It’s a vacation, so most mistakes you make on a cruise won’t be too serious. But there are some that can cost you dearly and if it’s your first cruise, you may not even consider them. And fair warning: a few of these trip up experienced cruisers, too… including me.
So what are the dumb mistakes people make? I’ll dive in right now.
Flying In the Day of the Cruise
Let’s start with something that is a bit like Russian Roulette. Most times nothing will happen, but when it goes wrong, it goes realy wrong. And I can tell you that from personal experience.
It seems like these days flying is just short of a nightmare. Delays, cancellations, computer issues, weather, other passengers.
Here’s the thing: If you are late to arrive, the ship is not going to wait for you. The rule that experienced cruisers live by is simple: fly in at least one day before your cruise departs. You’ve already spent hundreds or thousands of dollars on this vacation. Spending an extra night at a pre-cruise hotel isn’t going to kill your budget.
That said, I get it. I cruise a lot and that extra day isn’t always easy to swing. I figure I’ve flown to port for about 20-25 cruises and I always fly in the morning of the sailing. And guess what? It usually works out… except for the one time I had a connection and an early morning thunderstorm delayed my flight out.
I missed the connection, couldn’t get to the port until the next day, and ended up not only flying roundtrip between Texas and Atlanta in a single day, but missed my entire cruise.
Just fly in the day before.
Showing Up Late in Ports of Call
I said that the ship will not wait. That’s not a scare tactic — it’s just the reality of how cruising works. The ship has a schedule to keep, and once the departure time hits, it leaves unless there are special circumstances.
While it’s not every day that the ship leaves passengers who decide to get back late to the ship, it does happen. From there, it’s your responsibility to get back home.
The fix here is simple: Know your all-aboard time and make it back to the ship well in advance. I start to get the itch to get back to the ship when it’s less than an hour to go before all aboard.
If you booked a shore excursion through the cruise line and you’re out exploring, you’re in slightly better shape. Those excursions are guaranteed to get you back in time. But if you’re off exploring on your own, the responsibility is all yours.
Keep in mind that if you’re in port and the time gets close to all aboard, you’ll feel it. The port areas empty out and start to feel dead. That helps in that you won’t feel like you’re having to leave the fun early.
Not Budgeting Ahead (and Then Watching the Bill Pile Up)
A lot of first-time cruisers see that the cost of the cruise covers food, entertainment, and accommodations, and they think that’s basically the whole bill. It’s not.
Once you’re onboard, it can feel like you’re just a walking wallet to the cruise line. Specialty restaurants. The bar. The spa. Shopping. Shore excursions. Wi-Fi. It adds up faster than you’d expect, and if you haven’t thought about it ahead of time, you can find yourself freaking out at the end of the trip when you see your final bill.
The smart move is to sit down before your cruise and think about what you actually want to spend money on. Are you planning to eat at the specialty restaurants for a couple of nights? Great — budget for it. Do you want a spa day? How much are you going to drink? What about shore excursions?
As a general rule of thumb, expect to spend 40-50% of your cruise fare once on the ship. So if you’re on a $1,000 cruise, the average spending is about $400-$500. You can spend way less or way more, but that’s average based on cruise line financials.
Going Too Hard on Day One
This one might be the most relatable mistake on the list, and it’s definitely one that even experienced cruisers aren’t immune to. You board the ship, you’re excited, it’s warm and sunny, there’s a pool, and there are drinks. It’s time to let loose, and some people do so too much.
Spend hours in the sun and you’ll be lobster-red and miserable for the next three days. Spend all afternoon in the pool bar celebrating your vacation, and you might not make it to dinner, let alone the show. People who overdo it on day one often spend day two recovering. That’s a painful trade when you only have a few days total on the ship.
The first day is absolutely worth celebrating. Just pace yourself. Put on sunscreen before you even head up to the pool deck. Drink some water between those drinks. Take a break out of the sun in the afternoon.
A little self-control early in the trip pays massive dividends later when you’re still feeling great on day three while the sunburned guy in the chair next to you is applying aloe for the third time.
Being Cheap and Then Being Miserable About It
I’m going to make a confession… I’m a cheapskate. It might be what attracted me at first to cruising all those years ago. The value is outstanding.
But it can be tempting being “frugal” to pinch pennies on the ship. So you skip the nicer room or the specialty dining or the shore excursions.
