12 Tips To Help You Choose Your First Cruise Vacation.

We fell in love with cruising the very moment we were greeted by the luggage handlers at the port of Miami a number of years ago at the onset of our first Eastern Caribbean cruise. That buzz and giddy sort of excitement.. cruisers will know what I mean, is something which remained with us several cruise vacations later.  It was not always the same as we’ve had flight delays, airport closures and lost luggage in San Juan two times (airline fault) and with young children that uncertainty was not fun!

Luckily for us when we decided on a cruise vacation, we had a ton of help from our travel agent (do people still use travel planners?) and Cruise Critic was unbelievably helpful. Nothing beats advice from a community of cruisers who share their experiences in real time. But I still remember how confusing it all seemed at first. Hopefully these tips will not add to the confusion, but aid you in choosing the cruise vacation of a lifetime.

• Budget! Keep in mind that your budget for the cruise goes beyond the expense of booking. You must also consider things like airfare to the port city (if not local), on-board costs (gratuities, activities, alcohol, specialty restaurants and excursions) and if you’re like us, we usually arrive a day early so we don’t miss our cruise due to flight delays and weather conditions. Hotel, food and transport to the cruise terminal.
• Itinerary. You have options for cruise destinations around the world. From the stunning beaches of the Caribbean to charm of Europe (old and new), the adventure of European and China river cruises, Pacific, Antarctica, Mediterranean.. you have OPTIONS!
•  Ports of call and how long the ship will dock at these ports. A cruise is an excellent way to get a taste of a city, island or region. Be sure they are appealing to you and you have enough time to do a little exploring.
• What’s included! For most cruise liners the accommodation, entertainment and a variety of dining options are included. But things as simple as soda (Coke and Pepsi) or a specialty coffee will come with additional costs. There are packages you can purchase which include such drinks and I’ve started seeing alcohol inclusive options being offered by some liners.
• Accommodations. Inside, Sea View, Balcony, Suite.. are just some of the options available. I’ll be honest as say that not only were we budget conscious, but we also considered that the ONLY time we would be in our room was to sleep, get dressed and freshen-up. So an inside room suited us fine. But bear in mind that it can get crowded and there will be NO natural light. Keep in mind that where your stateroom is on the ship (level, front, middle or back) will affect the pricing as well. We found it most comfortable on the higher levels and mid-ship.

• Length of cruise. This will be influenced by how much vacation time you have, your budget and how long you want to be on a ship. For us, 7 days was perfect, but I always dreamed about a 13 days Pacific, European or South American cruise. In another post I’ll share some tips on what to pack so you don’t find yourself without the necessities or over-pack.
• Type of cruise. Adult or family friendly? Size of ship and would you be interested in a a barefoot (sailboat) type ship? Today we have ships with passenger capacity exceeding 5,000 (add another 2500-3000 staff) and though we’ve not had the opportunity to sail on such large ships, the ones we’ve sailed on with 3,000+ passengers never seemed crowded to us.
• Activities! How well do they keep you entertained and what’s included (without extra costs). If you’re traveling as a family you may want to ensure that there’s a supervised children games area, maybe your teenagers want to hit the ‘disco’ or arcade and what about nightly entertainment? EVERY ship we’ve been on had a buffet of activities and kept us fully entertained.
• Dining options. There’s always the notorious buffet, the pool grill and cafe for your morning coffee and delights, but what about dinner? Do you want a formal setting where you get to dress up (be on a schedule) or would you prefer to go by your own time and try freestyle dining?  Are there costs for specialty restaurants? What about costs for room service?
• Gratuities! Are they billed to my room directly or do I compensate my wait staff, room attendant and other service people individually? Please pay attention to this as it’s probably one of the areas we tend to overlook in our excitement. But the people who cater to us deserves our gratitude.

• Pools, spa, gym etc! How many, what time are they open to the public and are there private or adult only areas? The pool deck can get VERY crowded on sea-days, so having an adult haven where you can have some relative peace is always refreshing.
• Do you care about supervised child care and babysitting options?

  Bonus tip! What about in room entertainment? Tv/Cable? Video consoles? and what about internet and mobile service?

In a follow up post I’ll try to touch on dining, excursions and general ideas on how to make the most of your next cruise vacation. Till then.. if you have any tips you can add to this list for planning a cruise vacation, do leave them in the comment section below.