Best Cruise Apps for Trip Prep and to Use While On Vacation
Apps are a part of our daily lives so why shouldn't you have the coolest apps to use preparing for and onboard your cruise?
These are NOT Cruise Line apps. Many of the popular cruise lines have their own apps these days, including Royal Caribbean, Disney Cruise Line, MSC, Holland Line America, Azamara, and Viking Cruises.
But these are apps that we recommend for trip planning – no matter the cruise line or type of cruise – for enhanced trip planning and prep and for use while you're aboard and in ports.
All screenshots are from the Apple iOS App Store.
Disclosure: This post has affiliate links, meaning we may earn a small commission if you click the link and proceed with a purchase at no cost to you. We truly only recommend cruises, experiences, products, and services we personally use. As Amazon Associates, we earn from qualifying purchases.
Night Sky
One of the greatest things about being on the water, most likely far from light pollution, is the ability to see the night sky with all its stars.
It's more fun to be able to spot constellations! Night Sky is a magical app that you hold up to the sky, and it maps out the constellations for you. It's INCREDIBLE.
What's more, is that it connects the stars with lines that create constellations and overlays shapes on them. So, for example, Orion actually looks like a man with a sword, not just a stick figure.
The Apple App Store proclaims it's a “planetarium in your pocket.” But it's a ROBUST one. You can go to “Night Sky tonight” and learn about the sky above you from sunrise to sunset. You can even set notifications for things like when Mars is rising or find local stargazing locations in your area.
There's an Aurora Borealis mapping feature in the premium paid version of that app that could be worth upgrading to, alone, especially on a polar cruise.
This cruise app is particularly cool if you're in another region of the world and you want to understand what's happening in outer space above where you are at the time. (As opposed to usually being in another geographical location, at home.)
And guess what? Its core functionality will still work even if you're not on wifi or don't have cell service!
Unavailable for Android.
App cost: Free with optional upgrades. (Annual subscription: $39.99, monthly subscription: $5.99)
Storage space: 1.2GB (so make sure you have the room before you install it!)
Tripsy Travel Planner
This is a great cruise app if you want the trip to be in your pocket. Cruises make it incredibly easy to see what's going on daily with a cruise navigator, announcements, and of course – no need to navigate the ship yourself.
But what about things to remember if you book days before or after that? Or do you venture away from the cruise group in port for your own plans?
Keep track of your trip details with Tripsy. It's one of the best cruise apps for travel planning that needs to be done on your own.
Insert information like your flight times, hotel reservations of where you're staying before and after your cruise, restaurants, excursions, and more.
We love that it breaks down our itinerary into the dates of the trip, and any documents we need to upload for it (premium version feature), highlights lodging, and has different folders for things like restaurants and tours, all neatly organized in a simply app design. Another cool premium feature is being able to forward reservations to the app, and it's automatically added to your itinerary for you.
They have an inspiration depending on where you're traveling (like if you're departing from Barcelona and need some inspiration in this coastal Spanish city).
We always share our trip itineraries with family and friends – both for fun and safety. You can do that from within Tripsy in a few very simple steps with this premium app feature. (The receiver must have the app installed to see your itinerary.)
Unavailable for Android.
App cost: Free with optional upgrades. (Monthly subscription: $4.99)
Storage space: 55.7MB
PACK: Packing Checklist
I don't go anywhere longer than overnight without writing a packing list. One of our suggestions for the best cruise app helps you be successful on your cruise with smart preparation before your cruise.
You simply create a packing list (say for a “river cruise“) and then add items from “suggested” (which we usually do) or create your own category.
The upgrade to the premium features was a no-brainer for us. The one-time fee of $2.99 allows us to increase quantities (because who takes one pair of underwear on a trip?) and duplicate packing lists so we're not reinventing the wheel each time.
When you go to pack (which is always in our Cabin Zero backpacks because we're obsessed with them), you simply check the items off the digital list as you pack them. When you do so, it puts a line through the item to check it off and adds a green check mark to indicate the item is packed.
Unavailable for Android.
App cost: Free with optional upgrade. (Premium features: $2.99)
Storage space: 55.7MB
Google Maps
Most people have a Google Maps app on their phone. But if you don't – especially if you're an iPhone user because you have to specifically install it on iOS software – you need to for this VERY pro traveler tip:
You can save maps offline for a majority of popular areas to visit around the world!
We recommend downloading all the maps you want to have offline access to (like for each port you're going to visit) before you leave strong wifi in your home.
