2 June 2026
First Time Cruising? Everything Manila Travellers Ask Us
Five decades of send-offs distilled into one honest primer — visas, cabins, seasickness, gratuities, and why your first cruise should probably leave from Singapore.
Every week someone sits down in our Malate office and asks the same first question: do I need a visa to cruise? The honest answer is the best kind — usually not, if you choose the right itinerary. Sailings out of Singapore through Malaysian and Thai ports are visa-free for Philippine passport holders, which is exactly why we point first-timers there.
Choosing your first cabin
Interior staterooms are the classic first-cruise economy — you will only sleep there anyway. But if the budget allows one upgrade, make it the balcony: waking up to open sea is the thing people remember.
On short three- and four-night sailings, spend on experiences instead. On seven nights or longer, the balcony earns its keep daily.
What nobody tells you
Gratuities are usually charged per night, per person, on board — budget for them. Motion sickness is rarer than you fear on today's stabilised ships, and mid-ship lower decks barely feel the sea. And book the specialty restaurants on day one; they fill up by the second night.
Planning something like this?
Half a century of answers, one inquiry away. Tell us what you have in mind and our team takes it from there.
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