11 Mistakes Travelers Often Make When Booking Cruises, According to Travel Advisors

20.02.2024 - 18:57 / travelpulse.com / Sarah Kuta

Booking a cruise may seem straightforward enough—pick a location, find a ship, pay your deposit and start packing. But, in reality, it can be one of the most confusing travel experiences to navigate on your own.

From selecting a cabin to getting a good deal, there’s a lot to consider when planning out your dream vacation on the water. These are some of the biggest mistakes travelers often make when booking cruises on their own—and how a travel advisor can help.

Big ships versus small ships. River, ocean or expedition. Luxurious or laid-back. Educational or just for fun. These days, there’s a cruise for just about everyone under the sun—and then some.

But a big mistake travelers often make is assuming that all cruises are the same, says Michele Lindsay, the owner and lead travel advisor at Blue Pointe Travel. This often leads to a major mismatch: If you’re looking for a calm, relaxing vacation and you end up on a cruise with a party-like atmosphere, you’ll probably be pretty unhappy. 

A travel advisor can help you choose the perfect cruise, based on your likes and dislikes, as well as your goals for each specific trip. During her discovery calls with clients, for instance, Lindsay likes to ask about their food preferences, what kinds of activities and entertainment they enjoy, who they’ll be traveling with and how they’d like to spend their time on vacation.

“Cruise lines each have their own distinct personality,” she says. “Rushing to book a cabin on a cruise line based on an Instagram reel without doing your due diligence first could land you on a ship where it's not your ideal fit.”

Travelers also often end up putting too much or too little emphasis on the ship. The vessel’s amenities are absolutely important to the overall cruise experience, but it all really boils down to the itinerary. During excursion-heavy trips, you may not have any free time to explore the ship, whereas on longer journeys with more sea days, the opposite is true. 

“Families often make this mistake, in particular, when they are searching for that bucket-list cruise to Alaska or the Mediterranean,” says Lindsay. “They prioritize a kid-friendly ship over time in port, or they don’t realize that on a seven-day Mediterranean cruise, there might only be one day at sea, so the ship's amenities—like water slides—may not be as important as they would be on a winter getaway to the Bahamas or the Caribbean.”  

On the flip side, some travelers get so excited about where a ship is taking them that they forget how much there is to do onboard, says Lori Stephens, founder and chief executive officer of Sojourney Travel. The key is talking with your travel advisor to understand the ins and outs of your particular trip.

“While the destinations of a