20 rules of cruise ship etiquette no one ever tells you (but should) 

Another tip is don't slam your cabin door!

One that I would like to add is one that when the ships were half full was not a problem but was certainly a problem on our last cruise. During the busy times in the buffet DO NOT use it as your personal lounge. Many times when there was not a table to be had you would see folks playing cards, reading, etc for a long time. Go somewhere else if you are not eating.

To me, a lot of these tips apply to every day life, not just cruises.

#1 rule of cruise etiquette should be for parents to be parents to their kids. Dodging kids with no manners who are yelling and horse playing randomly in an isle, at dinner, or just anywhere you’re trying to walk is annoying. Be a parent to your child or don’t have a child. Keep it 100!

Also, when at the buffet, use the tongs, spoons or other utensils provided to get your food. PLEASE do not touch the food with your fingers, and especially do not put back a food item you have touched!!!

Common Courtesy. Something this culture has forgotten. Everything goes so much smoother when everyone is respectful to each other.

The staff can be super helpful, my wife relied on a power chair to get get around, we went on a cruise for our honeymoon. On our first port we stopped at we could not get on a elevator, people would see us and let the door close or not get off, a staff member saw that took us on a elevator that only they could use and helped us bypass the line to get off, we were very thankful for all of their help!

Loved this, however, you forgot one very important aspect of elevator etiquette. When a handicap person (wheelchair or scooter) is waiting on the elevator let them enter first. It’s easier for them to enter at that time. Also, remember they only have the option of using elevators so please let them have priority for them.

If there's a huge line in the buffet, make quick choices. Some people have no concept of others waiting behind them and will deliberate for ages, blocking the whole area.

no loud talking during the shows also, if you arrive late to a show, sit in the back

Thanks Matt. It's a shame so many people forget that respect for others is part of the foundation for interactions. Being respectful and courteous to all others on a ship or in life just makes you a better person. One additional item is parents need to be responsible for their children. Tonight in the windjammer I witnessed a father and family running all over the plate of food they hdropped. Making no attempt to pick it up. People need to remember the cruise staff are there to serve, not to be servents. They have a hard enough time, be courteous to them! (Off soap box)

The chair hogs is my biggest complaint. Why can't the staff remove items that are there for several hours? This should be implemented on all cruise lines.

I watched a woman (at least 55 years old) pick the croutons WITH HER FINGERS from the other side salads to put on her salad...when there was a huge bowl of croutons about 5 feet away from her. Another Royal Caribbean passenger witnessed it as well and grabbed the salads that were touched and brought them to the staff. ¯\(°_o)/¯

I hesitated to watch this as I'm a know-it-all Emerald 😊 but these are topics that are very important to me. I pride myself on being a considerate person, and it is astounding just how ignorant people can be. Thanks, Matt!

As a regular cruiseship Enthusiast, I would like to say this is a very good video, but as a family travelling with a disabled person who is permanently in a wheelchair, it would nice for you to mention to give priority to people in wheelchairs or with a visible disability, especially in lifts as we often find that lifts are very busy .

These are things that for the most part everyone should be doing evey day, on-board or off. Just came back from cruising Alaska aboard Brilliance of the Seas, and had an absolutely fabulous time. The staff were without exception truly wonderful people, and in addition to the daily gratuities adde to our final bill, we pretty much emptied our wallets of what we had left for our cabin steward because she made our stay so wonderful.

I would add to take 5 dollars or so in cash with you to the terminal to tip the porters. On my first cruise, the porter kept asking me to "tip my porter." The problem was that I didn't know what a porter was! Or, more accurately, I did not know that porters would be involved in the process at all. I had no prior knowledge about the process for getting non-carry-on luggage to the ship. I thought I was just supposed to take my luggage to my own cabin. I was embarrassed by my ignorance and I felt badly that the gentleman did not receive a tip. I had paid gratuities in advance and I was unaware that it was customary to tip the porters separately. So take a bit of cash for your porters.

So sad these things need to be said but they do. Another is people videoing shows on their phone. We had a woman holding her phone over her head blocking our view of the ice show. I tried to lean sideways to watch the show but it just got ridiculous. My husband nicely asked her to lower her phone because we couldn’t see through it. She lowered it for less than 5 seconds then said she was live streaming and put right back up. I tried to find a crew member to help, but couldn’t find one close. Just be respectful of the people around you.

