Hi All - My family (husband and 6 yr old girl) will be first time cruisers next winter and I'm panicked beyond words. Don't get me wrong, i like the ocean, i love to swim, so does my family. What we don't like is: not seeing land, motion sickness, being told when to eat, dressing up when it's hot and living in cramped quarters. Our boat is Liberty of the Seas. Will my daughter be safe and enjoy it? Should I let her do the camp for kids alone? she is an only child? are crusies expensive? how often will i need to dress up? and how dressy? is the food good? or very good? how expesnive is a glass of wine of a pina colada? I plan everything out and research to the nines, any suggestions? thanks for your help. Dee

Let me address some of your worries, many people have them

Not seeing land scared me so much, I'd delayed my first cruise. You are like in a small town with elevators, restaurants, activities, pool and such. Should not be a problem.

Motion sickness: get a cabin in the middle of the ship on one of the lower levels. Bring ginger and Bonine. There is also a doctor on the cruise.

When to eat: check if the buffet is open 24 hours, if there is open seating restaurant for dinner. Check the daily schedule for hours of all snack places. It's not that you must have lunch at 1 pm or else, there are many choices.

You have to dress up for dinner on formal days, yes. But you don't have to dress up even on formal days if you have dinner in the buffet. Dinner, not all day of dressing up.

Cramped quarters, yes, unfortunately, but only when you are in your cabin.

The bottom line: you will never know if you like cruising or not till you get on the first cruise.

Warning: cruising is addictive

Hi there Dee,

I had all those same fears - have been seasick many times on small boats. Took a Royal Caribbean cruise to Alaska because a family member made all the arrangements & talked us into it, and we had a wonderful time. We liked the cruise line, and I never had a seasick moment. The ship was so big, we didn't feel the motion. Really. It was terrific. Our next cruise was on Renaissance (now defunct), we preferred it mostly because of the open seating/times in the restaurant. But you'll have a great time, and your daughter will, too.

TravelBuff,

Take a deep breath. Exhale. Now let me say that to me and thousands of other people, cruising is the best vacation you can ever go on. So do not worry. A vacation like this will be great, unless you make it less than optimal with worrying about this and that. Cruise ships nowadays are huge, safe and made for the comfort of everyone from 6 months to 99 years old. After your cruise you will be hooked.

Now your boat Liberty of the Seas, Freedom Class, RCCL. 160,000 tons. It is larger longer and heavier, than the largest WWII aircraft carrier. It is a huge ship with plenty to do. So take some time to go to www.rccl.com and explore the ship a bit. With a boat this big, your going to have very little movement on the ocean. Where are you going? Alaska there will be some movement on the outside passage but not on the inside. Carribbean there should be very little movement, but as others have said, bring Bonine, and there is a doctor on board who can give you a shot to ease sea sickness.

As for not seeing land, that is my favorite part of the cruise. This is not the Titanic. Do you know why the Titanic lost all of those people? Because they had 1/2 the amount of life rafts they needed. Cruise Ships today have double the life rafts needed. Plus they do drills so you know where to go. It is VERY SAFE. Also Modern Cruise ships do not go far from land in the Caribbean and Alaska, so your never far from it. Relax, and if it bugs you that you cannot see land, then do not look. On port days, you will wake up seeing land and when you go to dinner you will be just leaving the dock.

Eating. No one can tell you when to eat on a ship. Why? Because there is always food to have. The Liberty has a huge dining room with multiple seatings, a huge buffet on the Lido deck, ice cream, sandwich bars, grills, plus optional seating restaurants like Sabatini's, and do not forget about 24 hour a day room service all included in your cruise ticket. So eat when you want to. Dinner is usually 6 & 8 p.m., and dinners are a treat. Multiple courses of what ever you want, drinks, and usually a show by the wait staff. Have fun.

Dressing up. Some people say you have to dress up. I say Bah. I dress up for the office 250 days a year, and I am on vacation. There is usually 2 formal nights per week, and one on cruises less that a week in length. I think the only thing you cannot wear into the dining room is shorts and swimsuits. So wear what you want. Just remember, if you were having dinner on your New York City vacation, you will not go to dinner and not dress up. I take a few button down shirts and a couple of pairs of dress pants.

