Where any of you aprehensive about your first cruise?

[coka]

Looking forward to the cruise is part of the fun! Let us know if you have more questions.

 

coka

[tiggerfan616]

I will probably get flamed for this, but I always worry when first time cruisers find CC before their cruise. Sometimes it gets things in their minds that they should expect, etc. I have read more than once where people found this board after their first cruise and said thank god, because on their first cruise they didn't know what should or should not be.[/quote

No flames Terry. I remember finding CC last year b4 our 1st cruise and I admit there was alot of info positive and negative. I used a philosopy a teacher had once told me-"believe about 10% of what your child tells me about you because i believe about 10% of what he tells me about you"

Also my other rule to live by both on and off cruises is I treat people exactly how I like to be treated. If all else fails a not so great cruise(noticed I didnt say bad)is better then a good day at work

 

On a seperate note thanks to all my CC friends for the prayers and wishes before my surgery today. It went well and I am home recovering and hope to be back on my feet in the next few days

[terrymtex01]

Oh Jason, I hope someone else can answer that question! I have never had motion sickness. I know there are sea bands you can wear on your wrists, or a patch you wear behind your ears, or a tablet you take orally. If you take a tablet, get the non-drowsy kind. If you consume alcohol, make sure the tablet can be taken with it. I think also you have to do all this before the motion sickness comes on...or if you think you feel it coming on!

 

Anyone else help with this?

 

coka

 

My DDP gets seasick at least once on each cruise. ON RARE occasion I will feel it a tiny bit. He has to take the pills to get over his. He takes the ones that make you sleepy, but he has found if he takes 1/2 a dose in the morning and 1/2 dose in the afternoon or evening it will keep the seasickness at bay (pun intended). For me, sparkling water usually does the trick.

 

On my first cruise I was with a large group of people from work. A friend of mine brought her BF and bless his heart, was seasick before we ever cast off. He took pills, but all they did was knock him out. The second he woke up, right back to being sick. After a few days of this word got out to our group and someone had brought one of those wrist bands and said he could try it to see if it helped. Within five minutes of putting it on he was over his seasickness. As long as he wore it, he was ok. I honestly don't know if I believe in the pressure point deal, but I have to say, I saw with my own eyes when he went from green back to his normal color. 8-)

[mactrio]

We're going on our 1st cruise in Feb, and while I am anxious, nervous and excited, we're the type to go with the flow unless it is an extremely bad situation. I'm expecting to love some of the food and only like others and totally dislike other items, it's always a persons own taste as to whether food is good or not. Although some food is bad no matter what; but I'm sure I will find something to like.

I'm expecting a clean room and a small balcony, I'm expecting crowded pools and a quiet library, I'm expecting to 'lose' a few dollars in the casino (like usual lol) I'm expecting to meet a bunch of nice friendly people and perhaps a know it all or a busy body thrown in, I'm expecting my child to have the time of his life playing with other kids and learning his way around the play areas.

I expect to RELAX and enjoy myself and take what gets tossed our way.

I hope I won't be disappointed. :)

[ute_fan]

We're going on our 1st cruise in Feb, and while I am anxious, nervous and excited, we're the type to go with the flow unless it is an extremely bad situation. I'm expecting to love some of the food and only like others and totally dislike other items, it's always a persons own taste as to whether food is good or not. Although some food is bad no matter what; but I'm sure I will find something to like.

I'm expecting a clean room and a small balcony, I'm expecting crowded pools and a quiet library, I'm expecting to 'lose' a few dollars in the casino (like usual lol) I'm expecting to meet a bunch of nice friendly people and perhaps a know it all or a busy body thrown in, I'm expecting my child to have the time of his life playing with other kids and learning his way around the play areas.

I expect to RELAX and enjoy myself and take what gets tossed our way.

I hope I won't be disappointed. :)

 

It sounds like you've already packed the most important thing for any cruise -- a good attitude :D. Have a wonderful 1st cruise.

[Xwordgal]

Hi,

 

Where any of you apprehensive about your first cruise? We are really looking forward to going and we know that were going to have a great time and all, but with this being our first cruise this is unfamiliar territory to us.

