Does anyone have any suggestions for this 1st time cruiser?

[Desert Cruizers]

Take each day as it comes along, don't worry about the little problems and let them ruin your cruise, just enjoy each day and the beauty of your ship and meeting new friends and you will have a fabulous time.

[Kellie Poodle]

Unless you've pre-arranged a low cost (if there is such a thing) data use program with your cell phone carrier, turn off data roaming on your smartphone. There are threads on Cruise Critic about cell phone use at sea.

 

Internet is expensive and slow.

 

Take less clothes and more money.

 

If you have brought bottles of wine aboard, ask the cabin steward for appropriate glasses. They have for red and for white. Call room service and order up a cheese and fruit plate and enjoy a glass of wine with it in the late afternoon. You can always bring a dish of snacks from one of the other food venues. The cork screws they provide are wimpy. If you can pack it in your checked luggage, bring your own.

 

You don't need fancy shoes. Even though the MDR regs say no flip flops, they are not referring to the silver strappy ones that you got on the BOGO from Shoe Carnival. Unless you are used to high heels, there is a lot of walking on the ship and you'll be more comfy in flats.

 

I always bring an over-the-door shoe holder with us and put it inside the bathroom door. Between all the toiletries we need, tooth paste, floss, day and night wrinkle creams, sun screen, makeup, shaving cream, hair brushes, etc. there is never enough storage in the bathroom. You can get one in Target or WalMart for very little. It's the first thing that goes into my suitcase. Ours has clear plastic compartments so I din't get a constant "where is?"

 

Bring something to read, relax and have a great cruise.

[debbs0723]

If you get sea sick and you are able, jump in the pool. I got that advice on my first cruise from an older lady traveling alone. She had asked to sit with my girlfriends and I. Huge age difference but we said, "Sure". Wow, was that lady full of good advice. We were at the Windjammer for breakfast and the boat was moving. I wasn't speaking much and she took one look at me and said "Honey, you are sea sick. Hurry up, go put on your bathing suit and get in the pool". Something to do with your body feeling more in whack in the pool. Solved the problem IMMEDIATELY, I mean like the 2nd I got in the pool.

 

 

I, being somewhat high maintenance on products :D found that the over the door clear plastic shoe hanger was the best advice I picked up for my last cruise. You just put all your stuff in there in the bathroom and reduce the clutter on the tiny bathroom counter.

 

If you don't love whats for dinner, don't force it down. Go out and get a snack somewhere else on the ship. Since RCL lets you bring two bottles of wine, we sometimes order up the fruit and cheese plate in the room while getting ready and start enjoying our wine early before dinner.

 

Spend some times on these forums if you like that kind of thing (I do) and see what you can find out about your ship. For example, if you don't like crazy crowds find out where those "in the know" go for sail away or even to find a nice lounge chair in the sun away from the pool. A lot of people think the lounge chairs are only by the pool. They are everywhere. I know I'd rather be aft looking over the ocean than a pool but I do enjoy some of the activities they do by the pool.

 

 

 

Hope I helped some.

 

Debbie

[smcs28]

I just came home yesterday from my first cruise with my husband. It was his second, we were on the Adventure.

 

My advice from one first time cruiser to another:

Make sure you don't ONLY take dresses/skirts--I had a friend who was concerned that I was packing mainly capris (my staple of summer clothes due to what my job is) because she only takes summer dresses....yeah, it was severely windy most of our cruise, so I was VERY glad to have capris, I had a dress on for a short period of time and had to change when it kept flying over my head.....

 

Take dressy capris and a dressy shirt for the formal nights...I did this in case I ended up not feeling my formal dresses....glad I did because really, even on casual nights women were wearing nice capris and shirts....

 

Take advantage of sales on the ship...I just had a conversation with my hubby about how I should have bought another guess purse since my big regular purse needs replacing...I just bought a smaller guess purse that I LOVE....I never splurge on things for myself, but am now realizing that I need better quality items so I don't have to keep replacing stuff (yeah, I actually KNEW that for bigger items...we splurged on our couch, barbecue and bed...but on myself I feel bad...but now I know better)

 

Don't try to do everything....on the adventure there was an ice show, and I wanted to see that...SOOO glad I did, it was awesome...I set a wake up call to get the tickets a few days before...glad I did that too....I was up at 7:30 and there was a line up already...but that was the only show we took in

 

I personally liked getting up early when we were docked...I would grab a coffee and walk the track, looking at the island we were docked at.....I loved that alone time, would chat with some people....but not many, as I'm not a morning person....

 

Sleep in late if you have a day at sea....why rush???? I slept in on these days, last day at sea my husband (who always sleeps many hours after I am up) was waiting for me to get up....I had literally NO WHERE TO GO....so sleeping in was fantastic....then we headed to the windjammer for breakfast....

 

Don't eat the eggs benedict every day....lol...it's very heavy...hubby had it first day...I had it sixth day (on a fantastic crab cake).....

 

Talk to people on board....I'm severely shy, so luckily at meals my hubby would start a conversation....we learned many things about different countries, and we ended up meeting many people from my hubby's home town! We got updates about the horrible ice storm that we missed from them.....

