By Sarah Phillips

Who knew Facebook was really a place for Cruisers to gather? Who knew it could be so much more than stalking status updates?

Photo Sharing. Facebook remains one of the best overall social media sites for photo sharing. While there are sites out there devoted to photos, Facebook’s album options really give you the chance to show off your entire vacation to your family and friends. It lets you share photos with your fellow cruisers too by simply tagging them. I know I often enjoy and going back to look at my Cruise album photos on Facebook.

Keeping in Touch. Every single time I’ve sailed, I’ve made new friends. And some of them, I’ve not only kept in touch with, I’ve sailed with them again. One of the first things I do when I get home from a cruise (and back to my wi-fi access) is to add my new cruise friends on Facebook. Then I can check out their pictures from the trip and keep up with them on land too. Princess Cruises is even featuring an ongoing blog about the connections we make at sea (https://linkedbythesea.com/) – so using Facebook as a way to stay in touch with these new friends is one of the reasons I love it so much.

Group Shore Excursions.  When you’re booking private excursions, you can usually get an even cheaper rate if you have more people. But if you’re not sailing with a big party, how can you do this? Facebook of course. Join or start a Facebook group for your specific sailing or post on the Cruise Line’s or a Cruise forum’s Facebook page to see if other passengers are interested in joining you. Our group ended up meeting a great couple on a sailing a few years ago because we did something similar to this – and we’re still friends.

Answer Questions. Got cruise questions? Put them out there on Facebook. It’s pretty likely one of your friends will know the answer. Or know someone who does. I get tagged pretty often in statuses to answer cruise questions for friends of friends. You can also ask questions on different pages; for example directly on the Cruise Line pages or our page, Cruise Radio. Lots of other cruise fans will help you out and probably give you some extra advice too.

Private Groups. Start your own party on Facebook for your cruise. You can start one for an upcoming cruise or one for a cruise in the past. Maybe you want to connect with the other people who will be sailing with you or perhaps, stay in touch with those you’ve already sailed with. Either way, private groups are a great way to connect and have different settings – check out Facebook for more details and options: https://www.facebook.com/about/groups

How do you use Facebook to connect for your cruises? Make sure you like us on Facebook – we want to hear all about your cruises and help you out with any questions you might have too.