What's your First things First?

[SGCruiser2013]

I've seen a lot of messages about some of the things to be done right after getting on the ship. Any tips on how to prioritize?

 

1. Excursion desk to book excursions/items you can't book online (like the Nellie's beach cabanas)

2. Restaurant reservations if you've not been able to do online

3. Chef's Table type packages

4. Ship tour packages

5. Flowrider/activity type packages

6. Reserve time at spa

 

I'm sure these can vary ship by ship. For instance we are traveling on FOS coming up, and are trying to game plan what makes most sense to do first. Any tips from the more experienced folks?

[tm3750]

The first thing I always do is head to the MDR and check to be sure we have the table we want .

 

Next thing is head to the Specialty restaurant, they have the menu's for every night of the cruise, we look over the menu's and decide which night we will eat there.

 

If a new ship, we will start exploring to get to know the ship.

 

Get some lunch and hopefully get in our cabin then back to exploring

[Clarea]

I like to eat first, then check the table in the MDR.

[Victoria/73]

First think we do is grab a nice cold drink [emoji483] take a deep breath & relax [emoji4]

 

 

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[MichaelCMTX]

We've boarded late enough where we could go straight to the cabin and drop off the carryons.

 

Going to see if this next one coming up we can arrange DW's Cruise Pedi on that first day.

[HiCSailor]

My traditions and habits are still forming, but I like to grab a snack at an out-of-the-way place (ie: not WJ, but Promenade Cafe) and explorer the ship, taking advantage of any tours that are going on like the spa tour, Adventure ocean, and the like, until the staterooms are ready. Then I explore the room until the muster drill.

 

Having seen the embarkation day lines at guest services, I would do whatever is in my power to confirm reservations and take care of other matters before boarding... The thought of beginning my hard earned vacation standing in a long queue makes me cringe. [emoji37]

 

I don't believe waiting a bit to books busty restaurants put you at any great risk of not getting in, in fact I've noticed special pricing offered in the boarding day Compass that you may miss out on if you go to soon.

[Desert Cruizers]

We grab some lunch, by then we can drop off our carry ons then walk around, relax, DH gets a beer, I start taking photos, then head back to our room by 3 to see if our main luggage has arrived & if so, unpack and wait for Muster.

[cb at sea]

We skip lunch (we have a late breakfast!), so we head to the pool and drink until muster! There is really no "must do" on vacation.

[molsonschooner]

If the ship has a royal promenade we go to the pub to get DW her first beer of the week. As we figure on spending almost all waking hours there we introduce ourselves to our new friends (the servers). While there I will go to the cafe promenade to get some goodies then we start to people watch.

[evelyn51]

We grab some lunch, by then we can drop off our carry ons then walk around, relax, DH gets a beer, I start taking photos, then head back to our room by 3 to see if our main luggage has arrived & if so, unpack and wait for Muster.

 

This exactly! ;)

[zapman]

Go to the pool bar intruduce myself to the 2 bartenders and say, get used to me i will be sitting in the cornor stoll for must of the cruise. :p

[SPacificbound]

We are fairly new, just 3 cruises so far. :)

 

We don't board until about 1:00 PM, and we go by our cabin and drop off our carry on stuff, then get a snack and go up on deck and take pictures of where we are leaving.

 

So far we have cruised out of Sydney, San Diego and Vancouver so we have had some pretty ports.

[maureencruiser]

I guess I'm boring. I like to board late so I can go to the cabin and drop off my wine and other things, read the Compass, look at all the info, etc. I'm not in a big hurry to eat or explore the ship, I have plenty of time to do both. :)

[drarill]

We were talking about this yesterday. We usually like to arrive early, have lunch and then go to check our room and drop the carry ons. I go to the spa to make appointments that are not available on line while my husband goes to the specialty restaurants with our friends if we are traveling with a large group.

This might sound silly but I was suggesting my family a different approach for our next week NYE cruise. We want to watch a football game and I think we should have lunch at our home, arrive at the port around 1:00 PM and hope to be in our cabin for kick off (2:00 PM). We already have a reservation @ Giovannis after the Muster drill. :)

[Paulxyz2004]

I board early, head to the Windjammer for lunch and then off to the cabin. I have no need for any table checking, reservations, etc.

As soon as my luggage arrives I unpack to be ready before muster.

[Ann262]

We like to get a drink and explore the ship!

[spookwife]

I've seen a lot of messages about some of the things to be done right after getting on the ship. Any tips on how to prioritize?

