Cruises, people tend to either love them or hate them, but I find myself somewhere in the middle.  I love the idea of visiting three or four different countries and not having to drive there, pay for food or change hotel rooms.  They are especially wonderful when you are bringing the kids along because the ships have so many things to entertain them – and if someone needs a nap in the middle of the day you can just walk back to your room and take one (that could be me or them ).  That being said I also sometimes feel like I miss out on the true essence of a country if I am only there for a few hours walking around the port city or on a ship excursion.

Cruise Lines:

There are a number of cruise lines out there, and quite honestly you probably won’t have a bad time on any of them.  US News and World report just ranked the top cruise lines for the, “Best value for your money” in 2022 and here’s how they fared:

1. Virgin Voyages
2. Carnival Cruise Line
3. Celebrity Cruises
4. MSC Cruises
5. Princess Cruises
6. Royal Caribbean International
7. Holland America Line
8. Norwegian Cruise Line

I’ve only traveled on Virgin, Royal Caribbean, Norwegian, Carnival and Princess, but I agree with their assessment of those ships.  I think Virgin feels like a luxury ship, Royal Caribbean’s interior designs and Entertainment are better than some of the others, and Carnival has amazing value for the cost.  That being said, if I travel with my kids – Carnival is usually my go-to cruise line.  Their prices are usually cheaper, and when you have three kids and need more than one cabin, cost is a huge factor – I’ll give up a little in design to be able to afford to take the whole family.   The larger Carnival ships are amazing, and I guarantee you’ll have a great time.

As a newer type of cruising, Richard Branson has just started a new cruise line called Virgin Voyages.  This is supposed to be a luxe cruise, and the prices definitely reflect that.  However, when you start looking at what’s included – it’s not so bad!  Virgin’s price is per cabin, and includes all gratuities, wi-fi, regular beverages and sports classes.  There are no buffets aboard, everything is a specialty restaurant and is included in the price.  The best part of all?  It’s 18+ only, so there are no kids allowed.  We took a trip on the Scarlett Lady in November of 2021 – if you want to know more about it click here. 

My first piece of advice is to book early.  Cruise lines tend to have the lowest prices the further out you are from your sail date.  In addition, restaurant bookings and excursions may sell out and you will be stuck with whatever is left.  We recently booked a cruise on Norwegian about 45 days out and many of the popular ship excursions were sold out and we were unable to make reservations for any of the specialty restaurants ahead of time.

What cruise line you choose will depend on your preferences in price as well as the itinerary.  Typically, the base cruise prices are the same whether you purchase them directly from the cruise line, through a site like cruises.com, through an airline or even Costco.  What changes are the incentives that come with the booking.   Sometimes you will see incentives for no deposit, no gratuities or even “Free at Sea” deals like a free drink package or a free 3^rd or 4^th person in the cabin.  The incentives change frequently so if you see a cruise you are interested in and there are no incentives – give it a week or so and that will change.

The problem is that there are so many incentives, you have to do your due diligence to see if it is really a good deal.  If you’re short on cash at the moment and want to book a cruise, maybe the no deposit incentive is good for you.

No Gratuities:  One of the common incentives is that the cruise line pays the gratuities for you.  Cruise lines have a gratuity fee for each person in the cabin that is added to your bill.  Personally, I take issue with this because if you’re adding a mandatory charge to my bill – it’s not a gratuity, it’s a fee.  But it is what it is, and you should know if you are taking a cruise you will be charged a gratuity fee for every passenger, every day.  If you feel your service is subpar, or you would like to pay extra for excellent service you can visit the ships desk and amend your gratuity payment. At the end of 2018 the Gratuities for the major cruise lines looked like this:

• Carnival: $14.50 per person, per day. $16.50 per person, per day for guests in suites. Guests under 2 years old don’t pay gratuity.
• Celebrity: $15.50 per person, per day. $16.00 per person, per day for those in Concierge Class and AquaClass cabins. $19.00 per person, per day for suites.
• Disney: $13.50 per person, per day
• Holland America: $16.00 per person, per day. $17.50 per person, per day for guests in suites.
• Norwegian: $16.00 per person, per day. $20.00 per person, per day staying in suites. person, per day 
• MSC Cruises: $14.00 per person, per day. Guests under 2 years no charge. Guests over 2 years old and under 12 years old pay $7.00 per day.
• Princess: $14.50 per person, per day. $15.50 per person, per day staying in mini-suites. $16.50 per person, per day for guests in suites.
• Royal Caribbean: $16.00 per person, per day. $18.50 per person, per day for guests in suites.

If you are taking a 7 day cruise, which consists of the first night when you board and leave the port, 6 additional days on the boat, and then the day you disembark, you are charged for 7 days (so you are not charged for that 8^th morning when you wake up and leave the boat.)  For two people on a 7-night Norwegian cruise in 2020 our tips came to $203.  When budgeting for the trip keep this in mind, and when deciding on incentives know how much your savings will be.

Free Dining Packages:  On cruise ships you will find that if you eat in the main dining room or any of the buffets on board, food is included.  Many ships also have several upscale restaurants on board that require reservations and an extra charge.  One of the common incentives is a free dining package.  Norwegian offers meal packages from any where between 3-15 days depending on your preferences and length of the cruise.  In 2020 2e purchased a 3-day dining package for our 7-night cruise for $79 each plus a $15.80 fee (there’s that gratuity again).  When being offered as an incentive it usually only applies to the first two people in a cabin.  A typical 7-day cruise would include a free 3-day dining package, so your savings would be about $189.

Excursion credits:  Many lines offer a $50 excursion credit per port as an incentive.  This is usually per stateroom, not per person, and does not include your embarkation port.  If a port is missed due to inclement weather, the $50 is lost.  If you were going to pay for an excursion at every port (which a lot of people don’t), this could save you $250 on a 7-night cruise.

Free Internet:  Norwegian offers a 150 minutes per person incentive.  As of 2023 their current price is $29.99 per person per day for the basic internet package. 

Unlimited Drink Package: This is everyone’s favorite lol!  Who wouldn’t love the chance to drink all you want and not have to pay for it!  As of 2022 Norwegians Open Bar package is $109 per person, per day, plus a $21.80 gratuity charged per person, per day.  If you take the drink package as your incentive, you are still responsible for paying the gratuity charge which would be $152.60 on a 7 day cruise, but you save the $763 per person for the package itself for a total of $1526.00 for two people.   If you’re a big drinker, this might be the one for you.  Note:  If an incentive is not being offered, the drink package is usually not worth it.  (See the section on drink packages for more information)

Shore Excursions: The cruise ships all offer shore excursions, or organized tours for the different attractions of the port you are visiting that day.  They usually have several different types of activities to choose from that range in length and activity level.  The benefits to taking a cruise organized excursion is that if you are late getting back to the boat – they will wait for you.  The downside is that they can also be pretty expensive.  We have a cruise booked that stops in St John’s Antigua.  There is a cruise excursion which has you riding around the island in a motor coach to see the sights for 2.5 hours and costs $69 for an adult and $59 for a child.  These buses typically have 30-40 people on them and stop at predetermined sights – which many times include a sales pitch at a local store or restaurant.  We hired a private driver at $75 who will take up to 4 people in an air-conditioned van.  There are just two of us on this trip, but the $75 is still a savings off the $140 the cruise line would have charged us.  Plus, since it’s private – we can tell the driver what we want to see or skip and make the tour our own.  We have done a number of ship excursions and a number of off-ship excursions, and I have to say I typically like the off-ship excursions better.  That being said, remember, that if you don’t make it back to the boat on time – the ship WILL leave without you and you will be responsible for getting yourself to the next destination.  I like to reserve the off-ship excursions for half day itineraries or when we are overnighting in a port so I know that we will make it back to the ship on time.   I also make sure to only book private excursions that have a guarantee that if they do not get you back to the ship on time, they will be responsible for getting you back to the ship at the next stop, and those who have free cancellation if your ship is unable to dock at that port due to weather.  One other thing to consider when booking an off-ship excursion is whether or not your port is a tender port.  There are several ports where the water is too shallow to dock a cruise ship, so instead of walking directly off the ship you have to take a tender boat to get to shore.  When this happens the cruise lines reserve the first tenders of the day for people taking their excursions.  Everyone else has to line up for tender tickets to see what time you will get off the boat.  If you get in line relatively early, you should make it off within an hour after docking.  Make sure to factor this in when setting up where and when you will meet your tour guide.

Parking: If you drove to the port, you will have to pay to park your vehicle while you’re on your cruise – and some cruise lines charge up to $40 a day for parking!  Parking at the terminal is usually the most expensive option.  There are several other options that make more sense.  If you live near the port – Uber in or have someone drop you off.  If you are coming from a distance google cruise parking in the city you are traveling too.  There are many companies that let you park your vehicle on their lot and have a shuttle that runs to the port.  These are usually much cheaper than cruise port rates.  If you are flying in to take the cruise and staying at a hotel, google hotels that have a stay and park option.  There are many hotels that will let you park on their property for the length of your cruise if you are staying with them the night before or after your cruise.

