Setting Up Your Cruise
Five quick questions and CruiseHand builds your entire personalized cruise plan automatically.
Choose your cruise line
When you open CruiseHand, the first thing you'll see is a grid of cruise line logos. Simply tap the one you're sailing with — for example, Carnival, Royal Caribbean, Norwegian, Princess, and many more are all listed.
Once you tap your cruise line, CruiseHand will automatically move you to the next step.
Pick your ship
Next you'll see a list of ships for your cruise line. You can tap your ship's name directly from the list, or type the first few letters into the search box at the top to find it quickly.
Once you select your ship, CruiseHand moves on to dates automatically.
Enter your sailing dates
Tap the Departure date field and select the day your cruise leaves. Then tap how many nights your trip is — for example, "7 nights."
CruiseHand will show you a confirmation card summarizing your trip so you can double-check everything before moving on.
Confirm your home port
CruiseHand will suggest the most common departure ports for your ship. Tap the one you're leaving from — usually a city like Miami, Port Canaveral, New Orleans, or Galveston.
If your port isn't in the suggestions, just type it into the search box and it will appear.
Tell us about your group
Select how many people are traveling with you. You can also enter everyone's approximate age — this helps CruiseHand suggest age-appropriate activities and a smarter packing list.
Then tap any activity interests that sound like your group — Beach & Swimming, Historical Sites, Food & Dining, and more. These are all optional.
Choose your CruiseHand pass
When you tap "Build my cruise plan," you'll be asked to pick a pass. This is what unlocks your AI-built itinerary, the ask-anything chat assistant, parking & arrival tips, and personalized packing lists.
Pick Solo Pass ($4.99) if it's just you, or you and one other person sharing a device. Pick Group Pass ($9.99) if you want a shareable trip code so up to 4 travelers can each see the plan on their own phone and keep their own packing list.
Tap "Build my cruise plan"
After you confirm your setup and pick your pass, tap the big "Build my cruise plan" button. CruiseHand will look up your exact sailing, verify your itinerary ports, and ask you to confirm everything looks right.
Once you tap "That's my cruise → Build my plan," your personalized plan is created in seconds — your day-by-day itinerary, packing lists, and port guides are all ready to explore.
Using Your Plan
Once your plan is built, four tabs appear at the bottom of the screen. Here's what each one does.
See what's happening right now
The Today tab is your daily guide during the cruise. It automatically knows what day of your trip it is and shows you exactly what's going on:
- Today's weather at your port or at sea
- What port you're docked at — with a directions link and an offline map that keeps working with zero signal
- Activities planned for today, specific to your interests, plus a booked-excursion reminder with your meeting point if you've reserved one
- Local currency and tipping norms for that port
- A dock-to-all-aboard timeline so you know exactly how much time you have ashore
- A heads-up when tonight is a formal night
- A link to track your ship's live position
- Space to jot notes, add photos, and rate each day
- A quick trip-readiness checklist before you sail, and a rotating cruise tip every day
Explore your full day-by-day schedule
The Itinerary tab shows every day of your cruise — from the day you board to the day you return. Each port has suggested activities that match your interests, and sea days are flagged when they're a likely formal night.
Tap on any day to expand it and see your activity suggestions. You can tap on individual activities to mark them as ones you'd like to do.
Each port day also has a spot to log specialty dining reservations, track and mark excursions as booked with your confirmation number and meeting point, and see the local currency and tipping norms — everything rolls up into a running trip budget automatically.
You'll also find a Parking & Arrival card at the top with tips for parking at your home port and how to get there.
Pack smarter with your custom checklist
The Packing tab gives you a personalized checklist built for your specific cruise — the climate, ports, and your group's ages and interests are all taken into account.
As you pack each item, tap it to check it off. Checked items move to the bottom so you can always see what's left. The list is organized into easy sections like Clothing, Documents, Toiletries, and Beach Gear — use the small arrows next to each section to reorder categories however makes sense to you.
Each traveler can also request a fresh round of AI-tailored suggestions based on their age and interests (gender is optional and only used if you set it — leave it blank and CruiseHand keeps suggestions neutral).
Ask the AI Assistant
Got a question? Just ask. The CruiseHand assistant knows your exact cruise and can answer almost anything.
Tap the chat button for any question
You'll see a round teal chat button in the bottom-right corner of every screen. Tap it and type any question in plain English — as if you were asking a knowledgeable friend.
Some things you can ask:
- "What should I pack for the beach in Nassau?"
- "Do I need a visa to visit Grand Turk?"
- "What time do we need to be back on board?"
- "Is the ship's dining room open for breakfast today?"
- "What's the dress code for formal night?"
After each answer, CruiseHand suggests a couple of natural follow-up questions so you're never stuck staring at a blank box. See a tip worth keeping? Tap the ☆ next to any answer to save it to "My tips" — readable later even with no signal.
Share your plan with travel companions
Traveling with up to 3 other people? With a Group Pass, scroll down on the
Setup tab and tap "Create trip code" to get a short code like
K7XQ2M.
Tap Share invite to send a link straight through your phone's normal share sheet (text, email, whatever you use) — your companion just taps it and they're joined automatically. Or tap Copy code and have them enter it manually: they open CruiseHand, scroll to "Or join with a code," enter it, and tap Join — either way they'll have the same complete cruise plan — itinerary, packing list, and all.
Just want your own plan on a second device — not sharing with anyone else? Solo Pass already covers that. On the Trip tab, tap "Link my other device" to get a code, then open CruiseHand on your other phone or tablet, scroll to "Or join with a code," and enter it there. That code only works once — it links exactly one more device of your own, not travel companions (that's what Group Pass is for).
A Few Helpful Tips
Works offline at sea
CruiseHand caches your entire plan when you first set it up. Your itinerary and packing list work even without a cell signal — perfect for days at sea when ship Wi-Fi is pricey.
Add to your home screen
After you build your plan, CruiseHand will usually offer a one-tap "Add to Home Screen" prompt on Android/Chrome. On iPhone, tap the Share button in Safari, then tap "Add to Home Screen." Either way, it'll work just like an app after that.
Your data stays on your device
CruiseHand doesn't require an account. Everything is saved privately on your phone by default. If you turn on Group Sync to share a live plan with travel companions, only the trip itself syncs — tagged to an anonymous device ID, never your name or email.
Set up a new cruise next year
When your next voyage is booked, go back to Setup and tap "Clear all" to start fresh. Walk through the same setup steps and CruiseHand will build a brand-new plan.
No trackers, no ad scripts
CruiseHand doesn't run Google Analytics, ad trackers, or any script reporting your activity elsewhere. The only time any personal information is involved is at checkout, handled entirely by Stripe — we never see your card details.
Let CruiseHand plan your cruise
It only takes about two minutes to set up. Your personalized itinerary, packing list, and port guides will be waiting.
Set Up My Cruise Now