if you're bored and feel like answering questions...

[taralu7]

hey! i'm new here. i haven't cruised in 16 years and that was when i was a child of 22 and on my honeymoon. we went to the bahamas on the nordic empress (RC). the ship and sites were great. but being young and inexperienced we didn't get alot out of the experience. then i had a terrible cold and that made it all worse. anyhoo, 16 years and 3 kids later we're going to cruise again. It'll be my husband and i (we're 39), my parents (ages 63 and 59), son 14, daughter 11, nephew 9 and daughter 2. we're leaving on dec. 27th out of New Orleans and we're going on the Carnival Fantasy for 5 days stopping in Cozumel and Progreso. this is our christmas present to each other!

 

we are VERYYYYYYYYYYYY inexperienced cruisers. my parents have been several times with other groups but haven't been involved in the planning or anything other than packing and going. my husband and i are setting up this trip for all of us. we're driving to New Orleans where we have family, so we don't have to worry about hotels there or flying (we live in alabama).

 

does anyone have any advice? anything that you just would like to share. any tips? about carnival, the fantasy, the club carnival (kids' groups), dining, cozumel, progreso, snuba??? anything that you want to share will be appreciated.

 

i know all of you probably know the answers to these questions and i'm sorry if it's all redundant but i can't read every single post on here, although i have been reading up. i want to make the most of our experience.

 

specific questions that i have...

 

has anyone every used camp carnival? for what ages? thoughts? i'd like to try my 2 year old out when we're having a day at sea so that we can check on her frequently. she's never stayed in daycare and i don't know how she'll do. the other kids i'm not worried so much about.

 

how much do you tip? who all do you tip?

 

is it realistic to think that we can avoid the dining room altogether and just eat in the more informal places?

 

snuba? safe or not? relatives that are experienced cruisers (one of which used to scuba) have scared me about it. i was thinking of letting the 9,11, and 14 year old go with my husband and i.

 

any other excursions that are just a must for the kids? i don't think they'd enjoy looking at some of the ruins or going in shops all day.

 

thank you very much for any information you can pass on!

[Uncle Doug]

The preteens will enjoy camp Carnival, the teen may not. At 14 they are too young for the Circle C activities in the club O2.

 

In Cozumel there will be lots of excursions to chose from. The Fury Catamaran, sail and snorkle is one of my favorites. Shopping downtown can be fun. Just seeing how low they will go on price to sell something. Lots of t-shirts for 4 or 5 for $20.

 

Paridise beach in Cozumel is good also. Lots of information over in the port of call section.

 

Pregresso is a little different. Beach is close but not as nice a Cozumel. Shopping not as good as Cozumel. Take the kids to some of the Mayan ruins, great history trip.

[poobears]

As far as tips go, they will automatically be charged. $10 a day per person. My advice is pay them off early so you don't have to worry about coming up with the extra to do it on board. For all of you, tips will run about $400. Get it paid now and that's $400 more you'll have freed up to spend while on the ship or on excursion.

[mcfam5]

 

specific questions that i have...

 

has anyone every used camp carnival? for what ages? thoughts? i'd like to try my 2 year old out when we're having a day at sea so that we can check on her frequently. she's never stayed in daycare and i don't know how she'll do. the other kids i'm not worried so much about. Go ahead and try her, your older kids may also enjoy the activities for their age groups. Be sure to go the parent meeting on the first night of the cruise.

 

how much do you tip? who all do you tip? Auto tips of $10/per person/per day will be added to your Sail & Sign account onboard. If you use the Camp Carnival staff you may want to tip them and the maitre' d, amount is at your discretion. As far as others you may feel inclined to tip over and above the auto tips, again this is at your discretion.

 

is it realistic to think that we can avoid the dining room altogether and just eat in the more informal places? You ca do what ever you like! Heck you could eat room service for every meal for the duration of your trip! I will say our family loves the dining room experience.

