5 Ways to Spot a First-Time Cruiser

Are you an experienced cruiser who knows all the tricks? Or are you a cruising rookie who’s looking for some good advice? Well, we have five ways to spot a first-time cruiser — and ways to avoid looking like one!

A first-time cruiser:

Carries the deck plan map EVERYWHERE.

You can spot this first-time cruiser a mile away. That map goes everywhere with this guy. This cruiser’s also most likely to walk into a wall or another cruiser while studying the map too closely. Your tip to avoid this: check out the deck plans online before you leave to at least get a general lay of the land.

Takes the safety briefing very, very seriously.

We 100% believe the safety drill is important! But your first-time cruiser takes it with extra complete seriousness. During the drill, they’re trying to pay attention to every word and ask the crew to make sure they put the life jacket on correctly (just in case they’d really need it). While you should absolutely know the ship’s safety procedures, take a minute to check out the first-time cruisers around you — and then assure them they’re in for the vacation of a lifetime.

Photographs every.single.thing on the cruise.  

A deck plan in one hand and a camera in the other. The first time cruiser photographs everything on the cruise – the ship, the ports, the drinks, the food, the view, the people and more. These guys will go through tons of batteries and maybe even a few memory cards during the trip. During my first cruise, I took almost 1,000 pictures – and it was only a 7-day cruise! On my 11th cruise, I took about 200 pictures, tops. Here’s a challenge for you – see if you can get some good photo bombs in there for these cruise rookies.

Underestimates seasickness.

I fell into this trap on my first cruise. I didn’t think it would be a big deal. Two days into the cruise, I knew I had a problem when the island of St. Thomas wouldn’t stop spinning and swaying. I definitely had a green tint for a few days because of this – you’d have picked me out right away as a first-time cruiser! Some people don’t suffer from this, but it’s always better to be prepared for anything. Bring some Bonine or Dramamine with you just to be on the safe side. The last thing you want to do is miss awesome shore excursions available in every port of call.

Doesn’t pace the partying.

First-time cruisers can often act like a kid in the candy shop – tons of food, alcohol, people to meet and parties to attend. And because it’s all so new and exciting, first-time cruisers often over do it at the beginning of the cruise and then spend the rest of the cruise recovering. These first-timers think they need to do it all and drink it all in the first day and haven’t quite mastered the pacing of a cruise yet. Don’t forget: you have the entire cruise to enjoy all the ship has to offer.

How do you spot a first-time cruiser? We’ve all been that guy before and we’d love to hear some more things everyone does their first time!