17andacruiseaddict

My husband and I had a couples massage on our last cruise (last August on Vista) and we were in the same room on side by side tables.

1 hour ago, Jenjer said:

My daughter has cruised her whole life and this is your last year in teen club as she is 17. Most ships we have sailed on have a 1 am curfew. That works great. No argument no discussion needed. She has always headed back to the cabin around 1  since everyone else goes back to their cabins. 

 

Generally dinner is mandatory with the family, lunch or some mid afternoon check in is also required but beyond that we let her do as she pleases. Its her vacation too. We always get the messaging app for the whole family. I also have a 15 yo but he is not into the evening parties like his sister. He will do some activities but not many. 

 

Now we got to talk about when she needs to come back to sleep. 🙂 I could care less if she sleeps in on sea days only port days really matter that she gets up and is good to go as in more than 6 hours of sleep the night before. 

 

From your name it looks like you started cruising at 17 or joined this group. How has cruising been since aging out of teen club? As in how to make friends in your 20's 

I started cruising at the age of 6. 17 is when I made this account. So the kid's clubs and teen club have given me great cruise memories. At the age of 18-early 20s it definitely changed. Friends my age weren't automatically put in front of me. I hung out at the club the 1st night. Surprisingly that's how I met people around my age and made friends. People around the same age seem to gravitate towards each other.  But my advice (even for younger cruisers), is, be willing to put yourselves out there and meet new people and have a good time. I would've been a loner if I wasn't willing to talk to people, go to the club alone, join a dance circle, etc.

When I got to my mid 20s and upper 20s, I started cruising with my boyfriend (now husband :). Completely different aspect of cruising. But still wonderful in its own way. I like having a best friend already with me who likes to do the same things I do.

No curfew. You can have check in times scheduled with your kid. Or even better, make sure you download the HUB app and get the "texting" feature so you can just check up on them. 

If teens are too rowdy at any point the captain will issue a curfew. If your teen in particular gets into trouble, he/she will be issued a curfew.

When I was a teen, we use to hang around the ship till the sun came up. Granted, the next day we would sleep in, miss breakfast, and possibly a hair chest contest or two. But once midday hit, we were energized and back at it again lol.

I loved cruising as a teen.

Yes, they are open on embarkation day and it is the perfect way to avoid crowds on Lido. We spent our first hour onboard there, on our last Vista cruise. We went across the hall and outside to get some BBQ, brought it to the Red Frog, and ordered drinks to go with it. Worked out lovely since it was really hot and directly in the sun where the BBQ was.

OMG how I wish we were back there right now. Cruises go by way too fast.

*Matching Tshirts (Charge a bit extra for the shirts and the leftover money goes toward buying supplies for idea #2)

*Make bar themed shots in your cabin and bring them for the people in your party to drink before each bar

*Make a scavenger hunt (something to find/do and take a pic of in each bar)

*Bring a speaker so you guys can have music or a theme song as you travel from bar to bar

*Maybe a whistle to signify last round so you can head to next bar

On 2/15/2019 at 9:24 AM, Joebucks said:

I've never been an "early adopter" of anything. I'll never understand the people who would wait in line day 1 for things like a new iPhone. I'm sure it will be a great experience. More often, people just want to be able to say "I was one of the first people on it," if that floats your boat, then go for it.

 

Personally, I would wait. My cruise experience will be just as good either way. A maiden voyage, you do run some risks. Sure those fears are generally overblown, but I would say there is a higher chance something may not work properly or teams may not be in the right rhythm yet.

 

 

I'm with you Joe. I'm not a fan of being the first one in line especially for maiden voyages. I like all of the kinks to be worked out first. 

I do love new ships! I prefer to sail them when they've been out at least a year. Plus, this gives me time to hear about everybody's experiences, learn about new things offered or how things are done on this ship vs all others, and view new pictures not offered on the website.

Sometimes a little patience can help build the excitement.

The Elation compared to the Allure....

I personally think this is a daring leap and wouldn't take that jump myself. I've done Royal and Carnival (but mostly Carnival), and I only like Carnival's newer ships. But that's just my taste.

Don't go in expecting the Allure and all it has to offer. This ship is much older and much smaller. Doesn't even have all the bells, whistles, and space as Carnival's biggest ships. I would say, go in with the mindset that you don't know anything about cruising. Look at it as if this were your first cruise ever so you aren't setting the bar anywhere because you don't know what to expect.

On the plus side, with really small ships, the crew can be more attentive to you. Also, it's a short cruise so it's a good thing you're going on a smaller ship so you can see/do everything the ship has to offer as opposed to a short cruise on a mega ship, you'd miss out on a lot because there just isn't enough time to cover all the space. And hey, it's a cruise! If I had the option between Elation and no cruise, I would definitely pick the Elation.

