Do These 12 Things IMMEDIATELY After Boarding Your Cruise

You board your cruise and every instinct says lunch, a drink, a look around. Meanwhile, once the ship leaves port, your phone may connect to a maritime cellular network. Your passport is about to go into a safe you've never tested, and the card on your onboard account can carry a hold that reduces your available funds. The first hour isn't for relaxing. It's for fixing the things that get harder to fix later, and twenty minutes of boring checks now beats three days standing at Guest Services. I'm Calvin Rusk. I'm sixty-five, and embarkation day gets much easier when I handle the boring things first. Here are the twelve things I do in my first hour onboard, from cabin photos before you unpack and an inspection before your clothes are everywhere, to finishing muster early, confirming dining and booking what disappears first, knowing ship time before every port, checking your credits and packages, keeping the suitcase off the bed, and number one, the two-minute conversation with your cabin steward before you ask for anything all week. What's the one thing you always do right after boarding that I left off this list? Put it in the comments. Next time: the things in your cabin a steward would tell you to leave alone, including one above your head and one beside your bed. #CruiseTips #CruiseEmbarkation #Cruise 01:17 - #12 Airplane Mode Before the Ship Leaves Port 02:24 - #11 Take a Few Cabin Photos Before You Unpack 03:08 - #10 Inspect the Cabin Before Your Clothes Are Everywhere 04:26 - #9 Test the Safe Empty, Then Check Your Onboard Account 06:01 - #8 Finish Muster Early and Walk to Your Station 07:00 - #7 Confirm Your Dining Setup Before the Dinner Rush 08:02 - #6 Book the Reservations That Disappear First 09:11 - #5 Confirm Ship Time Before You Go Ashore 10:25 - #4 Verify Your Credits and Packages on Day One 11:39 - #3 Understand the Card Hold Before You Spend 13:02 - #2 Don't Put the Suitcase on the Bed and Start Unpacking 14:08 - #1 Introduce Yourself to Your Cabin Steward