First time- overwhelmed and excited!

Hi everyone! Yesterday I bit the bullet and booked a cruise for our 10th Anniversary (albeit belated). Neither my husband nor myself have ever cruised but many of our friends are avid cruisers. Based on their advice and what works best with our schedule, we will be sailing on the Norwegian Gem to Fl and the Bahamas on June 25, 2016. I am looking forward to this trip for so many reasons - I love traveling but usually pack the days so full with running around that I come home more in need of rest than when I left. Judging from everything I'm reading here, it doesn't sound like that will be a concern (if it is, it will be my own fault!). Being that we have NO cruise experience and I am an extreme OCD/Type A personality, I need information/advice of all types. Thank you all in advance!

Congratulation..

My suggestion is read, read, read. Read Cruise Critic and anything else you can find.

PS - Don't believe all the negative reviews. Cruising is GREAT!

QTPie :cool:

Come over to the Norwegian boards you'll find it under Cruise Lines A-O and you can read trip reports of the GEM, and get other information about NCL. Also find your ROLL CALL and join in there!

And for your port planning.... visit the PORTS OF CALL boards for the islands you'll be visiting!! You can get your OCD type A fix all over these boards :D

Despite your Type A tendencies, don't try to do everything. Like most of us, you likely will get hooked on cruising and you will have plenty of opportunities to try new things.:D Hope you have a great time!

Despite your Type A tendencies, don't try to do everything. Like most of us, you likely will get hooked on cruising and you will have plenty of opportunities to try new things.:D Hope you have a great time!

This is very true! I am also a type A and tend to plan things like crazy! What my first cruise taught me is plans don't always work out. If you can tell yourself ahead of time that with some things you will have to roll with the changes I bet you will love it! I am an addict after one cruise and can;t wait for my next one! I know it's easy to say relax but a whole other think to actually do it.

Try and keep expectations realistic, you might be surprised how far a friendly smile goes! I think the others are right you don't have to do everything at every port. You can even book your own excursions rather than going through the ship! Happy planning I am sure your trip will be awesome! :D

I tend to be a compulsive planner myself, but one rule I have is not to plan out anything for on board the ship ahead of time, and not plan out every second in port. Sometimes we don't even plan much of anything off the ship, maybe walk around the town or go to the beach or to a few stores.

Here's what I suggest:

1. Get to your embarkation port at least a day ahead of time. Especially if flying or taking the train. Stay in a hotel the night before and relax. If your flight gets delayed, you'll regret it if you try to fly in the day of the cruise.

If you forgot to bring something, you'll have time for a shopping trip.

2. Read the FAQs on the website for your cruise line. You'll find out about the policies (including what not to bring).

3. Get a few books from your library about the ports. If you like any of them, buy the latest edition. (I wouldn't bring a library book on a trip)

4. Google each port to get ideas of what your family/spouse want to do.

Again, don't try to overschedule. If you decide cruising is for you, there's plenty of cruises to try. Every day there will be the ship's newsletter in your cabin so you can check the activities' schedule.

Thank you all!

Once you have taken that first cruise, you will be hooked.

The good thing is that you will have 2 sea days on the way back. So jam as much stuff into the 3 stops that you will have and then you will be able to just relax on the way back. The Florida stop you will limited with things to do. Example if you choose a theme park, that will consume the entire day. GSC(one o four favorite stops) you are on a deserted island with only a few things to do. It is really just a nice beach day. Nassau you will have lots of choices, so that is where I would research and figure out a game before you go. Don't stress to much. You picked a good cruise as a first one as their is not that much to do at each stop so you will not have to plan that much, just have fun.

 

3. Get a few books from your library about the ports. If you like any of them' date=' buy the latest edition. (I wouldn't bring a library book on a trip)

 

4. Google each port to get ideas of what your family/spouse want to do.

 

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If by some chance you have Amazon Prime, there are a lot of movies and TV shows available for "free" as part of your paid subscription. Search for things like "cruising" and the names of your ports. There are a bunch of random videos out there on those kinds of things. Be warned, most are actually pretty terrible...they are old and were clearly converted from video tape. BUT, even with the cheesiness factor on high, there are good tidbits of info to be gleaned. Just don't expect Emmy caliber stuff.

 

Also, searching for your cruise ships name on you tube will reveal all sorts of stuff. Lots of people post video "reviews" of their trips and there are some semi-professional videos out there too that travel agents will post. Again, some are bad, but most are at least a little interesting, and you'll see pictures and videos of the ship you'll be on. The best videos include some tips about the ship as well.

 

You can do the same with the shore stops too. Lots of you tube videos of people wandering around historic sites. Again, often quite tiresome, but search for nuggets of interest. (And there are lots of "general cruising tips" videos out there as well. Particularly if you want advice on packing for a cruise. There are SO many!

