10 Tips for an Unforgettable (and Affordable) Cruise Adventure

Before we set sail on our very first family cruise I was excited and looking forward to our holiday but also a little anxious about the unknowns. After all, we were going to be trapped on a huge cruise ship and at the mercy of Carnival Cruises  for 9 whole days with 2 kids and a limited budget. While cruising conjures up images of luxury and indulgence, in my mind I was also conjuring up visions of a hefty bill that was going to blow up our family budget like fireworks on New Years Eve by the end of the cruise. But fear not, fellow traveler! We discovered that it’s possible to have an amazing holiday and not find yourself with a massive bill at the end of the process.

Here are my top 10 insider tips for navigating the high seas like a seasoned sailor, while keeping your budget happy and your relaxation meter maxed out.

1 – Budgeting for Bliss:

Cruises can be surprisingly affordable, especially when you consider most meals, accommodation, and entertainment are included. While we were initially tempted by the pre-cruise offers to buy a pre drinks package, we discovered you can skip the pressure to buy a pricey drink package. I mean how many coca cola’s can you seriously drink in a day without ending up in a massive sugar coma? You will never go thirsty on a cruise. Our cruise has free inclusions such as free tea, coffee, a lemon drink and water. You can always pre-purchase a limited drink package if that suits your style (check the cruise line’s policy) but we didn’t feel it was worthwhile.

Drink prices were reasonable as we were buying drinks along the way but there’s no need to lock yourself into a drinks package. There was also free soft serve on tap and free pizza 24/7 on our cruise which was a bonus the kids loved.

On our cruise, everything you spent above what was provided for free was charged back to your room account. This was great because you didn’t have to carry money or a wallet around however it can also be a trap if you’re not watching your expenditure closely enough. We had access to daily statements which we checked to keep on top of things.

There’s lots of opportunities for excursions, shopping and upgrades for restaurants which can all add up quickly if you’re not watching how much you spend carefully.  There was even a big gallery sale full of expensive artwork and a jewelry store which had some beautiful and expensive items to tempt you to empty your pockets. We saved up some spending money and budgeted a few hundred dollars per day which seemed to be enough for us.

It’s very easy to get swept up in the carefree mindset of a holiday but remember, the cruise itself is the main event – the rest is just gravy and you don’t need gravy on everything. I like gravy… so I bought my wife a beautiful necklace that was relatively inexpensive (you could easily have dropped thousands if you wanted to) as a surprise memento.

2 – Make the most of the Free Fun & Hidden Gems:

Explore the ship’s offerings and discover hidden value adds! There is surprising amount of complimentary activities and entertainment on board the cruise. There was deck parties, trivia nights, stand up comedy, theatrical shows, live music, dance lessons, pools, a water theme park for the kids, water slides and so much more. There’s plenty of included entertainment to keep you busy without spending extra.

3 – Embrace the Relaxation:

I don’t know about you but I’m one of those people who likes to plan a holiday and jam in as many things as we can to make sure we don’t miss out on anything and to ensure we get the most out of our trip. The first day or two I was feeling unsettled but couldn’t work out why. It wasn’t until the end of the second day we realised that it’s ok to actually just relax and we didn’t need to fill in the entire day – otherwise it would be exhausting.

It’s tempting to jam in activities for every minute of the day and night but one of the best things we did with our kids is block out half an hour each day for ‘family nap time’ in the middle of the afternoon. Our primary school aged kids were allowed to play quietly on their beds if they weren’t tired or they’d watch a movie on the TV in our cabin and Mum and Dad had a quick snooze to prepare us for the rest of the day and night.

A day on the cruise ship is long… you can literally fill your day from the second you wake up till the minute you go to bed. You’re on vacation though so give yourself permission to relax by the pool with a good book (there was a library on our cruise if you forgot a book), or simply soak up the ocean views from a deck or your window or balcony if you have one. Don’t feel pressured to pack your schedule. The key to a fantastic cruise is to find your balance between activity and unwinding.

4 – Adopt a Ship Routine:

While some spontaneity is great, we found establishing a loose routine can help you maximise your experience and especially with kids. The ship seemed to have a bit of a rhythm. Once we worked out the rhythm it didn’t take long to slip into our groove.  Familiarise yourself with the ship’s layout, meal times, and activity schedules. This will help you plan your days and avoid missing out on the things that interest you. On our cruise we received a daily program the night before so we would scour over the program and map out our next day together (with some loose flexibility for change if we changed our minds of course). It took the stress out of our days – we knew what was happening when and we were able to plan in time to get to different parts of the ship and make sure we knew how to get to where we wanted to go. It took a lot of the stress out of our cruise.

