Cruise Ship Libraries
Most cruise ships these days have fairly extensive libraries stuffed full of books for those who enjoy a good read on their cruise.
photo courtesy Windstar Cruises
Tips and Advice About Your Cruise Ship Library
Some cruise ship libraries are bigger than others and carry a wide variety of novels (many in large print), reference books and magazines – something for every taste – in a very structured system where you need to sign for the books just as you would in your library back home.
In these cases you need to be aware that should you not return the library book in time, you will be charged for it. You also need to know that on some of the mega liners, the books have to be returned to the library sometimes before the last full day of the cruise. Not much fun if you haven’t planned for this and are ten pages away from knowing whether the butler did it or not.
Other cruise ships, typically the smaller ones and those in the luxury or boutique categories, operate their libraries on an “honor” system – but very often their libraries are not as extensive as those on the larger liners.
If you haven’t brought anything with you, and you want the pick of the library selection, make sure that one of your priorities on boarding the vessel is to visit the library and grab your pick.
Cruise etiquette advice is that you limit your haul to one or two books, bearing in mind that many passengers will hang on to the reading material for the entire vacation.
Just in case the rush for books is too frenetic, some passengers have suggested to Prow’s Edge that one should bring a couple of paperbacks with you, just in case you can’t find what you want. Paperbacks, rather than hardcovers, are easier to pack.
Many passengers in fact leave their own books behind for passengers on the next cruise, and most cruise ships feature a growing selection of these donated novels very often the latest best-sellers.
