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9 Must-Dos Before Cruising

By Doug Parker

<p><span style="font-size:12px;"><span style="font-family:lucida sans unicode,lucida grande,sans-serif;">Let’s face it, the days leading up to a cruise can be very exciting — and stressful — as you’re packing, looking over the ship deck plans, excursions, specialty dining venues and ports.&nbsp; Sometimes with all the excitement we tend to lose sight of common sense.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-size:12px;"><span style="font-family:lucida sans unicode,lucida grande,sans-serif;"><strong>1. Pack Your Passport.&nbsp;</strong>Keep your passport on you and not in your checked bags. If bags go another direction and you get separated, your bags can always meet you at the next port, if your passport is in your bag, you’re going to get a great picture of the ship sailing away.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-size:12px;"><span style="font-family:lucida sans unicode,lucida grande,sans-serif;"><strong>2. Bag Tags</strong>. Flying or not,&nbsp;make sure you have some type of ID on your bag. Bags sometimes tend to make their way to DFW instead of EWR, or to cabin 6091 instead of 9091. Also put an identifying mark or ribbon on your bag. It sounds cliché but many bags&nbsp;<em>do</em>&nbsp;look alike. Also carry single dollar bills for the porters at the pier. Tipping is recommended.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-size:12px;"><span style="font-family:lucida sans unicode,lucida grande,sans-serif;"><strong>3. Research Ports.&nbsp;</strong>You can’t just walk off the ship and think what I want to do today?&nbsp;By the time you figure it out, half your day is blown.&nbsp; There are plenty of resources out there to help you figure out what’s the best tour for you. Excellent resources include&nbsp;Cruise Critic’s message boards, TripAdvisor and&nbsp;Cruising Excursions’ website.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-size:12px;"><span style="font-family:lucida sans unicode,lucida grande,sans-serif;"><strong>4. Make Reservations.&nbsp;</strong>With all the mega-entertainment from Broadway Shows&nbsp;to indoor Skydiving, reservations are not only suggested but required on most ships. The comedy shows on Allure of the Seas sell&nbsp;out&nbsp;before the ship even leaves&nbsp;the dock. Also consider reservations for dining venues.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-size:12px;"><span style="font-family:lucida sans unicode,lucida grande,sans-serif;"><strong>5. Learn The Ship.&nbsp;</strong>I’m sure you’ve heard “I’m just learning my way around and it’s time to get off.” Don’t be one of those people. Learn the ship before-hand.&nbsp;A great resource to find out all about the ship and deck plans is the cruise line websites</span></span></p><p><span style="font-size:12px;"><span style="font-family:lucida sans unicode,lucida grande,sans-serif;"><strong>6. Print Your Documents.&nbsp;</strong>There is nothing worse than getting to the cruise terminal and realizing you’ve forgotten your cruise documents. You can still board the ship, but you have to be manually cleared. Then you have to go through all the hoopla of manually filling out your passport info, personal info and credit card info.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-size:12px;"><span style="font-family:lucida sans unicode,lucida grande,sans-serif;">It adds a good 1o&nbsp;minutes to your embarkation process.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-size:12px;"><span style="font-family:lucida sans unicode,lucida grande,sans-serif;"><strong>7. Check You Cell Plan.&nbsp;</strong>This one is for the folks who can’t stay disconnected. Most cell carriers have international plans that you can turn on and off, those work in the ports. Personally, I go with the 300 international texts for $30. Remember that you pay around over $2 per minute and .50-cent each text when on the ships “Cellular at Sea” network.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-size:12px;"><span style="font-family:lucida sans unicode,lucida grande,sans-serif;"><strong>8. Remember Medicine.</strong>&nbsp;Even if you’re not sick, you could be. At the very least carry pain reliever for headaches and Vitamin C packets with you like Airborne. Especially if you’re going to be flying. Airplanes are a big petrie dish.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-size:12px;"><span style="font-family:lucida sans unicode,lucida grande,sans-serif;"><strong>9. Arrange Transportation.&nbsp;</strong>Sounds logical, but so many people arrive at their destination and wind up getting stuck with a $30-$60 taxi fare to the cruise port because they don’t do their research.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-size:12px;"><span style="font-family:lucida sans unicode,lucida grande,sans-serif;">Look into public transportation, cruise line transfers, or&nbsp;Uber&nbsp;to get to the cruise port. The standard parking rate is around $20 per day for parking at the cruise ports. Offsite lots usually are usually around 50 percent cheaper and provide shuttle service to and from the port.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-size:12px;"><span style="font-family:lucida sans unicode,lucida grande,sans-serif;">If you have any suggestions, feel free to leave them in the comments below.</span></span></p><p><img data-cke-saved-src="https://ci4.googleusercontent.com/proxy/IrcQrSt-JnKfUn9Cm5h-6F_IhmQmQJTh09gbXlTYgkvK98fZQblchjwKaCZ6u786roko354SYiYDCkWrD6SzUYaH2B00hBDN82ByQEksf5r9NHRL8QpNQWwCBofJVfcoI5qK=s0-d-e1-ft#http://cruiseradio.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/9707231008_cf15eb85b0_z.jpg" src="https://ci4.googleusercontent.com/proxy/IrcQrSt-JnKfUn9Cm5h-6F_IhmQmQJTh09gbXlTYgkvK98fZQblchjwKaCZ6u786roko354SYiYDCkWrD6SzUYaH2B00hBDN82ByQEksf5r9NHRL8QpNQWwCBofJVfcoI5qK=s0-d-e1-ft#http://cruiseradio.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/9707231008_cf15eb85b0_z.jpg" alt="9707231008_cf15eb85b0_z" style="height: 450px; width: 500px;"></p>
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