Our Top 5 Mistakes First-time Cruisers Make (and How to Avoid Them)

If you’re planning your first cruise, welcome aboard! Now what?

Well, it’s one of the most magical ways to travel, we should know - we met at sea working as cruise ship crew on board Royal Caribbean’s Navigator of the Seas! Ships are our origin story, the reason we now have a beautiful daughter and live the life we live. But cruising as a guest, especially for the first time, comes with a few rookie mistakes that can easily trip you up if you’re not prepared.

Here are the top five mistakes we see first-time cruisers make - and exactly how to avoid them. Let’s count it down from five to one (and trust us, #1 is the most expensive and frustrating if you don’t know about it!).

5. Not Knowing the All Aboard Time

This little piece of information is absolutely critical for your day ashore, and it can make or break your entire vacation! Make sure you carefully check the all-aboard time when you exit the ship at the gangway - it will always be displayed, so snap a quick photo on your phone, or write it down so you don’t forget. You’ll almost always have this information handy already from the printed information that gets delivered to your cabin, or displayed digitally around the ship, but it’s always good to check on the way out as this is the most up to date and accurate information - the digital information can often take a little while to be updated.

Also, make sure to check if the ship time is different to the local time. Depending on the route, the Captain may decide to keep the ship on ship’s time to avoid unnecessary time changes during the voyage. This is particularly true of some Caribbean cruises where the time between the home port and visited ports might only be one hour. So be sure to check if you are staying on ship’s time, or local time.

Finally, the Captain waits for no-one! Well, almost. If the ship has been informed of the late return of an organised shore excursion or tour, the Captain will keep the ship in port until the tour has returned. The shore excursion staff are constantly in contact with the ship, so if you’re on a tour, fear not - you’ll be fine! 

If you are exploring your port visit on your own however, ensure you allow enough time and account for any potential traffic or public transport delays. If you are late returning to the ship, the Captain will most likely not wait for you or your party - the cost of port fees is prohibitive, and even a 30 minute wait will add up significantly. You don’t want to be that ‘pier-runner’ being filmed and posted all over social media, or worse still - wave bon voyage to the ship sailing away whilst you’re on the pier. It’s a great photo opportunity, but a real headache. You will have to deal with the port authority and local immigration to transit through the airport and onwards, either to meet the ship at its next port, or make your way home! No thanks.

Don’t forget your passport or photo I.D. when getting off the ship for a port visit. Depending on the local requirements, you may be required to carry your passport or photo I.D. (your cruise line will tell you what you need), but if you forget this you will very likely not be allowed to return to the ship! This is usually a requirement of the local authorities, not the ship companies, so there is not much the ship can do for you if you forget your passport.

We know this first hand as Steve forgot his passport on our visit to Auckland on Celebrity Edge in 2023. Luckily for us, Loren remembered hers and was able to go onboard and retrieve Steve’s passport from the stateroom safe. Phew!

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4. Not Utilising My Time Dining or Any Time Dining

Most cruise lines now offer a flexible dining time in the main dining rooms. It’s often called My Time Dining or Any Time Dining. Depending on the line you can make a booking on the cruise line’s app for a time that suits your party. Usually, this also means you will be seated at your own table, and not as part of a set-time, mixed table, which used to be a hall-mark of traditional cruising. The mixed table is a social event for some people, but if you’re like us and have a small person, or a tribe, you’ll want to have your own space. Not only that, it allows for more flexibility to eat when it suits you - you might have a very important trivia title to uphold, or you want to nab the front row in theatre for the headliner showtime!

The maître d' will always be able to help you out! If you are unable to select Any Time Dining on the app before you sail, fear not - simply visit the maître d' when you get on board and you’ll be able to book some suitable times throughout your voyage. They often set up a station in the main buffet (or Lido) during the boarding day lunch service - this is a great time to catch them. Alternatively, if you’d rather not plan ahead, you can almost always just show up at the restaurant you wish to dine at when you’re ready, and the staff will assist to get you seated as quickly as possible - be warned though there may be a wait.

If we know we’re going to do this during peak dining times, one of us will pop down and get that sorted whilst the others are getting ready for dinner, or having a pre-dinner drink in one of the many lounges.

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3. Not understanding the layout of the ship

‘Do these stairs go up or down?’, ‘Does the elevator take me to the front of the ship?’, ‘Have you seen my husband?’ - These are all real questions we have been asked by guests when we worked on board Royal Caribbean and Celebrity Cruises ships. Seriously!

