What "rookie" mistakes did you learn from?

[Maxax]

Not necessarily a rookie mistake...but a sophomore mistake. On my second cruise...after sort of knowing what to expect. I went hog wild...first morning...at the breakfast buffet....I WAY OVER ATE!!! You would have thought it was my last meal....and almost was. I was literally sick the rest of the day...and have NEVER done that again!

 

We also now...bring our own snorkling gear with us. Its not that big of a pain to haul around...a small pain...but not a huge pain...and its better to us....than sharing spit with 5,000 other cruisers!

[summer08bride]

I guess we are still newbies since we have only cruised once, and just booked our second cruise today!

 

This time around I found a better way to book, where people compete for your business, and got a better quote than I would have thought I could otherwise.

 

Last time, I learned that you could order two appetizers instead of a salad and appetizer at dinner, if you want. (I love to try different appetizers, but am not a salad person). I also learned you can check the dinner menu on your room TV! (This time around, I learned you can also check it online before you go, to help decide which night to book the dinner club)

 

We also learned about the different types of rooms (last time we booked an inside guarantee and got bumped up up to an obstructed view OV) and ended up booking an oceanview midship.

[Lady_Jag]

I learn something new every cruise!

 

My first cruise, I learned that not all cruise ships are alike. (We sailed the Big Red Boat in 1995, and felt like we were on a tug boat when it docked next to the Carnival ships in the Bahamas!)

 

My second cruise was 6 years later. I learned that a 4:00 debarkation time was NOT a boarding time. (We almost missed the ship!)

 

My third cruise (1st balcony room) I learned NEVER EVER EVER open the cabin door when the balcony door is propped open!!:eek: I was trying to be stealthy and enjoy a little hot tea/room service at 7 one morning while hubby slept, and the wind tunnel that resulted from this scenario was commical to say the least!

 

Let's just say it's hard to tip someone when you're trying to hold onto your Carnival robe to avoid a "free show," take a humongous room service tray with hot tea on it, and catch all the menus, price lists, and Capers that are flying out the door and down the hall!

 

My fourth cruise, I learned that cold fronts on the open sea create 12-foot swells, and no matter WHERE you or your cabin is on the ship (ours was as far forward as possible), if you're at all prone to motion sickness, you're goning to get sick.

[wcurry66]

Over packing.. Now I pack, then cull to half of whatever I started with

 

Over commit - one our first cruise, I highlighted an activity for every time period. last time, we spent half out time in the room, reconnecting. MUCH more relaxed at the end of that cruise

 

Missing the Supper Club. The 3 hour multi-course experience the high light of our cruises

 

Not bringing an extra bag for the additional items I'll pick up during the cruise. And had to purchase whatever they had in the gift shop - at whatever price they chose to charge

 

Hitting buffet tables at shortly after they open. Much more relaxing to wait for a few

 

Attending the shore talk meetings. There's a reason they throw our give-aways... otherwise, people would not sit still for what is mostly an info-mercial

 

Excursions - rookie mistake.. booking an excursion at the port. Sophmore mistake - deciding to go it alone with having a rough idea of what we were going to do

 

Owning others misery - first couple cruises, a really angry, rude, upset person who have an effect on me.. I'd wory about if I did something rude. or what I did to ocntribute to the situation, what I should do differently next time. Now, I understand, some people are out for a bad time. Only I can allow their rants to impact me

[cruiserbryce]

I would love to say that learned from packing too much but we didnt...we still do it although we are getting a little bit better

[SAAdds1]

I fell for the Tipping the matire d because it was required scam.. I thought it was a requirement until I read up on it. Unless they do a service to you personally.

 

What? I thought we were supposed to tip him at the end of the cruise. You mean, we're not? Is that for real?

[Lady_Jag]

What? I thought we were supposed to tip him at the end of the cruise. You mean, we're not? Is that for real?

