First Cruise Advise

I'm going to take my Daughter on a cruise this June as a graduation gift.

It will be our first. Probably 3-4 night.

I'd love some advice or any info anyone has to offer on do's and don'ts.

Thanks

Davans said:

I'm going to take my Daughter on a cruise this June as a graduation gift.

It will be our first. Probably 3-4 night.

I'd love some advice or any info anyone has to offer on do's and don'ts.

Thanks

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some good information in these threads here.

http://forum.gon.com/showthread.php?t=220843&highlight=carnival+holiday

http://forum.gon.com/showthread.php?t=341497&highlight=cruise

Also check out cruisecritic.com for LOTS of information and reviews on every cruise ship in the industry.



good luck and Bon Voyage! I went on my first cruise last year in June and LOVED it!

Dont do Carnival.... unless it's Party Time...
Dont do Holland America unless you are over 50
Been on others food is great on Holland America.
We've cruised over 20 ships and enjoyed all with the exception of spring breaks on Carnival.

Shore excursians can be very pricey. As well as the shopping with ladies

But all in all the best bang for your bucks in travel IMHO

Splurge a little and upgrade your room to a suite with a balcony....it's worth it!

Find the pizza bar during the day on the first day, and then practice finding your way back to your room until it becomes second nature. You will appreciate this come 3 AM.

DON'T DO THE BOAT EXCURSIONS unless you like to be herded around like cattle. Get off the boat and go do your own thing.

Go to the formal dinners....they're fun, you get to meet some interesting folks, and they're something to look forward to during the day.

The first thing is to go with a "this is an adventure and I am going to have fun" attitude to start with. Those that go with a "I plan to be waited on hand and foot" and "I am going to get bent out of shape on everything that goes wrong" attitude never have a good time.

The below are Carnival Cruise reviews, but what they tell you is germane for any cruise. Read a dozen or so from several different ships to get a good idea. Also check out some of the links on that page and they offer good advise.

http://www.cruisemates.com/articles/memreviews/carnival/index.cfm

Davans said:

I'm going to take my Daughter on a cruise this June as a graduation gift.

It will be our first. Probably 3-4 night.

I'd love some advice or any info anyone has to offer on do's and don'ts.

Thanks

Click to expand...

I will start this off by saying I have been on 5 cruises (3) 7 night and (2) 3-4 night cruises. If your daughter is 18 I would recomend you asking her to invite one of her girlfriends to go with her if you take a longer cruise. So she has somebody to hangout with later at night and by the pool. This will also give you and your wife some alone time together. One more thing you can drink on a cruise if your 18 only if you sign a consent form for your daughter. At check in the will make a note of it on your daughters room key. The room key on most ships is like a credit card you charge your drinks or gifts on it and also opens your cabin.

3-4 Night cruises
They usually have a younger crowd more of a party for that fact. Nothing wrong with a shorter cruise I prefer them over the week long at about day 5-6 I'm ready to get off the ship. Food is the same on both Carnival and Royal Caribbean. Rooms are about the same these are the older ships of each cruise lines fleet they are well taken care of and clean they just don't have all of the extras the newer ships have. The ports are going to be the same for the most part. Carnival will be cheaper that RC.

7 Night Cruise.
They have older crowd but still some younger people that go to the casino and dance club. Ships are a lot bigger. Been on Royal Caribbean Voyager class ships 3 times these ships are huge 138,000 tons and and have all of the new and latest additions like ice rink, two different pools one for adults only. The rooms/bathrooms are more modern. If you go on a 7 night cruise I would only go to the Eastern Caribbean islands like Bahamas, USVI St. Thomas and St. Martin. These islands are what you expect when going to the caribbean. The Western caribbean cruise go to Grand Caymen, Jamaica and Cozmel. They are fine expect for Jamaica (dump) but if I had the choose Eastern everytime.

Tips on saving money.

Drive down the day before and get a hotel in the area. Depending on which port you cruise from. From Atlanta I would either sail from Tampa or Port Canaveral. Call ahead to get a room for the night before. Make sure you are able to leave your vehicle at the hotel at no charge and take a shuttle to the port from the hotel this will save you about $12.00 a day so if you go on a week long cruise you can look at like getting your hotel room free. Another thing is you can bring your own drinks on the ships packed in luggage. Couple bottles of wine or liquor. DO NOT BOOK any excursions through the ship. You can save a lot of money getting off the ship and doing the same thing without the price. If you are a drinker buy your alcohol at one of the ports of call. Ask around and you will find some really good prices at some of the liquor stores off the beaten path and not at the stores around the port. I think its 3 bottles per person max. When you get back on the ship they will take your bottles and store them till the last day. Then you take them off the ship with you.

Cruise are as much fun as you make for the most part everyone on the ship is very friendly. And like to meet new people. Me and my wife are still in contact with a couple from Tenn that we met on a cruise 5 years ago.


If you have any other questions post them or PM me I'll be glad to answer. Jason 4445 posted the cruisemate website it very good another one is http://www.cruisecritic.com/
a lot of good information and reviews of ships on this one. You can even look at reviews of ports of call.

Thanks for the info. I'll check out the 2 websites.

I was told that the Royal Caribbean was nicer than Carnival????

I think we will stay with 4-5 nights.

Davans said:

Thanks for the info. I'll check out the 2 websites.

I was told that the Royal Caribbean was nicer than Carnival????

I think we will stay with 4-5 nights.

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Nicer? As far as what? The ships?

Both Carnival and RC have ships anywhere from 20+ years old to only a few years old. The decor on RC is more "pleasant" from what Ive read but I didnt cruise to be a decor critic

I sailed on Carnivals oldest and smallest boat and had a blast.

One thing to remember about NOT booking excursions WITH the cruiseline is that if you book one with someone else and something happens and you are late getting back to the boat, they will NOT wait on you

I agree with Jason about the attitude going in.

Lots of good information in this thread

Ok, got another question.

Do you guys actually take a suit/jacket/tie/shoes for the formal dinners?
( man I'm thinking shorts/tees and flip flops....and a pair of tennis shoes for off boat stuff )

How much does a beer or a mixed drink cost on a cruise ship?

Davans said:

Ok, got another question.

Do you guys actually take a suit/jacket/tie/shoes for the formal dinners?
( man I'm thinking shorts/tees and flip flops....and a pair of tennis shoes for off boat stuff )

How much does a beer or a mixed drink cost on a cruise ship?

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As far as formal dinners go you can dress up as much as you want some people wear tuxedos or suits. But you can also wear a dress shirt and slacks with no jacket. Its up to you. Whatever you feel compterable in your on vacation.

On the other dinner nights blue jeans or shorts are fine. You don't even have to go the dining room to eat. You can order room service or go to the buffet. They will be serving pretty much the same menu thats in the dining room.

The drinks on the ship are kinda high they add 15% gratuity onto every drink so the last cruise I went on was Feb 2008 american beer (Bud, Bud light) I think they were a little over $5.00 a beer for 16 o.z. bottles. Mixed drinks are from $5.00-7.00. Each day the ship will have the drink of the day where you get to keep the glass and cheaper price refills.

Davans said:

Ok, got another question.

Do you guys actually take a suit/jacket/tie/shoes for the formal dinners?
( man I'm thinking shorts/tees and flip flops....and a pair of tennis shoes for off boat stuff )

How much does a beer or a mixed drink cost on a cruise ship?

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I rented a tux from Carnival and had it waiting on me at the Formalities shop on board.

It was like 75 bucks and no worries of packing extra stuff I was only going to use one time.

You can drink mixed drinks on board for the price of a beer just about.

Davans said:

Ok, got another question.

Do you guys actually take a suit/jacket/tie/shoes for the formal dinners?
( man I'm thinking shorts/tees and flip flops....and a pair of tennis shoes for off boat stuff )

How much does a beer or a mixed drink cost on a cruise ship?

Click to expand...

If you a liquor drinker here is what you do. For Clear liquors get you a six pack of water and empty it out then refill the waters with the clear liquor of your choice. Have it in a plastic grocery bag and carry it on board with you. For Darker liquors find a soda/bottled tea that matches the color of your liquor and do the same. I have not tried it with darker liquors but with the clear it works or atleast it did for our group.

JD said:

If you a liquor drinker here is what you do. For Clear liquors get you a six pack of water and empty it out then refill the waters with the clear liquor of your choice. Have it in a plastic grocery bag and carry it on board with you. For Darker liquors find a soda/bottled tea that matches the color of your liquor and do the same. I have not tried it with darker liquors but with the clear it works or atleast it did for our group.

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good idea......if he is sailing with Carnival though as long as he puts the bottle in his checked luggage (NOT carry on!) it will sail right on through with no problems.

heard many a story where they confiscated it if its in your carry on luggage but none where they did if it was in the checked baggage.

of course I would buy plastic instead of glass as to not worry about tainting all my clothes with liquor if the bottle breaks

JD said:

If you a liquor drinker here is what you do. For Clear liquors get you a six pack of water and empty it out then refill the waters with the clear liquor of your choice. Have it in a plastic grocery bag and carry it on board with you. For Darker liquors find a soda/bottled tea that matches the color of your liquor and do the same. I have not tried it with darker liquors but with the clear it works or atleast it did for our group.

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Listerine bottle works great, too. Wouldn't know from experience, just saying.

ryano said:

good idea......if he is sailing with Carnival though as long as he puts the bottle in his checked luggage (NOT carry on!) it will sail right on through with no problems.

heard many a story where they confiscated it if its in your carry on luggage but none where they did if it was in the checked baggage.

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Went on a cruise last year with NCL. They were more concerned with people bringing alcohol on board than weapons. There were magnetometers but they were manned by little old ladies:

I brought a case of water bottles in as a "carry-on" was not asked about it at all. One other in our party had two 1 liter bottles of water in her checked luggage and her suitcase was confiscated and she had to go to the "naughty room" to open the suitcase in front of ship's security to ensure that the water was water. I think that as far as the ship was concerned you could have had a kilo of coke and they would not care, bring a bottle of liquor and look out

mikeh25 said:

Went on a cruise last year with NCL. They were more concerned with people bringing alcohol on board than weapons. There were magnetometers but they were manned by little old ladies:

I brought a case of water bottles in as a "carry-on" was not asked about it at all. One other in our party had two 1 liter bottles of water in her checked luggage and her suitcase was confiscated and she had to go to the "naughty room" to open the suitcase in front of ship's security to ensure that the water was water. I think that as far as the ship was concerned you could have had a kilo of coke and they would not care, bring a bottle of liquor and look out

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Yep i would keep my "Water Bottles" in my carry on. Also i would not use 1 liter bottles. Just use the listerine trick or use 20 oz. water bottles.

Also the cruise i went on we were allowed to bring 1 bottle of wine or champagne per person. That was with Carnival.

I am the type of person that when i go on a cruise or vacation half the trip I play by ear. Its all about getting away from the phone and work. Relax if you want on the deck or u can gamble if that is your thing.

You are gonna eat, eat, drink, eat, eat, drink some more and then eat. The food will be excellent, i guarantee it.

Davans said:

I was told that the Royal Caribbean was nicer than Carnival????

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Unless you are use to staying at the nicer Hiltons, Marriots, or other fine hotels you want notice the difference. Even the older boats that Carnival has are good enough and you will enjoy them. Even my wife liked the old Carnival ship we were on three years ago and her idea of camping out and roughing it is the Hilton @ Time Square. Check out the boats before you book the trip and read the reviews on the boats that will tell you how up to date they are and what they have to offer. Some boats will actually be being remodeled as they sail.

when were trying to decide on our trip we looked on youtube and there were lots of video reviews of the boats. it sure helped alot. also the best thing to do is when your room servant shows up just give him a $20 to start with and he'll be waiting on you hand and foot the rest of the time

leadoff said:

Splurge a little and upgrade your room to a suite with a balcony....it's worth it!

Find the pizza bar during the day on the first day, and then practice finding your way back to your room until it becomes second nature. You will appreciate this come 3 AM.

DON'T DO THE BOAT EXCURSIONS unless you like to be herded around like cattle. Get off the boat and go do your own thing.

Go to the formal dinners....they're fun, you get to meet some interesting folks, and they're something to look forward to during the day.

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X2 on the balcony and formal dinners.

This July will be my 7th cruise with Carnival. Ive always had a great time and ive sailed from March to July this year.

I splurged for the balcony room last year and am doing so this year. Nice to just sit out and relax at night before bed.

The excursions can be pricey but they are the approved vendors for the ship lines. They make sure all the grounds are covered before they will offer something in their name. Trust me.

Spring break on Carnival was awesome - Just had to toss that in there

I know on Carnival the Pizza/Ice Cream bars are open 24/7. Comes in REAL handy as said above.

Check with your cruise line on dress codes for the dinners. Most are different. Normally on Formal night...suite and tie is all that is required. Not a tux.

Get a coke or soda card. This cost about 35-40$ but gives you unlimited cokes, or those type drinks. you can only take 2 at a time but you can keep coming back.

With Alcohol, i plan on giving myself a $100/day cushion. Not that i have always spent that much but it makes the bill that much easier to swallow. Ive spent $700 myself alone on a 5day cruise or as little as 1100 on a 7day with my wife. (the 700 was with 3 buddies and me doing some partying )

Check your TV in your room. Most ships (at least Carnival) allow you to look at all your charges live and up to date with a total. So if your going overboard you can cut back some before its too late.

Royal Carribean is nicer (according to a friend) but ive never felt out of place or anything on Carnival personally. RC is definitely more expensive than Carnival. Much more usually.

if you have any other questions (if you havent left already) just shoot me a PM....