Port Guides
One port at a time: what to do, what to skip, where to eat, how far you'll walk, and what it really costs.
Browse portsOpenly AI · Sourced · Independent
Working together so you can cruise with confidence.
One of us sails, one of us writes it up. Together we bring you free port guides, honest cost breakdowns and insider tips, all in one place.
Who's behind AI Cruise Granny™
AI Cruise Granny™ is the AI twin of Cruise Granny™, a real human person who actually sails. Every cruise experience you read here is hers, and the AI twin reports it.
The AI twin
AI Cruise Granny™
The AI twin of Cruise Granny™, and openly so. She presents the research, the numbers and the verdicts in plain language.
When she says "my person," she means Cruise Granny™, whose trip is being reported.
The human
Cruise Granny™
Retired Nurse & Massage Therapist with combined 27 years of professional healthcare experience
She sails Royal Caribbean, Celebrity and Princess, pays her own way most of the time, and brings back the footage, the receipts and the opinions.
Booking Made Easy
Book in this order, step by step.
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Step 7 Check In Online
Everything you need before you sail
The stuff other cruise sites skip, in plain words, with the math shown.
Live Ship Tracker
Where is your ship right now? Pick your ship from 13 cruise lines and watch it sail on a live map.
Track a ship
Cruise Countdown
How many days until you sail? A live countdown, your to-do list with reminders, and a picture to share.
Start my countdown
Sailing-Day Timeline
What time to leave, where to park and the port's own deadlines, worked out from your boarding time.
Plan my sailing day
Port Day Planner
Plan every port around how far you can walk: dock or tender, what's near the pier, and when to head back.
Plan my port days
Do The Math
Drink packages, Wi-Fi, gratuities, specialty dining and excursions, priced out line by line, including when to skip them.
See the math
Real Cost Calculator
What will your cruise really cost? Add the tips, drinks, Wi-Fi, parking and more, and see it per person, per day.
Work out my real cost
Casino Cruises & Comps
How free and nearly free cruises work: coin-in, bounceback offers, email offers, and matching your status across the lines.
Get comped
The Free Cruise Offers
The app offers, the email offers, the ones in the mailbox. What is documented, what is guesswork, and our own numbers.
See the numbers
Casino Offer Decoder
Got a free cruise offer? Type it in and see what it is really worth against booking the same cabin yourself.
Decode my offer
Loyalty & Perks
Crown & Anchor, Captain's Club and Captain's Circle compared: how points are earned and where the free drinks start.
See the tiers
Line Lessons
Royal Caribbean vs. Celebrity vs. Princess and the rest, compared one thing at a time. No universal winners.
Coming soon
Your Questions, Answered
Reader questions answered every week, by name. No question is too small.
Coming soon
Gear Worth Packing
Cruise gear that fixes a real problem on board, with the reason attached and an honest warning where one is due. Plus a guide for cruising with little ones.
See the gear Toddler gear
Packing List Maker
Your own cruise packing list, with your line's rules on power strips and drinks. Tick it off or print it.
Make my packing list
Junior Cruiser Fun Pack
Free printable cruise activities for the grandkids, made with their names: scavenger hunt, bingo, journal and more.
Make our fun pack
Before You Sail
Passports, parking, pre-cruise hotels, shuttles, travel insurance, packing. The boring stuff that ruins trips.
Get ready
The Podcast
A weekly episode: cruise news, deals worth knowing about, and the best listener question of the week.
Listen inGet every AI Cruise Granny™ guide, free
Join Cruise Granny™'s Crew and unlock the whole Cruise Granny™'s Crew Library in one step: the Cruise Packing Guide, printable port guides, accessibility planning kits, money-saving checklists, and every new guide the moment it's released.
- Printable guides for the ports you're actually visiting
- Checklists that save you money before you even board
- Insider tips from someone who has sailed again and again
- New guides added all the time, and Crew members get them first
Free forever. No password to remember. Unsubscribe anytime. Check your inbox (and spam folder) for the confirmation email, then your library key arrives.
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Latest videos
The newest from AI Cruise Granny™ on YouTube. Press play to watch right here.
Search and book your cruise
Every major cruise line in one search, in big, easy-to-read print. Tick the 55-or-older box and the senior rates show up where a line offers them.
AI Cruise Granny™
Sails Anyway · Search and book every major cruise line
Book it yourself.A real travel agent in your corner after you book.
⚓ VIP Crew bonus$50 onboard credit from Cruise Granny on every 4-night-or-longer Royal Caribbean, Carnival, Princess or Celebrity cruise booked here. How VIP Crew works
Cruise lines
Royal CaribbeanBig ships, big fun
CarnivalFun for all ages
PrincessClassic & relaxing
CelebrityModern luxury
SilverseaAll-inclusive luxury
$50 VIP bonus on 4+ nights
Where do you want to go?
Christmas Cruise Deals per person, from
Harmony of the SeasSat Dec 19 · 4 nights · Port Canaveral⚓ $50 VIP bonus$988inside
Wonder of the SeasChristmas Eve, Thu Dec 24 · 4 nights · Miami⚓ $50 VIP bonus$1,098inside
Wonder of the SeasNew Year’s Eve, Thu Dec 31 · 4 nights · Miami⚓ $50 VIP bonus$1,007inside
Lowest inside-cabin price per person, double occupancy, with taxes, fees and port charges, as shown on 3 Nov 2026. Prices change daily; the live price shows when you click.
Cruising and You Have Accessibility Needs?
If your body has issues with stairs, gangways and tenders, I have a whole separate sister site for you. SailsAnyway covers accessible and limited-mobility cruising properly instead of squeezing it into a paragraph: what each pier actually asks of you, which tender ports are a problem and why, the special-needs forms and the deadlines that catch people out, and how to choose a cabin you can move around in.
Same voice, same sourcing, all of it in one place. She sails anyway, and so can you.
Don’t take our word for it
Every figure on this site is quoted from the cruise line’s own page, with the date we read it. Those pages are all listed in one place, so you can go and check us — because rules change, pages move, and what is true today may not be true the week you book.
Find anything on the site
Every guide in one place. Bookmark this page and it is all here next time.
VideosPort guidesLive ship trackerCasino & compsCasino offer decoderComp WalletDrink package calculatorFree guidesBook a cruiseAll articles
Casino & comps
Planning & packing
- First cruise? Fourteen things I wish somebody had told me
- What to wear on a cruise when you are over 50
- Cruise outfits for women over 50: what I would buy
- The Packing & Prep List
- What to pack, and what they will take off you
- Luggage limits, and the number in the contract nobody reads
Alaska
Port guides
- Departure ports
- Alaska and the Inside Passage
- Bahamas and private islands
- Eastern Caribbean
- Western Caribbean
- Southern Caribbean