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Wasting time on a cruise is almost as bad as wasting money! Cruises are expensive & the last thing cruise passengers want to do is waste their precious vacation time.

These cruise tips & tricks will help you to avoid wasting time on embarkation day, sea days and port days. In addition to the time-wasting mistakes to avoid on a cruise, I’ve included travel tips you need to have a better cruise!

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13 Ways Cruisers Waste Time on a Cruise

1. Not Booking the Earliest Embarkation Time

There’s always some debate about which is better, embarking early or embarking later in the day.

Before your cruise, you’ll be able to book an embarkation check in time online. On most cruise lines, your boarding time will become available between 30 to 45 days before your cruise vacation. At that point, you can snag the best check-in time for you.

While we all want to avoid crowds, getting on your cruise ship as early as possible has its advantages. These include making reservations for shows and other onboard activities, that sometimes aren’t available until embarkation day.

You’ll also get to eat lunch, have a drink, do your muster drill as soon as possible. This leaves more time for exploring the cruise ship and enjoying the first day of your cruise!

To make the most of your time on the cruise, consider choosing the earliest embarkation day time.

2. Not Downloading the Cruise Line App

Most cruise lines have a cruise line app, where you can access the daily planner, dinner menus, excursions, and more. Not downloading your cruise line app before boarding will eat up precious time, especially on the first day of your cruise.

The wifi at the cruise port can be slow, so it won’t be easy to download the cruise line app from the cruise port. It’s best to download the cruise line app before your cruise, so you can use it once you are on the cruise ship.

3. Not Making Reservations as Soon as You’re Connected to Cruise Ship Wifi

On some cruise lines, you must reserve dining, shows, and activities from your cruise line app. However, you won’t be able to reserve anything until you are connected to the cruise ships wifi.

A tip that many experienced cruisers have been doing is connecting to the cruise ship’s wifi as soon as they get to the cruise ship terminal. This way, they can reserve their shows, activities, and dining before they fill up.

Recently, I went on my first Virgin Voyages cruise and learned this the hard way. Soon after boarding, I reserved my shows on the cruise line app.

However, when I tried to book the group fitness classes, they were already fully booked. We had just boarded the cruise, so it was surprising that there was no more space in the free fitness classes.

After asking other passengers who had sailed with Virgin in the past, they let me know a genius cruise travel hack that only repeat cruisers know. They booked the popular fitness classes in the cruise terminal, while they waited for their boarding time.

This is a great way to save time on your cruise, and to ensure you get the reservations you want.

4. Wasting Time at Guest Services

On the first day of your cruise, unless you have a major issue, it’s best to hold off before going to guest services. If you go to guest services during the first few hours of the cruise, you’ll have to wait in a long line, which can waste an hour of your time or more.

Guest services are open 24/7, so you can go when most cruise passengers are having dinner, at a show, late at night or early morning. I’ve gone at midnight before heading back to my cabin, and there’s usually no line at all.

5. Not Purchasing Packages and Excursions in Advance

When it comes to wifi packages and shore excursions, one of the biggest mistakes cruisers make is thinking that they will “figure it out” once they are on the cruise ship.

Unfortunately, there’s often a queue at the wifi and shore excursions desk, so you will be waiting for a long time.

It’s best to book cruise shore excursions online before your cruise, and upgrade your internet package from basic to premium, if you need faster and better wifi.

Related: 15 Cruise WiFi Tips, Secrets & Mistakes to Avoid

6. Not Planning Ahead For Cruise Ports

You’re only in a cruise port of call for a few hours, so planning in advance will help you to make the most of your day off the ship.

A regret for many cruise passengers is wasting time on land, trying to figure out what to do for their day in port. Whether you book an excursion or decide to explore on your own, planning your port days is essential.

One of the perks of booking a shore excursion with the cruise line is that you will have an assigned meeting time and place. This way, you won’t be wasting any time once you are in the cruise port.

If you book a private excursion, you’ll have a meeting location, or somebody will meet you at the cruise port.

Tip: If you don’t have a printed excursion ticket, be sure to screenshot the information for your shore excursion. Once you get off the cruise ship you may lose wifi, so it’s important to have the information for your excursion saved to your camera roll.

7. Waiting in Lines & Queues

When you’re on a cruise vacation, the last thing you want to do is be stuck waiting in lines. If you’re on a cruise with attractions like water slides, go-karts, indoor skydiving, or a dry slide, chances are there will be long lines on sea days.

If you want to try these attractions but don’t want to wait in long lines, try staying on the cruise ship when the cruise is in port. The cruise will be quieter, and you won’t have to wait in line for any attractions.

