somewhat of a Poll for a new cruiser :)

[ladyduarte]

tell me your number one tip for a 1st time cruiser

my husband and i and 2 friends are going on the caribbean princess 11/13 and we are thrilled to death and have never been on a cruise and i am already looking to book 2 more LOL

 

but this site is like my second nature already i love reading and you are all so friendly and nice

 

so who better to ask

 

 

what is your number 1 tip/suggestion for a 1st time cruiser

 

 

we have booked the baja deck category BE b707 is the room what are your thoughts on that 2 if you do not mind

 

 

thanks so much

 

Lesa

[sue d. miller]

Enjoy the anticipation waiting for the cruise. Find your cruise in the Princess roll call board, and you can chat with others on your cruise. Relax. Have a wonderful cruise. You will become addicted, we all did, Plan to book another cruise on board, $100 pp for an open booking, no ship, no date, and you have 4 yrs to decide, and you can transfer it to your TA of choice. Welcome to Princess.

 

Sue

7 days on Star Princess 10/24

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[ladyduarte]

Oh thank you so much that was so sweet of you i hope that i meet up with some of you on a future crusie

[sue d. miller]

I am sure you will. Just remember there is no such thing as a dumb questions. There are great experts here to help. And we have fun doing it. We do get into some heated discussions, but we are like family. A nd you have just joined the club.

 

Sue

7 days on Star Princess 10/24

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Salty Dawg]

Ladyduarte,

 

Welcome to the Cruise Critic family!

 

#1 tip: the first thing to pack is a good attitude!

 

Ken & Nancy

 

***********************

12/2004 - Golden Princess

10/2004 - Fantasy Fest, Key West

03/2004 - Golden Princess

01/2004 - Carnival Legend

11/2003 - Carnival Glory

03/2003 - Carnival Spirit

02/2003 - Carnival Triumph

12/2002 - Carnival Legend

04/2002 - Carnival Victory

01/2002 - Carnival Sensation

12/2000 - Carnival Tropicale

 

***********************

 

 Until Sailing The Golden Princess

 

[sue d. miller]

Hi again. I checked your cabin and you are in a great location. You are right at the elevators. You won't have any noise from that. You are down the hall from the laundry room. Good for pressing formal clothes. Take the elevator, by your room, and go down two floors to rivira deck. There you will find the Horizon court buffet, Caribe Cafe, and the aft Terrace pool. Outstanding views. If you have traditional dining, the elevator takes you down to deck 6. But for that DR you can only use the two outside elevators to go to five. The two middle ones don't go down that far, they only go to 7. To find your cabin when you come off the elevator, check your color rug. The two sides have different colors.

 

Sue

7 days on Star Princess 10/24

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[katisdale]

Take a power strip with you. The cabins have too few outlets if you travel with lots of electronic gadgets.

[Andee]

There's no such thing as a "perfect" cruise, but there are lots of really wonderful ones.

 

Don't waste your energy trying to anticipate and prepare for every eventuality. Go with the flow, and don't get upset if minor things go wrong.

[kimba_99]

Welcome to the boards... here is my suggestion

 

RESEARCH

 

Do as much research as you can about the ship and ports of call. Many reviews, ship and ports, can be read here on CC so that is a great start. There are plenty of ppl who come back from a cruise with culture shock, this can be avoided by knowing before going! To me it just enhances the whole experience to learn about a new country.... have fun with the researching and enjoy your cruise.

 

Kim

 

http://community.webshots.com/user/kimba_99

[mii]

Congrats on sailing of Princess. As it was said before you will be hooked. I too also recommend looking at the ports of call board. There is a wealth of information there. I remember when we took our first cruise. We knew nothing about cruising and had a heck of a good time. Sometimes it is good not to know everything. I do have to add since I have been reading this board I have learned alot from these people. Most of us are a great group and will answer any questions you may have. Welcome to Princess and just go with the flow. Do not sweat the small stuff and you will have a fabulous time.

 

 

 

Marilyn

[sneekpeek]

Welcome!

I know what you mean by saying this board is your second nature. I found it about three weeks before we went on the Diamond Princess in March. I was addicted to it. Best piece of adivice - go to Cruise diva. She has a checklist of what to bring. I found about 20 things on the list that were so valuable to me when I was on the ship. I think the most valuable suggestion was to bring a big coffee mug. It can be used for coffee or ice tea later in the day. Both are free on the ship!

[ginak1112]

Get to Walmart and get a 99 cent lanyard with key hook for everyone going. Bring a hole puncher with you and put your room keys on them. You will never have to worry about digging for your key or leaving it somewhere since it will be on your neck. They sell them on the boat for $4 but why not save a little money for cocktails!!! Have fun.

[geoherb]

Don't be afraid to ask for what you want. If it's possible, the staff will do it. Of course, the corollary is to make reasonable requests and treat the staff kindly.

[Northender]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by sneekpeek:

Welcome!

I know what you mean by saying this board is your second nature. I found it about three weeks before we went on the Diamond Princess in March. I was addicted to it. Best piece of adivice - go to Cruise diva. She has a checklist of what to bring. I found about 20 things on the list that were so valuable to me when I was on the ship. I think the most valuable suggestion was to bring a big coffee mug. It can be used for coffee or ice tea later in the day. Both are free on the ship!<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I wish I had seen the list before our cruise on the Grand two weeks ago. Agree with coffee mug and next time I will bring some coffee singles or small jar of favorite coffee. That was my only complaint. Really, really bad coffee. Also the suggestion on the lanyard is a good one. We picked up two and never worried where our card was. Have fun

 

 

 

Grand Princess 4/4/04

 

[Aquarian]

I agree with all of the above. Welcome to Princess, we're glad to welcome you to this board. It's as addictive as the cruises! LOL I would suggest that if you plan to do any beach days/snorkeling, to buy a dry box to put your money and/or charge card in - that way you don't have to worry about watching your beach bag while you are in the water. Most dive shops have them and it is about the size of a pack of cigarettes and hangs around the neck.

