"I wish I knew before..."

I realize not all ships have them, but the poster who made the comment implied that you shouldn't use the laundry on the ships that have self service.

 

Not sure what point you're trying to make.

 

Roz

 

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I read this from it: don’t spend your vacation doing laundry (maybe that is just my take, though)

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I read this from it: don’t spend your vacation doing laundry (maybe that is just my take, though)

 

 

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Roz

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Sweetiepie,

 

Just curious. Why would you not use the self-service laundry? I have used it many times on HAL and the room is always spotlessly clean as are the washers and dryers. When using them I can choose the water temp and delicate/perma press/regular cycles, etc.

My main reason is because the ships do such a wonderful job on doing your laundry and it is a great way to have more time to spend on the cruise.

On our last cruise and I can't remember if it was on the Holland American part of the cruise or the Queen Mary 2 part of our 90 day cruises. Two incidents happened in the laundry room. One was a fight over whether or not a ironing board pad should be on the ironing board and it got down to blows and security was called it.

The other one was a fight between two women over the use of a dryer. One was using the washing machine below and was almost ready to put her laundry in the dryer when another woman decided she should put hers in the dryer. A big discussion (not a pleasant one) ensued and the first woman was able to put her finished laundry into the dryer. The second woman left with a "you'll be sorry". 30 minutes later the first woman came back to get her laundry and the second woman had come back while she was gone and threw a Mars candy bar into the dryer. I do believe that woman was taken to her cabin by security and put off at the next port. I, personally, don't need that kind of drama on my vacation. I did not see it happen but the entire ship was talking about it for the remainder of the cruise.

$20.00 for a full bag of laundry to be washed, dried and ironed and returned to your room on hangers seems like a great deal to me!!

For those reading the laundry topic be aware that Royal Caribbean do NOT have self service laundry. They do have ship’s laundry and on full cruises they offer a Wash-n-fold bag (all the socks, underwear etc that fits) one price.

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1. DO NOT travel to the embarkation port on the day the cruise starts. Delay's happen including things that you have absolutely no control over.

2. Get travel insurance! All it has to do is save you $$ one time to have more than paid for its cost every time!

3. Keep your passport and other travel docs with you at all times while traveling and NEVER put them in your luggage!

4. Check that you have all travel documents with you before you leave your house!

5. After you make your cruise reservations, continue to check back with the cruiseline website to check for price drops, added benefits such as OBC (On Board Credit) or newly added benefits, etc.) and, if you find them, contact your cruise line (or TA (Travel Agent) to see if your booking can be modified to include them. Do this right up to the end. The worst that can happen is you'll be told no!

Tom

1. DO NOT travel to the embarkation port on the day the cruise starts. Delay's happen including things that you have absolutely no control over.

2. Get travel insurance! All it has to do is save you $$ one time to have more than paid for its cost every time!

3. Keep your passport and other travel docs with you at all times while traveling and NEVER put them in your luggage!

4. Check that you have all travel documents with you before you leave your house!

5. After you make your cruise reservations, continue to check back with the cruiseline website to check for price drops, added benefits such as OBC (On Board Credit) or newly added benefits, etc.) and, if you find them, contact your cruise line (or TA (Travel Agent) to see if your booking can be modified to include them. Do this right up to the end. The worst that can happen is you'll be told no!

 

 

Tom

Adding to some of Tom's points:

1. Use common sense (for this and most other advice) and consider if this applies to you. Much of this advice applies to most people, but there are very few absolutes. We live 3 hours from both NYC and Baltimore ports and only drove in the day before once because it was a February trip. If we sail from NYC again we will stay somewhere close the evening before, but that's so we don't have to drive. (When flying I do agree with allowing cushion, ideally on both ends of the cruise).

2. Read the fine print before buying insurance and verify what it covers. Travel expense costs (for a missed cruise) are inconvenient, but not usually devastating if you are out that money. Medical costs can be astronomical.

5. This has been a big savings for us on two of our cruises. Make sure you understand what you are switching to: will you lose OBC or other perks? will the deposit increase and an extra payment be due? does your cabin location change?

Adding to some of Tom's points:

1. Use common sense (for this and most other advice) and consider if this applies to you. Much of this advice applies to most people, but there are very few absolutes. We live 3 hours from both NYC and Baltimore ports and only drove in the day before once because it was a February trip. If we sail from NYC again we will stay somewhere close the evening before, but that's so we don't have to drive. (When flying I do agree with allowing cushion, ideally on both ends of the cruise).

2. Read the fine print before buying insurance and verify what it covers. Travel expense costs (for a missed cruise) are inconvenient, but not usually devastating if you are out that money. Medical costs can be astronomical.

 

5. This has been a big savings for us on two of our cruises. Make sure you understand what you are switching to: will you lose OBC or other perks? will the deposit increase and an extra payment be due? does your cabin location change?

