Scenestealer7

Wow, thanks so much jjschmitt and GlendaleCruiser! Lots of great info and I am so excited :)

I'm going on my first cruise in a month as a solo traveler - VERY excited about the trip. I just read through the entire thread (!) and have a bunch of questions:

1. What do you use highlighters for? I saw someone mention using them to circle things, but can't you just use a pen or make a list in a notebook? Am I missing something?

2. When people are talking about baggage vs carryon, can your carryon be a small rollerboard (like a carryon for a plane)? I never check bags when I travel and would prefer to keep all of my things with me.

3. Is there anything different about a cruise ship room than a typical hotel room, other than size? I stay in hotels 3-4 nights/week for business, so I'm pretty used to how to pack and not duplicate what they will provide for me, but all this about duct tape and binder clips and highlighters and extra hairdryers is making me wonder if this is going to be very different than my usual travels...

4. My cruise line (Celebrity) says that that the earliest I can book my flight home is 12pm. Is that true? I am heading back to work for a half day so if it's possible to take an earlier flight, I'd love to do that. I have security clearance at the airport thanks to my job, so it only takes me 5 mins or so to go through, and I typically don't arrive more than 35 minutes before takeoff for domestic flights.

5. Everyone keeps saying to bring tons of money. I'm looking at the cruise as a quick long weekend getaway and am NOT looking to spend a ton of money, as I'm not really considering it a big vacation. I just want to relax, read, work out, and eat whatever food is provided at the buffet. Probably won't be drinking much and I definitely don't intend to shop. Is the cost really going to be that much more than just the price of the cruise? I was picking a cruise just as an alternative to booking an all inclusive resort, but was planning to just use it as a traveling hotel...

6. Is water onboard not potable? I keep reading to bring as much water as you can carry... is that just if you are fussy about your bottled water?

7. I'm in my mid-20s and would love to meet some people around my age... any suggestions on how to do that? I'm pretty friendly/sociable :)

VERY excited - thank you all for the great advice so far!