Come in the Night Before As unreliable and subject to delays as air travel can be, flying into the location from which your cruise is leaving on the day it departs can be stressful and problematic — and, in the worst cases, might even lead to your missing your sailing. You can avoid these problems simply by coming in the night before and staying at one of the hotels closest to the cruise terminal. And, if you happen to have any friends in the area, this can be a great chance to meet them for dinner or a drink, which you otherwise would not be able to do!
Board Early as Possible Try to board your vessel as early on the day of departure as you can. If there are only a few hundred other people with you when you come on board, instead of a few thousand, lines will be shorter when you are conducting business at the guest relations or shore excursion desks, you are going to rub fewer elbows when exploring the ship, and it will be that much easier to get your first meal at the buffet and find a good table at which to eat it. And coming in the night before, as suggest above, can help make it easier to board as early as you are able.
Brings Lots of $1 Bills Have lots of $1 bills handy for tips! Even before you board your ship you are going to be checking luggage at airports, having it hauled on and off of shuttles, and turning it in with the porters at cruise terminals and are going to want to have small bills handy. Then, once you are on board the ship, even though purchases are charged to your cruise cards you will still find it useful to have $1 bills at hand when ordering room service. And if any of your ports of call are in developing countries $1 bills are handy for small purchases, bribes for the guardians of local attractions, and the like.
Don't Eat at Specialty Restaurants on Formal Nights Most cruise ships nowadays have a variety of specialty theme restaurants that guests can opt to eat at for a surcharge (and there are four on board Eclipse, Blu, Murano, Qsine, and the Tuscan Grille). Many people are inclined to make reservations and eat at these once or twice during the cruise and often decide to do so on the formal nights because they most feel like a special occasion. Meals in the main dining room tend to be the nicest and most high-end on the formal nights, however, so you won't want to miss them! Enjoy a meal in the one of the specialty restaurants on the night the chef is recommending the pork chop in the main dining room, not the night they are serving lobster.
