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My first cruise! experienced cruisers what should I know / bring?!
- Thread starter Christopher
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captainraincoat
Banned
My sisters used to work as dancers on board a number of different cruise ships
and have some good tips
Always make sure you eat at the start of the designated meal times...if you come late you get microwave leftovers or what someone else did not eat off their plates
Never...Ever drink the water from the Taps..Showers..Fountains...Live off bottled water or coke
Many of the single crew male and female will most likely have a std or 3...uk cruises you are more likely to catch herpes than any other cruise in the world...you poms are dirty fuckers
some ships have casinos on them....dont go there....you will either lose your money or make some eager scammers aware that you have money to burn and they will follow you back to your room where they will either ransack your room when you leave or beat the shit out of you for your money....Mafia of various regions love ship cruises..the ships crew wont do shit as they could end up throat slit and overboard pretty quick
Some ships have areas where nobody goes...dont go exploring....also dont let your kids wander Pedos love ship cruises
Someone offers you cheap sim cards dont buy them...they are most likely stolen
Nothing is Free...if its free now it will cost you later
If your Gay you will love ship cruises
and have some good tips
Always make sure you eat at the start of the designated meal times...if you come late you get microwave leftovers or what someone else did not eat off their plates
Never...Ever drink the water from the Taps..Showers..Fountains...Live off bottled water or coke
Many of the single crew male and female will most likely have a std or 3...uk cruises you are more likely to catch herpes than any other cruise in the world...you poms are dirty fuckers
some ships have casinos on them....dont go there....you will either lose your money or make some eager scammers aware that you have money to burn and they will follow you back to your room where they will either ransack your room when you leave or beat the shit out of you for your money....Mafia of various regions love ship cruises..the ships crew wont do shit as they could end up throat slit and overboard pretty quick
Some ships have areas where nobody goes...dont go exploring....also dont let your kids wander Pedos love ship cruises
Someone offers you cheap sim cards dont buy them...they are most likely stolen
Nothing is Free...if its free now it will cost you later
If your Gay you will love ship cruises
shira
Member
Do you want to know how exactly how clean your room is and how much to tip them at the end?
Do you mean the staff? Which cruise line lets their staff fuck the guests?
Twilight Gap
Member
NOPE
SmokinGunZ1981
Member
Kiraly
Member
Well this post turned morbid quickly
ZombiePlatypus
Member
Terrorize dat buffet.
When I went with my choir, my roommates and I emptied the ice from our room's ice-bucket, and filled it to the rim with soft-serve. (Also had a PS2 hooked up to the TV.) That was an awesome night.
When I went with my choir, my roommates and I emptied the ice from our room's ice-bucket, and filled it to the rim with soft-serve. (Also had a PS2 hooked up to the TV.) That was an awesome night.
Tesseract
Banned
jesus christ i'm never going on a cruise now.
SmokinGunZ1981
Member
Come on, you're really listening to that advice?????
Maybe don't drink the water, but you really think Cruise ships are a hive for the mafia with 'Pedos' are waiting round every corner just waiting to snatch your kids!!!!!!!!
Surely the comment 'If your Gay you will love ship cruises' should ring alarm bells, what does that even mean?????
ZombiePlatypus
Member
Forgot to mention, I think Carnival Cruise's gift shop has Tortuga Rum Cakes for sale. That shit's delicious.
Lol good god wtf cruise line did you go on?
The gay thing's true though. I dunno what it is with cruise ships but (from my experience) they tend to end up being West Hollywood and Castro all rolled up together and floating on water.
(Just not as out and open.)
A lot of the talent that work on cruise ships tend to be gay. Shouldn't really mean anything if it's not your thing though. Besides, the employees can't mess around with the guests even if the guests come on to them. (Or at least they aren't supposed to.) Basically, it should be an under the rug thing that you'll only run into face-first if you go looking for it.
Lol good god wtf cruise line did you go on?