 

snuba? safe or not? relatives that are experienced cruisers (one of which used to scuba) have scared me about it. i was thinking of letting the 9,11, and 14 year old go with my husband and i. Can't comment

 

any other excursions that are just a must for the kids? i don't think they'd enjoy looking at some of the ruins or going in shops all day. WHile in Cozumel you would probably enjoy just a beach day, there are many to choose from and would entertain a wide age group. Many have water trampolines, snorkeling equipment, and other water toys available. Usually also have stands for food and drinks.

 

thank you very much for any information you can pass on!

 

HOPE THIS HELPS! :D

[big_duck]

 

is it realistic to think that we can avoid the dining room altogether and just eat in the more informal places?

 

You can eat in the buffet every night if you want, but goodness knows why you would.

[CruiserWKB]

Go to the ports of call section. There are lots of excursions you can find info on there, also private tours if you like.

Tipping is about $10 per day per person, added to your sign and sail card. You can tip more if you like to your room steward and your servers. Tips of 15% are added to all drinks.

You do not have to eat in the dinning room, But try it.

You can buy carnival $$ and have them added to you OBC (on board credit) before your cruise.

 

Hope you enjoy your cruise.

[dlbutler5]

I agree with all the above posters.

Snuba, although I haven't used it because I scuba, is usually a very safe adventure.

One thing to remember about tipping is that it is for everyone in your party. Even your 2 year old will be charge for the $10/day tipping.

[taralu7]

As far as tips go, they will automatically be charged. $10 a day per person. My advice is pay them off early so you don't have to worry about coming up with the extra to do it on board. For all of you, tips will run about $400. Get it paid now and that's $400 more you'll have freed up to spend while on the ship or on excursion.

 

how do i pay it now? is that the on board credit that another poster was referring to? i hate to be so ignorant but i just am. i have no clue about any of this!

 

also, thank you all very much for your input. every bit of it helps. i know i'll have a million questions before we go! i'm obsessed. it's all i can think about and i'm already thinking about when we can go again! LOL

[poptart]

Welcome and I hope you have a wonderful cruise.

 

The Fantasy was our first--so she has a special place in our hearts.

 

Why would you want to skip dinner in the dining room? The food is so much better and you get to sit down and be waited on.

Yes you can skip it and eat at the buffet on lido deck, or have the 24 hour a day pizza and ice cream or room service. Lots of food and places to eat. We only do the dining room for dinner.

 

Plus you don't even have to dress up now. Shorts are fine for all but Elegant night.

 

In Cozumel you can take a cab to Paradise Beach and the kids (adults too) will have a ball.

You can check it out on the ports of call board.

 

I've only been to Progresso once and just shopped around a little--so no info there.

 

My only child is 38--so we've never used Camp Carnival either--but the kids I've seen on the ship while doing some of the activities seemed very happy.

 

Happy Sails!!

[iluvdoxies]

Paradise Beach in Cozumel is awesome---great food and drinks, lots for the kids to do.

 

As others have said, check out the ports of call boards.

 

Have a wonderfull cruise.

[Socref124]

Taralu, Snuba is a safe excursion. I wouldn't hesitate at all.

You can do what ever you want for your meal, however, if you use room service, you need to tip them above your $10 per day. They do not get a piece of that money. Personally, I wouldn't want to skip the main dinning room. You can get a table for 8 for your entire family, but, if you want to eat at the buffet you are more than welcome to eat their. Hope you nguys have a great cruise.

[heatheranne]

how do i pay it now? is that the on board credit that another poster was referring to? i hate to be so ignorant but i just am. i have no clue about any of this!

