These are just some of our favorite tips for cruising. There are many, many more and different cruise lines  have different tips. These are just general ones from our previous experiences.

1. Before you leave home, get at least $20 in singles for tips. People you may need to tip: shuttle driver at airport if you do long term parking, the bellman at the hotel, porter at the cruise port, etc.
2. If you don’t travel often, make sure you call whatever bank and/or credit card company you plan on using and let them know where you will be traveling. You don’t want to be trying to buy a souvenir and then have your card get rejected because your bank/credit card company thinks it’s fraud.
3. Most cruise lines will tell you to arrive at the cruise terminal around noon or at a specific time. We like to get there by 9:00AM. There aren’t many people there yet except the people on the previous cruise getting off the ship.
4. When you get to the cruise port, a porter will take your luggage. They will be wearing a name tag so make sure you don’t give your bags to just anyone. You should tip $1 per bag that you give them. Of course, you can tip more if you like and they appreciate it.
5. Keep in mind unless you have paid something extra or are in a special suite, your bags will not be delivered to your room until later that night. Maybe even after dinner. Keep anything with you that you might need before they are delivered like medications, swim suit/trunks, toiletry items, electronics, etc. Also, on one cruise we took, the cruise line left our luggage sitting on the dock and a quick rain shower passed over and soaked our luggage along with everything on top inside our bags. They laundered our clothes free of charge but if we had had any electronics in there, they would have been ruined and they cruise line would not have done anything about it.
6. You can keep your luggage with you if you would rather but keep in mind you will have to drag it all over the ship with you unless you just find a place to sit until you can get into your room. Keep this in mind when you are deciding what to keep with you and what to give the porters. Anything they don’t take, you have to carry around.
7. Once you are inside the cruise terminal, there will most likely be different lines. There are lines for people who cruise often (different levels also) and have rewards and lines for newbies. J Make sure you get into the correct line or the security people will be unhappy. You will go through security similar to an airport but you don’t have to take off your shoes.
8. Next you will wait in line until someone calls you to the counter to go over your paperwork and give you your ship card. This will be the card you use to get on and off the ship, buy anything on the ship and it is also your room key. So don’t lose it! You can even buy special lanyards to keep your card in if you want. You can buy these on Amazon, Etsy, etc. If you purchased a beverage package, photo package, etc. make sure the sticker is on your card before you leave the counter.
9. After you have your ship card, you will either wait in line to get on the ship or you will be given a number and you can board when that group number is called.
10. As you are boarding the ship, there will be a photographer with a festive backdrop taking pictures. If you don’t want to get your picture taken, you can just say no thank you but, why not? You don’t have to buy it and it might be the best picture you’ve ever taken and make a great memento.
11. Now you are on the ship! Walk around and explore! If an area is being cleaned, it will be marked. There will be signs, the doors will be closed, someone will tell you that area isn’t ready yet, etc. If you purchased the beverage package, your souvenir refillable cup will probably be in your room which you can’t get into yet because they are still cleaning it. But since you have the sticker on your ship card, you can still get whatever beverage you want for whatever level of beverage package you purchased. You can actually get any drink you want but if your beverage package doesn’t cover it, you will have to pay however much the drink costs. Be careful with your ship card and what purchases you make because you will get a bill at the end of the cruise and if you can’t pay you have to walk the plank! Actually, I don’t know what they do if you can’t pay but I imagine it isn’t good.
12. Usually at noon the lunch buffet will be served. There will be lots of announcements telling you what time and where. Get in line ahead of time because it will be crowded. All the cruise passengers will be wanting to eat in that one location. When you get into the buffet, get a table and have at least one person stay at the table and then take turns getting food. This is one reason why getting there early pays off. Years ago on our very first cruise, we got there around noon like the cruise line recommended and we waited and waited to get onboard and then couldn’t find any place to sit down and eat. We never made that mistake again!
13. There will be announcements letting you know what time your room should be ready. If they aren’t ready exactly on the minute they announced, be patient because they are just trying to make sure everything is clean and ready for the new guests. If you have ever taken a cruise, you know how hard the employees work.
