Thoughts and ideas to make your Carnival Cruise easier and better

I put the ice bucket in the fridge to turbocharge the cold. I plug a nite light into the shaver socket in the bathroom. I keep a Fenix lantern on the bedside table along with a Casio travel alarm clock. I pack a light weight duffel bag and put my dirty clothes in there. If need be I can carry it to the laundry. For my pocket items I have a leather tray with snaps on the corners that allows it to pack flat, but keeps it tidy on the table or in the safe.

A night light fits in the shaver socket? How come a blow dryer doesn't?

Purchase travel insurance with good medical evac coverage.

Fly in very, very early the day of, or the day prior.

Keep a copy of all documents in a second folder

Make copies of credit cards and passports, one of each in each folder

Let your credit card company(s) know you will be traveling

Don't try to sneak anything aboard that is prohibited (can lead to bags arriving late and possible confiscation of prohibited items)

If you don't have one, purchase a passport (could save your derriere in emergencies)

Don't forget to unplug the iron before you leave home. :-)

Relax (which is much easier to when the above suggestions are followed)

If you go to the steak house on the first or second night you get a free bottle of wine

 

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The AARP website under rewards for Good. You take some surveys and get points. For every 1000 points you can save $10 on a purchase of a $100 gift card.

Is this for Carnival? DH had a membership last year to get the $65 off of each flight ticket, but we let it expire. If it's for carnival it might be worth signing up again.

If you're using a Capital One card, be prepared from the beginning to be on hold sorting out why they suspended it even though you told them you'd be traveling. For some reason this never happens with Chase, but always with Cap 1 regardless of which country or boat we're on.

If you've got a balcony, opening the door at night offers a cool breeze and I can sleep like a baby even with people walking through the hallways.

Always leave out little trinkets (cheap sunglasses, necklaces, ballcaps, etc.) if you want to see them make some really adorable towel animals that the kids will love.

I don't know if this one works onboard, but at all inclusives in Mexico, leaving a special tip on Day 1 for the room steward got us 2-3 x extra free waters, sodas, towels and shampoos.

Some of the smaller ships don't have fridges in some of the rooms. Pack a small fold up cooler which your can fill with ice at the buffet, this way you can keep your drinks cold in your room.

1) Get an over the door shoe organizer. Great for sandals, sunscreen, sunglasses, S&S cards, sunburn cream, etc. Never lose stuff again!

2) Pop up hamper that folds flat. Keeps dirty clothes organized.

3) Small mesh hanging shower caddy. There’s no place to put your on shampoo and conditioner, shower gel, razor, shaving cream etc. Mine hangs from the shower nozzle and keeps it all at my fingertips.

Where did you find a mesh hanging shower caddy?? I have looked and looked for them.

thanks, Peggy

A night light fits in the shaver socket? How come a blow dryer doesn't?

Bring an extension cord.

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We also pack some kind of sanitation wipes or liquid and immediately hit the key areas of our stateroom. After all the icky germs that we hear about on boats, we figure that $1 - $2 is well worth it. The handles, the phone, the balcony door, faucets, etc. This way the cabin feels clean right from the start and it's literally only 3 minutes wasted. We hear about so many that acquire a cold along the trip, but even when our family of 6 used to travel together, we all stayed virus free and could travel without the sniffles/headaches.

We also get a travel size bag of baby wipes that will fit into our beach bag or backpack. A ziplock with them is even lighter. It helps whether you want to dust the sand off your legs or just clean/cool your face when it's really hot outside. Toss in a small bottle of skin so soft if you're in an area with mosquitos. The alcohol from the wipes combined with that make for a great bug spray without DEET. (Old military trick)

Lastly, if you have very thin, short hair, you can get a travel sized straightener for a couple of $ on Vipon. They don't work as well as the ceramic normal ones, but if you're only taking a carryon then they save space. A couple of plastic grocery bags are also nice for dirty clothes and sandy items for the trip home.

Where did you find a mesh hanging shower caddy?? I have looked and looked for them.

 

thanks, Peggy

Dollar Tree .If there isn't one near you, you can order online.

Thought of another,,

Wanna try the Steakhouse, but think $35. is a little too much, order the same steak in the MDR for $20.!

I'm buying atmosphere with my money, don't mind paying $35 for the steakhouse but would never pay a $20 upcharge in the MDR.

If you're using a Capital One card, be prepared from the beginning to be on hold sorting out why they suspended it even though you told them you'd be traveling. For some reason this never happens with Chase, but always with Cap 1 regardless of which country or boat we're on.

 

If you've got a balcony, opening the door at night offers a cool breeze and I can sleep like a baby even with people walking through the hallways.

 

Always leave out little trinkets (cheap sunglasses, necklaces, ballcaps, etc.) if you want to see them make some really adorable towel animals that the kids will love.

 

I don't know if this one works onboard, but at all inclusives in Mexico, leaving a special tip on Day 1 for the room steward got us 2-3 x extra free waters, sodas, towels and shampoos.