5- Family Time on the High Seas:

The kids’ club is a fantastic resource, our our kids loved it, but don’t miss out on creating lasting family memories together. On our cruise the kids program went till very late at night which was amazing when we wanted to go to a comedy or theatre show that wasn’t really appropriate for kids. It quite honestly was tempting to leave them in there but the cruise is seriously awesome for creating positive memories as a family. Plan some family activities, whether it’s a scavenger hunt around the ship, a game show night, or simply enjoying meals together.

The waiters in one of the restaurants we went to every night would jump n the tables and dance which the kids found thoroughly entertaining.

One of the memories my kids talk about the most was a little bit of a spontaneous moment. I picked them up from the kids program at 10pm after a show and on the way back to our cabin we got a little side tracked at the pool dance party. We had a little boogie, the kids saw themselves dancing up on the big screen, then we stopped for a late night soft serve and a pizza and Dad got in a little bit of trouble when we eventually got back to the cabin for taking so long. Hilarious, unplanned and fun. It’s a memory firmly engraved in their minds and such a great investment in our family story.

6 – Embrace Fine Dining :

While buffets are a staple on the cruise, don’t miss out on the included multi-course meals in the restaurants. They often offer a more refined dining experience and a chance to try new dishes. Most importantly though – they offer portion control. According to the quiz show on our cruise, the average amount of weight people gain on a cruise is 400 grams per day. That’s right – PER DAY!

We made a decision to do sit down meals in the restaurant every night and we ate like kings. It was fantastic family time and the waiters not only remembered our names somehow but they were also highly entertaining. There were theme nights where people dressed up and our kids discovered they could order multiple desserts if they wanted to and it really did feel much more special than eating in the common buffet areas of the ship which we did for lunch and breakfast most days. There’s so many different options for food. It’s almost impossible to try them all but we had fun trying.

7 – Choose Your Own Adventure:

The beauty of a cruise is its flexibility. Want to participate in every activity and shore excursion? Go for it! Do you prefer to lounge by the pool and catch up on reading? That’s perfectly fine too. You can cruise however you want to.

Make the most of your port days. Research your destinations in advance and consider booking island tours directly with local operators. You might find better deals and a more authentic experience compared to cruise line excursions.

We had 3 different island days during our cruise which was to New Caledonia and the Pacific Islands. We had a look at the excursions offered by the cruise company. Some of the excursions were quite expensive but there was an interesting array of options to choose from and we chose a Choo Choo Train tour for one of our days which was quite good.

We did a mixture though and purchased an Island tour directly from the tour company on one of the other island days which was also quite good. The advantage of booking a cruise company excursion is that if your tour is running late for getting back to the boat, the cruise ship will wait for you. If you book an independent or direct tour or experience and you don’t get back to the cruise boat in time they will leave without you and you’ll have to find your own way to the next port which can be costly and stressful. They aren’t mucking around when they say they won’t wait for you either. They have a tight schedule and they stick to it.

For our third Island day we decided not to do any excursions and just spent some time exploring and at the beach. Some people stayed on the boat while we were exploring the islands but we preferred the change of scenery. The cruise ship is like a massive floating resort so I can see why some people stayed on board but it was also fun to explore new places.

8 – It’s ok to say ‘No’ to the Paparazzi 

This will make more sense when you are on the cruise but at times it felt like there were photographers taking our photo at every key opportunity. They were there when we went to dinner. They were there when we arrived on a pier for our days off the boat. They were even there at the Green Eggs and Ham themed breakfast we did with our kids. At the end of the cruise all the photos of you and your family are available to purchase.

While there was no obligation to purchase the photos, we did get a bit tired of cameras in our faces at one point. It wasn’t too bad but I guess when you’re not used to it or if you’re just not in your most smiley mood it does get a little annoying. We declined a few opportunities to have our photo taken when we weren’t feeling it and the photographers were respectful and polite.

We actually hadn’t had a professional family portrait done for a few years so we did decide to do a photo shoot in the temporary studios which were set up to catch you on the way to the restaurants at night. We chose the night they had a formal theme at dinner. We were all dressed up after all and if we didn’t like the photos we didn’t have to buy them. They weren’t cheap of course but it was cheaper than going to a photography studio and getting a family portrait done and the photos came up pretty good. I don’t know what filters they used on our photos but I definitely had less wrinkles and my hay fever symptoms were somehow non existent. Amazing. We ended up buying a package of 10 photos with the digital files on a USB stick. If you do get photos I’d highly recommend getting the digital files. We have shared ours with our families.