14. Sometime after you can get into your room and before the ship leaves, you will have to do a muster drill. There will be several announcements about this. Every person on every ship has to do this. It’s the law. So don’t get upset about it. Just go to your assigned location (there will be lots of employees helping you), tell them your name and just stand there until it’s over. It isn’t hard or unpleasant but everyone complains. The employees will demonstrate how to put on a life vest and give you some other instructions on what to do in case of an emergency.
15. Now it’s time for the ship to depart! Find a good location to watch. Then find something fun to do or just sit and relax. Keep checking periodically for your luggage to arrive at your room. It will be left in the hallway right outside your door.
16. Each night your room steward will turn down your bed, leave the next day’s newsletter and a fun towel animal! You can leave the do not disturb card on your door if you would rather.
17. There are many dining options on cruise ships. You can eat at the buffet for every meal, eat in the dining room for most meals, eat at one of the restaurants included with the cruise or eat at one of the specialty restaurants for an additional charge. Usually for dinner in the dining room there is a dress code. Some ships strictly enforce it and some not so much. The daily newsletter will let you know what dress is expected in the dining room that night. Most cruise lines do not allow shorts, swimwear or ball caps in the dining room for dinner. On formal nights you will see anything from people in tuxedos and evening gowns to people in dress slacks/shirts with ties and jackets and nice dresses. If you ever don’t want to get dressed up for dinner, you can just eat at the buffet or one of the other casual restaurants. There is also 24-hour room service on the ships. But make sure you check the menu before ordering because some cruise lines charge extra for room service during certain hours or for certain food selections.
18. During at-sea days there are lots of activities onboard to keep you busy. If you want to just lounge by the pool (especially in the adult only section) you will need to get your spot early. Don’t leave your seat unattended for too long because your things will get moved and someone will take your seat. We usually try to get chairs where we can see the ocean but also be able to keep an eye on them while we are in the pool or hot tub.
19. Check with your cell phone carrier before leaving for your trip to find out if your phone will work in the countries you are visiting. Also, make sure you ask if there are any additional charges for calls, texts, etc. and what those charges are. You can purchase WiFi on the ship if you want to stay connected. While you are at sea, if you have not purchased the onboard WiFi and you make calls, go online, etc. it will be very expensive. We had to make an emergency call one time while at sea and the charge was $10 per minute. Luckily, we weren’t on the phone that long. You will also find places with WiFi when you are in port. Some places make you purchase something before they give you the password or most restaurants will let you use their WiFi if you are eating there. Just be very cautious about what you do on your phone using someone else’s WiFi.
20. When you pull into port you will either just walk off the ship using the ramp or you will have to tender to port if the ship is too large for the port. Again, the daily newsletter will tell you this information. If you are going on an excursion through the cruise line, your tickets will be left in your stateroom on your first day and will say on them where/when you are supposed to meet. Make sure you are on time or they WILL leave without you! This is also true when they tell you what time to be back on the ship. Unless you are on an excursion through the cruise line that is running late, the ship will leave without you if you are not back on time. We have watched people running to the ship as we were pulling away. Once, the people were really desperate so they had the harbor pilot bring them out to the ship as we were sailing away and they had to climb up a ladder on the side of the ship to get onboard! There are thousands of people they need to get to the next port and they WILL NOT wait for a few people who are late.
21. They will advise you to not take your passport with you if you go to shore. I think this is a judgement call. If something happens (medical emergency, the ship leaves without you, etc.), and you don’t have your passport you are stuck in that country until you can work something out. If you do take your passport, make sure you keep it secure so it doesn’t get lost or stolen.
22. The night before you get back at the end of the cruise, you can leave your bags in the hall and they will take them off the ship for you and have them waiting for you in the cruise terminal. Remember not to pack anything you might need that night or the next morning. If you don’t want them to take your bags, you can take them off the ship yourself. You will also be given a time to depart. If you are taking an excursion after the cruise, your bags will be taken to your excursion bus, car, train, etc. Instructions for departing will be left in your stateroom.