First-Time Cruise Tips: How to Make the Most of Your Days Onboard

Article 12 of 13 in our Cruise Planning Guide — how to plan a cruise, one decision at a time.

You’re onboard, you’ve unpacked, and the ship is sliding away from the pier. Now what?

The good news is that the hardest part of a cruise is behind you. From here on, it’s mostly a matter of knowing where to look for what’s happening, when to dodge the crowds, and how to get full value from what you’ve already paid for. Here are our first-time cruise tips for your days onboard.

Start Every Day With the Ship’s Newsletter

The first thing we check each day is the ship’s daily newsletter. On Princess it’s called the Princess Patter. A hardcopy arrives each day when your steward freshens the room, and it’s also in the Princess app. Just about every line has one: on Celebrity it’s Celebrity Today, and on Royal Caribbean it’s the Cruise Compass.

There’s a lot packed into it: the hours for every dining room and bar, fitness classes, specials in the salon and spa, trivia contests and other games, and the day’s entertainment. Most days there’s also a “Need to Know” section with the specifics for the port: when the first water shuttle (tender) departs, a phone number to call in an emergency while you’re off the ship, what to do about wheelchairs, and, most importantly, what time you need to be back onboard.

That last one is worth writing on your hand if you have to. The ship sails on schedule, and it will not wait for a passenger who lost track of the time.

Introverts, This Is Your Moment

If you’re more of an introvert, no worries! Especially on a port day, if you’d rather stay onboard, it’s the perfect time to find a cozy spot and a comfy chair and just read or play games. The ship will be very quiet, most amenities won’t have lines, and the whole place feels like it belongs to you. It’s a great option for the crowd-averse, and a lovely change of pace after a few busy days.

Sea Days: Know When the Crowds Hit

On a sea day (as opposed to a port day), the main venues can get busy. We find the pool deck is most crowded from about 11 to 3. That’s when everyone has finished breakfast and is ready to soak up the sun.

You’ll also see something that’s technically against the rules: people staking out blocks of loungers early in the morning with towels and books, then disappearing for hours. Princess has been getting tighter about this, and staff will remove items from chairs if no one is sitting in them. We generally steer clear of all of it, but if you’re the pool-going sort, be considerate and only claim loungers and chairs when you’re actually using them.

If You Start to Feel Seasick

Neither of us has ever actually gotten seasick, strangely enough, across more than two dozen cruises. But we know plenty of people who are genuinely nervous about it going in, usually because of one bad experience years ago that they’ve never quite let go of. If that’s you, it’s worth taking seriously enough to prepare for, even if the odds are better than the anxiety makes them feel.

Even seasoned cruisers get caught off guard by rough water now and then. If you’re prone to motion sickness, or just don’t know yet how you’ll do, pack your own remedy rather than counting on finding one onboard — Dramamine or Bonine, ginger candies, and acupressure wristbands all have their fans, and a prescription scopolamine patch is worth asking your doctor about ahead of time if you think you’ll need something stronger. The ship’s gift shop and medical center usually carry some of these, but at a real markup. (Cabin location matters here too — a midship cabin on a lower deck rides the smoothest, which we cover in How to Choose a Cruise Cabin).

With Dramamine or Bonine, it’s critical to take it before rough water hits, or at the very first hint of queasiness, not once you’re in the throes of it. It can only work if it heads off the nausea, not after.

If it gets bad enough that you need the ship’s doctor, know going in that the medical center bills like an out-of-network clinic, not a covered stop on your cruise fare. This is exactly what real travel insurance is for — we cover what to look for in How to Lock In and Protect Your Booking.

Plan Dinner Around the Show

Evenings are where the ship’s entertainment shines, with some kind of show in the theater most nights. On Princess there are two show times, 7:30 pm and 9:30 pm, so if you really want to catch a show, pick your dinner seating with that in mind. (We cover choosing dining times in Pre-Cruise Requirements Checklist).

If one night’s dinner time doesn’t line up with the show you want, you don’t have to redo your whole schedule. Just talk to the maître d’, who can fix it for all nights or for just the one. And if you do want a good seat, know that the show-going crowd arrives early. The good news is that there aren’t really any bad seats in the theater.

Timing matters for dinner, too. Princess tends to draw an older crowd, and the earlier seatings are the busiest, especially around 5 to 6 pm. Later seatings are quieter, and the same goes for the specialty restaurants. If you’d like a calmer dinner, go later.

Wash Your Hands Like the Crew Means It

You’ll notice hand sanitizer stations everywhere on a cruise ship, especially at the entrance to every dining room and buffet, with crew members there specifically to remind you to use them. It’s not just theater — cruise ships are a well-known environment for norovirus, the fast-spreading stomach bug, and the CDC tracks outbreaks on ships through its Vessel Sanitation Program for exactly that reason.

