first time on a cruise with a million questions

[NIKKINAKKINOO]

hi all

 

my hubby and i are going on our first cruise on 14th feb on the thomson destiny and i have so many questions i dont know where to begin lol.

 

1. are u best getting ur currency before u go or get in on board and whats the best to get as ive read that we may need eastern caribbean dollars, euros, american dollar and sterling?

 

2.can u hire a tux on board and is this the best thing to wear if u wanna do the captains night or is a suit ok as well?

 

3.can you get cocktails on AI package?

 

4. we were planning on booking some excursions with thomson about 3 in total but on the days that we are not can u just get off the boat and do ur own thing?

 

5. is there free wi-fi on the boat if you take ur own laptop?

 

6.my hubby was wanting to take jeans along with normal trousers, do many ppl wear jeans or is it a big no-no.

 

7. my hubby wants to know if they show football games as he is a big man u fan....i hope the answer to this is no!!?

 

8. is there anything that u do have to pay for, any hidden charges or surprises at the end of ur holiday? , i know about photos etc

 

i think this may be all for now but if anyone has any hints or tips we would appreciate it.

 

thanks all

[Cymro1953]

Hi Nikki,

Looks like everyone's watching the rugby.

 

We were in your position April 2008, it was really exciting and a different holiday. We've not been on Destiny but the principle is the same for all their ships.

 

I'll answer what I can.

Get your cash before you go, it's cheaper on the high street than the ship.

And you don't want to waste time ashore looking for ATM.

 

A dark suit is fine, or if you don't want to dress up can go to the buffet instead.

We tried it last cruise, packed the suit and wife's dresses, but it's not for us. Waste too much space for proper holiday clothes.

Others love it though.

 

Yes, lots of yummy cocktails. Someone has posted a photo here somewhere of the drinks list.

 

You can wander on and off the ship as often as you want during the day. Just keep an eye on the time so you know what time to be back on board by.

 

NO wifi, they have a room with PC's so you can get internet access, it is expensive though. Cheaper to find an internet cafe ashore.

 

Jeans are fine, though he might find them a bit hot if you're lucky with the weather. But for the main dining room in the evening he'll need some trousers.

 

I'll pass on the sports.

 

If you've got A.I. drinks and stick to them, all tips are included but we like others did tip our cabin steward extra at the end and a couple of the waiters in the bars. So you shouldn't get any nasty surprises on your bill at the end, unlike some other cruise lines.

 

All you should need is spending money for snacks, souveniers ashore etc.

Anything you buy on the ship like photos or excursions will be on your bill at the end.

Theoretically if you did your own thing ashore and didn't buy anything on the boat you should have 0.00 on your bill at the end. But it doesn't quite work like that. We keep saying "not buying any more ship's photos" but they seem to appear in our case at the end. :)

 

Berwyn

[Cymro1953]

Hi Nikki,

Here's the drinks list off the celebration posted by John in another thread

 

 

I have attached a bar list from the celebration :

 

Front:

http://img18.imageshack.us/img18/7820/fronthqo.jpg

 

Back:

http://img18.imageshack.us/img18/6497/backpage.jpg

 

It looks identical to ours on the Island Escape in December.

 

Berwyn

[MasterPoo]

Hi Nikki,

 

We are also on the Destiny on the 14th!!! Can't wait!

 

Excursions - Im not doing any through Thomson's, there are loads of cheaper deals to be found. In Dominica I am doing a group tour (Trafalgur Falls and River Tubing) with other people off the cruise ship and we managed to get a discount. Downside to doing your own excrusions is that if your tour group is late etc. the cruise ship will wait for you etc. If you want to swim with dolphins, dolphin discovery is/was running a promotion. Atlantis Submarine were also running a promotion, but my friend who's been on that excursion says there is not much to see anymore!

 

Currency - Im taking dollars, euros for Martinique and sterling/card for the ship. Its a cashless ship, but I've read somewhere that pricing is in Sterling anyway.

 

WiFi - General consensus re WiFi is that its EXPENSIVE AND SLOW!! I've also read that you need to make sure you switch your phone off/remove battery as the phone latches on to the ships statellite which is super expensive, so Im removing batteries whilst onboard.

 

See you onboard!

[Cymro1953]

Nice for both of you only 1 week to go.

Yes Master Poo is correct the pricing is in £ so you won't have to do do conversions when you get the bill.

 

While not going to the extreme of taking the batts out of the mobiles we never use them at sea and when the ship is in dock we switch off and back on to make sure it's connected to the local network. Even in port it can still connect to the ship's signal if you're not careful.

 

P.C connection was about £4.50 for half an hour. :eek:

[MasterPoo]

The only reason I will be going to the extreme re: battery removal is because I read somewhere on here that some phones switch themselves on even though you have it in flight mode. Paranoid, what moi.....NO!!! LOL:confused::confused::D:D

[Cymro1953]

The only reason I will be going to the extreme re: battery removal is because I read somewhere on here that some phones switch themselves on even though you have it in flight mode. Paranoid, what moi.....NO!!! LOL:confused::confused::D:D

:D:D Now that's interesting, I hadn't heard that one. We haven't had any trouble lie that.

But No1 son did run up quite a large bill in December, despite us telling him to be careful.

[MasterPoo]

But No1 son did run up quite a large bill in December, despite us telling him to be careful.

 

on THAT note, I will be removing batteries from both my phone and number 1 son's!!!!!!!!

 

I came back from South Africa last year with a £500 bill so I've learnt my lesson the hard way (I wasnt even on a cruiseliner, just normal international roaming!!)

[Cymro1953]

on THAT note, I will be removing batteries from both my phone and number 1 son's!!!!!!!!

