Jeep108

I love the 'newbies'. Many need to be educated. Not so much about cruising, but, many leave common sense and social values at home. Just the small things like waiting for folks to exit the elevator before trying to get on. At least asking before cutting into the buffet line to get something. Parents divorcing their kids and expecting everyone else to keep an eye on them. (example: entered an elevator and had to step over four young boys sitting on the floor and punching every button when the light went out. Solution? Easy. I carry my cell phone just to keep track of the time. Put it to my ear and said in a loud voice. "Security? We have a problem on elevator 3. Next stop? They ran off.) Every time that they saw me during the rest of the cruise, they would turn around and leave. I am an old man and I respect those using electric chairs and carts, however, many of those folks believe that they are on the freeway at rush hour. Totally disrespect others. I give them the space that they need but, I refuse to be run over. Chair hogs are an ongoing problem that seems to have very few cures. I have a few but, you don't want to hear about that. :eek:

 

Just a few thoughts to keep this interesting thread going.

Thanks for these ideas. I agree that mostly common courtesy is sometimes lacking. I would love to hear your thoughts on the chair hogs. As Brits living in Canada we are unerringly polite in social situations. I wouldn't dream of hogging chairs but would love to know little tips on finding a good hangout spot on deck for those wonderful sea days.

There's a fun thread about spotting the cruise virgins http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1173100

Some fun observations. General consensus being to have fun, maintain the wonder and awe (when you lose the excitement, many think they will stop cruising) and cruise your own way - even if wearing your PJs to the breakfast buffet is frowned upon.

Thought it might be fun to start a thread about spotting the seasoned salties. How do you know, just from watching their behaviour, that someone has been on many (many) cruises. What gives it away?? What great advice have the old salts passed along to you as a 'relative' newby? What do you love about meeting up with some of the 'been there, done that' crowd? And if I want to get some great tips onboard - who should I approach?

Just for fun - be friendly/polite.

I defy anyone (newbie or not) to read through this thread and not have a couple of laughs. We are about to hit our second cruise and I am determined to maintain the 'new' feel. Will explore the ship, wear a lanyard for my SS card and enjoy everything. I almost wish we could 'like' some of these posts, because several made me laugh.

I think we need an equal and opposite thread - how to spot the old salts!

Happy cruising everyone

Great thread! With less than 2 weeks to go til my next cruise, I have enjoyed reading the tips. Yes, some of it is common sense and just not buying stuff you don't need (photos and onboard shops) but its still good to be reminded before vacation mode hits in force. I sit in the middle between planning a budget and living free. Hopefully that means we will have a reasonable idea of what we will spend before we go.

I just found a new way to save. Having researched all the ports of call and places I would like to go, I knew for certain we would be booking a cave-tubing excursion in Belize. Carnival has a price match policy for shore excursions. If you find the exact same excursion advertised cheaper, they give you 110% of the difference as an onboard credit. You have to book the excursion you want with Carnival, and then submit an online claim form showing the URL of the competitor tour - but they get back to you quickly, for me it was less than 24hrs. I just added $50 to my OBC account that way. We got the excursion I wanted, at less than the local operator was offering it for, with the guarantee of getting back to the ship on time plus an on board credit for us to use. Perfect.

I am going to be forced to write a blog and take all of my information from all of my reviews and put them on there since I'm out of space here on cc and can't fit any more in my signature line. I don't know anything about blogs so I have no idea where to start to look or how it works.

Check out Wordpress for quick and easy (and free) blogging tools. If you can use a keyboard and mouse, you can use wordpress. Would work great with all your pictures. Maybe when you choose a blog name, you could keep cruise in the title somewhere so that cruise critic fans can find you. For sure, love the reviews. It would be nice to see them all in one place.

I walked over to get her picture. I wanted it as a keepsake and to see what a....fine job she did? yikes

 

Like I said, painting is NOT her thing.

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OMG - I Love reading your posts so much. You should definitely write a blog. And your daughter reminds me of mine at that age (she is now almost 11 but very creative and an absolute fish). Love this!

Yes - I'm trawling through your reviews again - just decided to switch my Costa Maya plans from Tropicana to Blue Kay based on this review. :D

I've just spent an entire evening catching up on all your wonderful posts, reviews and photos. We are cruising the Western Caribbean with the Carnival Glory in 2 weeks and your posts have led me to some new ideas that I wouldn't have heard of otherwise. I love the detail, although my backside is now numb from sitting at my kitchen computer for so long LOL! Looking forward to posting some stories and updates of my own when we get back. Thanks for taking the time to share such great memories.