Few Newbie questions

[Stephandboys]

First cruise - waited a long time. I know we are taking the "bottom rung" ship for our first one, but it's a good starter. (Carnival Fantasy) Going with a group, so it will be fun. From what I'm reading, we will have no where to go but up from here, as far as cruise lines are concerned, it looks like! (like Carnival Breeze and Dream and Magic...?) But we'll certainly have fun on this maiden voyage regardless.

 

Anyway - one reason we have waited so long is to get our boys through college (two graduating debt free in a matter of months now) and a very active business. Being business owners, there are no "down days". We just take our business with us via our laptops.

 

First question - I've read that internet is an extra fee. Anyone know how much that fee is and are there restricted times we can access the internet?

 

Second question - I've heard differing opinions on the dress code. We are doing the Cozumel/Progreso cruise, so I know it'll be summer casual dress 99% of the time. But what about the one nice-dinner dress night? Suit for him/dress for me, or is it even more casual than that?

 

Third question - it's pretty obvious we are not youngsters anymore - we like nice relaxing, little romantic venues. We also ballroom dance. I'm thinking Fantasy may not be our top pick for those types of things. Anyone have recommendations for future cruises that cater more to us "older" folks who don't want to do the ropes course or the water park? We are still very active, though - hikes, dancing, runners, etc, etc.

 

Thanks for any tips!

Bon Voyage and all those fun words!! :rolleyes:

[Clarea]

Welcome to Cruise Critic.

 

Best to post your questions on the dedicated Carnival forum here:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=215

 

Many folks there with experience to answer your questions.

 

Bon Voyage!

[Stephandboys]

Thank you!

[Sauer-kraut]

The largest ballroom dance floor on the sea is on Cunard's Queen Mary 2. Live band and dancing every night, and its not a stuffy stodgy passenger type either. Lots of fun loving people who like to dress for dinner every night and adhere to a dress code.

 

As for Carnival -- if your DH is in a long sleeved shirt with a collar and a pair of Chino pants he'll be fine for the Elegant Night. If you want to raise the bar, he might put on a tie. :D

 

 

Have fun!! Cruising is what you make of it, go in with a good attitude and everything will fall into place.

[mossy01772]

Stephandboys, just done our first ever cruise, loved it and sure you will too. Happy cruising

 

 

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[Cruisin' Chick]

don't forget to go on the Carnival website and read the FAQs as well as the info specific to your ship.

 

as for future cruises, if you decide you like Carnival, you can talk with others on board who have been on other ships and see what they recommend. You can also come back here and state what you liked and didn't like about your cruise and maybe get some recommendations for other cruise lines based on your opinion. For example, if you didn't care for the crazy pool games but like being by the pool otherwise, there's some cruise lines that may be better suited (one of the many reasons I prefer Princess over Carnival after being on both lines).

[mossy01772]

Hi Crusin Chick, having only done 1 cruise ourselves with Royal Caribbean which cruise line would you recommend for mostly adults only

 

 

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[Cruisin' Chick]

Hi Crusin Chick, having only done 1 cruise ourselves with Royal Caribbean which cruise line would you recommend for mostly adults only

 

 

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I don't look for adult-only cruises...I'm not bothered by kids (and we always took our daughter). So if you're looking for a cruise with fewer kids, I would suggest going at a time when school is in session (in other words, not during the summer, winter break, spring break would be hard to judge as colleges tend to stagger theirs between late February and mid-april), longer cruises, more premium lines.

 

If you found it problematic on your first cruise, try looking for the things I just mentioned. Sit down with a cruise specialist and ask about a cruise in say, October through early December, or the last couple of weeks of January But even then, you may end up on a cruise with homeschooled kids or families with kids too young for school. a ship with a good children's program will keep them busy.

[cb at sea]

This is simply a vacation. There will be opportunity to "ballroom" dance...won't be for the entire night, and most will NOT be doing your dance...but YOU can!

