What mistakes did you make as a newbie cruiser?
Jun 25th, 2014, 11:15 PM
#22
Join Date: Mar 2007
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I did not know that about river cruises either, so a question. Do the river cruise boats not have some kind of little shop or store that sells stuff like that? HappyTrvlr, you can't be the only person who would think shampoo, etc. would be provided and would need to purchase it.
Jul 5th, 2014, 08:24 PM
#24
Join Date: Oct 2012
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Returned today from a short 5 night cruise that we booked last minute, 10 days out. In my haste I didn't bother looking at the deck plans as it was the last balcony cabin available.....over the piano bar which wasn't too bad but also was at a wide hallway that opened to the stairs on the right and a bank of elevators on the left....very, very noisy, especially late at night after the shows let out and the bars closed!
Jul 12th, 2014, 10:27 AM
#25
Join Date: Jun 2005
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Mistake 1: I didn't know we had to disembark by 9:30 am and I booked a 6 pm flight home on the same day. There is no place to leave your luggage at most airports due to security reasons and airlines will not check your luggage until 3-4 hours before your flight. I mistakenly thought we would be eating lunch on the ship and leaving for the airport at around 1 pm. We were schlepping around:
1. car seat
2. huge backpack child carrier for hiking
3. stroller
4. my rolling carryon (all my clothing for the week as well as most of the baby's clothes)
5. husband's large backpack carryon (held all his clothing for the week, some baby clothes)
6. my personal item tote with baby food, bottles, diapers, my gels/liquids, etc.
7. husband's personal item messenger bag with his computer, liquids, etc.
I ended up paying $25 each for confirmed standby on Alaska for a 12:50 pm flight and it all worked out but I felt lucky that there was room on that plane.
Mistake 2: We disembarked at the latest possible time -- 9:30 am -- as we weren't eager to spend 10 hours hanging out at SEA-TAC. I thought that there would be a few stragglers coming off the ship at that tim but in fact, the line to disembark was huge and wound around and down the hallways all the way back through the casino. The cab line was even longer. I'm guessing disembarking by 8 am would have meant shorter lines and less chaos?
Mistake 3: We carried all our luggage off the ship ourselves as we didn't have our bags packed the night before. We looked like a traveling caravan bracing ourselves for the Long March. Despite my wearing a dress and heels that morning, this wasn't my most elegant exit.... I'm not sure if this ultimately saved us a little time, however, as we didn't stop at the baggage claim but walked right through customs.
My list can go on and on but since this was my first cruise (and likely my last) I don't even KNOW what other numerous mistakes we made. I gave a $40 cash tip to my room attendant the morning we left -- it would have been better to give him partial tips throughout the week....
1. car seat
2. huge backpack child carrier for hiking
3. stroller
4. my rolling carryon (all my clothing for the week as well as most of the baby's clothes)
5. husband's large backpack carryon (held all his clothing for the week, some baby clothes)
6. my personal item tote with baby food, bottles, diapers, my gels/liquids, etc.
7. husband's personal item messenger bag with his computer, liquids, etc.
I ended up paying $25 each for confirmed standby on Alaska for a 12:50 pm flight and it all worked out but I felt lucky that there was room on that plane.
Mistake 2: We disembarked at the latest possible time -- 9:30 am -- as we weren't eager to spend 10 hours hanging out at SEA-TAC. I thought that there would be a few stragglers coming off the ship at that tim but in fact, the line to disembark was huge and wound around and down the hallways all the way back through the casino. The cab line was even longer. I'm guessing disembarking by 8 am would have meant shorter lines and less chaos?
Mistake 3: We carried all our luggage off the ship ourselves as we didn't have our bags packed the night before. We looked like a traveling caravan bracing ourselves for the Long March. Despite my wearing a dress and heels that morning, this wasn't my most elegant exit.... I'm not sure if this ultimately saved us a little time, however, as we didn't stop at the baggage claim but walked right through customs.
My list can go on and on but since this was my first cruise (and likely my last) I don't even KNOW what other numerous mistakes we made. I gave a $40 cash tip to my room attendant the morning we left -- it would have been better to give him partial tips throughout the week....
