Top Three Tips for First Time Cruisers

[Dubsolute]

1. I don't think it's been mentioned yet, but don't take too many clothes. No one will remember what you wore.

 

2. You don't need to go to the port extra early on embarkation day. The lines move pretty fast. Carnival has a good system.

 

3. Don't do everything there is to do. Book the cruise again later and do the things you missed the first time around.

[Guest CRUZIN' SUZIN]

1) Stay up late -- enjoy Foo Foo's:p shut down the dance club & piano bar

 

2) Get up early -- drink lots of coffe w/breakfast:cool: do your tours and excursions

 

3) End your cruise exhausted:eek: and plan for your next cruise!!!

 

 

Oh yeah, report on all your fun stuff on cruise critic forum board!!!:)

[yearnin4cruisin]

1. Save room for souvenirs

2. Save room for dessert

3. Save money by booking your next cruise onboard

[DarkJedi]

Remember a bungee cord. It comes in handy if you have a balcony & to hold your beach towel down on your lounge chair..

 

OK, now THAT is great advice! Always having problems with wind blowing the towels all over the place if you get up for something.

[river_sand_bar2]

3 things to bring..... Money, Money and Money...

 

Money for the wifes shopping

 

Money for all excusions to the shopping malls

 

and Money for the booze to kill the pain in your feet from SHOPPING!!!! :eek:

[truecruiser]

1. If you're a beer drinker (like me), order by the Bucket! (you can always take unused ones back (in the bucket) to the cabin and keep 'em on ice in the cabin). 2. If you're a coffee drinker, bring an insulated coffee mug with a cover. bigger than the little cups on LIDO which are empty by the time you reach the elevator, and you can walk around the decks w/ it w/o worrying about spilling. (Dish wand w/ soap in it to wash)3. Lighted (small) digital alarm clock so you can see the time at night w/o digging around for your watch. AND, I have to give you a fourth....4. If you like to laugh your butt off and have a great time, DO NOT MISS ANY OF THE COMEDIAN'S "R" RATED PERFORMANCES!

[skuttduck]

This is a good thread. Lots of good useful information here.

 

1. To help with finding your way around the ship and to get to the dining rooms, the floors with rooms above and below the dining rooms go the entire length of the ship.

 

2. Try and give yourself another day or two after your cruise to recover at home.

 

3. Have fun, don't try to do everything, but also don't set your expectations too high.

[Las Vegas Non Rev]

"an insulated coffee cup (36 oz or larger!)" We actually book our room close to the elevators that go to the coffee on the lido.

 

"Pack a good attitude, reasonable expectations, Have a great time, and don't sweat the small stuff :D" Our last cruise was diverted to Nassau instead of the caribbean.:( A huge let down. We did have a wonderful time and made it into a wonderful cruise.

 

"Stay up late -- enjoy Foo Foo's:p shut down the dance club & piano bar"

This one is my favorite.:D

[newfunbound]

Have to agree with everything except the extension cord. That was the most useful thing we packed. It allowed charging the laptop, camcorder, rechargable batteries etc..

 

Great tips everyone . . . thanks . . .One thing that won't take up space in my luggage is a laptop! I get enough of that at work. I also have a blackberry that I hope is waaaay out of range and doesn't work. . . this will be vacation!!!!!!!!!!:D

[bobandsherry]

1. If you are coming from from out of state fly the night before and stay in a hotel. Compared to a) Getting up at the crack of dawn and flying in same day where by night you are beat or b) finding your flight is delayed and you are so stressed that you might miss your cruise. We find it much more enjoyable to get up late and grab a taxi to the port.

 

2. Bring a shoe holder that hangs over the door. We put it so that it hangs inside our closet. Great for more than just holding shoes, put all kinds of items in the pouches, keeps the room much cleaner and you can easily find what you are looking for.

 

3. Don't waste your time with the "shopping tips" that the cruise line has for each port. You'll easily waste several hours of your cruising listening to their "tips". The places they recommend usually cost more - use common sense when shopping -- if it seems like too good a deal, there's probably a reason.

[seashell36]

1) Bring a power strip.

2) Pack a sweater or jacket.

3) Roll up an extra tote bag and put it in the bottom of your luggage, it will come in handy for all the souvenirs!

[hilltopfamily]

Recently off the Conquest....had an absolutely fabulous cruise! I envy you as I'd love to be back on board right now....

 

Top tip I haven't seen mentioned yet is: Fill out the door tag for morning room service. Almost every morning DH and I enjoyed coffee, juice, smoked salmon, melon, and croissants (sp?) out on the balcony. Pulling into Jamaica, etc. is the stuff memories are made of.

 

Another: Bring a sweater or something with sleeves. It was quite chilly in the public places such as show rooms/lounges, casino, etc. and I was glad to wear capri pants and throw on a top with 3/4 or long sleeves to keep from freezing!

 

One more I can think of right now: Don't waste your time on the Art Auctions. Usually DH and I love going to these (and I actually bought an inexpensive one on my Norwegian cruise that I LOVE seeing hanging in my living room). Past Carnival cruise art auctions were really enjoyable and somewhat in my price range, but the couple auctions we went to on the Conquest were primarily full of waaaaaayyyy over priced prints, and mostly Thomas Kincaid's and Peter Max's. Not nearly the fun we had had in the past....I sure wish I hadn't wasted precious time on board going to them this time around.

