Going on a cruise vacation is fun and exciting, but it requires accurate planning to make the best of it. Planning a successful cruise experience goes beyond the culinary experience and choice of cabin.
There are several other factors you need to keep in mind before your next cruise vacation, which this article discusses.
Safety First: Get a Lawyer
Nobody wants accidents to happen, but they do. The most common types of cruise ship accidents are slips and falls, swimming pool accidents, elevator and escalator accidents, recreational accidents, and assault (including sexual assault).
Filing accident claims on cruise ships are very different from regular accident claims, which is why you need the services of cruise ship lawyers. In the case of cruise ship accidents, cruise ship lawyers are there to help you fight for compensation from the cruise line.
State laws may not apply to cruise tours. Lawyers bridge this gap.
Maritime laws apply only to staff, not guests or tourists. Lawyers bridge this gap.
Get Travel Health Insurance
Your cruise ship lawyers are here, except you can prove that being on that cruise caused your health to fail.
But before you can engage their services, you need to get well. This is why you must buy travel health insurance in preparation for your next cruise.
Say you have a case of food poisoning on your cruise and need the ship's medical services to help you get better. The medical services may be top-notch, but they are not free.
This means you will rack up a huge bill that you never planned for. Even if your lawyer could get the cruise line to compensate you, you would have made some payments.
Travel health insurance is especially important if you are going to be on a cruise that covers more than one nation. Most insurance stops in your home country. Travel insurance helps bridge the gap.
Do not forget to declare any health issues before the cruise.
Plan to Avoid Big-ticket Expenses
With cruise vacations on the rise, there are always a lot of activities available for the entertainment of passengers. This might cause you to spend unplanned funds, whether or not you can afford it. But you can plan what you spend on.
Consult with the cruise line’s representatives to see what is on offer. Speak to a travel agent about what you might need. Do research on the kinds of hotels in the areas where your cruise ship takes off from or will dock for rest.
Research Ports
You should research ports before your cruise vacation. There are some ports where the ship will dock for quite some time. Unless you can find a way to remain on the ship and sleep through the docking or keep yourself busy with something, you will need to find an activity to do at the dock.
Some of these activities can be expensive. With proper planning, you can keep your spending time to a minimum and only pay for what is necessary.
Have Your Travel Documents Ready
Have you packed your passport(s)? Your vaccination records (because some countries or cities will require these, especially after COVID)? Is your Visa stamped? Is your cruise boarding pass ready?
If you do not have any of these, you have a 90-day window to get them ready (90 days is the average wait time between booking a cruise and going on the cruise).
It is also advisable to print out hard copies of some of these documents. You never know when your phone battery might run out or when the WiFi on the ship could have downtime, especially for long cruises.
You may also encounter authorities at certain borders who would require hard-copy documents. Emails, PDF files, pictures, and the like will never convince them.
It is better to be safe than sorry when you are spending a ton of money on an activity that is supposed to be relaxing. Check all your documents with a travel agent before leaving.
Download the Cruise Line’s App
It is the digital age. Of course, cruise lines now have apps. But you may wonder why you need to download a cruise line's app, seeing as you do not take to the sea every other day.
The reason is simple: the ship's itinerary. Whether you will be spending a day or two, a week or two, or a month or two cruising, there is always something lined up. Most liners give you a brochure when you get on, but their apps usually have a lot more information for you.
The apps also have features that can allow you to book massages or spa sessions, reserve tables at the restaurants on board, book shore excursions, book theatre tickets, and any other activity that requires booking.
Not all cruise lines have apps though. This is why you should check online before getting on and book everything you will be interested in ahead of time.
