First cruise from Florida? The questions everyone asks
The honest answers to the questions people ask before their first sailing — including the two that cost real money if you get them wrong.
By Andrew Budai · Last checked 2026-09-01 · Rates and opening hours change — confirm before you travel.
Most of what follows applies to cruising generally. Some of it is specific to leaving from Florida, which is where the majority of Caribbean sailings start.
Do I need a passport?
Technically, for most Caribbean cruises from Florida — no. These are closed-loop sailings: they leave from and return to the same US port, and US citizens can travel on a birth certificate plus government photo ID.
Take the passport anyway. If you miss the ship in Cozumel, or someone gets ill and has to fly home from Aruba, a passport is the difference between an expensive inconvenience and a genuine crisis. Nobody has ever regretted having one on board.
If your itinerary is not closed-loop — a one-way Panama Canal transit, a transatlantic crossing, anything ending at a different port — a passport is required, not optional.
How early should I arrive?
Nearly every line now assigns an arrival window, and you should treat it as real. Turning up three hours early does not get you aboard three hours sooner; it gets you queuing with everyone else who tried the same thing.
Boarding typically opens late morning. Cabins are usually ready in the early afternoon. All aboard is normally 60 to 90 minutes before departure and the ship will leave without you.
Should I fly in the day before?
Yes. This is the single most expensive mistake first-timers make.
The ship does not wait. A cancelled morning flight means either missing the cruise entirely or flying to the first port at your own cost to catch up. The airfare you save flying in on the day is trivial against that risk.
It matters most at Port Canaveral, which is 45 miles from Orlando’s airport — a delay there is very hard to recover from. It matters least at Port Everglades, two miles from FLL. But the answer is still yes.
What does the fare actually include?
Included: your cabin, main dining room and buffet food, most onboard entertainment, the pool and gym, and getting from port to port.
Not included, and this is where the budget goes:
- Gratuities. Typically $16–25 per person per day, usually charged automatically to your onboard account. On a seven-night cruise for two that is around $250. It is not optional in practice.
- Drinks. Water, basic coffee, tea and some juice are included. Alcohol, speciality coffee and soda are not. Packages run $60–120 per person per day.
- Shore excursions. $50–200 per person per port through the ship.
- Speciality restaurants, wifi, spa, laundry, casino.
- Parking or transfers to get there in the first place — see the parking comparison.
A useful rule of thumb: budget roughly as much again as the cruise fare for a typical trip, less if you are disciplined, more if you are not.
Is the “from” price real?
It is real, but it is the lowest grade of inside cabin on the least popular date, before taxes, fees and gratuities. Prices on this site are exactly that — published lead-in fares, per person, recorded on the date shown against each one, so you can compare like with like.
Two people sharing means the headline number is roughly doubled before anything else is added. Solo travellers usually pay a supplement, often close to the full double rate.
When is the cheapest time to cruise from Florida?
Late summer and early autumn — roughly late August through early October. That is also peak hurricane season, which is precisely why the fares drop.
The most expensive periods are Christmas and New Year week by a wide margin, and the March spring-break window, when short Bahamas sailings out of Florida price at their annual highs.
What about hurricanes?
Atlantic hurricane season runs June through November, peaking August to October. In practice ships very rarely sail into storms — they simply move. Modern forecasting is good enough that itineraries get changed days ahead, and the cruise still happens.
What you should expect if you sail in season is itinerary changes: a different port, a swapped day, occasionally a longer stretch at sea. What you should not expect is danger. Consider travel insurance, and be relaxed about the destination rather than fixed on it.
Which Florida port should I sail from?
That depends on where you are coming from and what you want to sail on. Fort Lauderdale is unbeatable for airport convenience; Miami has the most ships; Port Canaveral is the Orlando port; Tampa and Jacksonville are the small, low-hassle ones. The port comparison guide works through it properly.
Will I get seasick?
Most people do not. Caribbean waters are generally calm, and modern ships have stabilisers that remove most of the motion.
If you are worried: book a midship cabin on a lower deck, where movement is least. Bring something over the counter. And know that most seasickness settles within a day.
What should I not forget?
- A power strip without surge protection — cabins have few outlets, and surge-protected strips are confiscated.
- Motion sickness tablets, even if you think you will not need them.
- A printed copy of your boarding documents. Phones die.
- Cash for tips to porters at the terminal.
- Sunscreen, which costs a fortune on board.
- A light jacket. Dining rooms and theatres are aggressively air-conditioned.
What is a private island?
Several lines own a Bahamian island and put it in the itinerary: Royal Caribbean’s Perfect Day at CocoCay, Carnival’s Celebration Key and Half Moon Cay, MSC’s Ocean Cay, Disney’s Castaway Cay and Lighthouse Point, Norwegian’s Great Stirrup Cay.
They are a real stop, they are pleasant, and they are entirely controlled by the cruise line — which means the beach is well run and everything on it costs money. You will see them in a lot of the itineraries on this site, particularly the short Bahamas ones.
Ready to look at actual sailings? Start with the five ports, or browse the whole schedule by month.