Here’s the part worth knowing: alcohol-based hand sanitizer doesn’t kill norovirus especially well. Actual soap and water does a much better job, so make a habit of a real hand-wash before meals and after using the restroom, and treat the sanitizer stations as a backup, not your main defense. If you do start feeling sick, report it to the medical center right away rather than toughing it out — ships have protocols to contain an outbreak, and reporting early is what keeps it from spreading to the rest of your cruise.

Keep an Eye on What You’re Spending

If you’ve bought a package, you may not run up any additional charges onboard. Drinks, meals, and even some fitness classes are often covered by the tiered plans. (We break down what’s in each in Are Cruise Drink and Wifi Packages Worth It?).

If you went with the basic fare instead, it’s easy to keep tabs. You can check your onboard spending online in the app, or simply stop by the Service Desk and ask. They’re happy to print out your totals. It’s also a good time to chat with them about any question or problem, and a quick look at the mid-point of the cruise means no surprises on your final bill.

Tipping Beyond the Daily Gratuity

The daily gratuity charge (or the drink package that includes it) covers your main dining room and cabin steward, but it doesn’t cover everything, and it’s easy to assume it does. Room service often carries its own small charge or suggested tip separate from the daily gratuity. Spa treatments usually add gratuity automatically, so check the bill before you also tip in cash. Bar staff are generally covered by an automatic percentage on every drink, package or not, so anything extra in cash is a nice gesture, not an obligation.

Independent shore excursions are their own category: a guide or driver you book yourself, outside the ship’s own excursions, isn’t covered by anything you’ve paid the cruise line, so tip them the way you’d tip a guide anywhere else. And don’t forget the porters handling your luggage at the curb on embarkation and disembarkation days — a couple of dollars a bag is standard, and it’s easy to forget when your hands are full of paperwork.

Watch Your Phone, Not Just Your Folio

Your phone can run up a bill just as fast as the bar tab, and the confusing part is that “at sea” and “in port” are two completely different situations.

Once the ship is more than about 12 miles from shore, your phone stops using your carrier’s normal network entirely and switches to the ship’s own onboard cellular system, which runs over satellite. That’s true no matter who your carrier is, and it’s billed separately from any land-based international plan you have — often at eye-watering per-minute and per-megabyte rates. The safest move is airplane mode with wifi on, using the ship’s own internet package (see Are Cruise Drink and Wifi Packages Worth It?) for anything you need to do online, rather than letting your phone talk to that onboard tower.

Once you’re ashore in port, it’s a different story. If your plan already includes international roaming — T-Mobile’s Magenta and Go5G plans, for example, include data and texting in 215-plus countries at no extra charge — you may be covered on land without doing anything special. Worth checking before you assume you need a day pass: plenty of people pay for coverage they already had. If your carrier doesn’t include it, a day-pass add-on or a local eSIM for the ports where you’ll actually be spending real time is the usual fix. Either way, confirm your specific plan and the ship’s specific policy before you sail.

Use What You Paid For

Here’s a tip that sounds obvious but gets overlooked: review what your package covers and take advantage of it. If your plan includes fitness classes, try one. Photo packages are often covered, too, so convince your group to let the photographers take pictures. You’ll be glad you did later.

Loyalty Programs: Don’t Leave Perks on the Table

Here’s our honest take: cruise-line loyalty programs have been getting stingier and stingier. On Princess, the program is called Captain’s Circle. You’re enrolled automatically after your first Princess cruise, and it costs nothing, so there’s no reason not to use it. But until you reach the top tier, Elite, the rewards are pretty meager. In the middle tiers, the perks are mostly modest discounts (on things like spa treatments, photos, and onboard internet) and lounge or help-desk access. There’s also significant overlap between those benefits and what you get with the Princess Plus and Premier packages, so we don’t use Captain’s Circle much.

Elite is where it gets good. Among other things, you get free laundry, which is awesome on a long cruise. It takes roughly 150 cruise days or 15 cruises to get there, so it’s a long game, but a rewarding one for frequent cruisers. We’re Platinum now and keeping a close eye on Elite, which we’re very close to, and once we get there, we’ll certainly be using that laundry service! We’ve also noticed that Elite status makes the staff “snap to” a little more, though they’re always amazing and helpful either way. If you’re planning on sailing with the same line again and again, it’s worth keeping track of your progress. Check the line’s current program details before you book, since the benefits change from time to time.

First-Time Cruise Tips at a Glance

• Read the daily newsletter each morning
• On port days, note the all-aboard time and be back well before it
• Expect the pool deck to peak from about 11 to 3 on sea days; port days are the ship’s quiet time
• Pack your own seasickness remedy, and take it before rough water hits
• Pick dinner times around the 7:30 or 9:30 pm shows, and dine after 6 for a calmer meal
• Wash with soap and water before meals; sanitizer is only a backup
• Check your onboard spending midway, and use everything your package includes
• Tip room service, independent guides and porters, since the daily gratuity doesn’t cover them
• Keep your phone in airplane mode at sea and use the ship’s wifi instead

Frequently Asked Questions

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Next up in the guide: Cruise Disembarkation Tips. Or head back to the full Cruise Planning Guide to pick up wherever you left off.