What I learned on my first cruise!

I just got back from my first cruise, during which I learned that some of the advice I was given was great, and other advice I was given was not so great. I wanted to share this with you in case it may help! I will give what turned out to be bad advice, and then the good advice. (Note: I received this advice from forums, YouTube videos, and other random sources, Also note - what I say was good and bad advice was in my case and on my cruise line - please realize that it is possible your experience may differ!)

First, the BAD advice!:

1. "Bring 7 swimsuits!" (or some similar number...) I brought 2 tankinis, two bikinis, and one swim-friendly tank and shorts. Turned out - that was too many! I only wore one of the tankinis (always for pool and beach swimming), both bikinis, but only for spa treatments and under the tank and shorts, and the tank and shorts for one port excursion where I'd be going in water but wanted to feel "dressed" (horseback ride and swim.) NOTE: No one suggested I bring the tank and shorts swimwear but I was SO glad I had it on the excursion. I would not have been comfortable in port or in town in a regular swimsuit, and changing would have been a hassle. I probably would have been fine with one less tankini and one less bikini. Admittedly, however, we had cloudy weather so I probably used the pool less than I may otherwise have. But 7 swimsuits? No way! If your swimwear gets wet and you want to use it again, worst case scenario you could use the hair dryer in the cabin on it! As for men, my husband brought 2 and only used one.

2. "Pack heavy - it's hot down there and you're going to be soaking all your clothes with sweat!" Admittedly, I went to the Caribbean in March (maybe July is different...?) but this did NOT happen. In fact, I did not even wear three-quarters of the clothing I brought, yet struggling with my bags getting on and off the ship was a disaster. I'm going to pack much lighter next time. NOTE: I brought different scarves and necklaces to change up my outfits, and that turned out to be a good idea. I used all of them.

3. "Get to the port and 10:30 and you will miss the crowd and get to sit and read until you can get on the boat!" Not my experience! I got there at 10:30 and stood in a long line (busloads of people already there!), and waited 2 and a half hours just to get to security, Then I waited again to check in. I was so encumbered with bags standing and reading wasn't an option either. NOTE: I'm getting there at 9:00 next time!

4. "Bring binoculars, 3 highlighters... (and a variety of other miscellaneous things.)" I only used one of my highlighters, and did not use the binoculars. I forgot to wipe down my cabin with the antiseptic wipes, but I did not get sick. I did use a few things people suggested, which will be listed below under good advice. NOTE: I wished I had one tupperware container. When we had food delivered to the room we couldn't finish, the plates didn't fit in the fridge and ended up being thrown away. If we'd had a tupperware container, rectangular, it would have fit in the fridge and we would have been able to enjoy the rest of that delicious food. So, thanks advisors, for telling me to bring a bunch of things I didn't need but not mention one I really needed!

5. "Don't get the drink package unless you do the math and figure out you will be spending that much on drinks individually." Thankfully, I ignored this advice and purchased the all-inclusive package. I did NOT drink enough to cover the cost, but it was still well, well worth it for the convenience, and I would gladly do it again. Of course this only applies if the package is priced reasonably - I got mine on Princess for $52 but noticed it costs $80 on a Norwegian cruise I have coming up. I will not be spending $80 a day!

6. "Don't take an excursion through the cruise line, get one independently." I'm glad I ignored this too, because one of the 3 excursions I took arrived back at port very late, and if it weren't for the fact that I booked it through the cruise line I probably would have missed the boat. Not worth the risk!

7. "You're going to be waiting in long lines for anytime dining!" This was not my experience. It may happen on other cruise lines but on Princess this was not a problem for us. On one occasion they didn't have a table for two available, so a staff member walked us to the other dining room where they had one ready. We never had to share or wait more than a couple of minutes.

8. "Don't bring your passport on excursions." I'm glad I brought mine, because both ports I stopped at had places to stamp your passport. Unfortunately, one of them was closed. But I would have hated to have missed that opportunity because I left my passport on the boat!

