When you are clear about what you plan on doing and have taken great care to ensure that everything is in place, cruising can prove to be an enriching experience. However, if you skip on the planning bit, things might turn out differently and not always in a good way.
To help you avoid any bad experience and have a fun and comfortable cruise, we have listed down some common yet significant mistakes people make on cruises, which you must avoid.
Taking packing lightly
Despite being a prerequisite to comfortable travels, packing is one of the things that many tend to undermine. Under packing can be a problem when you are on-board a cruise ship, thousands of miles away from land. Similarly, packing your luggage to the point where zipping it up gets tough will also be a problem every time you have to reach in there to find something. Make sure your packing is well-balanced.
Other than that, it is advised that you pack important things like your passport, medicines etc. at a place from where you can extract them easily and quickly.
Picking the wrong cruise
Whether it is your first time cruising or not, when you are looking forward to a specific kind of vacation, it is important that you select one that best matches your preferences. If you are not really sure as to what you are looking for in a cruise, you need to undertake more research. Focus on key points such as activities on-board, family cruises, partying options, and cultural experiences to help narrow down your choices. To find the best cruise deal, browse carefully through different cruiseship packages and see if one of them has what you are looking for, while fitting into your budget.
Not including added expenses in your budget
If you think what you pay on-board is going to be the full budget of your cruise trip, you need to think again. Unless you are on one of the fancier cruise lines, in which case you wouldn’t need to pay a basement rate, you have to factor in additional costs such as drinks or food you order in your cabin, spa services, fitness classes or shore excursions, souvenir shopping and the like, when calculating your budget.
Booking a flight on the same day as you cruise
In order to save themselves some time and money, people often make the mistake of booking a flight on the same day as their cruise. However, when you do so, there is a good chance that you will miss out on your entire cruise experience due to possible reasons like flight delays, flight cancellations, delays in baggage checkout and so on.
Even if you have to book a flight on the same day, try to keep a good window between flight arrival at your destination and the time of cruise departure.
Don’t dine or drink beyond reason
Believe it or not, but irresponsible eating and drinking is among the most common mistakes that people make on-board a cruise ship. Some of the most popular cruise lines are known for leaving people spoilt for choice when it comes to food and drinks. With world-class chefs’on-board cooking delectable dishes for you, and the availability of complimentary drinks, it is very much possible to go overboard.
However, you need to be careful with regards to what and how much you eat and drink on a cruise, especially if you are prone to sea sickness.
Other than these, interact with the people around. Cruises are one of the best places to meet people from different cultures and countries and socialize with them. Make the most of it!