A lot of Questions... Please help

[Crazy4you]

We booked a 24 day cruise and we have never cruised before!

 

What have we done?!?

We will be traveling with kids (twin 9 year olds)

 

What do you do regarding cell phones? I know carriers have roaming charges and that can add up fast. Do you rent a phone? rent a sim card?

 

 

About WiFi. We want our kids to take their nooks to keep them entertained, but what do you about the wifi? is it worth taking a laptop?

 

 

Photos. We are planing to take a lot of picture. Do we take extra memory cards or upload them to a computer?

 

What to pack? Ok so that is not really a questions anymore, my wife has downloaded a lot of "must have" lists. What about "formal nights" I rarely use a sports coat. Do I really need to take one?

[paul929207]

Welcome to Cruise Critic.

 

You don't mention the cruise line. The answers to your questions can vary by line. You may want to name it here or even better, repost your questions in the section for that line.

[klfrodo]

We booked a 24 day cruise and we have never cruised before!

 

What have we done?!?Taken a risk that I wouldn't. Very first cruise and you booked 24 days?

We will be traveling with kids (twin 9 year olds)They'll find it exciting

 

What do you do regarding cell phones? I know carriers have roaming charges and that can add up fast. Do you rent a phone? rent a sim card?I turn it off. Not only will your carrier charge you roaming fees, but you'll have to connect thru the ships carrier and that will cost you also

 

 

About WiFi. We want our kids to take their nooks to keep them entertained, but what do you about the wifi? is it worth taking a laptop?WIFI on ships are slooowww. I think the last time I did a speedtest.net and the fastest I saw was 250 KILO bytes per sec. Remember the old dial up days?

 

 

Photos. We are planing to take a lot of picture. Do we take extra memory cards or upload them to a computer? 24 days? I'd be bringing a laptop to download.

 

What to pack? Ok so that is not really a questions anymore, my wife has downloaded a lot of "must have" lists. What about "formal nights"Depends on the ship and the clientel. Most mass market cruise lines don't really do "Formal Wear" anymore. Maybe only 2 - 5% will do suits ties, or tuxes. The women though,,,, their always dressed to the 9's. Luxury cruise lines on the other hand,,,, I rarely use a sports coat. Do I really need to take one?

 

My comments in Blue

 

After I submitted the post, I see blue shouldn't have been my color of choice. Hope you can read it.

Edited June 6, 2015 by klfrodo

[Crazy4you]

Thanks for the replys.

 

We will be on Holland America Nieuw Amsterdam.

 

I will post the same questions on that thread... when I find it.

 

The 24 day cruise was my wife's idea. :mad:

[klfrodo]

Thanks for the replys.

 

We will be on Holland America Nieuw Amsterdam.

 

I will post the same questions on that thread... when I find it.

 

The 24 day cruise was my wife's idea. :mad:

 

here's the link to Holland America

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?s=&daysprune=-1&f=171

[klfrodo]

Thanks for the replys.

 

We will be on Holland America Nieuw Amsterdam.

 

I will post the same questions on that thread... when I find it.

 

The 24 day cruise was my wife's idea. :mad:

 

Here's the link for your ships roll calls. If you scroll through you may be able to find the sail date and actually meet up with people who will be on your cruise.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=592

[frenchcanrican]

The 24 days sounds wonderful. You will have a great time. My MIL and SIL first cruise was 12 days to Europe. To this date they always wished that it had been longer. I have been on a 12 day and a 10 day all with family 9 year old to 65 year olds. Everyone always wanted the trip to be longer.

 

ENJOY EVERY MINUTE!

It will be over very quickly.

[Scrapnana]

Not only is wifi slow but also expensive. HAL has been experimenting with unlimited wifi (rather than buying limited packages or by the minute) but it is only good for one device at a time.

 

HAL has a good kid's program that yours might enjoy.

 

I turn off my cell phone. If I need to get a message to someone I e-mail.

 

HAL will likely have at least three formal nights on a 24 day cruise. Most men will wear a jacket to eat in the main dining room.

 

I take my iPad with me when I cruise and put all my pictures on that. Always take at least one extra memory card with you. I had one go bad the second day of vacation and they are not always easy to find.

[SusieKIslandGirl]

On formal nights on Holland America men need to wear a jacket of some kind. One suitcase didn't make it from home in time for the cruise-of course it had the sports jacket. The dining room had a loaner for my husband-otherwise they wouldn't let him in.

 

We always take a medium sized laptop to download photos each night. Sometimes we can get good, free wifi in ports so we grab emails then.

