First time cruiser - Discovery 2 - some general questions!

[SteelerBaggy]

Hi all

This will be my first cruise, I'm used to villas and as the cook and shopper this is going to be a shock to my system.

Anyway, I've searched the boards for answers but have some unanswered questions, hopefully you guys can stear me (;)) in the right direction. 

So there are 7 of us, me, my partner, our three teenage kids (14,17 &19) and my elderly parents.

We have 2 deluxe balcony cabins and for the kids an inside cabin plus on deck 7/8.

We are doing 2 weeks mid-August , highlights of the med followed by cosmopolitan classics. 

So my questions:

1.We would ideally like the cabins as close to each other as possible, is it worth paying the £50 per cabin to try and achieve this?

2. The kids are already asking about Wi-Fi. have told them to expect nothing but would like to try and get some without paying a fortune, any tips?

3. I will research where we stop and target some trips, am I better off paying for taxis as opposed to excursions?

4. is it worth upgrading the drinks package? none of us are real spirit drinkers, the odd gin maybe. 2 of us like one or 2 coffees a day. happy with standard beer and wine, the other half likes champagne:(

5.should we book into the premium restaurants asap? would like 2 or 3 across the 2 weeks.

6. do i need a tux?! Or is every night casual, even in the premium restaurants 

Cheers for any advice!!

 

[Brummijam]

Hi Steeler.

Reply’s  in order.

1) Reserving the cabins is the only way to guarantee where you will be placed.

2)Wi fi is so expensive on board, from memory it is about £8 an hour for 500 mb, When in port follow the crew for free wi fi. Most uk phone plans can be used in Europe as if you are in the uk.

3) That’s personal choice, Marella trips guarantee to get you back to the ship in time for sail away.

4) We have never upgraded, The included drinks are pretty adequate. There is a drinks menu posted on another topic, check it out.

5) There are electronic booking pods on the ship where you can book restaurants,trips and buy photos.

6) personal choice, It seems the tux brigade are becoming less visible but there are a few who do it, Smart casual is getting to be the norm.

 

Hope this helps.😉

 

 

 

 

 

[Pensioncruiser]

Hi and welcome, agree with all above, would recommend that as it's your first cruise you start off with the ships trips we have witnessed passengers miss the ship and its not nice, the ship will not wait for you, because you are a seven try a tour on your own the second week when you have knowledge of the ship. I would suggest you get off the ship on changeover day as its very busy and that's also a good day for the speciality restaurants, its cheaper and quieter. Have a great cruise we are on her after you in September 😊

[pgilc1]

20 hours ago, SteelerBaggy said:

Hi all

This will be my first cruise, I'm used to villas and as the cook and shopper this is going to be a shock to my system.

Anyway, I've searched the boards for answers but have some unanswered questions, hopefully you guys can stear me (;)) in the right direction. 

So there are 7 of us, me, my partner, our three teenage kids (14,17 &19) and my elderly parents.

We have 2 deluxe balcony cabins and for the kids an inside cabin plus on deck 7/8.

We are doing 2 weeks mid-August , highlights of the med followed by cosmopolitan classics. 

So my questions:

1.We would ideally like the cabins as close to each other as possible, is it worth paying the £50 per cabin to try and achieve this?

2. The kids are already asking about Wi-Fi. have told them to expect nothing but would like to try and get some without paying a fortune, any tips?

3. I will research where we stop and target some trips, am I better off paying for taxis as opposed to excursions?

4. is it worth upgrading the drinks package? none of us are real spirit drinkers, the odd gin maybe. 2 of us like one or 2 coffees a day. happy with standard beer and wine, the other half likes champagne:(

5.should we book into the premium restaurants asap? would like 2 or 3 across the 2 weeks.

6. do i need a tux?! Or is every night casual, even in the premium restaurants 

Cheers for any advice!!

 

1.  Answered already, but yes, its the only sure fire way of getting them together.

2. Assuming you are staying within the EU, your mobile phone's data plans will cover you.  Tether other devices to them.  The only time this wont work is when out at sea.

3. We have thus far paid for the excursions for handiness and theres just the two of us.  If in a family group you would be better off trying to organise it yourself.  You could always do a combo?  Some TUI trips, some do yourself.

4. We did.  We like a coffee first thing in the morning and they were £2.50 each from memory, but included in the upgrade.  We also like our quality spirits and enjoyed the extra cocktail choices.  Personal choice though

5. I think you'd be time enough on board.  We did that.  Book them when you get on board and space them out.  We found the main restaurant great, but its nice to have a change.

6.  Dress to Impress / Captains night can be just a suit if you want.  You could get away with smart casual if you wanted.  You dont have to do the Dress to Impress / Captains night if you dont want to.  All the other restaurants other than the main one will be operating. (or was in our case).  Dress code other than that at nights is smart casual (though isnt even enforced).  I wore jeans pretty much every night no issues.

[dwl16]

21 hours ago, SteelerBaggy said:

 

4. The best included coffee (latte, capuchino etc) is from the bars once they are open. On our recent TA the atrium bar opened at 10AM

5. Check out the Italian food in Gallery 47. Its part of the MDR so it is included but its better quality than the main MDR. However it has a limited choice of menu items.

[winifred]

I would pay to get cabins next to each other otherwise you may be split up, If its important for you to be near each other its the only way to make sure of this. 

 I wouldn't bother with drinks package upgrades. We were on in April and the AI drinks package had plenty of cocktails and  drinks included, many people we met said they had paid extra and considered it a waste of money. 

I would try a mix of ships excursions if ports are far away from the main sights but otherwise do your homework and you might be able to DIY some. You don;t need to wear a tux at all,   it's nice to dress up but we saw a mix for the men on  the dress to impress night about half in tux and rest in suits.   We never book specialty restaurants  but that's just us, we are quite happy with lovely meal in main dining room or the Italian Gallery 47 which are both included in the price.  

[pgilc1]

One further thing i would add is that on the Premium Drinks package you also get a large bottle of water each each day in your room.

 

This saves on running looking water from the water machines, and is also handy if you plan on going on trips to take a bottle or two with you on the coach.

 

It sounds like a very minor thing but we found it very useful.

 

We definitely got value out of it overall but its certainly not a necessity.  We have paid for it again for our cruise in September.

 

 

 

 

[SteelerBaggy]

Thank you all for the advice so far, this is great for me.

Unfortunately I have fell somewhat at the first hurdle and have been unable to secure cabins close to each other:( we are on the same deck but not particularly close.

I do have the chance to move one of the cabins mid-cruise to get close, is this worth the hassle of moving?

12 hours ago, dwl16 said:

4. The best included coffee (latte, capuchino etc) is from the bars once they are open. On our recent TA the atrium bar opened at 10AM

5. Check out the Italian food in Gallery 47. Its part of the MDR so it is included but its better quality than the main MDR. However it has a limited choice of menu items.

 

[winifred]

I think you'll probably find same deck is fine once you  are there, I once moved my mum and dad it took quite a bit of time, waiting for a new cabin as we had to wait to hear from staff we waited in the old cabin most of morning , then they came to the cabin to say we could move then  packing up then unpacking again ! I would leave it as it is. 

[Pensioncruiser]

And you will have to do the safety drill again if you move😳