What was the best tip someone gave you before your first cruise?

[Crusin Karen]

EVERY SINGLE THING EVERYONE ELSE SAID!!! :D Great advice. Only thing I can add is get strawberry ice cream with your WCMC!!! :eek:;) And ENJOY and CHERISH every single minute. There are many who have not had the great opportunity we have been blessed with to cruise. And remember the future will soon be a thing of the past.

[BigB0882]

The absolute best tip I have ever gotten and wished I had gotten before my first cruise is to come to this very site and message board. Where else on the internet can you find this much information on each and every line and ship and specific rooms? NO WHERE! This site has EVERYTHING you need to have the best cruise ever.

[GUT2407]

Best advice I got?

 

"Don't go they are addictive!"

How right was that?

[kluv2cruz]

I have only been on on cruise so far, but I am DEFINITELY a planner/researcher. I read everything I could about the ship, the ports, the excursions, etc. This is just my personality, really, but I like to be prepared so that I *can* relax once I'm onboard.

 

 

 

I will say this in your defense: because of my planning, I found two AWESOME port excursion recommendations that fulfilled all of our desires (gorgeous, clean, uncrowded beaches; fantastic pools; no children; tropical paradise), and frankly stunned my fellow cruisers (we went with two other couples) into silence. They had no idea these places even existed, and it really made our cruise. If I hadn't done any pre-planning, we maybe would have been lucky, but after hearing other people complain about the very things we were looking to avoid, I feel quite confident that I went the right route with the extensive research.

 

 

 

I suggest you allow yourself some time to indulge- and then give yourself a cut-off date! The last month, allow yourself to relax, knowing that you did some planning and that it's more important that you all have a good time. Over-stressing about details will ruin your vacation in a heartbeat. You'll also ruin the trip of anyone else who has to deal ehwith you in the preceding weeks and months. Plan a little, relax a LOT. Deep, slow breaths. You can do this!

 

 

What ports and what excursions? Sounds great enough to share! I'm the same... Lots of planning, but that's part of the joy of the trip is the dreaming!

[kluv2cruz]

Take a wrist watch.

[NoobCruise]

Be flexible and roll with whatever. Flight delays, lost luggage, rude people are part of traveling. Sometimes ports are skipped or excursions are cancelled. It's part of cruising. Don't let the bumps ruin your trip. If you're doing excursions, have a port map and a back up plan in case it's cancelled (Alaska), then you won't feel blindsided.

[Crusin Karen]

the absolute best tip i have ever gotten and wished i had gotten before my first cruise is to come to this very site and message board. Where else on the internet can you find this much information on each and every line and ship and specific rooms? No where! This site has everything you need to have the best cruise ever.

so true!! ;););)

[NOLAbebe]

What ports and what excursions? Sounds great enough to share! I'm the same... Lots of planning, but that's part of the joy of the trip is the dreaming!

 

 

Hahaha- D*MN IT. I knew I shouldn't have said that. Ok, I'll tell you, but if I go back there and it's overrun with people, I know who to hunt down!

 

We went to the Bahamas with a goal in mind: we do not have children, we have SUPER-stressful jobs, and we saved enough money SPECIFICALLY so we wouldn't have to complain or worry about the cost of ANYTHING. Our goal was a TOTALLY peaceful, luxurious vacation (as much as possible when traveling with thousands of others!) that really showed us the beauty of the Bahamas. Thanks to this board and some other reading (TripAdvisor, etc.), we found two perfect slices of paradise.

 

Before we even WENT, I Google Earth'ed both islands! Lol. No kidding. I did. I looked at all of the hotels we were considering passes to (and beaches without hotels) and looked for the prettiest water with the least amount of seaweed (shows up as dark splotches). I wanted beaches we could swim in that were as picturesque as possible, because I have been dreaming of the Bahamas for as long as I can remember.

