What "rookie" mistakes did you learn from?

[charlesjoy]

Not packing "deck clothes" (bathing suit, t-shirt, sandals) in our carry on luggage. We didn't know our luggage wouldn't be at our room until dinner or later.

 

Not carrying on some "hidden" liquor. sssshhhhh. I didn't say that out loud. It's just that I really like Baileys and the ships don't have it. They pawn some other Irish cream liquor off as Baileys.

 

Going all in with an ace-high straight on the flop on the electronic hold'em table. Most players on the cruise are chasers so you can't bet them off a hand and the tables are set to play out BIG hands and a full house beat me on the river. Remember that the tables play BIG hands - flushes, full houses, four-of-a-kinds... haven't seen a straight flush yet, but it's bound to happen.

 

Booking an interior room (actually made this mistake for our upcoming cruise). How do you renew your balcony club membership when you don't have a balcony?

 

Enjoying reading this thread. What is the Balcony Club?

[HawaiiFiveOh]

Enjoying reading this thread. What is the Balcony Club?

 

 

Think "Mile High Club" on the seas, or failing that.....umm doing a vertical dance on the balcony. Or.....what you do with your spouse to make babies, on the balcony :D:D:D

 

I plan on becoming a member in oooh about 10 days or so ;) I just have to see what all the hype is about having a balcony :cool:

 

Robin

[SCUBADOO414]

Think "Mile High Club" on the seas, or failing that.....umm doing a vertical dance on the balcony. Or.....what you do with your spouse to make babies, on the balcony :D:D:D

 

I plan on becoming a member in oooh about 10 days or so ;) I just have to see what all the hype is about having a balcony :cool:

 

Robin

 

Geez! Is it too late to get connecting balcony rooms?!?! :p

[HawaiiFiveOh]

Geez! Is it too late to get connecting balcony rooms?!?! :p

 

 

LOL Ummmmmm.....:o

 

Robin

[Familyforce6]

#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.:)

 

What kind of walking tour did you do? My DH downloaded a historic walking tour of Nassau on the internet that we would do on our own. I don't want to end up somewhere I don't feel comfortable.:(

[fruitbat]

What kind of walking tour did you do? My DH downloaded a historic walking tour of Nassau on the internet that we would do on our own. I don't want to end up somewhere I don't feel comfortable.:(

 

We did one from Frommer's, I think, and LOVED it! Loved being able to stay as long as we liked or move past something we didn't find interesting. We didn't get lost; it was well laid-out and very interesting.

[Familyforce6]

We did one from Frommer's, I think, and LOVED it! Loved being able to stay as long as we liked or move past something we didn't find interesting. We didn't get lost; it was well laid-out and very interesting.

 

That is the one we are doing! Cool! :D

[birdofsong]

Er... will you please elaborate? I'm a "rookie" and I just booked a guaranteed cabin so any clarification would be greatly appreciated!

 

Thanks!

 

I've personally never had a problem booking a guarantee. The cabins are the same. You may, perhaps, get one closer to the elevator or on one particular end of the ship, but that's pretty much it. No worries.

[Rapunzel41]

We're debating booking our first cruise, for December 2009. I've made a list of all your tips and suggestions and we'll do our best to stick with them!

 

FYI:

 

We're looking at Carnival Glory to the Westner Caribbean. Any thoughts?

[crazy cajun]

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!

 

I'm booked w/ a (reputable) TA, Won't make that mistake again. Called to ask about chance of up sell or up grade and she had no clue of what i was talking about, PVP all the way next time.

[oceanoffire17]

Just a newbie tip that I never discovered til after several cruises. Probably everyone knows, but the public bathrooms have a red dot by the handle when they are locked and in use. If it is free, the dot is white. Helps not to have to bend and look under the stall doors.

 

 

I always stand around wondering if any are free, and then look under the doors after five minutes. It's mighty awkward...

[flatfoot41]

booking a guaranty, this means you get the rooms noone else wants.

 

booked an OV gnty saw balcony gnty was $20 cheaper. switched to that and got an 8h!

[SCUBADOO414]

I'm booked w/ a (reputable) TA, Won't make that mistake again. Called to ask about chance of up sell or up grade and she had no clue of what i was talking about, PVP all the way next time.

 

Yeah, that's bad news. Some of these TA's really need to do their homework.

Have fun on your upcoming cruise nonetheless!!! :)

[YoungCruisererz]

Bring a power strip because there aren't enough outlets.

[disneygirlj]

Thank you for the feedback about my concerns re: seasickness from a forward cabin. You all make sense and I think I will relax and enjoy my cruise. We are bringing the ear patch things just in case. I like the ginger tea idea that someone talked about too. I am going to call my PVP tomorrow and just check on upgrades.

 

Thanks!

[Lady_Jag]

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.

 

A cheap alternative is Ginger Altoids. They worked great on my last cruise (and kept my breath smelling fresh. :D)

[Andrea72]

Okay, so here is my rookie mistake. I was afraid of getting sea sick so I started taking Bonine right away to ward off problems. Turns out, Bonine wipes me out. I know, I know...Bonine is supposed to cause less drowsiness that Dramamine. I can only assume that with Dramamine, I'd be in a coma. I missed out on a day of my cruise, because I was sleeping the whole time. I've since determined I don't get sea sick. However, I still bring ginger "just in case".

