Cruise 101: The Ultimate Guide

October is Cruise Month at AAA South Jersey, and whether you’re a cruise ship regular or a first timer, the AAA South Jersey Travel team is there to help you plan your perfect vacation with exclusive deals, benefits, and savings. AAA South Jersey’s Senior Manager of Travel Services, John Stecklein, just returned from his first cruise with valuable advice for travelers to bring with them on their next journey at sea.

AAA South Jersey: What surprised you about your first cruise?
John Stecklein: The one thing that surprised me about going on the cruise was how friendly everybody was on the boat. I'm somebody that gets some social anxiety at times, and meeting other people can be a bit stressful. But I noticed quickly how friendly everybody is. Everybody's just in a super good mood because we're all about to go on this cruise. Then going into some of these social settings, people are all just chit-chatting with one another, and I thought that was great.

One of the things that we were all worried about going on a cruise for the first time was if we were going to get seasick—and how much the ship was going to move. I noticed very early on that it does move, but very slightly. It's a very subtle, soft movement, and we never got sick. We did have our stateroom in the center of the ship; they call it midship.

[Holds up ship model] If you look here—this is a model of my ship, by the way—we were in this area. This is the midship area. If you are worried about being seasick, this is the best place to be, because there will be less movement…we never got sick, but we did notice when we got off the cruise that we were kind of unconsciously moving ourselves for a few days, getting used to being back on land. I thought that was really interesting.

AAA: What are the dining options, and how do you know what is already included?
J.S.: When you pay your fare, there's going to be two different types of dining. You're going to have your complimentary dining, then you're going to have your specialty dining. Any location on the ship that's listed as complimentary, you can just go in there and eat; you don't have to worry about the bill for anything that's on there, unless it specifies a dollar amount—because you could upgrade or buy a steak for $25 in addition to what is there. Anything that's on the menu with no prices on it, you just order it, get your food, and then when you're done, you just get up and leave without worrying about the check.

There's a buffet on the ship, then usually you'll have some kind of main dining, and different specialty restaurants. In the case of Norwegian Jewel, they have the Garden Buffet, which you can go to at any time during the day. They might have times where it's closed between breakfast and lunch, lunch and dinner. Always consider the buffet because there's a variety of different types of food. You have vegetarian options, staples—like burgers and hot dogs are always going to be there—but they always rotate out some kind of main course. Every day it's something different.

There are also different theme restaurants. We went to O’Sheehan’s [Bar & Grill]. That was good for little bit of a fancier burger than the one you're going to get at the buffet. There's a bar, so that's a nice, casual place to go, and then there's some nicer restaurants that you can go to that are more sit-down. We tried to sample them each night for dinner.

For specialty dining, you're going to have to pay a cover charge to eat at that location. Oftentimes, if you book with AAA, you'll get an onboard credit for when you go on the trip. You can use the onboard credit however you'd like. In our case, we used it for specialty dining. At the location we went to, we went for the $50 cover charge. We had $50 per person in our booking, so it was covered and we were able to get a higher-end meal. It was at Le Bistro; we decided to save that for the last night.

You can also use your onboard credit for things like your excursion, for activities like snorkeling, whatever the case may be; the spa. I'm not really a spa person, so we ended up buying our own excursions, and then we used the money towards dinner.

AAA: How do excursions work?
J.S.: Excursions are good to know about, because if you're a first-time cruiser, I'm sure you've seen the videos of the people who are running after the cruise ship because they're too late to get on board at the port of call. If you're worried about this happening to you, the best thing to do is just to schedule your excursion with the cruise line.

The cruise line will have its own excursions; those will be in the app. We downloaded the app, which you should always do. They'll have the itinerary of all days’ events, the dining rooms that you go to, the excursions, the spas, etc. So, we booked an excursion in Bermuda, and we booked an excursion in Halifax. If you book an excursion with the cruise line, they will wait for you because it's the cruise line's excursion. If anything were to happen, the buses get stuck in traffic—they will not leave you behind.

Now, if you book an excursion with a third party that's off-site, you run that risk of being late. Of course, if you are on your own, you want to, number one, keep track of the time because there could be a time-change difference. And if you don't have the internet on your phone, the time change won't reflect the time that you're in for that particular time zone. For example, I did not have the internet package, so I did not have the updated time on my cell phone. I had to always keep a mental note that my time was off—because when we went to Bermuda, we went up an hour. That could also happen to you if you don't have your time adjusted appropriately.

Now, they will warn you about this on the ship. When they did up our room the day before, they put a nice card right there in the middle of the bed to be alert to the time change. So, they do tell you, and they announce it on the ship, but if you are worried about that on your first cruise, book the excursion with the cruise line.

