User Manual

1 Welcome to Cruise Ship Wiki

Cruise Ship Wiki (CSW) is a free, community-maintained guide to cruise ships, deck plans, ports and the practical details no cruise line publishes. This manual walks through every feature, in the order most people use them.

What is free, and what needs an account

• Browsing is free and open to everyone: ships, deck plans, cruise lines, port guides, essentials and the Duty Free Shop.
• A free account unlocks your personal tools: My Cruises, loyalty and tier tracking, the casino voucher wallet, the Muster Station and messaging, and adding photos or suggested edits.
• The site is reader-supported and ad-free. Donations and membership keep it running; they never affect editing rights.

Finding your way around

2 Your Account and Profile

Open your name in the top menu to reach your account tools.

• Account settings: your name, email, membership and wiki-editing status, plus links to My Cruises and My Loyalty.
• Change photo: upload a profile picture. Photos are resized automatically.
• Change password: update your password at any time.
• Log out: ends your session on this device.

Your display name

Other members see the name you chose when you joined. It is what appears in the Muster Station, in messages and in group chats. Please use your first and last name, as it appears on your cruise booking, so friends and shipmates recognize you.

• Allowed: letters (accents are fine), spaces, hyphens, apostrophes and periods, for example Mary-Jane O'Brien.
• Not allowed: numbers, symbols, emoji and email addresses. Your email address stays private and is never used as your name.
• Who sees what: in the Muster Station your friends see your full name, and everyone else sees your first name and last initial, for example Jeff W.
• Joined with an email address as your name? You are asked to choose a proper name the next time you sign in.

Privacy

• Your cruise-line passwords are never asked for, seen or stored by CSW.
• Nobody can message you until you accept a connection (see chapter 8).
• You can block anyone from their conversation, and you can leave any group chat.

3 Ships, Cruise Lines and Deck Plans

The Fleet

Browse every ship by cruise line. Each ship page gathers its specifications, class, venues and decks in one place. Closed lines have their own page so their history is not lost.

Interactive deck plans

1. Open a ship, then choose its deck plans.
2. Drag to pan. Pinch or scroll to zoom.
3. Switch decks from the deck list.
4. Tap a labeled venue to read its name and open its page.

Venues

Restaurants, bars, theaters and other spaces have their own pages. Where a ship has several venues with the same name on one deck, the page title shows which one it is, for example (1 of 2).

Compare cruise lines

The Compare tool lines up cruise-line policies side by side so you can see how lines differ before you book.

Coverage

Ship data and loyalty tracking cover Royal Caribbean, Celebrity, Princess and Carnival, with more lines added over time. Deck plans are deepest for Royal Caribbean and are expanding across the fleet.

4 Port Guides

The Ports section holds independent guides to more than 200 cruise ports, grouped by region: what to see, how to get around, what to eat, and what to watch out for.

• Browse by region, or search for a port by name.
• Port pages are written by editors and members, not cruise-line marketing.
• The Duty Free Shop lists member-suggested shore excursions by port.

5 My Cruises and the Cruise Planner

My Cruises is your personal cruise log. It is the backbone of the site: the sailings you log drive your loyalty tiers and points, your badges, and your planning tools.

Add a cruise

1. Open My Cruises and choose to add a sailing.
2. Pick the ship, sail date and number of nights.
3. Mark it as sailed or upcoming, then save.

If the sailing is booked, tick Booked with the cruise line (confirmed). Entering a reservation number ticks it for you.

Confirmed upcoming sailings are added to that ship and date's Muster Station automatically (see chapter 8). Sailings that are not confirmed, are already past, or have no ship are not added.

Import your cruises

You do not have to type your history. The Cruise Ship Wiki Importer, the same Chrome extension used for casino offers, can read your past and upcoming cruises from Royal Caribbean, Celebrity, Princess or Carnival and add them to My Cruises.

1. Install the Importer from the Connect Casino Offers page and open its side panel in Chrome.
2. Sign in to your cruise line in another tab. The panel notices when you are signed in, picks the matching cruise line, and shows a button to continue. If you are not signed in, it tells you.
3. Open your trips page on the cruise line's site, then choose Import my cruises in the panel.
4. Review the preview. It lists every sailing it found and shows which are new and which you already have, so nothing is added twice.
5. Confirm, and the sailings are added to your log. Your tiers, points and badges update automatically.

The Importer only reads the page you have open and sends the sailing details to your Cruise Ship Wiki account. Your cruise-line password never leaves your browser. If your cabin is not assigned yet (for example a guarantee cabin), the cabin is simply left blank.

If an import does not work

• It says it read fewer cruises than expected: the message names the reservation it could not read. Open that trip on the cruise line's site and try again, or add that one sailing by hand.
• The page looks different: the cruise line changed its page. Stay on your trips page, reload it and retry, and tell us if it keeps happening.
• The panel does not see that you are signed in: reload the cruise line tab, or press Change cruise line and pick your line yourself.

