Soon to be first time cruiser

My wife and I are planning on going on our first cruise April 2015, on the Carnival Magic to the Eastern Caribbean, with ports of call in Key West, Florida; Freeport and Nassau, Bahamas. I have a few questions about our first cruise, #1) If we get an Ocean Suite Room do they get priority boarding or will we still need to pay for the FTTF? #2) Would it be smarter for our first cruise experience to book shore excursions directly with Carnival or take a chance and book on our own? We would appreciate any and all feedback on our questions and on any other suggestions for future first time cruisers. :)

I would not book a excursion in Key West. The island is very small, 4 X 6 miles I think. Do some research on Key West and you will see what you like. I recommend the conch trolley, it shows you the high lights of Key West. Also walk down Duval Street, it's the main area of activity. Hemingway ' s house is also nice, it's close to the light house. I spent many winters in Key West and do love it, also took a cruise there so my girlfriend could see it. Chef out the city's Website, can't remember the name off hand, but they will send you plenty of info. As for the Bahamas I really don't know about a excursion. I have not been there since I was a kid.

My wife and I are planning on going on our first cruise April 2015, on the Carnival Magic to the Eastern Caribbean, with ports of call in Key West, Florida; Freeport and Nassau, Bahamas. I have a few questions about our first cruise, #1) If we get an Ocean Suite Room do they get priority boarding or will we still need to pay for the FTTF? #2) Would it be smarter for our first cruise experience to book shore excursions directly with Carnival or take a chance and book on our own? We would appreciate any and all feedback on our questions and on any other suggestions for future first time cruisers. :)

You will get priority boarding with a suite but that is about the only perk Carnival gives with suites. Conch is good in Key west and excursions are cheaper and usually better because they take fewer people if you do them on your own. If you join your roll call you can meet others on your cruise and join them on tours.

My wife and I are planning on going on our first cruise April 2015, on the Carnival Magic to the Eastern Caribbean, with ports of call in Key West, Florida; Freeport and Nassau, Bahamas. I have a few questions about our first cruise, #1) If we get an Ocean Suite Room do they get priority boarding or will we still need to pay for the FTTF? #2) Would it be smarter for our first cruise experience to book shore excursions directly with Carnival or take a chance and book on our own? We would appreciate any and all feedback on our questions and on any other suggestions for future first time cruisers. :)

If you're booked in an ocean suite, there's not point in booking the FTTF. As a suite passenger you will get special VIP privileges which include priority boarding.

As for excursions there are certain ports you can easily do on foot like Key West as has been mentioned already. Nassau, Bahamas is also a place you could visit on your own.

However, if you are planning on booking a snorkeling excursion or something else, as it is your first cruise I would suggest going through the cruise line.

You will pay a bit more, but, you will have the security of knowing if the excursion is late returning, the ship will wait for you.

Jonathan

Welcome to Cruise Critic and the Wonderful World of Cruising! :)

Your three ports of call are easy to do on-your-own so you won't need to book excursions unless you just wish to do so.

LuLu

My wife and I are planning on going on our first cruise April 2015, on the Carnival Magic to the Eastern Caribbean, with ports of call in Key West, Florida; Freeport and Nassau, Bahamas. I have a few questions about our first cruise, #1) If we get an Ocean Suite Room do they get priority boarding or will we still need to pay for the FTTF? #2) Would it be smarter for our first cruise experience to book shore excursions directly with Carnival or take a chance and book on our own? We would appreciate any and all feedback on our questions and on any other suggestions for future first time cruisers. :)

Hi, we booked Cityview Trolley through the HAL when we went Key West. They picked us up at the ship as we were docked at the Navy Pier, and then took us on the tour. We found out that it was cheaper than the on line advertised trolley ride (a couple of dollars). This is unusual to be cheaper! We rode the whole circuit, decided where we wanted to stop. The Interpretation centre was good with a neat film, the Butterfly Conservatory excellent, and Duval Street is a must.

Welcome to Cruise Critic.

We did the trolley a couple of years and liked the idea that we could get on and off at various places.

We have been to Key West quite a few times. Have been through Hemingway's House and the Little White House.

How great to have your first cruise planned. It is easy to get around in the places you are going. In Key West you can take the trolley around the city at your leisure.

http://www.trolleytours.com/key-west/

In Nassau you can just get off the ship and take a cab to the beach if that interests you.