 

also, thank you all very much for your input. every bit of it helps. i know i'll have a million questions before we go! i'm obsessed. it's all i can think about and i'm already thinking about when we can go again! LOL

 

You can prepay your tips by calling your PVP, TA, or whomever your booked with, & taking care of it just like you did paying for the cruise fare. If you don't do it this way, then the very first charge on your S&S account will be the $10pp/day tips, which for an 8-day cruise, family of 5, will be $400. We always prepay ours, considering it part of the cruise fare, & i don't like to see a big entry right off the top of my S&S bill ;)

 

You can also buy Carnival dollars to use for your S&S account. You buy them in various amounts online at the Carnival website, & instead of having them mailed to you, put your Booking Number in for your street address & they will apply them as credit to your Onboard Account. Folks do this to prepay their onboad tabs so they don't have to use a credit card. If you use cash (or Carnival dollars) to secure your onboad account, & have leftover monies at the end of the cruise, they will slip a check for the remainder under your cabin door the last night. You can get it cashed at the Purser's Desk before you leave, if you want to.

 

Hope that helps clarify a little :D

[suzyjack]

Just my two cents-

Carefully read the Carnival pamphlet "Know before you go"

Your cabin only has one outlet, take a strip or one of those plug ins that has extras.

When you get on the ship- read the capers-it has all the activities- try a couple of new things even if it sounds corny- it may be fun.

Try the dining room- it is a great experience. If you don't enjoy it, don't go back.

 

The more positive you are about embracing new things the more your kids will be also.

Tipping is all in the eyes of the tipper- Guidelines vary, depending on who you talk to- as some else said Carnival does auto tipping which is split 3 ways- 3.50 Per Day Stateroom Services

$ 5.50 Per Day Dining Room Services

$ 1.00 Per Day Alternative Services: distributed to other kitchen and hotel service staff

If you feel have received excellent service and wish to tip extra- then feel free to do so.

The baggage porters usually get 1 or 2 dollars per bag, and possibly the salon staff if you use their services.

Tipping the Matre D is a hot topic on these boards- there are people who apparantly tip everyone they come in contact with and people who don't tip anyone. You have to do what you feel comfortable with.

 

I find that one notebook, I use a three ring binder, with all of our papers is helpfull- B/certificates, paid receipts for excursions, itineraries, any correspondence from Carnival, etc. Keeps it all in one place and easy to access.

Like I said - just my two cents.

Don't sweat the small stuff, your on vacation- enjoy.

[cjbumble]

My DD went on her first Carnival cruise when she was 7. We had to practically drag her out of the place, and that was when it was closing. She had a great time. Can't tell you about the older or younger ones though.

CJ

[Ehpride]

They'll give you a pager for your 2 year old so that if you need to pick her up, they can contact you. Also 9-11 year olds can sign themselves out of Camp Carnival. I don't have kids but that's what I do know about Camp Carnival.

 

Don't forget to link your booking numbers so that they'll seat you all together at dinner. You don't ever have to go there, but I highly recommend it! I will say that my uncle did go a couple nights to the dining room and then decided that he liked eating dinner at the buffett better. So try it and then decide.

 

I do recommend the 24 hour ice cream. It's pretty tasty :)

 

In Cozumel there are a ton of things to do. There are a bunch of beaches and Paradise Beach is great. There's also a museum in downtown San Miguel if that's something that you're interested in. The ruins are actually on the mainland so you'd have to take a ferry to get there.

[heatheranne]

...

how much do you tip? who all do you tip?

 

is it realistic to think that we can avoid the dining room altogether and just eat in the more informal places?

 

snuba? safe or not? relatives that are experienced cruisers (one of which used to scuba) have scared me about it. i was thinking of letting the 9,11, and 14 year old go with my husband and i.

 

...

 

Tipping -

We prepay the standard tip amount & tip above that as we see fit. Usually:

 

• $1 per bag for porters at each end of the journey (having one at debarkation usually means you go straight to the front of the line at Customs, which tends to irritate the people standing in line, but gets you out much, much quicker!)
  