AAA: What was your favorite part of the cruise?
J.S.: It's really hard to narrow down my favorite part of the cruise. I think in the very beginning, what was really thrilling to me was waking up on that first morning when we were out at sea. We left in the evening, we came out of Philadelphia down the Delaware River, and we went to dinner. It was 7:00, we were still not out of the Delaware Bay, so it wasn't really that feeling of being out at sea yet.

When we woke up in the morning, I went out to try to see the sunrise. It was about 6:00 a.m., and just the feeling of seeing nothing but ocean all around me was very cool. It was very thrilling to me; just being able to see the ocean from that perspective, how deep blue the water actually is, watching the water flow over the ship, and even just when you go out towards the rear of the ship, which is called the stern, being able to see that churned up from the propeller.

I really enjoyed the sea days—which I thought [would be] opposite, that I’d really like the port days—but the sea days are very fun because there's so many activities. One thing that people worry about is that it might get boring on a ship or it might get claustrophobic. The ship is so large that it feels like you're walking through, like, a shopping mall. There's a lot of activities going on, there's places to shop, there's pools, then there's all the different bars.

AAA: What did your sea days consist of?
J.S.: There's so many different places you can visit. We really enjoyed playing the trivia games. We're trivia nerds, so we tried to find all of the pub quizzes and different ones. They have ‘80s movie trivia and things like that, so we were always trying to find those. We would go and watch ‘Deal or No Deal’ or Bingo, there was ‘Wheel of Fortune,’ and we didn't always play. We like to just sit and watch, because you would have to pay to play in some cases. We paid to play bingo, which was fun.

We lost, of course, but it was nice because I had the ‘Free-at-Sea’ package, their drinks package, which is unlimited drinks the whole time you're there. You just go get a drink and don’t have to worry about how much it costs. It was a great opportunity for me to try all the mixed drinks that I've never been able to try because I'm too afraid to spend a lot at the bar. The mojitos, the margaritas, anything you can think of, I was like, this is my chance to try all that was out. That was another really fun thing about being on the cruise.

Also, every day your steward will put out a daily itinerary. You can also find the daily itinerary on your app. They have events scheduled from 7 a.m. all the way until midnight, and there's so many things going on that you have to plan your day strategically to figure out where you want to go, what events you want to do. These events might take place in different parts of the ship, so you really want to take a look at that itinerary when you wake up or over breakfast. Figure out the events you want to do.

There were different crafting events, there were some knickknacks that people were painting. We did origami and paper folding at one point. There's knitting, there's all kinds of different activities—whatever thing that you're into, there's enough on the ship where you can probably find something that's your niche. If you don't want to do that, I always like to bring a book with me. There were times when I just wanted some quiet peace. I'd go out on a deck chair, read my book, get some fresh air up on the top decks. Don't feel like you're going to be bored, or that there's not going to be a lot of activities—and you're certainly not going to feel claustrophobic

AAA: What stood out most about the port days?
J.S.: The locals that we met in Bermuda and in Halifax were also very friendly. I was super surprised by Halifax… I know the highlight of the trip is Bermuda, but it was very interesting and informative. I learned a lot by being there, and I actually wanted to read more about it when I got home to understand more about what happened there. We went to Peggy's Cove, and the tour guide mentioned how there was a plane crash there in the late ‘90s, Swissair 111, which I had no idea about.

The friendly people really are one of the reasons why I want to go on a cruise again, because it was just such a fun experience being with everybody else in a good mood. Then just the history in Halifax, a place that I would never really think much about until I got there and experienced it.

The water in Bermuda was beautiful. It was very clear, teal water. You have to see it—totally worth going. We went to Horseshoe Bay, which had the pink sand. Just the scenery there was spectacular, and I really liked Halifax because of the history. I'm a big history buff.

The victims of the Titanic are buried there, which is one of the things I really wanted to see on that cruise. Some people might think that’s a little weird. It's like, ‘I want to cruise, and now I'm thinking about the Titanic.’ But it's just something that I'm very passionate about in history. It was great to think, like, this is the closest I'll ever get to Titanic. Those are probably the highlights of the trip for me.

AAA: What would you recommend bringing on a cruise? Are there any prohibited items?
J.S.: I would recommend bringing some form of a first aid kit, so you have something for minor bumps and bruises. You want to be careful when you go to the ship store, some of the things can be overpriced. We also brought portable hangers in case there weren't enough hangers in the room. They did come with some, but it helped to have those extra ones. We also had magnetic hooks, which we didn't really need too many of, but we had them just in case.

One thing you have to really be aware of before you go on the cruise: You don't want to bring a surge protector or any extension cords. That's something they're very strict about because it could start fires. Make sure if you do have any kind of plugs to square it away with the cruise line. Make sure it's compliant and it cannot be a surge protector, so, make sure you don't bring a hair dryer. They did have them on board, at least in in the case of the Norwegian Jewel.

