On some cruise ships if you ask staff about the restaurant that is open they will encourage you to go to the buffet. Check the on board newspaper to see if they are listing the "sit down" restaurant that is open. In some instances we have had to just visit the different restaurants to find the one that is open. Having your first lunch in the restaurant is definitely much more relaxing and is worth the extra effort.
You're so right about the staff - the one cruise I went on, there were mornings that I didn't feeling like wrangling the queues for the buffet, and so we went to the restaurant - one of the staff really didn't want us to be there, it was really annoying.
The day-early tip I learned the hard way, by almost missing my cruise due to bad weather in the airline's hub city. My next cruise was in the UK and I arrived a day early. But I was so tired from jet lag, I just napped. I redid the UK cruise the next year, but arrived two days early. That gave me one full day to explore London (finally!).
One more piece of advice: if you're staying at a hotel the night before the cruise, make sure you've arranged for transportation to the cruise port well in advance. For example, if the hotel offers a shuttle, you'll likrly need to reserve a seat on it. If you wait, the shuttle will likely fill up, and you'll either have to take a later one or find another way to get to the port. My advice is to book the shuttle as soon as you check into the hotel.
Getting places the day before is always a good idea in general, especially if you're coordinating with someone or something else (like a cruise, or a day trip somewhere or soemthing like that where you are traveling and there may be hiccups in getting there). I always do this on my vacations. If I 'm going to meet a group of friends for a weeklong trip somewhere, say Las Vegas, I try to arrive the day before so I can be settled in and rested for the first actual day of our event or trip.
I have done this one time. At the day of my arrival my phone rings and he asked where I'm. He wanted to take the ship to a other port at the evening and I was the last missing person, it was a really nice port not so crowded and cheaper.
I am planning a cruise later than this year. It will be my first. I will be solo and am slowly watching all your videos and any others from other people with informative tips and information . Thanks.
Great tip to arrive a day before the cruise. We ALWAYS go the day before. We've flown "around" hurricanes, missed storms, avoided winter storms etc, friends we've cruised with, have always come the day of. The last cruise, we went the day before, they waited and almost missed the cruise. We picked them up at the airport in Orlando around 5 a.m! You can never account for highway problems, storms, car trouble, etc. Take the stress out...arrive early!
Always excellent advice from Gary! If you are flying from a snow belt city in Canada and USA I would suggest ( in Winter) that you try and fly into FLL or MIA 2 days before the cruise - not 1 day i.e. Friday for Sunday departure. This leaves a real margin in case there is a weather event or plane mechanical. Airlines are often flying close to full load and if your Saturday ( day before) flight is cancelled the airline may have a problem finding you seats on a flight that will meet your cruise deadline. I have friends who have missed a cruise departure because they wanted to save hotel nights. If you can’t get away 2 days before the cruise then at a minimum try and get a very early flight the day before again to build in as much safety margin as possible.
Thank you for the tip about checking everything in the cabin asap. Last time I pretty much dropped my stuff off in there and left because I was soo excited. Next time, I'll carefully check everything when I get in there. It makes sense.
Great tips! Love your channel! For those going fishing in Alaska: If you're going on a fishing excursion in Alaska and you want to take your own equipment, six inch needle-nose pliers make it through security, but nine inch needle-nose pliers get confiscated at the Seattle cruise port. The scanners picked both of them up in our bags and I haven't seen my lucky nine inch pliers since. My bad :)
I hadn’t thought of taking pictures early. That’s a good one to add to my list. I would add that if you can go on the ship early, do it and make sure to arrive in time to take advantage of lunch (I’m not sure whether our cruises even had restaurant seating, but grabbing a nice lunch at the buffet and then going exploring is great). Arriving early makes you feel like you’ve added another half day to your cruise. I have to agree how important it is to check your cabin right away. Once, ours had a backed up toilet, but since we pointed it out right away, it was fixed in a pretty timely manner before we really needed to even use our cabin and we had a great cruise.