Now for the GOOD ADVICE!:

1. "Bring magnetic clips and hooks." We loved this advice! We brought ours, they worked as described, and I was able to organize the ship newsletter, our excursion tickets, our lanyards and more conveniently on the wall! Love, love, loved this and will be bringing them every time!

2. "Bring towel clips for the chairs." Great advice, kept towels from blowing away!

3. "Bring a travel alarm clock." YES! We would have missed our excursions and not got off the ship when we were supposed to without it, not to mention that it helped us make our other appointments!

4. "Put a swimsuit in your carry on." People were right - almost no one was using the pools and jacuzzis on embarkation day. We opted not to because it was a bit cloudy and I was agitated from the long line at port, but it would have been a great time to use the pool.

5. "Bring lots of money!" I ended up wanting to buy much more than I expected to, both on the ship and during excursions. I wish I had more money and will bring more next time!

6. "Look for a shopping sale the last day!" This is true - there was one on our ship, and I wished I had some money left to take advantage!

7. "Pre-pay your tips, excursions, drink packages, and anything else you can in advance." I was so glad I did this. Eliminated so much stress not getting a big bill at the end of the cruise, and worrying about getting one throughout the cruise when I was trying to relax!

8. "Bring air freshener." Was really glad we had this in the stuffy bathroom!

9. "Stay overnight the night before in your port city." We did, and were glad we did. Eliminated any stress about missing the boat or getting there later than we wanted to, and made getting to port a more efficient process.

10. "Bring a non-surge protector power strip." We did, and wouldn't have had enough outlets without it. (Do not bring one with surge protection - it is a ship fire hazard and they will confiscate it.)

Some other things I learned on my first cruise:

1. No one tells you how exhausting it is. Every day I was completely wiped out pretty early at night. There is so much to do, and you get so much exercise on the boat!

2. Don't neglect to use sunscreen just because it's very cloudy. I got burned when all of a sudden the sun came up in full force during my excursion. I was in a lot of pain for the rest of the trip! Just put in on no matter what.

3. The photographs the cruise staff took were surprisingly good. I was very glad I got the photo package, even though I do not normally consider myself "photogenic."

4. DO NOT plan to park at port. Find a way to park at your hotel and take a shuttle or taxi. Port traffic is an absolute nightmare, and I'm glad I didn't have to endure it. Let someone else do the driving. Our hotel let us leave our car there for a fee (much less than port parking) after we checked out. And did I mention you pay about $15 a day for the privilege of going through the port parking hassle? Not worth it!

5. If you're driving to the port city, enjoy the road trip! We had amazing experiences in Miami, Savannah, and Jacksonville during our drive that our trip would not have been complete without!

6. You learn how to get to most places on the boat pretty quickly. By the second day I knew where a lot was. There were some places we wanted to go that we never found though. Just remember - some elevator banks do NOT go to all of the floors. If you can't reach the floor you are looking for, try a different set of elevators.

7. Picking up some Spanish before my trip was a good idea; I had fun speaking to the tour guides and others in their native language. They also seemed to appreciate my effort! (I used it in Cuban restaurants in Miami too!) I plan to become more proficient before my next trip!

8. Don't worry about lining up too early for your port excursions. I left my cabin half an hour early and was fine.

9. Don't expect the casino to be like land-based casinos. I'm a big casino aficionado - in fact this cruise was comped by an Atlantic City casino. But the shipboard casino was nothing like we were used to on land. It was very small, and disappointingly had only computerized poker and no Caribbean Stud tables. Of course, casinos on different ships may vary. But even though I'm a big casino-goer I didn't play at all on this cruise. (Also remember - they aren't regulated the way they are on land!)

10. If the cruise ship asks you when you want to disembark, don't assume that means that is the time they will assign you. We got stuck with a time slot 2 hours earlier than we asked for! Get up early enough to grab breakfast, or place the order card for the continental breakfast on board. It's going to be a long morning of waiting, lines, and frustration (not just on the ship, but during your security check and transfer.)

11. Customs was easy. I expected a slow, agonizing process, but we just handed the agent our declaration form (provided by the ship) and our passports and that was it! (If you are not a citizen or are attempting to bring back taxable or too much/illegal stuff your results may vary!)

12. Don't be surprised if you are very emotional having to leave the ship. I was, and I was so relieved I had a visit to Miami planned instead of having to go straight home. That would have been traumatic for me!

13. Cruising is awesome! One and you are hooked for life! (At least that was my experience!)

I hope this is helpful for new cruisers!

What particular hooks/magnets did you use? You said "bring lots of money"... what did you spend it on? Shopping? Amazing insight! Thanks for your time in sharing!

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Thank you for all your insight I am cruising tomorrow so today is my last minute packing etc

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Very thorough, thank you! Glad you had fun [emoji846]

First timers!

RCI LOS 05/14/17

Such a fun post!! Great info

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Great tips! Where did you sail to and on what ship?

Very interesting and helpful post. What exactly are towel clips?

I agree with most of your post - both the good advice and the bad - though as you acknowledge some is specific to that ship or that itinerary or even to your personal preferences.

I will disagree with you on one point - ships' tours.

I think most folk acknowledge that they're over-priced, they're often impersonal cattle-drives, and they're pretty inflexible.

Cruise lines do grossly over-play the "ship waits if your tour is back late" card.:rolleyes:

In decades of cruising I've never ever heard of anyone on a private tour missing their sailing. The tour operator's reputation would be in shreds.

Those going ashore independently, yes. I've seen plenty of pier runners, and there's more if you google YouTube pier runners" - funny or sad, depending whether schadenfreude is your thing. Most involve excess drinking, some involve confusion over timing, some didn't allow for potential delays, all involved a lack of simple common-sense

We usually go ashore independently, sometimes we take private tours, only very rarely do we prefer to take a ship's tour, and never have we been at risk of missing the sailing.

In the Caribbean the only ship's tours that we've done were Caracas from La Guairá (rough area & long distance), partial Panama Canal by boat (ship's tour was the only option), and Virgin Gorda from Tortola (if the public ferry stopped due to weather etc there's no Plan B to get back to Tortola).

We've occasionally taken ship's tours elsewhere in the world in similar circumstances, where sights were 2 or 3 hours from the port or local transportation unreliable.

On one of those occasions (Safaga to Luxor) our ship's tour was late back.

But it turned out that was a common occurrence with that tour - because the ship will wait there's no pressure on the driver, guide or whoever, so they can push their luck with timing. Had that been a private tour, they would not have pushed their luck.

So the question about ship's tour or private tour hinges not on how often ship's tours are late back, but how often private tours are late back.

And the answer may well be never.:)

Not in my experience, not in the experience of friends & fellow-cruisers, & I've never seen anything in Cruise Critic about it happening.

JB :)

PS Waterlegs. Towel clips are usually like big clothes-pegs. Use them to clip your towel to the lounger to avoid them being blown off by the wind etc. Cheap from places like Walmart.

Thank you! That was very helpful to me since I will be taking my first cruise in over 20 years in September :-):)

LOTS of excellent tips and thoughts here...you picked up a lot as a first timer. It would be great to know where you sailed and on what ship. You'd get lots of replies specific to your ship. (Also, you called it a "boat" many times...this is a minor faux pas.)

Your packing notes were funny. My wife and I have done 6 cruises now, of various lengths and in various climates. We still have not managed to avoid overpacking. I'm just as bad as she is. We keep saying we'll do better next time, but we always overthink things or assume things will happen that don't.

Arrival at the port: you had a crowded, slow experience. I'm finding it's a bit of a fine art as to when to arrive. VERY dependent, it would seem on the port itself, the specific ship and cruise line, and to some extent, what other ships are in port when you are. Galveston, for example, has terrible parking, too few traffic lanes and a clunky shuttle service. Civitavecchia, in Rome, on the other hand, presented us with a wait of about 2 minutes (although we arrived around 2pm), and in Seattle, we stood in line for less than a minute (at 10:30 am). Recently, in LA, for the relatively small Norwegian Jewel, we were in line for nearly 90 minutes, and it was late in the afternoon. In the future, I'd suggest using these boards for advice specific to terminals and cruise lines. Your plan to arrive at 9 might lead to you being swallowed up by departing passengers.

Welcome to cruising!

Good post, with lots of helpful hints for newbies.

I would say:

Clothes:Put out what you think you'll need to take. Come back to it tomorrow and discard at least half. Even then you've probably got too much.

Money: work out what you think you'll need. Come back to the calculation tomorrow and double it.

I think your comments about parking at the port are only valid for your specific port. We're sailing from Southampton UK and can park literally 2 minutes walk from the terminal.

Wonderful advice and perspectives from a first timer. Sounds like you had a great trip. Thank you for taking the time to write your review. It will help a lot of other people.

Roz

Back to answer questions! We sailed on the Crown Princess, Eastern Caribbean to Amber Cove and Grand Turk, 5 days out of Fort Lauderdale. I ordered the magnetic clips and hooks and towel clips online from Amazon. There are many to choose from; I got the Learning Resources Super Strong Magnetic Clips and Hooks, and O2COOL Boca Clips.

On the response about booking excursions through the cruise line. I understand that some people have had no problems with booking independent tours and I am happy to hear your experience has been positive. However, with my statistical track record of 3 total excursions and only 2 arriving back to the ship on time - those aren't good odds of making the ship in my own personal experience, so I'm not comfortable booking independently. If my excursion that was late had been independent I would have missed the ship. I'm not willing to take the risk of that happening even once. Everyone has their own comfort level with that risk though so just because we will not be booking independent that does not mean that our decision is for everyone, just the advice I would personally give based on my own experience. Our tour guide got a flat tire, and no matter how well-intentioned the tour company is on getting folks back in time emergencies do happen that are out of anyone's control! Of course, if I wanted to do something walking distance from port, that I would feel safe doing independently.

 

// However, with my statistical track record of 3 total excursions and only 2 arriving back to the ship on time - those aren't good odds of making the ship in my own personal experience, so I'm not comfortable booking independently. //

.

Hi,

An average of one out of three private excursions returning late would make anyone uncomfortable. ;)

But I did kinda hammer home the point that how often ship's tours are late back is irrelevant, and quite commonplace, because they know it doesn't matter since normally the ship will wait for them.

What matters is how often private tours are late back, because the ship probably won't wait.

And the "statistical track record" of many many thousands of private tours is that none that I'm aware of has ever returned too late.

Agreed that it's each to their own comfort level. :)

But when you have a few more cruises under your belt I think you'll change your view that not booking independent tours is " the advice I would personally give based on my own experience"

You will also find that there are some ports / circumstances where ship's tours are never back late, because sometimes the ship can't wait - even for a ship's tour - due to tides, availability of pilots, etc. If that happens it's the cruise line's responsibility to take care of hotels, transportation to catch-up & all the other costs - and that tour operator would probably lose the contract. So in those cases the ship's contracted operators are as diligent as the independent operators about returning in very good time. ;)

JB :)

Thanks so much. We are going on our first cruise in November. Good stuff here!

From my limited experience in cruise line excursions running late versus independent tours running late you can't compare the two! That is because the cruise line excursions are generally quite large groups that waste a lot of time whereas the independent tour would be a significantly smaller group (in our case our own group) which streamlined the time allowing us to accomplish a lot more in much less time. Just say in' [emoji6]

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Almost ALL experienced cruisers will tell you AVOID heavy packing. I can't imagine who gave you the advice on that or the number of swimsuits. We take two. One to wear while one dries. We take magnetic hooks for our lanyard (yep...we love 'em) and we can clip our notes under one. We take a zip lock baggie rather than a tupperware container. If we get something we want to put in the mini-fridge, you can put plate and all in a gallon-sized zip-lock. We also carry a few for any wet/damp items coming home in the luggage. They take up less room and serve multi-purposes for us. This was one of the best tips I ever got from CC, early on when we started cruising and it has worked for us for YEARS. We put our car keys, medicine and our money and credit cards in a zip lock in the safe. Avoids leaving something inside that dark safe when we are ready to head home. We use a zip-lock to put our shore excursion money and confirmation in for each day. Grab and go in the mornings without forgetting anything or having to search. We also put our toiletries into a zip-lock so it doesn't get busted in luggage handling and go a over our clothes. We usually book excursions with independent tour companies but ONLY those that are recommended on CC and TripAdviser with excellent records. Their reputation depends on them getting you back to the ship. We used independent tour companies all throughout our Med cruises in Europe and couldn't have been more pleased. I mix and match my clothes and it's just never created a problem to re-wear a pair of capris to dinner and pair them with two different tops. The only thing I pack plenty of is underwear. I trim down my shoes to three or four. I wear the biggest heaviest ones on the plane, a pair of sandals I can wear to dinner and can wear to walk around shopping at a port, and a pair of flip flops for beach, pool and ports.

Great post. I just read your other post and asked what did you pack. LOL.

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Great post. Upcoming is my 8th and there are still things I learn that are useful.

Regarding excursions, I have done both. The private ones are really great. But if you don't share with other people (and we don't) they are often much more expensive than the ships tour. Example: this time I am traveling with both my sisters, where normally it is one or the other. We are taking 2 private tours and the total cost works out to almost exactly what the ship's tour would cost for the 3 of us. However, on the British Isle cruise my one sis and I took a private tour and the cost was more than double the same ship's tour since we didn't get anyone to share. It was also more than double the fun and we got to see so much more. To me it was well worth the extra money. And for the record, our guide was super conscientious about the time. No way would she have let us be late.

Also, neither one of my sisters plan anything and sometimes I just like letting someone else do all the work. And sometimes I don't have any particular interest one way or another in a particular place. In those cases why not a ship's tour? I give them the list, let them pick and then we just get on the bus and relax. My favorite ship's excursions are the ones that include lunch. The proverbial 2 birds with one stone.

But my top 2 choices would be a private excursion or just walk into town, shop, checks things out, eat, shop. A ship's excursion would probably be 3rd, but still an option. Usually I plan a combination of all 3.

Almost ALL experienced cruisers will tell you AVOID heavy packing. I can't imagine who gave you the advice on that or the number of swimsuits. We take two. One to wear while one dries. We take magnetic hooks for our lanyard (yep...we love 'em) and we can clip our notes under one. We take a zip lock baggie rather than a tupperware container. If we get something we want to put in the mini-fridge, you can put plate and all in a gallon-sized zip-lock. We also carry a few for any wet/damp items coming home in the luggage. They take up less room and serve multi-purposes for us. This was one of the best tips I ever got from CC, early on when we started cruising and it has worked for us for YEARS. We put our car keys, medicine and our money and credit cards in a zip lock in the safe. Avoids leaving something inside that dark safe when we are ready to head home. We use a zip-lock to put our shore excursion money and confirmation in for each day. Grab and go in the mornings without forgetting anything or having to search. We also put our toiletries into a zip-lock so it doesn't get busted in luggage handling and go a over our clothes. We usually book excursions with independent tour companies but ONLY those that are recommended on CC and TripAdviser with excellent records. Their reputation depends on them getting you back to the ship. We used independent tour companies all throughout our Med cruises in Europe and couldn't have been more pleased. I mix and match my clothes and it's just never created a problem to re-wear a pair of capris to dinner and pair them with two different tops. The only thing I pack plenty of is underwear. I trim down my shoes to three or four. I wear the biggest heaviest ones on the plane, a pair of sandals I can wear to dinner and can wear to walk around shopping at a port, and a pair of flip flops for beach, pool and ports.

