My First Cruise

[AudiSean]

Answers to questions are sometimes YMMV. That means it worked for some people but not for others. My wife was researching the "case of water" topic and concluded it was a safer bet to put the case of water inside a duffel bag and check it. That's what we did last week when boarding the Gem from NYC, and we had no problems.

 

So I will bring my case of water through the checked bag area. When I check my bottles of wine. Thanks!

 

 

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[dwjoe]

So I will bring my case of water through the checked bag area. When I check my bottles of wine.

To clarify, checked baggage dropoff is the first thing you do when you arrive. That makes the rest of the process easier since you won't be weighed down. Make sure to attach the luggage tags from your edocs ahead of time. You give it to the porters outside the terminal building, and that's the last you see of it til the first evening onboard when it shows up outside your cabin. Our duffel bag full of water showed up as expected.

 

I'd recommend keeping your wine with you in your carryon. There should be a place in the terminal where you can pay your corkage fee. In NYC it was right after security scan. If you put wine in your checked baggage it will get flagged and sent to the "naughty room" onboard where you will have to claim it and pay corkage at that time, but it's a hassle.

[DMLyons]

Wow. I never thought to YouTube, I was just looking at still pictures. Silly me.

 

Thanks for the tip!

 

Youtube is EXCELLENT. You can search by ship name and type of room...and sometimes even by your exact room number. I've found several really good videos of the rooms we were considering booking, and that's how we eventually chose the one-bedroom DOS.

 

DML

[DMLyons]

One last question about NCL. Can you bring water on board? I have read too many confusing posts. Some dating back to 2006 and 2008.

 

I have also found through search that there is a very good, actually better water filtration system on the ships than what is found in many water treatment plants! But, you can't believe everything that you read.

 

Yes, to both. You can bring as much bottled water aboard as you want. SOME ports, you can just tape a luggage tag to it and it's good to go. A few ports want you to put it in a duffel bag, I hear, but that's an oddity.

 

Yes, the filtration systems are excellent and will give you cleaner water than you will bring on. A lot of people just bring a refillable water bottle with and fill that up from ship's water. HOWEVER, some people still bring an 8-pack of bottled water (or empty water bottles to fill from ship's water...less weight) to avoid problems with local water in port.

 

DML

[DMLyons]

I can't really think of anything that new cruisers do in particular that might annoy seasoned cruisers, but I'm pretty sure some others will think of some things and post them.

 

I doubt Sean would do this, since he seems so well-prepared, but... Be sure you know the rules for areas of the ship (especially dress codes for various eateries). If you get stopped because you are out of code, please wave off and go change or go somewhere else without causing a stir. At least the one person out of code can run back to the room to change while the other members of the party are seated and order him/her a drink. There is NOTHING...I mean, bar none, more irritating to me than being stuck in line behind some jerk who not only didn't bother to learn the rules but then stands there for several minutes, berating the staff and demanding entry, because he or she believes the rules "can't possibly apply to me." :mad: It's the rule. Just go change graciously and don't ruin everyone else's good mood with your poor behavior. The staff don't mind if people really don't know the rules. Trust me. What floors me is that some experienced cruisers do this as well. It's just bad form.

 

DML

[AudiSean]

So here is my next question.

 

I have searched, and I want to do the jeep excursion with my GF. The problem is that it says that you need to have a party of 4. So how do I get another to couple to come with us? Will they pair us up at the Jeeps?

 

After research, It shows that you must be 25 years of age to drive. Lets not take that chance to find someone to drive!

[dwjoe]

AudiSean, you can try posting on your cruise's roll call thread and maybe some other cruisers on your sailing will be interested. Each ship has its own forum dedicated to that and you should be able to find it by date.

[sara_m]

i alway pack my water (i usually just take a 12pk) in my checked luggage. Also it takes up space so when its gone you have extra room in your luggage.

 

Also i have not been but i have heard that the sea lion encounter at blue lagoon is AMAZING.

 

I have done the jeep tour in Belize... and it was pretty awesome!

[AquamarineBreeze]

Please don't laugh (anyway, if you at least I can't hear you :p ) if this is a silly question, but it struck me on my last cruise... Do you usually tip your room steward at the end of the trip or is it better to break it up a little throughout the cruise?

[AudiSean]

Please don't laugh (anyway, if you at least I can't hear you :p ) if this is a silly question, but it struck me on my last cruise... Do you usually tip your room steward at the end of the trip or is it better to break it up a little throughout the cruise?

 

Great question! I hope someone has a good answer!

