What "rookie" mistakes did you learn from?

[dreaming-a-way]

[quote name='mamasue']Not realising room service and sushi were free.....
missed out on a whole lot of good stuff!!
And... going to the art auction, thinking there was actually ART there!!![/quote]


[COLOR=red]and what is it?[/COLOR]

[wayne_trisha]

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

Thanks![/QUOTE]

GTYs are not always bad. I booked a balcony GTY on the Freedom over Thanksgiving. We were upgraded (if you want to call it that) and near midship. I'm very happy with my cabin.

[wayne_trisha]

[quote name='theeviltwin']For me, it was not researching the ports and having an idea of what we wanted to do. Once we got onboard, most of the decent Carnival sponsored excursions were sold out and wound up with the leftovers.

Now I research ahead of time, figure out what we want to do, and for the most part go with independent tour operators.[/QUOTE]

That is so true for us. Our first cruise we obviously had no idea what to do and our second cruise was during my return from a year long remote military assignment combined with moving the family from CA to GA. I didn't have time to research ports and the cruise wasn't much fun.

48 days until Freedom where we spent time months ago figuring out what to do.

[wayne_trisha]

Overpacking is always a problem but for us I think it was trying to read the daily schedule and make as many events as we could. Not again. Now it is pool and calling the bar person over. Our last cruise was on the soverign out of PC and we never went to the dining room and attended only one scheduled activity, a trivia game, during our 3 days. IT WAS FABULOUS! I think it was our best cruise out of 4 because we did exactly what we wanted without rushing anywhere.

[halos]

Fortunately, we haven't made any mistakes [I]yet[/I]. (I'm sure, it's possible that even after 10 cruises I could still screw something up). I have spent enough time on these boards to learn a lot from other people's mistakes. Which makes only 90% of my time on here, wasted time. :p

[rbrb1951]

[quote name='Codfish']The Inch of Gold and Inch of Silver is junk. I stood and looked at that stuff for an hour with my ex. Ok I mostly lookesd at my watch but she [B]had[/B] to check it out. :rolleyes:

I swear to god I could see the gold paint flaking off and her fingers turning green just handeling it a little. Thank goodness she didn't buy any, but I missed another activity I was looking forward to, standing around with hundreds of other rubes waiting to get "the best deal on the ship all week!" :mad:[/quote]
I had my daughter and granddaughter an anklet made from this "gold by the inch" and they have had and wore them for about 3 years and have not had any problems with them!!!I think its a wonderful deal and so do a lot of others or they wouldn't keep selling it.

[anaslile]

[quote name='DG2004']we have had really good luck booking the guarantee

actually got an upgrade to the obstructed view/french doors room on the Legend from a guaranteed inside cabin[/quote]


Same here. Booked a 1A gty, and got a 5A french door, obstructed cabin. LOVED it. It was a wonderful room located right about mid-ship, not far from the atrium.

You do take a risk, and you can get awful cabins. However, you can get really good cabins. If you don't like your cabin see if you can be put back into the waiting list for a cabin assignment. But once again, you take the risk of what they have.

[pryd]

1st lesson: Nassau...getting off the ship to visit.....once is more than enough, got acosted to buy drugs, hair braided (yeah guys get asked too) and will never go to the straw market again.
2nd lesson: Taught to me by my best cruise buddy Froufie. The capers have a handy feature that everyone misses. The 2nd page is perforated and has all the activities for that day listed, Just tear it out and go. Don't have to carry around the whole thing around with you.
3rd lesson: Room service is a godsend on the last day, enjoy a leisurly breakfast with your cruise buddy and wait to leave the cabin till after the cattle herd has left.
4th lesson: The whole idea of cruising, is it is a VACATION. You need to relax, enjoy your time, not race here and there. Slow down do as much or as little as YOU want to.

[Ship Addict]

[quote name='rbrb1951']I had my daughter and granddaughter an anklet made from this "gold by the inch" and they have had and wore them for about 3 years and have not had any problems with them!!!I think its a wonderful deal and so do a lot of others or they wouldn't keep selling it.[/QUOTE]

I'm glad the jewelry worked out for you.

But keep in mind that the majority of Carnival cruisers are first-timers, so they are not really drawing from any past experience when purchasing this "bargain."

Also, I would bet that 99% of the people that bought it and then realized it was junk just made a mental note to not purchase it again. They probably didn't go to the trouble of complaining or trying to return it.

Carnival keeps selling it cos they keep getting new suckers!!

[snoodel]

I will echo what PYRD Said about Nassau,,
But what we do is just go out and eat.. This past time, we found the best local Conk Restaraunt. Followed the locals where they were going and it was great...

