Traditionally, a promenade deck on a cruise ship is an outdoor walkway that circles the ship, usually on a center deck. It serves as the lifeboat boarding area in an emergency. (The boats typically hang suspended overhead.)

The professional and nautical term for the walkway used to board or exit a cruise ship is the gangway. In modern cruise terminals, the gangway often resembles an airport "jet bridge" or "skybridge"—an enclosed, climate-controlled elevated tunnel that connects the terminal building directly to one of the ship's upper decks (usually Deck 4, 5, or 6). At smaller ports or when the ship is at anchor, the gangway might be a retractable metal ramp located on a lower deck closer to the waterline. This ramp connects the ship to the pier or to a tender boat (a smaller vessel used to shuttle passengers to shore). You may also hear sailors or staff refer to it as the "ship's brow" or, more informally, a "gangplank," though the latter is rarely used in a commercial context today. The gangway area is the high-security "front door" of the ship, where your cruise card is scanned for security and where "wash your hands" stations are mandatory before re-boarding to ensure the health and safety of the vessel.