What to expect on your first cruise

Have you ever considered taking a cruise?

Are you considering a vacation, but not sure where to go or what to do?

 If you haven’t cruised before, you might be nervous about booking one for your next vacation. Until you’ve experienced it, a cruise vacation can seem like a risky endeavour. When else do you join hundreds or thousands of people on a giant ship in the middle of the ocean? It’s hard to know what it will the cabins and food be like? What will I do all day, stuck on a ship? I know we were feeling a little anxious about being on a ship for 5, 7 or more days? (Spoiler, we jumped in with both feet and booked a 10-day voyage for our first cruise!)

Honestly though, I believe cruising is a brilliant choice, and everyone should try at least one.

A cruise provides a hand’s off, all-in-one vacation experience. The cruise includes accommodation, meals, and entertainment in the cost of your fare. Although there is plenty of opportunity to spend more (there can be quite a lot) you really don’t have to spend more than your initial cruise fare. You can simply relax and enjoy the ride.

If you’ve never cruised, the options can seem overwhelming but, with a little help and some research, I believe there is a cruise out there for everyone.

Use a Travel Agent 

It is super easy to book vacations yourself online and if you are a DIY type personality (I totally am), it may tempt you to book your first cruise yourself.

In fact, that is just what I did. I grabbed my laptop and started searching for “cruise deals”. I could have easily booked one, as they all looked great, but what I quickly became overwhelmed with options. Some had port fees included, some didn’t, there were all kinds of inclusions and exclusions for food and drinks and then there were Wi-Fi packages. Did we even need Wi-Fi? I quickly realized that I needed help. A vacation is a big expense, and I wanted to make sure I got the best value for the budget we had.

I chose a travel agent that specializes in cruises. It was the best choice I made to ensure that our first cruise was what we wanted. She answered all my questions, and I could make better decisions about what we wanted for our trip. Most importantly, she helped us pick the right cruise line for the experience we wanted.

Research your Cruise Line

Looking back, the biggest factor in how we felt about our cruise was choosing the right cruise line for us. Everyone has different things they like to do and different considerations, so it’s critical that you choose a ship experience that caters to the type of vacation you want. 

For this trip, we were looking for a quiet winter get away. Now I have nothing against kids, I love them, I even have one of my own BUT we didn’t want to have a lot of kids on board as we were basically looking for a more mellow experience. This would be the first vacation my husband and I took without our son in about 10 years. We were looking to relax on a ship with a more adult feeling that skewed toward couples rather than family. 

With that in mind, our first cruise was not on a ship with a rollercoaster, zip line and water slides. These are all great fun and if it’s your thing, go for it!

I love a good water slide, but we thought these activities would make the mood on the ship more youthful and be more skewed toward families with children… on this vacation, we were looking for quiet, so we chose differently. 

We ended up on the Enchanted Princess and, well; we were Enchanted 😊 (sorry, but I had to). Although there were some younger passengers, the bulk was in line with our age or older. The ship or cruise line you choose can be as important (maybe more!) as the ports of call on your itinerary. You want to be sure that you are in the middle of the ocean in a place that has an atmosphere you want. If you want a party and you choose a quieter ship, or the other way around, it virtually guarantees you will not have the vacation you want. The cruise and ship may be awesome, but if it’s not the atmosphere you want to be around, it’s going to feel like a terrible vacation. Do your research, ask your travel agent (as we did) and find the right place for you. There are so many options, I am sure there is a great cruise experience for everyone.

What’s a cruise really like?

Overwhelming. That really was my first impression. It was so much bigger than I imagined when I stepped on board my first ship and the amount of activity overwhelmed us. Don’t worry about not knowing where to go or what to do when you get onboard for the first time. At every turn, there were friendly crew members just waiting to direct you or answer your questions. 

If you are a person who likes to relax by the pool, the stories about not getting deck chairs because of “chair hogs” are absolutely true, I’m sad to say.

However, we could find many relaxing spots on a cruise ship — on a sun deck away from the main pool, in a quiet indoor lounge and, best of all, on our private balcony. On the flip side, if you’re looking to be entertained, you will never find a shortage of activities, shows, talks, trivia and shopping to fill both days and nights.