 

It's not a "required" tip. Some cruises,we've tipped the matire 'd because he actually made an effort to make us comfortable during our cruise. Others, he got diddly squat, because we only saw him on the last night with his hand out.

[janabm81]

#1: Packing too much for our 3 boys...I now realize that they don't care as much as I do about wearing the same thing more than once.:o

 

#2: Not looking at all cruise lines and prices before we book...We were told by friends that nothing beats RCCL so that's all we went on...Now I've seen the prices of Carnival and it looks pretty darn good to me.:cool:

 

#3: Deciding to do our own walking tour of Nassau and getting a little lost...Can any one say Ghetto?!?:eek:

 

We've also been subject to all the other mistakes at sometime or another. It seems every cruise we take we learn something new.:)

[GinDon]

One mistake we made was not realizing that the waterslides on Carnival are not open 24/7. A couple of times we tried to go there, and it was not open. Soon learned to check the times in the Capers.

 

While we're discussing the water slide, I learned on the first time down, that it's fun to scream all the way down, but it's a good idea to close your mouth BEFORE you get to the bottom!

[jskinsd]

On lobster night it is OK to have two helpings of lobster or as many combinations of the main meal you would like. Just let the waiter know in advance when you place your your dinner order.

[SAAdds1]

It's not a "required" tip. Some cruises,we've tipped the matire 'd because he actually made an effort to make us comfortable during our cruise. Others, he got diddly squat, because we only saw him on the last night with his hand out.

 

See, that's what I didn't know. I thought everyone was supposed to tip him because he was the one who made the dining room run so efficiently. On most of our cruised, the only time we've ever seen the him was on the last night, when we came around to all of the tables.

[littlebird00]

I've learned so much here! I don't cruise for a LONG time, but I look on these boards almost every day. :p

 

Someone mentioned that the pool is salt water. Is that true for all ships? I hate swimming in salt water. Blech.

 

Speaking of ginger...Just a little tid bit, when you're at home and have the stomach flu, buy an actual ginger root from the produce section of any grocery store, cut off the skin (like a carrot), cut it into cubes and boil it for about 5 minutes. Take out the cubes and drink the "tea". You'll feel better almost instantly. Like aloe, the real plant always works better.

 

I don't know if all the ships are salt water, but I imagine they are, and the Conquest was. YES you get very very tired of salt water, and it dried out my face so bad. We finally got in a regular pool the last port day and it was wonderful!

 

As far as mistakes, we packed WAY too much, even after reading several times on here not to...so people are probably gonna do it anyways! Oh and I wish I would have brought my own shampoo and conditioner, and good lotion. All I had was Victorias Secret Lotion, and it burned really bad on a sunburn!

[Senoj84]

I paid no attention to eating in the dining room for breakfast on my first cruise. My last cruise in Oct I went and ate breakfast in the dining room and it was great. I missed out my first cruise. Also, I've learned from my first cruise to always eat fruit with my meals to help me stay regular. I have yet to attend sail away. I've missed that on every cruise.

[Tommieb14257]

On our most recent cruise........

When the teenage children come home to the cabin @ 12:30am, more like 1:30am make sure they are aware to shut the cabin door FIRMLY, and twist the lock.

Nothing more surprising that waking up @ 2:00am to find light coming in.

FROM THE CORRIDOR.

The slight rocking eventually swings the door open, I'm sure everyone enjoyed my snoring!

[minniem64]

Balconey club is when you ahem' date=' on the balconey. Like the mile high club on a plane. Does anyone know if it counts if you are alone?[/quote']

 

:cool:

[Cobra1365]

We always used to do early dining to stay on a normal eating schedule...but that meant we were rushed on port days. Last cruise we did late dining and loved it. So from now on, we do late dining.

 

Made the mistake of tipping the room steward a little something up front. well it must have been more than he usually rec'd since he didn't do jack the rest of the cruise. We adjusted his normal tip accordingly.

