CruiseTips

I’m trying to figure out if MSC allows passengers to bring their own drinks onboard. Specifically, I was wondering if it’s possible to bring a 12 pack of soda as part of my carry on luggage. I’d prefer not to buy the drinks package and just pay for drinks occasionally instead....

We’ve reached Princess Elite status over the years, and these are some of the things we’ve learned from cruising a lot. One big tip is to arrive at the port city a day or two early so travel delays don’t ruin the start of the trip. It also helps to stay loyal to a hotel brand or...

My dad and I are doing our first cruise this summer on the Emerald Princess, roundtrip from Vancouver. I wanted to take him because he’s getting older and has always wanted to do an Alaska cruise. We booked an interior cabin and the cruise fare was about $1900 CAD for both of...

Trying Faster to the Fun for the first time on an upcoming Carnival cruise and wondering how the early stateroom access actually works. Normally when boarding, the hallways to the cabins are closed off with signs saying not to enter while rooms are still being prepared. Since...

Planning a Royal Caribbean cruise and usually just leave the automatic gratuities in place. This time considering going to guest services and asking them to remove it so tips can be given directly in cash to the stateroom attendant, dining staff, and others. The main concern is...

Just a heads up for anyone cruising around the Caribbean. In several countries it’s actually illegal for civilians to wear camouflage. Places like Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Dominica, Grenada, Jamaica, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and Trinidad and Tobago all...

Just a quick tip from a recent Liberty of the Seas cruise. At CocoCay, towels were already gone by around 10am. When leaving the ship, crew were offering pool towels but calling it a “towel exchange,” which made it a bit confusing and sounded like you needed to swap one instead...

Going on my first cruise in July to Alaska (19f) and my grandma told me Princess is kind of a formal cruise line. Is it actually dressy all the time? Or just certain nights? I dress pretty alternative day to day, but I can dress up if needed. Just don’t want to pack super fancy...

I feel this way more often than I’d like to admit. Cruises dump a ton of bored teenagers into a floating mall and then just hope they self regulate. A lot of them clearly aren’t going to shows or kids clubs, they’re just roaming in packs looking for reactions. Elevators seem to...

Short answer: mobile data won’t really save you here. Once the ship leaves port, you’re out in the Caribbean Sea and your phone will either have no signal or connect to maritime roaming, which is insanely expensive. Definitely not something you want accidentally turned on. A US...

My wife and I are going on our first ever cruise in about two weeks on Ruby Princess for our 30th wedding anniversary. We’ve never cruised before, so I’m looking for any insider tips. We got the soda package for me, but skipped it for her since she doesn’t drink much soda. We’re...

Sharing this as a cautionary tale because it still hurts to think about. We cruise fairly often and usually drive from Canada down to the NYC area ports. It’s cheaper than flying and normally very doable. This time we were boarding MSC Meraviglia with a 1pm boarding time, so we...

I’ll play along. Mine is basically the same buffet rule… walk the whole thing first. If I don’t scout it out, I end up with a plate of random stuff and then spot the good stations after. What’s your “learned it too late” cruise tip