 

We traveled in late September- school is in, so less kiddos around. Our cruise went to Nassau and Freeport in the Bahamas. The first Bahamian port was Freeport, and we took a taxi at the port to the Grand Lucayan resort (http://www.grandlucayan.com/). We had been told ahead of time to tell the taxi driver we were going to the Port Lucaya marketplace, and to NOT mention the hotel, because they will try to convince you to go somewhere they get a kick-back. You have to walk through a casino to get to the hotel by the beach. At the hotel security gate, you can purchase a day pass for about $15pp. Seriously. That's it. They have a gorgeous, huge infinity pool facing the beach. They have a long stretch of white sand beach that is so crystal-turqouoise that it made me hold my breath. They have chairs and umbrellas at both the pool and on the beach. You can use their bathroom facilities and changing area. I don't remember if there were lockers- we just kept our things with us. They have a bar there for drinks (weak but fruity!) for an additional charge. Hardly anyone on the beach all morning. NO ONE in the pool all morning. I could have died of joy. We swam and floated and we all refused to get out of the water pretty much until it was time to force ourselves to eat. Directly across the street is the Port Lucaya marketplace, with shops and restaurants. We walked over there and found some VERY overpriced shops (we bought nothing) and some generic restaurants (we like 'local' food) and ended up eating at Zorba Greek restaurant, which, oddly enough, had some yummy whole fish and peas and rice on the menu, which we enjoyed immensely. The service there was excellent and the a/c was coldcoldcold. We walked back across the street and caught a taxi back to the port with plenty of time to walk around and shop right there on the dock. All in all, you could bring children to this beach and hotel, but the day we went, there were NONE, and hardly any adults, and we reeeeeeeeeeeeally felt like we were on vacation (unlike other beaches/passes, where people complained that EVERYone and their grandmother went there because it was cheap, Carnival-approved, or close to the ship, and they all complained that the crowds were awful or people were pushy trying to sell things, etc.).

 

Stop #2 was in Nassau. Again, we took a taxi from the port, but this time it was a little different. Nassau was BUSY as Hell, very bustling, felt a little more dangerous. Our bus driver was SUPER BLUNT and hurried us along on a walk through the city to his bus, which for some reason was parked a couple of blocks away. The walk to the taxi was a little nerve-wracking because of the people and automobile activity. I lost interest in 'wandering' around after that walk! We took the bus with a bunch of other cruisers, but we were the only ones let off at the Sandals Royal Bahamian. O. M. G. This place is STUNNING. And expensive as all get-out. It was $150pp for a day pass, all-inclusive, but let me tell you, we L O V E D this place!!!! All adults. No children allowed. We are going back to stay at the resort for my birthday and I can't tell you how STOKED I AM!!!! Nothing... nothing... nothing can prepare you for how gorgeous this resort is, from the moment you are dropped off at the curb. We had to walk up a long, lush, tropical driveway full of exotic flowers and plants and towering Roman-esque statues. Every building is stunning. All the landscaping is stunning. My mouth was hanging open like a complete hick. The pool is H U G E, I mean HUGE, and there are multiple jacuzzis and water features and places to lay and lounge both in the shade and out. Towels are included, and they are big and soft and fluffy. The beach isn't huge, but the white sand is perfect. There are wooden, padded loungers under Tiki umbrellas lining one half of the beach, and some full beach beds with covered shade if you are so inclined. The water is clear and perfect for as far as you can see. Meals and drinks are included, and so is THE PRIVATE ISLAND. So, get THIS, y'all. Carnival advertises a private island excursion- it is the SAME ISLAND owned by Sandals, who rents a portion to Carnival. However, the difference is, Carnival crams hundreds of people onto this TEENY stretch of beach and blares loud music. The entire rest of the island is all Sandals, including the TOTALLY EMPTY side away from the resort, where you can look at least 180 degrees and see pretty much only gorgeous water (and Atlantis wayyyy off in the distance). Hubby and I had the beach TO OURSELVES. It was like Blue Lagoon up in there. They have massage tables on the tippy-end of the island if you want to do that, and a pool and restaurant/bar on the island as well. We lounged and swam and laughed at the poor Carnival people on the other side, who were herded off their boat like cattle. I mean, I get that not everyone can afford that kind of day pass, but to us??? Totally worth every single penny in exchange for a mind-blowing day in utter paradise. We and another couple went and just felt like MOVIE STARS. I almost cried when we left.

