Cruises are supposed to be relaxing. But if you don’t plan correctly and keep yourself relaxed, your getaway could become so stressful you’ll be begging to go home and get back to work.
Here are 5 cruise tips to make your vacation the stay-in-paradise it’s meant to be.
Booking Events Early: One Of The Most Essential Cruise Tips
Cruise lines such as Royal Caribbean let you book for events and features ahead of time. Every cruiser should take advantage of this. Other cruise tips will improve your experience, but this can make or break it.
Features on cruise ships, particularly new ones, can be swooped up by interested cruisers fast. If you’re a first-time cruiser, you may just think you’ll book when you embark.
Expect Wi-Fi Outages
We’re all used to having wi-fi. Whether you still need to do some work on vacation or just want to tweet about the awesome time you’re having, it’s nice that most cruise lines offer wi-fi.
As comforting as the prospect of cruise ship wi-fi is for vacationing professionals, don’t become too dependant on it. For one, you usually will need to purchase a package. This means the cost of staying online isn’t cheap.
And even if you have a package, there’s no guarantee it works. A cruise line can try its best, but you are in the middle of the ocean. That’s why one of the most important cruise tips is remembering that there will be long periods of time on board without wi-fi or cell phone service.
Enjoy it, and consider it a well-needed opportunity to unplug.
Relax At the Spa
Cruises are supposed to be relaxing. But keeping track of passports and making dinner reservations can be stressful to those of us prone to travel anxiety.
The spa is a great way to keep calm on board, particularly if you’re somebody who gets stressed out by travel easily.
Though most cruise ships will allow you to enter the spa area at will, make sure you make appointments for things like massages and treatments.
Budget For Nights Out Ahead of Time
There are plenty of ways to make your budget manageable: booking a porthole cabin and finding cheap places to eat ashore are both options. Another is budgeting for nights out, and giving yourself wiggle room, before the trip.
When you go out, have a good time. But remember that you went out for food and drinks because you’re hungry or thirsty: not planning to eat and drink because you didn’t budget for it is pointless and only serves to stress you out on the trip.
Budgeting for these things ahead of time, however, will let you enjoy your time out with the knowledge that it won’t break the bank and leave you regretting your good time.
Make Sure to Spend Time Ashore
If you were only to follow one of our cruise tips, we hope it would be this one.
Time ashore is a great way to make lasting memories on your cruise. Whether it’s an excursion in the Caribbean or some exploring in the Mediterranean, this is a must-follow tip.
