TNcruising02

I always log in to my account on the cruise ship's website and print my luggage tags. Then fold them and cover them with clear packing tape. I attach them to my suitcases with more clear packing tape when I am ready to take them to the cruise ship. This secures them and makes them water proof.

It's definitely subjective, but these are my opinions of the different cruise lines that I have tried:

Disney -

Pros - Loved it. I think it's the best ship for families with young children. Even my then 17 yr old had fun. The food was very good. The jogging track went all of the way around the ship and it was on a lower deck, so there was shade. The entertainment was very good. They had self-service laundry. No reservations necessary for entertainment.

Cons - There was no buffet at dinner time, so if you did not want to eat at a sit-down restaurant, you had limited choices. Kids are everywhere, which is fine for families with kids. It's expensive.

NCL -

Pros- The main show was the best one I have ever seen on a cruise ship. The other entertainment was very good. It was the best overall entertainment I have experienced. on a cruise ship. I also think it was the best food. I loved the dance parties on the top deck. They were so much fun. I also really liked the elevated obstacle coarse and the adult grotto area.

Cons - We found out after we got on the ship that many things required reservations. I really don't like planning ahead for entertainment, but I had no choice. The comedy was not offered every night and it was in a very small room.

RCL - I've been on RCL once, but can't recall much of it. I will be on Liberty of the Seas in a week, so it will be nice to experience RCL again. I remember there was no coin laundry. The food was better than Carnival, but not as good as NCL. The comedy was on par with NCL, but not early as good as Carnival.

Carnival -

Pros - I like the Faster to the Fun option and coin laundry. (We like to pack light and do a load of clothes mid-cruise). That's not an option on RCL or NCL. The comedy shows are the absolute best of all of the cruise lines I have tried. Their comedians do a lot of different shows, so I was able to watch several shows almost every night. One night, my husband and I watched four different shows. We love having a drink and watching comedy shows, so this was a huge pro for us.

Cons - The other entertainment is the worst of the cruise lines I have been on. The food is the worst too, but I have never eaten at their specialty restaurants. They might have very good food there.

We try to snag the FTTF passes every time we book with Carnival. I've been able to get it three out of four cruises. If you like skipping lines and saving time, then it's worth the money. If you don't mind waiting in long lines and would rather save the money, then it's probably not worth it. I would rather pay to skip long lines and get where I'm going quicker. Two other advantages are that you can go directly to your room as soon as you board the ship and put away your carry-on baggage and also leave the ship earlier if you want to walk off of the ship with your luggage. That is helpful if you have a very early flight out.

I've cruised Disney, RCL, NCL, and Carnival and have always been able to find quiet places on all of those cruise lines. There are usually seats and lounge chairs on the outside lower decks where it is very quiet. That's a great area to get away from the crowds and enjoy the ocean views. It is very relaxing and calming in these areas.

For shows, you guys may be more comfortable sitting in a row close to the door so that you can exit quickly at the end of the show or at any time if he starts to feel uncomfortable.

I think a balcony is a great choice because that is very private. There is also the option of room service or bringing plates from the buffet back to the room if some quiet meal time is needed. There are many options to get away from the masses.

When getting off of the ship at ports, if you wait until the mad rush in the morning exits, you can just walk off of the ship with barely a line.

Leaving in 14 days on Liberty of the Seas out of Galveston.:)

I have been on seven cruises and will be on my 8th in 14 days. I've cruised on Disney, Carnival, RCL, and NCL.

They usually make an announcement, but you will also know when they open the doors to the hallways were the rooms are located.

OP here- OK, OK...I chickened out! Coming in the day before! Only reason I'\d look at coming same-day would be to save a few bucks on hotel, etc.

So.... now that the majority of you have convinced me NOT to.... I'm hoping you'll all take up a little collection...to offset my extra expenses....:)

(BTW...if I told you where my ORIGINATING 5am flight was from, to get TO Toronto to connect...you'd say I was totally nuts to try it!) :)

I think you made a great decision. Now you can fly in and enjoy a night at a hotel as an extra vacation day. You can get a good night's sleep and wake up relaxed and ready to head to the port as early as you want to. I like to arrive at the port around 10:30 so I can get an early boarding number. I always look at the hotel stay the night before our cruise as an extra vacation day and have fun with it. I look forward to my cruises so much that it would be a huge deal if the ship sailed without me. I want to spend as much time as possible sailing.

 

Stuff can happen. Best to be safe than sorry. And to advise others to do the same. Nothing to fear but naivety, IMHO.

Note to self: "Do not accept advice from gottaluvcruises12" ;)

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I completely agree with you. My son had his flight cancelled the day before he was to fly to Houston to catch another flight out of the country. They couldn't put him on another flight that would get there in time to catch his connection, so my husband had to drive 9 hours in the middle of the night to get him there. That incident alone is why I will never fly in the day of a cruise.

My family has had to spend the night in a city when our first flight was too late to make the connection. The flight landed on time, but sat on the tarmac for an hour and caused us to miss our next flight. Another time we were delayed 8 1/2 hours on a connection and rerouted in the opposite direction. Several other times we missed connecting flights because of delays. There is just no way I will ever risk it. Flight delays happen all of the time. I've had my luggage arrive later than my arrival flight twice.

I received an email warning about the Zika virus on Belize from a cruise line for one of my previous cruises. I began limiting my excursions to ones in which I would not be in places where it would be highly likely that I would get bitten. I read reviews and chose to skip the ones where people complained of bug bites.

