How will I remember it all

[RunnerGirl26.2]

I study the deck plans pre-cruise and find the venues I will want to visit during the cruise. I also write locations of food, pools, passenger services, etc on a notecard that fits into my pocket (folded) with my cruise card. For example: International cafe-atrium, deck 5; mid ship port. Explore the ship after boarding, save the unpacking for later.

 

The colors on the carpet are only on cabin deck passageways. I use the stairs so I would try to pay attention when starting the stairs which way I was facing on the first set of stairs (foward or aft).

 

There are diagrams of the ship by the elevators and in the passages, pointing forward or aft. Smaller cabin numbers forward; larger aft.

[CintiCruzer]

My First piece of advice - don't try to do it all!!!! It WILL wear you out... Do you homework and i strongly advise just to stroll around when you board... The Ruby is full of lots of "nooks and crannies" We didn't even find the stern pool until day 5...

 

There are many bars and resturants to choose from... lots of activities too. Top side two pools can give you a place to soak up the warm sun - don't be afraid to ask questions of the wait staff... they are very good source of information - after all, it is THEIR home court...

 

Myself, I love to take pictures, so I befriended one of the ships photographers (Alex from England and Rachael from New Zealand) - they were more than eager to give me some locations to get some great shots... The bartenders too were a great source of inforamtion... They know the destinations very well and can give some very useful inforamtion on what to do and what to see - In St Thomas, our bartender told us not to miss Glady's Cafe - Tucked away in an alley, it was one of the best lunches we had on the trip... The scenery too was fantastic...

 

Remember it is YOUR vacation and you do what YOU want to do... just relax and enjoy it!!

 

Good Luck

Cliff from Cinti

[luvcdays]

We always see people getting on the elevator on the last night of the cruise who are lost. Since the cruise ships can be 3 football fields long, that can be a lot of walking for the ederly and women in high heels!

 

I always make a cheat sheet for us on where things are located. Other cruisers often asked me where we got it from :).

 

Relax and have fun and you will have a great cruise! Maybe you will get addicted like the rest of us cruisers.

[Cruisin' Chick]

Hi |There

 

Part of the fun is turning a corner and finding some thing new, unexpected,

 

do a little planing but not to much,

 

on my first cruise we never did find the mini golf,

 

and if you do miss some thing do not worry just book another cruise,

 

yours Shogun

 

 

I think this is the best advice. Stop obsessing about trying to do it all as there's so much to do and there should be some down times.

 

The part that I plan (besides how we're getting to the embarkation port) is the different ports. I google the names of the different ports, read guide books, that kind of thing. Anything interesting, I copy and paste into a word doc, along with phone numbers of cab companies and little bits of info. Even though our last cruise was our third straight one on the same itinerary, I found new info and we tried to do different things this time.

 

Yes, there are things I never got around to doing (such as going to the gym:o) and maybe some places I still didn't see on the Golden (second straight cruise on this ship), but I wasn't going to stress out about this. There were times that I just took out a paperback book and read or went over to the pool to watch a movie.

 

And I have a better tip, IMO, than the carpet color tip that people talk about (since you have to remember which color is which side of the ship): when you get to your deck, look for these gold signs:

 

If your cabin is even, you're on the port side. (four letters = four letters). If your cabin is odd, you're on the starboard side. When you go to the hallway with your cabin, you can look at the sign there which will point you to your cabin number (higher numbers will be aft, lower numbers will be forward). I never looked at the carpet colors, nor the swirls.

[Quilter n Cruiser]

My favorite thing to do is go to the Princess web site and click on the deck plans for the ship and then print all of the decks. staple it and stick it in with the rest of the paperwork. It is handy to double check locations and easy to read. Part of the fun of planning. I leave it on the desk in the cabin during the cruise for easy reference.

[Bright1]

Take a highlighter with you to highlight things in the Patters that you want to do. It's a big help!