In summary, be polite to everyone 😊 You are sharing your vacation with everyone around you.

This sounds small, but (unless you physically can't) take the stairs especially if you have to go up or down 1-2 floors. The wait for elevators is long enough and this can speed up wait time for others by just that much

Pretty much every one of those *should* be common sense etiquette in everyday life. It's a shame that some adults need to be given a list like this.

Treat people the way You want to be treated.

I recommend ordering a water with my alcohol especially in the heat. Staying hydrated while drinking alcohol in the heat is very important. You can bring 12 17floz drinks on board, bring some sports drinks or Liquid IV packets to help hydrate quicker.

It’s a shame when other cruise guests actions cause our own experience to decline. It’s not Royal’s fault when guests are not behaving. 😢

Worth mentioning. Keep your kids quiet late at night in the cabins and do NOT keep slamming the cabin doors!!! That has happened numerous times and it is horrible trying to sleep hearing that all night we would just fall asleep and then hear kids making racket and people slamming the doors all night!!

Thanks for this post. I wish I have seen this before my 1st cruise a few years ago. We sailed the Caribbean on Allure of the Seas. It was a wonderful experience and can’t wait to take my next one on Royal Caribbean. I recommend cruising to everyone. Now I understand my mentor used to cruise a lot. They joked that was probably on a cruise when we sent him to the next dimension. R.I.P Gordon.

The number 2 rule is common sense as an ex-army and now Hospital cook. But saw it all time during my time in the army. Especially when deployed to Poland, the soldiers, including officers and high-rank Sgt., came up with a nasty paper tray for seconds. We have to say, please go get a tray. And then, when I was working as a Hospital cook, people guessed regular self serv in the caf, but during the high peak of covid, we served the guests. Once in a while, we would get somebody who wanted more and try to tell us (because they were a nurse) it was okay to put on their nasty palette. We keep telling it to no ma'am against the rules. I was more shocked by the nurse because you think they would know better than the soilder.

Oh man... the people who have come to the MDR in shorts and tank tops is amazing... I dress nice since I don't get many options to dine with my wife dressed nice and I do enjoy it. Wish others would do the same and follow the dress codes

Agree with all. Plus Be patient on disembark day, cruise line can only as fast as the terminal & people on shore go.

As someone who spends the vest majority of her time in a wheelchair as my balance due to a moderate case of cerebral palsy makes me liable to fall and so I generally ONLY walk around private residents people who either use the elevators to move up just a couple of desks OR who will not allow wheelchairs on and insists on trying to get on with me sitting there and just do not care. If you can use the stairs PLEASE do,.

Many of these are excellent tips for everyday life

Great tips, perhaps another one should be that people need to remember that many passengers are from outside the USA and we should be respectful of ALL our fellow passengers

People who do these things will continue to do these vile things as they have no respect for anyone else!

The sanitizer and washing hands one is the most important tip. My mom and dad worked on cruises for a decade as casino dealers and the type of horrible illnesses that gets spread is no joke. Some make covid look preferable. Also bring stuff like ibuprofen, vitamin c packets (for ur drinks/water), and cold and flu medicine. I’ve had a flu before on a cruise before (it was 16 days long) and couldn’t move for two days and was a mess for a week, it was horrible thank gods i had medicine and vitamin c on me or it probably would’ve been significantly worse.

I think your first point, that doing the right thing makes the atmosphere and trip pleasant. Thankyoufor this vlog there were a couple of points i had not thought of....it sounds very much like a primary school telling students the rules , but your actually telling adults!

It's a real ''SHAME '' that since the Re-open of Cruising ADULTS have to be re-minded to act as Adults. Great Tips, Thanks Matt ....

Love all of these, it should be a requirement for all to listen to these prior to sailing.

Let's not forget it's the cruise line that needs enforce the rules. Unfortunately some don't

Great vlog thank you.