For any Canadian or U.S. travellers sailing out of a U.S. or Canadian port I highly recommend getting a Nexus card and using it instead of your passport. While I haven't sailed in a few years it was hugely helpful in speeding up embarkation in Vancouver on our Alaska cruise. Basically the Nexus card line was empty while what felt like two thousand people waited to pass through customs. We were whisked to the front of the line and the passport holders were made to wait while we were processed through with our Nexus without waiting. We are now going on a second cruise with Holland America and our Nexus card is registered with the cruise line as our travel document. We still carry our passports with us just in case, but more and more the Nexus card and other Trusted Traveller program cards are being accepted and encouraged as a way to expedite dealing with customs within North America for North American citizens. Check with your cruise line for their advice but do consider using a Nexus card if you qualify.
Yes, please just go to the muster drill. The last time I cruised some guests were very late and I completely missed us leaving the dock. I usually love to be in a spot where I can see. Not crammed into my muster station sweating in a human sandwich.
Totally agree. We haven’t cruised for three years, but going on one February 2023. We didn’t know about scheduled embarkation times, but understand why. We always travel two days before embarkation time. We plan our flight that way so that if there is a major delay in flights, we can reschedule in time. Also, if delay is going to be long, we still have time to drive from Maine to Fort Lauderdale and arrive in time. Another tip, at least for Fort Lauderdale, is a taxi from airport is much cheaper than cruise line transport. The same goes for going from ship to airport at cruise end. Thirdly, hotel transport to the cruise ship is usually more expensive than taxi and less comfortable.
Nice info. You could call this "Welcome to Celebrity." More than fifty cruises and almost all of my cruise ship photos were taken after midnight where no one was out.
These are very valuable and good suggestions. I might be the only one who seem to have 'issues' with embarcation in general, because most people are just so happy its the first day of the cruise, but to me: embarcation is full of stress and worry. I am ALWAYS the one who has a problem with the cruise card, an issue with the cabin (non-working AC or broken shower) or something else wrong. No, I am not one of those 'complainers' that see faults in everything and looking for things to complain about. No, I just want to get away from stress... but stress seem to find me on almost every embarcation day. However, I just came off a cruise to Iceland with Ambassador cruise line, and for the first time in my cruising history, had a very quick and smooth 1st day with NO ISSUES! I was soooo happy. After the Muster I went staight to the hot-tub and stayed there for... well, hours... bliss!!!
I agree with you on boarding the ship later in Vancouver en route to Alaska. We actually were assigned a later boarding time, and we were surprised at how we slipped right through without any delay, as most of other passengers had already finished boarding before us.
@@notsofancyqueen4794 cuz in soom going on Costa smeralda . I do not want to spend my only on the buffet. Worrying if the dinning and the reasturant are free of charge.
Gary, I'm really enjoying your videos in preparation for our next cruise. It has been said that "learning is simply remembering that which we already know." Your vids remind me of things I knew from previous cruises and needed to relearn. Thanks so much!
We've never had issues on cruise day, and I have to say, your point by point suggestions are really brilliant. We've done (almost) all of that intuitively. I think the single most important point is getting to the cruise port AT LEAST 1 day early! That simply cannot be stressed enough. We had a North Sea cruise to Iceland ex Denmark a few years back. Fellow passengers arrived in Copenhagen right on time on the day of departure, alas, none of their luggage did. We had stops in Scotland and Norway where luggage could have joined the party, they did not get a change of clothing (including underwear and socks) until Reykjavik. The cruise line was great about it, the airlines were great about it, we talked a lot about it, but when we travel, we give our luggage time to get lost, found, and re-delivered. No amount of good service and good food can erase the heartburn of missing luggage! Looking forward to our October 6 flight to Rome to catch our October 9th, 6PM departure!
If the cruise line isn't taking your luggage right at the airport, then I usually hand carry it onto the ship rather then check it at the embarkation area. This means you have all your stuff right away and can unpack and also iron your formal wear while everyone else is packed on the pool deck and at the buffet. Hand carrying your luggage off the ship, you usually can get a early depart time too. If you are doing assigned dining time/table rather than the free time dining, I recommend doing the later time rather than the earlier time seating. This way you aren't rushing or cutting your shore day early to get to dinner. The assigned dining is nice as you get to meet up with the same people each night. I ask for a bigger table 8 seat/10 seat that gives you plenty of people to chat with. Many nights one couple wont be there as they went to one of the individual specialty restaurants instead.
