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you can expect you will not be allowed to touch any common foods or help yourself at the buffet. Only plastic-gloved staff will be allowed to lift food to your plate. You should expect to see hand sanitizer machines and bottles everywhere.

8. COURTESY: Cruise ship staff is extremely courteous. Expect this. On any cruise ship. If you have a complaint, expect courteous assistance at the Purser's Desk.

9. SHORE EXCURSIONS: Expect to be well cared for during shore excursions. The ship's staff is very experienced in hustling travelers to and from the ship. And they do it with great efficiency. You'll be in good hands.

10. LAST NIGHT GLAD-HANDING: This happens on the final night of your cruise, when your dining room servers, head waiters and wine stewards, in their efforts to assure tips, fawn all over the passengers, in a most insincere manner. It's unavoidable, so expect it to take place

11. DISAPPOINTMENT: Expect disappointment, especially in Caribbean waters where tropical storms occur. You can expect that due to unsafe weather conditions, and for the safety of all onboard, the captain will decide against visiting a scheduled port.

12. CRANKY FELLOW PASSENGERS: Expect grumblers. Your ship is carrying hundreds, if not thousands of people with varying levels of travel experience, varying levels of expectations, and varying levels of tolerance. Expect to hear it all when you are onboard, from complaints about the dining arrangements to complaints about the weather.

Cruisers should expect that he or she will be waited upon, hand and foot. All a passenger must do to get attention onboard a cruise ship is to ask for help. Cruise line management and staff go the extra mile to ensure every passenger's comfort and safety.

But the very best expectation is the one of having a new and exciting adventure, the expectation of being taken to exotic and distant lands. It's this expectation that brings most cruisers back to the sea, over and over again.

Learn more about this author, Sheree Zielke.
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