10 Tidbits for First-Time Cruisers

Congratulations; you have now booked your first cruise!

You are getting ready to explore the seas and the exquisite destinations that your ship will take you. It is a unique experience in traveling, so here are a few tidbits about cruising to help prepare you for the experience.

Happy Sailing!

1. ​The check-in process can be LONG

Expect to spend an hour doing your first online check-in. The online check-in process can be quite long. A few weeks before your cruise, you will have access to do your online check in. This is where the cruise line gets every single piece of information about you: emergency contact, incoming and outgoing flights, allergies, on-board debit or credit card information, identification documents, etc.
For this process, you will need your reservation information for your cruise, your incoming and outgoing flight information (airline, flight times, and flight number), identification (i.d.) information—i.e., passport number, debit or credit card number, etc.

​*Unfortunately, this is something that your travel agent cannot do on your behalf. There are a lot of terms and conditions for you to review and sign-off on that your travel professional cannot sign for you.

2. ​The cruise lines pre-authorize your credit or debit card

A little known fact for new cruisers is that the cruise lines will pre-authorize your debit/credit card on file. Each cruise line is different in how much they pre-authorize, but it is safe to assume that it will be about $60-$100 per person per day (for a 8-day cruise, the pre-authorized rate will be between $480 - $800 per person). This assures that you can pay for anything that you buy on the ship including drinks, specialty dining meals, photos, the casino, or shore excursions.

*Note: if you go above the per day amount, the cruise lines will do another pre-authorization on your card. This per day amount includes the gratuities—which will be discussed in tidbit #4.

3. ​Sea days are your vacation away from your vacation

​“Why are there so many sea days?! They’re just a waste!” is a comment I’ll receive from non-cruisers. The reality is that sea days give you time to truly relax on your vacation. When your cruise is chalked full of port calls, it can be rather tiresome! Getting up early every morning to rush off the ship, run around all day at your destination, and come back to a ship full of food and entertainment is exciting yet also exhausting. Sea days allow you to catch your breath as a vacation on your vacation—get that much needed spa service, check out shows, do a food/wine tasting, or merely hang out at the pool and rec centers.

4. TIPPING is not REQUIRED--
​Gratuities are automatically put on your account

Tipping is customary in a lot of travel related industries. You tip your car drivers, wait staff, and housekeeping attendants. However, in the cruise industry, tipping (often called gratuities or service charges) has been automated rather than having you feel the need to pull out cash or calculating what to tip at every venue on the ship. The cruise lines have already added up how much each person should pay per day, which is then divided between the staff. This daily total depends on the cruise line but can be between $15-$20 per person per day.

There are typically four ways to pay this: pre-paid, on-board account, not at all, or by special promotions.

Pre-paid
You have the option to pre-pay the gratuities with your travel agent. This amount is added to your final bill and will be due by the final payment date.
*I always suggest this for travelers—it’s just easier on everybody and less confusing in the end.

On-board
If you do not pre-pay it, you will see the daily gratuity automatically added to your on-board account each day. (Some people wonder what this random $15.69 charge on their Account is—only to find out that it is the daily gratuity.)

Not at all
There is another option too—not to pay!
Before you try this option, it may take guts, fortitude, and some explanations. You can request that the cruise line remove the gratuities if you feel that the cruise line has gone below and beyond in what they gave to you. This is your chance to let them know about your experience and request to not include the gratuities on your balance. (I’m not sure EVERY guest service associate will be inclined to do it, but you can request it.)

By special promotions!!!
The last way to pay for your gratuities is to book a promo with the pre-paid gratuities included.

The Cruise Lines will often run promotions to incentivize people to book with them—see tidbit #9. There are a lot of promotional items that the cruise lines can include and one of them includes the pre-paid gratuities. Whenever you hear of this particular promo—jump on it, it is becoming increasingly rare to see and is an instant savings for your trip. (But, don’t fear taking tips out of the pockets of the wonderful staff, the cruise lines still make sure the staff is taken care of during these special promos.)

*I would be amiss to say, if you want to tip any of your crew extra, even though it is not required, you can tip extra to crew who have gone above and beyond in making your experience the best it can possibly be.

5. ​Guided excursions guarantee you won’t be left

If you are at all like me and stress about making it back to the ship on-time, you might want to consider getting a guided excursion done by the cruise line. They have many excursions to choose from including food and drink tastings, guided tours of the city/region, zip lining or boating activities, and so much more. The difference between doing an excursion on your own or one with the ship is that YOU WON’T BE LEFT. Since you booked it with the cruise line, they guarantee that you will make it back to the ship in time before they disembark the port.

After being one of the last passengers to arrive back to the ship within minutes of the cruise lines shutting the doors myself, this is a good option to have. You absolutely do not want to be left by the ship—luckily, I have never been left nor have any of my traveling clients—whew! (But, I won't mention the ONE that almost got left in Victoria, BC.)

6. Pack dress and party clothes

Packing for a trip—on any normal occasion—can be an interesting experience. Packing for a cruise is WAY more interesting. There are so many more occasions on a cruise to pack for than on a normal vacation. You have your casual attire for the ship and casual attire for the port, pool/ spa attire for the ship and beach water-ware for the port, and (DO NOT FORGET) dress-ware for dress night on the ship.