Now that I think about it, that is exactly my current situation (cruise or no cruise), and I'd rather be on the Elation in the sun with a tropical fruity drink in my hand without a care in the world lol

13 hours ago, jayscore said:

 

No worries. When you board the ship, buy one or two "buckets of beer" , don't open them , and take them to your cabin for later use. I think the price will equal Fun Shop prices, plus, they will be chilled!

This seems like a good solution. Keep em in the fridge or have your room steward constantly fill the ice bucket. Either way, cold beer. 🙂

So, we went a similar route for our wedding. We chose a really nice hotel here in Chicago (Kimpton Allegro) because we wanted someplace with would make for great wedding pictures. This inside is beautiful and the outside is very city like (which we wanted). We booked a room for the 2 of us and then booked the restaurant attached for dinner after our "ceremony" and pictures. We wanted to at least be paying customers so we would have more of a leg to stand on lol. One of our close friends officiated the wedding. 

We went to the hotel in advance and scouted rooms and areas for pictures and to hold the 10-20 minute ceremony. Went with our photographer. When we called the hotel and told them our plan, over the phone they seemed hesitant. When we asked in person, they were more open. The room we wanted wasn't booked and they told us as long as it's under an hr, we were good to go.

On the actual day, only one couple walked in. Saw Hubby in his dress blues, me in my dress, and our family gathered around and walked straight out. Didn't bother us. They could've even had a seat if they liked lol. Also, the hotel ended up being super accommodating. 

I guess I say this to assume hotels and cruise ships might work in a similar fashion. Asking in advance, they try to downplay how possible this is since they want money. In reality, if the room isn't being used, and you don't mind people walking in and observing, it probably is no big deal. After all, just like hotels, the ship is a public space. Since you have more people in your party, it might make it a bit more difficult for it to look like a private thing for people on the outside to walk away,  but like I said, if you have no issue with people stopping by, the ship is yours to use.

*hint* public spaces such at nightclub, library or piano bar are less occupied during early daytime hours. 

2 hours ago, beachbum53 said:

 

No. Probably best to not get involved. You could end up confined to your own cabin.

lol i think they were kidding

I was 6 on my very first cruise on The Big Red Boat (anybody else cruised her back in the day?) Well, at the sail away party, they had the crowd of people participating in dances and conga lines (Hot, Hot, Hot and Celebration playing loud). I was glued to my mother's side. Excited to be there but feeling shy. She knew how much I loved to dance and be "out there", but there I was clinging to her.

She bent down and reminded me that she did not bring us on this awesome vacation for me to be so uncomfortable, shy, and clingy. She also reminded me that I will never see these people again.

So, with her keeping an eye on me from afar, I joined the party. During the rest of the cruise, I made plenty of friends in the kids club, participated in the talent show, and had a great cruise.

Because of my mom, cruising as a kid and teenager made me fall in love with cruising. Making new friends, getting involved in all the activities that I wanted, reminding myself that there is no need to be shy, and remembering that it's up to me to make the best of my vacations is what I learned on my first cruise. 

On 12/6/2018 at 10:53 AM, Tapi said:

I hate to be a bit blunt, but if making your honeymoon extra special was important to you, unfortunately these days you can’t leave it up to the crew or to expect to get anything for free. The cruise lines have found a way to generate extra revenue by charging for things that once were freebies to honeymooners, people celebrating their birthdays, anniversaries, etc. Cakes, bottles of wine or champagne, cabin decoration, flowers, etc are still available, but they now have to be purchased. If someone else got some freebies, good for them but I wouldn’t expect a thing based on that. 

 

When we got married, we sailed on Royal and they decorated our cabin. When we sailed on Princess for our 10th anniversary, they decorated our door, gave us a honeymoon cake on our last night at the MDR, and we received an invitation for a special event. But almost every other time we’ve cruised for a special occasion, it has gone completely unacknowledged. 

No one asked you to be blunt. The lack of extras did not make or break my Honeymoon if that was your concern. I was just putting my experience out there. After 23 cruises, I've gotten the hang of how things work when it comes to cruising. But because a lot of people get freebies for things like Honeymoons, including yourself, yes, it is very possible for me to expect a little something extra. I was just a bit disappointed but I had a fabulous cruise.Thanks for taking time out to explain things though.

We went on our Honeymoon in August. I entered that we were celebrating our Honeymoon when we booked. Nothing was given to us. I was kind of disappointed. Being platinum, they made sure to give us our gift, strawberries, and invite to the Diamond and Platinum party, but dropped the ball on this part. We traveled with a couple who technically weren't celebrating their honeymoon, but put it down anyway and they got a gift card and room decor.

You only get one Honeymoon and all the free stuff you can get always helps make it extra special.

I was a bit of a hater. 

Once again, I am happy to see someone post this as I was accused of lying when I stated that both my daughter and niece who were well into their twenties needed a photo ID to enter the dance club and a 21+ singles event.

