Going on a cruise vacation is an adventure in itself. Sailing around on a massive floating hotel? It’s wild if you really think about it. What I find neat about going on a cruise is it’s a way to get a taste of different places you might want to return to for a longer stay.

If you’re new to cruising, coordinating excursions or how to tender off the boat can overwhelming. Here are a few takeaways from my own experience that will hopefully help yours to be more manageable!

Consider that the cruise line I sailed with was Norwegian Escape. Other cruise lines may have different rules or procedures, so do take that into consideration!

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Your cruise ship will have an app that lists the amenities in your package, restaurant hours, and excursions available at each port. Is this app going to be clunky beyond all belief and bring your phone dangerously close to being hurled overboard? Yes. Is it a necessary evil? Also, yes. So why bother? Don’t worry, I shall tell you.

While there is a guest services desk available for everyone, once it becomes time to start booking tenders to shore, the area becomes absolute mayhem. To avoid subjecting yourself to the chaos, you can book excursions through the app and both excursions and tenders through the touch-screen digital kiosks that are located inside by the main staircase and elevators.

If you take nothing else from this, note that if you book an excursion, you are GUARANTEED a tender to shore so you make your excursion time! If you are looking to maximize a beach day in port but missed getting an earlier tender, book that early 1hr kayak paddle to get you priority off the boat so you can maximize your shore day after your hour on the water.

PRE-DETERMINE YOUR EXCURSIONS

While you’ll get a newsletter each day about the following days port and excursions, by the time you read through and consider what you may want to do, excursions may be booked up or have minimal availability. With the app, you can filter excursions for your cruise by port and see what might interest you. When you’re ready to book – go for it! Then you can sit back and enjoy the rest of your trip and look forward to the adventures versus worrying about planning and last minute scrambling. I highly recommend doing this if you are traveling with a larger group!

OPT FOR THE SINGLE EXPERIENCE TOUR

So much to do and so little time! Choosing what to do where is the most challenging thing about booking your excursion to shore. Often you’ll find full-day excursions that entail multiple activities. It seems like you’ll be getting to do a little bit if everything versus spending your time on shore doing just one thing. Consider that you’ll be traveling with a guide (or two) and many people. There aren’t many guarantees in this life, but I feel one of them is ‘the larger the group, the slower it moves’. You will spend a large amount of time standing around and waiting. Instead of picking an excursion that appears to cram in a list of activities, I encourage you to pick something that is more intensive where you’ll really get to experience your excursion to the fullest versus spending less time on the activities your paying for and more time standing in lines.

GOING ASHORE

Chances are once you make your way off the boat, you aren’t going to be venturing back until you’re ready to call it a day. First and foremost, pack light and only bring the essentials. I recommend taking a small backpack with a water bottle, sunscreen, a hat and sunglasses. If you’re going swimming don’t forget to bring a towel, and an extra change of clothes can be helpful. Also, most importantly, don’t forget to bring cash and your identification. Restaurants take credit cards, but if you want to buy from local vendors and tip your guides, you’ll need cash. When returning to the boat at your allotted time, security at the port and on the boat will need to be able to verify your identity before you re-embark. I always brought two forms of identification: my cruise ID and my passport.

If you’re a seasoned cruiser and have your own tips, I’d love to hear them! Share below! I would say that this list may grow and with more experience, but as my time on the boat might as well have doubled as a campaign for Dramanine, I will not be in a rush to return to the seas.