The tip on checking out your room is a good one. There can be little things here or there that might not be quite up to snuff. One cruise we discovered our phone wasn't working which will of course affect ordering room service, etc. Also it's going to be the best time to request anything to make the bed more comfortable for you or your partner.
Definitely! We just did this for our cruise on the Royal Princess in a couple weeks. If there is a big group on the cruise ( like a wedding or something) sometimes the whole restaurant is booked.
My wife & I have booked an Alaskan Southbound Cruise with the Royal Princess in June 2020. When should we booked Entertainment, Specialty Dinner, & Excursions?
Thank-you for sharing your tips Gary 👍🏼 first time cruisers and it’s a 3 day comedy cruise 27th December 2019 celebrating my 50th + our 30th anniversary
We are fortunate enough to be at 15 minutes from Port Everglades. We have cruised many, many times and love it. Remember that some cruises may give you a rough ride....so be prepared...
Genuine thanks for this and your things not to do/things to be wary of videos. They have made me realise that with all the cautions and timetabling, cruising is probably not for me. That might sound po-faced, but it's a lot of money if I'm going to feel uncomfortable!
Thank you for this video Gary & all the others. We are first time cruiser in less than 4 weeks so we are learning what we can to get the best out if our cruise 😃
I took a cruise back in 2010 and left a pair of shoes in our cabin. On the Carvinal ship in Charlotte South Carolina. And about to take another cruise on the Carvinal Pride really soon can't wait me and my daughter . Mother and daughter time together .
Great tips Gary! I definitely like being able to book excursions, drink packages, etc online. So convenient. Like your tip of asking if upgrades are available. I will try that next time I cruise.
This may sound crazy, but I unpack on the second day of the cruise. It is less crowded in the stateroom as my wife unpacks first and gets the closet room she needs. Also, if it is a sea day, the pool is going to be crowded, and I don't want to run around looking for a lounger. If it is port day, the ship will probably be deserted and I'll be able to get a lounger with no problem when I'm all unpacked. Plus, we've been to most of the ports already. I travel in the clothes I'll wear on the first night in the dining room, also I use your suggestion with a bathing suit in a day bag. Also, plenty of time to check out the cabin, not unpacking.
GARY: My partner and I are not 'cruisers', but we did take a Hurtigruten ship on the 'classic' voyage, departing from Bergen. How we wish we had known your advice about arriving the day, or two days, BEFORE the ship sails. Hurtigruten's sales staff missed a trick; because they did not even suggest that we arrive earlier: so we missed out on seeing one of Norway's most beautiful cities, and helped the Bergen economy not one jot!
RE: Tip #2 - Unless you have sailed on a particular ship on a particular route several times how can you know what bibs and bobs you want to reserve? You can take some guesses, even educated guesses but I know once I am on a trip I change my mind as a learn new information talking to others about cool things to do. Then I remember I booked a camel ride for $50 six months ago.
I am sailing from NYC on a Sunday. I will have been in the west of the country for a week beforehand. What's better - pre cruise accommodation or an overnight flight arriving into Newark at 6am on the day? The reason I ask is because I want to save on a very expensive Saturday night hotel room in Manhattan.
I just retired so one thing I'm looking to do is get there a day before.I have cruised but by group this time solo. So I'm taking no chances by doing things before hand .lol
Gary, I love your videos. In this video you say try and get an upgrade on embarkation day. In another video you say the best time to get an upgrade is the second day ? Which day is best ? Thank you
We sailed from Southampton a couple of years ago and were glad we left a day between driving from Ireland! There was an accident near Cardiff that closed the motorway. We left Pembroke dock at about 12pm and didn't reach Southampton until almost midnight. It was a nightmare. Also, after disembarking, we travelled out from Southampton and there was an accident on the other side of motorway.....holding up all the traffic going in to Southampton, some of which would be heading for the cruise. Travel is so unpredictable. We swore we'd always leave a day between travel and embarkation!