Gratuities are not mandatory. I heartily disagree that it is disrespectful to remove them or reduce them. Why should passengers be shamed into paying them? Cruise ship lines use those gratuities to supplement the salaries they should be paying the crew instead of offering “deeply discounted” sales. I don’t tip the front desk or maintenance people at a hotel, I tip the housekeeper and perhaps the bartender or waiter if I use the bar/restaurant. The CEO of RCI said that the company was following the hotel model with the switch to once a day cleaning (which is fine with me), so I am too. I determine at the end of the cruise based on service provided the daily amount that I pay. I always tip the crew that provides direct service such as the stateroom attendant and bartenders; and even windjammer waiters as appropriate.

Thank you so much for the 'reality' check. I will NEVER take a cruise. Never! Like you said. It's not as formal as it used to be. That's a shame. (and pay how much?)

Good point on the buffet and using a new plate.

Can we now stop with the they work so hard intro for cruise workers. our recent cruise was 32.00 a day in tips (AKA) pay for the cruise line employee's for the cruise company. Do you pay 32. for every night in a hotel? or Condo for a week?

Even if you omit gratuities from your initial booking, gratuities will be charged daily & automatically to your room. If you have onboard credit it will be used to finance these charges.

An additional point regarding elevators. Give preference and access priority to mobility-challenged passengers. The old muster drill was an example of the rudeness of passengers. Often the wait was over 10-15 minutes after the drill had ended until wheelchair passengers could even get on the elevators (this has happened to us on multiple cruises). Other passengers simply walked/pushed past those waiting for elevators in wheelchairs/scooters and did not wait for their turn. The simple solution would be for the cruise line to temporarily dedicate a couple of elevators as accessible passengers only for a short period of time during high traffic times (with signage and a staff member operating the elevator and controlling who gets on). This simple solution has never happened in my experience.

Thank you. That was a really good video.

Thanks for the content!

Just got off Allure of the Seas a month ago. Can’t stand that even on Formal Night people would come in to the dining room wearing T-shirt’s and shorts! Come on… if you don’t want to wear, at the very minimum, business casual then go eat in the Windjammer! Sorry the dress code is getting a little too relaxed.

I enormously disagree with enforced gratuities. I have worked in Hospitality and Tourism and gratuities ought to be voluntary or not at all as they create resentment and awkward working environments when they are forced on people; who feel as if they are paying your wages and you work for them.

It was really frustrating when RC staff were not enforcing the smoking rules or the 17 and under curfew. Was on Adventure June 3-10, kids constantly running around unsupervised. One young girl, maybe 4, was in elevator alone pushing buttons for people.

I’ve seen fights break out when cruise passengers take tours and don’t sit in the same seats when they get back to the bus. Some people get in early to take the front seats because they have various disabilities like hearing for example. You sit in their seat and they miss the tour guides commentaries. In any event people should courteously return to their original seat.

Back circa 1990 I went on a cruise and as we were leaving port, and everyone was on deck, some kids decided to use the basketball hoop on the deck. Their ball kept hitting people in the back, head, knocking over children, etc. This was just one example of passenger behavior. I went on another cruise a few years later, and there were too many further examples, such as elderly people pushing people out of their way at he buffet, people loud in the halls in the middle of the night, etc. I'l never go on another cruise because I don't want to deal with the other passengers.

Here is another one. If you order room service, leave the dishes in your room as opposed to putting them out into the hallway where they block the egress in case of an emergency and block the paths of those cruisers in wheelchairs.

All great advice!

Rule 21 : Never jump out of the ship for a dare.

You missed one. Flushing the toilets in the common restrooms.

This is basic good manners, surely! And common sense! This is putting me off going on a cruise!

The fact they tell you not to be rude to the people who are trying to do their bloody job... We live in a world where we must tell grown adults to be nice to other grown adults. This infuriates me. No one should have to be told to be nice. It should be instinct to do so. Smh.

When I cruise I have to bring my cpap machine. They are alway accommodating to give me an extension cord. So you don’t have to think about bringing your own.

I agree with and abide by all of them.

Good information to know qnd follow.

Thank you for the reminders! 👏🏻

Gratuities…wish they were still split by “service” on the ship. It was nice when you could tip a little more specifically for that service or less for a service you never used.

You are dead on with all of these.

I've been on two cruises and the wash your hands rule ... yeah that got skipped as there was a gastro outbreak both trips 😐 ... but luckily I avoided it and had a great trip. 😁 The rest ... well worth learning / following.