[SueKayL]

Hi!

 

My tip is to carry on a casual change of clothes for dinner, swimsuit, and toiletries when you board! that way you can enjoy the pool if you wish or even if you just walk around, you will get warm...it is so nice to shower and change for dinner before sailaway..because sometimes your BIG luggage does not get delivered early enough to do this and it's no fun going to dinner in the clothes you wore all day! yuck!!

 

Sue

 

2-05 Sun Princess

2-04 Sun Princess

9-03 Golden Princess

2-03 Coral Princess

3-02 Ocean Princess

4-01 Carnival Paradise

2-00 Carnival Paradise

[jhannah]

My number one tip would be to not overpack. I think most people do ... especially for their first cruise.

 

Someone once put it this way: Lay out on your bed all the clothes you think you'll need and the cash you feel you should take. Then put away half the clothes and double the amount of cash!

 

'Vegas Jim

 

[Deluzy]

Hi Everyone!

 

Thanks for the tips and for asking the question, Lesa! These tips are really helpful!

 

OK, so you said that there is no such thing as a dumb question, but this amy be up there . . .

 

I've seen the $100/pp open booking mentioned a few times on the board and can't seem tofigure out what that means exactly. Is it just to hold a reservation on a cruise? $100/pp for the cruise itself (not thinking that they would have a cruise for only $100/pp)? Something totally different?

 

Thanks!!

 

~Suzy

 

"Our" Maiden Voyage: Tahitian Princess Aug. 25

[sue d. miller]

Hi Suzy, Welcome. Iff you book through your TA, your deposit for a cruise would be $250 pp. If you book on board, you can book an open booking, for $100 pp, An open booking means you don't have to know the ship, date, or itinerary. You will have up to 4 yrs. to decide. You will get a letter in your cabin before you leave giving you the booking number. You can transfer this booking to the TA you used on this cruise, or not give a Ta at all, if you want to check prices first.

 

Sue

7 days on Star Princess 10/24

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[CruisinChris]

Here are my two tips: get the brochure for your cruise (your agent can give it to you or you can request it online at Princess.com) and read it cover to cover including the hard to read small print in the back. It will tell you everything you need to know and will really help you know what to expect. When you get your pre-cruise documents you will get another book that provides even more detail, much of it practical, about cruising. Read it thoroughly aa well as any other documents the line sends you. My other tip is to buy travel insurance. You may think you don't need it but you never know.

 

Cruisin' Chris

 

 

 5/19/04 Grand Princess Baltic Heritage

 

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[Nrknits]

My advice: Relax and enjoy, let the little stuff roll off your back. I've seen too many people get upset over the little stuff. You are onvacation, a a few little things may go wrong or not be exactly to your liking, so what! Relax and enjoy, vacation is way to short to sweat the little stuff (A short story, we just got off the Sun Princess at at the Princess Cays they were collecting the beach towels from your rooms at the tender. A man actually went up and argued with the poor guy at the tender about how he doesn't trust the system and isn't going to give him his towel, because he's afraid he'll be charged for it. Now the poor guy had no less the 400 towels sitting there in a pile, and had never even asked this guy for his towel. Does this passanger actually think Princess is trying to scam him out of the price of the towel?! And even if he does, then just quietly take your towel and get on the tender) I could believe how worked up this guy got over nothing. Relax and enjoy! Also pack half of what you think you're going to need. I always bring home clean clothes. Welcome to Princess and have a blast!

[sunnyv]

An invaluable tip I learned from these great posters:

 

You can Write in anything on the "continental" breakfast menu doorhanger to place on doorknob at night. We wrote in eggs, sausage, bacon, french toast...........and received it all with a smile. Just don't forget to write in butter, syrup, 1/2 & 1/2 because they will bring you EXACTLY what you request

 

We both drink 1/2 and 1/2 with our coffee and the only place to get it was from room service as a special request or in the dining room. Both places it comes in a little pitcher. Gotta love the cabin frig!

 

Vicki

 

12/26/04 Caribbean Princess to Eastern Caribbean

Princess Star 8/03 Alaska

Princess Coral 3/03 Panama

Disney's Wonder 12/01 Bahama's

RCC Majesty of the Seas 11/99 Southern Caribbean

[ladyduarte]

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU

 

 

YOU ARE ALL SO GREAT

[Guest]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR> Don't be afraid to ask for what you want. If it's possible, the staff will do it. Of course, the corollary is to make reasonable requests and treat the staff kindly.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> I'll agree with this one...often times people will come back from cruises disgruntled about one thing or another, but come to find out, they never asked to have it addressed when on board. You'll be surprised at the lengths the staff will go to to make you happy.

 

But as geoherb points out, your requests should be reasonable and made with kindness. Remember staff members have to deal with thousands of people each week - a kindly request, a smile and especially a thank you will do wonders for you.

 

-------------------------

Sun Princess, 03/2004; Pacific Princess, 07/2003; Star Princess, 05/2003; Grand Princess, 10/2002; Grand Princess, 10/2002; Sun Princess, 05/2001; Sun Princess, 04/2001; Sun Princess, 09/2000; Sun Princess, 09/2000; Regal Princess, 10/1999; Sun Princess, 08/1998; Holiday, 05/1998; Westerdam, 09/1997; Regal Princess, 11/1996; Royal Odyssey, 09/1995; Starward, 11/1993