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"I wish I knew before..."

T&Dcruisers

By T&Dcruisers,
in First Time Cruisers

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Happy ks

Happy ks

Posted
Posted
I keep seeing "oh, you won't need that. There is plenty of room" comments. But you don't say how many people are in a room. We have three grown women and the over-door shoe hanger is a great storage area. Three wardrobes. Three make up kits. Three shoe collections. Most of the "you won't need it" comes from people who are one couple--are you in a suite? They have TONS more storage.

I take the freebie kind. The size of a deck of cards.

waste of packing space to me. I would call engineering until I got one that worked.

would never pack those. Not in the cabin enough and takes up too much packing room.

wouldn't dream of taking one unless for airplane a BIG waste of space, but I always have to fly in another waste of space.

And I take all those things from experience.

 

If you post that something is helpful or not necessary, you should state what kind of suite/stateroom/cabin you are in and how many people had to share that storage.

 

I never went back and read this until now. Of course some things that work for me won't work for the next person, but I still agree with all that I posted. I wish we could afford a suite, but we get only a balcony cabin.

 

I no longer take the DVD player since I got an Ipod touch and downloaded my sleep movies. That frees up a lot of weight and space and I love it.

 

I still take my own hair dryer and would give up a pair of shoes for it to fit, my travel blow dryer is very small and lightweight and not a hassle at all, it goes into my carry on. I just don't care for blow dryers provided by hotels and cruise ships. There was a time I had to wait for the cabin attendant to find me a blow dryer (trying to save space) and it turned out horrid. Way too hot, covered with duct tape, scared it would blow up any second, a miserable week during hair blow dry time. You never know if you are stuck with a blow dryer that is wall mounted in the bathroom, that is a disaster for me as my husband is showering while I try to blow dry my hair. Humidity is my baby fine hairs worst enemy.

 

We used the over the door shoe holder once, with marginal success. I'd rather have my robe hanging in the bathroom and hanging it outside the bathroom I was always bumping into it. We then traveled with our 2 kids in the same cabin and found it was a waste of packing space...I'd rather have the small travel fan and my own blow dryer. I don't keep my hair/makeup items nor the small first aid kit in the bathroom so what toiletries we do have fit fine with room to spare on the bathroom shelves and in the shower, we have nothing on the counter tops.

 

If I were traveling with another (or 2 other) women, I'd probably divide the list of toiletries used in the bathroom (shampoo/cond/body wash/toothpaste) among the 2/3 of us and not have 2/3 sets of everything. Of course, very personal things like deodorant would be separate. Put your makeup in a makeup bag, same with hair stuff, I like clutter free and our cabin almost looks like no one is even staying in it.

 

So, what is useless to me is crucial to the next person. I've learned through trial and error what works best for us. I encourage people to make their own lists dependent on their own needs. I still feel that reading packing lists and getting ideas for "what-if's" can be a great waste of packing space and vacation funds, if you don't think of it yourself you probably won't need it.

 

We still have don't need or want to bring along: extra cups, duct tape, empty bags, highlighter pens, note pads, over the door shoe holder or hanging shelves, dirty clothes hamper, door decorations and many other items I see posted on packing lists. Heck, I've even seen where people take their own table (roll up type) and folding chairs on cruises. You would think many people are going camping rather than cruising ;)

 

But...to each his own, if a person can't live without these things for a week or so, go for it. Just keep in mind that you may have to pay overweight fees if flying. When we drive to port it's not so much of a weight issue but rather an issue of having to deal with extra stuff, repacking and hauling useless items (to me) is annoying.

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Jazmine8

Jazmine8

Posted
Posted
DH and I will be going on our second cruise shorty and this thread has been absolutely amazing... Thank you everyone!:D

 

I see you're traveling on the Pride soon. I do hope you enjoy it because I surely didn't and you can read my review in my siggie. I don't think I'll ever sail from MD again or Carnival; eventhough I'd like to see the Breeze.

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EdmPair

EdmPair

Posted
Posted
great thread and very informative.

could anyone tell me what the UK equivalent of a ziplock is ?:o:o:o

 

A self sealing bag? My vacuum cleaner bags now come in them. This way when you use the first the other 2 will not go stale.

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TaraImp

TaraImp

Posted
Posted
I see you're traveling on the Pride soon. I do hope you enjoy it because I surely didn't and you can read my review in my siggie. I don't think I'll ever sail from MD again or Carnival; eventhough I'd like to see the Breeze.

 

Hi Jazmine, I read your review and was sorry to hear you did not enjoy your cruise. I have been on the Pride before and my DH and I loved it. We are so very much looking forward to our next cruise and are so excited it is only days away. :)

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leekel619

leekel619

Posted
Posted
Yum :)

 

I'm probably taking linen or cotton on my next cruise. I'm in a quad and the "rule of thumb" is to always go with something neutral in shared spaces.

 

The only thing about air fresheners is the scent goes away super fast. There is constant air circulation in the staterooms. On the whole ship actually. But the nice smells get sucked right up and out.

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leekel619

leekel619

Posted
Posted
I know what you mean, our friends caught a cleaner using their toothbrush to clean the bathroom sink when they were out in Bulgaria. Yuck!!!:mad:

 

Sickening. Yes I definitely zip lock my toothbrush and put it in toiletry bag. Zipped also! Far from bathroom!

