Advice & Tips

With only so many hours in each port of call, it is important that you figure out how to best spend your time so you're not left with any regrets. 

Will you feel as though you maximized your day if it's spent on an excursion where you are sitting for half of the time? What about if you paid for an overpriced beach transfer?

Some shore excursions are well worth your money and time, others aren't. 

Here are 12 shore excursions that you should skip on your next cruise.

If you are planning a vacation, you might be wondering what the cheapest month to book a cruise is. 

Because cruise ship prices are so dynamic, it's difficult to come up with a simple rule when to book.

The price of a cruise fluctuates based on the itinerary, time of year, ship's age, and how soon it is scheduled to set sail. In other words, the same itinerary on the same ship might be cheaper in October than it is in July. 

Plus, as availability on any given sailing deceases, cruise lines will begin to increase the prices on the remaining cabins. 

Are you curious as to which months of the year have the cheapest cruise prices? 

The answer is a little more complicated than you may think, as it varies depending on the cruise line, ship, time of year, and itinerary! 

Usually, though, the cheapest time of the year to go on a cruise is when others are busy and unable to go on the same sailing. 

If you find yourself sailing out of New York, New York or Cape Liberty (Bayonne), New Jersey, you might be considered a pre-cruise stay in The Big Apple!

While a vacation in New York is nowhere near as convenient as a cruise, there's so much to see and do in the city! You can enjoy delicious food at some of the most famous restaurants in the country, see a Broadway musical on Broadway, enrich yourself with a visit to a museum, or even people watch in one of the parks. 

Packing for your cruise can be stressful, especially if you need to fly to your cruise port. 

Within the last few years, I’ve become more hesitant to check a bag when I cruise or travel. Images of endless lost luggage have flood the internet recently with airlines struggling to keep their airports staffed and operations running smoothly. 

From picking the right ship, researching each port of call, and making travel arrangements, there's so much to consider when it comes to planning a cruise.

Whether you're a first time cruiser or about to embark on your 10th sailing, there are some cruise tips and hacks to make sure you're getting the most out of your vacation. 

Below, we've compiled the 13 best tips that the most seasoned cruisers swear by. 

One of the best aspects of cruising is that they are, for the most part, a budget friendly vacation. 

The base fare of any cruise line you choose will include lodging, select food and beverages, transportation between ports, and entertainment. You could essentially pay just the base fare and still have a wonderful vacation. 

You’ve heard the stories of cruisers getting amazing last-minute travel deals on unsold cruise cabins. How do they do it? You don’t know how to tell how many cabins are left on a cruise, let alone determine where to look for deals and discounts.

If you care more about price than picking the perfect cabin or sailing, we’ll share some travel agent insight about how to nab a low price or extra perks if a ship isn’t likely to sail full.

You can find a lot of great cruise tips out there, but tips from a former cruise ship employee come from a lot of experience onboard.

Kabir Rathaur-Bageria is a former Cruise Director for Carnival, P&O Australia and Marella Cruises on Celebrity Cruises, and has been working on ships for 5 years. He now runs his own podcast, Keeping Afloat.

Cruise directors have pretty much seen it all on a cruise, having had many years of experience in so many areas of a ship.