I would always recommend bringing some kind of long sleeves or a hoodie. It can get chilly at night at times, even if it's the middle of summer; it can get rainy. We had some misty rain overnight, multiple nights on the cruise, and you'd wake up, and the decks would be all soaking wet.

I also brought noise-canceling headphones. Luckily, we were staying, as I said earlier, on the midship section of the boat; but if you are towards the aft section of the boat, towards the stern, it can be noisy from the propellers. If you're worried about noise, it can also affect you if your room happens to be near the bars. If you're below or above, you can have some noise come in. Usually, we like to bring some kind of white-noise machine to help us sleep; you could hear certain little noises from the ship, creaking sounds and whatnot. If you're affected by small noises, I would definitely recommend being prepared for that.

We also bought a magnetic fan, so a small travel fan. The reason we bought a magnetic one is the bulkheads on a ship are going to be metal, so you can stick it to any of the walls. We actually stuck it to the ceiling, so it could blow down from above, like a ceiling fan. It worked great, just because sometimes the air conditioner is not enough. We plugged it right into the USB port, which was right next to our bed by the lights. It was very convenient to have that, and that kept us cool at night. Without that, it might have been a little stuffy. We did not have a veranda, we just had an ocean view, so we didn't have any option to open up to get the fresh air.

AAA: What should a passenger do if they have specific medical needs?
J.S.: If you need CPAP machine or any kind of special needs, you can fill out a medical form prior to getting on board. You want to do that well in advance, so they will provide you with an extension cord in that case, since it's a medical necessity. Then you can get distilled water from your steward as well at no cost. If you do need to travel with medical equipment, or if you have any kind of prescriptions, bring them with you. Don't pack them away in your luggage.

If it's a CPAP machine, you can have that bag on you when you go on board, along with carry-on type luggage until your room is ready. Keep all medications that you need on your person when you get on board.

AAA: What anticipated costs should travelers prepare for?
J.S.: So, number one, when you're at sea, they have a store there where you can buy all kinds of goodies. They have jewelry, colognes, apparel—whatever you can name, they have it. Just keep an eye on the prices. Make sure that the items are not already overpriced. You can get those items without having to pay taxes on them, which is nice, but that's only while you're at sea.

One thing you want to do when you're looking at booking a cruise—I'm sure you're going to be on the websites—is look at the different cruise lines and what the fares are. When you are initially looking, it's going to show you the interior room first, and it's always going to be the lowest cost, and they are always going to make that fare for two people. The cruise lines really want two people in a room as much as possible. So, keep an eye on that lowest price because number one, it's the interior room, so you're not going to have any kind of ocean view, and number two, it's going to be the lowest price and might not include taxes and fees.

There's always the possibility you can have taxes and port fees included in the fare, but they might not show that to you up front. Always look to make sure you see that message in the price on the website when you're searching. Keep in mind too that by booking on your own, you don't have the same protections as you do with a travel agent.

If you book with AAA, we are experts at dealing with issues that may arise. If you are on your own and something were to happen, like you miss the embarkation at a port of call, you're on your own. I highly recommend that you have an agent there to help you, and that was just one scenario; it could be any type of scenario. Then also, when you're making your booking, especially if it's AAA, you get additional benefits of booking with the agent and booking with AAA, which can include onboard credit to factor into the cost of the trip.

Remember that you're looking at a price for two people, so they're going to say, ‘This cruise to the Caribbean for a week is $868, but that's for the price per person, with two people.’ If you plan on traveling by yourself, they're going to have a higher cost. When you go in there, don't assume that's the lowest price. When you switch it to one person, the price is always going to go dramatically up, because the cruise lines really try to avoid having solo cruisers as much as possible.

AAA: What options are there for solo travelers?
J.S.: Generally speaking, most of the rooms and most of the cabins and ships are going to be geared towards couples being in the room. Now, you can still travel solo on a cruise; there are solo events that take place. On our cruise, every night at about 5:00, they'd have a solo travelers get together. I just want to be clear, though, that it's solo travelers, not singles. So, if you have the idea that you're going to mix and mingle with singles, that's not necessarily what ‘solo travelers’ [implies]. Basically, it's giving an opportunity for people on their own who just want to meet some other people.

It's a very friendly atmosphere, generally speaking. When you're on a cruise, most people are super nice to each other, at least on the cruise I was on, so it's a great way to meet new friends, make connections. In this particular cruise out of Philly, most of the people were from the area, so it was a chance to connect with some new people. I actually met some people that I was able to connect with after the cruise.

I wouldn’t say you should be discouraged that it's solo, but you have to just consider the fact that it's going to cost you a little bit more to book that room, and you'll have to look at the cruise line to see if they have solo cabins. There are still cruise lines that have them, but that's becoming less and less of a thing. Norwegian Cruise Line is probably the best for solo travelers.

