5 surefire ways to ruin your next cruise
If you want smooth sailing, don't make these common mistakes. Here are five surefire ways to ruin your next cruise.
1. Not doing your research
There are so many different kinds of cruises on offer now that you want to be sure to choose the right one for you. Your research should involve everything from ship size and style, destinations, demographic of passengers, level of activity, weather patterns and more. Because you’re committed to the ship once you board, there is nothing worse than finding out it doesn’t suit you. Do your research online and speak to a specialist cruise travel agent who will be able to give you all the inside info.
2. Cutting it too close
Be aware that the ship will sail on time, whether you are on it or not. That means you need to leave enough time to get to the ship on the day of departure, so if you need to fly it can be a good idea to arrive the day before. This also applies to port stops, so make sure you are back on board well before sailaway. It would be very (very) upsetting to be left standing on the dock as the ship – and all your belongings – sails off to the next port without you.
3. Skimping on the extras
Cruising is great value, though you can potentially get so caught up in saving your pennies that you miss out on the good stuff. Of course you can eat for free in the main restaurant every day, but then you would be missing out on the fantastic specialty restaurants created by some of the world’s most famous celebrity chefs. It’s your holiday, so you deserve to splash out on a spa treatment or a few cocktails by the pool. And while you can walk around ports on your own, who knows when you will be back here again. Spend the money and take the opportunity to try something new that you can’t do at home.
4. Sweating the small stuff
The only thing you can be sure of is that something will go wrong. That could mean the weather is terrible, a port stop is cancelled or you can't get a table for dinner. The key here is to not let it ruin your whole trip. Yes it’s disappointing, but a few hiccups don’t make the whole cruise a disaster. Try to look on the bright side: rainy weather is great for catching up on your reading, a new itinerary means more fun at sea and there are plenty of other restaurants to try.
5. Forgoing travel insurance
As the saying goes, if you can’t afford insurance then you can’t afford to travel. This is especially true for a cruise where you could potentially be out at sea, hundreds of kilometres from land, for days at a time. That means no easy access to a hospital or anything beyond basic medical attention. Purchase your insurance as soon as you book your cruise – you won’t pay any more but you will be covered for emergencies, cancellations or changes right up until departure.
Have you ever made any of these mistakes?
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