[newfunbound]

1) Bring a power strip.

2) Pack a sweater or jacket.

3) Roll up an extra tote bag and put it in the bottom of your luggage, it will come in handy for all the souvenirs!

 

For this December cruise, what kind of temperatures should we prepare for, I assume it will be very warm in port, but what about at sea at night?

[Corsair41]

I cetainly don't have the number of cruises under my belt that many of the great people here have, but here's what I've noticed.....

 

1. The "port talk" that CCL has the day before a stop CAN be informational, if you can filter out the salesmanship. :p

2. Remember to be patient, especially first day out. Depending on the ship there can be over 1000 others onboard with you, and eventually you will be standing in a line, so try to be understanding of those in front of you and also the crew.:rolleyes:

3. When in port, remember that you're in someone else's country, so don't be the "Ugly American". :cool:

[kchesneylover]

Bathing Suit and Water Shoes in Carry-on to go to the Spa the First Day.

 

Hair Conditioner

 

Cameras

[flpab]

 

1. Mix and match clothes, I have learned that from traveling for years, less is more, one pair of dress black pants and different tops if you feel like you need a new one each night at dinner. Same for my husband. We had a bag of laundry done on the ship but I have tops that are wash and dry, no wrinkles. Yoga pants are great for gym and daytime if it is a little cool. I saw some of the biggest puffy gowns and wondered what kind of luggage they had to have to carry that. I am doing self disembark next time and my 24 inch roll a board is what I am taking and a small garment bag. If it doesn't fit it is not going! I didn't use the extention cord or power strip. I did pack rum in plastic containers in my checked bag and the big insulated coffee mug was great for punch and rum.

 

2. Don't be afraid to spend time alone. I so enjoyed my walks on deck and time in my chair reading and watching the ocean. Talk to crew and other pax. I loved our crew and tip extra when you get great service, they so appreciate it.

 

3. Enjoy it all. How anyone can complain about anything is amazing for me. This has to be the cheapest vacation ever for what you get. Our last five day cruise was under 50.00 a day for each of us. Go to Europe or Napa Valley and try to eat and sleep for that.

[gr81]

1. Dont stress.

 

2. Turn off the Cell Phone.

 

3. If your not sure, ask. (Mrdood wont be there to tell you to use the search function).

[sjcruiser]

Pack less-Your not going to wear it all

Don't try to do everything-You'll wear yourself out just trying. Relax your on vacation.

Speak to everyone- I was surprised how friendly everyone was. You'll find yourself talking to everyone, even people you "think" you would never speak to!

[Sports Dr]

take all your old underwear and throw them away each day after use, now you will not have to pack those smelly things for the trip home and besides, new ones are cheap.

 

take a hard plastic credit card holder that hangs around your neck. Great for

your sea pass, etc, when off the ship

 

Participate in those crazy games... Even if you lose, you get a souvenir prize

[onceagain]

Interesting, so many say to pack less than you would think. I did that a few years ago, after hearing it so often, and I was so disappointed that I did. I wasn't able to pick and choose as I like and was really disappointed that I'd left so much at home. So...pack what you are comfortable with. Then decide if you were right or wrong - and adjust on your second cruise. Also, we always fly in the morning of our flight from MN, have cruised 12 times, and have always had tons of time to get to the ship. I'd say, read all the posts, you get so much great info here, do what feels best to you and go with it. Not everything works for everyone. Have a blast and know that some things may not be perfect, but hey, you are on a cruise, how bad can it be!

[celticd1]

Here are a few things we take along......

 

1. Some old wire hangers. They don't take up much space (we usually slide them into a side zippered pocket) and you can toss them out at the end of the cruise.

 

2. To hold my towel down on a lounge chair I bring extra hair clips (the tension "claw" type).

 

3. A lighted clock.

 

Happy sailing!:)

[cruisin zonies]

For this December cruise, what kind of temperatures should we prepare for, I assume it will be very warm in port, but what about at sea at night?

 

I asked this question before our cruise and no one answered it for me, so I will try to help here...:D We didn't know what to pack either on our first Conquest cruise Oct 29-Nov 5, 06, so Caribbean bound we packed strictly for warm weather and some formals. We figured if it got really rainy, we could buy a light jacket in port or on the ship. I looked up the temperatures and weather on weather.com and it called for showers or storms in each port-was that going to translate into rough weather at sea? I had no clue! So we brought Motioneze, a travel umbrella, and didn't plan to be outside much at night on ship except maybe on our balcony. We ended up having great weather (albeit warm and humid!) in Mo Bay and Cayman, but then ran out of luck in Coz, so the the travel umbrella came in real handy that day and the Motioneze saved my life the next day because we were rockin' pretty hard most of the way back to Galveston. It was soooo windy on the balcony at times, but when in port at arrival and departure, oh, it was wonderful.

 

1 Lots of small bills, 1's and 5's (used em all for in port tips, shopping, great advice)

2. Makeup bag full of meds (I'll bring acid reducers and advil only next time. On board, they sell all the other stuff I brought)

3. You can order from the room service card even if you don't fill it out the night before....the bagels & lox are really fantastic...the room service coffee is horrible...have a fantastic time!!!!

[DqALEX]

1 Don't over pack

2 Dont forget Passport

3 Go in thinking you are going to have a great time