This is just a hack I have, so I just got off the norwigan breakaway and we got the idea it would have lots of plugs(my mom read a blog) to we only brought one usb expander. The only two outlets were very far from the beds and it was just not working for us. My grandma was on the trip and she has a CPAP and she got a extension chord for it from the cruise line so after a while me and my sister asked our cabin steward if it was possible for us to have one as well he gladly brought one and we then had 5 outlets instead of 2. Over all cruise ships have extension cords you just have to ask
I see a lot about "downloading the cruise app" but my question/concern is - what if you didn't pay for or get a free wifi package? Do you need that in order to access and use the app?
We didn't have the wifi package, but we were able to access the Celebrity app while onboard. The app had the daily planner for the day and usually the next day. It also had the daily menu for the restaurants. We had previously reserved for one of the restaurants and our reservation was listed in the app.
Canival Cruise line does not require you to buy the wifi package to use their HUB app or the family chat feature through the app (it is $5 to add the chat feature though)
We will be embarking on our first post-pandemic cruise on Aug 20 . . . can't wait! Question: originally scheduled to sail from Aug 21-31, the ship was swapped out for a sister ship with the sailing moved up two days to Aug 19-29 - the ship will remain in the port of embarkation Aug 19 & 20 (sailing at 6pm on Aug 20). Thankfully, our air arrangements will work with that date change; however, we will embark on Aug 20 (v. 19). Any hints or "expectations management" tips you can give us for a "late check-in" (flight arrives 8/20 7am - we hope to embark as soon as we clear customs, etc . . . est circa 10am)?
Taking the cruise line's shuttle from the airport to the ship always ends up meaning that I get moved right on through the check-in process and on board, sometimes 1-2 hours before my "assigned" check-in time. This is largely because there simply isn't any space for people to sit around and wait in the cruise terminal.
Great tips👍🏼 Have you done a video about tips of the monetary kind? I know it's a controversial subject but I'd like to know what the general feeling is about people from the UK who remove gratuities and don't ever tip. Would you advise they shouldn't cruise if they arn't prepared to tip at all. Thanks!
From what I heard, tips are the real wages for the workers to support their families back home. So if you are mad about 1 particular staff, make a report and don't hurt/cheat the rest; please.
Peter Chen...The REAL wages for the workers should come from the company they work for. Tips shouldn't be expected. Its an old fashioned concept and one which should be history. Company's should pay staff a descent living wage so they know what they're getting for their hard work!
@@barbarella9827 Ideally, yes. Realistically, are you still tipping the waiter/waitress when you go out to dinner with your family or friends? Their living depend on tips. I agree with you on the concept of a real wage but we also live in the real world and until that's achieved, . . .
Wow you have to download a ship app to know what’s going on during your cruise? Won’t that require data or WiFi access or does the ship provide you with the info in another manner? here’s my question. If I am traveling with a basic flip phone or intend to leave my phone on airplane mode And don’t buy a WiFi package or if I do buy the pkg but want to use the allotment for my business purposes, what happens to the ship application you mentioned needs to be downloaded onto my phone??
I am going on a cruise leaving from Ravenna.. What is the best way to get there without breaking the bank. Are there frequent buses to Ravenna in June. We will be in Venice 2 days before so not going direct from the airport. LOVE your blog.
Should I cancel my mini excursions before my embarkation? It's an hour tour in Venice italy. The cruise is scheduled to leave at 5pm. What should I do?
This is my first cruise and I have an arrival time for 10am. The hotel and transportation I booked is for 1130am. What does it mean when it says your arrival time closes in an hour? Should I keep this time or just wait for the shuttle. I am cruising with msc Nov 3 2022 from cape carnvaval. My stress level is through the roof.
Gary, Can you show up early for embarkation and check your luggage in...then go back into the city and enjoy it more? I often use this strategy with European hotels as my flights tend to arrive early in the morning.
if airport is far from cruise port, how many days before or after should you budget for exploring that city? thinking about milano to savona, rome civitavecchia, havre paris, berlin warnemünde, etc.