Cruise Virgins Here Needing Any and All Advice

Hi everyone! I am very happy to say that I finally convinced my husband to take me on a cruise for our 15th anniversary! We are traveling kid free and since we have never done this before are both a bit nervous. I am a creature of habit and this is out of my comfort zone! I have so many questions about what is banned. I've read conflicting information on hair straighteners. What do you guys do with your clothing without irons? What are some must pack items? Thanks and I look forward to your advice!

Go onto the cruise line's web site and under their FAQ's section most of this will be addressed. But there is no prohibition for bringing curling irons, etc., on board most cruise lines. What is prohibited is clothes irons as they present a fire hazard. Some cruise lines will have public laundries on board where you can wash and iron your clothes, and all have laundry services if needed.

But in over 25 years of cruising we have never needed to iron our clothes on board, nor would we want to pack and carry one even if we could. Fold and pack carefully and hang clothes in the closet and you should be fine.

Pack as you would for any vacation with a change of clothes for the day that would be very casual and something nicer perhaps for the evenings. Most cruise lines don't have a formal dress policy that is enforced any more for dinners, but certainly you can dress up at your option as you wish.

Enjoy your first cruise - it likely won't be your last.

Welcome to CC and to cruising! Glad you got the first one booked!

First tip: Relax! Try not to overthink everything and get yourself all confused and wound up in knots! It will all come together and you will have a wonderful, magical first cruise!

You need to research the threads related to your chosen cruise line and ship. You will find a wealth of information about a lot of things, some of which will even be useful! ;) My "always go to tip" is to have a watch that does not change time based on time zone. Everything on the ship, excursion times, show times, port times, everything is shown in ship time! Don't depend on your cell phone for the time unless you are sure you have turned off the auto correct for time zone feature. This is most critical when you are in port. Be sure you know what time your ship sails and plan to be back to the ship at least 45 minutes prior to that time.

Get some ideas about what things there are to do at each port you are visiting and whether or not you will need to plan a sponsored excursion or just want to do something on your own.

As for banned items, these should be very clearly stated in your cruise information you will get when booked or available on the cruise line site. Understandably, any open flame items are prohibited, most items that heat (think coffee warmers) or have heating elements in them are frowned on. Flammable door decorations are not allowed. For the best advice, it might be best to ask whether specific items are allowed rather than just asking for a list of things that are. The more you read, the more you will learn!

I hope some of this will prove useful for you. Researching ports, your ship, joining your roll call will all result in a lot of information you can use. But, don't be afraid to ask on CC if you have specific questions. There are lots of great folks with a lot of experience who are more than willing to offer help!

Iron your clothes at home. Folding creases are NOT wrinkles! The humidity will make everything "rumpled", so don't sweat it!

Get guidebooks on your ports. The more you know about the places you visit, the better! Do that BEFORE you start booking "excursions". Many times, no excursions are even needed.

You generally aren't allowed to bring your own booze on any cruise line.....so figure the cost of getting a buzz into your budget.

ALL Cruise LINES allow hair appliances...ALL OF THEM. You may bring electric curlers, curling irons, flat irons, crimping irons, whatever. I recommend bringing your own hair dryer, too....the provided ones suck.

Pack as you would for ANY vacation in the climate you'll visit. There really is nothing special that you need on a cruise, that you wouldn't need anywhere else.

As someone else mentioned RELAX and don't over think it.

In 30+ cruises I have never ironed a piece of clothing.

On CC there are many postings about what to bring on your cruise, how to pack lightly, etc.

I wouldn't bother with guidebooks, the web gives you all of that. There is a site called cruise port insider that has almost all ports, what is in them, what to do, maps, weather, pretty much everything.

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Welcome to Cruise Critic! :)

Seems you'll be cruising on a Carnival ship.

You certainly can take you hair straightener and other things for your hair.

Look forward to having a wonderful 15th Anniversary Cruise! :D

Welcome to Cruise Critic

In over 30 years I have never had to iron anything. If something gets really wrinkled (like my husband's sport jacket) I hang it in the bathroom, turn on the shower hot and close the door to steam the room.

Knowing how to pack is the best way to avoid wrinkles. Some people swear by rolling items. Others cross fold one item within another. There are lots of packing tips online.

Whatever you do, don't overpack. If you are going someplace warm, you'll want a pair of sandals, a pair of sneakers and a pair of shoes to wear at night. You don't need a different outfit for every day or for every night.

