The best advice you ever got...

I think of it this way: If you know you want to go somewhere twice, don't try to do everything the first time.

You can't do everything the first time anyway, so don't try....I can only speak for myself....but if I tried to do 'everything' I would end up having a miserable time, and probably not enjoy it as much as I should have. Take a deep breath between activities....and port stops!

Gentlemen, always make time for bikini patrols. Don't touch, drool or stare over ten minutes. :)

OK, seriously. The port talks are usually good. Big sales pitch but can get useful information. Also at sea there are usually talks on, precious stones, watches, etc. again some sales pitch but good information....plus door prizes! ( yes, we have actually won things).

Wine tastings, whiskey tasting, etc we enjoy also. There is a fee of course but you are on vacation!

Moremajor: Although you are important, so are the other 1000 plus people on the boat.

Hear Hear! Don't leave consideration and good manners behind. Helps to make the community on board better than the world left behind.

Best advice: the dress code are only suggested guidelines. Wear whatever you want!

Always arrive a day early and ALWAYS make sure you have your documents needed to board we once took 6 people on a cruise with us and 2 of them forgot birth certificates/passports and could not board they attempted to get it faxed or emailed to the cruise company in time but unfortunately were left behind due to poor planning. :eek:

Say thank you. A hundred times a day.

Thank you for holding the elevator, for passing the salt, for a fresh napkin, for adding an extra duvet to the bed, for the crispy bacon. Thank you for a great show, for teaching me to Salsa, to laughing with me when we learn to Salsa together. Thank you for your help getting me checked in, for punching a hole in my card, and for pulling out that lovely piece of jewelry I can't afford.

My kids were raised with this mantra. Thank you 100 times, makes people want to help you. Say it with a smile, and get a smile back.

We say thank you on the comment cards, too. If you've ever worked in entertainment or service, you know how important they can be... especially when you're having a bad day.

Sync your watch with the ships clock

Email a copy of your DL and passport to yourself before you leave.

Join the roll call

Sync your watch with the ships clock.

You mean the clock in my cabin?

Don't try to do everything...on the ship and on shore. There is always "next time".

And never fly the day of the cruise. Why spend all of the time and money to take a chance on missing the ship. Take your time and enjoy your vacation.

Before going on my first cruise I used the P&O forum but noticed so many opinionated people on it saying what should be done and not done to suit them and them only.

Everyone has different likes and dislikes and was going to cancel until someone said to me 'do what you want to do not what anyone expects you to do'.

I went I had a fantastic time met lovely people who did not expect everybody to do the exact same as them.:D

Wash your hands, often and I can't say that enough.

Always fly in to port to board a day early, now days with full flight i think the advise should be 2 days and more if going to Europe.

Buy and book your own air, hotels. I now book my own air, hotels, ship and insurance, then I am in control of my booking.

Buy on board booking credits.

You mean the clock in my cabin?

Have never been in a ship cabin that had its own clock.

Never used this tip personally as travel as solo passenger but read it a few years back and thought it was good.

Couples should travel with a credit card in each of there names because if one of you was to be hospitalised in a foreign port with only one card the other person would not be able to use it.

Never used this tip personally as travel as solo passenger but read it a few years back and thought it was good.

 

Couples should travel with a credit card in each of there names because if one of you was to be hospitalised in a foreign port with only one card the other person would not be able to use it.

Good call never thought of that.

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Bring a night light for the bathroom.

Pack a travel alarm, generally cabin clocks are in cabins are part of the phone.

If you enjoy your cruise, purchase future cruise credits while on the ship...you get an onboard credit when you use them and they ca be used as a deposit on your next cruise.

If you really like cruising you may care to buy 100 shares of stock in the line as you get additional obc's on future cruises as a stockholders benefit.

For int'l travel, in general...

Learn to recognize coins in the local currency quickly, as well as your home currency.

When in a hurry or long lines, if you keep paying in paper because you can't count exact change quickly or you're too lazy to make the effort, you'll end up with a ton of coins over time, weighing you down. Plus, you won't feel like an idiot when the merchant has to tell you what coins to give them.

Been in Europe the past two weeks. That's been my experience, anyway.

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For int'l travel, in general...

 

Learn to recognize coins in the local currency quickly, as well as your home currency.

 

When in a hurry or long lines, if you keep paying in paper because you can't count exact change quickly or you're too lazy to make the effort, you'll end up with a ton of coins over time, weighing you down. Plus, you won't feel like an idiot when the merchant has to tell you what coins to give them.

 

Been in Europe the past two weeks. That's been my experience, anyway.

 

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Good advice I can remember being in Bergen Norway wanting to buy just 1 postcard and one stamp standing there with a hand full of coins thinking help yourself because I've not got a clue.:confused:

I learned so much here on CC before our first cruise: clear plastic shoe holder and magnetic hook; that you don't need to take expensive ship's tours; how to arrange tours with others on Roll Call; that you do not need to get your own visa for a day stop in Egypt in spite of that the travel agent and ship company tried to tell us and our friends.

I'm a very dedicated employee and was stressing over being away from work for 16 days for my Med cruise a few years ago. My absence necessitated others filling in for me as I'm the one who does the managing for my dept. There were several meetings to figure out the logistics and while my boss was extremely supportive, I felt major guilt.

I posted my concerns on CC and the responses really put things into perspective.

As one poster pointed out, what if I died? They would have to deal with it. Life goes on.

Then I remembered all the times co-workers had family emergencies and I stepped it up for them with no resentment.

I needed and deserved that vacation and will never again feel guilty.

In fact, I'm going back next year. They have plenty of time to figure things out. 😃

Best advice: the dress code are only suggested guidelines. Wear whatever you want!

Yeah. The heck with the thousands of other people on vacation who are following the suggested guidelines.

Our best advice a number of years ago was from a couple who had a long cruising history.

Their advice was to be flexible and whenever possible book inside the final payment window. We have followed this advice and it has saved us thousands of dollars and taken us to a few places that we did not expect.

Always fly in a day ahead, take the first flight of the day and the most direct route, i.e., non stop if possible. Book the cabin you want vs hoping for an upgrade.

There is some great advice here. One of the things I picked up a long time ago was the concept of cross-packing. Put some of each other's clothes, shoes, etc. into each suitcase. If any of your luggage is delayed, at least you will have something to wear.

My DH is an ex offensive lineman, so he can't just walk into any store and find clothes. I also had a dear friend who was on a Med cruise in January and she could not find a swimsuit in any of the ports, so she missed out on the spa/hot tubs. The swimwear on the ship was made for slender 20-somethings!

You don’t always have to be doing something. You don’t need to get off at every port and to be going to onboard ship activities all the time.

I enjoy sitting on our balcony, staring out at the beautiful, blue sea.

It’s your vacation, so sit back and relax!

Happy cruising!

I'm not sure this applies to all cruise lines but on Princess I was always getting confused on which way to turn getting off the elevators to go back to my cabin. Someone told me to look at the carpet. On one side the border was red and on the other side the border was blue. I never had any issues after that and have shared that tip with many people that I've seen walk from one side of the elevator lobby to the other.

That happened during my Princess cruise. I never would have known carpets on the port side are blue if somebody had not pointed it out.

During my HAL cruise I will try to see if the Volendam is like that too.