 

So there. You pried it out of me. If anyone goes to Sandals and hates it, please message me and tell me why! It is REALLY expensive (like, thousands of dollars) to stay there, and I'd like to have my bubble burst before my birthday rolls around so I can get my money back. :D

Edited March 14, 2015 by NOLAbebe

[Crusin Karen]

NOLAbebe, in the interest of space, I am not going to quote your post, but what GREAT INFORMATION. We have been to Nassau dozens of times and Freeport quite a few also. AGES AGO (it seems lol) we did a beach day there (Nassau) Now I can't remember the name of the beach. :confused::confused: but we got there by water taxi. Another time we just wandered around Atlantis which you can't do too much of anymore because they charge an entrance fee for just about everything now. :( Now, we just get off, go to my favorite grocery store and replenish "supplies for our cabin." Otherwise, it's another sea day for us. Same with Freeport. We will be cruising to BOTH places again in May on one of our Pride B2B cruises and I think it's going to be a whole new ballgame! :p We will definitely look into the Freeport beach. Don't think we can afford Sandals in Nassau, tho. Do you know if it's possible to just drive by and see the place?

Thanks for posting this and have a GREAT TIME on your birthday getaway! :D

[NOLAbebe]

Karen,

 

I hope you love it! We fell in love with the Bahamas and can't imagine doing it any other way. I want to say the taxi ride was about 30 minutes once we took off, so be sure to allow time to get back to the ship! Getting a taxi to the hotel was no problem at all. Getting one back took about ten minutes of waiting, plus the ride, and they drop you off right close to the boat there on the Freeport dock.

 

Unfortunately, I don't think you can see the Sandals resort without getting the pass. It is set WAY back in the jungle-like foliage, and to get to the pool area, we had to go through two small courtyards and a Great House building, so I don't think you can see it because you will hit the security post long before you get to that Great House. If you get the Carnival private island exursion, and you bring binoculars, you can see the back of the resort that way...but I wouldn't recommend it. When you see how pretty it is and how deserted the beach is, you might be overcome with passion and decide to swim your way over. Better not even look. ;)

 

Truly, though- let me know how your time in Freeport is! I will stop recommending this the minute someone else has something to add to it, but we had the most beautiful two days, so I HOPE it's as good for everyone else as it was for us. You can see the Grand Lucayan pool all over TripAdvisor, on Google Earth, and on their own web site. It really is very, VERY nice. For $15 plus a cab ride. Not a bad deal at all. If I had a complaint (and I use that word loosely), it would be that my Mai Tai was fruit punch. Lol. I gave zero craps about that, I assure you. The rest was divine.

[cb at sea]

My biggest tip would be to read the tips then IGNORE the tips! It's your vacation...do it YOUR way! I find that the more info you give others, the less fun they have discovering stuff on their own.

Edited March 14, 2015 by cb at sea

[Crusin Karen]

Karen,

 

I hope you love it! We fell in love with the Bahamas and can't imagine doing it any other way. I want to say the taxi ride was about 30 minutes once we took off, so be sure to allow time to get back to the ship! Getting a taxi to the hotel was no problem at all. Getting one back took about ten minutes of waiting, plus the ride, and they drop you off right close to the boat there on the Freeport dock.

 

Unfortunately, I don't think you can see the Sandals resort without getting the pass. It is set WAY back in the jungle-like foliage, and to get to the pool area, we had to go through two small courtyards and a Great House building, so I don't think you can see it because you will hit the security post long before you get to that Great House. If you get the Carnival private island exursion, and you bring binoculars, you can see the back of the resort that way...but I wouldn't recommend it. When you see how pretty it is and how deserted the beach is, you might be overcome with passion and decide to swim your way over. Better not even look. ;)

 

Truly, though- let me know how your time in Freeport is! I will stop recommending this the minute someone else has something to add to it, but we had the most beautiful two days, so I HOPE it's as good for everyone else as it was for us. You can see the Grand Lucayan pool all over TripAdvisor, on Google Earth, and on their own web site. It really is very, VERY nice. For $15 plus a cab ride. Not a bad deal at all. If I had a complaint (and I use that word loosely), it would be that my Mai Tai was fruit punch. Lol. I gave zero craps about that, I assure you. The rest was divine.