 

The overpacking thing....yeah well, YOU tell my wife she shouldn't pack that much!;) I tried!

 

We love sitting in the main atrium by the gangway and watching everyone's fce when they step inside the ship. You can usually tell the first timers as their jaws are hanging open!:) We get a drink and sit and people watch. That is, AFTER we have checked our dining situation, gone to the cabin and dropped our carry ons, and hit the LIDO buffet.

 

The biggest thing I think newbies do wrong though....is listen to all the naysayers on here! Just because someone got sea sick at the front of a ship doesn't mean you will. Just because some one didn't feel good after 14 lobsters doesn't mean you will...along those lines, just because someone ordered 14 lobsters, doesn't mean you SHOULD!

 

People have to WORK to make me mad on a cruise...I'm amazed at how many people make the comment that it "ruined the cruise for them". I think the key is, you are on vacation...not only that, but you are on a cruise! Go with the intent of having a good time. Think things through and you'll be safe and have an enjoyable experience...vacation means leave work behind...not your common sense and good judgement!

 

Oh! And if ou are going to join the Balcony Club, don't get acrobatic! We don't need anymore Man Overboard threads!

[SCUBADOO414]

Wow! This thread is fantastic!

 

Even though this will only be my first cruise, I've already learned a valuable lesson. Only work with a reputable travel agent. I recently dropped our travel agent and decided to work directly with a PVP at Carnival. It was the best thing I couldn've done. Since we booked on the DREAM, our travel agent had no idea how to answer my many questions... my PVP answers everything and whatever he doesn't know, knows where to get the information.

 

Just my 2 cents worth on the subject! :D

 

Happy Cruising!

[themnms]

on our most recent cruise........

When the teenage children come home to the cabin @ 12:30am, more like 1:30am make sure they are aware to shut the cabin door firmly, and twist the lock.

Nothing more surprising that waking up @ 2:00am to find light coming in.

From the corridor.

The slight rocking eventually swings the door open, i'm sure everyone enjoyed my snoring!

 

lol this is too funny!!!

[disneygirlj]

This is our first Carnival cruise and we are on Deck 8 in the front. After reading this, I am worried that it will be loud from engines and I'll be sea sick. We have 2 adults and 3 kids in an inside cabin. Is there a way to upgrade or change our cabins? Our cruise is already paid for and we leave on April 20th. Also, is there a way to check out specific cabins -- the pictures on the carnival website seem pretty generic. Thank you!

[caesar68]

The biggest thing I think newbies do wrong though....is listen to all the naysayers on here! Just because someone got sea sick at the front of a ship doesn't mean you will. Just because some one didn't feel good after 14 lobsters doesn't mean you will...along those lines, just because someone ordered 14 lobsters, doesn't mean you SHOULD!

 

People have to WORK to make me mad on a cruise...I'm amazed at how many people make the comment that it "ruined the cruise for them". I think the key is, you are on vacation...not only that, but you are on a cruise! Go with the intent of having a good time. Think things through and you'll be safe and have an enjoyable experience...vacation means leave work behind...not your common sense and good judgement!

!

 

 

I agree 100%

[nbsjcruiser]

Sometimes, it is easy to forget that we all were ONCE cruise newbies.....

 

I remember my first cruise - for the most part we were lost. Well before Cruise Critic, I didnt know about booking excursions, booking a good room, etc.

 

What mistakes did you make as a newbie - that you learned from - and have used that knowledge in future cruises??

 

For us... it was room selection. We were offered a guaranteed 4a - and scooped it up. We originally booked a 4 day Royal Caribbean, but our TA called us with this offer. When we got our cabin, we had M11 - way in the FRONT of the Ecstacy. Well, I was sick all week.

 

 

SInce then, I book middle cabins - and balconies for the fresh air!!

 

Maybe some of the newbies now can learn from our mistakes!

 

We learned so much from our first cruise on the Fantasy.