Absolutely! My husband was sure that he'd be claustrophobic, would have panic attacks, be bored out of his mind, want to jump overboard. To show his openmindedness, he suggested that we book Norwegian 7-day Hawaii trip (2003). After that trip, he has become a devoted cruiser, and we're now on our 4th & 5th cruise, each time increasing the amount of days. We'll be on Oceania in May 2009 for 18 days, and in July 2009 on Paul Gaughin to Tahiti for 12 (a short one in comparison). You'll love it, and will probably become addicted.

[mactrio]

It sounds like you've already packed the most important thing for any cruise -- a good attitude :D. Have a wonderful 1st cruise.

 

Thanks; I wish everyone was like that. A close friend of ours plans every second of every day when they are on vacation and he never stops to smell the roses. Time schedules are his life. We once went on a 3 day trip with them and I promised myself & my hubby that we would never do it again. He is way too stressed and high strung and complains about everything. :eek:

[taxtammy]

We are going on our first ever cruise as well so I completely understand about feeling apprehensive. Don't get me wrong I am so excited I can hardly contain myself and I just know that it will be great. I do worry about everything though, I read ALL the reviews and had myself so freaked out for a little while that I almost cancelled, just do what I am going to do, remember that you are on VACATION, relax,take it all in and try to remember that no problem is big enough to let it spoil your time away! What is proper cruise etticate......I think it is just having a GREAT TIME, have a great cruise

[mypleasure]

I was very apprehensive about cruising. My prior knowledge came from a work colleague who cruised and her mother who always seemed to be cruising. The mother did the round the world 90 day on P&O Oceana 3 years running. From what I heard about those trips I vowed never to cruise, ever! Very formal, stuffy, loaded with wealthy toffs - not my kind of thing at all.

 

I don't know why to this day but when we were thinking of our holiday for 2008 I thought of Alaska. Given that we usually go to SE Asia - Thailand, Bali, Singapore, Malaysia, Hong kong sort of places, this was a massive departure from the norm! I also have a reputation for looking at any boat and feeling sick. We did a wonderful excursion in Sri Lanka involving a glass bottomed boat on which we had to head back to shore after 10 minutes because I was violently ill! In Greece I was ill on a ferry between two islands an fell asleep. When I woke my head was in my husbands lap and my body and legs were across the laps of 3 elderly greek gentlemen who were holding me in place less I fell off the bench seat to the floor!

 

Firstly I quizzed a friend who was previously an officer in the Royal Navy. He told me he never got sick but gave me some tips on looking at the horizon and stuff like that. He told me that the middle of ships moved less and to try to ensure I hung around there.Two days later he came back to me and said get cimetidine from the pharmacy as this is what Navy doctors give to the sea sick sailors. This reassured me enough to seriously start looking at taking a cruise. Thank You Gordon Steadman!

 

At this point I was still very scared of what it would be like so I turned to the internet and found cruise critic. I was so glad that I did. I read lots of reviews and started looking on the boards too. I decided early on that some of the lines didn't really appeal to me and then I discovered NCL. Right away I knew that the relaxed attitude, eat when you like with who you like would suit us just fine. I also realised that my husband would hate dressing in a suit for dinner and that as I don't even own a dress this was the line for us. We booked Norwegian Star to alaska.

Now I am a bit of a control freak so I spent hours poring over deck plans so that I knew the ship layout. I researched the ports and excusions. I read up on the various restaurants and so forth. This all gave me confidence that I knew what I was doing and that it would all be fine.

I think having that confidence was the most important thing for me, I knew I would be comfortable within myself on the trip and not feel out of place. Friends thought I was mad. They told me that this would not suit me, that it would be regimented, that I would get bored with nothing to do all day. They were amazed when I came home and told them that this was the best trip we had ever done and that we would be cruising and with NCL again in 2009.

Were my expectations raised from the research? No I don't think so. I got the holiday I wanted and loved every moment.

 

Jean

[Greymeowsr]

We were more apprehensive about making connections than about the cruise. We brought along non-drowsy dramamine just in case, but didn't find motion to be an issue except once or twice in the theater at the bow of the ship. We broght the dramamine home unopened. Actually, the Caribbean is generally much calmer than the Atlantic. Folks going to Bermuda sometimes get pretty rough rides (as you can see in the posts on CC).

 

We did pick a smaller ship for our first cruise and had a FANTASTIC time. This time we decided to try the larger ship and we'll see how we like it. My guess is it will be FANTASTIC as well.

