You're listening to the Cruise Tips TV Unplugged podcast.
Today I'm sharing 10 things I simply won't do on a cruise.
♪♪
Welcome to Cruise Tips TV Unplugged.
I'm your host, Sherry, and we invite you to join our Cruise Loving family
as we travel the world creating cruise videos and vlogs.
In this podcast, we talk tips, tactics, and strategies to help you
make every cruise your dream cruise.
♪♪
Hey friends!
It is Sherry Flying Solo this week.
Mr. Cruise Tips TV is traveling for business,
and so I am rocking the podcast studio all alone.
Womp, womp, womp.
But that is okay.
This is actually a topic that is near and dear to my heart,
and I'm totally comfortable talking about it,
but I think that the key here, the key takeaway for this particular podcast
is these are things that I won't do on a cruise, typically speaking,
because over the years I have found that this stuff is just a waste of money.
So we made a YouTube video about this topic, about how, you know,
as cruisers we save and we plan and we prepare,
and the last thing that we want to do when we actually get to that hard-earned vacation
is to waste our money on board.
So I put together a list of things that I just will not do on a cruise anymore.
And these are things that I've sort of developed a taste for or a distaste for,
I guess you could say, over the years, and it kind of starts with packing and planning,
and it goes all the way to dining and entertainment,
and this is stuff that is just either a waste of time or a waste of money for us.
And of course, we know that like some people are just completely not going to agree with this list.
The idea is it's okay, it's okay to totally disagree with us,
but the point is to get you thinking about things that may or may not be worth investing in,
and by giving you this information, hopefully we're kind of getting you prepped for your cruise
and helping you to have a really good experience.
But again, this is a really personal list of things we just don't do on cruises anymore,
and your list is going to be different.
And guarantee you will not agree with all 10 of my points.
But there is a bonus tip at the end that I think everyone should follow.
In my personal opinion, if you waste your money on this one thing,
you're going to be bumming for your whole cruise.
So just something to take away, and we'll talk about it at the very end.
All right, so let's get into the top 10 list of things that I just simply
don't do anymore in a cruise.
To start with, I will never, ever, ever buy my drink package on board the ship
on just about every single cruise line waiting until you board the ship to buy your drink package
is a really bad idea.
And the reason it's a really bad idea is because it simply costs you more money
than if you bought it beforehand.
And it ruins your first or second or third day whenever you decide to buy the drink package,
because typically what happens is you're like, oh, I didn't need a drink package.
You get on board, you get sticker shock when you look at the actual price of the drinks.
And you think, huh, maybe I should have sprung for the drink package.
And then you have to kind of go through the hassle of buying the drink package.
But usually it's at a markup, and it's not worth it.
So this is something that I will never do.
If I'm going to get a drink package, I absolutely purchase it before the cruise.
And I try to do some price shopping.
Now, some cruise lines, when you're buying a drink package, the price is the price.
Like Carnival, for example, they're pretty consistent with their prices.
Princess has Princess Plus and Princess Premier now.
Celebrities rates are more all inclusive.
But when you're talking about like Royal Caribbean, for example,
those drink packages, like the price is very from week to week,
month to month, from cruise planner sale to cruise planner sale.
So I always kind of do a little bit of comparison shopping.
And when in doubt, buy it, and you could always reprice it later.
So that's the number one thing that I'll just never do on a cruise.
Number two, another thing I just will not do on a cruise, and actually,
I don't think I've ever done this, is I will not book another cruise on board.
Now, to be clear, I might put down a future cruise deposit at the future cruise desk,
whatever it may be called on that ship, the next cruise desk, the future cruise desk.
But I'm not going to actually book that cruise on the ship.
I'm not going to pick a date or a ship, and I don't really have to.
The reason I don't do it is because I don't have to.
On most cruise lines, what I can do is just visit the future cruise desk, put down a deposit,
and then I can get some of those extra perks without having to make a decision
on a specific ship or a sailing date.
So what I'll do is typically, if I'm interested in cruising with that particular cruise line again
within the next year or two, and there's some kind of a great offer on board to put down a deposit,
I will do that, but then when I get home, I will leave it to my travel agent to book that next cruise.
Again, this is one of those things that you just have to think about in real time.
Is it worth it to me to put down a deposit and maybe get a little bit of extra on board credit,
or maybe a reduced deposit, or do I just not know if I'm going to be cruising with that cruise line again?
If you're not sure, just wait. You don't have to do the next cruise thing on your cruise.
