So, you’ve taken a step towards your first ever transatlantic cruise, but you’re still feeling a little apprehensive about spending six or more days at sea. Some people like to say that when on a transatlantic cruise, it feels like you’re in the middle of nowhere. However, you aren’t exactly alone, you have hundreds of people all around you. Although you are still able to enjoy the serenity of being in the middle of the ocean, being in the middle of nowhere isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Now you’re starting to plan for your trip, but you’re unsure what to pack, or you want a little insight as to what the cruise is going to be like. Well you’re in the right place; here are some top tips for your first ever transatlantic cruise.

Prepare Yourself

It’s a good idea to research what activities, restaurants, and attractions your cruise ship will have to offer before leaving home so you can plan what you want to do with your days. Let’s be honest, you’re going to experience a minimum of six consecutive sea days, and even with the biggest cruise ships, you may experience a lull in activities, or you may just want to have a couple of days where you relax and do nothing. So, ensure that you either bring a book, or home craft project, just something to pass the time with. Although most cruise ships will have some sort of library, for the best selection you’ll need to make sure you get there when it first opens.

Research Your Ports and Explore!

You don’t want to end up at some port for a short eight hours and not have a clue what you’re going to do, or where you’re going to go. Ensure that you can read up as much as you can on the ports that your cruise will be visiting. Yes, the cruise liner is likely to have information for you to browse, but you don’t really want to leave it till the last minute to plan your sightseeing. With limited time in the port you want to ensure that you are sucking up all of the culture you can. With planning you’ll be able to book an excursion and still have a couple of hours to kill before returning to the ship, so you’ll be able to just wander round the designation and sightsee.

Explore the Ship

Seeing as you’re going to be on the ship for several days, you don’t need to explore the place all on the first day. As a first timer, it can seem a little daunting trying to navigate a fifteen plus deck mega ship, so to put your mind a rest, create your own tour to explore the ship, make note of lounges, restaurants and activities you want to visit later on in the week, and try to find them on your tour. This way, instead of wandering round the ship aimlessly, you’ll look like a cruise pro.

Cruise Packing 101

When on a cruise,you want to pack a variety of different clothes as not only is the ocean’s weather a force to be reckoned with, so you never know what to expect, but many cruise ships assign daily dress codes and some restaurants on board will expect a very formal dress code. So, you want to pack everything from beachwear, summer wear, rain wear, sweaters and formal wear!

If you follow these four tips, other passengers won’t think you’re a first time cruiser, but an old pro!