St Kitts. Four were late from a shore excursion. Two ran and we cheered! Two strolled back. Not only did everyone in a balcony BOO, Capt said enough and left. Soon as the dock lines were cast and the side thrusters kicked in, they ran. Too late sweetpea. Ramp was up.

Loved these tips, thank you! Going on a cruise in July and always helpful to get an update on what to do and what not to do ... thankfully I knew MOST of these, but there were some I didn't know!! Question ... if your booking says tips included (not to brag but my recently retired Mum is taking her, me and my Hubby on a once in a life time, best room on board, cruise) do they REALLY mean tip included, or do they still expect a tip after - cash or within some kind of plan that's not yet added on?

I used to work on cruise ship and at the time the gratuities were not passed on to the staff.

Friends and I went on a cruise with my Dad on a new cruise line. He booked separately from us and had a drinks package. Turns out that either the till system didn't have a way to have, or the staff hadn't yet worked out how to process, a guest with a drinks package buying drinks for their friends.

Thanks for the reminders

You can say what you want about the cruise industry , I have never taken one and not planning one in the future. Being stuck on a very large hotel casino is not what I would call fun. We will travel back to Europe and we will set up our own trip. So, to the people who love cruising, enjoy!

Put gratuity in the fair and it will actually accomplish more. Crew gets theirs and a more accurate picture of the total cost.

Awesome vlog!!!

I would also suggest carrying a small hand sanitizer with you. I want to clean my hands after touching utensils at the buffet and before eating.

The ocean is a Delicate Ecosystem 😂

Very good advice.

Totally agree and please be on time for your dinner in the main dining room. 😊

TLDR: Be a respectful decent human being. thx for making this video, it saddens me that there are ppl that need to watch this video

Also about the elevators, we went on our first cruise in March of 2022 and the ship was at capacity and it wasn't such a problem, but in Jan 2023 when the ship was full, I watched so many times where people are waiting for the elevator (maybe with luggage or strollers, and such, or even people who aren't quite as mobile) and they can't get on super fast, other people (who haven't been waiting as long as the slower people) take that opportunity to jump on the elevator in front of the slower people and fill it up. Just stop that, people.

Cruise is changing people need to go back to basics like real basics ❤ hubble and kind respect to others 👏

I hate that people think it’s okay to wear pajamas anywhere.

Don’t curse out loud at dinner or anywhere. Our last night of our cruise the party sitting behind us kept cussing out loud and saying very rude things during dinner in the dining room. I think they were intoxicated. The F bomb was flying for over an hour.

If more people followed these rules we would have a better time

I actually kinda miss the be there muster drill. It was a great way to meet other solo travelers.

Being polite to the staff is a given, don't reuse your plates at the buffet: okay, I admit, I didn't think of that, I would've been like "why make them do extra work?", but I understand now, can't have an outbreak on a cruise ship, that'd be a logistical nightmare. As for drinking...I don't drink ehe. Being on time for your reservation, oooh, yeah, I learned that after watching that video of that lady who got left behind because she was shopping. Throwing things overboard...I would NEVER do a thing like that

I wish there was a rule that everyone should go in a clockwise direction in the Windjammer.

The main reason I stopped cruising was other passengers. Far too much rude, entitled behavior, especially from older, "experienced" cruisers. They would act like they were entitled to their terrible behavior because they had been on so many cruises, if that makes sense. For example, I went to one of the upper decks to lounge in the sun, but every lounge chair had shoes or a bag or a towel on it. There were several dozen empty chairs with someone’s items on them, yet there were no people in the pools or standing around. I asked an employee about it and I was told that it was OK to move someone’s items if they weren’t around. So I did. Two hours later, a 75-year-old woman was yelling at me for having taken "her" chair. Thinking I’d been the one in the wrong, I quickly left. That same woman yelled at me again later that day, telling everyone in her group that I had stolen her deck chair. I tried to explain that a crew member told me I could use an unoccupied chair, but the whole group started yelling at me and I went off to hide. Another example: I took a shore excursion that was on a bus. I was with a family member. When we boarded the bus, it was nearly full. My family member took the last seat that was available and I ended up having to stand in the back of the bus between the last rows of seats. I couldn’t see anything. When we got to our first stop, we left the bus for a bit then reboarded. This time, my family member and I got on sooner than most of the other people and we sat together in the first available seats. Well, an older couple went ballistic, yelling about how we’d taken "their" seats. The tour guide tried to settle them down but ended up making us get up and occupy the same places we had occupied for the first part of the excursion. I had to stand in the back of the bus for the rest of the day. Not one person offered to let me sit for any part of the six-hour excursion. Obviously these unwritten rules of etiquette need to be more strictly communicated - and enforced. I certainly have no desire to ever set foot in a cruise ship again because of the way I’ve been treated by other passengers.

