Things I've Learned

[GlendaleCruiser]

Glendale Cruiser’s Tips on Cruising:

 

 

Sail and Sign: You will be asked for a charge card number and it will be assigned to your “Sail and Sign” card. Cash is rarely used on board ship (casino). For everything you buy on board, they will ask for your card. Half way through the voyage you should receive a statement just so you can check veracity and make corrections. You can ask for that at the purser’s desk (information desk) at any time. You will automatically be charged for a room tip at the going rate, but you can lower it or raise it by seeing the purser. This card is also your room key.

 

(Exception on Celebrity: Tips are paid in cash in envelopes and given in person to steward, waiter, etc. Additional tips can be given on top of the automatic ones by envelope on most lines)

 

Bring something (like Mardi Gras beads) to hang on your door handle or sign. It makes it easier to find your room in a long hallway.

Bring an extension cord to plug in your camera charger, cell phone charge (for when you are almost home), your curling iron, and hair dryer. There is only one plug at the cabin vanity and my cell phone charger would not plug in there from being blocked top (mirror frame) and bottom (vanity top).

 

Insurance: This is an option and I took it when we paid $1000 + for a cruise. Only covers you if you break and leg or something catastrophic happens and can’t go—not if you miss your plane connection. It costs around $50--100 per person (depending on age) for a 7 day cruise, so expect to pay more for a cruise twice that long.

 

Sea Legs: You will feel the ship movement, but except for the occasional “whoa” stagger, it shouldn’t be a problem. If you get a headache the first day, it might be motion sickness. Take something for headache. It goes away in a day. If you feel queasy, there is an infirmary on board and a doctor. They will give you Dramamine (but they may charge you for it). Might want to buy some patches or ginger gum just in case. You will actually experience the same sea legs thing when you get on dry land (you will feel that you are still on the boat).

 

Dressing for Dinner: Depends on the cruise line. Celebrity is more formal than Carnival and Princess.

 

Carnival: Clothes you would wear to church all the way up to long gowns. Nice slacks are fine. Tuxedoes and military dress uniforms are spiffy.

 

Celebrity: Three dress dinners on a 12 day cruise, so expect to have FOUR in 14 days. For men: Tuxedoes or DARK suits. Women: After-5 cocktail dresses, street or tea or floor length.

 

I suggest a black dress that can be dressed up with different scarves, jackets or pashminas and worn more than once.

 

On other nights, depending upon the cruise line, you can wear jeans and other casual clothes.

 

Other clothes to take: Layers. The cruise line should be able to tell you what the average temps are during the trip. Bathing suits for pool and hot tubs. There are several of each on every ship—inside and out. Good walking shoes for excursions. A hat or visor. Pack big suitcases loosely—leave rooms for souvenirs. They will fit under the beds easily when you are in the stateroom.

 

Laundry: Dry cleaning and laundry can be done on board. Take at least an outfit a day plus an extra, plus nice outfits for dress up night, if you don’t want to do laundry. Balance how much you want to pack against how much you want to launder/dry clean. Carnival has a laundry room on board but some ships don’t. Some days will be hot and sweaty on excursions and you may want to change for dinner and later.

 

Dinner: Get the early seating if you normally eat early. You will eat around 5:30-6:00 and then see the shows after that. Otherwise, you don’t eat until around 8:00 pm and you see the show after. Sometimes they will have an early show before the late dinner, but not always. Your waiter and busboy (waiter in training) will hopefully be very entertaining. They depend upon your tips and your comments, which add to their promotions and raises.

 

Room service is included in the cruise and is usually 24 hours or late hours, but tipping is not, so plan on tipping them in cash. Always try the BLT on Carnival!

 

Other food: When/if you don’t want to dress for dinner or eat in the dining room, you can go to the open deck seating for hot dogs/hamburgers and lots of other offerings. Carnival has a whole big buffet style dining room on the Lido deck, and some ships have specialty lines, like sushi. There may be a pizza kitchen on board, too. Princess has a great one.

 

Pictures: They will take pictures every time you turn around. LET THEM—SMILE PRETTY! There is a photo gallery on board and if you like the pictures, you can buy them rather cheaply (compared to a sitting at a studio on land). If you don’t like them, discard them or ignore them and they will go in the trash. On formal night, there will be MANY backgrounds set up around the ship. Get your picture taken at ALL OF THEM. Then pick the best and buy—no charge to discard the rest.

 

Excursions: You will get a list of the excursions from the cruise line before you go on board. If they are not sold out, you can buy them when you get on the ship. You can access their website and see what the excursions are and book them before the cruise when you get your confirmation number. They can range from $20-$30 each for a city tour, all the way up to $350 each for a helicopter ride, with everything from snorkeling to hiking. Balance your sightseeing. Don’t plan too many things in one day. Once you are comfortable with that, you might book your own excursions outside of the cruise line.

 

Bingo: They give away some high dollars, like $500--$1,000, but they will charge $20 for the triple ticket for one game, so it can add up.

 

Casino: Just like Vegas—takes your money and doesn’t give it back.

 

Cabin Steward: Your cabin steward will make up your room twice a day or MORE. You will come back in the mid-morning or afternoon and it’s all cleaned up and the beds made. While you are at dinner, he will turn down your bed and put a chocolate on your pillow.

 

Tipping: There is an automatic charge 15% on “bar” orders—alcohol or soda pop. These are the “automatic” tips that will be charged to your card if you don’t change it at the purser’s office.

 

The cruiseline websites will show you what they consider “recommended tipping” and this is the amount that will be added to your bill unless you make changes.

 

Things that cost extra (besides excursions and tipping):

Soda pop and bottled water (anything that is brought on in its own container will cost. You may want to pack a few six packs of your favorite soda pop in your luggage. It’s heavy going on, but leaves room for souvenirs coming back. Alcohol, too, is always extra. Gift shop, clothing shop, beauty shop and spa, bingo, pictures, and some other ship activities.

 

Free stuff: Besides the food, there are things like ice carving demos, ship galley tours, dance lessons, aerobics on the Lido, etc. Since 9/11, they no longer allow tours of the bridge. You should see Orcas, flying fish, dolphins, and maybe larger whales migrating.

 

Have fun and enjoy your cruise—YOU’RE ON VACATION!

[linkerbink]

This is a good summary of the pertinent points of cruising. I'm sure many first-timers will find this information very helpful.

 

One thing...tips on Royal Caribbean can be paid either in cash in envelopes or through the automatic system.

[Footloose57]

Thanks for this post, Glendale- it has a lot of good information. I'm curious, however, about the tipping on Celebrity because in our pre-trip information it states that a 15% gratuity is automatically charged to your account.

Maybe I'm misunderstanding something??

[cb at sea]

On almost every cruiseline, they will add 15% tip to any drink purchase, whether it's alcohol or soda.... that's done "automatically" when you buy a drink!

Yes, you misunderstood.

[Sea Hag]

I no longer consider cruise insurance to be "optional" after somebody here pointed out what it would cost to be emergency helicoptered off a ship in case of sudden illness or accident. Or anything else like that. Now I think of cruise insurance as "mandatory."

[blindrid]

I no longer consider cruise insurance to be "optional" after somebody here pointed out what it would cost to be emergency helicoptered off a ship in case of sudden illness or accident. Or anything else like that. Now I think of cruise insurance as "mandatory."

 

I agree. Or we look at it as a cost of the cruise.

 

Some of the tips are questionable but overall good for a beginner i.e. Insurance covers a lot more than trip cancellation so for a beginner I would refer them to http://www.tripinsurancestore.com/ as Steve will answer newbie questions as he did for me years back.

 

My take on dinner times is you try to book on lines that employ some kind of freestyle, anytime etc. Some people prefer established dinner times but we hate them as we prefer no schedule when we're ona cruise, if possible.

 

But I totally agree with the last sentence - Enjoy your cruise.

[Chopola]

This post is very helpful, thank you for taking the time to school us newbies :)

[panamaline]

This is a super summary that will be useful to many if not all new cruisers.