It's just not a requirement. On to number three. Now this one might ruffle some feathers,
but it's again, this is a very personal list, and that is that I simply do not play table games
in the casino or play bingo when I cruise. And the truth is, you guys, unless you're a high roller,
unless you're spending a good amount of cash, the odds are pretty much stacked against you in the
casino. It's just the nature of casinos, whether it's on land or on a ship. Usually, the house is
the winner. And I'm not going to do it because the truth is, I am not good at it. I'm not a skilled
gambler, especially with table games. Bingo, I don't know how much skill is really required,
but I'd rather spend my money on a massage or an excursion, or sometimes I like playing this lot.
That's really fun for me, but I'm just not going to spend my money on that. Now, with that said,
there are some strong arguments for casino play, especially these days. Certain cruise lines
have really generous casino programs, and you definitely want to make sure that if you do go
sit down and play the occasional slot machine or table game or bingo, make sure you guys,
you sign up for the casino program because you want them to track your spending and potentially
offer you casino offers. Now, the thing that's hard about this is that it's really inconsistent.
It's inconsistent even within particular cruise lines, carnival, royal Caribbean. They're sort of
known for not having a super consistent casino offer program, meaning that you've signed up for
the casino program, you've been on a cruise and you've spent X number of dollars. One person may
spend that same amount of money and get a free cruise offer, and another person might get nothing.
So this is, again, one of those things that for me, it's just, it's kind of a gamble, but I will tell
you, I do sign up for the casino program. And if I do sit down at a slot machine, even if for five
minutes, I make sure that I put my cruise card into the machine and make sure that they know who I
am because you do definitely want to join the casino program if you're going to be gambling
even for five minutes. I've never gotten a free cruise offer. I've never gotten any type of a
casino offer. But again, I don't think I've ever spent more than $50 in a casino. So just
something that's really, really good to know. Okay, on to something that, in my opinion, is
probably a little bit more pertinent to my situation. Our number four thing that we just won't do on
a cruise, because this is a very costly one, is I will never leave my phone in cellular data mode.
Instead, what that means is I switch into airplane mode and activate the ship's Wi-Fi
just before sell away to make sure that I don't get charged by my cell phone company.
Because what happens is when you pull away from shore, your land-based cell phone plan pretty
much stops working. And you need to make sure that you're either on the ship's Wi-Fi or that you
have contacted your cell phone provider for some sort of alternate plan because neglecting to go
into airplane mode can have dire and very expensive consequences. In fact, we have heard stories about
people coming home to $1,000 phone bills just from this one cruise mistake. So this is something that I
never, ever, ever forget. And it's funny, after all of these years, you would think I would have to
set some kind of a cell phone reminder. But I'm so terrified of getting that cell phone bill that
I always just have the muscle memory to put my phone in airplane mode right around that sale away time.
So when you see the shore disappearing, make sure, if not sooner, that you put your phone into airplane
mode so that you do not incur unnecessary charges. This is a very, very costly cruise mistake.
All right. This next thing that we as a family try to avoid, this kind of personal, but I'm
going to share it anyway, when we posted our YouTube video on this topic, I had kind of a mixed
reaction from people. Some people are like, yeah, I totally agree with you. And other people said,
no, I think you're missing out by, you know, kind of drawing a line in the sand on this one. But
for us, it's becoming more and more non-negotiable that we just will not book any cruise excursion
that starts before around 10 a.m. on a cruise. Now, the funny thing about this is at home,
I'm a super early riser, like I'm one of those people who springs out of bed at some ungodly hour.
Usually it's like 6 a.m. And I'm up a few hours before work. But I think we have to be real
about the fact that when we're traveling, our sleep patterns can be thrown off. And getting up
early, it feels like a chore. It feels like work. And it just straight up kind of stinks, at least
to me. It's not something that I want to do and it's not something I want to encourage my family
to do. I think when you're on vacation, you should sleep and rest your body and focus on
waking up a little bit more naturally. So for us, over the years, one thing that we've learned is
we're not going to book those early morning excursions. Typically, when we do, it's a total
buzz kill for the day. I'm sure though, and many people brought this up in the comments
of our YouTube video, there are excursions where it's worth it. Yeah, for sure to be at the gangway
at 7 a.m. for some kind of an excursion of a lifetime. But for leisure travel, for ports where maybe
we visited before, and there's no major reason to rush off the ship, we're just not going to do it
anymore. We don't do it. I think that those early morning cruise excursions are a recipe for our
family for just being grumpy. And we don't want to be grumpy with each other on our cruise vacation.
We want to have a leisurely morning, grab some coffee, get some breakfast when we're hungry,
mosey off the ship. You know, I mean, I just don't like those trustful mornings. So
you might take this into consideration when you're shopping for a cruise excursion. You might say,
heck no, I'm at my best in the morning. Here I go. Let's go. But for our family combined for the
three of us, we have just found that we do not want to be rushed in the morning. And for us,
it's usually more healthy to avoid those early morning cruise excursion calls.