• $1-2 per Room Service delivery - if you're having meals for all 5 of you delivered at once, you might increase the tip amount another dollar or two
  
• 15% is added to every drink (booze & soda), but i've been known to tip a particularly nice bartender &/or server extra; my husband says i'm over-generous, but hey! i'm on vacation :D
  
• Tipping your Maitre d' is customary on the last evening, but again, it's up to you. Remember that if you have no problems at all in the dining room & no reason to ever speak to the Maitre d', he/she has done his/her job. We tip maybe $5 then; the one time the Maitre d' solved a huge problem for some friends of ours by getting them reassigned to our table, we tipped $20, i think.
  
• If you eat in the dining room several nights, & find you have excellent service, you can tip extra to your head waiter &/or assistant waiter. Our last cruise, our head waiter was DREADFUL, but his assistant was very good. I tipped her the last night with the entire amount i'd originally set aside for both of them. He still got his share of the automatic prepaid tips, but certainly didn't deserve a penny more.
  
• You may decide to tip your Room Steward more than his/her allocated amount, especially if you require extra attention. There is much debate about whether or not to do it at the beginning, to ensure good service (bribe? some say so!), or afterwards, to reward excellent service.
  
• If you tip your hairdresser, massage therapist, nail tech, etc, at home, then you'll probably do so onboard if you avail yourself of any of the Spa/Salon services.

Hope this helps :D

 

SNUBA - we haven't done it, but a friend of mine did with his 11-year-old boy & they loved loved loved it ... came back raving about it so wildly that his older brothers (13 & 15) were seriously jealous that they'd opted out, thinking it was going to be "g@y"

[busdriver161]

We went on our 1st cruise in April. We had decided that we did not want to go to the dining room, but we tried it and feel in love with it. We never missed a night in the dining room. We loved being served and the food was excellent! So please try it! We did not prepay our tips and I wish we would have. I think it would be much easier. We did pay for our excursion before we left and if you can do that it is easier. Have fun!!!:)

[old sole]

hey! i'm new here. Welcome ! You've come to the right place. Lots of very knowledgeable and very friendly and helpful people here.

does anyone have any advice? anything that you just would like to share. any tips? about carnival, the fantasy, the club carnival (kids' groups), dining, cozumel, progreso, snuba??? anything that you want to share will be appreciated.

 

i know all of you probably know the answers to these questions and i'm sorry if it's all redundant but i can't read every single post on here, although i have been reading up. i want to make the most of our experience.

 

specific questions that i have...

 

has anyone every used camp carnival? for what ages? thoughts? i'd like to try my 2 year old out when we're having a day at sea so that we can check on her frequently. she's never stayed in daycare and i don't know how she'll do. the other kids i'm not worried so much about.Never had one younger than 8 along, but at 8&9 and at 10&11 our grandkids really liked the kid's programs. Carnival's are excellent. Our grandkids actually said they liked it better than Disney's when we asked them to compare. My hunch is that has a lot to do with the fact that they were actually ON the Carnival cruise at the time we asked, but nevertheless, it was a good experience for them.

 

how much do you tip? who all do you tip? Others have answered perfectly.

 

is it realistic to think that we can avoid the dining room altogether and just eat in the more informal places? Oh, please don't ! You absolutely could if you insist, the buffet restaurant is open anytime the dining rooms are (plus some), and you can get hamburgers, hot dogs, and deli sandwiches most waking hours, and pizza 24 hrs a day, plus room service 24 hrs, but the food and the service is just so good in the dining rooms I hate to think about you missing out. I really think you would enjot it. Please try it for dinner at least once early in your cruise and then decide if you want to go back I'll bet you will.

 

snuba? safe or not? relatives that are experienced cruisers (one of which used to scuba) have scared me about it. i was thinking of letting the 9,11, and 14 year old go with my husband and i. No knowledge here

 

any other excursions that are just a must for the kids? I don't know much about Progresso except that it is the most convenient port to the ruins at Chichen Itza. That is a very impressive place and while I don't know your kids, I'd have to think they'd find it interesting. Thay don't let you climb the pyramid anymore, but there are still plenty of places to explore, climb around and in general burn off some energy. Besides, it's good for them to be exposed to some history now & then. Cozumel is the place for beach/swim with dolphins and other stuff kids would more naturally gravitate to. Go to the ports of call boards, lots of information there. i don't think they'd enjoy looking at some of the ruins or going in shops all day.

