How do you you start your cruise?

[DrivesLikeMario]

Fun & interesting thread!

 

Our routine:

1.) Quick lunch at Mast Grill; have that first ultra-delicious Diet Coke

2.) Look around until cabins are available

3.) Drop off carry-on, lock up stuff in safe & hopefully, unpack

4.) Muster

5.) Follow the muster crowd like a herd of cattle back to our cabin to finish unpacking

6.) Say "Ahhh..." as we look at the ocean & say a prayer of gratitude

7.) People watch with a cool tropical drink in hand

8.) Have a casual dinner in the buffet

9.) Spend the rest of the evening watching the wake behind us.

 

I cannot wait to get back on the ocean. Nothing is better than being as sea! :)

[zoncom]

I immediately unpack and hang to prevent wrinkles. Put in shower to steam if necessary. Maybe sneak another bubbly and dine in Aqua spa or buffet if not too crowded.

[AZNative2000]

After unpacking and lifeboat drill, we wander the ship until time for sail away.

 

Then, it's time for wine on our balcony to toast each other and the beginning of another adventure as we watch the engines start moving us away from the pier. (And hopefully, we get to hear the horn.)

 

Once more, just two weeks from now. :D:D

 

Cheers!

[puppyluv1]

Reading all these great replies is making me so excited for our Dec cruise! There's something really special about the feeling you get as you approach the ship, and then that glass of bubbly! We like to arrive early so we can have lunch, explore the ship, and get that pesky unpacking out of the way. Then settle in for a relaxing and fun week.

[CapeCodCruiser]

We get our first drink then usually hit the buffet for a little something. Then look around until rooms are ready. I always carry on champagne for sail away. It goes on ice as soon as rooms are accessible. We carry on our luggage so I get unpacked & settled then too.

[chemmo]

After unpacking and lifeboat drill, we wander the ship until time for sail away.

 

Then, it's time for wine on our balcony to toast each other and the beginning of another adventure as we watch the engines start moving us away from the pier. (And hopefully, we get to hear the horn.)

 

Once more, just two weeks from now. :D:D

 

Cheers!

 

We love the toot of the horn too!

[SevenSeas1492]

For me, there's just nothing better than pulling up to the port and seeing that majestic ship, sometimes for the first time! The anticipation builds, my heart races, and I step onto the ship, mouth wide open in awe! It never gets old! Then, we head upstairs to gorge ourselves at the buffet.

[LisaAtlCruiser]

While I can say what my habits are on RCCL, November will be my first cruise on Celebrity so I am excited to see the differences. My first order of business will be to take advantage of the free bubbly I hear is offered! May have a couple of those :-)

 

Other than that, will grab a bite to eat and wait for Cabin's to be ready. Once there, I usually read whatever documents are left and then go ship exploring. On this coming up cruise, sail-a-way is not until 8:30pm so that too will be a new experience for me.

[amcco]

Great thread! Thanks for posting.

 

We love stepping on the ship and accepting that glass of bubbly. We sit in the immediate area and enjoy the drink and watch all of the excitement of folks stepping on board.

 

We wander the ship to start getting oriented and head to buffet. The chaos is just part of the experience. Everyone is so happy 😁

 

Wander a bit more until cabins ready. Head down, scope out the cabin, drop off carry on. Grab a few drinks and relax on balcony for a bit. Take a deep breath - vacation started!

 

I always unpack as soon as bags appear. My husband laughs as I even unpack if we are somewhere for just a night. He would agree with the 'nester' comment.

 

After muster we grab a few drinks and head to top deck for sail away.

 

Next month we will be trying out the concierge class lunch in the MDR. Will have to see which experience we like better.

[Jennlee.2]

On a cruise last fall, our ship boarded pretty late due to cleaning, so we were able to hit the Martini bar first thing! That was super great. Usually, though, they aren't open as early as the regular boarding times.

 

We get lunch - usually at the buffet (it's one of the few times we eat in the buffet, other than for breakfast). There it's pina coladas or mango daqueries as our tradition.

 

Then we just walk around and look at the ship until the announcement that we can go to the cabins, where we do some unpacking before the muster.

