“Don’t buy bottled water”, “sunrise alarms”, “no rushing” – cruisers share their 18 best cruise hacks

Cruise Passenger readers always have plenty to say about what’s going on in Australian cruise, and in the broader cruise community. In Your Say, Cruise Passenger looks at the issues our readers are writing to us about on our blogs, posts and newsletters. 

Recently, the 2.3 billion users on Reddit shared their best cruise hacks and tips that they wish they had known earlier. 

The nature of a cruise means it has its own quirks to other types of holidays that will always mean your packing list and your planning process should look a little bit different than simply going to a resort or hopping in the car for a roadtrip.

Cruise ships do have almost everything you could imagine onboard and plenty of friendly crew members to help you with whatever you need, but it never hurts to be extra prepared or do research to make your cruise experience as seamless as possible.

From extra things to pack that you might not have thought about, right up to smart hacks on how to find a bit of quiet time for yourself onboard, Reddit users thought of everything, so here are a few tips and hacks for your next cruise. 

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“Don’t buy bottled water.”

Once user explained how ship water goes through an extremely similar process to bottled water, meaning bottled water isn’t worth the extra.

“Ship water: starts as seawater → goes through reverse osmosis, filtration, UV, and chlorination → stored in sterile tanks → tested daily by engineers and health inspectors. Dasani (Coca-Cola made), starts as municipal tap water → goes through reverse osmosis, filtration, UV, and ozonation → bottled → tested for FDA compliance. Both end up as highly purified, remineralised water that’s chemically and microbiologically safe.”

“Bring magnetising hooks. Like a lot. They help with all sorts of things”

This tip is a cruise ship classic. Many walls and spaces of your cruise ship stateroom will be constructed from metal, so with a few magnetic hooks, you can hang your things and avoid clutter. It can give you a space to hang everything from wet clothes and swimsuits to jackets, hats and more. This can make your stateroom feel tidier and less cluttered, reducing any holiday stress. A similar tip is …

Buy a sunrise “alarm” for when you have an inside cabin. The constant darkness can make it really difficult to wake up. Having a light that comes on slowly over a set time period makes such a huge difference.

For those who do opt for a interior cabin, this is a get way to meet your circadian rhythm in check and make sure you get the most out of your holiday.

“Taking a magnetic something (picture, sports team, whatever as long as it’s not a pineapple) to put on your door so you know you’re in the right place.”

It doesn’t take much for your room number to slip your mind, especially if you’ve been enjoying a couple of cocktails. Having a magnetic object of some sort on your door can clear that right up for you. 

“Always plan to do laundry on anything more than seven days. It’s so worth packing half as much. We usually do 12 or more night sailings, and pack for five to six days. It is so much easier.”

This is a great tip for longer cruises. If you’re going on a longer cruise of 10 of more days and don’t plan on doing laundry, this means packing 10 days’ worth of clothes. This makes suitcases heavier, especially if you’re sharing with a partner or family member.

If you would rather pack clothes for only half this time, commit to doing your laundry halfway through your cruise.

“Not rushing to get off the ship at a port if you don’t have an excursion planned, and if time allows… oh, the bliss of a mostly empty pool area!!”

This is another classic cruise tip! While a huge part of cruising is obviously the destination, if you do stay onboard in port, you can often have the ship nearly to yourself and suddenly enjoy the pools and restaurants without the crowds. For balance, you can spend a couple of hours on the ship and enjoy having the space to yourself, then head into port for a couple of hours as well.

“Bring a water bottle from home, you can stay much more hydrated than relying on frequent trips to get water with their little cups or getting creative with other ways of carrying water around.”

Bringing a water bottle can also help reduce waste. You can fill up your bottle at soda stations or water fountains and enjoy free water, rather than buying it or just using cups over and over again.

“When flying to a port, go at least one day early, stay at a hotel and enjoy the port city. Your luggage has an extra day to show up in case it’s miss sent and you have a buffer in case your initial flight is delayed, rerouted or cancelled. If luggage isn’t recovered, you still have time to shop for replacements or forgotten items.”

