Suggestions for new cruisers???

[Aria924]

Hi everyone! I will be going on my first cruise in May to Key West and Cozumel! I am super excited and have done lots and lots of research on cruising but still love new info :)

Can anyone give tips on packing, traveling from out of state, formal night, picking excursions (best to buy through Carnival or buy from locals), storage in staterooms and just any other interesting tips or stories would be greatly appreciated! Thanks so much :)

 

 

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[TejasPenguin]

Pack light. I've culled my wardrobe to nice sun dresses and sandals for evenings. I take a couple of swimsuits, coverups, some shorts and tops, and sundresses. That's about it. One suitcase only.

 

 

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[SuiteTraveler]

"Formal Night" - known as Cruise Elegant on Carnival is not all that formal. You can easily get away with a nice maxi dress or you can dress up more, if you really want. Skip the heels which are dangerous on a moving ship and bring sparkly flat sandals instead. For men, a dark suit will suffice. The other thing...if you are eating in a specialty restaurant on that night, you don't have to dress up at all unless you really want to and you can always skip formal night in the dining room and go to the buffet instead. I agree with the advice to pack light.

 

Also, go to comedy shows at least 30 minutes ahead of time to get a good seat.

 

If your ship has a nice spa, then you can buy a spa pass by presenting yourself at the spa after boarding.

 

If you are interested in experiencing the Chef's Table - usually held in the Kitchen of the newer Carnival ships, then email a request to your ship's steakhouse to ask for a reservation for this. You won't know what night it will be until you board the ship and even then, you might not know until the second night or so, but the Chef's Table is a great experience - allow at least 3 hours for this, though.

 

Always take a credit card on shore with you just in case something unfortunate happens such as you miss the ship. You are responsible for knowing what time it is according to the ship and what time you need to be back onboard. The all aboard time is published in the daily newsletter. Also be aware that time zones can change during a cruise so change you watch whenever that happens so you always know what time it is. Your cabin will not have an alarm clock, so bring one with you in the form of your smartphone or tablet.

 

Do call you cellular provider ahead of time and buy a package for international travel if you plan to text or call back home at any time during your cruise. The easiest and cheapest way to stay in touch is via email - so buy an internet package. There is often free WIFI within port terminal buildings or at nearby restaurants or hotels.

[Aria924]

Packing light is definitely going to be my challenge :( I am one of those "just in case" packers haha I like options but I will definitely have to curb that!

Can you elaborate on what the "Chef's table" is? I also heard about this exclusive tour of the ship where you can go behind the scenes and see how everything works...had anyone ever went on this tour? Supposedly it sells out quick

 

 

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[NMLady]

Hi everyone! I will be going on my first cruise in May to Key West and Cozumel! I am super excited and have done lots and lots of research on cruising but still love new info :)

Can anyone give tips on packing, traveling from out of state, formal night, picking excursions (best to buy through Carnival or buy from locals), storage in staterooms and just any other interesting tips or stories would be greatly appreciated! Thanks so much :).

 

Since you'll be cruising on Carnival you might want to go to Cruise Critic's Carnival forum, read some of those posts and pose your questions there.

[Cruisin'Christine]

I am one of those folks that likes to dress up for formal nights, but I still find that I can keep to one suitcase. I bring two bathing suits, so one can dry, while I wear the other one. For shoes, I bring one pair of heels, fancy sandals, running shoes, and beach shoes. I often book excursions through the locals, unless it is a place I don't feel is safe to do that (like Jamaica, Honduras, or Belize). Always bring more money than you think you'll need, but leave it in the safe in your room and only take what you need out for each day on shore.

[Aria924]

For the excursion with locals, I just come off the ship and they are at the port or is there like some websites I book through?

 

 

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[Bankshot]

Key West is a fun city. Get to know her by joining the Hop on Hop off crowd. Check out some of the fun Bars, Mel Fisher's Museum, Hemingway's place and Mallory Square. In any Mexican port the key word is "Bargain". If an item starts out at $75 you can usually get it for $25 or less. If not just walk away.

 

On board ship relax, have a good time and don't worry about standing in the wrong line. It eventually happens to almost all of us.

[Aria924]

Fantastic! Thanks for the suggestions so far!!

 

 

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[NMLady]

For the excursion with locals, I just come off the ship and they are at the port or is there like some websites I book through?

]

 

You can do either one. You can also join your roll call and see if anyone is organizing a tour.

 

Also check the Ports of Call forum for each of your ports. There are usually tour references there.

[trish1c]

Pack light. Take 1/2 the clothes & twice the money. I'm only half kidding.

 

Carnival is a pretty casual line. You don't need a ball gown even if you want to dress up.

 

Stick to 1 color scheme so all your clothes can do double duty & you need fewer shoes. Roll your clothes to fit more but watch airline weight limits.

 

Coming from out of State, knowing how the APs are around here & how unpredictable flying can be, make arrangements to fly to your port the day before you sail. The cost of a hotel for 1 night far outweighs the possibility of missing the ship because something went wrong.

 

Especially for your 1st cruise don't try to do everything. There is just too much to do. Pace yourself.

 

I would skip the Chef's table. If you want a mind blowing meal, just go to NYC or Philly depending on whether you are from north or south Jersey. Food on a cruise ship is OK but it's not outstanding. It can't be. They have to make food for everybody on board. It's too much volume. Think great wedding food; good but not the best thing you have ever eaten.

 

If you are not a seasoned traveler, it may be best to book with the cruise line just to be on the safe side. In Key West, you can get away with just walking around. It's a cool little town, think elegant Jersey shore. Cozumel -- think Jersey shore in Spanish; really I swear it's not that much different than Seaside, not even the language. If you want to explore more than the port, do book an excursion in advance. You can simply use the internet to find independent operators or look on the ports of call boards here. Also check your Roll Call thread to see if somebody else sailing with you has set something up.

