What is the one valuable lesson you learned on your first cruise 🚢

[MWBearFan]

Many good lessons learned mentioned already.

 

My first cruise was last October on the Victory, it's been my only cruise but I was hooked the moment I boarded.  We've since booked another cruise. This site and shipmate as well, as youtube's Cruise Tips TV and EECC Travels were very good places to find tips, tricks and reviews. 

 

Things I learned from my first cruise in no particular order:

 

1. Pace your self whether it's dining, activities, excursions etc.  Remember you are on vacation.  Over the years I've learned the the less I plan out other than the obvious necessities the more fun I have.  What I've learned to tell myself is "you can always come back or do this or that the next time"  Like any other vacation you can do as much or as little as you want.  Pick some things you definitely want to do, and play the rest by ear.  Not only will not trying to do everything save you money it will allow you to relax more.

 

2. Faster to the fun was worth it for us, we were on the ship soon after arriving at the port, our room was ready when we boarded, priority tinders, boarding and so on.  It's a personal choice but we felt the benefits were worth it.

 

3.  Bring empty tumblers with you to fill at drink stations.  They do have glasses you can use but they are small and it's nice to not have to refill as often.  

 

4. Definitely bring money to tip and it's nice to bring a care package of sorts for your room steward.  Also be kind and patient with staff. They work hard to make your experience pleasant.  On the last day of our cruise I saw some guy treating the customer service person horribly, yelling and swearing at them repeatedly demanding to talk to their manager.  I felt so bad for her she was trying to do her job and didn't deserve to be treated that way.  

 

5. You will be hooked quickly.  The cruising bug is extremely contagious 😛 

[Warm Breezes]

Not to let my friends do all the planning.  Although they were the veteran cruisers and we were the rookies, I quickly learned that they were not planners and while they liked to pinch their pennies they blew their dollars.  I, on the other hand, am a planner and their type of vacationing drove me nuts and was expensive on top of it.  Our next cruise together, I took over the planning and I think I drove them nuts with my need for details and pricing.  Having cruised 18 times now, I no longer feel the need to plan as much out but I still strive to save my dollars whenever possible.  We haven't cruised with our friends since our 2nd cruise.  School and work schedules seemed to have gotten in the way since then.  The last of our kids will be graduating from college soon so it will be interesting to see if we can do an empty nester cruise with out driving each nuts now.

[ARcruisin2]

6 hours ago, Mommawo said:

I have actually been tanning for a few months now.  Have gotten really dark. However I will apply the sunscreen because I don’t need to be any darker now and I don’t want to get burned for sure.  That is miserable 

 

When people say it's different in the Caribbean and  you will burn, they mean it! My mom, who was always tan in the summers, burned for the first time in her life on her first cruise...at the age of 65.

 

Definitely take sunscreen. I take 2 different SPFs -a higher one for the first couple of days, then step down to a lower SPF.

[Mommawo]

2 minutes ago, ARcruisin2 said:

 

When people say it's different in the Caribbean and  you will burn, they mean it! My mom, who was always tan in the summers, burned for the first time in her life on her first cruise...at the age of 65.

 

Definitely take sunscreen. I take 2 different SPFs -a higher one for the first couple of days, then step down to a lower SPF.

Definitely will do!!!!!!! Burning is not fun especially on vacation 

[richstowe]

1 hour ago, Warm Breezes said:

Not to let my friends do all the planning.  Although they were the veteran cruisers and we were the rookies, I quickly learned that they were not planners and while they liked to pinch their pennies they blew their dollars.  I, on the other hand, am a planner and their type of vacationing drove me nuts and was expensive on top of it. 

People are strange . Our second cruise was a Mediterranean cruise on RC's Mariner . We carefully researched and got a great balcony  , a few days in a reasonable hotel in Rome pre-cruise , and went economy air . Another couple we became friendly with took an OV cabin (paid much more then for our balcony), went business class air (3 X our cost) and blew in the night before the cruise causing them serious stress . Plus they booked with RC's ridiculously expensive hotel and transfers. In all ways they would , to use your expression , " pinch their pennies while they blew their dollars ". Nice couple but their financial fecklessness went on and on . 

[Crazy4Camping]

10 hours ago, mfs2k said:

 

Tell me about it. 🙄😁

Yup obsessed!

[Crazy4Camping]

As for those discussing money on accounts, we bought the drink package and thus boarded with everything paid for.  We tipped $1 extra for every drink(93 total for the week including coffees, Coke and Perrier)and bought some candy at the shop and some watch gift sets.  Also played Bingo and bought ponchos the day it was pouring when we left the ship.  After those incidentals and a small amount of cabin credit, there was still less than $200 on the credit card I had linked to our SS card.  Just paid that when I got home.  Do what you want but don't sweat the bill.  Besides you can see how much you're racking up on the app.  