The gay thing's true though. I dunno what it is with cruise ships but (from my experience) they tend to end up being West Hollywood and Castro all rolled up together and floating on water.
(Just not as out and open.)A lot of the talent that work on cruise ships tend to be gay. Shouldn't really mean anything if it's not your thing though. Besides, the employees can't mess around with the guests even if the guests come on to them. (Or at least they aren't supposed to.) Basically, it should be an under the rug thing that you'll only run into face-first if you go looking for it.
Hey thats the same one I went on 2 years ago. Don't listen to whatever that captain dude said. ALL LIES!! I've been on 4 cruises, love them. Grand Cayman is by far my most favorite island in the world so far. Been there 3 times. Grand Cayman is the best one to do any underwater excursion as the water there is clearest out of all the other places.
I'll let you in on a secret in grand cayman. If you dock near the main downtown area called Georgetown. take a left and keep walking until you see a bar called Hammerheads, Enter the bar and walk to the lower deck you should reach a place called Love shack. No its nothing to do with sex. It's where they usually do underwater helmet tours. You can only book these via the cruise ship. If you don't want to do that just rent a locker from them and ask for some snorkel gear. Then just jump off the dock and swim towards a floating platform. That is the best area to snorkel, trust me. I spent 4 hrs there just swimming and snorkeling. You'll see sooooo many different fishes and the coolest thing of all are all the sunken ships/relics that you can see just from the top. Everyone says go to the 7mile beach, its not that great. I mean its fun and all and a cool place to snorkel but the spot I told you about doesn't have any tourists, its empty and the waters are still and clear.
For mexico book jeep excursion on the ship that takes you to the Cenote. Its a underground cavern that you can swim in. It's well worth it.
For belize go to Xunantunich if you wanna see a mayan temple It's one of the few mayan temples you can actually climb on. They have an excursion for this which I recommend because of how far it is and sometimes people have missed the boat because of buses or taxi's breaking down. If its booked through carnival they will hold the boat for you. If you don't wanna do that you can do the River/cave tubing here which is a lot of fun also.
I'll let you in on a secret in grand cayman. If you dock near the main downtown area called Georgetown. take a left and keep walking until you see a bar called Hammerheads, Enter the bar and walk to the lower deck you should reach a place called Love shack. No its nothing to do with sex. It's where they usually do underwater helmet tours. You can only book these via the cruise ship. If you don't want to do that just rent a locker from them and ask for some snorkel gear. Then just jump off the dock and swim towards a floating platform. That is the best area to snorkel, trust me. I spent 4 hrs there just swimming and snorkeling. You'll see sooooo many different fishes and the coolest thing of all are all the sunken ships/relics that you can see just from the top. Everyone says go to the 7mile beach, its not that great. I mean its fun and all and a cool place to snorkel but the spot I told you about doesn't have any tourists, its empty and the waters are still and clear.
For mexico book jeep excursion on the ship that takes you to the Cenote. Its a underground cavern that you can swim in. It's well worth it.
For belize go to Xunantunich if you wanna see a mayan temple It's one of the few mayan temples you can actually climb on. They have an excursion for this which I recommend because of how far it is and sometimes people have missed the boat because of buses or taxi's breaking down. If its booked through carnival they will hold the boat for you. If you don't wanna do that you can do the River/cave tubing here which is a lot of fun also.
weemadarthur
Member
On Grand Cayman, i went on an excursion where you feed wild stingrays. That was pretty sweet.
On Cozumel, the mayan ruins are useless, nothing impressive that i saw. The whole island is a tourist trap so food/drink prices are extra high.
On Cozumel, the mayan ruins are useless, nothing impressive that i saw. The whole island is a tourist trap so food/drink prices are extra high.
n64coder
Member
If you really need to have soda, then yes, I recommend this but I would stick with water for health reasons. You can also get milk/oj/lemonade/punch for free. At dinner, we would sometimes get a bottle of wine. Yes, it's expensive but you're on vacation. On some ships, you can bring 2 bottles of wine per room otherwise, off-shore alcohol is not allowed.