[Aria924]

Pack light. Take 1/2 the clothes & twice the money. I'm only half kidding.

 

 

 

Carnival is a pretty casual line. You don't need a ball gown even if you want to dress up.

 

 

 

Stick to 1 color scheme so all your clothes can do double duty & you need fewer shoes. Roll your clothes to fit more but watch airline weight limits.

 

 

 

Coming from out of State, knowing how the APs are around here & how unpredictable flying can be, make arrangements to fly to your port the day before you sail. The cost of a hotel for 1 night far outweighs the possibility of missing the ship because something went wrong.

 

 

 

Especially for your 1st cruise don't try to do everything. There is just too much to do. Pace yourself.

 

 

 

I would skip the Chef's table. If you want a mind blowing meal, just go to NYC or Philly depending on whether you are from north or south Jersey. Food on a cruise ship is OK but it's not outstanding. It can't be. They have to make food for everybody on board. It's too much volume. Think great wedding food; good but not the best thing you have ever eaten.

 

 

 

If you are not a seasoned traveler, it may be best to book with the cruise line just to be on the safe side. In Key West, you can get away with just walking around. It's a cool little town, think elegant Jersey shore. Cozumel -- think Jersey shore in Spanish; really I swear it's not that much different than Seaside, not even the language. If you want to explore more than the port, do book an excursion in advance. You can simply use the internet to find independent operators or look on the ports of call boards here. Also check your Roll Call thread to see if somebody else sailing with you has set something up.

 

 

Haha I can tell your from Jersey too or at least close to it! I'm located in Central so I'm equal distance from all cities. The food for me I'm sure I'll be content. The references to the shore helped me a lot in terms of the ports. I actually am the one who made the only roll call for my cruise :( quite sad but hopefully I'll have more than 2 people in it haha. I am booked my flight a day before and plan to stay at the Miami airport. Kind of want to rent a car and see the city a little but concerned that about the return rental time...is it worth getting a car or should I stick to Uber for the night? thanks for the advice!!

 

 

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[Aria924]

Sorry for the typo/grammar mistakes. I tend to multi task and don't double check [emoji28]

 

 

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[NancyW12]

The caveat I would give on touring independently in Cozumel is this: if the excursion involves the ferry to the mainland, consider going on the official tour rather than a local tour. Quite often, it might be the exact same tour company, but when a weather dependent ferry crossing is necessary to get you back to the ship on time...they will wait for the official tour but not an independent.

[JTBCruiser]

Pace yourself as in don't try to do everything on the ship's published entertainment/list of things to do schedule (Cruise Compass on RCI).

[Cro_and_Swan]

Hi Aria! For Cozumel, I would DEFINITELY suggest doing some research ahead of time and knowing where you want to go .. and/or pre-booking or at least planning your trip (admission/reservation/taxi/tour, etc.) ahead of time if at all possible and figure out if you need CASH or if credit cards will work for you.

 

When you first come into port, it reminded me of an amusement park entrance kind of 'courtyard' ... with the addition of a few bar/restaurants and a ton of small shops. (FWIW, the leather shop smells AMAZING!!!!) So if you mainly want to drink you are set, and if you mainly want to shop for touristy souvenir type items you are set ... but if you want more you need to do some planning. All I really wanted to was to be on a gorgeous beach, lay in the sun, listen to music, read, sip a drink and relax ...

 

Everything that follows is MY FAULT, I'm not blaming anyone else, not bashing Cozumel ... I'm simply passing the info along in case it can help another 'newbie' avoid the problems we faced due to our own lack of planning ...

 

It may be different on different days or different times of the year, but unfortunately I had NOT done enough prep for Cozumel. I guess i thought my travel partner would have things planned out ... but he's not much of a 'lay on the beach' type and neither of us were looking for mega-party or water-craft type fun ... so we hadn't really paid much attention to planning the day. I think we both thought we'd just get there, find a 'tour', bus/taxi or package to one of the beaches and be 'set' ... but we did NOT find the kind of 'tour package' kiosks set up in the port area at Cozumel like we did in Grand Cayman.

 

Of course, there were plenty of taxis available but they were CASH ONLY and since our cash was limited we were concerned about spending much of it on a taxi ...we'd assumed we would pay for transportation on a credit card. We went to the ATM in the 'tourist market' area and the fees and exchange rate, etc. were awful. There may be a better way to go about that part of things, I still haven't checked into that, but we opted NOT to use the ATM there. We will take more CASH next time!

 

We ended up just walking a fairly long distance from the port area down the main road ... window shopping a bit, sight seeing, etc. .... we ended up at a water front restaurant near a dive shop ... we had a beautiful view of the ocean and the cruise ships and some smaller boats ... we enjoyed our drinks and snack, etc. but we never did make it to the kind of BEAUTIFUL white sand, clear water, relaxing, peaceful, day-in-the sun with music and fruity drinks kind of beach experience I had hoped for in Cozumel. Live and Learn ... I'll DEFINITELY do things differently next time.

Edited January 10, 2017 by Cro_and_Swan

[Cro_and_Swan]

You may also find "I wish I new before ..." thread to be worth a read .... TONS of good info there ... http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1086757

 

FWIW ... I did almost ZERO reading or prep for the cruise ... a friend basically asked me "hey, i have a cruise coming up in December ... do you wanna go with me?" and I said sure and didn't think much about it till closer to time to go ... I watched a couple of youtube 'first time cruiser' type videos and asked a couple of friends about their cruises. I was soooo unprepared, but still had a WONDERFUL time ... I just know that 'next time' will be even better! :)