I might point out that although a wonderful cruise it is not really the Caribbean. Nassau and Freeport are in the Bahamas which is off the coast of Florida and Key West is part of the US. The actual Caribbean would include other islands further south............just FYI. If you really want the Caribbean think about changing to another route that the Magic does that month.

Book shore excursions directly with Carnival..

We very rarely book shore excursions through the cruiselines. Too expensive and too crowded! You generally get a much better value for your time and money if you book a private tour guide or just do the port on your own. As long as you are not doing something very far from the ship, or an all day tour where you might be cutting it close returning to the ship, a cruise tour is not necessary.

Look on the ports of call boards here on Cruise Critic for each of the places you are going to. You'll find many recommendations for things to do, and how to go about doing it safely on your own. You'll find recommendations for private tour guides too. Another good place for research is Trip Advisor.

My wife and I are planning on going on our first cruise April 2015, on the Carnival Magic to the Eastern Caribbean, with ports of call in Key West, Florida; Freeport and Nassau, Bahamas. I have a few questions about our first cruise, #1) If we get an Ocean Suite Room do they get priority boarding or will we still need to pay for the FTTF? #2) Would it be smarter for our first cruise experience to book shore excursions directly with Carnival or take a chance and book on our own? We would appreciate any and all feedback on our questions and on any other suggestions for future first time cruisers. :)

Even though Key West is a wonderful port, can you find another Eastern itinerary that includes St. Thomas and St. Maarten? Those 2 ports are much better IMO than Freeport & Nassau, especially for a first cruise.

Congratulations on booking your first cruise! I do agree with others posts regarding the itinerary .... maybe consider one that goes to St. Thomas and St. Maarten.

Whatever decision you make, if you are planning shore excursions, book through the cruise ship until you become more experienced at cruising. In the event of unplanned circumstances with an outside tour company your ship will sail without you. If you are delayed with a ship excursion, the ship will wait. Nice for your peace of mind, at least first time around.

Be sure to do lots of research beforehand on the ports here on Cruise Critic and on http://www.tripadvisor.com as well.

Have fun!

Most of the time we don't do excursions. I'm the family researcher and read guidebooks and go on tourism websites (if you google each port, you should be able to find the official port site too). But if we want to book something, our experience is to go with the ones we can book through the ship (I've actually found there wasn't much of a difference in cost -- maybe it's the ones I've looked at -- and there's a bit more security when it comes to getting back on the ship). On our own, we don't go too far away from the port and always get back on the ship at least an hour before sailaway.

We have booked ship excursions in Nassau and also done our own by taking a cab to a resort on Cable Beach. People can get day passes in Nassau to a variety of resorts.

If the beach is of interest, there is much information on the Bahamas forum.

There is also plenty of information about other types of excursions in Nassau (and Freeport) on that forum.

I agree about the itinerary, I just did the Carnival Sunshine which also considered Key West, Nassau and Freeport to be Eastern Caribbean. Maybe someone at Carnival needs to buy a map? :D Key West is fun and easy, just walk down Duval St to have a good time. There is a webcam outside of Sloppy Joe's so your family back home can see you. Walk all the way to the end to see the Southernmost marker.

In my Grandeur review, I took lots of pics in Key West, including the Butterfly Conservatory and Hemingway's House, if you would like to see them. The link is in my sig. Welcome to cruising and Cruise Critic.

Welcome to Cruise Critic!

Thank you for your input I will definitely check out the website for Key West... :)

I want to thank all of you for answering my questions, I appreciate all of them immensely and I will take a lot of your advice into consideration especially to look into booking excursions on our own and or through carnival for peace of mind. A lot of great advice and now I have more to consider and look into for each port. Again thanks to all who posted a reply... :)

My wife and I are planning on going on our first cruise April 2015, on the Carnival Magic to the Eastern Caribbean, with ports of call in Key West, Florida; Freeport and Nassau, Bahamas. I have a few questions about our first cruise, #1) If we get an Ocean Suite Room do they get priority boarding or will we still need to pay for the FTTF? #2) Would it be smarter for our first cruise experience to book shore excursions directly with Carnival or take a chance and book on our own? We would appreciate any and all feedback on our questions and on any other suggestions for future first time cruisers. :)

However you do the tour booking, do what you feel comfortable in doing. I always do our own tours. Each port will have information stands.