AAA: Do you have any advice for those traveling with children?
J.S.: On this particular cruise, I did not sail with my children. Now, that is something you can do, you can book a family cabin. It depends on the cruise. I think you should do your research beforehand to make sure that you're picking the right type of cruise for children. While we were walking around on the ship, we were trying to evaluate if our kids would enjoy themselves on this particular sailing. There weren’t the water slides that you might think of on ships like the Royal Caribbean; I would say this particular cruise was probably geared more towards a young adult audience. You could still take children on it. There were plenty of families on this cruise.

There was some multi-generational travel, which was grandparents and then parents and then grandchildren. We ran into them plenty of times. We felt like our kids would probably want to be at the pool the entire time. There were some activities that kids were participating in, like some of the trivia where they were referred to as ‘junior cruisers’ while we were there.

There were plays, music, and other theater events that the children would like. I feel like it really depends on the type of cruise ship, the type of amenities that are available. I would definitely recommend researching the cruise line, finding out what their target demographic is, because some cruise lines strictly are 18-plus.

Some cruise lines are encouraging families more and more. You might even see that their kids sail free on some of these cruises. Keep an eye out for those types of promotions. Every cruise ship has different amenities and different activities that you could take part in, and it really depends on what you're looking for, how old your kids are, and how much is going to be available for you as a parent. Some of these cruise lines will actually have professionals like teachers who can take care of your kids while you're doing your own thing.

AAA: What inspired you to take your first cruise?
J.S.: The reason we chose this cruise is because we were coming up on our 10th anniversary, so we never really had a honeymoon. This was our chance to finally get away. I was trying to figure out what I wanted to do. Do I want to go to an island somewhere in the Caribbean? And when they announced that these Norwegian Cruise Ships were going to be coming out of Philadelphia, I thought this was great because we didn't have to book flights. All we had to do was get a ride over to the port and go. It was intriguing to me, I thought it was a great value when I was looking into it, we were excited about the destination with Bermuda, so we decided to just go ahead and book a cruise.

AAA: How does someone decide which cruise is best for them?
J.S.: If you're interested in booking a cruise, you can certainly reach out to AAA. We can book any type of cruise for you. I highly encourage that you reach out to one of our agents because you want to make sure that you're getting the best value possible, and you also want to make sure that you get that added protection that an agent can provide.

There's any number of things that can go wrong. Agents have access to the best resources. When you're in a panic, the last thing you want to have to do is figure out who to call, get in touch with customer service lines, wait on hold. If you're panicking at the airport or at the port, you're not in the right frame of mind to be dealing with all that. The travel agent knows the ins and outs and can help you.

But the big thing is, you want to make sure you're getting the value, too, on your trip, so they can check and price everything out and look to make sure that you're getting the right deal. AAA Travel Advisors can give you the onboard credit that we provide for our preferred suppliers. I highly recommend having that AAA agent there to help you.

Even if you have a booking, let's say you started the process already, you made a deposit on your cruise, but it's not paid in full yet, you can still contact one of our agents. They'll be able to help you take over that booking, so then they can communicate with the cruise line on your behalf at that point. Even if you started the process, they can still step in and help you through to the finish line and then be your agent in the future. You know you can always check in with them on cruise lines. They might have recommendations based off of the things we discussed earlier, depending on what it is that you're trying to accomplish on your cruise, the atmosphere that you want.

Do you want it to be a luxury cruise? Do you want it to be quiet cruise? Do you want it to be an exciting cruise? Those are all the things that you might not be sure of, especially if you're a new cruiser, and you might not know what that type of ship or a cruise line has to offer. The agents have the expertise; they know experiences, they've been on these ships before. They're the best resource that you have at your disposal. I highly encourage at least connecting with an agent.

I tell my friends this all the time, if you're planning a trip, do your due diligence. Check in with an agent. Make sure that you're getting the best value possible, and then it's up to you. At that point, you make your decision, but it's just the best thing for you to do your due diligence. You have a AAA membership, use it for everything it's worth, and make sure that you're getting the best experience you can out of your vacation.

AAA: What was the disembarkation process like?
J.S.: When you get back, what I would recommend is you can actually just take your luggage with you to get off. They're very clear about the instructions: You can choose to have someone take the luggage for you, or you can just take it right off. If you decide to take it with you, you don't have to wait. That was the big difference, we were able to go right out.

We were able to get right out of there, and we were home in probably less than an hour. The only thing that slowed us down was rush-hour traffic, since we got there at 7:00 a.m. So, we were basically going into the morning rush on the way home.

AAA: Would you go on another cruise after your experience?
J.S.: After doing this cruise, I've already booked another one, so I'm going to be going on another cruise this November because I just had to do it again. I'm already looking at some bucket-list cruises in the future, so thinking about doing a transatlantic cruise, some repositioning cruises, and I also want to go to Alaska.