Give me all your cruise tips!

[FriendlyNeighbourhoodAccountant]

I'm going on a winter cruise but advice doesn't need to be winter specific.

Also, the black tie nights, are they actually black tie or just formal?

How old is the baby? Some ships have rules over minimum age for the pools.

She'll be 9 months, but as it's a winter cruise I doubt we'll be using the pools. I think most tend to say until they're potty trained they can't use them anyway

I used to work on cruise ships 🙂

You still have to go through customs at the end of the cruise so make sure you know what you can and can't bring back.
My ship was American and docked in southampton but you could only have 200 cigs and 1 bottle of booze per adult. So many people got caught out when disembarking.

Make sure you walk the whole ship. We had areas onboard that hardly anyone visited because they never knew about them.

Ask crew (not just guest relations or excursion sales people) where the best places in each port to visit are. Crew/staff are onboard for roughly 6 months at a time so many of them will know the ports very well and can advise on some hidden gems or tips.

If your ship has speciality restaurants, try and get booked in. Often the food is amazing.

Shops onboard usually have a price match guarantee with the ports. Shops are usually a concession so arent directly employed by the cruise liner. Harding Brothers and Starboard for example. Check about their price match policy and keep your eyes peeled in ports to get good deals.

Read the cruise daily compass as well. It lets you know about all the activities onboard

Thank you! Customs shouldn't be an issue, we don't smoke or drink and unless there's a limit on the amount of fridge magnets I can take home I think we're ok 😂

Speciality restaurants are definitely on my list, looks like most are available to book from 14 days before we leave.

Sadly not anymore. They changed it at the beginning of May. Only a bottle of wine or champagne now. You can order a bottle of spirits from room service to have in your cabin.

My top tip is as soon as you board go straight to book up the entertainment for the evening. They do fantastic shows but there are not enough seats for all passengers and it's first come first served and some you can book for like the ballroom dancing show.

I'm not sure what (if any) of the entertainment is suitable for an infant. Any ideas how I'd check in advance?

You can put your child in the night nursery asleep and they will look after them and call you if the baby wakes up. So you can do the entertainment without them. If you don't want that take ear defenders for the baby as it can be noisy.

We saw this was an option but wasn't entirely sure how good a sleeper she'll be at that point so don't want to guarantee it. We're fine with chilling in the room in the evenings if not, just wanted a relaxing holiday.

if you’re on one of the newer ships (Iona / Arvia definitely, maybe others), there is a really good in-cabin streaming service. When me and DH did a fjords cruise a couple of autumns ago, we’d come back to the cabin with a couple of drinks every evening after an early-ish dinner and catch up on lots of films we’d missed in the cinema. There were ones on there that were still in the cinema at home which was fab - all completely free / included. As people not fussed by flashy entertainment, it was really relaxing and lovely for us.

I've often wondered how they police limiting the amount of alcohol you bring on board. Do they go through your cases? Sorry OP, entirely irrelevant for you I know

They scan all cases like at an airport and can see how many bottles people have. They remove them from your cases and you can collect them at the end of the cruise.

You go through security just like at an airport :)

Just jumping in to say on the P&O ships I've been on there is a pullout washing line in the shower so no need to take one. Pretty sure they all have launderettes on board all their ships which are free, you just need to take your own washing powder (I take washing sheets as they're easier to pack and don't look like illegal drugs!!)

Definitely join the Facebook group for the ship as you'll find lots of hints and tips specific to that ship.

Enjoy!! I love cruising, only started in 2022 but I've been on 6 so far!!

There’s a good Facebook group for each ship.
extension leads are banned on P and O.
the night nursery is great! If she is asleep you can take her down and get a page if she wakes.
sindhu gets booked up quick, they are welcoming to families. I’ve taken an 22 month and 2 year old at times.
paddling pool in the shower and buggy with a snooze shade to do laps of the shop to get her to sleep so you can have a meal in peace.
enjoy!

Make sure you do your pax drill too when you get onboard. They'll do it before the ship sails.
All of you.
It might seem pointless and a waste of time but if there was an emergency onboard it's so important to know where you need to be, how many people are at your muster station and which crew members are there.

Carry your guest pass on you at all times. It's your ship lifeline. If anything were to happen (ie medical emergency) it'll save a lot of time. And please don't keep it down your bra...it's just gross for the crew 😁

Which ship are you going on?

Night nursery is brilliant. Worked perfectly for our 9mo last year as we just rocked him to sleep in the cabin and walked him over asleep on our arms. Had evening free to ourself!

On the bigger ships (Iona, Arvia) they have baby sensory type sessions quite a few mornings, great with a little, just check the schedule. Under 2 there's no daytime childcare but there is a nursery with lots of toys to play with. And just loads of things to see and do to keep them entertained just around the ship.

5-5.45 every day they have "children's tea" in the buffet - just for kids and their families, lots of kiddy friendly food. Overall the food was brilliant for weaning as we could just let him try loads of things and just see what he liked.

Definitely request the baby bath and you can also request a cot if you don't want to trek one with you (we took one when we went from Southampton, didn't take it when we went from Valletta and had to fly out).

Check the excursions - we were obviously limited in what we could do with a baby but still found quite a few options that worked.

Most of the pools are supposed to be kid free but all the family friendly ships have at least one or two pools that are ok for babies / kids.

Take laundry stuff with you - there are laundries you can use and with a baby it's great to know you don't have to take a million vests etc just in case.

Thanks for the great thread @FriendlyNeighbourhoodAccountant.

Depends on the cruise line - Cunard many men will be in dj's on gala nights, most women wear long dresses. Other lines are a little less formal so cocktail dresses or bodycon dresses even for formal night and men in chinos, shirt and blazer. P&o has a bit of old school glamour so definitely a dark suit for formal night but not necessarily a long dress

Unless it's a huge ship, you rarely need to book shows, we've just turned up. Take a reclining buggy and head to one of the lounges in the evening, those with solo singers aren't too loud with a little one.

@FairIsleCromartyForties

They say they police the alcohol but I've got 3x as much in for transatlantic (as you can't get off no chance of buying in port). P&o and Cunard are more laid back than the American brands (though their parent company is American). Drinks are cheap on p&o anyway

I'm just thankful for the great answers!

We'll be on Ventura!

Thank you for the detailed advice, it's appreciated, especially the laundry advice. I'll have a look for laundry sheets as I'm sure they'll be easier than powder.

I've requested the cot but will pop an email over for the baby bath. The children's tea sounds perfect!

I'm breastfeeding so even more of a reason to not keep it in my bra 😂 I've seen some lanyards that are recommended so I'll grab those!

Take one of these style travel plugs then if there are multiple socket types in the cabin you're all covered.

amzn.eu/d/8RunDqA

Don't stress about it. Do what you want and what works best for your family.