All right, we're up to number six. Have you guys ever noticed how when you're on a cruise ship
and you walk by all those different shops, the liquor bottles are like front and center in the
windows of the shops? That is there for a reason. Yes, they offer incredible duty-free discounts.
But while the prices might be a little bit lower than you can get on land and the duty-free discount
is super tempting, I get it. For me, I do not buy liquor on board cruise ships. And the reason why
is A, I can enjoy the liquor bottle when I'm on the cruise. If I was staying at an all-inclusive
resort or even a resort that wasn't all-inclusive, probably more appropriately, not all-inclusive,
I might think, huh, I can get a bottle of Kalua for $14 where at home it costs me $27.
That might make sense. But I can't even enjoy it on the cruise, right? The cruise line staff is
going to hold it and deliver it to my room the night before the cruise. But worse than that,
not being able to enjoy it on the cruise is simply the fact that I have to lug it home.
And usually we're pretty minimalist packers. And I don't want to deal with checking a couple of
bottles of liquor. I mean, I can't even take them on as carry on luggage. How do we get that
stuff home? Now, if I'm driving to port, OK, all bets are off. This duty-free roll might fly out
the window. And for you, it should too. Again, like driving to port and you're driving home,
you don't have to get on an airplane. OK, totally reevaluate my advice on this.
Pop those extra couple of bottles of gray goose or patreon, whatever you can get duty-free into
your trunk and drive it home. But if you're flying, this can be a real nuisance. And I've heard of
people who have tried to get the bottles home and ultimately they've had broken bottles, they've
had issues at the airport and they've had to try to pad the bottles. And it's all just a huge
pain. So typically speaking, the duty-free liquor is just straight up a no-go for me. I don't know.
What do you think? Is this something that's, am I being too ridiculous about it? I don't know.
Curious to hear what you guys think. All right. Number seven probably will not surprise you.
And that is just simply that we don't do art auctions. Yes, they offer free champagne. I love
that you can go to an art auction and chill and hear the awesome information about all the artists
and get a free glass of champagne. It's a fun way to shop for art, but what we keep hearing are
people get home, they paid a lot for the art and then they find that it may be cheaper at home
or they just really feel like they paid too much on the cruise. So again, back to that same point
about gambling. I know nothing about gambling. I also know absolutely nothing about art. So I'm
not going to pretend to while I'm on a cruise. So this is a hundred percent a skip for us when we
cruise, but I know the draw of the free champagne is a thing and I do not fault anyone who goes to
hang out at the art auction. Maybe you just go for the entertainment and I think that's wonderful
and I can completely relate to that. Okay. Number eight is a mistake that I've made a few times,
but these days I try to avoid it at all costs because it's a mistake that when I make it,
it's really expensive and inconvenient. And that is that I try not to buy toiletries
in the gift shop on a cruise. I mean, let's be honest, we've all forgotten our toothpaste.
We've forgotten our, you know, you pack your shampoo, but you forget your conditioner, right?
You forget a toothbrush. You have a really bad headache and you have no pain reliever.
So what do you do? You head down to the cruise line boutique and low and behold,
the travel size toothpaste is four times as much as you would have paid a target
and you're frustrated and you're mad or you're on a ship where you can't even find pain reliever
or the sunscreen is $20 and you're like, ah, next time I just need to do a better job with my packing
list. So this is one that I try to really plan ahead with because it really can add up. If you're
ending up, you know, if you're buying like a toiletry item on day one, maybe it's a $12 bottle of
ibuprofen. And then the next day you realize, oh, no, I've run out of sunscreen and you're spending
$14 to $20 on a bottle of sunscreen. And these are real prices, by the way. And then you realize,
oh my gosh, I completely blew it and forgot to pack conditioner even though I got shampoo.