Drink Packages: We talked about drink packages as a Free at Sea incentive option, but what about without the incentive are they worth it?  Usually not.  Let’s take Norwegian for example.  Their 2022 drink package is $109 a day per person, with a $21.80 gratuity charge on top of that.  If one person purchases the package, every other adult over 21 must purchase the beverage package as well.  (They don’t want you sharing lol!).   The ship limits you to 15 drinks a day.  I couldn’t drink near that much, but I know some of you out there are champion drinkers, so I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt.  The average beer on a cruise ship averages $7 including gratuity.  Times 15 is $105.  So even if you can handle 15 drinks a day, you’re paying more for the drink package than if you just bought the beers.  The average cocktail is $12 including gratuity, so you’d have to drink 9 to get your money back – every night….  Still sound doable?  Consider the fact that on four or five days, you’ll be in port.  If you go off the ship you’ll be buying drinks on land and when you come back you have a lot less time in the day to drink those 9 cocktails – and don’t forget, since BOTH people in the cabin have to buy the package, your wife has to go toe to toe with you on drinks to get your money’s worth.  I know some people out there can do it, and hey – you do you!  But for the rest of us, figure out if it’s worth if before you buy the drink package at regular cost.

Cruzely has a great cruise drink calculator where you enter the cruise line, the number of drinks you typically have and the types of drinks and it will let take the guess work out of deciding whether it’s worth it for you or not.

Here are a few other cruise tips to make your vacation better:

• Specialty dining – If you were unable to make reservations on line for one of the specialty dining restaurants do it as soon as you get on the ship. They usually reserve some spaces for those who have to book on board and the sooner you do it the less likely you are to end up with an undesirable slot.
• Sign for the cruise lines loyalty club. The cruises offer specials and perks based on the number of cruises you take with them.  Things like expedited check in, a free drink or a welcome party.
• Booking a cruise while on board. Many cruise lines offer incentives for you to book your next cruise while still on board.  You don’t even have to know what cruise you want.  Norwegian for example has what they call a Cruise Next deposit.  On our last cruise we paid $250 for 2 $250 deposits that can be used within the next four years.  We are using one on a cruise from Puerto Rico in March, and another for a Mediterranean cruise for my daughter’s high school graduation.  Just make sure you know you’re going to use them before you buy.
• Make sure your bill is correct before leaving the boat – if not bring it to the cruise desk and have it taken care of before leaving the ship. Otherwise it can be hard to have issues corrected.
• Get on board early! Why not get your money’s worth and have lunch on board as well as dinner?  Just remember, once you check your luggage you may not see it again until later that evening – so bring a day bag with extra clothes and your swim suit so you can enjoy the ship until your bags get there.
• Make sure your use your travel branded card if you have one to earn extra points on the trip. You can also book through many different credit card/miles program vendors to earn even more.  United for example has deals where if I use my Explorer Plus card I get the typical 1 mile per dollar, but get an extra 4 miles per dollar for booking through United.  The prices are the same as booking through the cruise line and I can even use my Cruise Next deposit.  So for a $2500 cruise I end up with 12,500 miles.  That’s a one-way domestic trip folks!
• Don’t make the final payment on your cruise unless you have to. If the fare drops below what you paid, some cruise lines will allow you to request a refund for the difference up until your cruise is paid in full – so keep an eye on those prices!  Additionally, some lines won’t let you change the name of the traveling passengers after it is paid in full. 
• Typically, people leave their luggage outside of the cabin on the last night so cruise line employees can move your luggage off the ship for you in the morning.  However, if you can carry all of your luggage off the ship yourself, you can usually debark earlier than the zoned deboarding based on your luggage tag number.
• Since cruise ships go through multiple time zones, they usually choose a time (Ship’s Time) and stay with that when making announcements. When you go into port make sure you are back at the appropriate time in Ship’s Time, not necessarily the time zone of the country you’re in.
• In the dining room, if you can’t decide what to order, you can have more than one entrée, or starter or dessert – or whatever you want lol!
• Make sure you put your phone in airplane mode, or even though you’re not using it you may come home to high phone bill.
• Cruisecritic.com is a great website with a ton of information about cruising. They even have “roll calls” so you can introduce yourself on line to others who are taking the same cruise you are.109