 

It's Ok he earns his own money to pay his bills. Thank goodness we don't have to fork out the cash for the phone bill. By comparison I came back from it with £8 extra on mine.

[davecttr]

Hi Nikki,

 

We are also on the Destiny on the 14th!!! Can't wait!

 

Excursions - Im not doing any through Thomson's, there are loads of cheaper deals to be found. In Dominica I am doing a group tour (Trafalgur Falls and River Tubing) with other people off the cruise ship and we managed to get a discount. Downside to doing your own excrusions is that if your tour group is late etc. the cruise ship will wait for you etc. If you want to swim with dolphins, dolphin discovery is/was running a promotion. Atlantis Submarine were also running a promotion, but my friend who's been on that excursion says there is not much to see anymore!

 

Currency - Im taking dollars, euros for Martinique and sterling/card for the ship. Its a cashless ship, but I've read somewhere that pricing is in Sterling anyway.

 

WiFi - General consensus re WiFi is that its EXPENSIVE AND SLOW!! I've also read that you need to make sure you switch your phone off/remove battery as the phone latches on to the ships statellite which is super expensive, so Im removing batteries whilst onboard.

 

See you onboard!

 

Perhaps the bold text should be

 

'Downside to doing your own excrusions is that if your tour group is late etc. the cruise ship will NOT wait for you etc'

 

If you are new to cruising and feel nervous about arranging your own trips just use the cruise lines. There are lots available and the prices are reasonable.

[Cymro1953]

 

If you are new to cruising and feel nervous about arranging your own trips just use the cruise lines. There are lots available and the prices are reasonable.

 

By comparison with the U.S. cruse lines, Thomson's are about 40% cheaper for the same excursion.

If we are not doing our own thing DW always insists on doing the ship's ones and on the whole we have not been disappointed.

[NIKKINAKKINOO]

thanks for all your quick and thorough replies.

 

i think as we are new to cruising we will stick to thomsons excursions to be on the safe side. Also i was going to be taking my laptop but now think i shan't bother.

 

i have already read a lot of info on here and feel less nervous (i know i shouldnt be nervous) than i did earlier today.

 

im now on countdown :)

 

and to masterpoo yeah see you there :)

[Cymro1953]

Hi Nikki,

No it's not nerves it's excitement. :D:D

We've got a small netbook, just the right size to go in hand luggage, so we can transfer the pics and video straight on to it and clear the cards and video camera for more.

Have a great time and I'm sure you'll be booking your next one as soon as you're back.

 

Berwyn

[steelerannie]

Hi we've been back around a week now - so all info is as up to date as possible.

 

1. are u best getting ur currency before u go or get in on board and whats the best to get as ive read that we may need eastern caribbean dollars, euros, american dollar and sterling?

 

We took US dollars with us. There's no need to take euros for Martinique - they take US dollars as well.

 

2.can u hire a tux on board and is this the best thing to wear if u wanna do the captains night or is a suit ok as well?

 

No sorry, you can't hire a tux, but a dark suit will be fine - perhaps take a bow tie to dress it up a bit??

 

3.can you get cocktails on AI package?

 

OMG YES!!!! We had loads of gorgeous cocktails. Can recommend the Strawberry Dacquiri (sp) - the waiters will ask with or without alocohol!!! Obviously have it with - it's like a posh slush puppy!!

4. we were planning on booking some excursions with thomson about 3 in total but on the days that we are not can u just get off the boat and do ur own thing?

 

We did our own thing in Barbados, we picked up a taxi to take us round the island and it was $20 per person, St Lucia was $12 per person return that took us to the Rex Resort at Rodney bay which is beautiful, taxi to Cane Garden Bay in Tortola was also $12 return, but the prices will depend on the number of people.

We did Thomson tours in Martinique, Antigua and St Kitts. Then on the last day we went to Virgin Gorda. This has got to be the best beach in the world (well the bits we've seen!!!) Can highly recommend this. If you go on the organised tour you know that the beach will be open to swim in, the week before we went - the red flag was flying so there was no swimming allowed.

 

5. is there free wi-fi on the boat if you take ur own laptop?

 

No free wi-fi, we didn't use the PCs, but people did say it was expensive to use.

 

6.my hubby was wanting to take jeans along with normal trousers, do many ppl wear jeans or is it a big no-no.

 

Must admit we didn't see anyone wearing jeans except on the last day when people were ready to go home. Thinking about it I think we might have seen some wearing them the last evening to go to the show, but definitely not in the restauants. Suppose they were wearing what they were travelling home in.

 

7. my hubby wants to know if they show football games as he is a big man u fan....i hope the answer to this is no!!?

 

They didn't show any football when we were onboard you will be pleased to know.

 

8. is there anything that u do have to pay for, any hidden charges or surprises at the end of ur holiday? , i know about photos etc

 

The only thing is photos, stuff from the shops, dvds and trips. Also if you order anything that isn't on the AI package you will be charged, but it's only a small amount

i think this may be all for now but if anyone has any hints or tips we would appreciate it.

 

Hope this helps - we really enjoyed our cruise and can't wait to go back. One thing I would recommend is taking an extensioin cable with you, there's only 1 socket in the cabins, so charging phones, cameras, ipods, etc is difficult. You will love it I'm sure.

Ann

[MasterPoo]

 

'Downside to doing your own excrusions is that if your tour group is late etc. the cruise ship will NOT wait for you etc'

.

 

Thats what I meant, thanks Dave!

 

I've just added extension cord to my list!

[Cymro1953]

I've just added extension cord to my list!

 

I forgot about that, it doesn't need a long cable just so long as you've got the 4 sockets on it.

Don't forget the adaptors either for the funny plugs they've got.