 

My friend's rookie mistake caused the rest of us to laugh, but only in the 3 stooges kind of way. He told all of us he was going to get "a good base tan". He is a pale guy from Philly. He was certainly not prepared for the sun in the Caribbean. He was neon red by the afternoon of the 1st sea day. Bring a good sun screen and apply often :)

[nancydee]

my 1st rookie mistake was booking a snorkling excursion only to realize that I am afraid of deep water!!

 

I enjoyed the day tho - sitting on the catamaran drinking rum punch lol

 

My 2nd rookie mistake was not realizing how fast rum punch hits you while sitting on a catamaran in the sun lmao

[MoCookies]

My husband's rookie mistake was getting horribly sunburned early on his first cruise. We spent a fortune on aloe gel that week, and he missed out on some great stuff because he wasn't feeling well. Despite my warnings, one of my friends did the same thing on this last cruise; she couldn't hang out with us on the deck much on the other sea day because she was so miserable in the sun. APPLY AND REAPPLY SUNSCREEN!

 

Also, the more I travel, the more I realize that I've packed more than I need. I'd rather rewear a few things than have to lug around a bunch of clothes I never needed. My goal for my next trip is to manage with only a small carry-on bag.

[Truck Cruiser]

Trying to do everything in the capers. Rushing from activity to activity. I was more tired when I got off the boat then I was when I got on. I never just relaxed

 

Boy do I agree with that statement! Last cruise we had a balcony for the first time, always had inside before, We spent more time in the room and on our balcony and missed alot of the events going on and let me tell you I was more relaxed after that cruise then any other we ever took.

 

Doing our own thing instead of the cruise lines excursions is another thing we have learned.

[nlt46]

I learned many of the same things a lot of you have mentioned, but there is one thing I learned... I haven't seen written up. It was our 4th cruise and we were on the Spirit north bound in Alaska. We docked and were being taken by bus to Anchorage. We checked our bags with the airline right as we docked and they were checking them for us so that we didn't have to carry them around all day. Well.... I left our coupon for the bus for the two of us in one of the bags. There was no getting it back... the bags were gone with the wind to the airport and we were left with the buses to get to Anchorage. Some nice bus driver let us on the bus and we got very small so that he wouldn't notice us for the trip. He did ask, "Are you sure you didn't get a coupon for the bus?"

I didn't know that it would be needed. That would never happen again. Nancy

[MaiTaiMary]

Wow, what a great thread! :D I'm almost done reading the entire thing.

 

One thing is standing out that I really don't "get".

 

Room service.:confused:

 

What is the big appeal?

 

 

I've been on one previous cruise and it never occured to me to order room service. We were hardly in our cabin at all. (but then again, we have a balcony cabin this time; last time was in inside!)

 

For those of you who recommended it, why and when? What am I missin' here? :D

 

 

Thanks again for all the tips!!!

[AJeray4TN]

I don't really feel like I made many rookie mistakes... but it was all thanks to Cruise Critic! The information that one can gain on these boards is invaluable. Thanks!:D

 

Wait... scratch that...

 

Rookie Mistake: Going out and buying the BIGGEST freakin' Bubba Keg I could find. The first mistake was the size and carrying it on with me. I had to keep up with that thing for like three hours. It sucked! It kept falling over and getting in the way. After the first 30 minutes on board, I just wanted to toss it in the trash. (Actually tried, but it didn't fit;)) Second part of the mistake was taking a giant mimosa with me to the port in the aforementioned Bubba Keg. I don't know why I thought that I would be allowed to carry this with me. I mean I knew I couldn't carry it on the ship, but I thought I could sip on it while we waited to get on. Nope. Had to dump it at the door, then keep up with a five pound (EMPTY) keg until about 2:00pm when our roomed opened up. NEVER AGAIN!

[KULPN]

Wow, what a great thread! :D I'm almost done reading the entire thing.

 

One thing is standing out that I really don't "get".

 

Room service.:confused:

 

What is the big appeal?

 

 

I've been on one previous cruise and it never occured to me to order room service. We were hardly in our cabin at all. (but then again, we have a balcony cabin this time; last time was in inside!)

 

For those of you who recommended it, why and when? What am I missin' here? :D

 

 

Thanks again for all the tips!!!

sometimes in the middle of the day, we take rest period & I get a hankering for something & call room service.

[KULPN]

LOL Ummmmmm.....:o

 

Robin

Mistakes I made as a newbie:

 

1. didn't know about Cruise Critic...oh the things I know now!

2. didn't know a porthole room costs the same as an inside

3. booked all excursions on the ship

4. balconies are a waste of money for us....we are never in the room or on them

5. overpacked!!!!

6. try to go to everything

7..take meds for seasickness that made me sicker than seasickness would have

8. but too many things in port, only to end up in a closet

9. I buy way too many photos!

10. I was spending way too much for my cruises.

11. didn't know I could bring a power strip

12. had no idea what an OBC was or how to look for one