Cruise Planning Guides & Resources

Embarkation day is the one day of a cruise that feels like a test. There's a terminal, a line, a security check, and a lot of advice that sounds confident and contradicts itself. Arrive early. Don't arrive early. Eat at the buffet. Avoid the buffet. These are the cruise embarkation day mistakes I see first-timers make, and a few I've made myself. Most of what follows applies to any big-ship line, and I'll point out where it doesn't. None of these are catastrophic. Most cost y

A few years ago, I booked a Celebrity cruise through Europe for my family because of what I'd heard about the cruise line. I never stopped to think about who was actually coming with me. My kids and their partners, all in their early twenties, were on board, and while it was a great itinerary, there wasn't as much on the ship for them to do as I'd hoped. I've been cruising for decades and I'm a professional travel advisor, and I still got it wrong. If you're booking your firs

If you're about to book a cruise, you've probably wondered whether to book it yourself or use a travel agent. I'm a professional travel advisor who specializes in cruises, so you can guess which way I lean. But I'm going to give you an honest answer, including when you don't need me at all. There are hundreds of places that tell you which restaurant is good, which ship is nice, or which show to see. What I want to cover here is the decision behind the vacation: what an adviso

Most cruise packing lists look the same: sixty items, no opinions, and no way to tell which ones actually matter. This isn't that. This cruise packing list is the short version. It comes from years of cruising on Princess and Celebrity and my first Royal Caribbean sailing, a 4-day trip on Quantum of the Seas out of Los Angeles. It includes one item I was sure I didn't need (I was wrong), one mistake I made at security that I won't repeat, and a few things I'd tell a friend be

Every time I bring up cruise drink packages, someone in the comments asks some version of the same question: "Are they actually worth it?" The honest answer is: it depends. And I know that's not what anyone wants to hear. But after years of helping clients plan cruises, I've stopped giving a blanket yes or no on this one — because the right answer varies a lot depending on how you drink, what you drink, and which cruise line you're on. I used to recommend drink packages to al

I spent years cruising Princess and Celebrity before I finally sailed Royal Caribbean. My first sailing was a 4-day trip on Quantum of the Seas out of Los Angeles, and I came home with a short list of things I wish someone had told me before I stepped on board. None of these tips are dramatic. They're the small, practical details that make the week smoother: when to decide on packages, how disembarkation can work, where to get free drinks, and why I changed my mind about a $1

One of the questions I hear most often from first-time cruisers is some version of: "Should I book excursions through the cruise line, or find my own?" It sounds like a simple question. It isn't. The honest answer is that it depends — on the port, the excursion type, your travel style, your comfort with independent navigation, and sometimes just how much time you have to research. What I want to give you here isn't a blanket rule. It's a framework for making this decision int

"Caribbean or Mediterranean?" is one of the most common questions I hear from people planning their first cruise — and one of the most genuinely difficult to answer without knowing more about the person asking. Both are exceptional cruising regions. Both draw millions of passengers every year. And both will disappoint you if you choose one expecting the experience the other delivers. This guide breaks down the real differences — not the brochure version — so you can make a de

Most first-time cruisers pick their cabin by category and price — interior, ocean view, balcony — and leave the specific location up to the cruise line. That works out fine sometimes. Other times, they end up directly above the ship's nightclub, next to the elevator bank, or under the pool deck where crew members start setting out chairs at 6am. A cruise deck plan is a map of the ship — every deck, every cabin, every public venue. Reading it before you book takes about ten mi

A flight delay is stressful on any trip. Before a cruise, it's a different category of stressful — because unlike a hotel that will hold your room, a cruise ship has a firm departure time and it will sail without you. I've talked to travelers who've been through this. Some made it to the ship. Some caught up at the next port. A few missed the sailing entirely. The difference between those outcomes almost always came down to the same things: how early they arrived in the port

The most common mistake I see first-time cruisers make isn't choosing the wrong ship or the wrong destination. It's budgeting based on the advertised fare and being genuinely surprised when the final bill is twice what they expected. Cruise pricing is structured in a way that makes the trip look more affordable than it is upfront. The headline fare — the number you see in the search results — covers your cabin and your meals in the main dining room. It does not cover gratuiti

Of all the decisions that go into planning a cruise, travel insurance is the one I see people get wrong most consistently. Either they skip it entirely, buy whatever the cruise line offers at checkout without reading it, or they purchase a policy too late and discover it doesn't cover what they thought it would. I've talked to travelers who lost thousands of dollars on trips they never took — not because anything catastrophic happened, but because they misunderstood what thei

I've been a travel advisor for years, and most of my cruising has been on Princess. So when I finally sailed Royal Caribbean for the first time on Quantum of the Seas cruise out of Los Angeles, I knew I'd learn a few things. What I didn't expect was how many avoidable Royal Caribbean cruise mistakes I'd make anyway. A few came down to waiting too long. A few came down to assuming a package worked the way it does on other lines. And a couple were small costs that quietly added

Every summer, I get some version of the same question from people considering a Caribbean cruise: "Should I be worried about hurricane season?" And every time, my answer is the same — probably less than you think, but there are a few things worth knowing before you book. Hurricane season and cruising have a complicated reputation. The season runs June 1 through November 30, which overlaps almost entirely with the Caribbean's most popular cruising months. But what most first-t

A Caribbean cruise is one of the most popular first cruises anyone takes — and for good reason. Warm water, easy beaches, a different island every day. But it's also one of the easiest to get wrong before you ever step onboard, because most first-timers book the very first itinerary they see without realizing something important: the Caribbean isn't one trip. It's essentially three completely different vacations. I'm a travel advisor, and I sailed a 10-day Southern Caribbean

On my last cruise, I booked an aft balcony cabin. I was thrilled about it — I'd heard those cabins have incredible views, and honestly, they were right. It was the best view I've ever had from a cruise cabin, and I've stayed in just about every corner of a ship. But I'd also heard that aft cabins can get exhaust fumes. I heard it. I just didn't take it seriously. And here's how that played out: every time I really wanted the door open, every time I wanted to sit out on that b

I've sailed on both Princess and Celebrity — and the question I get asked the most is which one is "better." Here's the honest answer: there isn't one. It depends entirely on who's traveling. Rather than telling you one line is better than the other, I want to walk you through the four real differences I noticed between the two, plus a decision framework you can use to figure out which line fits your travel style. Key Takeaways Princess Medallion lets you order food and drink

If you've watched my latest video, you already know the premise: after 20 years of travel planning and a lot of cruises — both mine and the ones I've helped plan for others — I've changed my mind on a surprising amount of "standard" cruise advice. Some of what gets repeated as common wisdom is actually a cruise mistake waiting to happen, depending on who you are and how you travel. This post expands on that video. The video covers nine of these because of time, but there are

One of the most common questions I hear from first-time cruisers is, "Where do I even start?" There are so many decisions to make when planning a cruise. Which cruise line should you choose? What cabin should you book? Which itinerary is best? Are cruise packages worth it? Should you book excursions? The problem is that many travelers start making decisions in the wrong order. Instead of asking what cruise I would choose, I want to help you think through the decisions that ma

When I booked my first Alaska cruise, I spent hours researching every detail. I wanted the perfect cabin, the right excursions, and the best possible experience. Alaska isn’t exactly the kind of trip most people take every year, so I wanted to get it right the first time. The funny thing is, after the cruise was over, I realized there were several things I would have done differently. None of these mistakes ruined my vacation. Alaska was still one of the most beautiful places