Same with dessert but again, you should try to eat healthy and watch your calories. If you want to pig out, then be sure to incorporate 2 hours of intense workouts to make up for it.
On past cruises, we were with family so we would have 2 large tables for all of us but for lunch/breakfast, we would often sit with others. It is a good way to have nice conversation and learn about other parts of the country/world. Yes, sometimes you meet people that you don't really have a connection with but for the most part, people are very friendly. If you're an introvert, it's a good way to come out of your shell.
Belize is a tender destination. That means you get onto a smaller boat to take you to the port. Grand Caymen & Cozumel, you'll dock at the port. The problem with tenders is that there can be a long wait to get off the ship in the morning unlike getting off the dock.
I never had any issues drinking the water on the ship.
Another thing is that most ships have specialty restaurants that you can use. Some have a very small charge (e.g, Johnny Rockets) or a larger charge (Portofino, Chips) like $20 that you can use instead of the main dining room.
Johnny Rockets was quite good, and once you've paid the fee you can have however much you want. The milkshakes were nice too (extra charge).
They also do larger soft drinks in there than anywhere else on the ship when I went on Adventure of the Seas to Norway last year.
Revolutionary
Member
I went on that exact itinerary a few years ago. Awesome time.
My only tip is to mingle as much as you can on the first day. These are the people you'll be seeing a lot of for the next few days, and you'll always have someone to chat up or hang out with (or bang by the end of the cruise).
Have fun!
My only tip is to mingle as much as you can on the first day. These are the people you'll be seeing a lot of for the next few days, and you'll always have someone to chat up or hang out with (or bang by the end of the cruise).
Have fun!
I went on Royal Caribbean´s Allure of the Sea last October and it was easily the greatest vacation of my life. I thought I was going to hate cruising, but ended up loving it! All the essential tips have been mentioned: drink the bottled water, bring a TON of sunscreen AND aloe, two pairs of sunglasses, two swimsuits, clothes for formal night. I don't know about Carnival, but RC makes it very difficult to get liquor of any kind on board (I couldn't even bring the bottle of Pepsi I was drinking), so make sure to pack it in carefully if you choose to do so. We were told by a staff member at one of the bars that they actually only check about 50% of the luggage when boarding, so you can feasibly bring some on (we got on with a bottle of red wine, each).
If Carnival has a drink package and you plan on drinking a lot, I would recommend getting it. We bought that on our cruise and ended up saving a lot of money that way. A LOT. We also made it our goal to drink at least as much as the cost of the package and well surpassed it The drink package is fantastic, because you have your choice of basically any liquor and several choices for beer and wine. I drank nothing but Hendrick's gin and Appleton Estate rum the entire time.
Don't waste your time at the comedy show.
When eating dinner, you can order as many of any item as you want, don't forget this!
BRING A TON OF SUNSCREEN. All of the items at the on-board shop are HORRIFICALLY overpriced. So bring a bunch. Also bring aspirin or anything else of that sort.
Have fun! Cruising is one of the greatest things ever. Can't wait to go again this year Thinking of taking the Quantum of the Seas this time, but we'll see!
If Carnival has a drink package and you plan on drinking a lot, I would recommend getting it. We bought that on our cruise and ended up saving a lot of money that way. A LOT. We also made it our goal to drink at least as much as the cost of the package and well surpassed it
The drink package is fantastic, because you have your choice of basically any liquor and several choices for beer and wine. I drank nothing but Hendrick's gin and Appleton Estate rum the entire time.Don't waste your time at the comedy show.
When eating dinner, you can order as many of any item as you want, don't forget this!
BRING A TON OF SUNSCREEN. All of the items at the on-board shop are HORRIFICALLY overpriced. So bring a bunch. Also bring aspirin or anything else of that sort.
