Cruises are full of nuance. Because they wrap your transportation, dining and entertainment into one package, there’s a lot to consider as you’re budgeting, packing and planning your time on board and ashore. If you’re not careful, it’s easy to commit a floating faux pas that can drain your wallet, create unsafe situations or simply make you look silly.

If you’re new to cruising, you’ll want to avoid costly pitfalls like double tipping, booking the wrong excursions and forgetting to put your phone in airplane mode.

Cruise rules are also important to note since certain ones should never be broken. Don’t be the person whose ship leaves them behind in port because they didn’t check the all-aboard time or the one who gets arrested for tossing CBD oil into their suitcase – something that’s easy to do if you don’t know what not to pack.

And don’t even get us started on how much we want to cringe when we see people grabbing food with their bare hands at the buffet, hogging deck chairs by the pool or discussing the best methods for smuggling alcohol in their luggage. Talk about tacky.

When it comes to decisions about activities, make sure you know what to do — and what not to do — during both sea days and when you’re disembarking for some fun in port. Fortunately, we can prepare you with guides to help you save money, avoid regret and make the most of your time.

• Things you should never do at a cruise ship buffet
• Reasons to avoid sneaking alcohol onto your cruise ship
• What not to do when you’re in port during a cruise

Mistakes to avoid on cruise sea days

It means that it's a true five-star hotel now,” said Mollan, a Hawaii specialist who works for Stellar Travel in Bellevue, Washington. “I think Turtle Bay has had kind of an identity crisis over the years. It's been a Hilton. It's been independent. But finally, you've got some true five-star branding behind it."