Your Top Embarkation Day Priorities? i.e. What do you do first?

[playadelwes]

22 Do's and Don't's for Your First Day Onboard a Cruise Ship

OK, so that list was cute and fluffy

 

Now, more realistically, what are your top embarkation day priorities? Surely, you have a routine of logistics that must be taken care of before you sit down and relax? Or is that exactly what you do; sit down and relax?

In order, what’s most important for you once you first board the ship?

[Pilot70D]

This is a family oriented board. How about we talk about the SECOND thing we do once we're aboard?:D:p:D

[carolslc]

I haven't been on a cruise before, but we are going to the Caribbean in January on the Summit. The first thing I want to do is get a frozen drink (while signing up for a drink package using OBC), a chair by the pool in my swimsuit, and relax and people watch while waiting for our cabin to be available. And maybe get a burger from the grill. I will probably try out the T pool. I want to get a tour of the spa area since we are AQ to see if the relaxation room, sauna etc is worth any time.

 

Then once our cabin is ready, I will disinfect the heck out of it. :)

[LeftcoastBC]

Get rid of my carry-ons.!

[DirtyDawg]

We just find a place to drop the carry-ons and grab some food and drinks, usually in the buffet. By the end of lunch the cabin is usually ready so we head down to check it out and stow the bags. The afternoon, up until Muster is usually spent on the balcony. And if it's just my DW and I we sometimes get in an afternoon cardio workout.:D

[Orator]

We check to see if cabin is available. If it is we go in with luggage. DW opens closet and drawers and sprays disinfectant. Also sprays all surfaces. We deposit valuables in safe and get something to eat. If cabin is not available we generally check restaurant assignment and then get something to eat. I usually walk around to see whose onboard. I know many crew from past cruises. Start unpacking ASAP.

[slapsyru]

Glass of champagne as you walk on, drop bags off if room is ready, set up account at the purser's desk, go to MDR and check we have a table for 2 and haven't been stuck on a 10 like usual ( love sharing at all other times apart from dinner). Then, with all that done, relax and explore..with a cocktail if possible ;)

[cruiserhal]

Glass of champagne or 2 is number one. :)

[ccruisequeen]

Get a snack from lido grill, drop off carry-ons, explore layout of ship.

 

Get a daily schedule. Look for first trivia game.

 

 

 

 

"I can see Carnival Miracle and Inspiration from my porch" (to paraphrase Tina Fey as S. Palin)

I still cruise for Warm Chocolate Melting Cake (with 2 sugar-free vanilla ice-creams!)

[ozark74]

Try not to board until the rooms are ready. As soon as we get to the room

check the room to make sure everything is there. Then wipe the room down with Lysol wipes. Unpack the carryon and sit on the veranda and drink our champagne. Just decompress.

[Karen@Steve]

Board as soon as possible, head to either Bistro on 5 or the Porch. If they are not open find a place to have a drink first. Eat lunch and explore until the cabins are ready. Drop off the carry ons and check for luggage, start the unpack if they are there. Explore until muster drill, then head to sailaway where I can get a frozen drink. Then off the cabin to finish unpacking and get ready for dinner.

[chessbriar]

Go to the bar and have a drink. Need to make sure my card/account work while I'm close to guest relations.

[playadelwes]

Get rid of my carry-ons.!

We just find a place to drop the carry-ons

Drop off the carry ons

 

Where are you dropping them off / getting rid of them?

[Kate45]

Grab a bite to eat (usually burger or pizza), have a cold drink (usually beer) find our way to our cabin, start to unpack, walk around the ship and get our bearings, do muster drill, head up to pool deck for cast-off and watch the departure until its time for dinner. Just thinking of all that makes the long day, long waits and long flight worth it~

[MoyCoy]

Glass of champagne as you walk on, drop bags off if room is ready, set up account at the purser's desk, go to MDR and check we have a table for 2 and haven't been stuck on a 10 like usual ( love sharing at all other times apart from dinner). Then, with all that done, relax and explore..with a cocktail if possible ;)

 

 

Noticed you did a holiday sailing in 2011. Was it over Christmas and New Years? How was it? Would you do it again?

[MoyCoy]

If I am on the ship early enough, I like to unpack after lunch and before the drill. I can't seem to completely relax until that task is done. I waited to unpack until evening on my last 10 day cruise this Sept, and all I could think about during dinner was the chore waiting for me. Silly I know!:p

[A Sixth?]

I haven't been on a cruise before, but we are going to the Caribbean in January on the Summit. The first thing I want to do is get a frozen drink (while signing up for a drink package using OBC), a chair by the pool in my swimsuit, and relax and people watch while waiting for our cabin to be available. And maybe get a burger from the grill. I will probably try out the T pool. I want to get a tour of the spa area since we are AQ to see if the relaxation room, sauna etc is worth any time.

 

Then once our cabin is ready, I will disinfect the heck out of it. :)

 

Hey! We're doing a B2B on the Summit this January. When are you going and have you joined the roll call?

[DirtyDawg]

Where are you dropping them off / getting rid of them?

 

We sit with ours until the cabin is ready. Basically have lunch and then bring them down to the cabin.

[slapsyru]

Noticed you did a holiday sailing in 2011. Was it over Christmas and New Years? How was it? Would you do it again?

 

Sadly we flew home on the 22nd December. I'd love to do a Christmas and new year cruise some time though. That Christmas-ish time cruise was amazing. Ship looked fantastic. Only ruined by getting sick on the way home and spending Christmas with pneumonia :(

[VegasMark]

1. Big giddy smile

2. Go to room if ready. Sanitize and unpack. By the way, I didn't realize there were so many other sanitizers on board - good for us!

3. Highlight the daily schedule.

4. Get some eats!

5. Make last minute phone calls before departure.

[B1G]

Drink, food, drink, food,...pool :)

 

A lot of you desinfect the room, it's supposed to be clean??

[bighairtexan]

I also disinfect. Once you've had noro on a cruise, you're probably more conscious of all those surfaces we touch all the time. I don't go around disinfecting railings and elevator buttons, but I do bring benzalkonium chloride wipes and wipe my cabins door/drawer knobs, remote, phone, etc. I scrupulously wash my hands but I figure I don't know who was in my cabin before me, if they were sick and how DISINFECTED (vs cleaned) the cabin was.

 

PS: Yes I usually do this in a hotel. It's not like noro is a cruise ship illness.

[phoenix_dream]

If I am on the ship early enough, I like to unpack after lunch and before the drill. I can't seem to completely relax until that task is done. I waited to unpack until evening on my last 10 day cruise this Sept, and all I could think about during dinner was the chore waiting for me. Silly I know!:p

You are not the only one! I cannot completely relax until I am all unpacked. We once traveled with relatives who lived out of their suitcases all week - I cannot even imagine doing that - yikes:eek:. Now that we are seasoned cruisers, we know to wait to board until after the rooms are ready and the crowds have dissipated. We drop off and unpack our carry-ons, disinfect the room with Lysol wipes, and then go have a bite to eat - where we go depends on the crowds and how hungry we are. Depending where we are embarking and what time we sail, we may leave the ship for awhile to shop or sightsee, but usually not.

[DebbieMacG]

Bistro on 5 :)

[cherylroslyn]

Check to make sure that despite six or seven phone calls, I am at a table for 8 with 7 strangers, while my aunt and uncle are across the dining room at a table for six, and my best friends are seated with my aunt and uncle's best friends that they have never met.........and then somehow I get it worked out with the lovely Maitre'd staff sitting in the lounge helping all of us with dinning room issues.....