How to Make Each Cruise a Unique Experience

If you think of cruising as just the same thing every single trip… well, you couldn’t be more wrong. Cruising can always be an exciting adventure, with something new and fresh every cruise!

That said, it is easy for some cruisers to fall into a routine of doing the same thing every single trip. Without thinking about it, they end up taking the same cruises, with the same lines, on the same ships, to the same places and spending their days doing the same things.

While this is all well and good for some travelers who do enjoy a familiar, stress-free routine, to others, it can feel like a bit of snore fest. If this is you, we have a solution.

You can avoid even a hint of boredom by actively trying to make each cruise you take, a unique experience. Here are our best tips for how to go about it.

Take a Spur-of-the-Moment Cruise

While many cruisers may book their cruise well in advance, planning out their shore excursions and dinner reservations up to a year ahead of time, you don’t have to do this. In fact, taking a spur-of-the-moment cruise can make your cruise far more exciting, as well as even more affordable.

The key to having a great experience booking a spur-of-the-moment cruise, though, is to remain flexible and to have an open mind. When you’re booking last minute, you won’t have a wealth of options to choose from, so you’ll have to take what you can get.

Again, though, this can be part of the fun and excitement, as you may find yourself trying things you normally wouldn’t, when you have an array of options to choose from. You may find yourself in a cabin you’d never book, or on a ship or itinerary you’ve never considered before.

You can book last-minute cruises that sail in as little as a few days to a few weeks from booking, and find deals starting at under $350 per person through cruise lines such as Royal Caribbean, Norwegian Cruise Line and Carnival (Carnival refers to its last-minute cruise deals as “Pack & Go” cruise deals). In some cases, you can save as much as 80% on your cruise fare!

Leave From a New-to-you Cruise Port (and consider staying there a few days!)

If you’re lucky enough to live close to a particular, large cruise port in Florida, such as PortMiami or Port Canaveral, then you probably just cruise from that port every time, for convenience’s sake.

However, if you’re hoping to shake things up a bit and make your next cruise a brand-new experience, consider sailing from a new-to-you port.

Not only will sailing from a new port give you access to cruise itineraries you might not have considered otherwise. It can also add a new travel experience to your itinerary, especially if you stick around in the port city for a few days before or after your cruise (which will come with the added bonus of leaving you some wiggle room between your cruise dates and your flights, if you’re flying in).

There are some truly cool port cities that are worth vacations all on their own, such as New Orleans and New York City. So, arrive early, enjoy a few days of fun, then head out onto your cruise, come back, enjoy a few more fun days and then head home.

Seek out Cruises to off-the-Beaten-Path Places

There are some destinations that it seems like every single cruise line visits and that, if you’ve taken a few cruises in your life, you’ve probably been to at least once, if not more. Cozumel, Nassau, St. Thomas, Jamaica — they’re among some of the busiest cruise ports by passenger volume in the entire world.

So, to make your next cruise far from ordinary, make an effort to seek out cruises to off-the-beaten-path places. No, you don’t necessarily have to spend big bucks to go to far-flung destinations.

For example, if you want a Caribbean cruise, opt to bypass Jamaica and St. Thomas and, instead, try St. Maarten, which is served by major cruise lines like Royal Caribbean, Holland America and Carnival. Or, try the Grenadines, accessible via Silversea.

Read Also: Jamaica Cruise Ports – Full List and Overview

Want to cruise around Europe? Forget the Nordic fjords and the Greek Isles. Head for the coast of Turkey instead, with cruise lines like Oceania or MSC Cruises.

Look for Cruises of Differing Lengths

While you can often expect a cruise to last about five days to a week, consider taking a cruise that’s either far shorter or far longer than what you might normally book.

For shorter cruises, you may find that just being on the cruise ship for two or three nights (like the cruises that Royal Caribbean offers out of Florida, with stops at CocoCay) gives you enough time to have a fun time, without getting bored.

On the flip side, taking a longer cruise may allow you to really slow down and relax, and truly enjoy the cruise experience. Sometimes, especially when you’re on mega cruise ships with potentially dozens of things to do and enjoy (and that’s just the restaurants and bars!), it can feel overwhelming.

You might feel stressed and pressured to pack as much into your days as possible. With a longer cruise, you can slow down and go at a more enjoyable pace.

There are cruise lines — like Princess Cruises — that offer world cruises that last over three months, but you don’t need to be gone from home that long if you don’t want to be. Many cruise lines offer multi-week cruises, including Princess Cruises, Celebrity Cruises, Norwegian Cruise Line and Royal Caribbean.

Go on a Themed or Specialty Cruise

Themed and specialty cruises are sure to offer you a unique time, and if you’ve never been on a themed cruise before, it’s definitely one of the types of cruises you must experience at least once in your life.

Themed cruises really range in theme. If there’s a fandom or something similar you’re passionate about, you can find a themed cruise for you.

