When booking your first cruise you have an idea of what to expect, but really you have no idea. If you have never been on a cruise ship the image you conjure up in your mind’s eye rarely matches reality. So here is a list of 10 things you should not expect to find on your first cruise.
- Large Rooms – An average sized cabin is somewhere around 185 square feet. While you can always spend more for a larger room, even suites pale in comparison to what land-based hotels refer to as suites.
- Unfriendly staff – Unlike at many of our hotels cruise ship staff do a great job of masking any hint of unhappiness they may have. Other than vacationing at Disney I would say the cruise industry has the absolute best customer service and hospitality available. On any given cruise the staff is comprised of members from 100 different countries. Most likely I would have a hard time communicating with a great deal of them yet they all seem to have smiles that light up a room and offer no chance for ambiguity or misinterpretation.
- A prime seat at the pool – Unless you are someone who is an extreme early riser by the time you get to the pool hundreds of passengers will have mysteriously transformed into back-packs, books and beach towels. However, don’t be alarmed because sometime around noon they change back into people. Too bad by then you have settled into a chair 15 rows back from the pool.
- Heated Pools – Unless you are talking about the Jacuzzi chances are you will not have a heated pool. Depending on where you are sailing you may not even notice. While there are exceptions to this rule for the most part you shouldn’t expect to find a heated pool on your cruise ship. No matter though since you will probably be sitting so far from the pool by the time you get there you will really appreciate the cool dip.
- True King Size Beds – Most likely what you will have will be two singles beds pushed together. In my experience it has not been a big deal but there is a seam that runs down the middle of the “mock king”. If I had to guess I would say the “mock king” is closer to a queen in size but realistically that is large enough.
- A Personal Fridge – Usually this perk is reserved for those in higher category cabins. While some cruise lines do have refrigerators in each cabin it isn’t something should be expected. Also they are nothing like what you have at home or even what you had in your college dorm. Cruise cabin refrigerators keep things cool rather than cold. Not that it matters since cabin stewards are more than happy to tailor a replenishment schedule to your specific needs.
- Spacious Bathrooms – Picture a phone booth. Now picture yourself taking a shower in a phone booth. Unless you are in a higher category cabin chances are that is what your bathroom experience will be like. While it will be possible for one person to groom while the other is in the shower, some sort of schedule will need to be established.
- Vegas Quality Entertainment – While many of the ships put on great shows temper your expectations when it comes to the singing and dancing, while good it’s not Vegas. While there have been instances where I have felt the vocal talent has been comparable never have I thought the dancing compared to Vegas and the costumes aren’t even in the same galaxy.
- A land based vacation, but at sea – Comparing cruises to a land-based all-inclusive is a lot like comparing apples to bananas. No matter what an all-inclusive will never be able to take you to 4 islands in 7 days and you can’t leave a cruise ship in the middle of the night to see an authentic luau. Although both of these are types of vacations they really are two different niches. If you want romance, luxury and relaxation I would wholeheartedly recommend that you take a look at all-inclusive vacations. However, if you want incredible service, great value and different ports to explore a cruise is the only choice.
- An all-inclusive experience – Although it is possible to make it through a cruise without spending very much money, if you decide to have alcohol or any of the extras offered you will need to pay for it. Included in the price of your cruise is everything you need to have a wonderful vacation the rest are extras and will hit your pocketbook accordingly. Note: There are cruises that are all-inclusive but for the most part they are way out of my price range.
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
Related posts:
