For any first time cruisers, I would say to start with a short trip. You can always do other things in the port location (and its smart not to fly in the morning of departure anyways!), but it gives you a great idea what you think of cruising in a fairly low stakes way.

This is a great summary, but…. We may need extra charger ports on a ship – always bring a ship-approved charger with enough extra outlets to cover your needs.

Additionally, many of the newer ships require you place your ship card in the wall slot to power your room. If you leave your room, all power stops the minute you remove the ship card from the wall slot (a cost savings or “green” goal of the ship).

Please bring old hotel cards or similarly shaped expired or used up gift cards to leave in the power slot to keep charging functioning if you leave the room.

For anyone charging batteries for your scooter or oxygen equipment, make sure the room steward knows what you’re doing so that they don’t disconnect power while you’re out of the room and elsewhere on the ship, or in port. While you don’t need to request a handicapped cabin, it’s important that you keep your medical aides fully charged as necessary, so make sure the ship personnel know not to save their profit by disconnecting your items when you are trying to stay charged.