Think mix and match. I wear lightweight silky pants in the evening (think those silky pj bottoms you can find in Target lingerie dept). I have one black and one black/white. I have black tops that go with each.

As for must have, the I typically recommend is a simple extension cord like this one

Don't get one with a surge suppressor. Those are not allowed on board ship ... at least the ones I have experience with.

Thanks for the advice! We are sailing carnival and I've been trying to read up as much as I can, it can be overwhelming at times!

Go onto the cruise line's web site and under their FAQ's section most of this will be addressed. But there is no prohibition for bringing curling irons, etc., on board most cruise lines. What is prohibited is clothes irons as they present a fire hazard. Some cruise lines will have public laundries on board where you can wash and iron your clothes, and all have laundry services if needed.

 

But in over 25 years of cruising we have never needed to iron our clothes on board, nor would we want to pack and carry one even if we could. Fold and pack carefully and hang clothes in the closet and you should be fine.

 

Pack as you would for any vacation with a change of clothes for the day that would be very casual and something nicer perhaps for the evenings. Most cruise lines don't have a formal dress policy that is enforced any more for dinners, but certainly you can dress up at your option as you wish.

 

Enjoy your first cruise - it likely won't be your last.

Carnival ships have laundry rooms that have irons you can use. But if you roll up your clothes in your suitcase you probably won't have wrinkles.

First of all, don't let it overwhelm you. Think of a cruise as a way to visit several places and never have to check out of your hotel. It is really the easiest way to travel -- you check in once, and that's it!

As to what to pack, that depends a little on where you are going. Carnival is not going to demand much in the way of dress clothing, and though you can likely get away with jeans if you want, you go always go one step up for dinners in the main dining room, but check on Carnival's section as to clothing guidelines -- they will be fairly lax. Other than that, if you are going somewhere where the weather will control your clothing, or you are going to visit churches and things on tours, you may want to have appropriate clothing.

You talked about hair "devices." Most lines do allow curling irons, straighteners, etc., but I will contradict the earlier advice to bring your own hair dryer. They are generally forbidden and for a very good reason -- the biggest danger at sea is not the sea, it is fire! Hair dryers that work really well tend to draw lots of current, and this is the danger. The ship will provide you with a dryer, and if you are having trouble, they will have slightly better dryers if you ask for one, but use theirs, DO NOT USE YOURS. The last thing you want is to be responsible for a shipboard fire!

Depending on where you are going, you will likely want to take some excursions. You can simply take the ship's excursions, but experienced cruisers will most often suggest private tours. Private tours are cheaper if you get some people to join you (more on that in a minute), are more efficient (ship's tours go no faster than the slowest person on the tour!), cover more ground, are more flexible (you can add things or subtract things), and you interact more with the local tourguide. You will no doubt hear that the ship only waits for ship's tours, and private tours that are late will miss the ship's departure. Technically true, but private tour companies live and die by the cruise business, and generally know the ship's schedule before you do, and I have never heard of a reputable tour company being late. It is the couples that wander off on their own who are late getting back.

First of all, go to the Roll Call section of these boards, go to Carnival, then go to your ship, and then look for the specific cruise you are on. Join the roll call to a) meet some others going with you, b) go to a Meet and Greet at the outset of the cruise to meet these people face-to-face and start of with some new friends, and c) find people to go on tours with. Either read through the posts and see what is being offered by others on the cruise, or put something together and attract others to join you.

Also go to the Ports of Call section of these boards, check out where you are going, and read through the posts. That will give you an idea of what goes on in each port of call, what tours are good, and which tour operators are the best. Read through lots of the posts to get a clear picture of the tour operators, don't just take one comment (good or bad) as the defining comment.

Lastly, go and have a wonderful, relaxing time. Don't overthink it, don't overpack, just relax. You are going to a fancy hotel that happens to float!

Hi everyone! ...... What do you guys do with your clothing without irons?

Wrinkles are in. I pre-wrinkle all my stuff before packing it.

So easy.

Welcome to the wonderful world of cruising. :) We went on our first one last year (5-day). A cruise was something I had never considered, but a couple of my wife's relatives are frequent cruisers and had been wanting us to go with them for quite some time. Even once we booked, I wasn't very excited, but agreed to go because my wife & son were excited. All said & done, I'm glad we did it because we ended up loving it. We recently booked our second one, a 7-day this time. We'll be taking some first-timers with us, so part of the fun is helping them with what to expect.