Good points and you are certainly correct on all points. I've added your caveats to my list. I really like your comments about the fine print and medical costs! I think we could add one more point about the first rule, travel, that being that even if you're pretty close (we're about an hour away from the Seattle port) to the port, plan on arriving early. It's better to be 2 hours early than 5 minutes late for a sailing! Too many times I've seen a car/taxi pull up to the pier and 1 or more people jump out of the vehicle and just stand there as a cruise ship slowly backs away from the pier. That is a very sad, stressful (and expensive!) thing to see.

Good to see that Rule 5 worked in your favor two times. Hope it works for you dozens more! :D

Tom

Good points and you are certainly correct on all points. I've added your caveats to my list. I really like your comments about the fine print and medical costs! I think we could add one more point about the first rule, travel, that being that even if you're pretty close (we're about an hour away from the Seattle port) to the port, plan on arriving early. It's better to be 2 hours early than 5 minutes late for a sailing! Too many times I've seen a car/taxi pull up to the pier and 1 or more people jump out of the vehicle and just stand there as a cruise ship slowly backs away from the pier. That is a very sad, stressful (and expensive!) thing to see.

 

 

Good to see that Rule 5 worked in your favor two times. Hope it works for you dozens more! :D

 

Tom

Absolutely! Even though I've heard that Baltimore won't let pax in the lot too early, we will still plan to arrive at the earliest window which should give us several hours extra before final boarding;)

Adding to some of Tom's points:

 

5. This has been a big savings for us on two of our cruises. Make sure you understand what you are switching to: will you lose OBC or other perks? will the deposit increase and an extra payment be due? does your cabin location change?

I totally agree.

First Celebrity cruise we upgraded from regular balcony to Aqua Class for $20 each.

2nd Celebrity cruise we upgraded my folks to a HUGE family veranda for $75 each. Wish we had done it for all our cabins.

This Celebrity cruise I got an AMAZING perks package. I have contacted TA to see about an upgrade (willing to PAY) & have been told twice that if we do that (even if we PAY) we lose the perks. NO big deal--guess they don't want more of our $!

Always worth a look!

PS Regarding flying in the day of...I TOTALLY prefer flying in the day before. But sometimes it just doesn't work. We have done cruise air 2x day of & booked our own travel day of as well with no issues. It can be done in a pinch. (but the one we booked ourselves we did with just a carryon & backpack each--I said if we are running late I am NOT waiting at baggage claim!!)

One more thing--TRULY you do not need as many clothes as you think! You change clothes MANY times a day, so they can be re-worn.

I toss on a tee shirt & black shorts for breakfast. 2 pair of shorts & 3 tees get me through the week.

Swimsuit & cover up. Many say bring 2. Never had need for 2 & I wear it daily. If it is damp it drys QUICKLY in Caribbean sun.

Nicer top & black capris for afternoon trivia, dinner. Again, 2 pair capris & several tops.

Flip flops for day wear, nicer shoes for evening, walking shoes for port.

GOOD TO GO!

Three tips:

• RCCL, CCL, and NCLH offer their shareholders (100 shares?) onboard credit each cruise on any of their 7, 10, and 3 cruise brands, respectively.

• CCL's Princess and Cunard brands offer onboard credit each cruise to active duty, veteran, and retired military.

• Hotels near many cruise docks have stay-with-us-1-night-and-we'll-park-your-car offers.

Three tips:

 

 

• RCCL, CCL, and NCLH offer their shareholders (100 shares?) onboard credit each cruise on any of their 7, 10, and 3 cruise brands, respectively.

 

• CCL's Princess and Cunard brands offer onboard credit each cruise to active duty, veteran, and retired military.

 

• Hotels near many cruise docks have stay-with-us-1-night-and-we'll-park-your-car offers.

Cruisers holding 100 or more shares of CCL stock receive OBC dependent on how long the cruise is.

 

• CCL's Princess and Cunard brands offer onboard credit each cruise to active duty, veteran, and retired military.

RCCL (Royal Caribbean) also has a military discount.

RCCL (Royal Caribbean) has a First Responder discount (fire, police, EMS).

RCCL (Royal Caribbean) also has a military discount.

 

RCCL (Royal Caribbean) has a First Responder discount (fire, police, EMS).

...but only on "selected sailings". "Seniors", too. And applies to spouses, too. :D

Shareholder OBC is not combinable with hardly any other deals with RCCL. With the price of their stock now, it’s hardly worth it. Their policy is very frustrating and not at all fair to those of us who have bought stock and paid for that perk!!

We have used our CCL stock benefit for the last six years with all kinds of cruise sales, rates, etc. and the OBC due has never been denied.

We have used our CCL stock benefit for the last six years with all kinds of cruise sales, rates, etc. and the OBC due has never been denied.

Unlike RCCL's SOBC, I've only heard of CCL's being excluded for casino and travel

agent fares.

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THIS!!!!!! (y)Of all the tips (I'm on about 1600 of 2500!), this was by far the one I wish was on page 1!!!! THANK YOU!:beer-mug:

Well I am back from my first cruise and had a wonderful time. I wanted to share two things here that I don't think have been mentioned at all.