 

thank you very much for any information you can pass on!

 

You're going to have a blast. Keep researching. That's half the fun!

[ratherBcruizin']

I've been on plenty of cruises where I never stepped foot in the dining room. So yes, you can and you probably won't be the only one. You could try it and then decide. When I was younger (in my 20's) I didn't enjoy the dining room much at all but loved to cruise. We just ate in the buffet, got room service and ate on the balcony, or got pizza. No biggie.

 

My daughter is now 4 and has been on 4 cruises. She has yet to be in any of the kid's club. She is timid and just prefers to be with us. She had never been in daycare/preschool before. We've had a blast on each cruise. Next time (she'll be 5 by then) I think she'll go. She has been in preschool now, knows what to expect, and is more comfortable with it and has really come out of her shell. You can and will still have a great time even if you child doesn't go into Camp Carnival.

 

Have fun planning! It's so exciting.

[denisey]

Just my two cents-

When you get on the ship- read the capers-it has all the activities- try a couple of new things even if it sounds corny- it may be fun.

 

Take several different color highlighters with you. In the Capers there is a list of activities. You can highlight what the different family members might like to do (pink for Susie, Blue for Bobby, Green for Dad, Yellow for Mom...) The list is so long, I usually miss something, unless I have it highlighted.

 

Have a great trip!

[poobears]

Like mentioned just call whoever you booked with and prepay your tips directly. Buying carnival $$'s is a good idea too. I think I'll do that next year when the kids go with us. That way they will have $$ in their accounts.

 

If you have excellent service you can tip over. We tipped our room steward, our waiter and our assistant waiter extra because they were amazing.

 

We did NOT tip the Matre'D because he never came around the last night. We had his tip ready but he never showed. I figured if he couldn't take the time to come around then he didn't need a tip. Others may disagree but that's how we felt about it.

[poobears]

You'll also want to take $$ to tip the porters that take your luggage from you when you get to the garage. Standard is about $2 per bag. Also tip your excursion guides (we do $10 per person for when it's DH and myself).

 

Yes it seems like a lot of $$ going out on tips but these are the people that are working to make your cruise experience a fantastic one. Well worth the price.

[heatheranne]

...

We did NOT tip the Matre'D because he never came around the last night. We had his tip ready but he never showed. I figured if he couldn't take the time to come around then he didn't need a tip. Others may disagree but that's how we felt about it.

 

There is usually a box set up at the entrance to the dining room on the last evening; you can slip your tip for the Maitre d' in there.

 

(Not disagreeing ... just mentioning :) )

[Nuttycruisegirl]

Take several different color highlighters with you. In the Capers there is a list of activities. You can highlight what the different family members might like to do (pink for Susie, Blue for Bobby, Green for Dad, Yellow for Mom...) The list is so long, I usually miss something, unless I have it highlighted.

 

Have a great trip!

Great idea! I'm going to do this too! Thanks!:)

[Guest carlogesualdo]

Originally Posted by denisey

Take several different color highlighters with you. In the Capers there is a list of activities. You can highlight what the different family members might like to do (pink for Susie, Blue for Bobby, Green for Dad, Yellow for Mom...) The list is so long, I usually miss something, unless I have it highlighted.

 

Have a great trip!

 

Great idea! I'm going to do this too! Thanks!:)

 

So that's what the highlighters are for! People keep saying bring them, but they never say why... Just like duct tape...

 

Lucky for me, highlighters never leave the backpack and the backpack always travels with me. Now I just have to find a pencil to wrap some duct tape around and I'll be set. (FYI, the duct tape is for holding balcony doors open when the bungee cords don't work, or holding the drawers closed in rough seas, or holding yourself together in that special dress - although this last recommendation I HIGHLY do NOT recommend.)