There was so much to do on the ship beyond ports and excursions that we were never at a loss for entertainment. You get a daily planner and can do (or not do) as much as you choose. You can be as active or as relaxed as you want to be on a cruise. 

What room should you book?

To be fair, you are the only one who can answer that. The interior cabins are always the cheapest and it works its way up in cost from there. 

Personally, I was concerned with feeling claustrophobic in a room with no natural light and no windows, so I knew an interior room would not be my choice. I know many people who have cruised staying in interior rooms and loved them. Now that I’ve cruised, I still would not be likely to stay in an interior room as my first choice, but it depends on you and how much time you think you will spend in your room.

If you are a person who will only use to the room to sleep, then absolutely you should book an interior room and spend the savings on excursions or other fun treats.

I like to go back to my room and have a bit of quiet mid-day, away from the hustle and bustle of the ship and I really like natural light.

Both my husband and I enjoyed taking a drink back to the room (or ordering from the included room service options on our ship) and having an afternoon cocktail on our private balcony. It was also awesome to enjoy coming into port and sail aways from our room, if we didn’t want to go out to the other decks.

As far as the size of the room. The state room never really felt small to us. The bathroom, though, yeah, that felt tiny.😉 We made it work though. Small bathrooms are standard on a cruise ship, so be prepared.

Service & Dining

The service we received on board from all staff members was exceptional. I expected wonderful service, but our experience on our first sailing was well beyond our expectations. From our cabin steward to wait staff to the fitness instructor; everyone was welcoming and helpful. The survey at the end of our cruise allowed us to recognize some crew members who were exceptional. To be fair, we struggled to limit it to those few. Staff make every effort to accommodate your needs. They work hard to ensure you have the best vacation possible.

We never went to any of the specialty dining on our first cruise and found that the food in the main dining room was really excellent.

If you don’t think food on a cruise ship is good, I’ll point out that we gained 10 pounds on our 10-day cruise (yes, each!). That’s one pound a day! We never took the elevators, walked everywhere, and went on a hike in every cruise port. There's no need to worry about the food. If you don’t like the day’s menu, the buffet had enough options to make anyone happy. If you wanted something different or have a special diet, the restaurant staff will accommodate your needs and there were always vegetarian and vegan options available everywhere we went.

Ports

Cruising isn’t just about the ship; it’s about the places you visit. Our first cruise was to the South Caribbean. I wanted to see Barbados. My dad is from there, so for me, that was a must on our itinerary. I wanted to experience some of my father’s homeland and where my family is from. 

A little pre-cruise research can go a long way in giving you the best in-port experience possible. We did a few organized excursions, but also ventured out on our own to experience some ports independently. I think that both ways of experiencing ports have their merits, so try both ways to see what’s a fit for you.

Don’t forget that if you want to stay on the ship and skip a port altogether, you can do that too. We wanted to explore, so we never did this. If you want to stay onboard while most passengers are at port, the ship is much quieter and less crowded. You might even get a deck chair beside the pool! :)

Seasickness

One of the main reasons people hesitate to take a cruise is that they fear they will be sick. And while it can take a bit of time to get used to the rolling of the ship, most people don’t get sick at all. They build modern cruise ships with smooth sailing in mind. They’re designed with stabilizers to minimize rocking. I promise, just because you got sick on Grandpa’s fishing boat or that ferry ride when you were a kid does not mean you will feel nauseas on a cruise.

If you’re worried about sea sickness (I absolutely was) remember that there are many options available to help you combat the feeling and enjoy your time onboard. On our first cruise, we really only had one evening on our sailing where you could feel the ship going through some rough seas. I found I got a little seasick but one anti-nausea pill and I was better. Now, I always carry the sea sickness medication but find that I don’t need it on most days of the cruise.

Finally

Our first cruise was eye opening. We honestly wondered why we had never considered travelling like that before. 

The goal of any vacation is to escape from the hassles and chores of real life, from the cold (I live in Canada and winter is long) and from everyday surroundings to a place where you’re pampered, entertained and given opportunities to have new experiences. We achieved all of this on our cruise. Why would we want to travel any other way?