This is another fundamental cruise tip. The reality is that while you will of course need to fork out some extra money for a night in a hotel and any time spent in the port city, getting in the day before will always help reduce stress and eliminate the risk of anything happening that makes you miss your cruise. It’s one of those things that is simply worth the extra spend.

“Take the stairs”

Taking the stairs is a good way to keep those vacation kilos away. Also, elevators can be quite slow due to the many people who are constantly moving around the ship.

If you’re just hoping to move one or two levels, walking will often be faster. By walking, you also help other people’s elevator journeys go faster, as there are fewer people getting on and off just to go a floor or two.

“Try an inside or ocean view cabin at least once. I know a lot of people swear by balconies- but I’ve never been on a single ship where there’s not ample, quiet, comfortable seating out on decks away from the pool.

“I’ve saved literally tens of thousands that I’ve then rolled into travelling more often or splurging on excursions. Even when I’ve had balcony cabins, I rarely use them- why sit in an upright chair when I can be in a lounger with bar service?”

The key takeaway from this tip is to try out different things and not be too fixed in your cruising habits. Some cruisers will of course, find the balcony cabins to be worth it, whereas for others, they might prefer spending time outside of the cabin anyway, and would rather put the money towards something else. Some cruisers even prefer interior cabins as they think the shut out of light is best for sleeping!

“Bring every over-the-counter med you can think of, then add band aids, cough drops, topical steroids and antibiotic cream, sunscreen, moisturiser and any other drug store items you can think of. They are so expensive IF you can find them!”

Over-the-counter medications and everyday items like sunscreens can generally be found onboard and will be much more expensive.

“USB-powered fan. I learned it from here or a FB group and love it so much it now travels with me for work.”

A USB fan is a great way to keep cool on your travels, and definitely something to consider if you’re heading somewhere hot and tropical. You can simply plug it into the USB ports near your bed and feel the cool air right on your face to escape the heat. They also work to drown out noise for light sleepers.

“Make a checklist of things you want to do on ship beforehand. I have been on many cruises and always tried to wing it. This last one we made a checklist and I actually ended up doing stuff I wouldn’t otherwise be arsed to do after I’ve been drinking and get lazy.”

Especially if you’re sailing with a family cruise line like Royal Caribbean or Carnival, there are truly a ton of things to do onboard. If you’re looking more an activity-packed holiday rather than just lounging at the pool, make yourself a little list or itinerary to make sure you don’t miss out on anything!

“Get up early and walk 5 miles”

This tip might not be the most popular with those who prefer a slow vacation, but one user pointed out that a cruise ship can be a surprisingly good place to get some exercise.

“Get up early and walk 5 miles, fast or slow, on the track. Say good morning to everyone, listen to great music. Beautiful to watch sun come up on sea days and before ship docks. And you haven’t wasted any of the day and now lots of free calories to eat more.”

“A 20-foot type-c cable so you can stay plugged-in while hanging out on the balcony.”

This is helpful if you are staying in a balcony cabin. Bring that long charger along, and you can have your phone out there with you!

“Wear a bathing suit on boarding day or bring it in your carry-on.”

This is a great tip because some first time cruisers might not realise that it can take a few hours for your luggage to be sent to your room when boarding.

This means that if you have your swimmers with you, you can enjoy the pools and hot tubs on the first day and not be left without your cozzie. Make sure to also keep anything else on hand that you might need in the first few hours, such as medication, sunscreen or snacks. 

“I bring a large ziplock bag, big enough to put an entire plate into. While the buffet is open for lunch, I pack a plate of cheese, crackers, salami, olives, celery sticks and so forth, and put it in my own fridge in a bag. At 4pm, I can relax on the pool deck with a drink and have my charcuterie board while the buffet is closed.”

While your appetite and tastes may differ from this particular cruiser, using a ziplock bag to bring food back to your room is perfectly acceptable on a cruise and can save you from having to trek it back to the dining area later. 

“Bring a good attitude. Remember, you are not better or more important than everyone else.”

This one is less of a hack and more of some travel advice. However, remembering to be kind to other cruisers and crew members, accepting some delays and problems as part of travelling and keeping a positive attitude when things go wrong will go a long way towards making your cruise more enjoyable.

Please keep those comments coming! We want to hear what YOUR best hacks are to enjoy a cruise!