 

Be sure to pack at least one outfit for each person in each suitcase. If one bag goes astray (as above) no one person is out their entire wardrobe. And make sure to pack the kids' swimsuits in a carry-on that you take onto the ship. Often you won't get your luggage that you leave with the porters until late afternoon or evening and the kids may want the pool asap. Have fun!

[SusieKIslandGirl]

Almost forgot to add a word about hangers. You can get free hangers at Macy's or Penney's-both the regular and pant hangers. I pack a few in the lid of the suitcases so we have enough-I try not to overpack but haven't reached that goal yet. Because the hangers were free I can leave them behind and have a little room for treasures found on the journey.

[CruiserBruce]

No reason to bring hangers. If there aren't enough in your cabin, just ask the cabin steward- he will find more.

 

There will be at least 4 formal nights on your cruise, and possibly as many as 6.

 

OP, I am glad you were very cautious is starting cruising!! :D:D:D;)

 

It can be done, really pretty easily. Just takes some research and planning. Make this your home page on Cruise Critic:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/index.php

 

so you can see all the resources available to you here.

 

When are you sailing- this summer or next? What level cabin? I ask because laundry is free in a suite, and that will be an important question you have soon.

Edited June 6, 2015 by CruiserBruce

[zookiebird]

When in each port, check with your room steward, bar or restaurant server for the best WiFi locations on shore.

[dsrdsrdsr]

We booked a 24 day cruise and we have never cruised before!

 

What have we done?!?

We will be traveling with kids (twin 9 year olds)

 

What do you do regarding cell phones? I know carriers have roaming charges and that can add up fast. Do you rent a phone? rent a sim card?

 

 

About WiFi. We want our kids to take their nooks to keep them entertained, but what do you about the wifi? is it worth taking a laptop?

 

 

Photos. We are planing to take a lot of picture. Do we take extra memory cards or upload them to a computer?

 

What to pack? Ok so that is not really a questions anymore, my wife has downloaded a lot of "must have" lists. What about "formal nights" I rarely use a sports coat. Do I really need to take one?

 

My first cruise was 17 days. Longer would have been better.

 

WiFi - switch it off. Though out at sea, the only available wifi is the ship's and you can't accidentally log on to it - you need a password.

 

Photos - a 32GB card holds about 10,000 photos that will print up to A4 (foolscap) size paper with good definition. Even if you're doing video on the same camera, it should be plenty. If doing video, make sure it's a 10 not a 4 speed. One card probably holds more pictures that a laptop, and certainly takes up less space - they're so little, in fact, that losing the thing is the biggest danger!

Edited June 6, 2015 by dsrdsrdsr

[diane.in.ny]

Definitely check out the children's program on board. It wouldn't be my first choice to have my kids spend the time during this fantastic experience with their nose in a nook. My suggestion is to include them in the planning and the researching for the various ports of call. I would go so far as to suggest they keep a diary ... a few sentences every night before they go to bed.

 

Definitely turn your cell phone off. As for Wi-Fi, some of the port terminals have free Wi-Fi. Cruise staff will definitely know where to go for free Wi-Fi in any port.

 

As for formal nights, you can always go to the buffet. You won't be alone. :)

[Cruisin' Chick]

We booked a 24 day cruise and we have never cruised before! To be honest, a cruise longer than 7 days wouldn't have been something I'd recommend. My hubby (then bf) introduced me to cruising by taking me on an one-day gambler's special (many people in Southern Cal would take this cruise just to get into international waters) and then we booked a 7-day. When we took our first post-kid cruise, we introduced her via a 3-day one. Our longest have been three two-week cruises and that seems to be our optimum time.

 

What have we done?!?

We will be traveling with kids (twin 9 year olds) Yes, there is a kids' program. On the first day, there will be a orientation/registration meeting. Take them so they can meet any kids that are their age. My qualm for you is that on this long of a cruise, there may not be too many kids on board. You didn't say what time of year, but that will also determine if there's other kids on board.

 

What do you do regarding cell phones? I know carriers have roaming charges and that can add up fast. Do you rent a phone? rent a sim card?

Mine gets turned off until we get to a port. I will pre-load local taxi companies into it just in case I need to call one. But then our last four cruises have been mainly US ports (only Victoria BC and Ensenada were the foreign ports, and we don't get off the ship in Ensenada) so I didn't check on international charges

 

 

About WiFi. We want our kids to take their nooks to keep them entertained, but what do you about the wifi? is it worth taking a laptop?

Again, be careful about charges as others have suggested. Preload books into the nook and just use as an e-reader to save $. When you get into a port, there's often internet cafes that will have a low fee to use their wifi or free wifi if you buy food. But we try to avoid taking electronic devices. I rather have a regular paper back book as well as a puzzle mag. We did buy an Internet package before the cruise through Princess, but the Internet is slow on board...my daughter and I would try to go late at night or early in the morning to the Cafe and sometimes I had trouble checking my email because of the speed.