Your list is split into Upcoming and projected points and Past sailings.

Cruise Planner

Each upcoming sailing has its own planner page to help you prepare, so nothing slips past a deadline. If you open the planner with no sailing chosen, CSW takes you to your next upcoming cruise.

Badges

Badges are earned automatically from your log: sailings, nights aboard, ships sailed, cruise lines and ports visited.

Booking plans

My booking plans keeps track of the cruises you are thinking about so you can compare them before you commit.

6 Loyalty and Tier Tracking

Track your standing in each cruise line's loyalty program in one place: Royal Caribbean (Crown & Anchor), Celebrity (Captain's Club) and Princess (Captain's Circle). Carnival is covered too.

• Your status updates from the sailings you log. There is no manual point math.
• Projected points show where you will stand after your upcoming cruises.
• A cross-brand status match view shows what your status could be worth on other lines.
• Club Royale casino status can be tracked alongside it.

7 Casino Offers and the Voucher Wallet

The voucher wallet keeps your casino offers in one place, with active and past offers, the sailings they apply to, and their deadlines.

Three ways to fill your wallet

1. Auto-import (recommended): the free Cruise Ship Wiki Importer, a Chrome extension, reads the Club Royale offers shown on your own logged-in Royal Caribbean page and files them in your wallet in one click. Open its side panel, choose Import my casino offers, and review the result. It links to your account automatically once you are signed in. Your cruise-line password never leaves your browser. Install it from the Connect Casino Offers page.
2. In the app: the Cruise Ship Wiki app can import your offers with the same one-tap flow.
3. Add manually: type or snap an offer by hand. Handy for offers that arrive by mail or email.

Voucher Search

Voucher Search, in the main menu, lets you look up vouchers and offers.

• Find a ship: start typing a ship name and pick it from the list. It suggests the ships that currently have voucher sailings.
• See where it sails: tap the Itinerary pill on a sailing to open its day-by-day ports. Itineraries are available for Royal Caribbean ships so far.

Cruise Stacker

Cruise Stacker is a planning aid for combining offers. Open it from the voucher wallet.

8 The Muster Station

The Muster Station is where you meet the cruisers on your own sailing. Swap plans before you board, compare notes at sea, and stay in touch long after you unpack.

Your sailings

Each sailing you log appears with a countdown. Open it to see the posts for that cruise and the other members sailing with you.

Find a WikiCruiser

Use Find people to look up other members. Sending a connection request lets you message each other once it is accepted.

Posts and replies

Post to your sailing's board, and reply to others. When someone replies to you, CSW can email you (see Email notifications, chapter 10).

Joining and leaving

You are added to the Muster Station for a sailing automatically once you tick Booked with the cruise line (confirmed) in My Cruises. To step out, open the sailing and choose Leave the Muster Station. You stay out until you choose Rejoin the Muster Station.

Names you see here

Your friends see your full name. Everyone else on the sailing sees your first name and last initial, for example Jeff W.

Meet-Up Finder

The Meet-Up Finder compares the itineraries of up to six travelers and shows the ports where you will all be ashore, and for how many hours. Open it from the Bridge or from the Muster Station.

1. On your own traveler card, pick one of your upcoming trips from the list. To enter a different sailing, start typing the ship name, pick it from the list, and choose Dates to see its upcoming sailings.
2. Add the other travelers. For a friend, type their name and pick it from the suggestions so the invite reaches the right person. Someone on back-to-back cruises can have more than one sailing.
3. Read the results: the days you can meet ashore, who is where and for how many hours, a day-by-day timeline, and a pair-by-pair view when three or more travelers are compared.
4. Choose Where to meet on a port to see its restaurants, bars, beaches and attractions, or type your own spot. An invite is written for you and you can edit it.
5. Choose Send message. The button turns amber and asks you to tap again; the second tap sends, and if you wait 6 seconds it resets and nothing is sent. Tick Also email it to send a copy to your friend's email address. It is off unless you tick it.

9 Messages: Direct and Group Chat

Messages is your inbox for one-to-one conversations and group chats. Open it from the Muster Station (All messages).

Sending a message

1. Open a conversation from your Messages list.
2. Type in the Message box and choose Send.
3. New messages appear automatically; you do not need to refresh.

Photos and attachments

Choose the dark Attachment button beside Send to add a photo or a document. You can add an optional caption.

Tap a photo to view it larger. PDFs open in a new browser tab for a quick preview, and every document has a Download link. Other documents download to your device.

Delete (unsend)

Made a mistake? Choose Delete under any message, photo or document you sent and confirm. It is removed for everyone, the stored file is erased, and the conversation shows that a message was deleted. You can only delete your own messages. Cruise invites have their own Unsend invite button.

Report

If a photo or file is inappropriate, choose Report beneath it. You cannot report your own. Reports are emailed to the site administrators and reviewed; a message reported by two or more members is hidden automatically until it is reviewed. A moderator can remove the attachment.

