12 Common Cruise Terms For Newbies

12 Common Cruise Terms For Newbies

For your first cruise, you might want to brush up on the lingo. It isnt necessary but sometimes it just makes you feel a little better when you know what everyone is talking about aboard the ship. From aft to windward, weve got you covered.

1. Bow This term refers to the very front of a ship. Think of the famous Titanic scene where Leonardo DiCaprio shouts, Im the king of the world!
2. Stern This is the back of the boat or ship.
3. Aft Heres where it can get confusing. Aft means towards the back or towards the stern. So, the stern is the place (noun) and aft is a description or a direction. The sailor is at the stern. The sailor was told to stow the luggage aft.
4. Gangway This is the bridge that passengers walk on to get onto the ship when they first arrive. In the movies, pirates were often depicted as having a shorter version and demanding people walk the gangplank.
5. Bridge Why didnt they just call the gangway a bridge, you ask? Simple. The bridge is the name for the captains area. Its the place where he and his crew take care of all the navigational aspects of the cruise ship.

   

   For your first cruise, you might want to brush up on the lingo.
   CC image courtesy of Number Six (bill lapp)

   His (or her) cockpit, if you will.

6. Embark/Disembark Chances are you will get on and off the ship many times throughout the duration of your cruise. The proper terminology is to embark (get on) or to disembark (to get off).
7. Fluke Usually a fluke is known as chance happening or something good that happens by accident. On a cruise ship, however, a fluke means something much different; it is the point of an anchor that catches the ground when the anchor is deployed, particularly the pointy tips on each arm.
8. Port This means the left side of the ship as you face forward (towards the bow see #1). It also can be a stop along the cruise as in, We docked at the port in Mexico.
9. Starboard The opposite of port, this means the right side of the ship as you face forward.
10. Leeward Heres where it gets confusing to land-lubbers again. Leeward is the side of the ship that is facing away from the wind. It could be port or starboard.
11. Windward Take a guess Thats right. Windward means the side of the ship where the wind is blowing.
12. Knots This is not referring to the knots on a rope but rather the speed at which your cruise ship is traveling. The proper mathematical definition is how many nautical miles a ship can travel in an hour. A nautical mile is just over 6,000 feet or 1,800 meters. If you dont want to remember all that just remember not to ask the captain about mph over dinner.

Study this list. Learn the lingo. If you do your homework, you wont feel like such a newbie. In fact, you might be able to teach a seasoned cruiser a thing or two.

About Mel Henderson

I love to travel with my family. One of my goals is to travel to Nepal. I like hiking, bike riding and writing about my adventures.

• More Posts (3)