This past Thanksgiving, our family took our first ever cruise. I will be upfront in saying that this cruise was a gift from my parents, so I was not a part of the actual planning process. I do know that my mom used a travel agent to plan the cruise and that she would highly recommend that again. There were 10 of us going, so having someone else take care of all the minor details made the planning process very easy (according to my mom).
Here are a few of my family’s experiences, tips, and lessons learned for when we take our next cruise (which we’ve already scheduled for 2026):
1. Picking a ship and a date
This may or may not be in your control. My family collaborated on the ship choice and the potential dates, and we landed on Royal Caribbean’s Wonder of the Seas that would embark over the week of Thanksgiving. Regardless of how large the ship is (Wonder is Royal’s second largest ship), if you choose to go over a holiday of any kind, be prepared to pack your patience. The ship held 7,000 people and 7,000 people were on the ship. If crowds are not your thing, my suggestion would be to choose an “off time” to take your cruise. I would not want to sacrifice the amenities that a larger ship offers to try to reduce crowds. I would just rather try to choose a less popular time to cruise. If the only time you can go is on a school holiday such as spring break or a national holiday such as Christmas, know that it will be crowded, and you will have to wait for things on the ship. Signing up for things in advance is a must and I will touch on that further down in the article.
2. Food
Probably one of the most important aspects of vacation to my family is the food situation. We love food, but my kids are pretty picky eaters. The cruise is the perfect remedy for both of these situations. In regard to the kids, the buffet that the cruise provided was absolute perfection for my kids. They would have eaten every meal of every day there if we had allowed them to and it really offered anything their little hearts and stomachs could desire. They would tell you that not everything was their favorite, but they sure loved trying lots of different things (and ultimately wound up eating spaghetti for most meals).
The adults enjoyed the buffet as well for both breakfast and lunch. Again, it’s self-service with lots of choices, so you can stick to your favorites or branch out each day and try new things. There were also lots of other little places to eat all around the ship including Mexican, cafes, pizza, etc. You will need to familiarize yourself with which eateries are included in your cruise package and which cost extra. For dinner, the main dining hall is included, and they featured a themed meal every night. I would highly recommend eating in the main dining halls at least a few nights of your trip. Again, you will make a reservation for your dining time before you even board the ship. The service was impeccable, the food was varied and good, and if you didn’t like something, you could easily order something else. I would blush some nights as my 18-year-old son would order three appetizers and three main courses, but the waiters would just smile and say ok and that is what he got!
The staff paid special attention to the littlest diners as well, often bringing them fancy dishes of fruit and ice cream, and making animals out of their napkins. Some nights they would even break out into song and dance and the entire dining hall would join. We enjoyed all of our experiences in the main dining halls. Lastly, the specialty dining options come highly recommended by my family. We chose to do two specialty dining nights. These are featured restaurants that cost extra, but they were worth every penny. You pay a set price and when I tell you that you can pretty much order every item on the menu, I mean it. For my dad’s 75th birthday, the steakhouse we ate at called Chops Grill literally brought our party of 10 every single side dish on the menu after we ordered all the appetizers and whatever entrée we wanted. They also brought us every single dessert. When we looked at the food we got versus the price we paid, we almost felt guilty. It was well worth the extra cost. The food is definitely a step or two above what you will get in the main dining halls and at the buffets, so if you can budget a few specialty dining experiences, I highly recommend doing so. My last tip is to make sure you visit the endless ice cream station on the ship. The vanilla, chocolate, and swirl cones are to die for and you can eat as many as you want. I probably had 30 on our trip! It’s free and delicious, and you could catch me double fisting them a time or two.
3. Excursions vs. days at sea
Most cruises have a certain number of days at sea and then you have your port days where you can get off the ship, do excursions if you’d like, or just simply sightsee. For us, the days at sea were obviously the most crowded on the ship and we found it hard to wait in line for slides, carousels, water slides, food, etc., but the days at port were perfect for us to stay on the boat. We allowed our 18-year-old to get off the boat with his aunt and uncle and do some sightseeing and excursions while we stayed on the ship with our seven- and three-year-olds. The last thing we wanted to do was drag them through the streets of the Bahamas. Neither of them are adventure seekers yet, so we chose to stay on the ship for two of the three port days and we were able to pretty much have the pools to ourselves, with no wait times on the slides, etc. These ended up being some of our best days. The ship felt more relaxed, and we didn’t feel overcrowded or overstimulated.
