What to Expect on Your First Ocean Cruise

Everything You Need to Know Before You Get Onboard

By Jim Hoover, Cruise Planners Travel Advisor

1. What Should I Do After Booking?

Once your cruise is booked, there are a few important things to take care of before you sail.

📱 Download Your Cruise Line’s App

This should be one of your first steps.

Most major cruise lines now use their mobile apps as the central hub for your vacation. Depending on the cruise line, you may use the app to:

• Complete online check-in
• View your itinerary
• Make dining reservations
• Reserve entertainment
• Book shore excursions
• Purchase or manage beverage and Wi-Fi packages
• View deck maps
• Check the daily schedule
• Review your onboard account
• Communicate with members of your travel party

Don’t worry if the app feels overwhelming at first.

Cruise line apps can show a lot of optional purchases, packages, upgrades, restaurants, excursions, and activities. You don’t need to buy everything you see.

If you’re unsure what’s worth purchasing—or what’s already included in your cruise—ask us. We’re happy to help you sort through the options.

🛂 Complete Online Check-In

Several weeks before departure, your cruise line will open online check-in.

You’ll typically be asked to:

• Confirm your personal information
• Enter passport or other required travel-document information
• Upload a security photo
• Add a credit card for onboard purchases
• Select an arrival or boarding time when applicable
• Complete health or travel information if required
• Download or print your boarding documents and luggage tags

We recommend completing check-in soon after it becomes available rather than waiting until the last minute.

2. Make Sure You Have the Right Travel Documents

Don’t leave this one until the night before your flight.

Depending on your itinerary, citizenship, and cruise, you may need a passport, visa, or other travel documents.

Even when a passport isn’t technically required for a particular itinerary, traveling with one can make things much easier if an unexpected situation requires you to fly home from a foreign port.

Also check your passport’s expiration date well in advance. Some destinations have specific passport-validity requirements.

Your required documents can vary based on your itinerary, so make sure you understand exactly what you’ll need before leaving home.

3. What’s Included in My Cruise?

This is one of the most common questions first-time cruisers have.

Every cruise line and fare type is a little different, but here’s a general idea of what you can expect.

If your booking includes additional perks, onboard credits, or packages, we’ll help you understand exactly what’s included and how to use it.

4. 🎁 Did You Purchase a Package?

Cruise lines offer plenty of optional packages, and purchasing one before your cruise can sometimes make your vacation easier.

You may have purchased:

• A beverage package
• Specialty dining
• Wi-Fi
• A photo package
• A thermal spa pass
• An excursion package
• Other onboard extras

How these packages work varies by cruise line.

Some require you to make reservations through the app before sailing. Others activate automatically when you board. Dining packages, in particular, may require reservations for individual restaurants.

Before your cruise, we’ll help you understand how your packages work so you can actually use what you’ve purchased—and get the most value from it.

5. Should I Make Reservations Before the Cruise?

Possibly—and this is something first-time cruisers can easily overlook.

Depending on your cruise line and ship, reservations may be available before sailing for:

• Specialty restaurants
• Shows and entertainment
• Shore excursions
• Spa treatments
• Activities
• Character experiences
• Kids’ programs
• Fitness classes

Popular times and activities can fill up.

You don’t need to schedule every minute of your vacation, but if there’s something you absolutely don’t want to miss, reserving it ahead of time can be a smart move.

6. Should I Book Shore Excursions Before Sailing?

If there’s an excursion you really want to do, yes.

Popular excursions—especially small-group tours, wildlife experiences, private beach clubs, cultural tours, and unique destination experiences—can sell out before the cruise begins.

You generally have several options:

• Book through the cruise line
• Book with an independent tour operator
• Explore the port on your own

Each has advantages.

Cruise-line excursions offer the convenience of knowing the ship is coordinating your tour, while we can also help you explore carefully selected independent excursion options that may offer smaller groups, unique experiences, or additional value.

And sometimes you don’t need an excursion at all. Some ports are perfect for simply getting off the ship and exploring.

We’ll help you decide which approach makes the most sense for each destination.

7. What Should I Pack for My First Cruise?

Cruise packing isn’t dramatically different from packing for any other vacation, but there are a few things worth knowing.

Bring clothing appropriate for your destination, comfortable walking shoes, swimwear, sunscreen, medications, chargers, and anything you’ll need for excursions.

Check your cruise line’s dress guidelines before packing. Some ships have formal or dress-up nights, while others are much more casual.

🧳 One Very Important Packing Tip

Pack a small carry-on bag for embarkation day.

When you arrive at the terminal, you’ll normally give your larger luggage to a porter. It will be delivered to your stateroom later.

That means you may not have access to your suitcase for several hours.

Keep these items with you:

• Passport and travel documents
• Prescription medications
• Wallet and valuables
• Phone and charger
• Sunscreen
• Sunglasses
• Swimsuit if you want to use the pool
• Anything else you might need during your first few hours onboard

Never put your passport, medication, or other essential items in your checked cruise luggage.

8. When Should I Arrive in My Cruise Port?

If you’re flying to your cruise departure city, we strongly recommend arriving at least one day before your cruise.