Someone mentioned the hair dryers in the room being less than stellar. I'm not an expert on the matter because I'm a guy with a buzz cut, but during my time in the former Carnival forums and now here on CC, I've heard good & bad about the blow dryers in the cabins. My wife didn't have any trouble with ours, it suited her needs. Your mileage may very, so it's a matter of how much space you're willing to take up in your luggage with your hair appliances.

I roll my clothes. I've actually gone through the process of packing my suitcase with folded shirts then again with rolled shirts and the difference was substantial. Rolling saves me a lot of room and more room means more clothes. It's hot down there and I sweat, so I like to have a change of shirts if I need them. I'd rather have it and not need it than need it and not have it. But that's just my own personal preference. A lot of people would rather pack lighter. For me, if I'm taking a certain suitcase anyway, and I have the space in it, I figure I might as well use it. We don't come home with all kinds of souvenirs, so we don't really need the extra space. Which brings up a good tip...if you think you'll buy souvenirs, make sure you have room for them on the return trip. When I roll my shirts, I do it very carefully so as to not wrinkle them as I'm rolling. After that, I can even lay them in the wall locker still rolled up for as long as need be and they unroll wrinkle free. But you could always hang them up when you get there. Pants/shorts are a little more difficult to roll, especially the thicker the material, so I usually end up just folding those. A lot of people recommend buying a travel sized bottle of wrinkle release.

I like researching our vacations beforehand, so I recommend reading the FAQ's on Carnival's website. There's a ton of good info in there. I also spent a lot of time reading the old Carnival forums, but they shut those down, so now this is one of the more populated ones. Here on the forum homepage, scroll down to Cruise Lines "A-O," then click on the Carnival Cruise Lines sub-forum. After that, look along the right side of the page to find the Carnival ship you'll be on. Click on it and it will automatically sort all of the threads that discuss that particular ship.

Hope you have a great first cruise. :)

Welcome aboard! And prepare to be hooked - I'll bet your first cruise won't be your last.

One thing I like to do is look at our ports in Google Earth to get the "lay of the land". Sometimes you may even be able to see where your ship will dock.

And if possible be our on deck when you sail in to and out of port - some ports are really scenic and watching the ship dock and tie up, etc. is very interesting.

Most of all - have a great time.

Things I wish I'd known on our first few cruises (before the days of the internet and CC). These are some of the best tips I've gotten over the years from these boards:

(1) Go to the port city a day early. Flights can be changed, delayed or cancelled. Don't chance it. Besides, you get a chance to relax. If you drive, look for a hotel that has a Cruise and Park plan. It's much cheaper than parking at the ports.

(2) Buy/Take things that don't wrinkle. For a dress shirt, pack it in the dry cleaning bag to avoid wrinkles. Just fold it on top of the rest of the clothes, hanger and all. If you end up with a few wrinkles, hang a few items in the bathroom, turn the shower on and let the bathroom get "steamy" and they should fall right out. Carry a travel size of Downey Wrinkle Release for a stubborn wrinkle. Don't spend your time in the laundry room ironing. Almost everyone has a wrinkle or two at some point on the cruise.

(3) Take Zip lock bags in a variety of sizes. You can put a damp item, such as a swimsuit in it and it won't ruin the rest of your clothes on the way home. Zip locks are also good to slide a small plate in for a snack you bring to your cabin from the buffet to have as a treat with your wine, late in the evening to avoid having to wait on Room Service. Put your toiletries in zip-locks to ensure that one doesn't bust and ruin your clothes.

(4) Put some $1's and $5's in an envelope in the dresser or somewhere handy in the cabin for room service tips. These are different from the tips auto-added to your account. Also take some $1's and $5's for tips to the porters at the port, shuttle driver (if you have one) that gets you to the port, etc.

(5) Take a deep breath and relax on the morning of embarkation. Don't let all the hub-bub at the port stress you out. The buffet crowd will be the heaviest you'll see during your cruise at lunch on embarkation day, so don't let it scare you away from the buffet.

(6) Don't forget that on the last night, you have to have your luggage out (unless you plan to lug it off yourself) at a designated time...and that you'll need to lay out something to wear home, or you'll be leaving in your jammies. We saw a family of four in their jammies at the airport this past December from our ship. They had been "re-united" with their luggage and were headed to the restroom to change.

(7) Keep your medicine, camera, electronics, etc. in your carry on. You might also want to put a swimsuit and cover-up and a change of clothes in your carry on. This means you can go for a swim before the cabins are open and that if your luggage arrives late, you have a change of clothes to wear to dinner.