9 – Embrace a Delightful Digital Detox:

Internet access on cruise ships can be slow and expensive. Remember, you’re on a luxurious yacht in the middle of the ocean. It’s not the greatest location for good Wi-Fi which is why it was expensive to purchase through the cruise company.

I can honestly say that one of the best decisions we made on our cruise holiday was to enforce a digital detox on ourselves. We put our phones away and didn’t connect to Wi-Fi  at all throughout our trip. We were much more present for our kids, we didn’t have to deal with the outside world (including work and social media) and we found we genuinely switched off and relaxed much better. We took my wife’s phone in her bag just in case for emergencies during our land based excursions (as she had international roaming) but the phone stayed in the bag.  Mine was literally off until we returned back to our return dock.

Do yourself a favour. Disconnect and reconnect with yourself, your loved ones, and the beauty of the open ocean. There’s a whole world waiting to be explored, outside the digital realm.  Ditch the worry, embrace the fun, and get ready for an unforgettable cruise experience!

10 – Choose a Comfortable Cruise Cabin Oasis

It’s hard to know which cabin to choose before you’ve been on a cruise. The cabin you choose will depend on your circumstances but I would say you don’t need to spend a lot of money getting the best or the biggest cabin money can buy. If you can afford it and you want to do that go for it but we were on a budget so we chose a cabin on the lowest deck on the window side. There’s so much to do on the ship, which is absolutely huge, that you will find you don’t spend all that much time in your cabin other than to rest or sleep.  Our cabin was spacious enough even with 4 of us in it.

I didn’t like the idea of a room with no windows or natural light and I figured what’s the point of going on a cruise if you can’t see water so we got a cabin with a window. That turned out to be a great decision as our kids sat in the window watching the ocean splashing and funnily enough I found looking out the window relaxing and sleep inducing. I think the combination of water and mild rocking lulled my body into such a relaxed frame of mind that I’d simply doze off.  This turned into another family memory as our kids reinvented a lullaby song they affectionally called ‘Rockabye Daddy’.

One of the things we were unsure about was whether my wife, who is prone to seasickness, was going to get seasick and spend all 9 days leaning over a balcony vomiting. That definitely wouldn’t have been fun for any of us. We did a a bit of research before our departure and purchased some ginger/seasick tablets prior to departing on our cruise just in case however we didn’t need them in the end.

According to a couple of pother passengers who had been on cruises before, our first two days were a little rough but other than not walking a very straight line in the passages we didn’t really notice and the rest of the cruise was smooth sailing. We hardly even noticed. The boat is rocking slightly most of the time but most cruise ships these days have engineering built in that balances out the rocking that triggers sea sickness. I don’t think we actually saw anyone that was seasick or not coping throughout the cruise. Even my wife, who usually turns green the second we get on a boat, was perfectly fine much to my relief.

If you are worried about seasickness, when choosing a cabin, opt for a midship cabin on a lower deck. The cabins in these locations minimise the feeling of ship movements, ensuring smoother sailing and a happier you. You can also buy seasickness medication on the ship if needed and the cruise will usually have a nurse on the ship who can assist if you do somehow become unwell. If you can afford a balcony cabin – the fresh air and a view of the horizon may work wonders for you but even if you don’t have a balcony you can go to one of the outdoor decks for some fresh air if you want to.

What about COVID? 

We did our cruise before the pandemic however, even before the pandemic they had hand sanitiser located all over the ship and we were encouraged to use it at every opportunity.

Cruise lines are still taking steps to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. Here’s a rundown of what you can expect:

• Vaccination and Testing Requirements: These vary by cruise line, but some cruise lines still have mandatory vaccination or pre-cruise testing requirements. It’s important to check the specific policy of the cruise you’re considering.
• Onboard Protocols: Most cruise lines have safety protocols in place, such as encouraging frequent handwashing, increased sanitation measures in public areas, and offering hand sanitizer stations. Some may recommend or require masks in crowded areas.
• Isolation and Medical Care: If a passenger tests positive for COVID-19 onboard, they (and possibly close contacts) will likely be isolated in their cabins until they are cleared to resume activities. Cruise lines are usually equipped with medical staff to handle these situations.
• Following CDC Guidelines: Most cruise lines want to protect their reputation and customers and will follow recommendations of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for cruise ships which includes recommendations for ventilation, passenger screening, and outbreak management. There is more information about this here:  https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/page/cruise-ship

Your cruise line will have its own COVID-19 information page on their website. This is the best place to find the most recent details about their specific policies.

Would we recommend doing a cruise? Absolutely! I hope these tips help you as you plan your memorable cruise escape.