 

I agree with the respone that travel insurance is not really an option. My wife and I are recently 60 and have had to use the insurance once a few years ago just a few weeks before sailing. We would have been really lost without it.

 

There is a recently published book entitled "The Perfect Vacation" that tells about one family's cruise experiences and has a lot of similar advice and information. It's a funny and easy to read book that might be worth a look by any new cruisers also.

[JanineM]

Thanks for this post, Glendale- it has a lot of good information. I'm curious, however, about the tipping on Celebrity because in our pre-trip information it states that a 15% gratuity is automatically charged to your account.

Maybe I'm misunderstanding something??

 

You don't have to tip cash for anything on Celebrity. For your regular gratuities (stateroom attendant, assistant stateroom attendant, waiter, assistant waiter, assistant maitre d') they give you the option of charging it to your account & handing out vouchers, or tipping in cash at the end of the cruise. Of course there is always 15% added to all beverages.

 

Just a couple of other updates to this good list for Royal Caribbean & Celebrity:

 

ROOM SERVICE: Royal Caribbean is now charging a surcharge for late night (i.e., middle of the night) room service. Celebrity may be charging this too. Both have limited room service menus.

 

BINGO cards are $35 on Royal Caribbean.

 

FORMAL NIGHTS - there are 3 formal nights on a 12-plus-night cruises with X.

 

LAUNDRY - Royal Caribbean & Celebrity do not have self-service laundry, but they do have very reasonably priced laundry, dry cleaning & pressing service. Why do the work yourself when on vacation! :p

[GlendaleCruiser]

Thanks for this post, Glendale- it has a lot of good information. I'm curious, however, about the tipping on Celebrity because in our pre-trip information it states that a 15% gratuity is automatically charged to your account.

Maybe I'm misunderstanding something??

 

The last time someone in the family went on Celebrity (summer 2007) they still used the cash system. It must be that they are doing the auto tips now, which is cool. Thanks for the update!

[GlendaleCruiser]

You don't have to tip cash for anything on Celebrity. For your regular gratuities (stateroom attendant, assistant stateroom attendant, waiter, assistant waiter, assistant maitre d') they give you the option of charging it to your account & handing out vouchers, or tipping in cash at the end of the cruise. Of course there is always 15% added to all beverages.

 

Just a couple of other updates to this good list for Royal Caribbean & Celebrity:

 

ROOM SERVICE: Royal Caribbean is now charging a surcharge for late night (i.e., middle of the night) room service. Celebrity may be charging this too. Both have limited room service menus.

 

BINGO cards are $35 on Royal Caribbean.

 

FORMAL NIGHTS - there are 3 formal nights on a 12-plus-night cruises with X.

 

LAUNDRY - Royal Caribbean & Celebrity do not have self-service laundry, but they do have very reasonably priced laundry, dry cleaning & pressing service. Why do the work yourself when on vacation! :p

 

Good to know the updates and thanks! I agree--why work on vacation. Isn't that what I save my money for, anyway?

Also agree about cruise insurance. I couldnt' sleep at night for worrying about losing thousands of dollars. It's worth every penny!

[GlendaleCruiser]

This post is very helpful, thank you for taking the time to school us newbies :)

 

You are very welcome. I learned most of these things on my first few cruises and put this list together when a family member scheduled their first cruise. I would have loved to have known those things when we went on our first cruise, so I am happy if it helped anyone settle in, relax and enjoy it more.

[satxdiver]

On the RCL ships, you will be given an opportunity to have the tips automatically added to your bill. Usually this happens on the next to last day or so. If you do not specifically ask for the standard tips to be added, they will not add them. These are the tips for the room steward and server staff. The drinks include a 15% automatic tip.

[rwscruiser]

Thanks for the great information. I do appreciate your help.

[michelle1836]

glendale- howdy fellow whale tailer and a big thanks for your tips. we are sailing on our first cruise next friday!

