any last minute tips for first cruise

Old Jun 6th, 2013, 09:27 PM
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any last minute tips for first cruise

Hi Everyone
I'm about to embark on my first cruise - departing next week from Barbados en route to Puerto Rico, St Lucia, St Kitts etc. How can I make th most of my first cruise? I believe you cant take alcohol on the ship and therefore beer and wine is going to be expensive - I dont want to buy an alcohol package because I dont want to consume too much, good idea? But I have been told the soft drinks package is a good one - any views? Is the atmosphere very friendly generally on cruises - I like people and am generally quite nosey (in a nice way)? Will i make friends?
Thanks for any suggestions.
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Old Jun 7th, 2013, 04:07 AM
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First of all welcome to the world of cruising. I think you will be pleased with the experience.

I am sure you can bring soft drinks on board with you and replenish them from your port stops. If you like you can have your cabin attendant MT out your fridge to give you plenty of space.

Yes, the atmosphere is pretty nice on a ship as everyone is there for one thing, a nice time. You are all on vacation!

I think you will be fine. We usually have no problem meeting people. Have you considered going to cruise critic for a roll call? You can arrange to meet up on the ship, maybe do some group excursions. It'll be fun.

Carnival has a booze plan but its up to you. It would make it easier to over indulge so maybe its not a great idea.

You should read the daily leaflet which will be delivered to your cabin for activities on board. There will be a lot to do and you can meet people this way as well.

Which ship will you be on?
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Old Jun 7th, 2013, 04:12 AM
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I saw your comment about private excursions on another thread. No worries at all. I mean these islands aren't that big. On our very 1st cruise which was the western Med we did all private tours. We got cabs at the dock, cut a deal and went. We had a cab from Livorno and went to Pisa and Florence so if we can go that far you can do a loop around de islands mon!
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Old Jun 7th, 2013, 07:45 AM
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We are not heavy drinkers so have never felt the need for a drinks plan. When I have looked at the plans, they seemed to feature cheap stuff. So you would need to drink a lot to catch up. Soft drinks are expensive, but we have never felt the need to buy a plan. On our recent cruises the lines have passed out a lot of water. And we don't care much for soft drinks.
Most of the islands are easy to do without cruise ship tours unless you favor finding out of the way tshirt stores.
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Old Jun 8th, 2013, 01:37 AM
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Relax and enjoy. Just remember that everytime you show your card to a crew member, it means it will cost you money. The exception is shwoing your card to get off the boat.

Your cruise card is the only thing you need while on board. Soft drink package is at around $7.50 a day. Can you drink that much pop? or do you want to? We bought one the first time and we never bought one since.

You can order a bottle of wine at dinner and asked the waiter to save what's left for the next meal. If you and your significant other have only 1 glass each at dinner, that bottle may last 2 to 3 meals, a whole lot chepaer than buying by the glass.

Drink prices are comaprable to major branded hotels so they are not cheap, plus 15 to 18% auto grat on top.

Since you are on a Carnival ship (a wild guess), the fellow passengers are younger, and may like to "party", and would be very friendly. Just go with the flow. I won't worry about making friends too much. Best approach is be yourself, relax and enjoy, or be the wild and crazy guy that you always wanted to be and act out, but never did you were afraid to be embrassed. Guess what? The chances of you see those fellow passengers again is very slim. So, no need to worry about being embrassed! Volunteer to go on stage, sing Karaoke, join the dance party, whatever!
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Old Jun 8th, 2013, 03:36 AM
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Thanks everyone -really helpful information. Eschew you made me laugh - such a positive message. I did look at the roll call but it seemed a little complicated and I should have tried to fathom it out. Thank you all so very much.
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Old Jun 29th, 2013, 10:05 PM
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Any chance of a trip report now that you are back after your cruise? Just curious how everything went.
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Old Jun 30th, 2015, 01:56 PM
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I found a list hacks that's not bad.
http://www.zqhub.com/10-life-hacks-for-a-great-cruise/
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Old Jul 1st, 2015, 02:49 AM
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I finally followed the advice of several cruisers, after more than 10, and packed two items that were of great help on the last cruise I took.
1, Get some magnetic clips to hang papers, tickets, and other notes on the walls. We found we were always looking for tickets and our notes of our friends cabins until we found out we could stick them on the wall.
2. Carry a light power strip with 3-4 outlets. There are never enough outlets to charge or maintain computers, phones, electric shavers and the like on a ship, and spreading these devices across the entire cabin is not a good solution.
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Old Jul 3rd, 2015, 02:12 PM
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Hide your power strips as some ships do not allow them. I have a travel adapter that allows multiple plugs plus usb ports to charge tablets, phone and other electronic devices.
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