Carnival NEWBIE 4DAY out of Galveston in April

Ok this will be my first cruise. I have been reading some of yall's reviews and getting really excited. I was just wondering what to expect. We are both very laid back people and love to have fun (me more than him).:p

What should I pack? How formal is the formal night? What is the best thing to do in Cozmuel. (ok my spelling sucks sorry). I don't know what to expect. What type of activities do the have and what are capers? I am totally lost right now and we leave next month. I am a total planner and like to know what to expect. ANYONE have any advice?

Ok this will be my first cruise. I have been reading some of yall's reviews and getting really excited. I was just wondering what to expect. We are both very laid back people and love to have fun (me more than him).:p

What should I pack? How formal is the formal night? What is the best thing to do in Cozmuel. (ok my spelling sucks sorry). I don't know what to expect. What type of activities do the have and what are capers? I am totally lost right now and we leave next month. I am a total planner and like to know what to expect. ANYONE have any advice?

Well in my opinion on Coz, we did the race fantastique and had loads of fun. You can be competitive or just do it for the experience. As for formal night, I am not sure how it is on the Ecstacy, but on the Conquest(same port) it ranged from shirt and tie to tux for men and from basic everyday dresses on women to just short of prom dresses. Don't be worried that you will create a stire either way, dress to feel comfortable.

Are you watching the web cam each time your ship comes into port?? You should. www.galveston.com/webcams then click on the harbor cam. Then come on over to the conquest crazy thread and have some fun with us. We not be cruising from home, but we are always cruising in our minds.

Ok this will be my first cruise. I have been reading some of yall's reviews and getting really excited. I was just wondering what to expect. We are both very laid back people and love to have fun (me more than him).:p

What should I pack? How formal is the formal night? What is the best thing to do in Cozmuel. (ok my spelling sucks sorry). I don't know what to expect. What type of activities do the have and what are capers? I am totally lost right now and we leave next month. I am a total planner and like to know what to expect. ANYONE have any advice?

You can expect to have a great time. Don't worry about it. The cruise is what you make of it. You can be as busy as you want or you can just relax.

Formal night has changed to Elegant night on some ships. I nice cocktail dress and suit used to be sufficient for formal night. You will see all types of outfits.

There's lots of funny activities by the pool such as "The Men's Hairy Chest Contest", "Survivor", etc.

There's also activities indoors such as Trivia Contests, Game Show type Contests, etc.

The Capers is a small flyer with all the days activities along with other information such as shows, special classes, etc.:)

Carnival makes things easy. The sign and sail card is your money on board. Keep up with this card at all times. It also gets you on and off the ship in ports. Pack for your laid back personality. We usually take nice shorts, sundresses, casual stuff. Take a hair dryer, some ships don't have them and the other ones suck. There are lists of things you need all over these boards. Formal night is formal. Take a dress and he will need a suit. Get lots of pictures taken, you do not have to buy them. (The one we didn't want taken turned out to be our favorite.) Capers are a list of daily activities offered by the ship. Read them closely, you will find something you enjoy every day. We are going to Cozumel on the 19th. We booked Nachi Cocom because there will be 8 ships in port that day and Nachi limits their bookings to 100 people a day. Check cruisecal.com to see how many are in port the day you are there.

Cruises are wonderful. I was hooked after the first one. You will love it. We are laid back people that like to have fun too and a cruise is a perfect fit for us. And do not leave the ship without having a Miami Vice--1/2 pina colada, 1/2 strawberry daiquri. YUM!

have a great time.

I am a total planner and like to know what to expect. ANYONE have any advice?

You will have a wonderful time! Be very careful NOT to overpack, like my mom and I did on our first cruise!:eek: Have you looked for pictures? You can go to www.webshots.com or any of the other photo sites, and look at pictures from other people's cruises on that ship. Another good site is www.cruiseclues.com

Cozumel is VERY safe and very easy to get around. Oh, the water is safe to drink too, they have their own water system so no worries there. I think your ship will be docked at Punta Lagosta dock, which is a perfect place to watch all the people coming back down the dock. Get back onboard a little early and get a good spot on deck to watch the latecomers running down the dock!:D

Have a good time!!:)

M y DH and I have done this cruise 3 times in 11 months---so you can see how much we loved it !

On formal night, which is second cruise night ---go to the Captain's Party ---it is your only shot at free drinks :) , then that is lobster night in the dining room ---order doubles of what you want.....My son and husband wore sport jackets, ties and collared shirts ---son lost the tie very soon ---I wore silk jacket, metallic tank and very dressy black pants ..

..you can carry on one bottle of wine each (to enjoy in cabin ---if taken to the dining room ---you pay $10 corkage fee)

Just walking around Coz. is fun ---silver jewelry and $1 Coronas abound !

I would recommend that you buy a video camera to record your first cruise. I bought one for my third cruise last year and I WISHED if I had it on my first. Pictures just don't capture the true cruise feeling. Read my post of the Enchantment in April 2007. This year I will be on Ecstasy on the April 19, so I'll beat you to your first cruise.

I am also very laid back so for all my cruises I only wear shorts and yes even on the dress up night, but I feel it's my vacation and I will be comfortable at all times.

Enjoy!

We did this cruise a couple of years ago with 30 family members. We had a blast. My nephew was working on the ship at the time as a DJ. We did a shore excursion to Xcaret. Once there, we took the tour throught the underwater caves. You put on life vests and float in the rivers that go underground through a couple miles of caves. We loved that place. The only down side was that there wasn't enough time. We could have easily spent 4 to 6 more hours there.

:p THANK YOU TO EVERYONE FOR YOUR ADVISE:D

I AM GETTING SO EXCITED. WISH WE WERE LEAVING TOMORROW.