But the overwhelm can be real, you don’t quite understand the size of a cruise ship until you step on board for the first time. Even the small, boutique ships can feel daunting, let alone the new mega ships like Icon of the Seas! Getting orientated quickly is the best way to make the most of all of the lounges, bars, restaurants, activities, live music, shows and entertainment available to you!

As a general rule, think of it like this - entertainment is forward (or towards the front of the ship), food is aft (or towards the back of the ship), swimming is up (the pool deck or lido deck are for all the day time fun), and lounges and shopping are down (usually around decks 4 or 5).

Of course every ship has a different layout, and the largest ships in the world have distinct neighbourhoods, like Oasis class onwards. The best way to orientate yourself is simply to get out and explore the ship! We love to explore on our first afternoon on board, taking a full tour of as many nooks and crannies as we can find.

Do your research in advance. You can find the deck plans for every ship in the world with a simple google search. Once you book your voyage, you’ll also be able to access the deck plans on the cruise line company’s app - make sure you have a good look and identify any venues or locations that might apply to you.

For example, Blake likes to visit the kids club early in the voyage to meet other sailors her own age - we always stop in and register her there first.

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2. Packing the wrong items in your luggage

You’re at the terminal, you’re super excited to get on board, you drop your bags with the porters and make your way through the check in process, you explore the ship, you have lunch… now what? You decide you want a swim - oh no! You left your bathing suit in your luggage. ‘No problem, I’ll just go to my cabin and get it’ you think to yourself as you navigate the maze of hallways, only to discover your luggage is not there yet!

"Wha-whaaa" *sad trombone sound * 🎺

‘But where is my luggage!?’ you say as you see everyone else has luggage waiting outside their room. You packed the WRONG ITEMS in your luggage! Was it a power board? Was it some contraband alcohol? Was it something more sinister?

Don’t be that person - make sure you check what you are allowed to bring on board ahead of time so you don’t have to do the dreaded walk of shame to the security luggage holding area down on the I-95/M1 and explain yourself. They’ve seen it all, and confiscated it all. Hopefully, it was a simple mistake, you get your luggage, and off you go for your swim.

Separate the items you will want or need for the first few hours onboard, up to and including the evening. In case your luggage does get put to this side for additional screening, it may be a LONG time before you actually get to it, or rather, security gets around to helping you fix your mistakes.

So plan ahead - medication, bathing suit, an evening shirt or blouse, a change of underwear, valuables, electronics, phone chargers and so on, should all go in your smaller carry-on bag that you can take with you through security screening and directly on board during embarkation.

Anything you don’t need until the next day can stay in your luggage.

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1. Wasting Money on the Cruise Line’s Internet Package

This is the big one!

Onboard internet is notoriously expensive, often slow, and full of restrictions. And worse, you’re paying per device with limited ability to hotspot. ‘But how can I possibly check TikTok analytics when the internet is soooooo expensive!?’ you cry to yourself.

Back when we were crew, we’d have to rely on this dodgy phone service called Ocean Phone. It was a phone card system where you would buy $5/$10 or $20 phone cards to use with your cabin phone and connect to the Cellular at Sea network. We spent years working on separate ships, and this was the ONLY way to reach each other regularly. Phew, that was hard work!

But, seeing as we are no longer crew members, and we’re now in 2025, we use GigSky!

GigSky is a game-changer. It’s an eSIM you download before your trip that gives you affordable, fast data coverage in most countries—and yes, it works at sea! GigSky offers the only eSIM plan that provides mobile data on your cruise, while in port AND while on land. GigSky has the same technology as your home carrier and any surfing you do will be on the fastest, most reliable network with local prices that are a fraction of what you would otherwise pay. You can literally just download a GigSky eSim for the region you are cruising in and then you’re connected when you’re in port or at sea! Like, seriously this would have been life alternating when we were crew.

Check out GigSky eSim and use our code: LORENANDSTEVE for 10% off your order!

Boom!

Final Thoughts

Cruising is incredible—but like anything, a little insider knowledge can make the experience smoother, cheaper, and way more enjoyable. We’ve travelled to nearly 80 countries on cruise ships and now we share our love for the sea with our daughter, Blake. It’s honestly one of the best ways to connect as a family and we wish you bon voyage as you set sail on your adventures.

Seriously, you’ll be hooked!

Fair winds, fast Wi-Fi, and unforgettable adventures,
Loren, Steve & Blake 🌊⚓💙

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