After close to two decades and about 50 cruises, Kat from Cruising Kat says she does a lot of things differently now. Some of her changes make complete sense, she admits, and others you may totally disagree with. But she believes they have made her cruises better, and the first one might save you real money: she no longer assumes the newest ship is the best choice.
Kat has sailed quite a few inaugural voyages for her channel, and she says the truth is that new ships cost a lot more. They often have things that are not fully worked out yet, and you can actually get less for the money you pay. Newer ships also keep getting bigger, and she says clients she works with are telling her they are tired of the big ships.
She still likes the big ones and the variety of activities on them. But when she and her husband Kevin want a quiet vacation, they will pick a smaller, quieter ship that may have sailed for the last 20 years. It still offers an amazing experience that she says she cannot get on land.
Stay Aboard, Go Short, Skip The Checklist
The second habit she dropped is getting off the ship at every port without thinking. For years she treated a port day as if it only counted when she went ashore. Now, if it is somewhere new that she really wants to see, she is off the ship. But if it is a port she has visited many times, or one that is low on her list, staying aboard can be the better choice: the pool and hot tubs are empty and you can get a lounge chair without circling the deck three times. A port day only has value if it adds something to the trip, she says.
She also changed her mind about short sailings. For years she said she would only go on a week-long cruise, and she knows many people will disagree, but she now sees the appeal of three- and four-night cruises. Millions of people fly to Florida for a three-day weekend just to sit on a beach by a hotel, she points out, and nobody says that is not worth it. A cruise, she argues, includes far more than a Florida hotel or resort would. If you have a long weekend, would you rather go to a beach or a cabin somewhere, or on a cruise? If it is your big yearly vacation and you want a week or longer, she understands that too.
The next change is about the daily schedule. When she started cruising, she treated the cruise compass like a checklist, with every show to see and every game to win. Now she does not need to fill every hour. Some of her favorite moments are the ones when she is sitting somewhere doing nothing on the schedule. At some point, she asks, are you on vacation or working through a to-do list with a tropical drink in your hand?
Look At The Cabin, Not Just The Category
Kat started out booking the cheapest interior cabins, until she realized it felt too dark, like sleeping in a closet. She then moved to balconies and told others why anyone would book interior over a balcony. All of that has changed. She has now stayed in nearly everything, from the smallest interior cabins, including a solo interior on Norwegian Aqua, to interiors with a window over the promenade, oceanview rooms, balconies overlooking the inside of the ship, ocean balconies and suites, and she mixes and matches.
These days she looks at the deck plan and the location, and she checks whether a particular cabin number is larger than another in the same category at the same price. Location matters, she says. On an older ship last year, her bed was shaking and the noise from the engine underneath the cabin was intense. Her choice depends on the itinerary, who she is sailing with and what kind of cruise she wants.
Arrive Early, Leave Late, Skip The Pressure Packages
Kat also stopped treating embarkation and disembarkation days as if they do not count. People say only newbies show up early, but she thinks that is backwards. She picks the earliest arrival time available, because on a four-night cruise you are only getting three and a half days if you board at 2 p.m. She would rather have lunch, explore and maybe hit a pool or solarium that is pretty empty while everyone else waits in the Windjammer with their suitcases for cabins to open.
On the way home, she used to book the earliest flight possible. After 6 a.m. wake-up calls and a stressful last night, she now books a flight around 1 p.m. or even 2 p.m., has a relaxed breakfast and leaves toward the end of disembarkation. She says it has completely changed how her last day feels.
The next change has many pros and cons, she says, but she stopped buying drink and unlimited dining packages just to get her money’s worth. With a package, she noticed she drank and ate more than she normally would because she felt she had to use it. Her family cruises with Royal Caribbean a lot and has Diamond Plus status, which already includes a good number of drinks, but she has stopped automatically grabbing a drink package even on lines where she has no status. Packages are not bad in her view, and if a predictable bill makes your trip easier, they can work. Without the pressure, she says, she no longer gains 5 to 10 pounds on every cruise.
Pack Lighter And Let Small Things Go
She used to pack for every imaginable scenario and dragged two suitcases. This year alone she did three international trips, two of them about two weeks long and one around five days, all out of a carry-on. She is going on a 10-day cruise next week, also carry-on only. A big group cruise with theme nights and formal nights still means more luggage, but she no longer feels she has to check off every item on a packing list.
Her biggest change is that she stopped letting small disruptions ruin a whole cruise. People board with rose-colored glasses, and when a port is skipped, a meal is not great or the weather does not cooperate, they decide cruising is terrible. Things go wrong on land too, she says, so she expects some trouble and lets it roll off. The key is to take the big decisions seriously, like the ship, the cabin, the timing and the budget, because those change the outcome of your vacation.
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