Any advice for first time cruisers????

[lilybug23]

My husband and I just booked our first cruise. We are leaving from Port Conaveral on the DREAM 7/24/2010! We are taking the Western Carribian. We are going with our friends who have cruised with Carnival twice now. They have had nothing but good memories and good things to say about it. We are very excited and would love to hear any advice or things to watch out for before we go! Thanks in advance for all of your help! :)

[DaisyGirl55]

You have picked a great ship to start out on. Read,read,read is the best advice I can give you. These Boards are just chock-full of things to learn.

 

Join your Roll Call. Many times you will be able to learn more about your ports of call, and maybe even sign up for some excursions together.

 

Remember that everything will be new. Don't try to do it all! Take the time to sit back and breath a little - and know that this will not be your last cruise.

 

Not sure if you are flying or driving to the port, but if you are flying and can come in a day early - that would be great.

 

Mix and match your clothes, and when you have everything layed out and ready for the suitcase - look again. You will probably be able to leave out half of what you think you may need.

 

Mostly enjoy yourselves! There is nothing like being on a cruise ship!!

[skiorcruise]

Welcome to Carnival -

 

The most important thing is your attitude. Something will go wrong. It may be as minor as a few hours delay in your luggage arriving at your cabin or a miscooked steak at dinner. It may be a missed port due to weather or political conditions. Remember that you are on vacation, and don't let the little (& not so little) things ruin it for you. Have fun.

 

Keep track of the dollars you are spending on your sign & sail account. Too many drinks or pictures can really add up in a hurry.

 

Save a few dollars to add to the tips for the crew. They are working hard for you, and most agree that $10 pp/pd isn't enough. Thank the best ones personally. Consider telling the home office about the best ones, they deserve it.

 

Most importantly, once you have finished packing, take out half the clothes (and fill the empty space with money :)

[Wolfie48]

My husband and I just booked our first cruise. We are leaving from Port Conaveral on the DREAM 7/24/2010! We are taking the Western Carribian. We are going with our friends who have cruised with Carnival twice now. They have had nothing but good memories and good things to say about it. We are very excited and would love to hear any advice or things to watch out for before we go! Thanks in advance for all of your help! :)

 

Welcome to Carnival and to Cruising! My advice would be to not let your expectations be set too high by the experiances of your friends. Cruising is not for everyone, but if you go inot it with a good frame of mind you will do fine. And as others have said do tons of research. Ask a million questions here and of your friends. I hope you have as great a time on your first cruise as I did. DW and I are planning our 9th and 10th cruise now to be Platinum Cruisers in Oct. 2010 :D

[beauty1492]

If you haven't already --I would look into travel insurance. A lot can happen in a year. I use squaremouth. com or insuremytrip .com. I also have a 3+ page tip sheet that I keep for my self and would happliy sent out to you if you give me a email. away too long to post.

 

Just remember once you cruise youmay never do land vacations again (uless they are crusie tour) LOL

[oakleys]

Good ship choice. We are going the eastern route.

[lilybug23]

I would love the tip sheet. My email is amber.dendler@yahoo.com

[reno3]

Welcome..

Keep reading these boards and you will find a lot of good/helpful information before you go.

[imt]

I'd love to take you up on that tip sheet offer myself. its todd.imt at gmail dot com. Thanks.

[etwright]

First of all..get addicted to this website and find out all the information you can from it!!:D There is about anything you could ever want here and if not, Ask!!!:p And then as one poster stated...attitude!! Go expecting a little and then be surprised at how much you'll end up getting!!!:)

 

Also, I'd like a copy of that tip sheet also(never can have too much information). My email is etwright4@verizon.net.

[mamacat18]

If you haven't already --I would look into travel insurance. A lot can happen in a year. I use squaremouth. com or insuremytrip .com. I also have a 3+ page tip sheet that I keep for my self and would happliy sent out to you if you give me a email. away too long to post.

 

Just remember once you cruise youmay never do land vacations again (uless they are crusie tour) LOL

 

This is my first cruise since 2000 so I would really appreciate your tip sheet. My email is: minky18@gmail.com

[beauty1492]

Ok I sent them but the first time I forgot to to attache the file

 

OPPS!

 

hope they help, if you don't get them let me know.

 

andra

 

hey where in WA are you? planning a trip to SeaTac in Sept! such a small world.

[MWag1810]

I would love to see your tip sheet....we leave in 5 days and I am about to repack everything with an eye to leaving half out - now as to which half!!! LOL :confused:

[MWag1810]

Please send to MWag1810@yahoo.com

Thanks

[libra22]

I'm so envious. Please do a review upon your return.

ENJOYEVERY MOMENT ON THE CRUISE!:)

[ckilkelly01]

My e-mail is: ckilkelly01@yahoo.com

 

THANKS!!!!!!!

[marshhawk]

Most importantly, once you have finished packing, take out half the clothes (and fill the empty space with money

 

LOL! Yes, enjoy being spoiled. You never will be as spoiled as you are on a ship. Enjoy relaxing, something that you will have to relearn to do from childhood. Party, eat, there are absolutely no calories in cruise ship food. (LOL) And bring your sense of humor and your sense of adventure. Enjoy!

[Bridge Maven]

One of the best things about a cruise is that you can do as much or as little as you want. This is true on sea days, as well as on port days. With that said, don't feel that you need to everything that is possible on any given day, unless you really want to.

 

Many ports have taxis or small vans that will charge you by the hour to do a private tour which will cost considerably less than a shore excursion to see the same things.

 

When I am on a cruise I do not use a computer or cell phone to keep in touch with my home base. In my opinion, when you are on a ship in the middle of the ocean without using a cell phone or computer, you are truly getting away from the stress and responsibilities of every day life. This makes it a real vacation instead of just a change of venue.

[Traveler353]

Number 1, go with a good atitude.

Pack lite as possible, you can always wash on board if you have too.

Take some small bills for extra tips.

Ignore most of the negative stuff you read here.:D

Just ignore the small problems that "will" crop up and you will have a great cruise.

[pooh/tigger]

Tip sheet please: melmgmel@gmail.com

 

Thanks

[G-Ma-Denver]

:)

I would love the tip sheet. My email is amber.dendler@yahoo.com

Could I possible impose on you to email your tip sheet to me also. I ahve been out of the tipping world for years and don't want to offend anyone.

Thanks a lot, if you do....homefree7@msn.com

[cts816]

Tip sheet please. cts816@hotmail.com Thanks!

[semichigan]

You don't say if you are flying or driving to your port. If you are flying into Orlando, arrive a day early (at least). It's a good 45 minute drive to the port from the airport. Rent a car - one way. Avis, Dollar, Budget all do one way rentals and their drop off points in Cape Canaveral have shuttles to the Port. We arrived a day early, stayed in Cocoa Beach at the Four Points and rented from Avis for about $50. I have also read good reviews about the Radisson which is right in Cape Canaveral.

Also, if you get there early enough (a day or two early) you might want to visit the Kennedy Space Center. We did not allow enough time to see it but I know for sure that next time we will.

Enjoy your trip!

[Aussiegrlfl]

I believe that cruising is the absolute BEST vacation ever........where can you seriously go and put all your clothes in one room and travel to many different places, have all your food cooked for you anyway you want it, see shows and performances all for one cost...........now of course you have to realize the price is low....but you will pay for drinks, gambling, photos etc...and please don't forget you always give more to the wait/room staff....because really $10.00 per day spread between all the folks it goes to amounts to a pittance........so we always count on at least another $250.00 spread out over our people....it may seem a lot right now...but wait until you see what they do for you....you WILL NOT LIFT A FINGER ALL WEEK...unless you want to....and we have found that we have asked our room steward what foods they like and have ordered them lobster etc from the room menu to be delivered to our room and then they have just come by and eaten it there....because they don't get that on their menu....and they truly appreciate it.....

 

The Dream is a new ship and will have the best of the best Carnival staff on it.....delivered from all their vessels...so enjoy and do remember that there are going to be several thousand folks along with you and the staff can't handle everything at the same time....but man they do their best ALL the time...in my opinion....

 

Have the time of your lives.......cruising is the best ultimate vacation ever...Lee

[cruisingstar]

If you don't mind I would love the tip sheet also. My e-mail is ristar561@aol.com. Thank you.

 

I took my first cruise last November and my best advice would be to not sweat the small stuff. Relax and enjoy yourself. There is so much to do that you do as much or as little as you want. We had so much fun that we decided to do it again.