I took my first cruise and made 10 mistakes that spoiled my voyage

Booking a seven-night trip for my first cruise was an ambitious decision that left me feeling overwhelmed.

Cruises can be as short as two nights or as long as several months. When booking my cruise, I thought one week would be enough time to get used to the lifestyle.

While initially in awe of the ship and the journey ahead, I struggled with sleep and motion sickness every day. I was grateful to be out in the ocean, but by the fourth day, I felt ready to go home and overwhelmed by the remaining time I had on the ship.

Since cruising was a new form of vacation and transportation for me, I wish I had booked a shorter trip for the first time.

I took this cruise by myself, but next time I'll travel with someone else.

The length of the trip would have been more bearable if I hadn't traveled solo.

While there were many social activities and friendly cruisers who loved chatting with random strangers like me, I still felt lonely on the ship. I longed to talk with someone who knew me or share my experiences in new places with a loved one. Being surrounded by so many families and groups of friends made me wish I could be with mine.

In the future, I'll bring a crew.

I'm prone to motion sickness, and I unknowingly booked a room where movement on the ship felt the strongest.

For $2,000, I slept in a 179-square-foot ocean-view stateroom on deck eight. My cabin had a private bathroom, a king-size bed, and a window.

It was a mid-tier room — a step above interior staterooms with no window, a step below staterooms with a balcony, and two steps below a suite. I quickly realized this was the wrong room to book.

Since it was at the very front of deck eight, I felt constant motion in my room. This made sense to me after talking to seasoned cruisers on the ship, several of whom told me that the front of the ship was one of the worst places to feel motion. They said that higher decks in the middle of the ship feel calmer and more stable.

Some nights were rockier than others. On the roughest nights, I heard and felt a similar sensation to thunder beneath me every few minutes. Loud thumps and heavy vibrations in my room sounded like large pieces of furniture falling. The first night this happened, I feared the worst, but over time, I realized that this was a normal aspect of cruising — but one I would likely never get used to.

On future cruises, I'll choose a room in the middle of the ship.

If I had remembered to bring earplugs, I might have gotten more sleep.

On some nights, it was nearly impossible for me to sleep because I heard sounds that reminded me of thunder every few minutes.

If I had packed earplugs, I might have been able to rest more during my trip. One night, it was so loud that I decided to sleep with my earbuds in, but since I sleep on my side, I woke up with one earbud painfully pushed too far into my ear.

I forgot to bring cash, which was essential for tipping bus drivers and tour guides during excursions.

Cash is a must on cruises, I learned. While you can tip the cruise ship members with a credit card at the end of your trip, you need cash to tip the bus drivers and tour guides during excursions at the ports.

Luckily, there were ATMs on the ship, but they had withdrawal fees.

I regret wasting space in my suitcase on formal attire since dress codes were not enforced.

I hate dressing formally, but I knew cruises had formal nights going into the trip, so I brought one nice dress with me to wear whenever I needed it. However, after the first formal night, I learned that the dress code wasn't strictly enforced. People wore a variety of outfits, from evening gowns to T-shirts.

I relaxed my look on the other two formal nights, but I felt like I wasted the limited space in my suitcase with the dress. Next time, I won't bring it with me.

I missed some shows because I didn't make reservations for the week as soon as I boarded the ship.

The cruise ship had plenty of activities and restaurants I could visit, but some restaurants, like the specialty ones, as well as all the shows on board, required reservations I made through the Royal Caribbean app.

I often found it hard to get day-of reservations for many shows I wanted to attend. Waiting until the last minute to plan for these events was a mistake.

For example, the circus-like acrobatic water show in the AquaTheater seemed to be the most popular and hardest to reserve. I tried to get one on the day of the event, but couldn't find any availability until a show two nights later.

Next time, I'll make all my show reservations as soon as possible.

Before my trip, I reserved all specialty restaurants, but I wish I hadn't booked so many once I realized the included restaurants were delicious and diverse.

One of the unique things about cruising is that most meals, snacks, and drinks are included in the cruise rate.

But on large ships like Wonder of the Seas, more than a dozen restaurants with specialty offerings, such as sushi, are not included and incur additional charges, either as a one-time fee or per dish.

While show reservations aren't available until you board the ship, specialty restaurants can be reserved as soon as you book your trip. I booked specialty restaurants for nearly every night of the cruise.

I was surprised that some of my most delicious and satisfying meals were in the restaurants included for guests. There were a handful of buffets with different types of food, and the main dining room served a three-course meal with varying menu items each night.

These complementary options satisfied every craving. One of the best meals I had was in the main dining room.

Since I booked so many specialty restaurants, I didn't have time to try all the buffets or eat in the main dining room more than once. Next time, I'll save money and eat more included meals.

At the ports, I booked two excursions with beach stops and felt like I wasted time.

At each port stop, guests can book excursions through the cruise line for an additional cost. These include tours and activities like hiking or zip-lining. At two of the port stops, Cozumel and Costa Maya in Mexico, I booked excursions that included a few hours of beach time and access to a beach club with lounge chairs.

In Cozumel, I went to a beach club in Tulum after a long tour of Mayan ruins. It was nice to relax and enjoy some of the clearest ocean water I had ever seen.

The next day in Costa Maya, I took a very brief tour of the island before heading to the beach. Since I felt like I got my beach fix the day before, I found myself wishing I could spend the time exploring more of the island.

I'll book only one excursion with beach time on future voyages.

At the end of my cruise, I made the mistake of booking a night flight, which left me at the airport for 14 hours.

At the end of the cruise, passengers disembarked in the morning upon returning to port. But when booking my cruise, I learned that the scheduled port arrival time wasn't the exact time I'd be off the ship.

A cruise ship's scheduled arrival time is when it docks at the port. Before passengers can get off, there's an inspection that can take 20 minutes to an hour or more.

To be safe, I booked a night flight since I'd rather wait at the airport all day than miss my flight home.

I definitely overdid it. I arrived at the airport at 9 a.m. for my 9 p.m. flight, which ended up being delayed two hours.

From now on, I'll book an afternoon flight at the end of the cruise to avoid spending 14 hours in an airport.

Ultimately, I left the ship thinking that cruises were cool but not for me. But I might have had a different conclusion if I hadn't made these mistakes.

A year after my first cruise, I decided to try the vacation style again. In August 2023, I took a luxury Mediterranean cruise on an adults-only cruise ship. Thanks to fewer mistakes, I had a much better time.