How Avoid Crowds on a Cruise Ship

Cruises are amazing, but even the biggest ships can feel packed at times. Here’s how to dodge the crowds and make the most of your time on board.

Hundreds — sometimes thousands — of guests share the same ship. That means popular spots can get crowded fast. With a little planning and flexibility, you can enjoy these areas when they’re much quieter.

The Buffet

The buffet is one of the busiest spots on any ship. Embarkation day is especially hectic. As travel vlogger Alisa Myatt of EECC Travels puts it, “As soon as they board the ship, it’s like, get on board, go get something to eat, and the buffet is always packed and it’s hard to find a seat.”

On embarkation day, try the main dining room instead. Some ships also open specialty restaurants during boarding. It’s worth checking your cruise line’s app before you board.

On other days, the lunch rush hits around noon. Dinner crowds peak between 6:30 and 7 p.m. Myatt says, “If you can wait, if you’re a late eater, like 1:30, 2 o’clock, it’s definitely going to still be open, but not as busy.” For dinner, heading to the buffet right when it opens — often around 5 p.m. — can help you beat the rush.

Breakfast is a different story. “Breakfast is kind of busy the whole time, because people get up at different times,” Myatt notes. Your best bet is to go very early or wait until mid-morning.

The Pool Deck

Lounge chairs near the pool disappear quickly. Some guests wake up early just to claim a spot. If the poolside chairs are all taken, don’t stress — there are other options.

Myatt suggests heading to an upper sun deck. “There’s often open upper decks that have plenty of lounge chairs. You might not be able to see the pool, but it’s a lot easier to get a lounge chair up there if you’re not wanting to get in the pool.”

Some cruise lines also offer private deck space. MSC Cruises’ MSC Yacht Club is one example. Many ships also have adults-only pool areas that tend to be less crowded.

Good news: cruise lines are cracking down on chair saving. “If they see a chair has been empty for a while and there’s just a towel on it or something, they’ll come and remove it,” Myatt says. So it’s worth checking back throughout the day — a chair may open up when you least expect it.

Port days are your secret weapon. When most passengers head ashore, the pool deck gets much quieter. If you’ve already visited a port before, staying on board can mean having the pool nearly to yourself.

Rides and Activities

Port days are also a great time to try popular onboard attractions. Rock climbing walls, water slides, and other activities tend to have shorter lines. On sea days, Myatt recommends showing up right when the attractions open. Check the cruise line’s daily program or app for operating hours.

Ships with more activities tend to spread guests out better. Myatt recently sailed on Royal Caribbean’s Star of the Seas. She noted that the ship’s Category 6 water park helped keep lines short. “Didn’t see massive lines even on sea days… because there are six (water) slides, which is great, because it spreads people out.”

Shows and Entertainment

Onboard shows are popular, but you can almost always find a seat. Early and late shows tend to draw similar-sized crowds. Late-night comedy and after-hours events are usually less packed.

Myatt’s advice: “If you don’t care where you sit, definitely get there, I’d say, 10 minutes before the show starts, and you’re going to get a seat. It might not be the best seat, but you’ll get a seat 10 to 15 minutes (before). But if you’re wanting a specific seat, (get there) 45 minutes before the doors open.”

High-demand shows may require arriving even earlier. On Disney Cruise Line’s Disney Destiny, the line for the Broadway-style “Disney Hercules” show stretched nearly halfway through the ship — and that was 20 minutes before showtime. Arriving early is always the safer play.

Embarkation and Disembarkation

Boarding the Ship

Most passengers board between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. Choosing an arrival time outside that window makes a big difference. Myatt recommends picking the earliest or latest available check-in slot. Cruise lines usually let you select an arrival window through email or their app once check-in opens.

Arriving around 2 p.m. at a port like Port Canaveral, Florida, can mean breezing through security and boarding in about 10 minutes. The terminal is often nearly empty by then.

Getting Off the Ship

Disembarkation works the same way. “If you don’t want to wait in line, get up early. Get up, get ready and get off that ship, or you take the opposite approach: you sleep in,” Myatt says.

Staterooms typically need to be vacated by around 8 a.m. Waiting a bit later lets you enjoy breakfast and disembark after the morning rush has thinned out.

Tender Ports

Tender ports — where guests ride a smaller boat to shore — can get especially congested. Myatt has a smart tip for handling them: “If there’s a tender involved, I do recommend booking an excursion, because they will prioritize you off the ship because they don’t want you to miss your excursion that you book through the cruise line. So they will have a meeting point, usually in the theater or something like that, and they will walk the people who have excursions off first.”

Booking a later excursion is another option. Once the first wave of guests has left the ship, the tender process tends to calm down significantly.

The Spa

The spa fills up fast on sea days. Port days are the best time to book treatments or use the thermal suite. “As far as the thermal suite goes, they do limit the number of people that can buy that pass for the week,” Myatt says. “So typically, at no point is it overly crowded.”

If you’re interested in spa services, book your appointment as early as possible — ideally before or right at the start of your cruise.