8 Things You Must Never Do on Your Cruise

Don't Wait until the Last Minute to Board
Cruise companies have strict, tight schedules and itineraries, so they make the check in, boarding, and room finding time, as easy and quick as possible. However, showing up very early to board gives you the chance to leisurely to check out the ship without the thousands of people who are likely coming on the ship with you very shortly. And, with the too-numerous activities on board, you will need the extra time to find where things are and how to get there! Also, you will have some time to look through your daily activities paper to see what events are happening when and where onboard. (You will thank me later for suggesting you find things on the ship before departure, because it gets far too confusing when you’re racing to who-knows-where because you have to get to a certain activity by 1:15!) On your first arrival to the ship, I suggest arriving no less than 3 3/4 to 4 hours before the boarding starts! You will avoid most of the line, and likely be allowed to board the ship before it finishes the port inspections.

Don't Hide in Your Room
But don't get too comfortable. Your room can be a great place to escape the crowds and noise. And to recharge your batteries when you‘re drained from the onboard activities, or when you are just too overwhelmed by the masses. So you just lie in bed with satellite TV, or lounge on your balcony overlooking the sapphire water. I’d highly recommend taking time out and just getting away from it all for a little bit, but never at the expense of your entire cruising experience. After all, nobody talks about “their quiet time in their rooms.” They always talk about all the things they did!

Don't Worry About a Schedule
Like I stated earlier, you do not have to eat at an assigned time. Nor at an assigned place. In fact, there are many options open 24 hours! Ice cream, pizza, frozen yogurt, and room service!

Don't Neglect Your Spending Habits
Cruise ships have you use your room key/card to charge your onboard purchases to your room account. And you just pay with your already-processed credit card at the end of the cruise. But, as with and other form of credit, they sometimes make mistakes. Keep track of what you spend, and always keep track of what is charged to your room account. This will really help alleviate the typical end-of-cruise shock when you get the final bill slipped underneath your door late on your last night of the cruise.

Don't Ignore Self-Exploration
The good thing about most shore excursions are that they rarely last for over 4 hours, which leaves you with a lot more time at the port. Feel free to go on more than one excursion at the same port, if they’re offered at different times. On the other hand, you also don’t want to overdo it at any one port, so take some time there on your own. Wander around the shops or the town. Check out the local color and sample the wide arrange of exciting cuisine options on land. There might be many, many food choices onboard, but most cruises don’t offer local specialties in the areas in which they are cruising. So, the only way to get a sampling of the local food is to eat at the local restaurants! Just make sure you're safe when you're on your own, and you will be just fine!

Don't Miss Departure Time
One of the most important things you can do when you first get onboard is to make sure that your watch matches the ship’s clock. No matter where you are sailing, you must follow the ship’s clock, even if you’re 8 time zones away from your departure port’s time zone! Therefore, when the boat schedule says that departure is at 5:00, and you must be back onboard by 4:15, you had better be back at 4:15 cruise ship time! They might hold the gates open a few minutes longer than 4:15, but once 5:00 comes, they are leaving. With or without you! If you happen to miss the boat, you are then responsible for your own transportation to the next port. Of course, if you miss the boat on a transoceanic cruise, you will likely miss most of the entire cruise!

Don't Do Everything
On one extreme, you don’t want to sit all day in your cabin, or sleep by the pool, or lounge at the bars. At the other end of the spectrum, you don’t want to do every single thing that the ship offers either. After all, if you do too many things on one cruise, what will you do on your next cruise? There are so many actual active options, like swimming, trivia, stage performances, karaoke, dancing, gambling, working out, using the spa, and so on. All great stuff, for sure. But, don’t overdo it. You will wear out yourself, and there will not be much anything left to do next time!

Don't Forget to Book Another Cruise
If you seriously enjoyed your cruise, by all means, book another one as soon as you can! In fact, if you can book your next one while you’re still onboard, you can get quite a few dollars off of your next cruise right then and there! By booking another cruise, you will be able to do everything you loved on your first cruise, and finally get to do all the things you missed on there too!

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