Number 1 tip on how to survive a MEGA cruise ship

In the old days cruise ships were much smaller and that made it easier to walk from one end of the ship to the other. With fewer decks you could even skip the elevators and just walk up and down the stairs to get from one deck to another. But now many of these modern day cruise ships have 20 or more floors and unless you are in prime physical shape you may not be able to make it up all those stairs.

At the same time that cruise ships added all the floors, they also added many more staterooms to the ship in order to maximize the number of passengers on the ship. So if you think the elevators are a solution you should be aware that because of the number of passengers on board that doesn’t always work out to well. The problem is magnified on boarding and disembarkation days. It is not uncommon to see passengers waiting for an elevator, and when it arrives it is already filled with fellow passengers and possibly luggage.

But there are some things you can do to avoid the long waits for an empty elevator.

• Choose a stateroom that is near the bottom or near the top of the ship. This way when you press that elevator button by the time it arrives at your floor it should be empty or emptying of passengers.
• If trying to get on an elevator during a peak period of usage walk down to a lower deck or up to an upper deck and you may have better luck. We did this on a recent cruise after the show ended and always were able to get an elevator quickly while those on the deck above were still waiting.
• Choose a stateroom that is one flight up from the main deck. This way if you are trying to get off the ship on disembarkation day and the elevators are busy you only have to walk down one flight of stairs.
• Choose a stateroom near the bank of elevators that is furthest away from buffet area.  The busiest elevators on embarkation and disembarkation days are the ones that go to the buffet area.

Learning the tricks to getting an elevator will greatly improve your experience on a modern day cruise ship.

Steve Millay ACC