[GORDONCHICK]

Something to help when you disembark - figure out a way to mark your luggage so it's easier to find in that massive warehouse full of luggage. This is especially crucial if your luggage is black! We use purple duct tape on the luggage handles. I know some people recommend tying those shower scrubbies to your bag, but that's a really bad idea because they can get caught in the conveyor belts and if it's not fastened good, it will simply come off. The other option is if it is fastened good and rips off a handle or whatever it was attached to. You don't really want something that can get caught on equipment. I used to use bandanas in certain colors, but they came untied even though they were as tight as I could get them.

[Sailing the C's]

I am a first-time cruiser and a little confused about the tipping situation!! What is the best (as in easiest for us and most appropriate for the staff) way to tip?? Cash tips at the time of service? Or added onto the bill at the end(which seems a bit strange as you're not actually tipping individual people and recognizing their great service)??? And if we are tipping as we go, are we able to request that no tips be added onto our bill at the end?

Thanks!!

[GlendaleCruiser]

I am a first-time cruiser and a little confused about the tipping situation!! What is the best (as in easiest for us and most appropriate for the staff) way to tip?? Cash tips at the time of service? Or added onto the bill at the end(which seems a bit strange as you're not actually tipping individual people and recognizing their great service)??? And if we are tipping as we go' date=' are we able to request that no tips be added onto our bill at the end?

Thanks!![/quote']

 

Your 15% tip will be added to each drink, but unless you change it the tips for the wait staff (waiter and assistant) and your room steward will be charged to your sail and sign. It is so much easier to tip this way and then if you got outstanding service and want to leave more, you can leave cash for them in an envelope on the last day.

 

Each cruise line has a guideline regarding customary tips, so check their website.

[GlendaleCruiser]

Something to help when you disembark - figure out a way to mark your luggage so it's easier to find in that massive warehouse full of luggage. This is especially crucial if your luggage is black! We use purple duct tape on the luggage handles. I know some people recommend tying those shower scrubbies to your bag, but that's a really bad idea because they can get caught in the conveyor belts and if it's not fastened good, it will simply come off. The other option is if it is fastened good and rips off a handle or whatever it was attached to. You don't really want something that can get caught on equipment. I used to use bandanas in certain colors, but they came untied even though they were as tight as I could get them.

 

I bought 1/2 inch NEON green shoelaces in the children's shoe section. Since they stand them up on end, I tied them on the top handle (double thickness, meaning both aglets together and looped through, then tied in a double knot. They've never come off, frayed or discolored after years and years. Find a bright color you like and buy the same color always.

[GlendaleCruiser]

 

My take on dinner times is you try to book on lines that employ some kind of freestyle, anytime etc. Some people prefer established dinner times but we hate them as we prefer no schedule when we're on a cruise, if possible.

 

But you are established cruiser. I think everyone should start off with MDR late or early to see if they like it. I think one of the most fun things is to meet new people and see them every night that cruise. They can always venture out if that is not for them.

 

Regarding insurance. Most times I cruise long enough that I consider it necessary, but I'm not going to purchase it for Ensenada and Catalina on a 3-4 day cruise. My insurance will pay for helicoptering me out of those places. Barcelona--that would be different.

[reallyitsmema]

I am a first-time cruiser and a little confused about the tipping situation!! What is the best (as in easiest for us and most appropriate for the staff) way to tip?? Cash tips at the time of service? Or added onto the bill at the end(which seems a bit strange as you're not actually tipping individual people and recognizing their great service)??? And if we are tipping as we go' date=' are we able to request that no tips be added onto our bill at the end?

Thanks!![/quote']

Tips are not automatically added on RCI unless you have MTD (my time dining). You can choose to pay your tips prior to your cruise if you have traditional dining, you can have them added to your sea pass account while you are on the ship or you can pay in cash at the end of the week. The only tips that you pay at time of service is the automatic 15% tip they add on your bar bill or a cash tip you choose to give to room service when they deliver.

 

Also, RCI will not send you a copy of your sea pass account half way through your cruise. You can pull up your account on your TV and review your charges at your convenience.

 

As far as shows, RCI shows are before dinner for those who have late seating and after dinner for those who have main seating. If you have MTD, you can go to what ever show you want to based on when you choose to go to dinner.