8 Things to Do After Booking Your Cruise

Once you book a cruise, you can generally relax until your sailing date, although there are a few things to remember when preparing for sailing. Here's a list of eight important things to do before your cruise, including essential dates you'll want to add to your calendar just as soon as you complete your booking:

1. Once you book your cruise, put two critical dates on your calendar: your final payment date (if you did not pay in full at the time of your booking) and your check-in date. Just add them to your calendar immediately so you don't forget later.
   
   
2. The cruise line will email you repeatedly to remind you, but you cannot miss your final payment date. If you do, your booking will be canceled, and your money paid to that point will be forfeited. Further, if you booked on a flexible fare, you can generally make changes to your booking or cancel without penalty, but only if you do so before this final payment date.
   
   
3. Your check-in date is important because this is when you go online to “check-in” for your cruise by entering details about yourself, like your passport or ID info, emergency contact, etc. Many cruise lines open up check-in 14 to 30 days before your sailing. It’s important to check in online as soon as it's open because, for many cruise lines, that allows you first dibs to secure your preferred arrival time, which is the window of time that you will arrive at the cruise terminal to embark. Many cruisers want to be on the ship as soon as possible, so they check in the second check-in opens to secure the morning time slots before they're all taken.
   
   
4. The cruise line will email you detailed cruise documents as a .pdf, which can be overwhelming as they often contain 15+ pages of small print information. While most cruisers, including me, barely skim these massive documents, the essential parts are your boarding pass and your cruise luggage tags.
   
   
5. Your boarding pass is generally a QR or barcode you use at the cruise terminal, which an employee scans to allow you to embark. Most cruise lines have these on the app, but it’s always a good idea to have a hard copy, too, especially as cell signal is often iffy at crowded cruise terminals. Printing out the boarding pass can make for a more convenient embarkation process.
   
   
6. If you plan to check your luggage at embarkation, you must print your luggage tags and affix them to your bags. While cruise lines might technically have luggage restrictions, they rarely enforce them, so generally, anything goes in terms of how many bags you bring and check (or carry on, if that’s your preference). The cruise lines advise printing these paper tags and stapling them to your luggage. I highly recommend investing in reusable plastic luggage tags designed specifically for cruisers (like these) because they are much more secure. If your luggage tag gets ripped off your bags, which is easy to do when it's just paper and staples, it can result in misplaced luggage as the cruise line needs to figure out who that bag belongs to.
   
   
7. Be sure to download the app for your cruise line in advance. This will be an essential hub for information during your cruise, providing access to your account charges, ship time, cruise schedule, and all other important sailing details. Most apps are not fully functional until you’ve embarked and are connected to ship Wi-Fi. Some cruisers forget to do this, and unless they buy the ship's internet package, they find themselves unable to download the app once the ship sets sail.
   
   
8. Packing for your cruise is mostly like packing for any other type of trip, with a few exceptions. There are some cruise-specific packing considerations that newbies may not think about, such as magnet hooks for extra places to hang clothes in small cruise staterooms where most of the walls or metal. And an extension cord since many cruise staterooms have very few, and sometimes just one, electrical outlet. Most cruise lines allow these, but check the specifics, as they all require non-surge cords, and others, like Royal Caribbean, do not allow them at all. If you need guidance with packing for your cruise, I have a free cruise packing list you can get here.

Two Key Cruise Dates to Add to Your Calendar