To jump on the Amazon Prime idea, if you have a Kindle, there are tons of how to cruise books available. (I have Kindle unlimited for $10 a month… It gives me free access to 10 books at a time. Not every book is available, but many of the cruise books are...it paid for itself just in research on that subject alone.

Our first cruise was for our 15th anniversary. it was not our last, so what you don't do on your first, you will just have to start planning all the rest. You have the rest of your life.

 

Congratulation..

 

 

 

My suggestion is read, read, read. Read Cruise Critic and anything else you can find.

 

 

 

PS - Don't believe all the negative reviews. Cruising is GREAT!

 

 

 

QTPie :cool:

Agreed! There are some awesome reviews and you'll learn so many helpful hints and ideas of what to do and what to skip.

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Read all the advice you can get hold of. Cruisin' Chick gives some good advice above. Days at sea can have a different feel and tempo to them to port visit days: on sea days try to enjoy that after breakfast feeling of not actually having to do anything until lunch, then slowly and deliberately add items - some deck walking (if your ship has a promenade deck!); gym maybe, meet for coffee at 11 etc. Chill.

Port visits are mostly only going to be taster visits if you haven't been there before - one good museum/meal/venue, not ten in ten hours! You can vary what you do with each port of call. We took an open top bus tour in Copenhagen on our recent Baltic cruise but only ended up having nice pastries in a cafe I had been to before: in Helsinki we took a harbour tour, visited a market, tram museum, military museum, lots of shopping and still got back in time for an early tea. And no-one knew or minded.

i read everything I could before our recent cruises and tried to anticipate everything - I did not chill until I realised after being on board for 2 hours that there was NOT a sign on my forehead saying 'new to cruising.' Chill and Enjoy.

Remember......travel is an adventure and nothing goes perfect....that would be boring!

Preparation is half the battle so read these cruising threads.

Warning--negative talk on these boards is subjective but do not take it to heart!

Be smart and keep yourself safe on board and that means your $$$ and locking things up as well as valuables. You can trust too much but would only have yourself to blame if you were taken. Keep valuable jewelry at home and wear costume jewelry.

Most important......relax and have fun! Being a type A you could lose sight of that so take a chill pill:D

Two bits of advise I give new cruisers:

Don't over analyse it be prepared to be flexible and go with the flow.

Prepare to be addicted.

Turn off the phone lock it in the safe relax have fun and enjoy each other. My wife and I are workaholics and really get a chance to reconnect on vacation. We don't even make plans for the cruise we take it day by day if we do excursion great if not that's fine too. I know some like to plan but I don't like to feel like I have to be somewhere on vacation. Also beware cruising is addictive and if you don't always want to book a balcony don't book one because once you've had one you're not going to want an interior room

I love all the advice! Keep it coming! [emoji3]

Read all the advice you can get hold of. Cruisin' Chick gives some good advice above. Days at sea can have a different feel and tempo to them to port visit days: on sea days try to enjoy that after breakfast feeling of not actually having to do anything until lunch, then slowly and deliberately add items - some deck walking (if your ship has a promenade deck!); gym maybe, meet for coffee at 11 etc. Chill.

 

Port visits are mostly only going to be taster visits if you haven't been there before - one good museum/meal/venue, not ten in ten hours! You can vary what you do with each port of call. We took an open top bus tour in Copenhagen on our recent Baltic cruise but only ended up having nice pastries in a cafe I had been to before: in Helsinki we took a harbour tour, visited a market, tram museum, military museum, lots of shopping and still got back in time for an early tea. And no-one knew or minded.

 

i read everything I could before our recent cruises and tried to anticipate everything - I did not chill until I realised after being on board for 2 hours that there was NOT a sign on my forehead saying 'new to cruising.' Chill and Enjoy.

And I'll throw back a thumbs up on the advice here. Don't feel you have to cram in several things at each port. If you really liked a port or two, keep a note to return some day if you can (either a cruise or a land stay). And yes, consider flexibility when in port. This happened on our last time in Honolulu (our third Hawaiian cruise and hubby and my fifth time there). We booked an excursion for the morning (our teen's choice), but had decided to tour one historic sight after lunch. But hubby decided during lunch we should just go back to Waikiki. I was a bit disappointed but the girl and I decided to go along with he who paid for the cruise.

For me the best part of cruising is the planning stage. I get high learning all details (of ship, cabin, on board activities and entertainment, dining options, ports, excursions etc). Once on board, I relax and go with the flow. Whenever possible, I follow what has been planned. However, I don't mind changing it when need be.

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You don't need to know everything about everything in order to have a fun cruise.

Do you have specific questions or concerns?

Roz

Breathe! Pace yourself and don't try to do everything.

I know absolutely nothing about the Bahamas. I picked a cruise based on what worked in our schedules. I would love info. Is it safe? Expensive?