Have fun! Cruising is one of the greatest things ever. Can't wait to go again this year
Thinking of taking the Quantum of the Seas this time, but we'll see!Yeah, I honestly didn't eat all that much, I limited myself on what to eat for breakfast/lunch so I will be hungry for dinner and I won't be stuffed/bloated when I left the ship. For the appetizers we almost always split an order of eggrolls and got an appetizer for ourselves. But if you see two different desserts that you want to try, go ahead and give it a shot (you don't have to eat it all if you don't want to). The menu changes daily and what is available today may not be available the next. Since you are on Carnival, get the chocolate lava cake for dessert, its really good.
During dinner, there is always an obscure menu option or something that you probably never had before, but would like to try. I never partook in one of those, but kind of wish I had. I remember one of them was some sort of alligator dish. I know I would never order something like that on my own in a restaurant, I am just not that brave. Next cruise I go on I'll give it a shot.
Anyway, don't expect too much from the food. Before I went, everyone was saying how good it was and all that, but I wasn't too impressed. Don't get your hopes up too high or you may be a little disappointed. Its decent, good food... Just not great food.
Probably the thing that I liked best about my cruise was once I got on the boat I was truly away from everything I had in my life. I wasn't connected to the internet, didn't have to worry about cleaning, bills, work, etc. It was a really nice, liberating feeling.
Also, you have a safe in your room that is opened/locked by a card. This does NOT have to be a credit card, anything with a magnetic strip will be able to unlock it. We used an empty Best Buy gift card to lock/unlock ours. If you and your partner both want a card that will unlock the safe go down to Subway, and get a gift card there. They have a two-pack gift card that has two identical cards (so you can share the balance between two people). In all likelihood nothing will happen, but it is an extra step to ensure that your credit card won't get lost/stolen.
If you plan on doing any shopping, call your credit card company up and let them know you will be on a cruise, otherwise they may block the transaction. If you want to buy anything on the ship, wait until later towards the end of your cruise because they will have sales.
Luggage storage is underneath the bed.
Somehow all the staff knows your name. Its unreal.
If you drink alcohol, buy some Rum Runner flasks. They're inconspicuous and pretty much undetected. Fill them up with alcohol of your choice and put them in your suitcase, not your carry on bag.
They do random suitcase checks but there are so many passengers that the chance of them checking yours is slim. Even if they do the only repercussion is they confiscate the alcohol and that's it. This saved my girlfriend and I TONS of money the past couple years we've gone on Carnival.
Other than that, just have fun and let loose. Everyone is there to have a good time. So get the drinks flowing, mingle, and have a really awesome time. We've met people on both cruises that we still keep in contact with today.
OH, they also let you bring a bottle of wine per passenger so that saves money too! You can bring it to dinner and they will serve it to you, or you can just keep it in your stateroom.
I can't tell if you're joking or not on these points. Who the hell watches their calories on a cruise? Most of the food is free, pig out as much as you want. You can make amends later.
Everyone's covered the important things already. I'll just add that the shows at night are a lot of fun and in my experience the crew members are incredibly nice.
I've taken three years cruises so far, one of them being Carnival and the others Norwegian. Had a great time on all of them.
Edit: Oh yeah wash your hands, a lot.
I've taken three years cruises so far, one of them being Carnival and the others Norwegian. Had a great time on all of them.
Edit: Oh yeah wash your hands, a lot.
I work at Royal Caribbean (posting from work now, actually haha)
I've been on tons of cruises, and just from being here, I can probably answer any specific questions you might have, even though you're going with Carnival.
I'll be checking back throughout the day just in case.
Have fun!
I've been on tons of cruises, and just from being here, I can probably answer any specific questions you might have, even though you're going with Carnival.
I'll be checking back throughout the day just in case.
Have fun!
Most of the Carnivals ships have that Cheers program. it comes out to $50 per person a day and both people in the cabin would have to get it.