The port day we did get off the boat for was Coco Cay. This is Royal Caribbean’s own private island and it’s packed full of pools, splash pads, beach activities, etc. We really enjoyed our day on Coco Cay. The food was wonderful, the kids all had a great time, and I actually loved sitting on the beach having piña coladas and taking in the views. Getting off the ship was a little chaotic, but honestly, they have it down to a science and it did not take long at all. Getting back on the ship was just as smooth. Most cruise lines have their own private islands and I highly recommend enjoying them. (Tip: you usually have to walk a good distance to get from the ship to the island, so bring a stroller for little ones that won’t want to walk.) My boys did just fine walking, but I saw several families with strollers for younger kiddos.
4. Entertainment/shows
At first when I looked at the shows, I thought my kids wouldn’t be interested in them and that they would probably be cheesy. I was WRONG. The shows were incredible. From ice skating shows to diving shows to superhero shows to pirate parades, every single one of them was top notch and we really enjoyed them. These shows will need to be booked ahead of time to guarantee seating, but there are some instances in which you can walk in and try to be admitted to the show (when people don’t show up). We actually saw the diving show twice because we were in awe of the talent and the sheer entertainment that they provided. Don’t sleep on the shows — they are well worth your time! My tip here is to pack a light jacket and bring it with you to the evening shows that are outdoors. We nearly froze the last night of our cruise at the outdoor water show!
5. The app
It’s not really a choice to have the app as you have to use it to check in for your trip, schedule dinners, and anything else you want to do on the ship, but know that it is user-friendly and an easy way to organize your time on the cruise. We chose to not pay for the internet package because we wanted to disconnect. We didn’t need to work while on the ship and we could still use the app to text one another so we didn’t feel “lost” from each other when we went our separate ways. You can use a group chat option on the app and include all of your guests so there is never a time when you can’t communicate with them. The ship will update the app with times, events, etc. as the cruise goes on, so it is helpful to have it. When you book your cruise, it will tell you when you can start scheduling events as well as when you can check in and choose your boarding time. Try to hop on the app ASAP on that day so you can get the earliest boarding time possible and have more time on the ship!
6. The rooms
I was very concerned about the size of the rooms and how crowded we would feel. My concerns were not validated at all! We chose an interior room because balcony + three-year-old + ocean was a no go for me. I was pleasantly surprised with the space in the room and the bathroom. It was tight, but it was certainly not unmanageable. The boys slept on a pull-out bed that tucked in during the day and the bed we had was incredibly comfortable and made for a great night’s sleep. My suggestions for maximizing space in the rooms would be to bring metal magnetic hooks to hang on the walls of your room. This allows you to hang up all your wet clothes, hats, beach coverups, etc. The doors are also magnetic and lots of people decorated their doors with fun magnets. We did not know to do this, so my boys made crafts in the kids’ area and then hung them on our doors. Another recommendation would be to bring a fold-out toiletry bag that hangs. There is not enough room in the bathrooms for you to lay out all the toiletries, so having a bag that hangs is super helpful. The shower was plenty big enough and there were a few small shelves around the sink to store toothbrushes, etc. Don’t worry about the space. It’s not worth the worry.
All in all, we had a great time on our first cruise. Yes, it was more crowded than I would prefer. Yes, the pools are relatively small. Yes, some days didn’t feel very restful or relaxing, but that was not the cruise’s fault. That was because we brought our kids (duh)! Upon return from our Royal Caribbean cruise, we reached out to our travel agent and have already booked a Disney cruise for 2026. We are counting down the days to that!
Loved all these tips! Thank you for a great & useful article. I love your writings❤️🙌