"Travel Tuesdays"...5 Tips for Cruising

If you've been around my husband or me for very long, you probably know about our love for cruises. It is definitely our favorite type of vacation! Why? There are way too many reasons to name them all, but I would probably narrow it down to: the food, the entertainment, and the relaxation. We love the combination of being able to relax, but at the same time, never being bored. One couple that we know told us recently that they are going on a cruise for their honeymoon in a few months, which inspired me to write today's "Travel Tuesdays." Today, I want to give you 5 tips that we've learned over the years for cruising. We have only been on Royal Caribbean ships, but I think these would apply to any cruise line. I have many more tips that I'll probably post eventually, but feel free to talk to me if you have a question. I'd love to tell you about our favorite excursions and trips!

 5 Tips for Cruising!!!

1) Pack a carry-on with anything you think you might need for the day you board. When you get to the port, they will take your bags for you and eventually bring them to your room. I say EVENTUALLY because you never know how long that may take. All of the bags go through security, so it takes a bit. I would suggest packing a carry-on that includes a swimsuit, sunscreen, a change of clothes for dinner that night, and anything else you might need to get ready.

2) Book excursions through the cruise line. Yes, I know that you can get them cheaper when you get off the ship. Yes, I know this goes against my frugality. However, you are probably going to be in a foreign country. You may not speak the language. There may be a communication error. If you book an excursion through the cruise line and you are delayed in getting back to the ship on time, they will wait for you! Guess what happens if you book an excursion some other way and you're late? Yep...you're going to be left behind and forced to pay out-of-pocket to travel to catch-up with the ship (I'm not sure if trip insurance would cover this or not). See why I'm willing to pay more for these excursions? Oh, and here's a bonus tip. If you go hiking in St. John (see the picture below), be sure to bring bug repellent. I'm pretty sure I've never had that many bug bites at once or maybe not even in my entire life combined. That said, it was still a great excursion!

3) Use credit card points to upgrade to a better room. I have to preface this one by saying that I am not condoning making poor choices with a credit card. This tip is for those of you that are able to manage your credit well. My husband and I have a credit card, but we pay it off every month. We then use the points that we earn to lower the cost of our vacations. I also have to say that a travel agent recently told me that cruises have the worst point conversion (meaning you get less if you use your points on a cruise instead of a different type of vacation), so if you have another trip coming up you may be better off using your points for that. However, we really wanted to try a balcony room on our most recent cruise. We didn't really feel the need to fork over the cash for it, but we had enough credit card points to make up the difference. Thus, we ended up with a lovely balcony room for the cost of an ocean view. I highly suggest ordering room service (it's free) for breakfast and sitting on the balcony to eat. Don't worry if you aren't getting a balcony room, we still loved those cruises just as much!

4) Eat lunch in the main dining room. I'm assuming this is still an option. It's been several years since we've been on a cruise (I know, it's sad). This one actually took us longer than it should have to learn, but I'm so glad we did! I'm not sure if we didn't know the main dining room was an option, or what our reason was, but we always ate lunch at the buffet. One day we decided to try the main dining room for lunch, and I'm pretty sure that's where we've eaten lunch ever since. The buffet is good, but the main dining room is much better. They had multiple entree options to choose from, plus a fabulous salad bar where they tossed the salad for you. It was delicious!

5) Ask for as much food as you want at dinner. No, really. They expect you to do this, and you've already paid for it. Let's say two of the dinner appetizers are a shrimp cocktail and lobster bisque. If you're like me, those both sound really good! Don't fret! Order them both! If you're like a certain someone I know and you can't choose between the lamb and the seafood...try them both! Our waiter even told us to! On lobster night, you can get as many lobster tails as you want! There's a reason one of our cruise directors told us that most people gain a pound a day on a cruise. Don't order a ton if you don't think you'll eat it though, that's just wasteful.

Happy cruising!!!