Cruise Lingo for First Timers

[negrilbride]

Hey All, I found myself repeatedly going to Google to figure out some of the cruise lingo I saw around the boards on here. I found this list pretty helpful and I thought I would share it. Please if anyone has other cruise lingo that they would like to add, go right ahead!

 

Cruise Lingo

 

• Aft: The rear of the ship.
  
• Bow: The front of the ship.
  
• Bridge: The control center of the ship.
  
• Cabin: Your room on board the ship.
  
• Crossing: The term used to describe a transatlantic or a transpacific cruise.
  
• Decks: Floors of the ship.
  
• Departure Port: The city your cruise begins.
  
• Embarkation Port: The city your cruise begins.
  
• Formal Night: The designated evening when passengers are invited to dress formally to dinner.
  
• Galley: The ship's kitchen.
  
• Gangway: The entrance / exit area of the ship used while docked.
  
• Lido: The term often used to describe a deck, where pools are located.
  
• Maitre D': The officer in charge of the dining room and its wait staff.
  
• Muster Station: The designated meeting spot for passengers during emergencies or evacuations.
  
• Ports of Call: Destinations you visit during the cruise.
  
• Portside: The left side of the ship when facing the bow (the front of the ship).
  
• Purser: A customer service representative, responsible for answering general questions, handling complaints, and generally monitoring passenger happiness.
  
• Starboard: The right side of the ship when facing the bow (the front of the ship).
  
• Stateroom: Your room on board the ship.
  
• Stern: The rear of the ship.
  
• Steward: A housekeeper responsible for maintaining passenger cabins.
  
• Tender: A ferry that transports passengers from the cruise ship to the dock when the ship cannot be accommodated at the port facilities.
  

[Young-Cruiser]

thanks

[uppitycats]

It's easy to get disoriented on a ship. Port and starboard are the most useful to remember -- "Port" and "left" both have 4 letters..and "port" is the left side of the ship, as you're facing front.

[cmodino]

not cruise lingo but cruise critic lingo, what does dh, dd, ds ect. mean?

[captbill]

not cruise lingo but cruise critic lingo, what does dh, dd, ds ect. mean?

 

dh= dear (or darling, dumb, damn, etc) husband

dw= dear wife

dd= dear daughter

ds= dear son

[PartyAllDaTyme]

not cruise lingo but cruise critic lingo, what does dh, dd, ds ect. mean?

 

Here's a link to the Cruise Critic acronyms page:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/faq.php?faq=vb3_reading_posting#faq_acronyms

[cmodino]

thanks

[Bars7816]

Stateroom? I wish! We can only afford cabins.

[Bars7816]

Remember port wine is red. Red lights for port, green lights for starboard. :cool:

[PartyAllDaTyme]

Stateroom? I wish! We can only afford cabins.

 

Same thing. Some call them staterooms, some call them cabins. Even suites and penthouses can be referred to as cabins.

[lilipad2]

Newbie question here, but if your cabin is on the portside, does that mean you'll face the port when you embark/disembark? Is that the side the gangway is on? Does that question make sense?

[captbill]

Newbie question here, but if your cabin is on the portside, does that mean you'll face the port when you embark/disembark? Is that the side the gangway is on? Does that question make sense?

 

 

Your question makes sense, but the ship may be docked to either port or starboard. You will board from whichever side the Captain decides to tie up on. As passengers, we have no way of predicting with 100% accuracy, exactly which side of the ship will face the dock. Docking situations change with every arrival, and as such docking procedures are adjusted or adapted to by the Captain and crew.:cool:

[STARFISH*4]

i call 'em cabins and staterooms and heard crew refer to them as both and they were referring to my 'cabin' inside or OV:)

[GlendaleCruiser]

i call 'em cabins and staterooms and heard crew refer to them as both and they were referring to my 'cabin' inside or OV:)

 

 

OV = Ocean View (window but no balcony)

TA = Transatlantic or Travel Agent, depending upon context.

