Cruising for Dummies

I was reading an article over the weekend about first time cruising, (yes that’s how exciting my weekends really are), and I was surprised by the figure of how many people on an average sailing had never cruised before.
35%!
Well over a quarter of the people on a cruise will have never been before, and the thought occurred to me that many may not have a clue as to what they are doing, what’s going on or what other passengers/crew are talking about.

I sat down and thought back to my first cruise and highlighted some of the points that I know now that I wish I knew then. Hope this helps......
First of all book with someone you trust, (not necessarily me, although that would be nice). It’s important that you feel comfortable in your booking agent, that you can ask them silly questions without being embarrassed and most importantly that they know what they’re talking about whilst still being approachable.
Pick a budget ahead of time and stick to it. Before you speak to anyone or start looking around for deals work out what you can afford to spend. This will help you determine what destinations to look at, what cruiseline to book with, the length of your voyage, right down to what type of cabin to book.
Always book the biggest cabin you can afford. For your first cruise this is very important. You may decide that you will only be sleeping in your cabin and the rest of the cruise will be spent about ship, many people do prefer this, and great savings are available by booking small inside cabins. However the first time you sail if things don’t work out like this you can end up with ‘cabin fever’ which will colour and possibly ruin all other aspects of your cruise.
Make sure you or your travel agent line up the size of your room with the correct destination. Why pay extra for a balcony room to explore the Arctic Circle, when a central heated cabin with a window would do?
Don’t spend too much time reading the adverts in the Sunday Newspapers. The cruises in these adverts tend to be for either the large Mega ships or the smaller six star luxury liners. You can almost always find cheaper deals online, ( www.cruise.co.uk hint, hint, hint)!
When you are shopping online don’t always believe the lowest advertised price, many times you will find that this price will be linked to one small room in the bowels of the ship next to the broom cupboard. Deals are available, sometimes fantastic deals, especially on last minute offers, but always remember to take them with a pinch of salt and to speak to someone before parting with a non refundable deposit online.
What’s everyone talking about? This is a common complaint amongst first time cruisers, so just quickly…
The back or rear of the ship is called the aft.
The big chimney is called the funnel.
Left is called port
And right is called starboard.
The front of the ship is called forward.
The floor is referred to as the deck.
The middle section of the ship is called mid-ships.
Getting on the ship is called embarking.
Getting off is called, disembarking.
The staff are called the crew or officers.
Eating is called dining
The kitchen will be called the Galley
And tour room will either be called a cabin, or a stateroom.
And lastly always remember cruising is great value for money. When comparing the total price of a cruise to its land based equivalent always bear in mind that a lot of the extras like food, entertainment and onboard activities during the day e.t.c are already included in the price of the cruise but wont be in a lot of package holidays.
Hope this helps and if any of you more experienced cruisers have any more tips that you wish you had known first time around I’d love to hear from you.

Happy cruising.