The maps stay in your offline downloads for one year unless you manually delete it, so you should be fine to do this task before your trip.
Here's how to do it:
- Open the Google Maps app.
- Type in a location, like “Barcelona, Spain”.
- When it pulls up the area, go back to the search bar, delete Barcelona, and write “OK Maps”.
- It will then ask you if you want to download the area within the rectangular box that comes up on the screen.
- Click download.
Your map will be accessible when you open the app and will locate where you are within the area, even offline (as long as the map for the area was downloaded). There won't be a need to search for Barcelona, for instance, if you're standing in Barcelona. It will automatically show up.
Google Maps will even track your location on the map offline – which is a lifesaver for way-finding in a new area.
To manually locate the downloaded map in the app, simply tap your profile photo, located on the search bar. Then go to “Offline Maps.” You'll see a list of downloaded maps, most likely named “Map 1,” “Map 2,” etc. You can rename them to correspond to the location name, but it's not necessary.
Download for Android. (Though if you have an Android, it may already be pre-loaded on your phone.)
App cost: Free
Storage space: iOS: 9.2MB; Android: 6.1MB
Cruise Ship & Port News Lite
This app is pretty straightforward. It aggregates cruise news in a feed and allows you to choose from a general one or categories, including:
- Top Cruise News
- New Ships
- Cruise Ports
- River Cruises
- Cruise Tips
- Delays
- Itinerary Changes
Major cruise lines are listed as categories if you want to filter by that instead.
It pulls news from certain websites it probably has predetermined in the backend of the app, including Cruise Hive, The Points Guy, Royal Caribbean Blog, CNN, TravelPulse, The Washington Post and the like.
One you select the piece of news you want to read from the list in the app, you can click “open” for it to take you directly to the website where the article is posted. You then read the article on your phone's internet browser.
It's one of the best cruise apps, simply if you're a cruise lover and want to be in the know about industry news no matter the day, even if you're not at sea.
App cost: Free (option to upgrade to Pro for $4.99)
Storage space: iOS: 9.2MB; Android: 6.1MB
Tip Check – Calculator & Guide
You'll likely be in another country on land at some point during your cruise.
We always kick ourselves for not remembering to look up a guide to tipping in the country we've visiting. Like when we sat at a restaurant enjoying Dutch food on a cruise point of embarkation in Amsterdam, wondering what to tip our server.
This app eliminates the guesswork.
It has tipping guides for over 69 countries, including the optional $1.99 international upgrade (which we recommend) or upgrade for $4.99 for the additional international tipping guide, unlimited log entries, and to remove ads.
The app allows you to choose the pertinent category for your needs, like if you need to tip a taxi driver versus a restaurant waiter. It even allows you to split a bill with a friend and calculate what your responsibility for the tip between the group is.
Unavailable for Android.
App cost: Free with optional upgrades. (Pro version one-time payment: $2.99 – search “Tip Check Pro – Calc & Guide in the app store)
Storage space: 10.2MB iOs; 6.1MB Android
SailFlow
This is one of the best cruise apps if you want to geek out and know wind speeds during your cruise, whether you're on a schooner excursion or an ocean adventure cruise. It gives you “weather where you sail” whether you're the captain or someone else is.
The wind map is one of our favorite features on the app.
You'd need to upgrade to a pro version if you're the one sailing the ship or responsible for reporting the weather to someone in charge. But we suspect ample equipment would be onboard to assist the crew with that.
This is simply the best cruise app available for guests simply to get involved in the fun of being on the water. And a huge part of that is knowing where the wind is going.
App cost: Free with optional upgrades. (Plus: $3.99, Pro: $9.99, Gold: $14.99)
Storage space: iOs: 91.3MB; Android: 18MB
TripAdvisor
We love this app because we always reference it for things to do in a city or where to eat. It's like an international version of Yelp. (We've only found Yelp to be available in limited areas worldwide.)
If you're like us, you want to read what other travelers' opinions are of a location before you decide to go there or book the experience, whether a museum or a spot for lunch. They have great forums too if you want to get involved in asking or answering more detailed questions.
App cost: Free
Storage space: iOs: 258.8MB; Android: Varies by device.
Cruise Podcasts to Get Keep you Enthused about Cruising
We've got the most complete list of Cruise Podcasts for you too!
For further reading check out:
- Outstanding Emerald Destiny River Cruise Food (with Photos!)
- Why are River Cruises So Expensive? Or are They the Best Cruise Value Out There?
- Essential Guide to Over 110 Cruise Ship Terms (and Commonly Used Nautical and Boating Jargon)