Thanks for the additional information! I went to the web site for Sandals in Nassau. HOLY MOLY! What a beautiful place! ENJOY! :D

[Honolulu Blue]

The best tip I got was to put the suitcases under the bed when unpacked. It would not have occurred to me to do that had I not heard it.

[RikkuCat]

My biggest tip would be to read the tips then IGNORE the tips! It's your vacation...do it YOUR way! I find that the more info you give others, the less fun they have discovering stuff on their own.

 

This is great advice - I agree 100%.

 

Don't go crazy packing stuff just because someone on here says it'll come in handy. You know yourselves and a cruise won't make you different people - so pack what makes sense for YOU and ignore the rest of the recommendations. I suspect you'd need at least one extra suitcase if you packed everything on the packing lists posted here. ;)

 

Don't feel like you need to do everything that is offered - or anything at all. I had a funny epiphany on our first cruise. I had done a lot of research here and people had talked a lot about shows and activities and how you won't have time to do all the great stuff offered. First sea day of our cruise, I dutifully reviewed the daily and highlighted a bunch of stuff...only to take a second look at what I had highlighted and think "Why did I highlight all of this? I don't want to spend an hour decorating cupcakes, I don't really care how they make towel animals, and the show tonight doesn't sound like its our speed." Maybe you're just not a show/activity person - we're not. We like to relax and do our own thing - and that's fine, as is going to shows and activities. Do what makes you happy, not what sounded like fun when you read someone else's cruise review.

[donaldsc]

Don't worry about it. Relax. Also, you can't see all of London (or whatever city) in one day so do not try.

 

Actually, I did not have to have anyone tell me these things. The are totally obvious although some CC posters do not seem to get them.

 

DON

[MrsPete]

I don't know that anyone passed these tips on to me before our first cruise, but these are the biggies:

 

- Never travel the day of your cruise. Arriving a day ahead gives you a buffer in case of travel delays or other unforseeable problems. It also means you can sleep in (if you're able!) the morning of your cruise, eat a good breakfast and board well-rested and relaxed. If you can't arrive at least the night before, then the cruise doesn't fit into your schedule.

 

- Pack no more than you can fit into one bag. A whole lot of stuff will fit into one medium-sized bag -- in fact, more than you need! Your room will be small, and too much "stuff" will be a hinderance for the whole cruise. Packing small means that you don't have to check your luggage (if you're flying), and it means that your last night isn't wasted re-packing to go home.

 

- Never use the ship's excursions. The ship's excursions are more expensive, but that's not the real reason to go with the private excursions: Private tours are smaller, and you get more choice in what you do. You will not be late getting back to the ship -- tour guides wouldn't stay in business if they didn't keep to the schedule.

I have only been on on cruise so far, but I am DEFINITELY a planner/researcher. I read everything I could about the ship, the ports, the excursions, etc. This is just my personality, really, but I like to be prepared so that I *can* relax once I'm onboard.

 

I will say this in your defense: because of my planning, I found two AWESOME port excursion recommendations that fulfilled all of our desires (gorgeous, clean, uncrowded beaches; fantastic pools; no children; tropical paradise), and frankly stunned my fellow cruisers (we went with two other couples) into silence. They had no idea these places even existed, and it really made our cruise. If I hadn't done any pre-planning, we maybe would have been lucky, but after hearing other people complain about the very things we were looking to avoid, I feel quite confident that I went the right route with the extensive research.

Are we sisters separated at birth? If so, I've produced two nieces for you who think exactly the same way. The three of us consider this behavior to be efficient, and a way of getting the best value for the money and the most enjoyment from the trip.

Bring a small first aid kit and any over the counter medications you may need for cold, fever, and upset tummy. Just in case.