Never had any problem with my Capital One card. They actually sent me an email a week before the trip. "Thanks for using your Capital One® card to book your upcoming trip. We want to let you know that because of the added security that comes with your chip card, you don’t need to call us before you take a trip." I admit it was a little creepy in a big brother is watching sort of a way

For those of you who have a lot of electronics to charge, get a European plug adapter so you can use that plug-in too. Items must be dual voltage to use this. Besides our phones, I also used it with my hair drying which is dual voltage.

All great ideas. I read that when you have Cheers be sure to order extra water and if you can't drink 15 drinks order can beer unopened and take on port days at the beach. Pack a cooler of some kind that can hold ice. I was born to cruise and we are turning PLATINUM. So excited.

All great ideas. I read that when you have Cheers be sure to order extra water and if you can't drink 15 drinks order can beer unopened and take on port days at the beach. Pack a cooler of some kind that can hold ice. I was born to cruise and we are turning PLATINUM. So excited.

I bought a cooler with 6 cans of pop and ordered through the ship to be delivered to the room but they stopped doing that a few months ago. I know it was expensive but I really liked the cooler and it was a nice souvenir to take home. Disappointing that changed all that out. I still have my cooler and will bring it with me.

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I will add three:

1) Make use of the gym, even if it's 30-45 minutes a day. With all the food, all the alcohol, and all the sodium, the gym really helps us to keep the cruise weight gain down. Wife and I especially enjoy going on sea days in the afternoon and also during port days while people are all ashore (assuming we haven't booked an excursion). These times seem to be the least crowded.

2) Always make 2 copies of your boarding pass, just in case. We keep one in our carry on bookbag and also keep a spare in the glove box of the car. It's just an extra peace of mind.

3) Put luggage tags on everything, and that includes the stuff you DON'T check with the porter (e.g. camera bags, baby strollers, etc.).

Never had any problem with my Capital One card. They actually sent me an email a week before the trip. "Thanks for using your Capital One® card to book your upcoming trip. We want to let you know that because of the added security that comes with your chip card, you don’t need to call us before you take a trip." I admit it was a little creepy in a big brother is watching sort of a way

You are very fortunate then. It happened to us in Ireland, Scotland, England Bulgaria, Italy and on cruises. They're always able to fix the problem after a phonecall, but who wants to waste 20 minutes every time at the pursers desk when you're on vacation! Our other cards have been easy to use though. Maybe it's a setting we have, b/c we've been told that they emailed us to approve a charge and we didn't respond in time. I'll have to look to see if it's a preference that can be changed.

We just got off the Glory yesterday and had the steakhouse booked for the first night. The wine was only offered at 50% off.

 

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Where did you find a mesh hanging shower caddy?? I have looked and looked for them.

 

thanks, Peggy

I looked all over Walmart, Target and even the dollar store but nobody had what I was looking for. I saw lots of big fancy ones, ones that hung on a shower curtain, or cheap plastic ones (that fill up with water.) But we wanted a mesh one that the water would drain out of and hung right in front of you on the shower head. But the only place I found what I was looking for was on Amazon. It’s a mesh one with 6 big pockets that has a hanger at the top that slides over the shower head. It’s big enough to put in a full sized shampoo bottle, a full conditioner bottle, shower gel, razors, and shaving cream. And best of all, it lays flat and takes up almost no space in my luggage. It was under $10 and had free shipping. We love it and never travel without it now. No bending and stooping looking for our stuff in a strange shower, it’s right there at your fingertips. :D

Beach tip,

Baby powder will help get all the sand off much much easier.

I bring a 'tablet' that contains movies, some TV shows, and my favorite solitaire game!

The cabin tv is only 3-4 movie channels, and 4 news channels, so I enjoy having the option of my tablet when we're relaxing in the cabin. My wife also bring hers with her movies and games!-))

My tablet is also what I use for my delayed CC thread from the ship each day.

Can't wait to see if the Vista's internet is as good as some have said.

And we can download the Carnival Hub which we both like.

I do bring a tablet for those reasons - plus it's my e-reader, easier than carrying books. I've used the Hub, easy to understand why folks like it - if I were traveling in a group, I'd probably use the text feature a lot.

On my last cruise, the casino comped me a steakhouse selection steak in the MDR so I tried it. I did not think it was as good as the steaks I've purchased in the steakhouses. Consider though when you pay $35 at the steakhouse that also includes your sides and dessert.

How are you notified of these "comps"? Does the pit boss tell you personally? or do you know before you even board what your comps will be for that cruise.

Pack light, one rolling carry-on or similar per person. It makes travel in general so much easier.

This is so true. We actually have a large rolling duffle that we can use for both of us, to only carry one bag period. It fits in the xray scanner at embarkation, and we avoid the luggage hassle all the way around.

Per an email I just received today from Carnival, house wine is free and the good stuff is 50% off.

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This is so true. We actually have a large rolling duffle that we can use for both of us, to only carry one bag period. It fits in the xray scanner at embarkation, and we avoid the luggage hassle all the way around.

I'm amazed at the quantity of stuff I see so many people packing for cruises.