5 mistakes I saw people making on my cruise last week (2024)

I spent 5-nights on Royal Caribbean's Mariner of the Seas and noticed some common cruise mistakes being committed that could have been easily avoided.

5 mistakes I saw people making on my cruise last week (1)

There are many mistakes to avoid on any cruise, and you don't have to be a cruise ship expert to know about them all.

Avoiding these mistakes will save you time, money, or sanity. No matter how big or small the savings, it all adds up.

After a day or two, I picked up on the mistakes I saw my fellow cruisers making, and I started to compile a list in my head. There may have been others, but these were the ones I observed.

Take this as a good reminder not to do any of these yourself when you set sail.

Not buying add-ons before the cruise

5 mistakes I saw people making on my cruise last week (2)

If you want to save a lot of money, be sure to pre-buy all the extras for your cruise in the weeks and months leading up to your sailing.

There were staggering price differences if you bought it onboard versus before the cruise began.

I saw on embarkation day the advertised rate for Royal Caribbean's unlimited drink package was priced at $100 per person, per day.

Had it been purchased before the cruise began, it was around $69.99 per person, per day. I think the higher price had it around $74.99 per day.

5 mistakes I saw people making on my cruise last week (4)

The floating cabanas at the Coco Beach Club had a big price drop before the cruise began to about $1800 for a rental for up to 8 guests. But onboard the ship, they were charging $4,000.

Royal Caribbean offers pre-cruise discounts on most of its popular cruise add-ons. You can always cancel and rebook it if there's a price drop.

Don't wait to book these onboard the ship, because you'll only pay more for it.

Not applying sunscreen

5 mistakes I saw people making on my cruise last week (5)

I'm not sure if it was because January isn't a very hot month in the Caribbean, but I saw so many people walking back onto the ship after a fun day in Cozumel, Mexico completely sunburned.

Forgetting to apply sunscreen or re-apply it is one of the quickest ways to a miserable day or two as your body heals.

5 mistakes I saw people making on my cruise last week (6)

During our visit to Perfect Day at CocoCay, we had clouds for some of the day, but the sun came out later. I think the clouds may have given some people the false sense of security that they couldn't get sunburned.

It's true that clouds do block some UV light. But more than 90% of the sun's UV radiation can still pass through clouds on lightly overcast days.

When you're at the beach, pool, or walking around outdoors in the Caribbean, you need to get into the habit of remembering to apply sunscreen every couple of hours. It's annoying to have to stop what you're doing to do it, but the discomfort from a bad sunburn is worth taking a couple of minutes to do it.

Being rude to crew members

5 mistakes I saw people making on my cruise last week (7)

This mistake infuriates me for the sheer lack of respect, but some passengers seem to think the rules don't apply to them.

While in the Windjammer a guest was stopped by a crew member because he had come from the pool deck and was not wearing shoes.

The crew member told him he had to wear shoes in order to go into the restaurant. He responded that no one had told him that the other day when he did the same thing, and then proceeded to walk past the crew member and ignoring their instruction.

There are rules in place for a reason, but more importantly, you don't get to pick and choose when you want to adhere to instructions given to you by crew members.

The crew members work hard to ensure everyone has a great (and safe) cruise. Always be respectful to them.

Forgetting their SeaPass card on disembarkation day

5 mistakes I saw people making on my cruise last week (8)

As I was walking off Mariner of the Seas, I witnessed two different cruise mistakes within about 10 minutes.

The first was the family that held up the entire disembarkation process because they didn't bring their SeaPass cards with them to leave the ship.

5 mistakes I saw people making on my cruise last week (9)

When it's your time to disembark the ship, you'll need your SeaPass card to leave. It's how Royal Caribbean knows you've left the ship.

If you don't have it, then the ship's security team needs to look you up manually and that slows down everyone.

Be sure to also have your travel documents for later when you go through customs.

Disembarking before luggage number called

5 mistakes I saw people making on my cruise last week (10)

Royal Caribbean assigns each passenger a luggage tag number so that if you left your luggage on the ship to be delivered to the cruise terminal on the final morning, it's there waiting for you.

However, every cruise there's a handful of passengers I see standing around the luggage area waiting for their bags, because they disembarked too early.

For these people, they'll have to wait for all the bags in their number to be delivered and called for them to be able to grab their bags.

You're much better off waiting onboard the ship for your number to called so you can avoid standing around the terminal for no reason later.

More cruise tips & tricks:

  • 30 Do's and Don'ts forthe first day of your cruise
  • 8 cruise tips for first-time Royal Caribbean cruisers
  • What’s included in your Royal Caribbean cruise fare
  • 5 quick and easy tips for finding a great shore excursion on your own
  • Food on a Royal Caribbean cruise
  • Which is the best Royal Caribbean cruise ship?
  • What is the best time to go on a Caribbean cruise?
5 mistakes I saw people making on my cruise last week (2024)

FAQs

Which cruise line has the most issues? ›

The Least Secure Cruise Lines of 2023
  • Carnival Cruise Line: 51 incidents.
  • Royal Caribbean Cruise Line: 27 incidents.
  • Disney Cruise Line: 20 incidents.
  • MSC Cruise Lines: 10 incidents.