[Ox Fan Cruiser]

our day usually begins in the early AM hours so we can travel to the airport for a early flight. so we start our cruise with a short nap before the safety briefing..... I Know..... BORING!!!!!

[Jiminy1955]

Love this thread! Getting some great ideas.

[keithm]

Time for a thread just for fun.

 

It's the first day of your cruise, you've checked in, boarded, sipped the welcome bubbles and got your cabin squared away, and maybe even braved the buffet for a bite to eat. So now what?

 

Finally, it's time to start the fun. I want to hear about people's first day traditions or favorites. Do you make a beeline to your favorite bar to order that special drink you've been dreaming of for months. Maybe you just sit out on your balcony and relax.

 

For my wife and I, we spend the afternoon wandering. Checking out the art and just getting used to being back on board. After muster, we head up to the Sunset bar for the sail away,hopefully with a bunch of people from the roll call.

 

So, what are your traditions?

We do a few things... We'll go to the excursion desk(if we haven't planned any on line)I usually do a few spa appointments for me & my spouse. We might go to the dining room & make changes if our seating is not what we preferred. If we haven't eaten lunch, we'll go to the buffet & I make up a batch of Slumgullion(Google it)for myself. It helps keep the "regularity" going, as ship food can do certain things to you, if you're not used to eating it that often.(sometimes not enough fiber)then we'll wander around the ship & maybe have a drink in one of the bars & just "people" watch.

[cruisingdelt]

DW insist that I open the bottle of sparkling wine, we make our shore excursion reservations, if any, walk around the ship check out specialty restaurant discounts and put the work iPhone in the safe. The last item is the best part!!!

[CHEZMARYLOU]

Lately, a glass of champagne in Michaels Club and lunch in Luminae.

[workingtocruise-59]

This is a wonderful thread! We're just about to embark on our first Celebrity cruise and are getting some great ideas.

Everything will be totally new to us so, I expect, we will spend most of the time (with a glass (or two!) of something sparkling) wandering around the ship

in a state of awe and admiration ... well, that's what we're hoping!!

[Marketa24]

Great thread!!

Why yes we have a tradition! We accept our glass of bubbly, book all of our specialty restaurants. (Sometimes we get the all inclusive package and sometimes we just boom and cancel..we ask for the discount and if we cancel we still get the discount. Yes sneaky I know but I like beating the system.) and drop out carry on off. We sneak around the closed doors and then head to the "troughs" to get our eat on! Then wait for muster while unpacking. Muster then head back to room, watch sail away from balcony, get ready for dinner, have another drink them people watch!! We always are praying for safe travels but soon forget where He had brought us. Thanks to those that mentioned that because by His Grace we are truly blessed to be able to take vacations as often as we do!!!

[screwsmcernst]

Great thread! Sadly, I have to wait 400+ days until we sail. :(

 

After the first Bong of our card (I love that sound), and our welcome aboard beverage, I head to the MDR to talk to the Matre D about my food allergy. :( Then, if we are sailing with friends, we find a quiet spot near a window where we can sip another beverage and watch for our friends to board. Then we will have the concierge lunch in the MDR. I'm looking forward to that. :) If our cabins are ready after that, then we will drop off our carry on bags, take pictures of the cabin, and then explore the ship. Which will be a lot of fun since we will be sailing the "S" class for the first time. Grab another beverage while we people watch. Unpack our bags if they get delivered before muster. Head to the dreaded but necessary muster drill. then it's the last phone calls to the kids to say goodbye. Lock the phone in the safe for the duration of the cruise, and find a good spot for sail away.

 

Ugh! Now I want to sail tomorrow!! :D

[Luvcrusn]

Great thread! Sadly, I have to wait 400+ days until we sail. :(

 

After the first Bong of our card (I love that sound), and our welcome aboard beverage, I head to the MDR to talk to the Matre D about my food allergy. :( Then, if we are sailing with friends, we find a quiet spot near a window where we can sip another beverage and watch for our friends to board. Then we will have the concierge lunch in the MDR. I'm looking forward to that. :) If our cabins are ready after that, then we will drop off our carry on bags, take pictures of the cabin, and then explore the ship. Which will be a lot of fun since we will be sailing the "S" class for the first time. Grab another beverage while we people watch. Unpack our bags if they get delivered before muster. Head to the dreaded but necessary muster drill. then it's the last phone calls to the kids to say goodbye. Lock the phone in the safe for the duration of the cruise, and find a good spot for sail away.

