I’m a cruise ship worker… here are SEVEN must-follow tips for first timers

A cruise ship worker has revealed the seven essential tips first-time cruisers must take into account if they want a smooth voyage.

Lucy Southerton, 28, from Birmingham, who racked up an impressive nine years of experience on board, recently took to her YouTube channel Cruising as Crew to explain how first timers should prepare.

The clip, which is part of an extensive series helping travellers embrace cruise life covers everything from basic necessities like travel insurance and Wi-Fi to buying alcohol.

Sailing four corners of the world can be daunting if you’re a first timer but the pro traveller made sure to go into enough detail to put incoming cruise-goers at ease

She first stressed the importance of travel insurance, instructing her 68,000 subscribers to sort this as soon as they’ve booked their cruise.

She first stressed the importance of travel insurance, instructing her 68,000 subscribers to sort this as soon as they’ve booked their cruise 

1. Get your travel insurance as soon as you book

Lucy explained that it’s important to be a little organised when it comes to your cruise, citing endless possibilities of unprecedented things that could wrong as a reason to be timely when it comes to purchasing travel insurance.

‘Make sure you have booked travel insurance as soon as you have booked your cruise, especially with a cruise vacation, you never know what’s going to go wrong.

‘The cruise could be cancelled, your flight could be cancelled, you could miss our flight, your flight could be delayed and you could miss the cruise!’

She emphasised: ‘You never know what’s going to happen so make sure you book travel insurance as soon as your cruise is booked’.

2.  Check all of your items are allowed on-board

While this would seem obvious, Lucy explained that often passengers fail to read the basic instructions. 

While weapons are obviously banned, more innocuous things like ‘letter openers’ also pose the risk of being confiscated so it’s always worth a quick Google so you don’t lose any valuables.

She said: ‘Before packing for your cruise vacation I would advise going on the cruise line’s website to make sure that there are no prohibited items that you would considering taking with you’.

3. Prepare for bad Wi-Fi 

Lucy explained that even if you intend to buy the WiFi provided by the cruiseliner, it is likely to be bad quality so prepare in advance and have all the apps you need for your stay.

She said: ‘Most of these cruise lines now will require you to download an app on your phone, you, but you must download these apps before you get on board’.

4. Tell your bank  

One thing that many travellers overlook is telling their bank about their cruise trip. 

Transactions in multiple different time zones may be flagged as suspicious activity if you fail to inform them.

Lucy said: ‘It’s super important when you’re going on a cruise ship because you’re going to be in a different destination every day so if your bank doesn’t know that you’re on a cruise, it looks exceedingly dodgy.

‘One day you’re buying something in Kazimir, the next day you’re buying something in Miami, it looks weird so make sure that your bank you’re going to be hopping from destination to destination’.

5. Book things in advance 

Lucy said, if you’ve got your eyes on something, whether it’s a restaurant or a show, book it in advance.

‘Make sure you book either before you get on board or as soon as you get on board’, the ex-cruise ship worker explained. 

She added: ‘Sometimes you can book these events through the app but I am still a fan of booking in person’.

Lucy recommended confirming that our online booking still stands as soon as you embark the cruise ship. 

She said@ ‘I would even do this before you even go to your cabin, before you grab some food, I would make sure that everything is booked in’.

Lucy explained most people go to their cabin, eat, and then book everything but if everyone else is doing this too, you’ll either have to tolerate long queues or in the very worst scenario, not be able to get one.

She emphasised: ‘As soon as you get on board your crew ship, make sure that you book everything that you want to book for your cruise’.

6. Be patient with guest services 

Lucy says, if you’ve got your eyes on something, whether it’s an eatery or a show, book it in advance

Lucy’s final tip for first time cruise goers was regarding tipping which goes to cabin stewards and sometimes waiters

Lucy recommends avoiding first-time cruise stress by waiting a little bit longer to sort issues more efficiently. 

She said: ‘If  you need to go to guest services for any reason, maybe you’ve got a billing issue, a cabin issue, avoid going on embarkation – when everybody goes to guest services with their complaints and queries’.

The perks of delaying your trip down to guest services mean you get to avoid the long queues, and are seen much quicker when you do pop down as most people instinctively seek help on the first day of the cruise. 

Lucy added: ‘I promise you the day after embarkation, no one’s going to be there, you’re going to see someone straight away, you’re going to have your issue solved immediately’.

She also noted that staff will be less stressed on days following embarkation so it’s likely you’ll experience more pleasant service.   

7. Tipping

Lucy’s final tip for first time cruise goers was regarding tipping which goes to cabin stewards and sometimes waiters.

She explained that there is an option to pay gratuities in advance but you don’t have to opt for this.

However, she warned that while this was ‘absolutely fine’, these will be added on to your overall bill at the end of your cruise, so don’t be surprised if the total exceeds what you expected.

The experienced cruise ship worker has seen many people over the years become flustered as they didn’t think to factor this into their budgets, so it’s best to pay it at the time to avoid stress.