How many people don't return from a cruise? ›

Unfortunately, the actual number of annual disappearances from cruise ships is unknown. It is estimated that over 200 passengers have gone missing within the past twenty years.

How to tell if a cruise is sold out? ›

Ask your travel agent

If you made your cruise booking through a travel agent, simply reach out to them and ask them about the availability. This can be a more accurate source of information, as they sometimes have access to rooms that are not published on a cruise line's website.

What are the good and bad things about cruises? ›

The positives and negatives of a cruise
PositiveNegative
See multiple locations and portsLimited time in each local
Lots included in the priceAnything not included is expensive
Activities and lots of companyCan be loud and busy
Visit hard to reach placesLarge cruise ships cause a place to be busy
5 more rows

Which cruise line has the worst reviews? ›

Costa Cruises has a 3.0 out of 5 rating on Cruise Critic, the lowest among popular cruise lines. Cruise Critic's ratings average passenger reviews on a scale of 0-5 for a particular cruise line. Costa Cruises comes in dead last when comparing today's most popular mainstream lines: Carnival Cruise Line: 3.8.

What is the #1 rated cruise line? ›

The best cruise lines in 2023. Norwegian Cruise Line ranked as the best cruise line in the world, according to Condé Nast Traveler. Norwegian Cruise Line ranked as the top cruise line this year. It is the third-largest cruise line in the world by passengers, according to Cruise Market Watch.

Is it common for people to go missing on cruises? ›

Approximately 400 people have gone missing from cruise ships in the past 20 years. While this is no cause for general alarm, given that approximately 30 million people take cruise ship vacations each year, it is still a dangerous and concerning statistic.

How many people on average fall off a cruise ship? ›

In reality, one or two people go overboard each month out of roughly 2.5 million who cruise during the same time frame.

Are cruises sailing at full capacity? ›

Most cruise lines are now operating at full capacity, with the age of Covid restrictions in the rear view mirror. But questions remain. Do you still have to wear a mask on board?

How to check how full a cruise is? ›

Most Cruise Lines' websites provide information regarding the cruise schedule and the availability of cabins. You can also check the dates and capacity of the ship to get a better sense of how full it is.

What cruise ship got repossessed? ›

Bianca C. Sunk in 1961. Repossessed by creditors in 2000. Formerly: SS Big Red Boat III, SS IslandBreeze, SS Festivale, SS S.A. Vaal, RMS S.A. Vaal, RMS Transvaal Castle.

Do cruise ships restock at every port? ›

Week after week, the fleets are provisioned at the start of each cruise in ports throughout the world, from Miami and Port Canaveral, to Los Angeles, San Juan, Venice, Barcelona and Vancouver. The day of reckoning is when all the advanced planning pays off.

Do cruises dump waste? ›

Do Cruise Ships Dump Sewage? Yes. To get into a few more specifics than above, the U.S. allows cruise ships to dump treated waste into the ocean if they are within three and a half miles from shore. Beyond that point, there are no restrictions for dumping untreated, raw sewage in U.S. ocean waters.

What is the risk of cruise? ›

While taking a cruise is a life-long dream for many people, the risk of serious injury or illness is always present. Anything from food poisoning to a slip and fall can ruin a vacation and have lasting health consequences. Serious injuries are unfortunately common on cruise ships.

How safe are cruises really? ›

Despite the vast numbers, the odds of dying on a cruise ship are roughly 1 in 6.25 million, according to a Forbes report. It's much more dangerous to drive in a car, where the odds of dying in a crash are about 1 in 645.

What is the safest cruise line? ›

What is the Safest Cruise Line? The CDC gave ships with Disney Cruise Lines a score of 96 or above on their 2016 inspections. According to their voluntary disclosures in Q2 of 2016, there was 1 claim of theft exceeding $10,000 and 2 claims of sexual assault.

Which cruise line has the best customer reviews? ›

Here are the top cruise lines for customer service in 2024, according to the survey:
  • Viking.
  • Holland America.
  • Celebrity.
  • Disney.
  • Seabourn.
Feb 25, 2024

Which cruise line has the most fights? ›

Not surprisingly, Carnival has the most physical assaults “leading to serious bodily injury” as per the language of federal law with a total of a least fourteen (14) physical assaults with serious bodily injury reported to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in 2023.

Which cruise ship is the most stable? ›

The Queen Mary 2 is arguably the most stable cruise ship because of her design with a deep hull (34 foot draft) and design. Consider that the draft of RCI's Oasis Class ships is actually a few feet less than the Queen despite the ships being about 3 times the size (in terms of tonnage).

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