Flights get delayed. Connections get missed. Weather changes. Flights can even be canceled altogether.

Your cruise ship, however, isn’t going to wait for a delayed flight.

Arriving the day before gives you some breathing room if something goes wrong with your travel plans. Just as importantly, it lets you start your vacation without feeling rushed.

Instead of spending embarkation morning worrying about whether your flight will arrive on time, you can wake up at your hotel, have breakfast, and head to the cruise terminal knowing you’re already there.

If you’re traveling a long distance, flying internationally, or sailing from a destination you’d like to explore, arriving two or more days early can be even better.

9. What Happens When I Arrive at the Cruise Terminal?

Embarkation day is exciting—and it can look a little chaotic when you first arrive.

Don’t worry. Thousands of people may be boarding, but cruise terminals are designed to move everyone through the process.

You’ll typically:

1. Arrive during your assigned arrival window, if your cruise line uses one.
2. Give your tagged luggage to a porter.
3. Enter the terminal with your carry-on bags.
4. Go through security.
5. Present your travel documents.
6. Complete the cruise line’s check-in process if anything remains.
7. Board the ship when your group is called.

And then comes the moment you’ve been waiting for: You’re onboard! 🚢

10. What Should I Do First When I Get Onboard?

Here’s something first-time cruisers don’t always realize:

Your stateroom may not be ready yet.

That’s completely normal.

Instead of standing around waiting, start enjoying the ship.

Grab some lunch, explore the decks, find the pool, locate your dining room, and start getting familiar with the layout.

This is also a good time to confirm any dining or entertainment reservations and connect to the ship’s Wi-Fi if you’ve purchased a package.

Most importantly, complete the ship’s required safety or muster procedure. Modern cruise lines often make this very easy, and parts of it may be completed through the app.

11. How Will I Know What’s Going On Onboard?

Your cruise line’s app will become your best friend.

Most cruise apps display the ship’s daily schedule, including:

• Shows
• Live music
• Trivia
• Games
• Classes
• Parties
• Restaurant hours
• Port information
• Entertainment
• Kids’ activities
• Special events

Many apps also include deck maps, dining reservations, your onboard account, and messaging with members of your travel party.

Some cruise lines still provide printed daily newsletters, while others rely primarily on the app or make printed schedules available upon request.

A good habit is to look at the next day’s schedule each evening and mark anything you don’t want to miss.

But don’t overschedule yourself. Some of the best cruise moments happen when you’re doing absolutely nothing.

12. How Do I Pay for Things Onboard?

Cruise ships generally operate as cashless environments.

During online check-in, you’ll usually connect a credit card to your onboard account.

Once aboard, purchases are charged to your room using your cruise card, key card, wearable device, or app, depending on the cruise line.

That includes things such as drinks, specialty dining, shopping, spa treatments, excursions, and other extras.

You can usually monitor your account balance in the cruise line’s app or on your stateroom television.

We recommend checking it occasionally during the cruise rather than waiting until the final morning.

13. What About Gratuities?

This is another area that can confuse first-time cruisers.

Most major cruise lines charge a daily gratuity or service charge per passenger. Depending on your fare, it may already be included, prepaid before sailing, or automatically added to your onboard account.

Beverages, spa treatments, and specialty dining may also have gratuities automatically added.

Because policies vary between cruise lines and fare types, we’ll help you understand what’s already included in your booking before you sail.

14. Will I Get Seasick?

Most people adjust to being on a cruise ship quickly, and today’s large ships are designed with stabilizers that help reduce movement.

But everyone reacts differently.

If you’re concerned about motion sickness, it’s a good idea to bring your preferred remedy with you rather than waiting until you’re onboard.

Choosing a cabin closer to the middle of the ship and on a lower deck can also reduce the amount of motion you feel.

And remember: feeling movement doesn’t necessarily mean you’re going to feel sick. For many first-time cruisers, after the first day they barely notice it.

15. What Happens When We Arrive in Port?

Port days are one of the best parts of ocean cruising.

Before arriving, your app or daily schedule will tell you when you’re expected to arrive and when you must be back onboard.

Pay very close attention to one time:

🚢 All-Aboard Time

The ship’s departure time and the all-aboard time are not the same thing.

If the ship departs at 5:00 PM, for example, you may need to be back onboard at 4:30 PM.

Always follow ship time, which may not be the same as the local time in port.

If you’re exploring independently, give yourself plenty of time to return.

Watching your ship sail away without you would make for a memorable vacation story—but probably not the kind you were hoping for.

16. Don’t Try to Do Everything

This might be our most important advice for your first cruise.

Cruise ships offer an incredible amount to do.

You could spend the morning at the pool, attend trivia, take a fitness class, eat lunch, see a show, attend a wine tasting, listen to live music, eat dinner, see another show, go dancing—and somehow still feel like you missed half the ship.

You don’t have to do it all.

Your cruise is a vacation—not an assignment.

Pick the things that sound fun to you and leave some room for doing absolutely nothing.

Sit on your balcony. Watch the ocean. Have a drink by the pool. Take an afternoon nap. Stay up too late listening to live music.

That’s part of cruising too.