Some Tips For First Time Cruisers ...

[Jcleph]

Thanks for the list, Its really helpful. What time do they usually let you on the ship? We want to get there as early as we can

[Barsnikel]

Thanks for the list, Its really helpful. What time do they usually let you on the ship? We want to get there as early as we can

 

There are 2 parts to embarkation... the first part is "check-in", and the second part is "boarding". Those are not the same thing

 

Let me run through the typical scenario for us...

 

We arrive at the pier at about 10 AM. Shortly thereafter, they will begin the check-in.... this is where you first go through security, present your documents, set up your Sign & Sail account, etc.

 

From there, you go to a large waiting area, where you wait to actually begin the boarding process.

 

While you are doing all this, the previous passengers are debarking and going through customs and immigration.

 

Your actual boarding process cannot start until all of them are off the ship. That isn't a "firm" time. It is variable because the Border Patrol (Immigration) decides when and how fast the debarking passengers are allowed to come through.

 

It does vary, but my experience has been that if you arrive at 10AM-ish and go through the check-in, you'll have an hour or so wait before actual boarding.

That's how it has worked for us.. others may have different experiences..

[mayapapaya51]

Thanks so much for the very enlightening tips. I am going on my first cruise out of Baltimore on Sunday and for some reason I'm more panicked than I ever was going to Cancun six times. I appreciate the advice.

I do have a question, however, about the embarkation. our boarding pass says to go between 1:30 to 3:30. I would prefer to get there sooner. Suggestions?

Edited September 10, 2012 by mayapapaya51

[dahliabanks]

This is amazing!!!!!!

 

incredebly helpful for a first time cruiser as myself.

 

thank you :):)

[johneeo]

I do have a question, however, about the embarkation. our boarding pass says to go between 1:30 to 3:30. I would prefer to get there sooner. Suggestions?

 

Relax.

 

Get to the port by 11:00 AM.

 

You should be on board by noon at the latest ..... and the fun begins.

[Rn4val]

Thanks for all the great advice. Do a lot of people decorate their doors? What are the doors made of? Can you use magnets? What are fish extenders?

[Cruisin' Chick]

Here are some tips for “newbie” cruisers. These are offered in no particular order of importance. This information is primarily from cruising with Carnival, but in general is probably true for other cruise lines as well. Cruise lines change their policies over time, so I offer no guarantee as to this being the most current policies.

 

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Regardless of the published boarding time, arrive early. In most cases they will begin check-in early, and most ports have comfortable waiting areas.

 

More important than this, get to your embarkation port at least a day ahead, especially if you are flying or taking a train. There are so many ways your flight can be delayed or cancelled, so why stress yourself out if this happens. You can always just relax in a hotel, do a little sightseeing perhaps, go to a store and get whatever you left behind (the ship's stores have some items but usually at a high markup and not necessarily your brand) You'll want to be at the port at least a few hours before sailaway, just to make sure you don't end up getting caught up in some traffic jam, or long lines at the port. And you'll have a chance to explore the ship before the muster drill.

 

Once they begin actual boarding, the very first thing they will have everyone do is line up for a photo. If you don’t want pictures, bypass the line and head up the gangway

 

You will get a special photo taken of you at the entrance of the ship that will be embedded into your ship's card (so that security can check you back on if you go out into any port). But do consider having your party take that embarkation photo before that. The ship will print the ship's name and date on that photo and it may be worth it as a special souvenir. You can always decide later on during the cruise not to purchase it -- the same with any other photo taken by the ship's photographers.

 

...

 

As soon as you board the ship, immediately head up to the Lido deck where they will be serving a buffet lunch. The lines will queue quickly, so don’t go walking around the ship sightseeing. There will be plenty of time for that later.

 

In many cases, you will not be allowed into your cabin until later (on many ships, about 1 PM or so). Find a comfortable table on the Lido where you can have a leisure lunch and watch the ship channel or docks.

 

On Princess, passengers aren't brought onboard until the cabins are ready. (I remember that was the way it was on Carnival, but I guess that's changed since we last sailed with them in 2002.) So Princess passengers will be directed to their cabins so they can drop off their carry-ons, and perhaps meet their cabin stewards. After we do a little unpacking and checking our cabin to make sure there's nothing to bring to our steward's attention, we head to the buffet for lunch.

 

But after that, we'll go and explore the ship until it's time to go back to our cabin, take our traditional "life jacket" photos we do every cruise, take off the jackets and bring them to the muster drill. (on some cruiselines, you leave the jackets in your cabin. On all lines, there should be a diagram behind your door that shows you where to go for the drill...some lines have it indoors, some outdoors). After the drill, we wait for the crowd to clear before taking the stairs to our cabin, dropping off the jackets and then going on deck for the sailaway.

