I Wish Someone Had Told Me On My First Carnival Cruise.....

[fsufancc]

Everything about our cruises either gets printed to PDF to start with, or scanned (and the original shredded), so it all lives natively as a folder of electronic files. Right before the cruise I ensure the folder is completely synched to my devices via Google Drive (or Microsoft OneDrive, or Dropbox, etc.) I will also print a small handful of papers, the most important ones, but generally we rely on the electronic copies.

I do the same. CC'rs should look into how Google Drive works if you are not using the service. Makes any document accessible from any place you can get a Wi-Fi or cell signal. Works great and is super easy.

[richstowe]

I wish someone had told me ......

To ignore those warning me about Carnival .

The warnings about the passengers had some merit though ;p

[bUU]

The warnings about the passengers had some merit though ;p

... that they are friendlier, by far, as compared to Royal Caribbean, Holland America, etc.

 

 

This post may have been entered by voice recognition. Please excuse any typographical errors.

[Alaskan Joe]

Not to buy any souvenirs on the ship until the last day, because most things will go on sale.

 

 

Amen

[travelmomof2]

How elegant is elegant nights in the MDR? Or formal, or whatever the going term. My husband plans on a suit, I am trying to decide between a nice dress you'd wear to church/wedding or be a little fun and get something from the 'evening wear' section of Macy's dresses. But I don't want to over dress. ON non formal nights, what is the usual dress?

[teknoge3k]

How elegant is elegant nights in the MDR? Or formal, or whatever the going term. My husband plans on a suit, I am trying to decide between a nice dress you'd wear to church/wedding or be a little fun and get something from the 'evening wear' section of Macy's dresses. But I don't want to over dress. ON non formal nights, what is the usual dress?

 

You will see a mixed bag. On Caribbean cruises you will see more guys wearing shorts & a polo on casual nights, and khakis and a polo on elegant nights. There will still be a handful of people who like to play dress up and will wear a suit or something you wear to church but it seems the majority will be in khakis or nice jeans and a polo shirt.

[travelmomof2]

Good to know...thanks... so a nice long length evening dress (no beads or anything, but nice) would be out of place? I'm the type that likes to blend in easily. Maybe I should just go for a simple black easy to pack dress.

[teknoge3k]

Good to know...thanks... so a nice long length evening dress (no beads or anything, but nice) would be out of place? I'm the type that likes to blend in easily. Maybe I should just go for a simple black easy to pack dress.

 

Honestly no matter what you wear you won't be out of place. There are still some people who dress up.

[Retired_to_Cruise]

I wished I'd know that even if you book an excursion through Carnival they basically dump you off at port an expect you to figure out how to get to where you are going. I still hate that part even though I've been able to figure it out each time. It is stressful not knowing what is going on and if you are in the right place.

 

On all of my Carnival Cruises the ship's Excursion team were on the dock and the port area giving directions when asked. Otherwise, all the excursions people were also there with placards that identified what excursion they were associated with. All I have ever had to do is walk up to them and hold up the tickets that I had. They clearly described how everything would work and where we were to sit until departure time. At departure time they came and got us and led us to the appropriate transportation vehicle and we were off and running. That has always seemed pretty sufficient to make departure a good experience.

[carrieluvsgreg]

What parts? Whenever I looked for rooms it kept asking front mid or back and to me it makes no difference! We did RC last year through my husband's work so we didn't get a choice on room. They booked it, paid for it, and we were happy with what we got because it was FREE! We were on the 5th floor front and it was just fine for us. I can't remember where we are this coming trip. I know 8th floor, I think towards the front. I guess I didn't realize it mattered! Insight please!

 

Lower in the ship, closer to the sea, middle of the ship. Less movement further down.

[SMSACE6]

for me it is not what I wish someone had told me on my first Carnival cruise, but wish someone had told me on my last Carnival cruise that it would likely be my last cruise ever..... I might have appreciated it more, given the issues I had at the time.

 

Was only a year ago, but life has not been kind to me. Not sure when or if I will ever cruise again.

 

Message to all...enjoy every cruise, every vacation like it might be your last...you never know what is coming.

[cruiserbrianj]

I wish I had known to check for price drops, and they would honor them. I didn't learn until my 4th cruise, when I had joined Cruise Critic. This was back in the day of price drops granted up until sailing, not just before final payment.

 

I also wish I had known there are better areas of the ship to book your cabin on, to avoid sea sickness.

 

 

 

Actually I just learned today that even after final payment if you call your PVP they’ll look for a reduced price and give it to you as onboard credit

 

 

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[richstowe]

for me it is not what I wish someone had told me on my first Carnival cruise, but wish someone had told me on my last Carnival cruise that it would likely be my last cruise ever..... I might have appreciated it more, given the issues I had at the time.

 

Was only a year ago, but life has not been kind to me. Not sure when or if I will ever cruise again.

 

Message to all...enjoy every cruise, every vacation like it might be your last...you never know what is coming.

Very true ! Hopefully you will be able to cruise again . I realize that in the scheme of things

this is of lesser importance then other concerns and wish you well .

[jeeperzz]

 

Message to all...enjoy every cruise, every vacation like it might be your last...you never know what is coming.

 

Every day is a blessing!

I hope you get to cruise again.

[Jeal]

Many thanks for suggesting saving my docs to Google Drive - I have never thought to do this.

[Hoot51]

YIKES!!!!!!! So they don't have signs when you get off with buses to know where you are going? Our trip last year we only did one excursion and it was in Labadee Haiti which was so small there was no cars or buses. All was walking distance and you followed the signs. This time around, we have excursions at every stop, we have kids (didn't bring them last year), AND all excursions include a bus ride.......now I'm worried!