I think many areas are treated for mosquitoes, so the odds of getting bitten in those areas are very low. I have never been bitten by a mosquito while on an excursion. I did get bit by something once on the ship. I use bug spray when getting off at each port. If I was pregnant, you couldn't pay me to take the risk of getting off of the ship at a port where the Zika virus is prevalent. It is not worth it. Also, I read that if a man gets infected, he may experience no symptoms but can pass it on sexually.

i agree to use carry-on only baggage and have private transportation waiting. I would also try to fly stand-by on an earlier flight.

I cruised out of Miami and had a flight leaving at noon. I walked off of the ship with my luggage and arrived at the airport before 9:00 am and saw another family from the same cruise make a 9:30 am flight to my city.

When I have cruised on Carnival, they checked my boarding pass for the earliest check-in time. Since your check-in time is 11:00 am, they will let you in any time after 11:00. You will go through security and stand in line to get checked in. Once you are checked in, you will go to a waiting area until your boarding number is called. The only time that matters on your boarding pass is the 11:00 am time.

I signed up for TSA pre-check and don't even have to take my laptop out of the bag. I can leave my shoes on too. It was definitely worth it. I went online to fill out a form and schedule an appointment for the same time I needed to be at the airport for my flight. The entire process took about 10 minutes at the airport and it took only three days to get my pre-check number.

That's interesting as the OP sailed on Jade presumably which has NO FORMAL NIGHTS whatsoever. I would think that the OP would already know that if you don't want to go to a formal dinner, they could instead hit the buffet, get room service, go to a specialty restaurant or simply sail on a ship that doesn't have formal nights. At any rate, here are the current dress codes for the various lines:

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/articles.cfm?ID=545

That is very informative. Thank you. I had no idea that some cruise lines prohibited wearing shorts after 6 pm anywhere on the ship. My husband would not be happy about that at all. It definitely pays to research the cruise lines before booking a cruise.

I used a TA for my first cruise and booked through the cruise lines' websites for the others. I would not be against using a travel agent if I found a good one. I know what I am getting when I book directly with the cruise line. I would hate to run into a bad TA and have something get messed up.

2013 - 1st cruise - Disney

2014 - 2 cruises - Carnival & NCL

2015 - 2 cruises - RCL & Carnival

2016 - 1 cruises - Carnival

2017 - 3 - Carnival, RCL, & NCL

In some of the ports, port security does require you to show a picture ID in addition to your Seapass in order to re-enter the port area. When you are actually boarding the ship you will only need your Seapass. There are a few Caribbean ports that have this requirement. Nassau is one of them that requires you to show them a picture ID and Seapass before you can enter the port and walk to the ship. We've experienced this at 1 or 2 other ports also. They will make announcements on the ship regarding this requirement and and also include the information in the Cruise Planner. Just to be safe, we bring our Drivers License with us when we leave the ship.

This has been my experience too. Sometimes we are asked for a photo ID and Seapass card and other times we can just show our Seapass card to get through port security. When we are actually boarding the ship, we just show our Seapass card. I would never exit the port area without my driver's license as identification. The ship will even make announcements that you need to take your Seapass card and a photo ID when you exit the ship.

Depending on the excursion, we typically tip $5 to $10 per person.

Out of the four Carnival cruises that I have been on, I was able to get the FTTF passes on two cruises as soon as I booked, on another when I kept checking in the months before my cruise, and the 4th one I could not find them available no matter how many times I checked. I think they do open up from time to time, so checking often is worth it.

Never used: Shoe organizer or duct tape

Always use: Pop-up hamper. It really comes in handy on the ships with self laundry to carry the clean, folded clothes back to the room.

Will use: A highlighter. That's a great idea to highlight the activities we are interested in attending each day.

So the Seapass card has my id on it? I guess I'm super confused about what information the Seapass contains.

Your Seapass card is linked to your account. It will open your cabin door and is used to make purchases while on the ship. If you have a drink package, then it will be loaded on your card. You give your Seapass card to bartenders, store clerks, and anywhere else on the ship when you need to make a purchase. They will scan your card and the purchase will be charged to your account. There is no need for cash on the ship. Your Seapass also works in the slot machines.

The photo that is taken when boarding the ship is also connected to your Seapass card. When your card is scanned while getting on and off of the ship, your photo comes up.

I make a couple of copies of my passport before traveling and put a copy in each piece of luggage. As soon as I enter my room on the ship, my passport goes into the safe. I know it won't get lost, stolen, or damaged when it's in the safe. I don't need it to get back on the ship from the ports, so there's no reason for me to take it.

Was he proposing?

I never got that kind of proposal.

I've been on four Carnival cruises and they were all a lot of fun. If I got a great deal, I would not hesitate to take it. I've also cruised once each on Disney, NCL, and RCL. We just finished a Carnival cruise last February and are going on RCL in June and NCL in September. I like something about all the cruise lines. They each have their pros and cons.

Carnival has the best comedy shows hands down. Most of the comedians don't repeat the same show the entire time, so there are plenty of opportunities to see different comedy shows throughout the cruise. On our last cruise, we saw four different shows in one night! I like the Faster to the Fun option. We always have carry-on only when we cruise on Carnival because they have self laundry machines. With the Faster to the Fun, we get to board the ship early and drop our luggage off at our room. We'll throw in a load of clothes mid cruise. It only takes an hour and eliminates the need to check baggage with the airlines. The Carnival cruises that I have been on were nothing like their reputation as a party ship. We never cruised at spring break time, so that probably helped.