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Before you cruise, PREPARE! Research every place on your itinerary. Go to any search engine, type in your glorious destination and look to your hearts content. Look up the excursions that your ship (by the way, never call it a boat! Your captain will go into apoplexy!) offers and book them yourselves. You'll save major money and probably get the better times since you won't be competing with the 1000's of guests on the ship.

Next, the cruise fails to mention that you can take on bottled water and cokes yourselves. They offer coke vouchers that charge you out the wazoo. Bottled water is offered for the bargain price of 2.50 to 3.00 dollars per bottle. The last cruise we took, we brought 24 bottled waters and packed 12 cokes in our duffel.We saved some money that way as well as avoided the lines for them as you are leaving to explore in hot weather. You can store them in your room's fridge if you have one or pack them in the ice bucket if you don't.

Pack a light jacket no matter your destination. At night even the Caribbean can get very windy from ocean breezes and you can become cool fast. If your destination is Alaska, even in the summer months, it is fairly cool at night and you will use this extra piece of clothing.

Let's also cover your more obvious checklist. Your passport is key after January of '08. You will not be allowed to board any cruise ship with non US port destinations without one. As this normally takes around 3 months to obtain I suggest planning ahead. Bring your credit card, as all ships use one to issue you your cruise pass. This little card gets you anything that has an extra charge on the ship. For example, alcoholic beverages, casino chips, any extra dining charges, ect...They require that you have one, so don't forget. Sunscreen, sunglasses and an extra swimsuit are also things you don't want to forget no matter your destination.

The last thing on your less obvious checklist is the right frame of mind. Cruises are the only way to travel as far as we are concerned but the crew is human. There are mistakes. Don't let this spoil you trip. Take plenty of film and extra towels. Soak up the sun and see things that you have only dreamed of. Bon Voyage!

Learn more about this author, Kristi Walker.
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