 

Ugh! Now I want to sail tomorrow!! :D

 

Your agenda sounds like ours! And I think we're shipmates on Reflection Roll Call Nov 2017, but luckily we'll be onboard the Eclipse in 9 weeks.

We sip our welcome bubbly, then head to the MDR. They've started having the Concierge luncheons there since our Connie cruise in Feb., so that save a trip and accomplishes 2 in one. We'll have lunch and beverages and check that our table request was honored. Then, since we have lots of SBC, we'll book our shore excursions, specialty dining, and spa appointments. By then, hopefully, rooms will be ready. Quickly unpack, then muster drill and relax for the next 11 days. Can't wait.

[screwsmcernst]

Your agenda sounds like ours! And I think we're shipmates on Reflection Roll Call Nov 2017, but luckily we'll be onboard the Eclipse in 9 weeks.

.

 

Yes we are going to be shipmates.

[Byron_1978]

We don't really have a routine for when we board.

We've only done 4 cruises so are trying to develop a routine :p

 

There are a few things we usually do:

1) Board and hear the lovely sound upon using our ship cards for the first time

2) Get something to eat (we try to find a nice quiet spot and try to avoid the buffet

3) Find our cabin and drop of hand luggage

4) Wander around the ship to explore everything

5) Have our first cocktail

6) Muster

7) Unpack

 

We like to travel with a group arranged by our TA (usually 20+ people with at least 1 person from the TA). Our next cruise will be the 3rd time we do this.

On these trips, #4 is actually a guided tour. My wife finds this very usefull. For me...I tend to know the deckplans by hard before we board...:D

[shipshape sam]

Our routine once on board tends to following like this:

 

We skip the bubbles.

 

Assuming we are getting on before we can head to our cabin, we head to dining room to check on our table if we have fixed dining. Then head to buffet to eat with the masses.

 

We then head up to pool decks, again prior to gaining room access, and have a drink and enjoy to view of the port area

 

Once gaining access to room, we head there and drop our carry on's and head out again to just walk the ship and get familiar with it, looking and listening the the sales pitches for drinks/dinners.

 

If luggage comes prior to muster, we unpack and get ready for muster/sail away and another drink to start the cruise with our sail away on a top deck, drink in hand!

Edited October 10, 2016 by shipshape sam

[shipshape sam]

Great thread! Sadly, I have to wait 400+ days until we sail. :(

 

After the first Bong of our card (I love that sound), and our welcome aboard beverage, I head to the MDR to talk to the Matre D about my food allergy. :( Then, if we are sailing with friends, we find a quiet spot near a window where we can sip another beverage and watch for our friends to board. Then we will have the concierge lunch in the MDR. I'm looking forward to that. :) If our cabins are ready after that, then we will drop off our carry on bags, take pictures of the cabin, and then explore the ship. Which will be a lot of fun since we will be sailing the "S" class for the first time. Grab another beverage while we people watch. Unpack our bags if they get delivered before muster. Head to the dreaded but necessary muster drill. then it's the last phone calls to the kids to say goodbye. Lock the phone in the safe for the duration of the cruise, and find a good spot for sail away.

 

Ugh! Now I want to sail tomorrow!! :D

 

I am with you! We don't have a cruise scheduled till January 2018! Hoping we can squeeze in one sometime in 2017, but have a lot of land based trips planned and our 3rd granddaughter is arriving this coming January.

 

You should love the S class ships. My only ship class that I don't 'love' is the Freedom class with Royal. Always a issue with aft bank of elevators. Still would sail on Freedom class for the itinerary.

 

I love the M class ships and in early 2000's, all 4 were rated in top 10 best ships. Know they are aging some, but they are also updating them too.

 

Know you will have some great times between now and 400 days!:)

[CruiserRob]

Head to the martini bar, upgrade the drink package and start bonding with the bartenders.:D

 

Robert

[Rob the Cruiser]

Head to the martini bar, upgrade the drink package and start bonding with the bartenders.:D

 

Robert

 

Rob the Cruiser does the same thing.

 

Robert