 

DON'T stay "plugged in"....we completely unplugged....on disembarkment day I did go to the internet area and emailed my parents and printed out boarding passes....since we were late because of the overboard man....(yes, sad and dampened the Saturday night for most guests).....luckily RCI was being very accommodating and had this available for free this day....

 

USE MANNERS....say please and thank you to staff...my hubby and I really notice when people don't do this, we're Canadian, so we notice it more....honestly, in Canada, people really DO use manners a LOT.....

 

Talk to staff.....ask about their experiences.....we did this often...then we had the unfortunate incident on Saturday which brought people together with unsureity, fear and grief....sad as it was...hearing other people's experiences of either NEVER seeing this happen or seeing this happen rarely made me, as a first time cruiser, know that this was a very rare occurrence.....

 

If I think of anything else I'll write more :D

[OCruisers]

I am going with my fiancé who has been on 18 cruises already and I have heard all his suggestions' date=' which were not bad, but I would not mind hearing from others...[/quote']

 

My suggestion is to go with the suggestions of your fiancé. ;)

 

LuLu

~~~~

[Remm1024]

Pack your clothes in a suitcase that fits inside another suitcase. At the end of the cruise you will then have that extra suitcase to pack your souvenirs in.

 

Take along a small pop-up laundry hamper. Put it in a closet or out-of-the-way area to put your dirty clothes in.

 

If you are going to use a digital camera on the cruise, take along plenty of memory cards - 1 for each day. At the end of each day label the card with the date and slide the little clip on the side of the card up so the the card can be 'locked' and can not be erased accidentally. With a card for each day you won't lose all your photos if you lose the card. Also makes it easier to find the photos you want if you know which card to look at instead of trying to find the photos on a card that could have several hundred to more than a thousand photos on it.

 

Get a lanyard for your Sea Pass card. Take along a small hole punch and punch a hole in your card then attach your card to the lanyard.

 

Buy a "Vacation Vault" - a sturdy plastic lockable container that has a metal cable you use to secure it to your deck chair or beach chair. It is large enough to hold your Sea Pass, a small camera, and a wallet or change purse, while you are off enjoying the pool or beach. They come in a variety of colors.

 

Take along several travel-size bottles of hand sanitizer to take onto the islands to use as needed.

 

If you want a candle-lit evening in your room, bring along a few battery powered candles. They are good for "mood lighting" and for nite-lites. And an extra set of batteries.

 

If you are taking any expensive jewelry or electronics along, take a photo of the item next to the date area of the front page of a newspaper. Take those photos with you. When going through Customs, if a Customs Agent questions whether any of those items was bought on the cruise you can show him the photo as proof that you had that item before you got on the cruise.

 

Have fun.

[riclop]

I am going with my fiancé who has been on 18 cruises already and I have heard all his suggestions' date=' which were not bad, but I would not mind hearing from others...[/quote']

You will be hooked like the rest of us.

[alowderphoto]

I'm going on our first cruise on the allure in May. I'm insanely excited. I've really enjoyed reading these tips!

 

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk

[gcvt]

I'm going on our first cruise on the allure in May. I'm insanely excited. I've really enjoyed reading these tips!

 

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk

 

That's what this forum is all about - enjoy your first cruise! :)

[alowderphoto]

That's what this forum is all about - enjoy your first cruise! :)

 

Thanks! I can't wait!

 

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk

[Cruzin' Rob]

I just came home yesterday from my first cruise with my husband. It was his second, we were on the Adventure.

 

My advice from one first time cruiser to another:

Make sure you don't ONLY take dresses/skirts--I had a friend who was concerned that I was packing mainly capris (my staple of summer clothes due to what my job is) because she only takes summer dresses....yeah, it was severely windy most of our cruise, so I was VERY glad to have capris, I had a dress on for a short period of time and had to change when it kept flying over my head.....

 

Take dressy capris and a dressy shirt for the formal nights...I did this in case I ended up not feeling my formal dresses....glad I did because really, even on casual nights women were wearing nice capris and shirts....

 

Take advantage of sales on the ship...I just had a conversation with my hubby about how I should have bought another guess purse since my big regular purse needs replacing...I just bought a smaller guess purse that I LOVE....I never splurge on things for myself, but am now realizing that I need better quality items so I don't have to keep replacing stuff (yeah, I actually KNEW that for bigger items...we splurged on our couch, barbecue and bed...but on myself I feel bad...but now I know better)

 

Don't try to do everything....on the adventure there was an ice show, and I wanted to see that...SOOO glad I did, it was awesome...I set a wake up call to get the tickets a few days before...glad I did that too....I was up at 7:30 and there was a line up already...but that was the only show we took in

 

I personally liked getting up early when we were docked...I would grab a coffee and walk the track, looking at the island we were docked at.....I loved that alone time, would chat with some people....but not many, as I'm not a morning person....

 

Sleep in late if you have a day at sea....why rush???? I slept in on these days, last day at sea my husband (who always sleeps many hours after I am up) was waiting for me to get up....I had literally NO WHERE TO GO....so sleeping in was fantastic....then we headed to the windjammer for breakfast....

 

