You can be on the ship for ten minutes and already have three ways to spend money.
There’s the welcome cocktail, the boarding photo, and usually somebody ready to tell you about a drinks package.
Meanwhile, lunch is already being served, and your suitcase can take its sweet time getting to the cabin.
Here are seven things you can get on embarkation day without adding a charge to your onboard account.
1. Lunch before your cabin is ready
The buffet is the obvious choice, especially if you boarded around noon.
But check the app before joining the line. Depending on the ship, there may also be an included pizza counter, burger spot, or café serving sandwiches.
Sometimes the quickest lunch is one deck away from where everybody else is headed.
2. A cold drink without a drinks package
After hauling bags through the terminal, even a plain glass of ice water sounds pretty good.
The buffet beverage station is a good first stop.
On Royal Caribbean, for example, iced tea, lemonade, ice water, and regular coffee are included. The exact selection varies by line.
If a server offers you water at lunch, you can ask for a glass of ice water. Bottled water can show up as a charge, and it’s an easy detail to miss when you’re settling in.
3. A pool towel before your suitcase arrives
If the pool is open and your swimsuit is in your carry-on, you can go for a swim before you’ve even seen your cabin.
Look for the towel station near the pool. On some ships, the crew scans your cruise card when you borrow one.
That’s the little bit people forget. Return the towel and make sure it’s checked back in if your ship tracks them. A missing towel can turn into a charge.
4. A replacement luggage tag at the pier
This one comes in handy before you even step aboard. If a paper luggage tag tears off in the taxi or you realize at the terminal that you left the printout at home, ask a porter for a replacement.
Carnival and Royal Caribbean both say their pier porters have extra tags.
Have your cabin number ready and give the tag a quick look before the bag goes on the cart.
5. The ship’s schedule and deck maps without buying Wi-Fi
Once you board, connect to the ship’s Wi-Fi and open the cruise line’s app.
For Carnival’s HUB app, the daily schedule works on the ship’s network without buying an internet package.
That’s where you can look up lunch hours, see when the live music starts, and figure out whether the show you want to catch fits around dinner.
Just remember to download the app while you’re still on land!
6. A soft-serve cone
On Carnival, look for Swirls, the included soft-serve spot. It’s a nice little find if you’ve already eaten lunch or just want something cold while you wait for cabins to open.
Check your ship’s app for the location and hours.
The easy thing to mix up is the soft-serve station and the shop selling scoops or milkshakes. If there’s a menu with prices, keep walking until you find the machine.
7. Live music or a first-night show
Take a look at what’s on that first afternoon and evening.
There might be a band by the pool for sailaway, a singer in the atrium, or a show in the theater.
The lineup depends on the sailing, but there’s often something included even if all you feel like doing is sitting down for half an hour.
Check whether the theater show takes reservations. An included show can still need a booking, and the first-night schedule is easy to overlook when you’re busy finding your way around.
And if there’s a sailaway party, try to go to the open deck above it. You can often hear the music from there, and you’ll have a better angle on the pier as it slips past!