These are things that can really add up. So my suggestion is try to pack some travel sizes,
set aside some travel sizes of your favorite toiletries and medications,
shop at the dollar store for them too. The dollar store has amazing travel size items and
obviously it's a dollar store. So they're probably going to be less expensive, go to places like
Target or Amazon and look at those, the travel essentials area and see what you can find and
just try to think of every little thing, but a small quantity of every little thing so that
you don't end up buying it on board. Then again, if you run out of something, there's always a way
and you can also pick it up in port, which is a great workaround. If you don't want to spend money
in the gift shop on board, those sundry shops are so expensive. But if you just simply wait
to get into your port of call, you can probably find at a grocery store or a convenience store,
or a drug store of some type, you probably find what you're missing. Another shopping pitfall
that I like to avoid is buying watches or jewelry from those temporary sales kiosks
on a cruise ship. Now I'm not talking about the shops. I will totally buy jewelry from a place
like Effie or an actual jewelry shop on board of cruise. But I'm talking about those pop-up kiosks
where you have to question, okay, is this really a deal? They've just set up shop and they've got
the inch of gold promo that's offered on sea days and you're just asking yourself, you know,
does this feel right? Do I really need 12 inches of gold? If you're asking yourself if it's too good
to be true, it is probably too good to be true. I do want to reiterate though that I think that
jewelry shopping on a cruise can be great. In fact, I've priced out some Effie products and I've
actually found them to be less expensive on the ship. So I wouldn't discount shopping on a ship.
I wouldn't discount those great sales that they have as well. There's the, you know, the $10 sales
where they have purses and shawls and all of that stuff. There's a lot of really great deals to be
had on cruise ships, but it's the jewelry and watch kiosks specifically that I try to avoid because
I found that they're generally speaking a rip off. Okay, number 10, I can't believe we're all ready
to the end. It's so, so mellow without Mr. Cruise dip Stevie. I really prefer it when he's here,
but that's okay. All right, the last thing that I try to avoid when I want to cruise, and this is
absolutely a money saver, is paying for extra entrees like lobster or, you know, the upcharge
stake that they have in the main dining room. So you've sat down, you're at your complimentary
dining experience and you look down at the bottom of the menu and lo and behold, you can get an
actual stake from the steakhouse or a lobster and it's usually $20, $25. And this is just something
that I do not waste my money on when I'm cruising. And the reason being is that
if I want a specialty cruise dining item, I'd rather have the full experience of going to that
particular restaurant and having the whole experience, whether it's the starter, the entree,
you know, you're going to pay probably $19 for an add-on stake, whereas maybe you could for 30 or
$40 at the upcharge restaurant, you'd have a whole experience, three or four courses,
and a totally different ambiance. Now, I do think there's a time and a place for this.
Maybe you're just craving a really good steak and nothing on the menu really looked quite right
for you, or there's just, you know, there's just one of those special occasions where it works.
But for me, it's not something that I do. I'd rather go for the full like steakhouse experience
and skip the MDR upcharge experience. In fact, I don't think I've ever in all my cruises,
I don't think I've ever done an upcharge item from the dining room. All right. So we've reached
the end of our list, but I promised you all a bonus tip. And this is something that I tout
over and over again in all of our YouTube videos. And we talk about on our Amazon live shopping
experiences. And it's just so important. But that is that I will just never ever ever wear brand new
shoes on a cruise. And I know it's tempting. We all buy new shoes for a cruise. You want to
have those beautiful formal nights to let us, they match your dress perfectly. But what happens is
you get those brand new shoes onto the ship and you head out to dinner and 20 minutes in,
you have a blister rubbing onto your ankle and no band-aid to put over it. And you're thinking,
Oh my gosh, my night is ruined. I'm in so much pain. And I could have avoided this. And the way
that you avoid it is you wear those shoes in before you get on the ship. Now that might mean that
if you've bought something like two or three weeks in advance, you walk around your house
in those shoes as much as you possibly can to get them worn in. The point is if they're brand new,
even if it's like a speaker or a casual shoe, sometimes they just don't feel good off the bat.
So pop on some socks, walk around your house for a few hours in those shoes and make sure
that you wear them in even if they're seemingly comfortable shoes because nothing ruins your day
like sore feet. Trust me, I've been there. In fact, on a recent cruise, I thought I was pretty cool.
And I bought some new flip flops thinking, Oh, they're just, you know, they're flip flops.
They're casual shoes. This is no big deal. They'll be fine. They're the same brand of flip flop that
I've worn over and over for years and years. I'm just getting them in white. Oh my gosh, you guys,
the top of my foot, one of my feet was so raw. It was bleeding by the end of day two. And I didn't
really have a backup plan. I didn't have another pair of sandals. I had my formal night shoes.
I had my sneakers, but those are like my pool shoes, my day shoes. So I ended up like slapping a
couple band-aids on my feet. And I thought to myself, I have to share this with people. I have to
remind them that even your casual shoes can take some wearing in. All right, that wraps up my list
of 10 things that I will not do on a cruise. Maybe we should do this again in a year and see if the
list is still the same. Hope you enjoyed. Thank you for listening. And until next time,
we'll see you on the high seas. Thanks for listening to CruiseTipsTV Unplugged. If you like our show
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the high seas.