The decisions that make or break a cruise
Ten guides covering the choices in the order you face them, from picking the sailing to walking up the gangway. Each is written from our reviewers' sailings and fact-checked before publication.
First Cruise Guide: Everything Before You Board
For a first cruise, book a three to seven-night Caribbean or Bahamas sailing on a mainstream line, an interior or balcony cabin midship, and fly in the day before. The fare covers your cabin, main dining and entertainment; drinks, WiFi, gratuities and excursions are extra. Budget roughly double the fare for the true total.
By Mara Vance · Updated
Cruise Packing List: What to Bring and What Is Banned
Pack documents, medication and swimwear in your hand luggage, since checked bags arrive hours after boarding. Leave irons, candles, extension cords with surge protection and drones at home; all are confiscated. Bring a power strip without surge protection, magnets for the cabin wall, and less clothing than instinct suggests.
By Lena Hartley · Updated
Cruise Travel Insurance: What It Must Cover and What It Costs
Cruise insurance must cover three things ordinary policies often miss: medical evacuation from a ship at sea, which can cost $50,000 to $250,000; missed connections that strand you when a flight delay meets a departed ship; and itinerary changes when weather reroutes ports. Expect to pay 5 to 8 percent of trip cost, more over 70.
By Daniel Okafor · Updated
Cruise Passport Guide: Closed-Loop Rules and Real Requirements
US citizens on closed-loop cruises, sailing round-trip from the same US port, can legally travel with a birth certificate and government photo ID. Carry a passport anyway: if you miss the ship or fly home from a foreign port in an emergency, the birth certificate cannot board an international flight. One-way itineraries, Vancouver departures and most of the world require passports outright.
By Lena Hartley · Updated
Best Cruise Cabins: Location Strategy by Deck and Position
The best cruise cabin for most people is midship on a middle deck: lowest motion, moderate walk to everything. Avoid anything directly under pools and buffets, above theatres and nightclubs, or near crew doors and lifts. Balconies earn their premium on Alaska and Mediterranean sailings and are skippable on port-heavy Caribbean runs.
By Mara Vance · Updated
Cruise Drink Packages: The Break-Even Maths by Line
Unlimited drink packages run $59 to $138 per person per day and require five to seven alcoholic drinks daily to break even. Every adult in the cabin must buy one, gratuities of 18 to 20 percent are added to the package price, and sea-day drinking must carry port-day abstinence. Most buyers lose money; heavy sea-day drinkers and cocktail drinkers can win.
By Daniel Okafor · Updated
Cruise WiFi Guide: Starlink Speeds, Prices and Whether to Buy
Cruise WiFi runs $12 to $35 per device per day, with Starlink now standard across major fleets delivering 20 to 100 Mbps in good conditions: streaming works, video calls mostly work. Buy pre-cruise for 20 to 30 percent less, share one plan by logging devices in and out, and remember your phone plan may cover ports.
By Daniel Okafor · Updated
Shore Excursions: Ship Tours Versus Independent, Port by Port
Ship excursions cost 50 to 100 percent more than identical independent tours and carry one decisive benefit: the ship waits for its own late tours and not for yours. Book through the ship where transfers are long or the schedule is tight; go independent where the attraction is near the port; and walk to the beach where a taxi does the whole job.
By Lena Hartley · Updated
Seasickness on Cruises: Prevention, Cabins and What Works
Most people feel nothing on a modern Caribbean cruise: stabilised ships in sheltered waters barely move. Risk rises on open-ocean crossings, the Drake Passage and winter Atlantic routes. The strategy: book midship-low on a big ship, start medication before sailing rather than after symptoms, and know that scopolamine patches and meclizine both work when used correctly.
By Mara Vance · Updated
Cruise Budgeting: Building the True Total Before You Book
Budget roughly double the cruise fare for the true total on a mainstream cruise. The fare buys the cabin and main dining; taxes, gratuities, drinks, WiFi, excursions, transport to port and incidentals reliably match it. A $700 fare is a $1,400 trip; running the worksheet before booking is how the number stops surprising people.
By Daniel Okafor · Updated
Common questions
What is the biggest mistake first-time cruisers make?
Flying in the morning of the sailing. Ships depart on schedule and do not wait for delayed flights, and insurance reimburses money rather than restoring the holiday. The day-before hotel night at $130 to $250 is the cheapest insurance in travel and the closest thing cruising has to an unbreakable rule.
How far in advance should you plan a cruise?
Book ten to twelve months out for the best price-and-choice combination, complete online check-in the day it opens 30 to 45 days before sailing, buy insurance within two weeks of the deposit to lock pre-existing condition waivers, and reserve marquee excursions at itinerary release. The sequence matters more than any single date.
Are drink packages and WiFi worth buying?
Drink packages need five to seven drinks a day, every day, to break even, which most people do not reach. WiFi depends on the itinerary: port-heavy Caribbean runs can rely on free cellular ashore. Both cost 20 to 30 percent less bought pre-cruise, and the bundles on Princess and Celebrity beat standalone purchases decisively.