 

As others have stated, don't hang out in the buffet as there may be people waiting for a table.

 

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If necessary, the ships have a self-serve laundry rooms, or you can have Carnival do your laundry (for a fee). Take one or two of those “one load” laundry soap tablets, or a small box of dry laundry detergent. Whatever you don’t use, just throw away.

 

Carnival and Princess do have self-service laundry rooms, but many of the other lines do not. You can find out if yours does by asking on that cruiseline's board or checking the line's website to see if laundry rooms are mentioned. I think one luxury line (Crystal or Cunard?) has them, but you don't pay to use them. I tried out the unscented Purex 3-in-1 sheets which worked for us as we have someone in our family who's allergic to regular detergent (another reason we would stick with a cruiseline with the laundry rooms for our use).

 

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Bring an extension cord. As long as it is in “new” condition, it is allowed. Also bring a 3-way plug or small power strip. You will likely only have one 110V AC outlet available to you, and it will not be where you want it. The extension cord is allowed. The power strip is “iffy” depending upon who sees it.

 

We have never brought a power strip on a cruise; have always been able to charge what we needed to, etc. But it's your decision.

 

Take a strip of the colored duct tape, and put it on your outside cabin door. You (and your kids) will know which cabin is yours.

 

Maybe a better idea: make a colorful door sign and bring on the ship. Some cabin doors are magnetized, but if you use magnets, don't use anything you wouldn't mind having "walked off." If not, use tape that won't leave behind residue or the tacky stuff you can find in stores. There are ships that will charge you (post cruise) if you left behind stains on your door or walls.

 

...

 

Carnival allows you to bring (as carry-on only) one 750ml bottle of wine PER PERSON (not per cabin, per person). They also allow you to bring your own bottled water and sodas. Carry-on only… NOT in your checked luggage. You can also bring a small cooler.

 

If you bring your own wine, don’t forget a cork screw. Most liquor stores sell an inexpensive travel cork screw. Your cabin steward will provide an ice bucket for the wine.

 

Here's another thing to check for your particular cruiseline as some don't allow you to bring on any beverages, including sodas. For our last few cruises (again, on Princess), we have even packed a plastic crate with sodas (I don't like Coke products), Sobe, box o'wine, pasted a luggage tag on it and hubby gives with tip to the porter so we don't have to schlep it onboard. The plastic crate fits under the bed.

 

...

 

 

Just had some additions or minor corrections.

[mayapapaya51]

Okay, so call me crazy but I just happened to be on the Baltimore port website checking to see what my husband can or cannot do dropping us off, etc. He is not going on this cruise. anyway, people are saying get there by 11, keeping in mind on my boarding pass it says 1:30 to 3:30. Should I adhere to this because this is what it says on the website:

•The cruise terminal entrance opens at 8:00 a.m. or two hours after the ship arrives; however, do not arrive prior to the embarkation time on your ticket.

 

 

My daughter will kill me if we get there and they won't allow us in.

[Barsnikel]

Just had some additions or minor corrections.

That's cool..:cool:.. but as I said in the OP' date=' my suggestions are based primarily upon Carnival. I have taken other cruise lines, but I cannot really speak to their policies. I can speak to Carnival's policies... or at least, my experience of those policies[/b'].. and that's what my list is based upon :)

[Barsnikel]

Okay, so call me crazy but I just happened to be on the Baltimore port website checking to see what my husband can or cannot do dropping us off, etc. He is not going on this cruise. anyway, people are saying get there by 11, keeping in mind on my boarding pass it says 1:30 to 3:30. Should I adhere to this because this is what it says on the website:

•The cruise terminal entrance opens at 8:00 a.m. or two hours after the ship arrives; however, do not arrive prior to the embarkation time on your ticket.

 

 

My daughter will kill me if we get there and they won't allow us in.

 

I have never taken a cruise out of Baltimore. But I have taken Carnival cruises out of New York, Tampa, Port Canaveral (Orlando), Galveston, Miami and Fort Lauderdale.

 

In all of those, the issued instructions from Carnival was to arrive at 1PM or so. In all of those, we arrived at 10-ish and boarded early.

 

But if you are worried about it, then arrive as per the Carnival instructions. You are on vacation... It's not worth stressing over.

[destinationdad]

good post.

 

do you have any advice on inside guarantees??? Everyone says go for it, but what abot seeing the shore from my window.

