Your first cruise, hour by hour

A cruise is a floating resort that moves while you sleep. That is most of what you need to know. The rest is a handful of routines that are second nature on your second sailing and slightly baffling on your first.

Before you leave home

Complete online check-in through your cruise line's smartphone app as soon as your window opens (typically 30 to 45 days before sailing). You will scan your passport or driver's license, upload a security selfie, register a credit card for on-board purchases, and select an arrival appointment time slot.

Print your luggage tags and boarding passes or save them to your Apple Wallet or Google Wallet. Terminal halls can have congested mobile reception.

Pack a small carry-on day bag with your travel documents, prescription medicines, portable charger, a change of clothes, and swimwear. Your checked suitcases are handed to porters curbside and delivered to your stateroom outside your door later that afternoon.

Embarkation

1. Curbside drop-off: Porters greet your taxi or rideshare, affix paper room tags to your suitcases, and load them onto terminal carts. It is customary to tip porters $2 to $5 per checked bag.
2. Terminal security: Walk through standard airport-style metal detectors and bag scanners. Prohibited items—such as clothes irons, steamers, surge protectors, and outside liquor—will be confiscated.
3. Check-in & boarding: Agents scan your boarding pass barcode and verify your physical passport or ID. You are issued a plastic keycard (or wearable smart medallion), which acts as your stateroom key, charge card, and boarding identification at every gangway.
4. Boarding: Cabins are usually ready by 1:00 or 1:30 pm. Head straight up to the Lido buffet deck for an included embarkation lunch while your room is made up.

The safety drill (e-muster)

Before the ship can sail, maritime law requires every passenger to complete a safety briefing. On modern ships, this is done via the cruise app: watch a brief safety video on your phone or stateroom television, learn how to put on a lifejacket, and walk down to your assigned muster station to have your card scanned by crew members. The process takes less than ten minutes.

Days at sea

A digital daily program appears each evening in your cruise app (and paper copies are available at Guest Services), listing dining hours, Broadway-caliber theater shows, live music, comedy sets, trivia, deck movies, and pool activities.

Main dining room dinners, buffet meals, poolside grills, and continental room service are included in your cruise fare. Specialty steakhouses, sushi bars, cocktails, specialty coffees, spa treatments, and satellite Wi-Fi are billed to your on-board account.

Evenings feature suggested dress codes ranging from "Cruise Casual" to "Formal / Evening Chic." While formal nights are a fun opportunity to dress up, casual dining at the buffet is always welcome without dressing up.

Days in port

The daily program highlights two critical times: when the gangway opens for shore visits, and all aboard, the exact time by which all guests must be back on the ship. All aboard is typically 30 to 60 minutes before departure. Always carry your ship keycard, a government photo ID, and a credit card ashore.

Disembarkation and U.S. Customs

On the final evening, you can set your packed large suitcases outside your stateroom door before midnight with colored luggage tags for crew collection, or choose "self-assist debarkation" by rolling your own bags off first thing in the morning.

After breakfast, guests disembark in scheduled groups. In modern U.S. terminals, facial biometric cameras scan your face as you pass through U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) in seconds, with no paper declaration forms needed for most travelers.