8. How to Save Time While Dining

Embarkation Day

On boarding day, most cruise passengers go straight to the buffet for lunch. This means that the buffet will be one of the busiest places on the cruise ship. You may need to wait in line for food, and finding a table can be challenging.

Instead, try eating at one of the casual restaurants or the main dining room if it’s open. Oftentimes, there will be fewer people in those restaurants, and the service will be better.

Main Dining Room

On most cruise lines, you can choose between traditional dining or open dining (flexible dining).

If you like to eat at the same time every day, you will want to do traditional dining, which usually has an early and late seating. The benefits of traditional dining are that you won’t have to wait for a table and you’ll have the same servers throughout your cruise.

If you want to avoid being on a set schedule, then open dining is for you. The benefits of open dining are that you can eat at different times every day, and you are not stuck to a set schedule.

However, during peak dinner times, you may have to wait for a table. Be prepared for a 30 minute wait or longer, is the dining room is busy.

Time-Saving Tip

If you have a show after dinner and you’re on a tight schedule, don’t be afraid to let your waiter know and ask if your meal can be brought out more quickly. They can usually accomodate and expedite your order, so that you can eat dinner and be on time for your show.

Avoid the Buffet on Port Days

Whether you have an early excursion or want to get off the cruise ship as soon as it docks, it’s best to avoid the buffet at peak times.

Instead, try ordering room service to your cabin. That way, you can get ready, eat and get off the ship as you, please.

Related: 13 Cruise Main Dining Room Tips All Cruisers Need to Know

9. Not Adding a Credit Card to Your Booking

Consider adding a credit card to your booking rather than paying cash for your onboard expenses. Now this is entirely up to you. However, when you’re paying cash on a cruise, you will have to visit guest services and put money down on your account.

At the end of your cruise, you’ll need to settle your account balance with guest services before disembarkation. Trust me, there is always a huge line on the last morning of the cruise!

Whereas, when you put your credit card on your account, all your expenses are charged to your credit card. You can monitor your onboard account and see your final invoice before debarkation morning.

Unless there’s an issue, there’s no need to check out and settle up with guest services.

10. Getting Lost on Your Cruise Ship

During the first few days of your cruise, it can be very easy to become disorientated and get “lost” on your cruise ship. This can result in taking extra time to get where you want to go (and even being late).

As someone who has cruised a lot, I still find myself getting lost quite often on a cruise ship. With cruises getting bigger and bigger, getting lost is easier than ever.

A trick to prevent yourself from getting lost is to take some time on the first day of the cruise to explore the cruise. As you walk around the ship, note some places you may visit frequently.

Whether it’s the buffet, gym, dining room, theatre spa, or kids club, it will help prevent you from getting lost if you know where things are. Take note of your cabin location, including if it’s on the port or starboard side of the cruise ship.

Related: The Ultimate Cruise Lingo Glossary

11. Not Printing Out Onboard Credit Confirmations

If you have any future cruise credits or onboard credits, make sure that you print or save e-mail confirmations before going on your cruise.

While it can take up to a day for your onboard credits to appear in your account, if it doesn’t appear by day two, you’ll want to visit guest services so that they can help to solve the problem.

If you have proof of your onboard credit on hand, it will be quicker to settle your situation.

12. Booking a Pre-Cruise Hotel that’s Far from the Embarkation Port

While we all want to save money on a cruise, one way that cruise travelers may save money at the expense of time, is booking a hotel that’s far from the cruise embarkation port or main city.

This can result in being stuck in traffic, spending a lot of time on public transportation ride, or taking expensive taxi or Uber rides.

If you want a stress-free embarkation day and don’t want to waste your time sitting in traffic, then consider booking a hotel near the cruise port.

13. Not Considering Purchasing an Early Embarkation Day Program

If you really want to make the most of your time on a cruise, a cruise add on that might worth it is an early embarkation program.

Certain cruise lines have programs that include early embarkation. Carnival has “Faster to The Fun,” and Royal Caribbean has “The Key.”

These programs do cost extra. However, they are an excellent way to get onto the cruise before other passengers, making your embarkation day much more enjoyable.

Video: 13 Ridiculous Time Wasters on a Cruise to Avoid

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Final Thoughts on Ridiculous Time Wasters All Cruisers Must Avoid

Well, there it is, the time wasters all cruisers must avoid! Whether you’re a first time cruiser or an experienced cruiser, nobody wants to waste time on their cruise vacation.

These time saving cruise tips and tricks will help cruisers to make the most of every day on a cruise!

How do you make the most of your time on a cruise? Please let me know in the comments below.

Happy Cruising!

Ethan

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Author Bio: Ethan Schattauer writes about fashion, travel and college advice on the website WhatToWearMen.com. As a frequent cruiser, Ethan shares his unique perspective on what cruising is like for teens and young adults.