Cruising is a great option for people who want to travel to different places in a short amount of time and without having to do much work as far as getting between destinations goes.

But there are a few things I wish I had known before I started, because it’s not always pretty.

Packing
Most tend to overpack for a cruise. I know I did the first time I went.

For a week-long cruise, you should be able to pack a carryon full of everything you’ll need.

I will never understand people with two or more full-size luggage bags each for a week-long cruise, filled with clothes like they’re crossing the ocean to start a new life.

Like in hotels, once you get your room, that’s where you’ll stay for the duration of your cruise, so you can relax and unpack if you feel like it, though I usually leave my stuff in my bag.
What I pack:

Seven shirts, three pairs of pants, two pairs of shorts, maybe a skirt, two dresses (for the formal nights), two bathing suits, jogging pants and a tee for pyjamas, travel bottles of shampoo, conditioner, toothpaste, etc. I like to bring a towel, but you don’t have to, as most will provide them for your time on land (but will charge you if you lose it!). I also bring lotions, but I buy my sun cream at location now as many places are trying to protect coral and the ones sold here in Canada may not.

I also bring flip flops, running shoes, socks, underwear, bras and a few pieces of jewellery, as well as a scarf and small handbag or backpack for day trips. If you’re not sure how you would do on a cruise, look into some sea sickness pills, patches or bracelets. Despite cruising across the Pacific, which was only bad near Hawaii, the worst seasickness was when I was leaving Fort Lauderdale.

Boarding
Depending on the port, boarding can be a long process. The Sydney port was one of the best experiences I’ve had, along with the New Orleans port, whereas the Fort Lauderdale, Florida port was rough.
This had a lot to do with the fact that Sydney and NOLA were accessible by the street, mostly, but Fort Lauderdale was in a shipping area accessible only by bus. We also got to stand mostly inside in Sydney and NOLA but spent a long wait outside in Florida.
The boarding process starts with dropping off your large luggage, which will be checked for prohibited items and brought to your door. It’s not instantaneous, so don’t expect it to be there when you get to your room. It can take up to a few hours to get all the baggage sorted, even though the staff is extremely organized, because of the amount of luggage and the limitations when checking each individual piece.

Once you dropped off your bag, you get into the line up for check-in and security. This is where you will have your photo taken for your cruise cards, which have different names for different lines, and where you give your credit card details for your onboard spending, which will be linked to your cruise card, so you use that onboard instead of your credit card.

For those concerned about spending too much or travelling with kids, most cruise lines allow you to put a set amount on a card, and you can see who spent what at the reception desk or in-room on the TV, and I believe many now have the same feature on apps.

Once you’re checked in and through security, comes the actual boarding. I am so glad my mom had been on a cruise, and my cousins honeymooned on one and told us that when you board, they do pictures.
Pictures with backgrounds, props and even characters. So, dress up a little! I swear you’ll be happy you did when you see the photos at the end!

Cruising
So, here’s the first significant part of any cruise. No, not the sail away party, the Muster drill. Before every cruise ship leaves port, they must do a muster drill. You CANNOT SKIP THE MUSTER. Honestly, why would you even want to? The muster drill is where everyone goes to a predesignated area that will be their lifeboat in case the ship goes down, it also informs you where to find all life vests.
It should take 30 minutes, but when people don’t show up, it takes longer, so just get there, please, and make everyone’s life easy because I have heard many a story about staff checking all bathrooms, staterooms and common areas to get everyone to their muster locations.
Some find Musters loud, so you can block your ears when the seven short blasts then one long are sounded. The practice of doing it before leaving port became standard after the Costa Concordia’s survivors said they had not been told where the lifeboats were. The reason it takes 30 minutes is because that’s how long it should generally take to get everyone into the lifeboats and off the ship.
After the Muster is complete, almost every ship has a sail away party where people party (usually on the pool deck) and people stop at the port to wave to cruisers.
There are also usually giveaways, sales and other events on the ship at this time that are only available on the first day or even the first few hours of the cruise.

the onboard activities
Once the Muster is done, the fun begins! Depending on the cruise line, the ship class and even individual ships, the activities and amenities may vary.
For example, Carnival is well known for waterslides, self-propelled rollercoasters and robot bartenders. Royal Caribbean, on the other hand, has things like mini put, rock climbing, sky diving simulators, surf simulators and an extendable arm that will bring you over the side of the ship. Royal also has ziplining through the inside of the vessel. It goes over walkways and flies by rooms. They also have performers that dive from heights as high as 30 feet into a pool of water (on the ship, not the ocean).
Not all ships have all the activities, and depending on the location they may not be available, or may be down for maintenance.

