Tips

• Countries can require a passport that does not expire within 6 months of your travel dates (or more or less)

Private Island Questions

• does the drink package work on private island?
• on island, are towels provided?

Other notes

• “park and cruise” ask hotels. https://allcruisehotels.com/blog/miami-hotels-cruise-parking/
• vacuum bags for luggage (or maybe compression bags)
• GoogleFi - Reddit
• Save screenshot of you cabin door, in case you lose your phone.

Pre-Departure & Setup Tips

• Turn off "Cellular Data Switching" immediately: On dual-SIM phones (iPhone and Android), make sure the setting that allows the phone to automatically switch data lines based on connection quality is disabled. If this stays on and your travel eSIM drops signal for even 30 seconds, your phone will fall back to your primary home carrier—instantly triggering an unexpected $10–$15 daily roaming fee.
• Understand the "Counter-Intuitive" Roaming Rule:
  • Home SIM: Data Roaming = OFF.
  • Travel eSIM: Data Roaming = ON.
  Many travelers disable roaming on both lines out of caution and then wonder why their eSIM shows full signal bars but has no internet. Travel eSIMs partner with foreign local networks, so your phone treats that traffic as roaming.
• Save a physical or secondary screenshot of your QR code: You cannot easily scan a QR code displayed on the screen of the very phone you are holding. Email the QR code to a travel partner, load it on a tablet/laptop, or copy the manual SM-DP+ address and activation string into your notes app before leaving.
• Label your lines clearly: Rename your lines in settings from generic tags like "Secondary" or "Business" to "Home Carrier" and "Europe eSIM" (or the destination name). It removes confusion when adjusting settings half-asleep after a red-eye flight.

Port & Cruise Travel Tips

• Treat shore days and sea days completely differently: A regional eSIM (such as a Caribbean, Alaska, or Mediterranean bundle) is ideal for cruisers because it automatically latches onto local towers the second your ship docks. You get full, fast connectivity for island exploration without paying $25–$35/day for onboard Wi-Fi.
• Turn on Airplane Mode as soon as the ship unties: Cellular towers on land fade out about 10–12 nautical miles out. Once you reach open water, any phone trying to search for a signal risks connecting to maritime satellite cells ("Cellular at Sea" or "Wireless Maritime Services"), which carry exorbitant roaming rates. Put your phone in Airplane Mode before the muster drill and sail-away.

Data Conservation & Battery Tips

• Disable Low Data Mode restrictions for maps only: Download Google Maps or Apple Maps offline areas for your destination cities over home Wi-Fi before departure. Offline GPS navigation uses zero cellular data and prevents battery drain from constant map re-rendering.
• Kill background app refresh and automatic cloud uploads: Travelers often burn through 2 GB in a single afternoon simply because their phone automatically starts backing up 4K vacation videos to iCloud or Google Photos. Set cloud photo backups to Wi-Fi Only.
• Be cautious with "Unlimited" fine print: Virtually all "unlimited" travel plans are subject to Fair Usage Policies (FUP). After 1.5 GB to 3 GB of daily usage, speeds are usually throttled to 2G/3G speeds (128–512 kbps), which is barely fast enough to load a map. If you need reliable high-speed data for work, buy a large fixed-data bundle (e.g., 20 GB or 50 GB) rather than a nominally "unlimited" plan.

2-Minute Airport Troubleshooting Checklist

Add this troubleshooting box to your guide as a quick reference for readers when they first land: