Krissica

Half of the clothes/shoes I want to pack was a lesson that I've kept with me since my first cruise, although I realize that doesn't apply to you.

I also use the magnets to hang up the "Fun Times" itinerary for the next day. Suitcase under the bed so it isn't in the way and also doubles as a dirty laundry basket.

I can't recommend ziplocks enough - I bring a variety of sizes. One of them I keep my iPhone (which I use as my camera/watch) in when I go anywhere so that it protects it from the water/sand but it is still touch-screen sensitive in the ziplock bag. I also use one that I keep any cards that I may need in, and have found random use for the other bags.

My husband was never a beach fan - he doesn't like sand, isn't the biggest fan of swimming for fun, and always joked that he was naturally dark enough so he couldn't tan. However once we started cruising, he changed his mind. Now he still doesn't love sand, but he does enjoy the experience of laying out with a drink (or two or three) in his hand, occasionally dipping in the water to cool off, and just relaxing. Maybe your DH will have a similar experience.

We have always joined the roll call but so far haven't had one that has been too active for the cruises we have already sailed. We are on the roll call for two coming up cruises, one is more active than the other and already has a dinner meeting set up. I like the idea of an active roll call and would be interested in some of the activities that some of you have posted, but would also have no problem doing our own thing and not feeling obligated to be with the group. We always travel just the two of us and we are friendly people so we always enjoy meeting new people.

As others hae said, I have always done B&W with no problems. I also have learned to add a few more staples than normal, but don't feel that I need to do much more than that.

Not all cruise lines allow one free per person. Some lines it is one per cabin and some lines have none free.

Very good point, thanks for pointing that out. We always cruise Carnival which I know allows one bottle per person.

My husband is definitely the better dancer of the two of us, and his absolutely favorite is The Wobble! No matter where we are and what we are doing, if he hears the wobble come on he will literally drop what he is doing to wobble :p

We have never had a problem with any children being on the Serenity deck and like going there in the evenings. I would imagine the 18-22 year old crowd being more of an issue as far as rowdiness goes, but that hasn't been an issue thus far either.

We will always do YTD! Having the flexibility to eat as early as late as we want is the main reason we like it. Plus we can still get the social aspect since we usually request to be seated with others, and you get to meet new people each night if you choose to. At the same time, we might want to have a dinner for just the two of us one night and we have that option as well. Since we normally ask to be seated with others though we rarely have to wait longer than 5 minutes.

I’ve been slowly making my way through an 88 page thread about things you wish you had known before your first cruise. Amazing tips in that post! I had one more opinion question for you all. What are some of the best (most successful) money saving tips/items that you can recommend? It can be anything from planning a cruise to anything during the cruise….

-Occasionally check the FareViewer to see if your price has dropped so you can get an OBC.

-Bring your one-free-per-person bottle of 750mL wine or champagne that you are allowed.

-Do not spend a lot on buying new clothes! My first cruise, being the typical girl, I bought a whole bunch of cute sundresses and shoes, etc. I am in my bathing suit 99% of the time besides for dinner.

-Smuggle alcohol. Yea I said it and am gonna hear a lot because of it, and it is a risk, but the truth is if you want to save money and you want to drink without breaking the bank, smuggling alcohol is an option that will save a lot of money if you are a moderate drinker.

I think we are going to take Amtrak down. This is my husbands 50th birthday present and he won't know until I give it to him tomorrow. Amtrak and driving is about the same time for us. So I know I need to find a hotel for the first night in New Orleans. How do I find out what excursions are offered?

 

 

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You should be abl eto look at your booking online and there will be a section where you can plan activities and look at excursions (at least that is how it is for Carnival). Even if you don't book excursions now, it is nice to get an idea of what is offered.

When we book our cruise, we always make sure we have transportation arranged, know exactly where we are going to park or how we are going to get to the port. We research each place we will be stopping on the cruise to get a general idea of the "must see" things to do/see if it is a port we have never been to, and to get an idea of things we might want to do.

I don't really see what one has to do with the other, but I'll bite.

 

I do not smuggle myself, but I don't care if someone else does. More power to them, and maybe they'll make me a drink.

 

I am NOT ok with chair hogging. That affects me. Alcohol smuggling does not.

 

Selfish? Maybe. Don't care.

Well put. We have smuggled alcohol, and do not feel bad because it doesn't directly impact any other passengers. And no I don't believe the cruise lines are losing out on so much money which then raises the price of your ticket because peole smuggle alcohol on - I think the prices that are charged for alcohol on board is ridiculous and is the company's way of sucking every last drop of money out of us.

However chogging DOES impact other passengers. I don't chog, and have never had a problem finding a seat wherever we wanted one because we aren't picky. Hypothetically though is every single chair was occupied and there was someone who was chogging for an hour, I would have no problems claiming that seat.

We have had a port hole room, balcony, and interior...The balcony was obviously bigger and all but we realized when it came down to it, it doesn't make much of a difference to us. We are rarely in our room during the day, and just sleep in it at night so as long as the basics are there we don't feel the need to spend the extra money on something we consider unneccessary.

We always play trivia on different days on the cruise. We are super competitive people but have never argued, nor have we seen anyone argue. The closest thing was when there was a question about the color of the 3-ball (I think) in pool - the host actually had the answer wrong, and everyone in the bar corrected her which she then promptly accepted as the correct answer. Otherwise I just don't get it - it is not that serious!

We are both 30. We work healthcare so we are up by 6am on work days, in bed by 11pm on work nights. On the cruise we usually have a couple nights where we stay up late til 1 or 2 if there is something fun going on at the nightclub. Otherwise we usually find ourselves wiped out from the sun and fun during the day, and we don't mind hitting the sack early so we can get up and start the next day early.

We always fly in the day before, stay at a hotel that night and explore whichever city's nightlife it is.

We always have mimosas/breakfast drinks.

We always take a picture in front of the "Welcome to" whichever port we are in.

We always teach at least one new person/couple/group the drinking card game we made up called Irish Poker.

We have never decorated our door, although we have seen some decorated. Definitely isn't needed for us to find our room, that's no problem.

However we will be cruising for the first time this year during a "holiday" on New Years Eve, so for fun we may bring some sort of decoration since we always do it up big during holidays.

Just don't want other readers to think that "rum runners" are problem (and detection) free.

 

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Absolutely, I agree. There are no packages/containers for liquid that are detection-free. All it takes is an efficeint xray tech and the time to be thorough, and every thing could be caught.

We have personally never had any issues with rum runners / bottled water / wine / etc of any kind giving the TSA cause to search through our checked bags at the airport, but as we all know the TSA can find cause to search for any reason not just liquids.

For some, the rum runners aren't worth it. For others, they are. It really comes down to value for money and hassle, and that is an individual decision. To each their own.

For Carnival, I believe there is an option to edit whether you want two twins or made into a king when you log into manage your booking online.

I am a newbie cruiser, travelling with two family members on a large ship.

We are used to communicating by texting back and forth when we travel.

If smartphones don't work onboard (or are horribly expensive to use) is there another way to leave messages?

Ruby Princess, March 20th sailing.

We also are text communicators, both for personal and business use. It is so refreshing to be on a cruise for a week and not communicate with anyone basically! We use our cell phones as our camera, and when we go on shore we might occasionally hop online or use magicjack to make a wifi call, if and only if wifi is available for free.

As far as on the actual ship - like many others said, you find a routine. For instance, every morning my DH went to the gym and he knew he could find my lounging on the deck if I wasn't in the room when he was done.

Also picking meeting/check in times and locations is always a great idea.

While many are clearly opposed to the walkie talkie idea, I am not. We always bring one when we cruise and use it very sparingly. There IS proper etiquette to it, just as their is to cell phone use and everything else. But it is one way to communicate, and it is your perogative. Just be respectful and courteous to your fellow passengers - that applies not just to walkie talkies, but in general!

So here's my question, has anyone ever made pre-drink mixtures and put them in a RR bag? ie: Margarita mixture? Like a darker blend such as strawberry? Or has anyone straight up put just juice in a RR such as cranberry juice? I love ocean spray pomegranate and blueberry flavor, then mixing 3olives pomegranate vodka with it.

I see a lot of threads on clear colored liquors being put in RR and nothing about juices or dark colored drink mixtures or even red wines?!?!?

In response to your original question - yes we have premade our mix drinks and put them in the RR, as well as filled RR with nonalcoholic drinks that we knew we wouldn't find onboard. I believe the instructions with the RR advise against carbonated beverages.

As far as being caught smuggling - the color of the liquid inside the RR is irrelevant....all of the liquids shows up as black/white/opaque on the xray machine. It is more about packing the RR/containers a certain way (so some say), not having too many RRs in one bag, and really it comes down to the person reading/paying attention to the xray.

Hi- Wondering how often a ship misses Grand Cayman due to waves?

 

If RCI does miss GC- do they ever overnight in Cozumel? Thanks

We cruised to GC on Carnival this past December. We did get to port, but however all of the excursions were cancelled except for 1 or 2 due to the waves, and we didn't find out until we got to port.

What do you do with your belongings while swimming or snorkeling?

We also keep our bare minimal belongings in a waterproof container that is with us at all times. DH doesn't go out swimming too much so often he is lounging on the beach with a drink in his hand and our belongings. We have never had any issues or heard of any bad experiences but you definitely need to be cautious and smart about it.

As everyone else said, we always do it through our Carnival guy. We didn't prepay on our very first cruise, and definitely recommend prepaying because it is just one less thing you have to worry about.

Our last cruise we purchased FTTF, and will continue to purchase it until we reached diamond/platinum status. We usually get to the port around 9:30-10:00. As a previous poster stated, for us it is either wait in the hotel room or wait at the port, and we would rather wait at the port and be there already. I like FTTF more for the immediate room access and early luggage arrival, rather than boarding "early." Also the customer service/relations lines and priority tenders that are dedicated to diamond/platinum/FTTF are nice as well.

Our experience in the past has definitely been the earlier you make your reservation, the better...especially if you're wanting a specific room. Only downside is you have that much more time to anticipate and wish it were time to cruise already! :p