Everything you need to know before boarding your first cruise ship

Our writer shares her top tops for checking in, boarding and disembarking a cruise ship - Fiippo Vinardi

Few holidays present as many unknowns as a cruise. The prospect of staying on a ship rather than at a hotel seems to send the uninitiated into a mild panic.

I was once asked, “Do I have to get off the ship in the morning?” A ship is a moving hotel – often with many more facilities and restaurants than you’d find at the average four-star hotel – and yours to enjoy at leisure. So no, unlike old-school seaside boarding houses, where matutinal landladies shoe guests out after a lard-laden fry-up, cruise ships don’t offload their passengers after breakfast.

There are no rules, other than those pertaining to health and safety, but there are procedures and protocols involved in getting people on and off a ship.

Whether it’s your first cruise or you’re a river cruiser looking to try ocean cruising, here’s a guide to the ins and outs of checking in, boarding and disembarking a cruise ship.

In this guide:

• At the cruise terminal
• Life on board
• Disembarking

At the cruise terminal

A cruise terminal – where a voyage starts and ends – is cruising’s answer to an airport. Whether you board your ship at a UK port or a port abroad, a cruise terminal is considered an international gateway.

Even if you’ve cleared customs and immigration at a foreign airport, you’ll still be expected to put your bags through a security scanner and show your passport at the cruise line’s check-in desk. The same applies if you’re travelling from a UK port on a domestic cruise.

Don’t assume the cruise port will only have one terminal. Southampton, for example, has five and Miami has 10. Check your cruise documents before setting off.

A top tip is to not assume the cruise port will only have one terminal - Cesc Maymo

Checking in

Think of the cruise terminal building as a larger version of the hotel lobby. If it’s a big port with more than one ship docked, lanes to your ship’s check-in areas will be clearly marked inside the terminal building. Cruise-line representatives will also be around.

Passengers complete the pre-boarding admin – a payment card swipe and passport check before boarding. You’ll also be asked to complete a health questionnaire. A credit-card-sized photo identification card, or “ship card”, is then issued. The entire process should take minutes.

The card acts as your ship account (although you’ll still have to sign a bill with your cabin number on it) and room key, and is the only way to get on and off the ship. Try not to lose it.

It’s best to think of the cruise terminal building as a larger version of the hotel lobby - Jeff Greenberg/Universal Images Group Editorial

Many lines now offer online check-in weeks in advance. Via the guest account, passengers can download luggage tags and a boarding card to their phone or take a printed version.

If you need motion sickness medication, think about taking it at the terminal.

Luggage

Assuming you’ve downloaded or printed off baggage labels, you’ll be asked to leave luggage with your cruise line’s porter outside the terminal building. Smaller bags can be carried on.

You’ll likely be asked to leave your larger luggage with the porter - Jeff Greenberg/Universal Images Group Editorial

Depending on the size of the ship, you might not see your bag for two to three hours, so carry medication, sun cream, chargers (newer ships have USB ports, but take an adaptor in case), and anything else you might need to get the holiday underway with you.

Getting on board

All that separates the ship from the terminal building is an aerial walkway or “gangway”. Smaller ships board passengers from ground level via an inclined, ramped gangway. At the ship’s entrance, you’ll need to scan your newly minted photo ID.

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Life on board

For those unfamiliar with cruising, this can be an unnerving moment filled with irrational fears. All I can see is water! How do I get outside? Where is everyone? What is “aft?”

My advice? Go and explore. The sooner you become familiar with a ship, the better. Start at the outdoor pool deck and work your way down. Do a lap of the top deck and suss out the vantage points. Food will be available somewhere – on larger ships, the Lido Deck is where you’ll find all-day and al fresco dining. Find the spa and make a booking.

On larger ships, the Lido Deck is where you’ll find all-day and al fresco dining - VRX Studios

If, like me, you have the directional capability of a ginger snap, use the app’s deck-by-deck feature or get hold of a paper map. Aside from “muster station”, your essential nautical lingo is “fore”, which means forward, and “aft”, which refers to the rear of the ship.

During the first couple of days, allow an extra 15 minutes to get from A to B and come to terms with the fact that you may never know which direction the ship is sailing in unless you’re on deck.

You can normally sign up to yoga classes with the ship’s gym - Rupert Peace

Activities

You may want to sunbathe by the pool every day. If not, consider the fitness options (a running track, the gym, sports courts, and fitness classes), the spa for massages, beauty treatments and thermal suites, destination and other talks, expert-led cooking, dance and photography classes, entertainment, and the library. Smaller ships with more of a destination or expedition focus often have a few facilities.

If you haven’t pre-booked anything, prioritise. Shore excursions and spa treatments get booked up quickly – especially on sea days (days when no port stops are made). Visit the gym and sign up for free stretch and yoga classes. Ship’s libraries open for loans on embarkation day, and travel guidebooks are popular. Check out any speciality restaurants and make a reservation.

Ship libraries are open for loans on embarkation day - Michel Verdure

Refer to the daily schedule for talk, entertainment, and activity times. Nothing on the schedule apart from the mandatory muster drill – which takes passengers through the evacuation procedure – is compulsory.

Immigration

Once the cruise is underway, passengers don’t need to clear immigration at each port. Immigration officers board the ship when it docks to carry out necessary checks, including entry visa compliance, using passport and ship manifest data. Some countries might request a short interview (this happened to me in Australia).

Occasionally, an overseas port will require you to show your passport as well as the cruise photo identification card (see below) when you get on and off for the day. The captain or cruise director will announce this, and it should be on your ship’s daily schedule.

Expect security screening for bags when you re-board the ship.

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Disembarking

To avoid long queues, missed flights, and the general chaos that would ensue if everyone tried to disembark at once, each cabin is allocated a time slot (a bit like the boarding groups on a plane).

Passengers should expect security screening for bags when re-boarding the ship after a day stop - IVANNA INFANTOZZI/AFP or licensors

If this is your first cruise, pay attention to the flurry of instructions that will start to arrive in your cabin a day or two before the end of the trip. Colour-coded luggage tags should be attached to cases that need to be placed outside the cabin door – usually by around 11pm the night before. You’ll be told which level to go to for disembarkation.

Don’t leave your cruise card in the cabin, as you’ll need it to disembark for the final time. Outside, you’ll be asked to identify your luggage (this is where the coloured tags come in), and after clearing customs in the terminal, you’re homeward bound.

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About our expert

Teresa Machan

Teresa was Telegraph Travel’s cruise editor for six years. During that time, she sailed on river, ocean, sailing, and expedition ships to destinations including The Kimberley in Australia, Laos, Indonesia, the Chilean fjords, Baja, and Antarctica. She takes every opportunity possible to get waterborne, whether by kayak, on a ship or in the sea in Brighton.

Telegraph Travel’s cruise expert, Teresa Machan

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