 

 

guarantees are great for the wallet but my wife likes the balcony rooms :cool:

[mayapapaya51]

@Barsnikel, no, I'm not worried after reading responses. I'm determined to show up early because what's the worst that can happen? *lol* Thanks for your kind advice. I know once I'm on the ship all will be well.

[cruzeluver]

Do a lot of people decorate their doors?

 

Seems to happen most on the more family-friendly lines like Royal Caribbean and Carnival where I have seen door decorations. Not so much on Celebrity.

 

guarantees are great for the wallet but my wife likes the balcony rooms :cool:

 

Oftentimes balcony guarantees are an option. Its just that your balcony room could be anywhere on the ship.

[notentirelynormal]

Thanks for all the great advice. Do a lot of people decorate their doors? What are the doors made of? Can you use magnets? What are fish extenders?

 

Except for the cruise line balloons and announcements, I've never seen a decorated door on Princess either. Not to say there aren't any but in 25 plus cruises I've never noticed any.

[VanFan]

Lots of great advice here.....thanks so much!!!!

[crewzr]

Here are some tips for “newbie” cruisers…

 

Thanks a lot for compiling this list! Very useful tips! I can’t wait to go on my cruise in Feb! Also, thanks to everyone else who added their own tips! Sorry for all of the exclamation points, but I can’t wait to go! :D

[HardToPort]

Best. Post. Ever.

 

Great information, and I'm no rookie traveler.

 

Cheers!

HTP

[peety3]

We've done two northbound Alaska cruises on Princess, which means we had "scenic cruising" on College Fjord on the final afternoon of the trip. This became a factor in how we did our end-of-cruise packing. I'm going to explain it in reverse order, which is a key factor in how this all boils down.

 

Once we reunited with our luggage at the Anchorage airport, we transferred toiletries to our checked luggage, and reading material into our carry-on.

 

We disembarked with our camera bags plus one carry-on suitcase; this contained our toiletries and pajamas. Essentially the carry-on had the possessions still in our cabin as of 11pm the final night.

 

We carefully set aside the clothes we were going to wear off the ship, to be sure they didn't get packed. We visually agreed that neither of us should touch "that pile" without mutual approval.

 

We put a suitcase in the hall after dinner with our dirty clothes from dinner, plus our camera tripod(s), and anything we couldn't fit into earlier suitcase(s).

 

While wearing whatever we'd be wearing for dinner, we put a suitcase(s) in the hall before dinner with all of our dirty clothes except what we'd wear off the ship.

 

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When we pointed this out to my aunt/uncle this summer, they were thrilled to hear about that, as my aunt then threw a collapsible bag into her luggage to use as her carry-off bag.

[GrummanTiger]

Try to simply EXPERIENCE the cruise. Don't go EXPECTING anything specific. Just relax and enjoy, let the small stuff go.

[limace]

Thank you so much-about to go on my first cruise and this is super helpful.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[EdmPair]

Been on 2 cruises so giving advise from that POV.

I can see why a cabin steward would say 'sure, leave your room service tray in the hall'. I also think any blockage in the hall creates hazards for those who walk or wheel in good conditions and peril for the same in an emergency. What is the rush to get rid of your tray? You ordered the food so call for room service to take it or wait.

 

I like arriving a bit early for boarding but some seem to be pushing it a bit. The lines give times to try to balance the load on staff to bring on all of us smoothly. They won't turn you away but is it really that needed. I think getting there 1/2 or 1 hour ahead is fine but so of you almost want to camp out the night before. Relax.

 

I was on a Gay only cruise and many of the doors were decorated. Usually held on with magnets. I never heard of anything being lifted but it could happen. My other cruise was on Princess and decorated my door. I saw only 2 or 3 other decorated doors. All were with magnets. I would NEVER risk tape -- real duct tape would damage many surfaces but often the stuff sold in dollar stores is not furnace grade duct tape.

 

Standard advice on cabin location is about 2 dimensions. The first is cost as inside cabins are cheaper than those with windows which are cheaper than balcony rooms with are cheaper than suites. You know your budget. You also need to guess how much you react medically to motion. Fewer than worry about it actually get sea sickness but when you do it can really hit. Since motion is a problem you need to minimize just that. Cabins near the middle of the ship and closer to the waterline move the least. As you move UP or Forward/Back a cabin will move more and sea sickness risk increases.

 

Hope this helps.

M

 

Hope thi

[Langley Cruisers]

Since this old thread was bumped, I will mention that some of this material is outdated. Since OP seems to be referring to Carnival, be sure to check into your cruise line's policy. For instance, on Royal Caribbean, room service is not free 24 hours, and pool towels are not free if you fail to return them.