Over pack, Not again
Fly in the morning we pull out,, NO..
Rush around trying to do everything in the capers..
Waste time at the art auction..

[jayscore]

Not coming in the day before.
Over packing.
Trying to do everything.
Booking the cabin we want.
As far as the GTY, we wound up with the aft cabin next to a 9A with the extra wide balcony, and loved it! Liked it so much, we booked last December to get the same cabin type on the Valor for next April. I didn't want to play the "crap shoot" this time, but you CAN get a nice cabin with a GTY.

[afcj1]

This thread is so much fun to read:p


Not checking into any line/ship, deck, rooms, ports, etc. prior to booking
Not knowing that you can board earlier then what it says on your docs
Packed for 3 weeks vs 1
Didn't know that I should tip room service:eek: :eek:
Booked all excursions through the ship, without doing any homework on the ports
Went shopping at the stores that the ship "recommends":rolleyes:
Didn't realize that you could ask to change dinner tables if you and your tablemates weren't a "fit"
Never eating breakfast in the DR - I'm going to this time:D

and the worst was:

NOT FINDING CC UNTIL MY CRUISE LAST YEAR!!

[Ship Addict]

My rookie mistake . . .

NOT BEING PLATINUM!!!

I got a taste of Platinum on the last cruise, now I won't cruise without it!!! [img]http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/dirtbox/pics/muttley.gif[/img]

[Havinsnest]

The only thing we really will do different this time is not has as much to carry on and keep up with until we can get to our room.

Last time we each had a tote bag with stuff (DH's wine was in his but he shared with me when it got heavy) plus both cameras and bags and my purse (which was inside my tote bag).

[DG2004]

[quote name='anaslile']Same here. Booked a 1A gty, and got a 5A french door, obstructed cabin. LOVED it. It was a wonderful room located right about mid-ship, not far from the atrium.

You do take a risk, and you can get awful cabins. However, you can get really good cabins. If you don't like your cabin see if you can be put back into the waiting list for a cabin assignment. But once again, you take the risk of what they have.[/quote]


I think working with a good PVP helps...but who knows, I could be wrong.


I think my wife told me that our PVP informed her that in the future, there is a possibility of getting a bunk-bed room when you book a guarentee. I would have to double check that if anyone cares

[Can'tWait2SetSail]

Waiting until 30 some odd days out to try to print cruise docs and then finding out the TA didn't pay for the cruise.

[Nunu]

[QUOTE=Can'tWait2SetSail;16515502]Waiting until 30 some odd days out to try to print cruise docs and then finding out the TA didn't pay for the cruise.[/QUOTE]
What's this all about? ;)

[pryd]

Snoodel:

Do you remember the name of the Conk Place? Might try to venture out this time to try it.

[Catrin]

[quote=Can'tWait2SetSail;16515502]Waiting until 30 some odd days out to try to print cruise docs and then finding out the TA didn't pay for the cruise.[/quote]

Can't Wait....
I remember reading your original post on this...

what was the outcome?

Catrin

[jaja]

[quote name='Catrin']Can't Wait....
I remember reading your original post on this...

what was the outcome?

Catrin[/quote]

HE PAID!!! and we are all happy for her !!

[afcj1]

[quote=Can'tWait2SetSail;16515502]Waiting until 30 some odd days out to try to print cruise docs and then finding out the TA didn't pay for the cruise.[/quote]

Touche! LOL.

Hope you have a great cruise.

[Can'tWait2SetSail]

Thanks everyone! :) I see the thread is gone. Anyone know why?

[Nunu]

[QUOTE=Can'tWait2SetSail;16515870]Thanks everyone! :) I see the thread is gone. Anyone know why?[/QUOTE]

Have you contacted his head office yet to report him? (not sure why thread was deleted)

[Can'tWait2SetSail]

Nunu - To be honest I am still a little paranoid that if I do that he will retaliate and pull back the booking. I know that could effect other people but I am scared. My boss suggested waiting til I get back. The TA said that he is partnering up with another TA of the same company.

You know if I didn't check the docs last Friday, all this would have happened and I wouldn't of known a thing. He was working with Carnival all along to resolve it I just got in on the situation by luck. I am sure he would have paid it by their extended deadline because he doesn't want to lose his business. He is still a registered ta, ironically I got a mass mailing email the other day which I assume is generated by the parent company and then there is a link to his office if you are interested in booking. I know a lot of people think he is a thief, but I really don't think his intentions were malicious, he just got caught up in bad financing and slow cash flow.

[Can'tWait2SetSail]

Reading that back I realize how stupid I sound, on the one hand I am afraid he will retaliate on the other I think he wasn't being malicious.