There are still buffet's? I thought they were gone. I just found a new search criteria born out of Efn Covid.

So I always do cash tips it’s usually more what they take out but I have already planned for that

If anyone needs to be told about #1 my faith in humanity is in serious jeopardy. When is it EVER okay to speak to a service worker disrespectfully?! (HINT; it is not!)

Great video ❤❤❤❤

I grew up in an apartment building and I view cruises and hotels in the same manner. Stop slamming doors - the door will close, there's no need to slam it. Don't run or allow your spawns to run up and down the hallways. Walk lightly. There is no need to pound your feet into the floor when walking. No one wants to hear your loud conversation, your phone conversation (take it off speaker), or whatever music you're listening to.

Everyone should watch this. Just got off the harmony last week and it was probably the worst cruise I’ve ever done and it was because of the passengers. Super rude, cutting lines, stuffing themselves into elevators, not controlling their kids. Ugh… it was so bad. And it was my 9 month old’s inaugural cruise. Why is your teenager splashing in the kiddy pool? People have no shame.

I'll add another one. If someone places their cups cutlery and hats at a table in Windjammers don't remove it to another table so you and your LARGE Quebec family can sit down together.

Hi Matt here's a suggestion to stop lounge chair hogs why doesn't he Royal Caribbean lock them up in a stack have an employee ask for your license for collateral then they give you a chair if the attendant notices your gone more then a half hour-to an hour whatever they deem as an appropriate amount of time that you need to use the chair your ID then gets taken to cruise services and you have to pay a huge fine to get your 🪪 back for being that chair hog that would be a lesson learned real fast

It's actually quite sad that you need to have said any of this. Basically this whole video can be summed up in "the whole ship doesn't revolve around you".

I completely disagree with the practice of tipping or gratuity on cruise ships. It's merely a tactic employed by the company to make the ticket prices appear lower, but the crew members hardly benefit from it. They receive a fixed salary, and tips are not a regular occurrence nor encouraged. In fact, it's quite uncommon and unwelcome. Fortunately, the salary provided to us is already quite generous, and we don't rely on tip money to make a living. It's not fair to expect or encourage tipping in this industry. I've worked my way up through the ranks from rating through manager to now Officer and in the next months senior officer, and I have always declined any tips offered to me. It's simply part of our job, and we shouldn't expect additional compensation for fulfilling our basic responsibilities. I understand that this perspective may be difficult for someone from the US to comprehend, as tipping is deeply ingrained in their culture. However, in many other cultures, such as various Asian cultures, tip money is actually considered offensive. Instead of focusing on tipping, I believe it's more appropriate to appreciate crew members through other means, like asking them how they are, be interested in their live, (but accept taht when we are on duty we don't have a lot of time to talk with you about everything, we work our 12h a day and don't want to extend this by another hour) Recommendations or assistance when off duty are examples of ways guests can show gratitude, but tipping for basic service is unnecessary and can even be seen as disrespectful. We are happy to help you with any questions also when we are off duty, might recommend a place to go for lunch ashore, or help you to organize a nice anniversary for your loved one. For this kind of stuff the extra mile like it is sometimes called, please give some extra to appreciate the effort. But for just performing the basics of the job, tip is nothing that is really welcome, in many cultures tipping for the basics is considered as hint that they should perform better. With the rest of the etiquette rules I go mostly with, be patient, be honest and enjoy the time on board. To the hygiene part: when walk by a hand sanitizer, always use it! They are there for a reason, and must be used yes we don't force you, but it is highly recommended.

Many of these are just common sense., but still a good video to be seen by people going on a cruise for the first time.

Letting people get off the elevators should be done on every elevator on dry land also. Also standing on the right on escalators and walking on the left. That is just manors Something many people don't have.

Perfect! Thanks for posting!