[gelo7]

Welcome to Cruise Critic.

[dwjoe]

Do you usually tip your room steward at the end of the trip or is it better to break it up a little throughout the cruise?

Hi AquamarineBreeze, hope you are finding cruisecritic helpful.

 

On NCL, the term is "service charge", and they make it easy. Everyone is assessed an automatic $12 per person, per day charge to their onboard account, which covers service from your room steward, restaurant and support staff. You should not feel obliged to give more, however, you can tip extra if someone provides you with exceptional service.

 

On my last cruise my steward was OK and I did not have any special requests, so I did not tip extra. One of my waitresses went above and beyond, so I gave her $5 extra each time she served us. That is entirely at your discretion. There are also other ways you can recognize a staff member too. You can fill out a "Vacation Hero" card available at Guest Services. And a smile and thank you go a long way as well. :)

[aalyvyne]

Hello! I am actually sailing on 2/18, but there is not much chatter on that roll call, so i am interested in hearing if anyone can answer my question. i am travelling for a special occasion (40th birthday) and was thinking of spurgin gon the Romance package. Does anyone have an opinion if it is worth it? I have only a couple of days to set it up, but I have been leaning towards that to have something sweet set up when we arrive (sparkling wine, strawberries) and the other things that are rolled in. This is our third cruise and we do tend to enjoy the specialty restaurants at least some of the time. Would REALLY appreciate feedback!!! Thanks...have a great time all!

[dwjoe]

Hi aalyvyne and welcome to cruise critic!

 

There's a button at top right labelled "Search this forum" that is a great resource to locate specific info. By clicking on it and typing "romance" I found this thread:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1783136

[NewEnglandNANA]

Please don't laugh (anyway, if you at least I can't hear you :p ) if this is a silly question, but it struck me on my last cruise... Do you usually tip your room steward at the end of the trip or is it better to break it up a little throughout the cruise?

 

Hi there

We tipped at the beginning and the end!

Our 1st cruise was on NCL Jewel last year and through CC i found this advice I will share about tipping the room steward. I wanted our refrigerator cleared out. I left a sticky note on it with $10 asking our steward to please clear it when they had the chance. We left our room and later that evening it was cleaned out.

The next day we met Victor our steward and he took care of us all week.Towel animals every night! Just a super person. For my husbands birthday I had put up some small Happy Birthday decorations and when we came back that evening Victor had made my DH two towel animals ,he had put balloons in the room and he even made a hand written sign saying Happy Happy to my DH. Truly above and beyond I felt! We did fill out a comment card for him and made sure we found him and gave him another $20 for his service at the end of our sailing.

I really think your room steward tipping should be at your descretion and what your wallet will allow.

We thought this would be our only cruise, nope we are hooked and rebooked!

Have an awesome time!

Jean:D

[aalyvyne]

Thank you, dwJoe! I did not know this and will check it out!

[AudiSean]

This was posted by user EricAnde over on the Roll call thread which gets very little traffic.

 

"Also would like to know if there is any kind of place where we can lock up our stuff when we go in the water to snorkel - would like to bring the camera down to the beach, but if we're going to be in the water a lot, I don't want to have to be thinking about my camera walking off...."

 

Let me know what you guys do. Thanks!

[dwjoe]

Hi AudiSean, the availability of a locker to store your stuff varies depending on specific location. Some snorkeling excursions will provide them. But your typical beach won't.

 

I use disposable underwater cameras when I go snorkeling and they always stay with me.

 

There's a big thread on the RCCL board about a lady who left her cell phone on her beach chair and it walked away. You'll have to wade through it, but I remember seeing some items recommended there on how to keep your electrioncs safe or take it in the water with you... Here's the thread:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1783276

 

you could also post at the end of the thread and ask, the thread is just about done so the timing might be right, and you might get some more suggestions.

[DMLyons]

I use disposable underwater cameras when I go snorkeling and they always stay with me.

 

I also prefer waterproof cameras and take them with me, but I'm also looking at these waterproof bags with wrist straps.

 

http://www.amazon.com/3-Pc-Waterproof-Dry-Bags/dp/B001FP0G3A

http://www.amazon.com/SE-Pouch-Water-Proof-7inX9in/dp/B001FP2Y4O

 

DML

[smilynn47]

I took a ship in summer 1962 from San Diego through the Panama Canal to Le Havre. I'm now writing my memoirs and am trying to recall its name. I think it was English. Does anyone know it? Or can you tell me how I can find out?

Thank you!!