Photos
While you look around for sales and exclusive deals, make sure to take a look at the photo packages.
Most cruise lines now have little kiosks that show you the images that have been taken of you, and you can buy all of them for a set price, or you can buy them individually.

Most cruises have various opportunities to take pictures both on the ship and on land at different ports.
Often on the ship, the photographers will have backgrounds and other setups on formal nights, and longer cruises will have them various other times as well.

You don’t have to participate, but honestly, all the pictures I’ve gotten from the ships are BEAUTIFUL and are some of my favourites. It’s also a great way to get group photos from your trip that aren’t selfies because I tend not to get many of myself.

Excursions
Some people go on cruises for the excursions, others would rather stay on the ship. You can stay on the ship if you want to, food is still served, and I believe drinks are as well, though the shops, casinos and other extras are closed until the ship hits international waters again.
Each destination has different types of excursions, though most have trips to the beach and into town, as many want to swim and shop. Other kinds of excursions include historical tours, food tours, hikes, as well as fishing, scuba diving, ziplining and parasailing.
Some people feel ok buying excursions from locals at the port of call and paying cash, while others buy them from the cruise line directly. The difference is that if the excursion is purchased through the cruise line, they can contact the people you are with and will not leave without you.
If you don’t get back on time with locals, however, you may need book a ticket to the next port of call, since as we’ve seen in recent videos, the ship will not wait for you, nor will they come back to port for you if you miss the all aboard time.
I haven’t personally seen anyone miss their ship, though I came close a few times when my family didn’t realize we weren’t at our ship in Mexico, and when they didn’t realize the time in Puerto Rico. I have seen Taxi Drivers yelling for passengers from different ships, in an effort to not leave anyone behind in Grand Cayman, which was impressive the first 5 minutes, after about 30 minutes I was wondering why they hadn’t found anyone yet.

The Crew
The crew on all ships I’ve been on have always been incredibly kind and excellent at what they do.
Different people obviously have different jobs, but all are trained in safety procedures. On some lines, it is now standard to have staff specially trained in other ways as well, like how Royal Caribbean was the first cruise line to become Autism Friendly in February 2014 and even host groups who have special needs. My first cruise with RCL, a large group of people with down’s syndrome, and their family members cruised together. Both adults and children had a great time from what I could see, and that was about a year before RCL had the distinction.
I cruised both as a teen and an adult, my first was much better than my second as a teen, I’m still friends with about 5 of the people I cruised with back in 2013, but haven’t kept in touch with most of those I met the cruise the next year.
As an adult, I bonded with staff quite a bit; they were the only people my age and I was mistaken for a member more than once, but a pretty large number of passengers were retired, so I can’t blame them too much. I also made friends with about a half dozen cruisers and stay in regular contact with them through social media.

Disembarking
If you plan to sleep in a bit and have a leisurely breakfast, this may not be a big deal to you, but if you have a flight to catch like I usually do, this is important.
Unless you plan to bring your bags off yourself, your luggage must be outside your door the night before arrival. They will be collected and will be waiting for you outside in the baggage area when you get there.
Before you go to bed, do a sweep of the room. Check all the drawers, all the shelves and cabinets. Make sure nothing has been left anywhere out of your line of sight. If possible, pack everything but your clothes for the next day and other necessities. This will make it easier to be sure you haven’t left anything behind.
You will be given a meeting point, usually as notice the night before, and you will bring all your remaining bags with you and wait in that designated spot. If you come after the specified time, you can usually get off the ship as you wish, but every ship has different procedures.
Many times, a tour with airport transfer is available as an excursion, so many choose to book that instead of a taxi. Some also offer tours of the city, depending on what time the tour ends and what time your flight is. For these, I would call the cruise line or book while on the cruise as they will be able to ensure you have enough time between your arrival in port and airport check-in cut off.