[pyropoodle]

This might be kind of a weird tip, and it didn't even occur to me to share it until my hubs mentioned it...

 

on the inside of the cabin door, you have that little door sign that says Cruisin' on one side and Snoozin' on the other side.  wellllll....especially if you are snoozin', i usually hang it on the outside (hallway side ) of the door and then close part of it up in the door (not sure how to describe that, but close the door so the sign is kind of stuck in the door. 

 

on one or our cruises, there were little sign thieves running around the ship removing the signs, and ours was one of them, so needless to say, on a day when we wanted to sleep in, the room steward didn't know we wanted to sleep in and hilarity ensued...so, now if we use that sign, we just make sure it won't be yanked off of the door by nefarious youthful types by kinda cramming it partly inside the door.    

[beshears]

Good question to ask.

[gfh77665]

On 11/29/2018 at 7:40 PM, Daphne'sMom said:

I learned that almost every "talk" or 'seminar" held is really a sales pitch of some sort.  

^^^ THIS!  ^^^

[MWBearFan]

One thing I forgot, do attend the "Welcome Aboard" show/talk.  It's a good overview of the cruise, the ports you'll visit, excursions etc.   You can win excursions.  We won one on our cruise, a Kayak adventure on Half Moon Cay.  

[h_blond2]

Take the stairs...you get a little bit of exercise and it's faster than the elevator! Also, I try to walk the track every night...I sneak in more exercise and have gorgeous scenery to look at while I do it!

[Warm Breezes]

On 2/19/2019 at 5:00 PM, MRSG29 said:

Go Strictly Cash Account vs using Debit Card. Its easy to go over budget.

A suggestion for you then.  Instead of Cash purchase a Carnival Gift Card ahead of time in your budgeted amount at a place that sells them at a discount (AARP Rewards-don't need to be a member, Meijer during MPerks sales, etc.)  I normally save 10% purchasing these cards.  Put the card on your account when you board.  If you have funds left at the end of your cruise download it into your players bank in the casino and cash it out.  Keeps you on budget and saves you money.

[deliver42]

Never to step foot on a Fantasy Class again, which I haven't.

[Mommawo]

1 hour ago, MWBearFan said:

One thing I forgot, do attend the "Welcome Aboard" show/talk.  It's a good overview of the cruise, the ports you'll visit, excursions etc.   You can win excursions.  We won one on our cruise, a Kayak adventure on Half Moon Cay.  

Definitely will go now ty

[MRSG29]

10 minutes ago, deliver42 said:

Never to step foot on a Fantasy Class again, which I haven't.

The Fascination was my first cruise my only cruise in the Fantasy. After being on bigger ships I realized how limited that ship was. They've drydocked it recently so that helps but that class just isnt the same.

[MistyRo76]

Check the safe before you debark from the ship! 

 

I was a young (22), inexperienced traveler when I took my first cruise. We got up at 3AM and drove from Evansville, IN to Nashville, TN to catch our flight to Miami the day of the cruise (this was also the LAST time I've flown in the day of the cruise). I drove myself and my friend to the airport in Nashville and we left my car there in long term parking. When we got to the ship, I ended up throwing my car keys into the cabin safe. It was the ONLY time all week that we even opened the safe. After we spend the last night of the cruise getting the last of our vacation partying in, we groggily finished packing the next morning. I think between being so tired from the long, exciting vacation and the excitement of having the drug sniffing dogs going in and out of cabins near our cabin location, we didn't even think to check the safe and we left the ship without my car keys. I didn't even realize it until we were airborne to Atlanta on our first flight. I was hoping they were in my jacket pocket inside my suitcase, but couldn't confirm that until we got our luggage back in Nashville - and of course, they weren't there. So we had to have roadside assistance come out and make us a spare key. But we did get a new key and made it home finally! But big lesson learned! 

[MRSG29]

I've never done it but I would never fly in the Day of my cruise. To many things can go wrong. I always fly in the day before.

[Crazy4Camping]

4 hours ago, deliver42 said:

Never to step foot on a Fantasy Class again, which I haven't.

I've only done one cruise and it was this "class".  Please explain.  Thank you.

[richstowe]

3 hours ago, MRSG29 said:

The Fascination was my first cruise my only cruise in the Fantasy. After being on bigger ships I realized how limited that ship was. They've drydocked it recently so that helps but that class just isnt the same.

The Fascination was my kids first cruise . They LOVED  it ! We loved experiencing their joy . The lesson we learnt was a great experience can be found on any ship . The food, staff , entertainment, were  all great . They were amazed how huge the ship was . Certainly Fantasy class has been greatly surpassed by all the ships that have been build since then . I'm not sure that matters so much to most new cruisers . Besides, if you start at the top, it's all downhill from there . 

[deliver42]

Other than the decor, it's been  very long time, so I don't remember all of it. I believe it was in 1993. It almost turned my wife's and mine if we ever wanted to cruise again. Fortunately, we changed our minds and booked the NCL Norway. From that cruise on, we were hooked. I've been on other Carnival ships, and am booked on the Legend, so I'm not one of the Carnival bashers, but the Fantasy class is a no no for me.

[Kermarkim]

On ‎2‎/‎22‎/‎2019 at 4:28 PM, richstowe said:

The Fascination was my kids first cruise . They LOVED  it ! We loved experiencing their joy . The lesson we learnt was a great experience can be found on any ship . The food, staff , entertainment, were  all great . They were amazed how huge the ship was . Certainly Fantasy class has been greatly surpassed by all the ships that have been build since then . I'm not sure that matters so much to most new cruisers . Besides, if you start at the top, it's all downhill from there . 

I agree.  Not only new cruisers but some of us seasoned cruisers appreciate the older ships as well.  Not every cruise or every vacation has to come with all the latest and greatest bells and whistles.  Vacation is about spending time with family and enjoying different things together.  The older ships go to the same ports as the newer ships for cheaper prices which leaves more money for excursions.  Also without the added features such as specialty restaurants, dive in movies and some of the tricked out water slides, the cruise is still a cruise.  As they say, you can't miss what you never had for a new cruiser.  And if you are experienced, try doing other activities on the older ships that you formerly did that made cruising amazing.  I have enjoyed every cruise that I have been on.  I do prefer having the added bonuses of specialty restaurants and I absolutely love watching the movies while I'm either in the Jacuzzi or the pool, but I have not let that stop me if the price is right and the ports are ideal.  My 3 grandson's went on their first cruise in December and absolutely had a blast.  They only played in the Jacuzzi and went to the kid's camp each day for a couple of hours and now they want to know when they are going back.  As far as their parents, it was my daughter second cruise.  She hadn't cruised since she was 16 and absolutely couldn't remember why she hadn't been cruising since then.  It was their Dad's first cruise and now he is sold.  They have already booked a couple's cruise only for this summer.  They don't even realize what the newer ships offer and they still had an amazing cruise.

[Countrygurl]

My first cruise was an Alaskan cruise for our 20th wedding anniversary (over 16 years ago, oh my!).  I learned not to sweat the small stuff.  Go with the flow, relax, and enjoy yourself!  

 

To this day, I prefer the "smaller" ships over the new mega ships.  Vista was nice but I much preferred Glory, Conquest, and the like.

Edited February 25, 2019 by Countrygurl

[Steve551]

Learned from my first cruise?  My motorhome is no longer my favorite vacation transportation.

 

Learned from several cruises:

Remember what my wife wears when we get off the ship (I take a photo now); make a note of where/when I last saw her; and when I get back to the ship after whatever we have planned (she always stays on shore to shop). I make sure that her overnight bag is packed, so that when the ships security calls asking:

(1)"IF" my wife is on-board.

(2) Where/when did I last see her?

(3) What was she wearing (I can email them the photo).

This usually ends with ship security coming to the cabin to get the bag I packed for her so that she'll have something to wear until she meets back up with me at our next port AND her passport, if she didn't take it with her, so that she can leave the country to meet up with me at the next port.

 

My wife is  legend on some cruise lines......

[Mommawo]

17 hours ago, Steve551 said:

Learned from my first cruise?  My motorhome is no longer my favorite vacation transportation.

 

Learned from several cruises:

Remember what my wife wears when we get off the ship (I take a photo now); make a note of where/when I last saw her; and when I get back to the ship after whatever we have planned (she always stays on shore to shop). I make sure that her overnight bag is packed, so that when the ships security calls asking:

(1)"IF" my wife is on-board.

(2) Where/when did I last see her?

(3) What was she wearing (I can email them the photo).

This usually ends with ship security coming to the cabin to get the bag I packed for her so that she'll have something to wear until she meets back up with me at our next port AND her passport, if she didn't take it with her, so that she can leave the country to meet up with me at the next port.

 

My wife is  legend on some cruise lines......

Oh my I would flip if I missed my ship!