 

 

For me personally, I've never had any issues finding my excursion. They have representatives from each excursion waiting when you get off the ship with signs.

[jeeperzz]

Many thanks for suggesting saving my docs to Google Drive - I have never thought to do this.

 

You can also set them to be offline accessible in the drive app, so you can access even when no internet is available

[nycruise3]

GET THEIR PIZZA ON THE LIDO!! It is the best pizza I've ever had and they make it fresh for you.

 

Don't get tricked into buying souvenirs or souvenir drink cups unless necessary.

 

Enjoy every second of the cruise, participate in as much as possible, don't be embarrassed to have fun/do silly things, you will never see these people again, don't be on your phone (you are on vacation), don't worry about school or work

 

Make the best of every situation

[beshears]

I say it is each to their own in what they wear for formal night, as long as they are clean, and respectful looking (not in shorts, T-shirts, etc.) in the "MDR" for formal nights.

 

Now I always like to "dress to the 9's", and don't really care what others do, as that is ME!!:) I am an older lady, but the "many" compliments I get from strangers is worth it to me, just to dress the way I do. This is a different society then years ago, and it takes "time" to dress up, not the casual way most people do now days. I say there is a time to dress down, and a time to dress up!:)

 

P.S. Speaking of where to get a nice dress, etc., at Macy's, etc., well this is what I do, and as I said, I get so many compliments, and the people have no idea, but I go to thrift stores, and there is where I save money on getting nice dresses, or formal gowns. If I wear them one or two times, I have got more than my money's worth out of them. If they are fancy with sequins, etc., I don't take them to the cleaners to get clean, I just put them in a cloth bag with a Woo-lite sheet for about 5 minutes, etc. , and they clean up so nicely, without all that big expense.

[angela12345]

Yes! I just learned this one at Port Canaveral. I was with my husband, plus my parents and aunt & uncle were there. A porter came over, and the rest of our party waved him off, but I said “Yes please!” for mine & my husband’s bags because we did have a lot of stuff. I didn’t even realize if you use a porter you go through a different customs line. Actually, there was no line...I ended up almost walking right past it because I was looking for a line to get in, but instead we walked right up to the desk. Then we got outside and had gotten separated from the rest of our group, and we hadn’t even said our goodbyes to each other. (we were all taking different shuttles from that point). I looked and looked, and had almost given up, when I finally saw the rest of them coming out of the terminal, and I was like “wow, we really got through quickly!”

Great tip ! We're sailing out of Port Canaveral soon ... on Magic ! Would love to sail with you guys again. I see you were just on Magic last year, so we have the right ship, just the wrong dates. ;p

[yaddayaddayadda]

I wish someone had told me I was committing to dedicating my life to earning money to take more cruises :)

[cmukid87]

I wish someone had told me I was committing to dedicating my life to earning money to take more cruises :)

This x1000. I have spent an unhealthy amount of time trying to find ways to make a few extra $....a few extra airline miles...where to find an extra 1% off of gift cards...etc. in order to keep cruising!

[CruzOMA]

Get a Guy’s burger early, you may decide to have one every day.

 

 

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[JenniferC82]

LOVE ALL THE TIPS HERE! I've learned a few things, I'm a researcher and took my first cruise last year, going on our second in just 10 days!!!

 

Here are some things I learned on my last Cruise...

 

*HUB APP - download it to your smart device, it shows the schedule of events each day, you can mark the ones you are interested in and it sends you reminders ahead of time so you don't miss out!

 

*DINNING ROOM SEATING -When you get on ship, check your dining room seating arrangement, you can request the Matre'd to move you, I wanted to sit by the windows to look out during dinner, so we were moved to a nice table by the window.

 

*NAUSEA - I grew up on boats, deep sea fishing and thought, I'll never be sick! WRONG! I was so sick the first night. I asked my doctor for patches, a LIFE SAVER! I was able to enjoy the remainder of the trip!

 

*SEA DAY BRUNCH - don't miss it, best breakfast on board IMO. French toast covered in fruity pebbles, YES PLEASE!

 

*FOR YOUR CABIN - Yeti or other cup to fill up as needed and keep with you, Over door shoe hanger (GREAT for inside the bathroom to keep all your soap and items organized, those bathrooms are smaller than a port-a-john in the regular state rooms) Pop up Hamper Dirty laundry takes over quickly and in a small space... no fun! Power strip for more outlets - there is only 1 outlet in the staterooms and if you want to charge more than one device or have a personal fan with you, you'll need this for sure! Strong Magnetic Hooks - you can buy these are home-depot - GREAT for hanging wet suits and towels.

 

*FOOD:

*Take fruit and cereal boxes back to your room to have on hand when you need a quick snack, depending on room location it's quite a haul to the dinning areas and those snacks saved me on many occasions

*Don't be afraid to try something new at your meals, never tried oysters, order them, you can always order something else if you don't like those! Heck order those and a second appetizer, order 5 if you want! Doesn't cost extra and a great time to explore new food options!

*Do the assigned dinning times and get to know your table mates, a year later and we still keep up with ours on social media! Some are coming to our wedding this summer all the way from Michigan to TN!

*Joke with your waiters and staff, have fun and take pictures with them, they are a blast and honestly the more fun you have with them the better they will take care of you! BE SILLY AND HAVE FUN!

 

*CLOTHES: Pack a pull over or a cardigan, the shows and even dinning can be cool at times!

 

*MOST OF ALL - ENJOY YOUR TIME ON THE SHIP! You will be walking a lot so don't wear shoes you can't walk long distances in. If you can't stand smoke, stay away from the Casino. Enjoy the shows, but get there early for good seating!