(8) Scan a copy of your passport, credit cards (front and back), confirmations of hotel, excursions, flights, etc and e-mail them to yourself. That way if anything gets lost or stolen, you can get access to them.

(9) Take some over-the-counter medicines like Advil, Pepto Bismol, band-aids, neosporin. There's nothing worse than a headache or stomach ache late at night when the ship is sailing and the shops are all closed. I even take some of the gel-cap cold meds, just in case. They've come in handy a couple of times. I do travel size...in a zip lock baggie to make my own first-aid kit.

(10) Enjoy your cruise. It might be your first, but I'd bet it won't be your last. They're addictive. :D

Hi everyone! I am very happy to say that I finally convinced my husband to take me on a cruise for our 15th anniversary! We are traveling kid free and since we have never done this before are both a bit nervous. I am a creature of habit and this is out of my comfort zone! I have so many questions about what is banned. I've read conflicting information on hair straighteners. What do you guys do with your clothing without irons? What are some must pack items? Thanks and I look forward to your advice!

Leaving Sun for our first cruise ever also! Our 30th wedding anniversary gift. Like you, I also had to convince hubby (he's not a big water person!). For me, it's been on my bucket list for MANY years! ENJOY. [emoji924][emoji122][emoji16]

Lisa[emoji68]🏼

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Wrinkles are in. I pre-wrinkle all my stuff before packing it.

 

 

 

So easy.

LMAO!! 🤣 Total hoot! [emoji624]

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For embarkation day lunch, avoid the buffet and go to the MDR or if one isn't open, go to a specialty restaurant.

For embarkation day lunch, avoid the buffet and go to the MDR or if one isn't open, go to a specialty restaurant.

Great advice.

Seasoned cruisers avoid the buffet on embarkation day, therefore, a horde of inexperienced savages attack the buffet as if they haven't eaten in weeks.

Great advice.

 

Seasoned cruisers avoid the buffet on embarkation day, therefore, a horde of inexperienced savages attack the buffet as if they haven't eaten in weeks.

Your comment is rude and uncalled for. And amounts to little more than just conjecture. I'm sure plenty of experienced cruisers eat at the buffet on day 1. I get so tired of experienced cruisers insulting us just because we've cruised fewer times. Last year was our first and we recently booked our 2nd. I absolutely loved Guy's burgers, ate them multiple times. So I'm looking forward to them again and it'll be my first meal once on board next time. Even when we have many cruises under our belt, it'll probably be my first meal on board for every cruise (when available). Experience has nothing to do with it. Last year we went with a couple who are frequent cruisers..."seasoned," as you call it. They wanted the Lido buffet for lunch on embarkation day. Does that make them "savages" too? Does it get crowded and hectic? Sure, but we got on board fairly early (even without FTTF) and were sitting down eating before most of the crowds hit. If you don't want to deal with those crowds, that's your prerogative, but there's no need to insult those who do.

So tell me, how many cruises do we have to go on before we're no longer inexperienced savages anymore? At what point do we have to stop going to the buffet on embarkation day because it's beneath us? What's the official number according to you? And is that number the same one to reach when we get to start being total jerks to everyone who has cruised less?

Your comment is rude and uncalled for. And amounts to little more than just conjecture. I'm sure plenty of experienced cruisers eat at the buffet on day 1. I get so tired of experienced cruisers insulting us just because we've cruised fewer times.

Gee, I guess it doesn't matter how I respond to that, as I am sure that you will find some way to be offended.

Really, I think you are being just a bit too ...... "sensitive".

BTW, I do appreciate your response and did get a chuckle out of it.

Seasoned cruisers avoid the buffet on embarkation day, therefore, a horde of inexperienced savages attack the buffet as if they haven't eaten in weeks.

I too must take exception to this comment. The savages attacking the buffet are quite experienced at what they do. Such ruthlessness takes quite a bit of practice (some of which was obtained mere hours earlier from the breakfast buffet at their pre-cruise hotel).

Wow, didn't think my advice would be so controversial. I just mentioned it as I find the buffet a madhouse as so many people hang a round there waiting for their cabin to become available and I prefer to eat in the dining room (or specialty restaurant) and be served.

Wow, didn't think my advice would be so controversial.

LOL, :d

As to not relying on your phone for the time, iPhones have a clock app where you can set up clocks for various cities. Just set a time clock up for your disembarkation port and that is your "ship" time to refer to.

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