 

These items are kind of expensive if you have to buy them in the shop on board.

Good advice. I re-pack meds into a SMTuWThFSa daily medicine organizer, and I write on it with a fine-point Sharpie: Sinus 2 every 4 ... ExStAleve 2 every 8 ... and so forth. Makes it smaller.

 

However, if you forget something, some ships have a vending machine down by the medical office, which sells one-dose packs for .50 or $1. I'd rather not count on them, but if you're in a pinch ...

The best tip I got was to put the suitcases under the bed when unpacked. It would not have occurred to me to do that had I not heard it.

We put our suitcase in the bottom of the closet and use it as a hamper. At the end of the week, we zip it up, and packing is DONE.

[Lerin]

lol A person I don't think highly of told me it would be terrible and proceeded to list all the things that would go wrong. I went determined to have a good time just to spite her!:D

[Crusin Karen]

I was TERRIFIED before we went on our lst cruise. It was a PBA chartered cruise on Horizon. DH was President of the PBA and he HAD to go, so I reluctantly packed my bags all the time wondering how the heck something that big could FLOAT. My mother said, don't worry, just be thankful you are not going to be on an airplane and wonder how you stay up in the air. :eek: Well, as luck would have it the ship floated :p I fell in love with cruising and the rest is history. So just jump in and do what you gotta do! :rolleyes:

[kluv2cruz]

Thx NOLAbebe. Did you prebook your day passes?

[NOLAbebe]

No, neither location allowed us to pre-book. I confirmed availability via email (which I printed and brought just in case), just before we left for the trip. :)

[Crusin Karen]

NOLAbebe, just figured out that we will only be in Freeport from 7-1:30, so I think going to Grand Lucaya is out of the question. Murphy's Law: all the times we went there and were docked for a full day and sat on the ship because there was "nothing to do" in the port, and now that I've found something we have only 1/2 day there! :(:( Oh, well, maybe next time! Thanks for all the advice and have a great birthday at Sandals. ;)

[adivineeternity]

In regards to my hair, which isn't tameable, anyway: just don't. The wind and humidity will ruin anything you try to do.

 

So I kept it in a ponytail or bun basically the entire time we were gone, and half-ponytails the rest. Washed and conditioned it almost daily, put in some curl cream, and called it a day.

[breeze123]

In regards to my hair, which isn't tameable, anyway: just don't. The wind and humidity will ruin anything you try to do.

 

 

Yes. This. Absolutely!

 

Also, I was told to sign up for CC before my first cruise. You still have to weed through some of the suggestions (if I packed everything suggested I would need another suitcase!) but the best idea was a power strip.

[cebee123]

Cruise ships have things VERY well organized. Trust me... It seems overwhelming when you are planning... but they have things very clear, you wont mess up! I fretted about everything, but they are used to first time cruisers. Really!

 

Yes excursions that are NOT thru the cruise ship are cheaper. But if you are like me and a worrier... knowing the ship wont leave without you is worth the extra.

 

I used the little battery tea light in the bathroom as a night light ( no plug in there) Was the perfect amount of light.

 

You can get as many shrimp cocktails as you want in the MDR. Same as desserts etc.

 

If you have a lounge chair by the pool and are ready to leave... offer the chairs to the poor people who have been circling for half an hour trying to find an open chair - People toss towels on chairs... and leave. So if you are leaving for the day... take your towels with you... and offer the chairs to others!

 

I will never again cruise in an indoor cabin... loved my window!!!

 

Just because you ate in the MDR does not mean you cant go to the buffet later...

 

Find 'your' spot on the ship- someplace you can escape to when you need a quiet spot. Mine was the muster deck ( no one was ever there - it was quiet and a great place to read) and ( On Vision of the Seas) the Solarium in the evening.

[MNCruizer1]

Yes. This. Absolutely!

 

Also, I was told to sign up for CC before my first cruise. You still have to weed through some of the suggestions (if I packed everything suggested I would need another suitcase!) but the best idea was a power strip.

 

What is CC?

 

Thank you