Cruise Etiquette 101

Most evenings on mainstream lines are "smart casual" — collared shirts, blouses, dresses or neat trousers. Formal nights (usually one or two per week-long sailing) invite suits, tuxes and cocktail dresses, but they are genuinely optional: nearly every ship runs a relaxed alternative, from the buffet to select casual venues.

Check your line's app or daily schedule the night before, and never stress about it — no one will bar the door over a missing tie. The one thing worth avoiding: beachwear, swimwear and gym kit in the main dining room at dinner.

Arrive inside your seating window. In a fixed-seating dining room, one late couple delays every course for the whole table; with flexible "anytime" dining, late arrival just means a longer wait for you.

At the buffet, don't claim a table with a towel for an hour before you eat — sit down when you have your food. Let people merge at busy stations, use the hand sanitizer everyone offers, and if you take the last of something, a heads-up to a crew member is always appreciated.

The cardinal sin: "chair hogging." Most lines now enforce a 15–30 minute rule for saved-but-empty loungers — crew may clear your belongings to lost-and-found. Share the shade, and if you leave for lunch, take the towel with you.

Keep music and videos on headphones, save cannonballs for the designated pool (often the family one), and remember the adult-only pools are exactly that.

Cabin walls are thin and balcony doors slam louder than they feel. Keep late-night conversations and TV volume low, and let balcony doors close themselves gently if they're the auto-closing type.

Hallway voices carry straight through cabin doors — a normal chat outside your neighbor's stateroom at 11pm sounds like a broadcast inside it. Save loud conversations for the open decks.

Crew members typically work ten-plus hour days, months away from their families, to make your vacation seamless. Learn your steward's and waiter's names, say please and thank you, and remember that when a crew member says "no," they're enforcing rules they didn't write — never shoot the messenger.

Gratuities vary by line: most mainstream lines automatically add a daily service charge shared among the crew. Know the policy before you sail, and if something truly went wrong, adjust it at guest services rather than punishing the individuals who served you.

Tender ports take time: small boats ferry hundreds of guests ashore in waves. Queue without cutting, expect a short wait at peak times, and factor tender time into your independent plans — the ship will not wait.

On the final morning, luggage is grouped by colored tags and called deck by deck. Crowding the gangway before your group is called just slows everyone; enjoy one last breakfast instead.