You picked a great cruise for kids. RCCL, is second in my book for kids (with Disney Cruise line being first). Once on board you go to the kids area and check in with your age group's instructors. They will give you a beeper, you can then sign your kids in and out of the kids program at will until it closes at night (usually 11 p.m.). If there is trouble or your child wants to leave, they will beep you and you go pick him or her up. Simple, safe secure. Plus kids MUST WEAR a bracelet to show their room number and muster station in case of an emergency. The instructors will bring your child to your muster station in case of an emergency. I go on a cruise and do not see my daughter most of the cruise. She loves the kids programs, loves making new friends. They have science day and pirate nights, little parades and games and crafts. It is amazing.

Drinks, Alchohol can get expansive, but everything is charged to your room, no cash, so do not worry about it. RCCL offers a Coke card, for like $20 where you buy it on your first day and you can get soda from every bar for nothing with the card.

My advice, if you a planner like me, google cruise reviews, and check out a few sites. Read reviews from cruisers like us. I like to read three over four stars and three under three stars, because some people just love everything and some people like to complain. Plus read RCCL's site they have a lot of information.

If you just want to chat and need more specific info, email me [email protected]. I have been on Navigator of the Seas, Monarch of the Seas, and Explorer of the Seas. Plus I have been on every major cruise line also.

I love cruising, and if all I ever did was cruises the rest of my life than that would be ok with me.

First time cruising myself (end of May) so I can't really answer your questions.

Nervous too, but I've been reading cruisecritic.com and I think I'm ready (just don't pack everything they suggest in those boards ... people can get a bit crazy, if you ask me).

Dressing up? Yes, they have "formal nights" but a decent outfit is more than enough - dress like you would to a nice restaurant in town - you'll be fine.

More than anything else, remember: you are ON VACATION. Relax and enjoy.

Hi Dee,

Well like many others I'm a cruise addict and have been on 23 and still going strong so much so that I'm building a website and a blog on Caribbean cruises (see link in my signature)

Not seeing land: same as Bon_Bon above, it is my favorite part of a cruise but I can understand it's can be scary for someone new to cruising. Whenever your ship sails to a new port, it's during the night so you're inside the ship or sleeping. But you might have a few days at sea and there are so many things to do on board that you might not even realize you don't see land. But it also depends where the ship sails to. I have been on cruises where we were sailing along maybe Cuba or some other big island and we could see land all day.


As for motion sickness, I have friends who were sailing with us some years ago and they bought the patches and they never had any motion sickness at all. There are many people on board that use them, they are small and go either behind your ears or on your wrist I think. Anyway they work and you can get them at drugstores.

We don't like being told when to eat either. Assigned seating is only for dinner and even for dinner you don't have to go to the dining room. Like someone else said, you can go to the buffet and when my daughter was 6, that's what we did. It's much more convenient and more fun for a child than to to sit still in a dining room. But if you want to go to the formal night, it is fun to get all dressed up and your daughter might like that too, mine did and still does at 20!

"Dressing up when it's hot" - it's never hot inside a ship as it is airconditioned and I would even suggest that you bring a sweater or shawl when you go to dinner because it might get a bit chilly. My dressing-up-attire is black pants that I mix and match with a few different tops. You'll see all kinds of 'dressing up', some have very elaborate dresses and others like me just any outfit I would wear to a Christmas party back home.

Living in cramped quarters, well they're not that cramped but small. And whoever designs those ships have managed to include storage space in every nook of your cabin. So empty your luggage, leave in it things you might only need once and you can pack smaller suitcase into bigger suitcase and store them under the bed. There is also a closet with hangers and shelves everywhere. And since your daughter is only 6, she doesn't take as much room as an adult. And if you have bunk beds in your cabin, during the day the steward fold it into the wall or wherever it goes.

Your daughter will have a great time. Mine is an only child too and she always had a good time doing the kids camp. They do so much and you might not see much of her

And you will be in your bathing suit, shorts or sun dress much more than you will be 'dressed up' and only if you want to.

The ship will arrive usually in port while you are sleeping and will leave around 4 or 5pm, so you'll be on land and doing stuff.

You're welcome to read some articles and see photos on my sites.

Lise
http://carib-cruises.com
http://photos.carib-cruises.com