They changed it to a maximum 15 alcoholic beverages per day, I guess some people were ordering a sh*t ton of drinks or they are worried about safety. Can still get unlimited soda and non alcoholic frozen drinks.
http://www.cruisin.me/info/carnival-cruise-lines/cheers-beverage-program.php#notes
might be worth looking into if you're not the sneaking alcohol on type.
They changed it to a maximum 15 alcoholic beverages per day, I guess some people were ordering a sh*t ton of drinks or they are worried about safety. Can still get unlimited soda and non alcoholic frozen drinks.
http://www.cruisin.me/info/carnival-cruise-lines/cheers-beverage-program.php#notes
might be worth looking into if you're not the sneaking alcohol on type.
RottenTanuki
Member
Book excursions before you board, the cool ones will fill up quick leaving you with really lame ones.
Don't plan on doing anything the day you leave the ship. The exit process is long and doesn't run smoothly.
Bring basic over the counter remedies for cold/fever/seasickness/shits.
Don't plan on doing anything the day you leave the ship. The exit process is long and doesn't run smoothly.
Bring basic over the counter remedies for cold/fever/seasickness/shits.
The Quiet Man
Member
Bring bottled water for sure.
Shabadoo69
Member
I took a six pack of water bottles and drilled out a hole in the bottom, emptied out the water and filled it back up with vodka. I use a hot glue gun and plastic to seal up the bottoms. they were still sealed on top and didn't look like anything was different. It took a while to do this but it saved me so much money on booze on the cruise.
If you drink find a way to sneak some alcohol on the ship. It will save you tons.
If you drink find a way to sneak some alcohol on the ship. It will save you tons.
I've only been on one cruise before (Carnival to Alaska), but I could definitely feel the boat rocking most of the time. Fortunately I didn't get seasick, but my wife didn't take the motion very well.
There's no harm in bringing along some motion sickness pills just to be safe.
Might as well take some, since it is really expensive on the boat. If you don't use them then you can just return them to the store when you get back.
Liberty4all
Banned
Just a heads up, Carnival recently rolled breakfast and lunch (sit down meals) into one calling it a Comedy Brunch. The reality is that it's a cost cutting measure so they don't have to have separate services for breakfast and lunch. The buffet of course is always an option but I found on Carnival that the MDR (Main Dining Room) service was far superior to the crowded buffet.
My personal rule of thumbs when Cruising:
1. Always get a balcony room. Not just for the breeze either (which is awesome). If the ship has an outbreak of Norovirus and you catch it, you will be quarantined to your cabin --- a nightmare if you are stuck in an interior.
2. Try to do at least a few sit down breakfasts and lunches.
3. Pick a port heavy itinerary (this rule is specific to Carnival -- compared to to other cruise lines Carnival felt like a big step down to me) I mean it's still great, just not as great as some of the other lines like Princess.
4. If you are going to use the casino, get the casino rewards card and use it. On Carnival once you've gambled a certain amount, drinks are free in the casino for the rest of the cruise. If you are a heavy gambler (and I mean HEAVY) you will sometimes get freebies like bottles of wine compliments of the casino, free "Specialty restaurant" meals (that normally cost money), and often you can get a Casino Rate on your next cruise which can save you hundreds of dollars.
5. Make sure you try the Melting Chocolate Cake
It's a Carnival trademark and it really is as amazing as they make it out to be.
6. Don't cut it too close when arriving back at the ship from shore excursions. The ship won't wait for you (unless you are on an excursions purchased through the ship).
7. You don't need to use the ship for your excursions. If you are like me and just want a great beach, most ports you can just grab a cab and get to a great beach/town/etc ... Excursions purchased through the cruise line are almost always exorbitantly overpriced ... often you can get the same excursion for half the price right in port.
8. Don't overpack. Carnival has a laundry room you can use.
9. Bring more money than you think you'll need. You WILL spend more than you budget for. Mainstream cruise lines are designed to suck money out of you.