 

We, too, have an active business....but we also have a great manager! So, while we will "check in" from time to time, we don't need to be online with our business all the time! Each cruise line has packages for internet....check on Carnival's website for costs. It's not 100% reliable, and can be slow. Do all the paperwork you need to do BEFORE you leave on vacation...life will be much easier!

[kerryincork]

The Internet package is a lot more expensive than on land. And very slow. I don't know how reliable it will be for business?

There's always Internet on land at each port & crew all know the best places so just ask your waiter or steward where they go.

 

Have fun.

 

 

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[cruiseonthebrain]

 

 

 

 

Third question - it's pretty obvious we are not youngsters anymore - we like nice relaxing, little romantic venues. We also ballroom dance. I'm thinking Fantasy may not be our top pick for those types of things. Anyone have recommendations for future cruises that cater more to us "older" folks who don't want to do the ropes course or the water park? We are still very active, though - hikes, dancing, runners, etc, etc.

 

QUOTE]

 

My DH and I aren't into the ropes course/ water park thing either :-)

 

We just did our first cruise to Alaska a few months ago on the Carnival Legend and found the atmosphere to be more to our liking than the Caribbean cruises we have done (not that I would turn down a Caribbean cruise, mind you). The atmosphere just seemed more laid back, less boozy, less loud. People did dance in the atrium lobby every night- several of them were excellent and a joy to watch. People were definitely more interested in the nature talks than the harry chest contest: ) It may be an option to consider for your next cruise.

 

I hope you enjoy your first cruise!

[Stephandboys]

Thank you all for your wonderful experiences and suggestions.

 

Sauer-kraut - I looked at Cunard's Queen Mary 2 offerings. Very nice. May need to save a little longer to reach that goal, but a definite elegant goal. Thank you for the information.

 

And, cruiseonthebrain, an Alaskan cruise was actually my number one choice years ago when thinking about floating on that giant pond. We'll get there, I am sure of it. Thank you for the report.

 

And thank you for all your internet suggestions. We'll piece it together - free WiFi on shore and pay for something while at sea. You have given me a comfort now in starting our new chapter of cruis'in!! :rolleyes: We don't plan to work, per say. We know when to stop. We have no manager - no need. But our clients pay us handsomely to have their 24/7/365 availability. Never in the 15 years of holding their hands, though, has anyone taken advantage. I'm sure there will be no problems we can't handle remotely on this trip either. We travel a lot, just never by sea before. I always make sure we've got some type of connectivity where ever we end up.

 

See you on the Serenity deck!! ;)

[CoW mAn]

I've heard differing opinions on the dress code. We are doing the Cozumel/Progreso cruise, so I know it'll be summer casual dress 99% of the time. But what about the one nice-dinner dress night? Suit for him/dress for me, or is it even more casual than that?

 

Here's the Carnival Dress Code...and maybe one more opinion...

 

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[WinstonWolf1980]

Carnival will have a pricing structure for the internet listed on their website.

 

I wear a suit to the "fancy dinners" but a shirt and tie is also common on those nights.

 

I would recommend Princess for more of an "adult" experience. The ships are more "elegant" and the experience is more geared to the 35+ crowd, than Carnival, etc. If you want a more "international" experience without leaving the US, try MSC out of Miami. On our cruise to the Eastern Caribbean, the majority of passengers were European and South American. The announcements are all in 9 different languages. We took our kids and it was great experience for them. The ship was gorgeous and the main stage shows each night were totally different and high end quality. We were very impressed.

 

 

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[navybankerteacher]

Do not sweat the dress code - collared shirt over chinos will do. Even on more "mature" lines like HAL and Celebrity a jacket and tie over chinos will work on "gala" (or whatever) night's. Cunard is really the only major line where you would need a suit.

[trish1c]

As a business owner, I have always managed to get stuff done from the ship. The internet isn't great but it's an option. Once cruise there was a problem & I had to suck it up & pay for a very expensive phone call back to work but that cost ended up being pennies compared to the profit I made by doing that. Check with your cell carrier to see if you can connect through the ship's cell tower on board. Different lines work with different cell carriers.