I really liked the idea someone said about drying it with hair dryer first. I never thought of that!

I try not to get crazy thinking about gross things in my cabin but I do find myself using Lysol wipes when I first get in. ( which are zip locked in my carry on)

Whatever. Makes me feel better.

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rebeccacleary

rebeccacleary

Posted
Posted

You said:

 

Greetings, just joined this sight. And boy am I glad I found you all!! Hubby and I are taking our first cruise on NCL Jewel - Dec 2,2012 to Bahamas and Florida. We feeling a lot LESS overwhelmed just reading what is posted here. Thank you so much to all the contributors. We still have sooo many questions, but let me go back to reading more...perhaps answers will be there.

 

I hope this cruise is a good one, so I can be a pro like many of you. Definitely will go on more if this turns out to be the wonderful experience so many of you have had!!

 

Hi! We are also going on the NCL jewel from NYC to Florida/Bahamas. We are going Thanksgiving weekend and are very excited. This is ourfirst cruise as a family. We have four children ages 9-20....our 20 yr old turns 21 on the day we leave! I'll report back anything worth passing on when we return since you will be on the ship a week after us!

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kba1988

kba1988

Posted
Posted
You said:

 

 

 

Hi! We are also going on the NCL jewel from NYC to Florida/Bahamas. We are going Thanksgiving weekend and are very excited. This is ourfirst cruise as a family. We have four children ages 9-20....our 20 yr old turns 21 on the day we leave! I'll report back anything worth passing on when we return since you will be on the ship a week after us!

 

 

@rebeccacleary

Looking forward to hearing great things about the cruise and the ship when you return. Have fun!!!

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kruzkween

kruzkween

Posted
Posted

There is some very good information about cruise packing on independent traveler dot com. The information is especially great for newbies. At one time or another we were ALL cruise newbies and I know I really appreciated all the help I could get from the experienced cruisers.

 

Hope everyone has a great day!! ...only one day till the week-end!!!

 

~kruzkween

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Smokeyham Great Review Rare

Smokeyham

Posted
Posted
Just how much are the automatic gratuities on NCL?

I'm assuming 18%...whatever the % is, is it based on how many drinks you buy?

Thanks for any help in advance!

 

Brandon

 

It is typically 15% on beverages which you buy. There is also a set amount per day for housekeeping ($10 - $12 I believe).

 

Note that you can adjust these if you want to. However, you have to go to the Purser's office to do so. Generally, people tend to leave these in place, unless there is a reason not to.

 

One hint... In the States, when we sign for a charge, we are used to adding a tip on the blank line below the total. Just be advised that the tip has already been added. A friend of mine did this, and it was not till we were halfway through the cruise that she was double-tipping!

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SoCalCruiser20

SoCalCruiser20

Posted
Posted
It is typically 15% on beverages which you buy. There is also a set amount per day for housekeeping ($10 - $12 I believe).

 

Note that you can adjust these if you want to. However, you have to go to the Purser's office to do so. Generally, people tend to leave these in place, unless there is a reason not to.

 

One hint... In the States, when we sign for a charge, we are used to adding a tip on the blank line below the total. Just be advised that the tip has already been added. A friend of mine did this, and it was not till we were halfway through the cruise that she was double-tipping!

 

okay thank you, that helped a lot :)

This trip just keeps getting more and more expensive as i found out about all the hidden charges...still excted to go, thank you

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Smokeyham Great Review Rare

Smokeyham

Posted
Posted
okay thank you, that helped a lot :)

This trip just keeps getting more and more expensive as i found out about all the hidden charges...still excted to go, thank you

 

I hope you have a great time. I've had some really fun cruises on NCL. When you get on board they will try to sell you things (soda packages, spa treatments, etc.) but I've find a polite "no thank you" does the trick.

 

People on the boards here can give you lots of hints about ways to save money, but overall I think a cruise still a good value given what is included in the base price which you've paid.

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dustyroad

dustyroad

Posted
Posted (edited)
less is best when it comes to clothes. My wife and I severely overpacked

 

 

i way overpacked also on my first cruise. but not just clothes. i had enough batteries for about a month, a bungee cord when i didnt have a balcony, 3 highlighters, way too much jewlery and shoes for a 3 wk cruise and 3 books. :o. i never uses over half these things andthe added weight in my bag was ridiculous. i have really scaled down too a smaller size carry-on for the plane and ship. my advice for new cruisers is check out a packing list, but realize you dont need everything on their list. decide what is really neccessary for you and pack/unpack, take out half and pack again. check one more time too see if you still need everything in the bag. leave the '' kichen sink '' at home ;).

Edited by dustyroad
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rebeccacleary

rebeccacleary

Posted
Posted

Hi!

So if we order a drink on the cruise, we don't have to include a tip? It is already included when we get the slip to sign for? Ug...if this is the case I way over-tipped on my last cruise!

Also, is there a way to asign a different debit card to each person in a cabin? My kids each have their own bank accounts and they are staying in their own cabin. I know they will get a room key that will be their payment card for the cruise, but is there a way to use one bank account for one son and another bank account for the other son?

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