10. If sailing down the eastern or western seaboard you will feel the waves. In the Caribbean however the water is much calmer.
My personal rule of thumbs when Cruising:
1. Always get a balcony room. Not just for the breeze either (which is awesome). If the ship has an outbreak of Norovirus and you catch it, you will be quarantined to your cabin --- a nightmare if you are stuck in an interior.
2. Try to do at least a few sit down breakfasts and lunches.
3. Pick a port heavy itinerary (this rule is specific to Carnival -- compared to to other cruise lines Carnival felt like a big step down to me) I mean it's still great, just not as great as some of the other lines like Princess.
4. If you are going to use the casino, get the casino rewards card and use it. On Carnival once you've gambled a certain amount, drinks are free in the casino for the rest of the cruise. If you are a heavy gambler (and I mean HEAVY) you will sometimes get freebies like bottles of wine compliments of the casino, free "Specialty restaurant" meals (that normally cost money), and often you can get a Casino Rate on your next cruise which can save you hundreds of dollars.
5. Make sure you try the Melting Chocolate Cake
It's a Carnival trademark and it really is as amazing as they make it out to be.
6. Don't cut it too close when arriving back at the ship from shore excursions. The ship won't wait for you (unless you are on an excursions purchased through the ship).
7. You don't need to use the ship for your excursions. If you are like me and just want a great beach, most ports you can just grab a cab and get to a great beach/town/etc ... Excursions purchased through the cruise line are almost always exorbitantly overpriced ... often you can get the same excursion for half the price right in port.
8. Don't overpack. Carnival has a laundry room you can use.
9. Bring more money than you think you'll need. You WILL spend more than you budget for. Mainstream cruise lines are designed to suck money out of you.
10. If sailing down the eastern or western seaboard you will feel the waves. In the Caribbean however the water is much calmer.
Taco_Human
Member
Don't forget the weed if you're into that kind da thing.
MilkLizard
Member
I've been on a number of cruises. Never had a bad experience. I suggest you sign up for cruisecritic.com and read their message boards for tips. Hell, you can probably even meet people going on the same cruise as you, before stepping on the ship. There are a ton of helpful suggestions.
One thing I did that was really cool, was smuggle some rum onto the boat in one of those camel pack bladders in my suitcase (they are invisible to xray machines). Then I just got unlimited free juice or soda from the buffet and added my own rum to it.
Be prepared to be completely without internet the entire time you're cruising, unless you want to spend lots of money. Also, try to hit the comedy shows on the boat and participate in any of the cruise directors bullshit games. It will help you meet people and it's fun. I was a goddamn celebrity on my ship a few times because of the silly shit I did.
Anyway, we love going on cruises. The food can be really good. The relaxation factor is as high as you want it to be. And there's nothing to worry about unless you have a one in a million bad situation occur like all the worry warts in this thread are taking about.
One thing I did that was really cool, was smuggle some rum onto the boat in one of those camel pack bladders in my suitcase (they are invisible to xray machines). Then I just got unlimited free juice or soda from the buffet and added my own rum to it.
Be prepared to be completely without internet the entire time you're cruising, unless you want to spend lots of money. Also, try to hit the comedy shows on the boat and participate in any of the cruise directors bullshit games. It will help you meet people and it's fun. I was a goddamn celebrity on my ship a few times because of the silly shit I did.
Anyway, we love going on cruises. The food can be really good. The relaxation factor is as high as you want it to be. And there's nothing to worry about unless you have a one in a million bad situation occur like all the worry warts in this thread are taking about.
They don't have to open them to xray them and see the bottles. If you want to do it the legit way, you're allowed to bring one bottle per adult with you on most cruise lines, but they need to be checked in with customs or something and they will be delivered to your room once the ship is under way.
Christopher
Member
Thank you SO much
Came in expecting something on these lines. Gaf does not disappoint.
Really? Worked for us fine on the Allure and that's one massive ship.
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