Cruise invites

Use Invite to one of my cruises to send a sailing to a friend as a card. The recipient can answer with one tap (for example I'm in, I have a voucher, Checking my options, Can't make it) and can use Do I have a voucher for this? to check their own wallet. The sender sees a countdown and can unsend the invite.

Meet-up invites

Invites sent from the Meet-Up Finder (see chapter 8) arrive here as ordinary messages, so you can reply in the same conversation.

Group chats

Select Group chats in the Messages tabs, or choose Start a group chat with (name) from a conversation.

• Only members you are already connected to as friends can be added.
• Any member of a group can add more of their friends, up to 12 people per chat.
• Everyone can send photos and documents, delete their own messages, and report content.
• Choose Leave to leave a group at any time. The chat shows system notes when people join or leave.

Blocking

Use Block at the top of a conversation to stop a person from messaging you.

10 Email Notifications

CSW can email you when something needs your attention, so you do not have to keep the site open.

Opting out

Every Muster and group-chat email ends with an opt-out link. It opens a page where you confirm turning those emails off. You can turn them back on from the same link.

11 The Duty Free Shop and Essentials

The Duty Free Shop collects gear that earns its suitcase space: member-suggested picks, packing help and cabin essentials, plus shore excursions by port. Cruise Essentials is the packing list: power and charging, sleep and comfort, cabin upgrades, packing and organization, sun and shore.

Some links are affiliate links. That is disclosed on the Affiliate Disclosure page, and it never changes what we recommend.

12 Contributing: Photos, Edits and Pro Tips

CSW is built by its members. With a free account you can:

• Add photos of cabins, venues and ships from your own sailings. Uploads are resized automatically.
• Suggest an edit to a ship or venue when you spot a gap or an error. Editors review each suggestion.
• Share a Pro Tip - something you learned aboard that no cruise line publishes. Tips are reviewed by editors before they appear.
• Apply to become an editor from your account if you want to do more.

13 Installing CSW as an App

CSW works in any browser and can also be installed so it opens full-screen like an app.

• iPhone or iPad (Safari): tap Share, then Add to Home Screen.
• Android (Chrome): open the menu, then Install app or Add to Home screen.
• Pages you have already viewed keep working offline.
• A dedicated Android app is also on the way through Google Play.

14 Plan a Cruise, Step by Step

1. Find your ship. Browse the Fleet and open its deck plans.
2. Log it. Add the sailing to My Cruises.
3. Check your status and perks. Open My Loyalty to see where you stand.
4. Pull in your casino offers. Import or add them to your voucher wallet.
5. Meet your shipmates. Open the Muster Station for your sailing, send a message or start a group chat, and use the Meet-Up Finder to find the ports where you will be ashore together.
6. Prep to sail. Use the Cruise Planner, port guides and the Essentials list.

15 Questions and Troubleshooting

Is Cruise Ship Wiki free?

Yes. Browsing is free for everyone, and a free account unlocks the personal tools.

Is my cruise-line password safe when importing offers?

Yes. The import helper only reads what is already shown on your logged-in cruise-line page and sends that list to your own wallet. It never sees or stores your password.

Why can I not message someone?

You need to be connected first. Send a request from Find people; messaging opens when it is accepted. If they blocked you, the conversation stays closed.

My attachment was rejected.

Check the type and size: photos (JPG, PNG, WebP), or PDF, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, TXT or CSV up to 10 MB. Files with macros or hidden executable content are always refused.

I sent the wrong file.

Choose Delete under it. The file is removed for everyone.

I do not see the voucher button on an invite.

It appears only for the person who receives the invite, since it checks the recipient's own wallet.

I am not getting email.

Check spam, confirm the email on your account, and make sure you have not opted out from an earlier email.

My name was not accepted.

Names can use letters, spaces, hyphens, apostrophes and periods. Numbers, symbols, emoji and email addresses are not allowed. Please use your first and last name as on your cruise booking.

Why do I see a first name and an initial for some members?

In the Muster Station, only your friends see your full name. Everyone else appears as first name and last initial.

I left the Muster Station. How do I rejoin?

Open the sailing in the Muster Station and choose Rejoin the Muster Station. Until then you stay out, even if you edit the sailing in My Cruises.

The Meet-Up Finder shows no itinerary for my ship.

Itineraries are available for Royal Caribbean ships so far. Other cruise lines cannot be matched yet.

I tapped Send and nothing was sent.

The first tap only arms the button, which turns amber. Tap it again within 6 seconds to send. If you wait longer it resets and nothing is sent.

I can only copy an invite for one of my travelers.

Messages and emails can only go to friends. Type your friend's name and pick it from the suggestions so it links to them. If they are not a friend yet, send a friend request first, or send the copied invite yourself.

My meet-up email did not go out.

Each member can email up to 10 meet-up invites a day, and the same text to the same friend is blocked for an hour. The chat message is sent either way.

Who do I contact?

Report a message directly with the Report button, or use the contact option on the site.