big bulky surge protectors / power strips. Either way, thanks so much for the heads-up on this! I’ll send Carnival an email to see if they can provide a finite answer.

      Reply
      • Alice Marie says

        February 28, 2019 at 11:42 AM

        Did you get an answer to this from Carnival? We frequently travel on Carnival and have purchased two of the units that you recommend for future cruises on RC and NCL.

        Reply
        • John Widmer says

          March 3, 2019 at 12:53 PM

          Actually, we had previously suggested a different power adapter. But we can confirm that Cruise Power Strip now recommended in this post “Adheres to Carnival, Royal Caribbean, Princess, Norwegian and all major lines’ terms & conditions.” It is “No Surge Protector & Without Extension Cord to be fully cruise ship compliant.”

          Reply
  54. John F Bremer Jr says

    February 10, 2016 at 9:49 PM

    Hey John and Heather,
    I’m really enjoying your blog! The quality of the information you’re providing and your presentation are outstanding. My wife and I love to travel and we’ve traveled yearly to Europe, Mexico and the Caribbean for the past 40 odd years. About 5 or 6 years ago we started cruising and have done a couple of Spring transatlantics. As a result we’ve taken up Zumba and Salsa and have become quite good dancers. When you consider that a dance lesson or a Zumba class at home can easily run you $10-$20 an hour per person, dancing for free on board is a great value! As you suggest, we’ve found the wine packages on board and the in-room bottle service a great value, but have still managed to push a 15 night bar bill on Celebrity > $800, but when you’re only paying $700 per person for a balcony, that’s still a good overall value. We’ve also take your stairs only advice and usually manage to gain less than 5 pounds per week πŸ™‚
    I’ve recently started a blog targeted at cheap around the world cruising for retired folks and I’ve been planning an example 1 year cruise for < $50 per day. I've been using the VacationsToGo.com searches and sorting by the nightly cost as you describe, and then I've also been using other search tools looking for 7 day cruises for < $500 which some cruise engines will let you do in an advanced search. By the end of the year I'm planning to deploy my own search engine and app that will automate a lot of the process of planning a year long cruise staying under a user specified per night budget.
    Thanks again and happy travels!
    -John Bremer

    Reply
    • John Widmer says

      February 11, 2016 at 5:37 PM

      Hey John! Thanks so much for stopping by our blog. We wholeheartedly agree with the incredible value of cruising. Although we haven’t been able to get as much out of the dance courses as you have. We tried learning Tango on a repositioning cruise to South America and failed miserably. I totally blame our lack of coordination and not the dance instructors, lol. And $700 pp for a balcony on a 15-day Celebrity cruise is reason enough to splurge on some cocktails in our opinion! That’s fantastic.
      This search engine and app that you’re describing sounds brilliant. Feel free to send us an email if you need any beta testers. Love the concept! All the best on the development and we’ll keep abreast on the blog. Happy to connect and happy travels to you too!

      Reply
    • Alice Marie says

      February 28, 2019 at 11:47 AM

      Any more word on the cruising around the world app? We are both retired and looking to add it to a future cruise. Have 3 in the works right now, but want to do an around the world.

      Reply
  55. Lisa says

    February 10, 2016 at 12:36 PM

    Love this! The only tip I would add is to bring Febreeze for the bathroom in the stateroom:)

    Reply
    • John Widmer says

      February 11, 2016 at 1:36 PM

      Oooh, great tip! Sometimes things can get a little stinky in those tight corners πŸ˜‰

      Reply
      • jaquel says

        March 1, 2017 at 11:23 PM

        Went on a ladies trip sharing cabins with different relatives. One of them brought those little jars of poo-pouri and handed them out as gifts to each lady. They were a hit and worked like a charm!

        Reply
        • Heather Widmer says

          March 6, 2017 at 9:51 AM

          Hey Jaquel, thanks for the comment. What a wonderful gift idea and a great way to keep the cabin smelling fresh, thank you for sharing!

          Reply
        • Angela Karitis says

          June 11, 2019 at 2:32 PM

          Poo~Pourri is so perfect for cruises! It traps odor and it’s all natural and safe to flush! Love the 10mL size for travel and of course the 2oz scent “Ship Happens.” πŸ™‚

          Reply
  56. Steven Weber says

    February 8, 2016 at 7:43 AM

    Room service breakfast is free on Royal Caribbean so long as you don’t request delivery during off hours (midnight to 5 am I think). Not sure about other room service food options but it’s great to avoid the crowds and get off the boat early on port days!

    Reply
    • John Widmer says

      February 9, 2016 at 10:50 AM

      Thanks for the update Steven! On our last Royal Caribbean cruise, it wasn’t included but it seems this has changed. I’ll edit the article to reflect that. Thanks again for pointing that out. Completely agree with you sentiments about room service breakfast on port days. Eat in and beat the crowds! πŸ™‚

      Reply
  57. Deanna says

    December 15, 2015 at 11:21 AM

    Wow. These are fantastic. I have bookmarked this awesome resource for future reference. Can’t wait until my next adventure now. Thanks so much!

    Reply
    • John Widmer says

      December 30, 2015 at 11:12 AM

      Thanks for the feedback. Its so nice to hear these tips are proving useful! Hope you enjoy your next adventure wherever that may be. Happy travels!

      Reply
    • Chrissy says

      April 23, 2018 at 10:29 AM

      I would like to find out which cruise lines have it so you never have to get all dressed up for dinner. We are more simplistic and would like to keep everything very casual. Thank you for any input you may have.

      Reply
      • John Widmer says

        May 9, 2018 at 11:32 AM

        We share your sentiments and Norwegian cruise line is probably best for that. They don’t enforce a formal night like most other cruise lines. On NCL, they tend to have one night during the cruise that you dress up only if you want. Most other cruise lines you can still go fairly casual except for the planned formal nights.

        Reply
      • Ashley says

        May 22, 2018 at 6:11 PM

        We just got back on 5/13/2018 from a cruise to Bermuda on the Norwegian Escape and there was no formal night

        Reply

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While traveling the world non-stop for 6 years to 100 countries, we have been on a search for adventure, fun, and value! This blog shares our discoveries & aims to inspire your next trip while maximizing your travel budget! Read More…

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