Stay away from ship excursions. Too expensive and you can do you own for far cheaper.

Bring you "over the counter" medicines. We assumed what we bought at our local drugstore could be bought anywhere. Wrong.

Don't put all your clothes in one suitcase and your wife's all in another and so on. Mix them up. That way if a suitcase goes missing, everyone will have something.

Travel 2 days early for your cruise if going in the winter. You don't want to be stuck in an airport somewhere knowing your cruise is leaving in 5 or 6 hours.

[Cobra1365]

This is our first Carnival cruise and we are on Deck 8 in the front. After reading this, I am worried that it will be loud from engines and I'll be sea sick. We have 2 adults and 3 kids in an inside cabin. Is there a way to upgrade or change our cabins? Our cruise is already paid for and we leave on April 20th. Also, is there a way to check out specific cabins -- the pictures on the carnival website seem pretty generic. Thank you!

 

 

See my comments two posts above yours.

 

First, the engines are aft...not fwd on the ship...what people are referring to is the bow thrusters. You will hear/feel them on the smallers ships if you are in the lower decks. But even then, only while manuevering in ports...not at sea.

I have had a forward cabin on EVERY cruise and have not been sea sick...even sailing through storms.

If you go in worried about being sick, you'll find yourself anticipating every little movement of the ship. Go and look forward to having fun!

What ship are you sailing on?

Upgrades may still be possible though you are getting close. Inside cabins can be sensory depriving...no ambient light to give you a sense of time. Take a night light! If you can upgrade, at least get an ocean view...you will be happier and more comfortable.

Checking out specific cabins...I think you'd have to hope someone can post pics...or some reviews of ships by travel agents have pictures of various cabins.

 

Call Carnival and see what sort of Upsells they might still have open.

 

Most of all, HAVE FUN!

[nbsjcruiser]

This is our first Carnival cruise and we are on Deck 8 in the front. After reading this, I am worried that it will be loud from engines and I'll be sea sick. We have 2 adults and 3 kids in an inside cabin. Is there a way to upgrade or change our cabins? Our cruise is already paid for and we leave on April 20th. Also, is there a way to check out specific cabins -- the pictures on the carnival website seem pretty generic. Thank you!

 

You'll be fine. Don't change stuff now. You won't hear the engines and if you're worried about sea sickness, visit the pursers desk and get those little patches they put behind your ear. I don't need them but from what I've heard, they work. Deep breath time - relax and go with the flow. You're gonna be fine.

[nbsjcruiser]

I've learned so much here! I don't cruise for a LONG time, but I look on these boards almost every day. :p

 

Someone mentioned that the pool is salt water. Is that true for all ships? I hate swimming in salt water. Blech.

 

Speaking of ginger...Just a little tid bit, when you're at home and have the stomach flu, buy an actual ginger root from the produce section of any grocery store, cut off the skin (like a carrot), cut it into cubes and boil it for about 5 minutes. Take out the cubes and drink the "tea". You'll feel better almost instantly. Like aloe, the real plant always works better.

 

I'm a big believe in ginger. I run it through a juice extractor and take one tablespoon in the morning. Does wonders for acid reflux if you stay on that regimen for 3 weeks. Also, I brought 5 or 6 ginger tea bags on our most recent cruise. The seas were rough this year and on 2 sea days I was feeling a little off. A cup of ginger tea and I was as good as new.

[lds26]

I'm a big believe in ginger. I run it through a juice extractor and take one tablespoon in the morning. Does wonders for acid reflux if you stay on that regimen for 3 weeks. Also, I brought 5 or 6 ginger tea bags on our most recent cruise. The seas were rough this year and on 2 sea days I was feeling a little off. A cup of ginger tea and I was as good as new.

 

Wow I never thought of ginger tea. I will have to look at my local health food store to find some good tea bags. I have been on two cruises and so far didnt feel sea sick very much. But it might be great for my son who is 6 and gets car sick often.