 

1. Excursion desk to book excursions/items you can't book online (like the Nellie's beach cabanas)

2. Restaurant reservations if you've not been able to do online

3. Chef's Table type packages

4. Ship tour packages

5. Flowrider/activity type packages

6. Reserve time at spa

 

I'm sure these can vary ship by ship. For instance we are traveling on FOS coming up, and are trying to game plan what makes most sense to do first. Any tips from the more experienced folks?

 

none of the things you list would be of very great importance to us. even when booking last minute and not an option to do prior to boarding.

 

if it is a new ship, we tend to just wander to get the lay of the land. if among the very first board, and WJ is open, we head to a light quick lunch before going Walkabout.

 

the last time, we boarded at 1030( Baltimore) and neither Park cafe nor WJ were open until noon( 1 in the case of PC) , so we camped out in the Solarium until the Beef on Wecks were ready. after that we dropped off our carry ons then went in search of an umbrella drink before Muster

[BillOh]

I've seen a lot of messages about some of the things to be done right after getting on the ship. Any tips on how to prioritize?

 

1. Excursion desk to book excursions/items you can't book online (like the Nellie's beach cabanas)

2. Restaurant reservations if you've not been able to do online

3. Chef's Table type packages

4. Ship tour packages

5. Flowrider/activity type packages

6. Reserve time at spa

 

I'm sure these can vary ship by ship. For instance we are traveling on FOS coming up, and are trying to game plan what makes most sense to do first. Any tips from the more experienced folks?

 

We are always one of the first to board. We always get to lunch right away. Windjammer in most ships, Park Café or Dog House on Oasis class ships, then change into our swim suits and sit by the pool till rooms open. We usually cruise in early spring before its warm up here in the north and haven't seen the sun since October. Now if I was sailing Quantum for the first time out of NJ, I would tour the ship and take pics before it got crowded.

[AeroBaldness]

On last Monday we executed The Plan flawlessly on Liberty:

 

Arrive early to try and be on ASAP. We arrived at the pier at just after 10, were through the line and check in right at 11 and on the ship before 11:15 (about the 20th non suite/high level status on and in maybe the top 75 to 100 overall with B2Bs).

 

Head for the pool bar for the first of many drinks on the package; top shelf Bloody Mary with Grey Goose and, they will do it, a float of Absolut Pepper on top for a bit of heat.

 

Off to The Jammie for a quick bite. I try to find things I wouldn't normally eat and Monday's menu didn't disappoint.

 

Then, on to the Gym locker room to change into the bathing suit. Stop by the Pool Bar for round #2 (Patron Perfect Margarita) and claim a few loungers. Next up, the only time we'll be in the hot tubs the whole trip. I pretend that they are crystal clear and clean each cruise (please let me live in my imaginary world here). We were tubbing just after noon and had our pick of three and were the only ones in the tub we picked (versus the human soup occurring on the last sea day).

[SSVacation]

Sky bar 🍻 or Schooner 🍸 if the weather is bad.

[George C]

Check cabin

Explore ship if we had not sailed it already

Get a drink

Check location in MDR of our dinning room table

[mcatmcat]

1- eat

2- go to MDR to see location of table

3-realize we are in a cruise 😀

4-tour the ship

5- enter in spa raffle

6-assuming it's 1pm go to the room

7- realize we r in a cruise again 😀

8-drill

 

And go on ..

 

 

 

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[Noni]

....first drink of the cruise and then the gals check out the MDR seating. Less than 2 weeks and we will be sailing! Can't wait!

[Familygoboston]

I'm one of those who likes to get any business out of the way first. I pre plan as much "business" as I can- book shows, dining, excursions. If something snafus pre cruise that could get tough to book, like a comedy show on Oasis, or a limited availability shore excursion- I go there first.

 

Hubby likes to wander the ship early when it's empty to get good "ship photos" for my reviews, and so we get a lay of the land.

 

After lunch, we head to our cabin to get settled (and can usually unpack before muster) We don't bother getting into suits or hitting the pool before muster, since it never feels like quite enough time. Immediately after muster we head to wherever our preferred sail away location is.

 

We will often skip dinner or grab some thing outside of the MDR on the first night to avoid the crush and confusion. Since we do MTD and don't sit at a set table, there is no need to meet and greet that first day. So while everyone else is at dinner that first night, we can unwind and explore more of the ship or have the pools or deck chairs all to ourselves!:D