Have a favorite sports team? There are themed cruises for sports fans. Can’t get enough of Taylor Swift? There’s a themed cruise for that. A beloved television show like The Golden Girls? Yeah, there’s a themed cruise for that, too.

Themed cruises are often overseen by a production company that puts all the activities together, from parties to expert-led seminars and beyond. However, they typically take place on just an average cruise ship, so you can expect all the normal cruise ship amenities.

If you don’t want to take a themed cruise that’s hyper-focused on one specific thing, you can also find specialty cruises that occur around the holidays. Cruise lines like Disney deck out their ships for Halloween and Christmas, with themed activities that are sure to get you into the seasonal spirit.

And if you can’t find an upcoming themed or specialty cruise that catches your eye or works for your schedule, there’s nothing stopping you from crafting your own themed cruise.

Worth Reading: What Are the Best Cruise Lines for Fitness?

Plan a cruise that’s all about relaxation and wellness, all the time, with a packed schedule of spa treatments, fitness classes and dining at the healthiest on-board eateries.

Plan a cruise that’s romance-focused by booking a luxe suite with a private hot tub, planning some couples’ spa experiences and spending every moment possible indulging in fine dining and date night-worthy fun.

Try a New Cruise Line Altogether

If you frequently cruise with the same one or two cruise lines, you may find that just trying a new-to-you cruise line will make your experience more unique and enjoyable.

Sometimes, you might find that switching things up from Carnival to Norwegian Cruise Line is enough to sate your craving for something new. However, other times, you might want to try something even more different.

For example, if you normally cruise with the entire family on multi-generational-friendly cruise lines like Norwegian, consider going on a cruise with just your significant other or some friends, on an adults-only cruise line like Virgin Voyages.

If you typically go for a budget cruise line like Carnival, try upgrading the experience and spring for something slightly more luxurious.

Change Who You Cruise With

Along these lines, consider changing who you cruise with. If your normal cruise experiences include lots of family-friendly fun, days by the pool with the kiddos and mini golf tournaments, you’ll find that your cruising experience changes drastically when you leave the kids behind and go on a couples or girls/guys trip.

Yes, you’ll still be soaking up the sun by the pool, but you might do so with a few more drinks in hand, and you won’t need to worry about staying out too late at the ship’s live music venues. Spa days take the place of character breakfasts and you’ll be attending the adults-only comedy sets instead of the family-friendly shows.

In short, sometimes, making a cruise unique is as simple as choosing new cruising companions!

Make a Point to Book Different Excursions

There are all sorts of excursions you could book to enjoy during your cruise’s port days. However, some are pretty par for the course. Everyone wants to go swimming with the pigs in the Bahamas, or they want to go for an ATV tour in Aruba.

If you’ve been there, done that, choose something a little different during your next cruise. Fill your port days with excursions that take you away from the crowds. Go for a submarine excursion, like those offered by Scenic Luxury Cruises. Take a behind-the-scenes museum tour, like those offered by Viking.

You can go about finding really interesting or out-of-the-ordinary cruise ship excursions a few ways. You can book a cruise with a cruise line known for its excursions (for example, luxury cruise lines like Regent Seven Seas Cruises offer unlimited shore excursions).

You could book a cruise that travels to destinations where there’s more to do than just the average snorkeling or hiking excursions. Aim to also book a cruise that stops in destinations where it’s easy to find interesting private tours, allowing you to bypass the cruise line’s offerings.

Go on a Bucket List Cruise

None of us are getting any younger. If you’ve thought about taking a bucket list cruise — whether that’s an ultra-luxury cruise, a round-the-world cruise or just a cruise to a difficult-to-reach destination — now’s the time.

Crossing something monumental like this off your bucket list can be just the thing to breathe new life into your stale travel routine.

Go on a River Cruise

If you’ve only ever cruised on the ocean, consider trying a river cruise on for size. These smaller, more intimate cruises won’t give you everything that a mega cruise ship will (there are no rollercoasters at sea here!), but they will, as a result, give you things that you’d never find on a mega ship, in return.

River cruises offer stellar views of passing cities, with the shore never far away. Because of this, river cruises can stop more often, and you may find that your cruise itinerary includes up to multiple stops every single day.

For example, a Grand European Tour cruise from Viking stops in more than a dozen ports over 15 days, as you travel the Rhine and Danube.

Read Also: River Cruise vs. Ocean Cruise – What’s the Difference?

River cruises often offer loads of excursions and some cruise lines include those excursions in the price of your cruise fare, automatically, as is the case with Scenic Cruises.

Plus, a river cruise can take you to tons of places you’d never get to go on a mega-ship. Think small European villages, rural America via the Mississippi, to the jungles of the Amazon or to the pyramids along the Nile. It’s altogether a different experience than ocean cruising. The only thing that’s the same is that you’re on the water!