#1: GOOGLE DRIVE. Any vacation I take, I have a document on Google Drive where I do all my trip planning. Information (including phone and confirmation #s) about my Hotel, Flight, the area I may be staying in, points of interest there, ship reservation info, shore excursions I booked, schedule/events for certain days, etc. All in one place. What's also cool is before going on the cruise you can make it available offline and link it to the home screen of your phone. That way even when you're in the middle of the ocean you still have access to all the information you need. I also do this with my packing list. And when leaving the hotel or ship, I go through that packing list again to make sure I have everything. Started doing this a few years ago and since have never once left something behind at a hotel.

#2. Do a search for cruise luggage tag holders. You can get them sized specifically for most cruise lines, and they do a good job of protecting the paper tags the lines give you. No need to have the tags laminated.

I have been back about 3 weeks now and we have already started planning our next trip. We are officially addicted. We learned a lot and came to realize lots of our anxiety was for nothing. Helpful tips:

1) You can never plan too much. We spent months researching, asking questions, making checklists, etc. and it all came in handy. We were able to relax and enjoy ourselves by avoiding many first time mistakes. We came prepared.

2) Take advantage of all upgrades and perks available to you such as priority boarding. Definitely made embarkating and disembarking a lot less chaotic.

3) Your time or anytime dining is the way to go. We did not have to wait ever. We loved the flexibility of eating early or late based on our plans or mood.

4) Pay attention to the rules and announcements. They are there for a reason. When they tell you to bring your sign and sail card/passport off the ship, do it. I saw many people get turned around having to go back to their cabins, excursions delayed or missed due to small mistakes. When they tell you what you can't bring on the ship, listen. It can save time and money.

5) Be mindful of others, be kind and have fun. While we all have our own brand of fun, make sure you are watching your children, not offending others or being obnoxious. Cutting in line and being rude can put a damper on others good time.

3) Your time or anytime dining is the way to go. We did not have to wait ever. We loved the flexibility of eating early or late based on our plans or mood.

This can be very ship-specific or time-specific.

When I've done My Time Dining, I've always had to wait in a line to get assigned a table, and sometimes then also wait until a table is available.

When I have early or late seating in the MDR, there is never a wait -- you go to your table at the assigned time, and you immediately have your server there ready to place your napkin in your lap, hand you a menu, pour your water, and give you a basket of bread.

Well I am back from my first cruise and had a wonderful time. I wanted to share two things here that I don't think have been mentioned at all.

 

#1: GOOGLE DRIVE. Any vacation I take, I have a document on Google Drive where I do all my trip planning. Information (including phone and confirmation #s) about my Hotel, Flight, the area I may be staying in, points of interest there, ship reservation info, shore excursions I booked, schedule/events for certain days, etc. All in one place. What's also cool is before going on the cruise you can make it available offline and link it to the home screen of your phone. That way even when you're in the middle of the ocean you still have access to all the information you need. I also do this with my packing list. And when leaving the hotel or ship, I go through that packing list again to make sure I have everything. Started doing this a few years ago and since have never once left something behind at a hotel.

 

#2. Do a search for cruise luggage tag holders. You can get them sized specifically for most cruise lines, and they do a good job of protecting the paper tags the lines give you. No need to have the tags laminated.

Dropbox is just as well! :-)

Just back from my very first cruise! And it won’t be my last!

1. Planning and research pays off.

2. Have a plan B Incase an excursion gets canceled.

3. Once you are on-board...relax!

4. Oh, and bring pens and a highlighter. Makes it much easier to fill out various forms and to mark-up your daily calendar.

In the months before a cruise, I start taking notes from my online research; I throw everything into a Word document, organized by ports of call and other miscellaneous stuff. As time goes on, I continue to sort through it, deleting info on things we've decided against. After we've pretty much figured out what we want to do at each port, I finalize all the notes and format them with each PoC on one page, then print out. I also print out confirmations of excursion reservations, hotel reservations, the cruise itinerary, rental cars, all the cruise documents, anything we might need to refer to.

At each PoC, even if we're doing an excursion, in my notes I have ideas for things we can do if we have extra time, things other travelers have recommended like the best places to get lunch or shop, stuff like that. I take each day's page and keep it with me to refer to my notes.

It may sound complicated, but it's just my way of learning everything I can about each PoC, formulating a Plan B, getting the most out of our day - so we're never standing around with someone saying "duh, what do we do now?" In general, we're a pretty go-with-the-flow family, but in case original plans fall through, we've got some ideas of what to fall back on. It's been a good system for us - even if we get off the ship with a very loose game plan, we've got things we CAN do and see. (Let me also say that my husband is NOT a planner in the least. I think if it were up to him, he'd get on the ship not even knowing which islands we were visiting. This system has saved us from MANY an argument and lots of frustration over what to do and where to go in port!!)