Don't eat the eggs benedict every day....lol...it's very heavy...hubby had it first day...I had it sixth day (on a fantastic crab cake).....

 

Talk to people on board....I'm severely shy, so luckily at meals my hubby would start a conversation....we learned many things about different countries, and we ended up meeting many people from my hubby's home town! We got updates about the horrible ice storm that we missed from them.....

 

DON'T stay "plugged in"....we completely unplugged....on disembarkment day I did go to the internet area and emailed my parents and printed out boarding passes....since we were late because of the overboard man....(yes, sad and dampened the Saturday night for most guests).....luckily RCI was being very accommodating and had this available for free this day....

 

USE MANNERS....say please and thank you to staff...my hubby and I really notice when people don't do this, we're Canadian, so we notice it more....honestly, in Canada, people really DO use manners a LOT.....

 

Talk to staff.....ask about their experiences.....we did this often...then we had the unfortunate incident on Saturday which brought people together with unsureity, fear and grief....sad as it was...hearing other people's experiences of either NEVER seeing this happen or seeing this happen rarely made me, as a first time cruiser, know that this was a very rare occurrence.....

 

If I think of anything else I'll write more :D

 

Great Advice!!!

[bchalker]

Get a lanyard for your Sea Pass card. Take along a small hole punch and punch a hole in your card then attach your card to the lanyard.

 

 

If you are taking any expensive jewelry or electronics along, take a photo of the item next to the date area of the front page of a newspaper. Take those photos with you. When going through Customs, if a Customs Agent questions whether any of those items was bought on the cruise you can show him the photo as proof that you had that item before you got on the cruise.

 

Have fun.

 

Dont worry about a hole punch. Both guest services and the casino have them.

[nbsjcruiser]

Ignore the direction to get to the ship after noon. Get there at 10:15AM or so and you'll be among the first to walk on the ship. Then you can have a leisurely lunch in a very uncrowded Windjammer buffet. Afterwards you can explore the ship while those who showed up around noon line up with the throngs outside the terminal.

 

Do one specialty restaurant

 

Do breakfast in the MDR at least a couple of times and do lunch there as well on a sea day.

 

Enjoy your cruise!

[Wh0amelli]

This is great advice and I always enjoy reading these! Here's mine:

Eat an ice cream cone by the pool. Even if its 10:30 am.

Whenever you see the cruise photographers taking photos, let them get one of you guys. Sure, they are pricey, but you don't HAVE to buy them. And if you're anything like me and my hubby, you don't usually have too many pictures of each other together from the trip. Sometimes they come out pretty great.

I agree that you shouldn't try to do everything, however, if there is something you want to do-DO IT! Don't want to get home and said "We should have done..". Climb the rock wall, get on the flow-rider, eat at a local restaurant and order local craft beers. Or, sleep in if you would like. Unless you absolutely need to be laying out in the sun. Then get up earlier then you think!

And if you don't get to do something, just book another cruise, that's what we do :D

Enjoy!!

[dolita22]

I am going with my fiancé who has been on 18 cruises already and I have heard all his suggestions' date=' which were not bad, but I would not mind hearing from others...[/quote']

 

Go and have fun! Order room service coffee/breakfast each morning, and if you have a balcony cabin, enjoy it while sitting out there. My husband loves drinking his coffee each morning on the balcony, especially on sea days. Really relaxing.

 

Do as much as you feel like doing each day. If that's sitting on deck, reading a book, by all means, enjoy. You can do as much as or as little as you want.

 

Congrats to you and your fiance! :)

[mdjohn5]

You said your fiance has been on a lot of cruises, and this is your first. This makes me wonder if you have ever traveled / vacationed together?

 

My wife and I did a cruise as our first traveling together...and it was touch and go for a few days. We had very different ideas about what we wanted to do on vacation and we both were pretty frustrated by the mid point of the 7 day cruise. We eventually found our grove and worked out ways that we could both enjoy the vacation. She doesnt expect me to sit by the pool in the sun with her, I don't expect her to go to the casino..etc....but it took some work to get into that happy medium of together vs alone time.

 

For anyone traveling for the first time with their companion, my advice would be to communicate what you want / expect so that you can both have a good time. It is no fun traveling with mr/mrs cranky pants!

[alowderphoto]

You said your fiance has been on a lot of cruises, and this is your first. This makes me wonder if you have ever traveled / vacationed together?

 

My wife and I did a cruise as our first traveling together...and it was touch and go for a few days. We had very different ideas about what we wanted to do on vacation and we both were pretty frustrated by the mid point of the 7 day cruise. We eventually found our grove and worked out ways that we could both enjoy the vacation. She doesnt expect me to sit by the pool in the sun with her, I don't expect her to go to the casino..etc....but it took some work to get into that happy medium of together vs alone time.

 

For anyone traveling for the first time with their companion, my advice would be to communicate what you want / expect so that you can both have a good time. It is no fun traveling with mr/mrs cranky pants!

 

That is fantastic advice. My husband and I had the same issues on our honeymoon. I'm trying to be sure we're on the same page this time.

 

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