I’ve heard cruise CEOs share that surveys consistently show cruisers who spend more onboard tend to report enjoying their trip more. That’s not a coincidence. With so much costing extra on the ship, you’re going to have a better time if you open the wallet.
That doesn’t mean you need to go wild. There are limits to how much more enjoyment you’ll get on every dollar spent. But it does mean you should give yourself permission to actually enjoy the vacation you’re on. Order the specialty dinner you’ve been eyeing. Do the excursion that looks incredible. Get the spa treatment. You saved money on the fare — spend a little of it on the experience.
Showing Up “Fashionably Late” to Onboard Activities
If you think of the Caribbean, you think of a laid-back culture. More like Jimmy Buffett instead of Warren Buffett.
So if you’re a first-timer, you might think that the ship’s daily schedule is more like a suggestion. Well, I already mentioned about the mistake of being late for the ship in port, but that extends to onboard as well.
Shows start on time. Dinner reservations start on time. Shore excursions depart on time. Trivia contests and even the belly-flop contest? You guessed it. The culture onboard is actually pretty punctual.
Say you show up at 7:15 to the theater. You didn’t just miss an introduction or an announcement, you’ve already missed a third of the show and will possibly have trouble finding a seat.
So don’t make the rookie mistake of strolling in late to something you really want to experience.
Not Realizing the Ship IS the Destination
Many first-time cruisers, especially those who’ve done a lot of land-based travel, think of the cruise ship mainly as transportation. It’s the thing that gets them to the ports of call. The actual vacation, in their minds, is the time spent exploring the ports.
That may have been true 20 years ago. Today, this is a major misconception, and the old way of thinking is a common mistake.
Here’s the reality: On a typical seven-day cruise with three port stops, you’ll spend most of your time on the ship. Even on days in port you’re spending at most about eight hours there. So three ports of call add up to just 24 hours out of a seven-day cruise in port.
The ship is where you’ll eat most of your meals, see most of your entertainment, and spend most of your waking hours. Your selection of the ship will have a bigger impact on your vacation than the selection of the itinerary.
So don’t make the first-time mistake of thinking a cruise ship is a cruise ship. The gulf between a 20 year-old ship and a new one is massive. If it’s your first time, I’d always suggest going with something built in the past decade to get a sense for what’s possible on a cruise.
Getting the Room Wrong Type for Your Trip Length
This one is more of a planning mistake than an onboard one, but it sets the stage for everything else. Choosing the right type of cabin matters, and the length of your cruise should play a big role in that decision.
The most common version of this mistake is splurging for an expensive room like a suite for a three or four-night cruise. Suites are wonderful, but when you’re only on the ship for three nights, you’re going to spend so little time in your cabin that the extra space and perks barely register. You board, you sleep, you’re in port, you sleep again, and then you’re home. The suite upgrade costs you a lot of money for very little return.
The flip side is also true. Booking the cheapest interior cabin can be absolutely fine for a short getaway. But on a longer cruise (I use five nights as the cut-off) a small, windowless room starts to feel claustrophobic. On longer sailings, it’s worth stepping up to a balcony. You’ll have more downtime to actually relax in the room instead of being out and about.
Not Trying Anything New on Your Vacation
Last one, and in some ways the saddest mistake on this list. It’s spending an entire cruise sticking only to what’s familiar.
Cruises offer an almost overwhelming amount of variety. The dining options alone can be staggering — sushi, Indian food, steakhouses, Italian, seafood, and more, often all on the same ship. Hell, sometimes they are on the same menu.
The entertainment ranges from comedy clubs to Broadway shows to live music to cooking demonstrations to trivia nights to escape rooms.
And that’s to say nothing of the ports of call where, sure, so much is Americanized but you can get off the beaten path or at the very least do some excursions that allow you to do things you just can’t do back home.
Yet, some people just never get outside their comfort zone. Don’t be that person. Order the dish you’ve never tried. Go to the show even if you’re not sure it’s your thing.
Cruises exist in a kind of magical bubble where the cost of trying something new is extremely low — you’re already there, you’ve already paid, and the worst thing that happens is you don’t love it. But far more often, you’ll come home with a story about something unexpected that turned into your favorite memory of the whole trip.
More Cruise Features:
- 7 Places You HAVE to Splurge on a Cruise and 4 to Avoid Spending Money
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