[VonChap]

Oh Jason, I hope someone else can answer that question! I have never had motion sickness. I know there are sea bands you can wear on your wrists, or a patch you wear behind your ears, or a tablet you take orally. If you take a tablet, get the non-drowsy kind. If you consume alcohol, make sure the tablet can be taken with it. I think also you have to do all this before the motion sickness comes on...or if you think you feel it coming on!

 

Anyone else help with this?

 

coka

 

I get extreamly sick with motion sickness. I use a product called Relief Band. It is NOT just the cloth band around your wrist, but a band that looks like a watch with a battery. It puts a pulse on your wrist. It works very well. It is expensive at around $80 on-line, but I will not cruise without the band now. One negative is that you can feel the pulse in the palm of your hand if you have to turn up the "volume" on the band. It works immediately. So, I keep it in my pocket and only put it on if I begin to feel ill.

 

Have a great cruise!:)

[BonnieVA]

Where any of you apprehensive about your first cruise?

 

I was quite nervous about the whole thing ... sea motion, boredom, sinking (!!), etc, etc. That was in June. I'm now addicted!

[ecclectic-eccentric]

I, too, had second thoughts after booking our first cruise. I hadn't done my homework and jumped on a "great deal". Not long after that, I discoverd CC and some of the negative posts about NCL, and especially some of the posts about the Sky on her first few sailings after dry dock really rattled me. I had more or less forced Hubby to join me on a cruise, and I was really worried that I had chosen poorly. As it turns out, we had an absolutely FABULOUS time! So I would suggest take the overly negative posts with a grain of salt. Sure, there were a few little things that weren't just perfect, but nothing that diminished our enjoyment at all (except maybe the bar tab...:eek:...lol).

 

We almost couldn't tell that we were on a ship, but took ginger capsules daily, just in case, and took non-drowsy Drammamine along, as well, which was never even opened.

 

Have a great time! I'll bet you'll be booked right back on another before you know it, just like us. It really is an addiction!!

 

ee

[raudacruise]

I get extreamly sick with motion sickness. I use a product called Relief Band. It is NOT just the cloth band around your wrist, but a band that looks like a watch with a battery. It puts a pulse on your wrist. It works very well. It is expensive at around $80 on-line, but I will not cruise without the band now. One negative is that you can feel the pulse in the palm of your hand if you have to turn up the "volume" on the band. It works immediately. So, I keep it in my pocket and only put it on if I begin to feel ill.

 

Have a great cruise!:)

 

MaryBeth seconds the motion for the relief band. It also helps with air sickness.

[retired rascal]

in a word, yes. everything is a bit intimidating the first time. our fear was not liking it and being stuck out in the ocean for 14 days. no worries. we decided before we ever left to 'go with the flow.' we knew there might be 'hitches' and decided we could enjoy ourselves in any situation. good thing. there was a problem at embarkation....NOT ncl's fault....problem with customs clearing the ship from prior cruise. it was hot and we were tired and it was uncomfortable....but we made friends and talked with an ncl staffer in miami who was just 'guarding' and got lots of fun and useful info....and it was over and the rest was a breeze. got mixed up on the pearl...which was bow direction [the fish on the rugs swim to the front]...and a few more things. did a complete sweep on day 1 and found spots we thought we'd like. the spa was to die for and we 'joined' for the entire cruise. we loved our minisuite. we loved the excursions. we loved it all. still think alot of it depends on whether you go to find fault or go to find joy.

[flashdog_1]

For my first cruise in 1968 I didn't have time to worry about anything. We were unable to get a decent priced flight to England, so found a Greek freighter that was still taking passengers. We got on a train to NY, stayed with friends overnight, and they took us to the pier the next day! Seasickness never entered my mind! But it was a rough crossing. Had to stay in the bunk with pillows on both sides in order to stay still and try to look out the porthole for the horizon.

Then when I lived in ST Thomas for 7 years I saw all the ships come in every day, and even got to board a few. So exciting!

We did not take an actual cruise ship until 2004, and it was very different from the Greek freighter. So stable! But I did find cruisecritic.com 7 months before our sailing date, and learned so much. I planned carefully and matched the cruise line with what I wanted, and it really was a perfect match. I felt that without CC I would have missed a whole lot of good experiences. Thank you cruise critics!