[Sekhmet]

Remember port wine is red. Red lights for port, green lights for starboard. :cool:

 

Except for my 93 year old mother's favourite pre-dinner tipple, which is white port.

[uppitycats]

Newbie question here, but if your cabin is on the portside, does that mean you'll face the port when you embark/disembark? Is that the side the gangway is on? Does that question make sense?

 

No. How the ship ties up is related to what other ships are in port, where the ship has contracted to tie up, and sometimes wind and wave direction. While there is some consistency to ports -- the ship always ties up heading in the same direction -- this has nothing to do with the sides of the ship issue.

[MedicKen]

Way is Port called port? OK here we go, In Viking days the ships, think long dragon type boat, direction was controlled by a "steering board". This steering board was attached to the right side (as you face forward) of the boat. This is where the term Starboard is from. Well this steering board made it difficult to tie up to the dock at the port. SO, there you go. Not bad for an Air Force vet. Now as to the term posh.......?

[near the beach]

Don't forget DOD.

Drink of the Day. :D

[GlendaleCruiser]

Don't forget DOD.

Drink of the Day. :D

 

 

Oh no, we cannot every forget that one!

[GlendaleCruiser]

CD = Cruise Director

MDR = Main Dining Room

[Jenny8675309]

What about the different classes of ships? I've read "fantasy class" "s-class" and so on. What does it all mean???? :D

[aohkay]

i call 'em cabins and staterooms and heard crew refer to them as both and they were referring to my 'cabin' inside or OV:)

 

Is this where the expression, 'Cabin Fever' came from...ships/ nautical?

[Euphemus]

It's easy to get disoriented on a ship. Port and starboard are the most useful to remember -- "Port" and "left" both have 4 letters..and "port" is the left side of the ship, as you're facing front.

 

With regard to port and starboard...it's easy to figure out one from the other if you're up on deck. However, I have a heck of time on cabin decks because everything looks the same whether you're walking forward or aft or if you're on the port or starboard side. The number of times that I've walked in the opposite direction from my cabin! :eek:

 

I was talking about this at dinner one night and an experienced cruiser at our table pointed out something I didn't know:

 

On most ships (perhaps not all) the color scheme in the passageway on the port side will be slightly different than the color scheme on the starboard side. This color difference will be the same on every deck. If you can memorize the color scheme outside your cabin door for that cruise, you will always find your way 'home'. (Better than bread crumbs!)

 

Point two: look down. Often (not always) the pattern in the carpet of the passageway will tell you if you're going forward or aft. For instance, if the pattern in the carpet includes fish, the fish will always be 'swimming' toward the bow. Sometimes there are other symbols or patterns that have a natural 'direction'. Typically these will point forward.

 

Again, I don't know for certain if this is true on *every* ship or *every* line but, sure enough, on our way back to the cabin that night after dinner: Voila! Different color schemes on each side and all fish swimming forward with the ship!

[Euphemus]

What about the different classes of ships? I've read "fantasy class" "s-class" and so on. What does it all mean???? :D

 

Each cruise line typically builds several ships of the same or very similar design for efficiency sake over a period of several years.

 

Cruise lines usually give a name to each different design or 'class.' On some lines the name of the class will come from the name of the first ship in that class. RCL does this: the first Radiance class ship was Radiance of the Seas, although there are 3 other (later) ships out there with relatively the same overall design and size. The internal decoration of the ship, the names of the lounges, restaurants, the kinds of specialty restaurants, furnishings, etc...may all be somewhat different but the major structure and layout will be roughly equal.

 

Each line has its own way of naming a 'class.'

 

Some cruisers develop a preference for a certain class of ship for one reason or another, and then seek out future cruises on that class of ship.

 

The classes (at least on RCL) can be substantially different.

[Haoie]

I'm glad this got bumped.

 

So learning about all these nautical terms isn't just for pirates anymore?