 

Photos. We are planing to take a lot of picture. Do we take extra memory cards or upload them to a computer? I would get the memory cards. make the first photo on each of a paper with your email address written in big letters so if you lose one, hopefully someone will be able to contact you.

 

What to pack? Ok so that is not really a questions anymore, my wife has downloaded a lot of "must have" lists. What about "formal nights" I rarely use a sports coat. Do I really need to take one?

 

You didn't say where you're going. Going on an Alaskan cruise would require a different wardrobe than a Caribbean one.

 

From what I've read, Holland tends to be on the conservative side when it comes to dress, but if you go to the Holland board (see the link above), you can read the various threads and ask questions.

 

Here's something I strongly recommend: go to the Holland website and read the FAQs, read up on your ship, etc. Many of your questions you'll have before your cruise will be answered there.

 

Another piece of advice: unless you live within a quick drive of your port, travel to your embarkation city (where you will start your cruise) at least a day ahead. A hotel room for the night will allow you to relax (not worry about any flight delays), possibly stop at a store if you forgot something like sunscreen, and have a good sleep before heading to the port.

[Lerin]

Your cruise sounds wonderful, I'm sorry you are not happy to be going. Where are you going anyway?

 

I'd suggest you worry less about phones, wi-fi, computers, nooks and the like and try to enjoy the experience. If you aren't able to unplug due to work conflicts, at least have your kids get away from the electronics.

 

Hopefully there is a kids club that they can participate in, though on the longer HAL cruises it isn't as likely. Be sure to inquire when you get on board.

[cb at sea]

Yes..Hal will have a kid's club..even on longer trips...no worries about that! The kids will be entertained while on the ship...it's up to you to entertain them in ports!!

[Crazy4you]

Thanks for all the advise and hints so far.

 

I was not mad about my wife booking the trip, just a little hesitant about the length...

 

We are doing the 24 day Barcelona to Venice.

 

I fond the Roll Call for our trip and started reading... (It's a lot of info) about the excursions.

 

As far as the kids, we are taking the Nooks mainly for the airplane. They are little nerds and like to read.

[Roz]

On a 24-day cruise you may find few, if any, other children. But since you're already booked, go and enjoy it and make the most of it. I think 7 days is a good cruise length for first timers.

 

Roz

[CruiserBruce]

Things have drifted a little here.

 

It is a 24 day cruise that is also being booked as two 12 day cruises. It is a Med cruise.

 

There will be child activities. We did a 20 day (also bookable as two 10 day cruises) Med in mid August and we had over 200 kiddos on board for the first 10 days, but only about 20 for the second 10 days.

[2Ports]

They are little nerds and like to read.

 

That's a good thing

[cruisead]

You're very brave to be doing a first cruise for 24 days with two 9 year olds. We wouldn't have done a cruise that long with our boys (4), as that length of cruise would have driven them up the wall.

 

HAL is known to be a line that caters to an older clientele. While there will be some families on board, there probably won't be as many as on other lines. But the good thing is that your cruises are very port intensive, therefore you won't be on the ship a whole lot. And to be honest, after taking over 7 Med cruises, I suspect you're going to be very tired at the end of the day, so having lots and lots of entertainment at night might not be a huge deal.

 

Cell phones on a cruise ship can be a wallet buster. Calls average $2.49 a minute, and I will warn you to not ever use a smartphone for Internet. If you do, you'll incur that per minute charge plus download charges. I remember the first time we cruised with our first smartphone, we were not very smart, and came home to a phone bill of nearly $1000, and none of that charge was for phone calls. We didn't know about airplane mode or turning off data roaming.

 

Wifi is annoyingly slow and can be expensive. You can buy a package of minutes for Internet, or you can pay by the minute. The per minute charge is around $.65 a minute, with that per minute charge going lower depending on the number of minutes you purchase in a package.

 

Now a couple of tips. The Med in summer is extremely hot and humid, so always be prepared for that when off the ship by bringing bottled water with you to keep hydrated. You can also stop at local cafes for something to drink. Take breaks from touring, especially with the young ones. Remember there are dress codes for certain places such as churches, synagogues and other religious places. No shorts and no sleeveless.

 

HAL is considered a traditional cruise line and therefore you'll find that they do have a dress code in the main dining room for dinner. That means slacks and collared shirts for males, and slacks, sundresses and nice tops for the women. Formal nights are at the very least, jacket and tie for men and cocktail dresses or dressy slacks and tops for the women. No shorts or ripped jeans at any evening meal.

 

Have a great cruise.