Cruising…. you either love it, you hate it, or you’re going along for the ride because your partner or friends love it. 🙂 We have been on four cruises now and I hope these tips help you prepare and make for a stress free and fun trip, even if you experience bad weather or things don’t go as planned!
Cruise Line Comparison - Which Cruise Line is Better?
Based on our personal experience, here’s how I would rank them from best to worst. We’ve done Norwegian, Celebrity and Royal Carribean so I can’t speak to the others.
#1 Celebrity – Celebrity cruise line is perfect if you want an adult getaway with a less rowdy/older crowd overall. There are less bachelor/bachelorette parties, way less kids, better food, amazing spa services, better on ship bars, more relaxing atmosphere. The entertainment was also top notch. If we were to do another cruise, I would pick Celebrity. Their staff was also so friendly and fun to be around. The rooms are also stunning – so modern! Check out Celebrity Edge for a chance to sail with a female captain! I’ve seen some amazing deals throughout the year so keep an eye out for their sales.
#2 Royal Carribean – I’m putting this ahead of Norwegian because I think they have a better fleet of ships, their buffet was 10X better than Norwegian, their staff is friendly and it’s a great upgrade from what I would imagine a Carnival cruise would be. The rooms are comparable to Norwegian. I also think their entertainment was better than Norwegian in terms of variety, quality of the content and performers.
#3 Norwegian Cruise Line – Honestly kind of a disappointment. I will say we were on an older ship so this could play a huge factor. However, we were on an older Royal Carribean ship though too, so I feel like I am comparing apples to apples between the two. The staff on Norwegian was not friendly (besides the dinner staff), the entertainment sucked, the buffet was pretty sad and there were hardly any activities on board. Don’t even get me started on their bar staff service.. very slow. Lacking waiters serving by the pool and lounges, compared to their other cruise lines. Their dinner, however, was a lot better than Royal Carribean but overall, the food options were not great.
What to Pack
Always pack your passport. Even if you’re only going to the Bahamas, this is a requirement.
An absolute MUST. Maybe it’s all in my head but I would not go on a cruise without these sea bands. I wear them 24/7 on the ship to help with motion sickness. If you don’t want to wear them during the day, at least pop them on at night and thank me later.
For your port days! This beach tote is easy to pack without taking up space in your carry on. Highly recommend bringing a tote like this – even for your first day of the cruise. Sometimes you aren’t able to check into your room yet when you board your ship, so at least you can throw all your essentials in here and enjoy a pool day until your room is ready!
Eye patches for puffy eyes and dark circles – a must. For before, during, and after the cruise because you drank too much and didn’t sleep.
Liquid IV – again for when you drink too much. Strawberry is my personal favorite flavor, but they have many others to choose from!
Preparing For Your Cruise
Flying – If you are coming from out of state and flying to your cruise port, never fly in on the same day. Not only are you risking your flight being delayed or cancelled, but it’s just stressful. You generally have to be on the ship two hours before it leaves port, so this usually means a super early morning flight. You’re tired from that, and then it’s too many lines to wait in, too many crowds to deal with personally for me in one day. The airlines will not refund you for your cruise if your flight is delayed and causes you to miss your cruise, so don’t even ask. Do yourself a favor and fly down the day before. Also consider it might take 1-2 hours to exit the boat after your cruise. Give yourself enough time before your flight home.
Transportation to Port – the cruise lines will ask if you want to take their shuttle to and from the airport to get to the port. It’s generally around $25 per person and if that makes if easier for you, you can book that through your cruise line. Personally, I’d rather take an Uber since it’s usually cheaper and then I don’t have to deal with the bus full of people
Arriving on the ship – you can generally start boarding the ships around 6 hours prior to departure. Keep in mind if you pick an earlier time slot, your room might not be ready. This has happened to us twice now on different cruise lines. Pack your essentials (bathing suit and sunscreen) into a smaller bag so you can enjoy the pool while you wait for your room. Consider that the shops may also not be open yet either so don’t rely on purchasing your sunscreen or other essentials as soon as you’re on board.
Favorite drink order – Mojito with less sugar!
Motion sickness – always consider this, even if you generally aren’t prone to it. Opt for a larger cruise ship to help with this, bring Bonine and your sea bands.
In case of bad weather – Again, opt for a larger cruise ship. If the weather is bad and you have to miss your ports or you simply can’t enjoy a day outside, it sucks to be on a smaller ship with hardly any other activities. I would strongly recommend spending the extra money to get the bigger ships with more activities. You never know if the weather is going to change, forcing you to end up stuck inside the ship for a day or two.
A very fun and informative read. Well done.
Good tips! Thanks for the honest comparisons.
Thanks for reading!!
Good stuff! Our favorites (in no particular order) are Celebrity, Oceania and Princess. We also did an AMA river cruise in France that might be our overall, all-time favorite. Being geezer’s, we don’t participate in “party ’til you vomit” stuff. You can find it on Celebrity and Princess if you look. Oceania can be like visiting an old-folks home, but the food is so good and the staff is so nice and we always feel like we’re younger than most of the crowd. We use the “Cruise Critic” website to meet fellow passengers and to set up much-less-expensive tours at the various ports. On many cruises, we don’t take any ship-organized tours. The “Cruise Critic” crowd also generally organizes sail-away parties and meet and greet sessions with Ship Officers.
Haha! Love this!!! Thank you!!