Many cruise lines have gone away with the too formal and too stuffy dress code of the past for the entire ship. However, many of them have kept a couple special “dress nights.” On these nights, the dining rooms will only allow you in if you are dressed up. (For men, the attire is a collared shirt and slacks. For women, the standard is equivalently the same. Just no light-colored jeans, tank tops, etc.) I found these nights to be quite fun—seeing everyone’s Sunday best. It was also nice being complimented on how I looked while also pinning over some fancy dresses.

A special note: some cruise lines will have special request dress nights like a white/red party or a 70’s night. Be sure to ask your travel agent and ship experience crew about what special nights they have in-store.

​7. Get to know the ship and brand before you go!!!

Each ship and each brand is different!

A cruise with a medium-sized ship is different than one of the largest cruise ships in the world. A cruise with a destination focused company is different than one focusing on the overall experience. A cruise line catering to luxury travelers who are retired is different than one catering to budget-conscious travelers who are in the early/mid-part of their career. It is good for you to know this information BEFORE booking your trip, but also as your trip gets closer to its sail-date.

Holland America ships tend to not have all of the bells and whistles. Instead, they focus on the destination. They have seminars about the ports coming up and a cooking show that features local culinary delights. This experience is quite different than Norwegian Cruise Lines. NCL ships tend to focus on the overall experience. This experience starts the moment that you get on their ship with the water slides, broadway type performances, and maybe even a game of laser-tag.

Ask your travel agent which brand and which ship might be the best for you. If you have never worked with your agent before, they may ask a ton of questions about the experience type of experience that you are looking for and give you a few options to look at. If you and your travel agent have known each other for a long time, they’ll already know most of your preferences and should be able to advise you to the best cruise line for the way you like to travel.

8. Tour the ship first

Adding onto tidbit 7, since each ship is different, take a tour as your first vacation experience. These ships can feel like floating cities and will be your home-away-from-home for your vacation. That’s why I like to get acquainted with the ship. It also helps me make a game plan of all of the fun activities to do. I like to go to my stateroom first and then visiting the staterooms of the others in my group. From there, I find the main spots: casual dining, main dining, pool, and party venue. After getting a general understanding of my home for the next several days, I go to all of the unique places on the ship that set it apart from other cruise lines or other ship categories within its own line. (NCL’s Norwegian Epic is quite a bit different than the Norwegian Encore.)

9. Book special promotions or before you get off the ship

The Cruise Lines ALWAYS have some type of promotion going on—your travel agent will know exactly what they are and when it’s the right time for you in particular to book your trip under which promotional. Places like Holland America have a All4Choice that includes 1) a drink package, 2) a specialty dining meal, 3) an internet package, and 4) shore excursion credit. Norwegian Cruise Lines has a similar promos that can include a certain percentage off the 2nd passenger or can include the 3rd and 4th passengers for taxes only, a drink package, internet package, shore excursion discount, and free air on 2nd passengers.

It always varies. Here are some popular promos (terms and conditions of the cruise lines apply):

• Beverage package—typically including 15 drinks a day including alcohol under a certain rate, premium coffees and juices, and sodas
• Special dining meal—Cruises have free buffet style food and dining rooms included in your fare. However, they are include SPECIALTY dining restaurants to elevate your experience—Japanese sushi fine dining, premium steakhouse, fine dining French restaurant, etc. You get to choose a meal to enjoy during your cruise. Be sure to reserve your time!
• Internet package—a 250 minute internet package (1 login). To be honest, this is nice to have but can be unreliable on the ship. It really is only good to share social media posts to make all of your friends jealous … and keep mom and dad or your kids updated that your alive and well.
• Shore excursion discount—all of the cruise lines do this different and base it off of how many days your cruise is, but you can typically see a shore excursion discount of a certain dollar amount on one excursion or on one excursion per port.
• 3rd and 4th person free/taxes only—cruise lines will never truly give a cruise away, but they will give it to you for the taxes and port fee expenses. So if you see this deal know that you’ll still pay a bit for those spots, but it will be significantly reduced. *Note—gratuities are still paid on the 3rd and 4th guests in this promotional.

10. Gain membership and reward points with your favorites

Each cruise line has a membership—just like an airline’s mileage program or a hotel’s membership. You typically gain more points by cruising more—1 day at sea = 1 point (*in-suites, 1 day at sea = 2 points). You’ll start gaining points on your first cruise and will then be instantly included in the rewards for your next cruise. Some of these rewards include discounts in their duty-free store or a complimentary bottle of wine or chocolate covered strawberries. As your cruise with them more, you gain better rewards for every cruise that you do. Some of the higher tiers receive a dinner with the captain or a personal concierge.


Norwegian Cruise Lines just revamped their tiers on January 10, 2021. Here are their reward offerings in their latitudes loyalty program:

Happy Sailing

Cruising is such a unique experience. With these 10 tidbits, you will be well-prepare to experience your first cruise. I cannot wait to hear about your experience on-board and to see your pictures. Please share those with your travel agent and tag us on facebook @CatalystTravel and #inspiringconnections.
Happy Sailing!