Your first cruise is finally happening! Yay!
Before anything else, we are assuming that you’ve went far and beyond to book the best cruise that fit your vacation needs. We also assumed that you have been hunting for deals to get those once in a lifetime deals that these cruises offer.
Now, that you have selected and booked it. You are excited to capture your upcoming Instagramable moments.
But not all first cruise experiences follow the smooth sailing playbook. Depending on circumstances, your first cruise experience could pretty well be shelved in ‘Travelling Moments I would like to Forget’. Nobody likes travel hassle especially that you’re to have a good time.
But things like this happen so we have compiled some things you need to consider or check before you hop on that ship:
1. Be ready for motion sickness, even if you think you’ll be okay
I can’t stress this enough! Motion sickness is a real buzz kill just when you’re about to enjoy a good vacay. I have encountered people who just discovered that they have motion sickness only when it comes to sailing or traveling by water. How convenient right?
It pays to be ready. This means you can probably include anti-vertigo over the counter meds to keep motion sickness at bay. Moreover, thanks to coolest travel gadgets, you can buy those ‘sea bands’ that you can wear and these little life savers will press on your pressure points making sure motion sickness will not ruin your cruise trip for you.
2. Be ready and conscious of dress codes
If you are feeling a bit extra when it comes to worrying what to wear then this is a good thing! Remember that this is indeed a cruise ship and not a backpacking adventure where you can wear anything from ripped jeans to shirt with holes.
Depending on the cruise ship, most of them are strict when it comes to their dress codes and depending on the event. You can never get wrong from scanning your itinerary and keeping an eye on how many of these events will require you to don a dress or a tux.
3. Be sure to check how they handle food allergies
You don’t want your first cruise ship to be a nightmare you cannot outlive. A day full of scratches or worse, being ushered to the cruise’s medical clinic is never a definition of the word ‘fun’. It will be best if you speak with the vacation planner as to how this will affect your entire vacation. For minor food allergies, packing your medicine is still the best way to keep your food allergies from taking over your day.
4. Be mindful of your budget by bringing food and beverages
Okay, this might be stretching your preparedness a bit but in connection with food allergies, this might be one of the best ideas yet.
Of course, it all depends on the cruise’s policies about bringing food on board but you will be surprised how most of them are quite lenient about it. I’m sure your credit card provider can handle a lucrative room service, but just in case, it doesn’t hurt to bring your favorite snacks.
5. Be ready to prepare your passport, just in case of emergency
So, you must be thinking that this article is incredibly pessimist but I argue that I want to present conditions that literally happened to some people. It’s devastating and frustrating but emergencies do happen.
Cruise lines will normally allow you to get off at the nearest port of call after emergencies (medical, accident etc). Because of this, getting your passport handy as well as some IDs will help this dilemma less inconvenient than it already is.
But going back, we hope you enjoy your first cruise ship and yes, take as many photos.