everything else

• extra charges
  The price of your cruise does not include gratuities, drinks (both soda and alcohol), nor does it include specialty dining.
  I would strongly recommend paying gratuities in advance, so they’re in your home currency (if applicable) and so that you don’t have to worry when the end of the cruise comes.
  For some of the cruise workers, most of their wage is the gratuities we pay. I don’t agree with the practice, and I think it’s downright wrong, but I always make sure to pay them in advance.
  For the drinks, I don’t find it’s that worth it to spend 12.99-15.99$ a day worth of soda, and 89$ a day on a ‘deluxe’ package that cruise lines are cracking down on the sharing of by putting chips inside the souvenir cups that have to be switched out after 2 weeks (Which is what happened during my transpacific cruise) (Source RCL)
• Seasickness
  I’ve only gotten seasick on one of the three cruises I’ve been on, which is apparently more common when you leave Fort Lauderdale, though many people still get sick even when I have no trouble.
  There are pills and other remedies available onboard, at a markup, but usually you can buy them at pharmacies and drug stores in the port city you leave from, if not the one closest to your home.
• Onboard credits
  When you book, some cruise lines have exclusive deals where you get a credit to use onboard on merch, spa services, specialty dining or excursions. I would advise you to know in advance what you have as a credit and to think of what you would like to spend it on. They usually start around 50$ per passenger and are allocated by name, but I’ve seen them as high as 300 or even 400$ a few times.
• Flight booking
  As a former travel agent, I need you to, at the VERY least, speak to the cruise line if you plan to fly in or out the same day as your cruise. Depending on the arrival time, you may have plenty of time to hang out and take a tour, or there may only be one flight a day that you have to catch to get home.
  I like to spend at least one night in the port before I leave, and being from Canada, it usually helps because so many flights are delayed or cancelled because of snowstorms or other bad weather. I also like to try to leave the same day, but that can be hard as your docking time is NOT your disembarking time. You usually need 2 hours after you dock, and 3 hours before your flight, for a total of 5 hours to be able to get through security and to your gate correctly, so keep that in mind if you plan to book flights separately.
  The cruise line also often has flight deals because they work with airlines so often.
• Quarantine?!
  Yes, when people get really sick while on a cruise, the line reserves the right to keep crew and all other passengers safe by putting someone into quarantine in their stateroom.
  This has happened once on a cruise I was on, where a few people ended up sick and had to stay in their room a few days.
  I’ve also seen people leave the cruise early after being injured, and have heard more than a few stories of people being let off early because of bad behaviour.
• Deaths at sea
  Yes, sadly, some people do die at sea and not just the horrible stories you hear about people falling to their deaths at ports, or falling overboard in the middle of the night.
  Many people die on specific cruises, like those in Alaska, where I’ve been told, many seniors go when they feel their time is ending, or when they want to end it.
  I’ve heard far too many stories of cabin crew finding the remains of passengers who either went by choice or naturally.
  Most cruise ships built in modern times have not only a medical bay, but also a morgue, to store the remains until they get to the next port, or return to their original port.
  Often there are so many people on board; you may not know if someone has passed unless someone tells you or you knew them.
• Cruise newsletter: Every day, you will likely get a newsletter delivered at night by your stateroom attendant. This will tell you things like the docking and sail away times, what activities are available onboard, what shows will be on as well as information on the port of the day if there is one. I like to keep mine to remember what we did and when.
• Breakfast in the dining hall vs buffet: Almost any other time I travel, I get up early. Cruises are the exception. Depending on the line, breakfast will start in the buffet around 6 am, and stay open until ten or so, the dining room will also open around eight and will offer a full-service experience and a menu, which you order from. My mom loves the dining hall because she gets to meet new people and has a good time, I usually grab a box of cereal, a box of milk with a bowl and spoon and go back to my room to eat, the late nights at the onboard club can make for rough mornings.
• This one has no context, so I’ll just put it here, I once stayed in the hot tub all night. From past midnight until like 5 am. No one said anything to me and the other four 20-somethings, just occasionally doing rounds and making sure we were ok.

If you want to see another take on the cruise industry, check out the video done by Hasan Minaj’s Netflix Show, “Patriot Act,” which you can find here (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0nCT8h8gO1g) which talks about the real cost of the cruise industry in a comedic way.