 

Someone else posted a similar stated several months ago about their son also needed a photo ID to enter the club.

It's nice to have someone back you up :)

I was on the Vista 3 weeks ago, and now noticed them scanning Sail and Sign cards at the door of the Adult Comedy Shows and the "club" (very poor setup on the vista for their club, don't get me started lol)

So, I'm not sure if IDs are still needed since they scan now. But if unsure, I suggest to still bring it until you find out you don't need it.

Not being sarcastic: Are any of the pools on Carnival ships deep enough to worry about being able to swim? I honestly don't recall being in water any deeper than 4 feet...

Kids are allowed in the main pools and yes, some can be 4 feet or under and could possibly drown.

Short adults could drown.

People who are even taller than 4 feet get in pools without knowing how to swim. If they panic for whatever reason, they too could drown.

Accidents happen

Don't know if you watch it, but Mel B (Scary Spice) is one of the judges on America's Got Talent. Anytime anyone brings up anything to do with Spice Girls, she gets frustrated and seems like she wants nothing to do with that part of her life anymore.

 

I understand that, but like joepeka said, since there isn't a kids' talent show on board, I thought I'd toss that out there to the OP as something their kids might be interested in as an alternative. :)

No I don't watch it. But, that could be part of the reason they have not yet decided on a tour or not. I hope she does it! *Wishful thinking*

All of your Lip-Sync Battle stories are awesome, but this is not what the OP was referring to.

OP, being 29, I haven't been in Camp Carnival or Club O2 in a long while. When I was last in Club O2, I can assure you, there wasn't a talent show. But that could have been just because it was older kids. I have no idea if they still do the talent show for the kiddos. Maybe there is a Camp Carnival "Fun Times" floating around the internet that you can search for?

I love this! I think we could have been friends a few decades ago. I'm certain there's video of my sister and I singing that song somewhere too :')

Any Spice Girl fan is a friend of mine! I hear they might be touring. But, then again, this has been a reoccurring theme with them. I'll believe it when I see tour dates and ticket sales. and when I do, I'm buying a first row, back stage, meet and greet pass! This will be an opportunity I will not let pass lol

I remember being in Camp Carnival in the 90s and I was a part of the talent show. One year I performed a speech and another year me and a couple of friends danced and lip synced to Say You'll Be There by the Spice Girls.

Memories.......

Why are we resurrecting a 5 year old thread?

 

Put your phones into airplane mode. If you only want to message each other, use the HUB app and the $5 messaging option ($5 for the entire trip). If you want to iMessage or use any social media apps (FB Messenger, Whatsapp, etc), purchase the social media wifi plan for $5 per day (discounted if purchased prior to the trip).

IDK why they brought it back up. But, I do think it's pretty cool that we can see how far CCL has come. Worrying about texting prices is a thing of the past with set messaging and social media prices.

Yes, your 18 year old will be allowed in. The disco is 18+

Yes, there are usually security guards at the door.

Yes, they check IDs. So tell your 18 year old to have her's with her. (Drivers license, state ID, Passport Card with DOB are all accepted)

Yes! Surprisingly on 2 different occasions.

A waiter recognized me and my mom a year later on the same ship.

But most surprising to me was when a security guard stopped me as I was entering the disco and asked if I was on "different ship name" in "3 years before the cruise I was currently on". I said "yes I was", and asked him how he could remember that as it was pretty specific. He told me my face was very memorable. Not sure how I felt about that. Also makes me think, "how crazy did I get on that cruise that security would remember who I was" lol :')

It doesn't matter if you are in the pool or hot tub. If you're butt isn't in the chair for 40 minutes you can kiss it goodbye, argument or not. Of course, if you want to argue, I'll just call out for security and you can argue with them.......while I'm sitting in the chair. :p

Sooo, what you're saying is, nobody is allowed to used the pool/hot tub while putting their belongings in a chair? What do you suggest they do with them? Leave their towel, coverup, sandals, sunscreen, etc. in their cabins and just walk back from the pool dripping wet?:confused:

I personally like to get a chair near the hot tub or pool I'm in so I can keep an eye on my stuff for people like you lbs.

I wonder how many people were actually using the nearby pools or hot tubs and had their stuff moved by somebody who just assumed their chairs just occupied by chair hogs? That would definitely start an argument with me.

I'm more irritated with the people who think they just have the right to touch other people's things rather than chair hogs. Especially since I don't care to just lay in my chair all day. I use it for about an hour or so to dry after pool time and that's it.

But hey, it's a personal preference. Which is why i like balconies and now the new Havana area that allows for more space for people in those cabins.

My wife and I honeymooned on the Big Red Boat. I still have the brochure. It was an awesome time!:cool:

Omg, could you possibly post pictures of that? I'm so curious to see it!