There is a frequent poster who constantly tells newbs that they will spend most of their time in swimwear (her exact words). I'm been on over 20 cruises and have never donned a swimsuit.

Roz

Great feedback and advice. Thank you.

Money to spend - do they accept credit cards in the ship?

There is a frequent poster who constantly tells newbs that they will spend most of their time in swimwear (her exact words). I'm been on over 20 cruises and have never donned a swimsuit.

 

Roz

I'm not that poster you are referring to (I just came back to the forums LOL), BUT I do spend a good portion of my day in swimwear. BUT, thats just my style. I think people need to be realistic about THEIR vacation style in general. I'm a light packer and I actually pick my outfit for each day out ahead of time and put them in ziplock bags. This avoids the "oh, I will POSSIBLY need this..." game which ends up in over packing. My typical packing style is exercise wear in the morning (which I can mix and match), a different swim suit and cover-up everyday (some women like shoes, I have an affinity for swimsuits), and casual night time /port wear depending on the day (I can mix and match black dress capris for instance). Since I swear the AC is on "Antarctica" I always carry a light cardigan as well. I wear sneakers to travel, I have beach/pool flip flops, 1 pair of heels for elegant night, and walking sandals.

I fit this all in a rolling carry-on luggage with room to spare for souvenirs. I use a small beach bag as my "pocketbook" and that holds my sunglasses, paperwork, wallet, passport, electronics etc.

For longer cruises I do like the shoe rack over the bathroom door (this is another example of do what works for you, my husband has a lot of skin issues so he has tons of RX creams, soaps etc. plus I have my toiletries so we like to get more comfortable for 7+ day cruises), and even with the Carnival HUB app, I like the old school highlighters (mainly because I get excited when the Fun Times comes every night). Other things I find useful is an insulated Contigo thermos, extra gallon sized zip lock bags (they can be used for wet items, packing liquor home, packing snacks etc.), roll up beach hat, small medicine kit (medicine is very expensive on the ship), extra sun screen, and travel sized Downy wrinkle release since I hate ironing. These items are all tiny and don't take up much room. I only pack what I actually use. Some like to pack tape, Bubba Kegs, jeans, etc. but I won't use these things. Ya gotta do what works for you.

My advice is to mix and match clothing when you can, be realistic about what YOU will wear (consider your port days, sea days etc., and make an actual plan instead of packing based off of "maybe"), bring cash, including small bills for tips and shopping in port, and don't forget your credit cards, paperwork, and ID. Review packing suggestions and be honest with yourself and your vacation style- everything else can be winged.

Happy Cruising!

One more thing, I am 50/50 on booking excursions with the cruiseline. Research is king here as I have had experience booking outside the cruise and spending literally half of what others who booked with the cruise did (Parasailing in Key West with Fury Sports- literally on the boat with fellow passengers who booked with Carnival for double the price). I have also experienced booking with the cruise actually being CHEAPER than booking by myself (Helmet diving in St. Thomas).

My advice is to do a little research to see which way you will come out on top. Consider transportation costs and most importantly safety. For "dangerous" or long excursions, such as cave tours or a 6 hour trek to the rain forest, you better believe I am booking with the ship, even if it is more money. For simple 2 hour town/historic tours I would most likely wing it so I could have a personalized tour and be on my own schedule.

Again, be smart, and do what works for you!

Great feedback and advice. Thank you.

Money to spend - do they accept credit cards in the ship?

You can link your ship card to your credit card. When you are checking in, you can give the credit card you want and all your on board purchases will be charged to this card (drinks, gift shops, duty free items). You use your ship card (called Sign and Sail card on Carnival, but other lines work the same) for everything- opening your door, getting back from port, leaving the ship, buying things on the ship.

People suggest bringing cash, especially small bills, for tips for room service and porters for the cruise, craft market/gift shop purchases in port, taxis etc. Don't come with only 20s and 50s.

If I'm going to a port for the first time, I'm more inclined to go with the ship tour. If I'm a repeat visitor and familiar with the area, I'll take more of a risk.