First time cruise - seeking advice

In My Humble Opinion
21

Cruising is a little like an all ages camp experience. There will be a ton of activities - especially when the ship is not in port. Unlike camp, you can choose to not participate and find a spot to just sit, read, nap. But if you choose to participate there will be everything from “organized” pick up basketball to classes on towel folding to movies to dance lessons, to cocktail tastings to karaoke.

One word on shore excursions… If you book an excursion through the ship and traffic keeps you from getting back to the ship - the ship will wait - getting you on board is their responsibility. If you book your excursions by yourself, and traffic delays your return, you will have to find your way to the next port - or home. In Nassau, this isn’t a huge deal - its pretty small - just make sure you don’t cut it close. If you decide to do a full day excursion to see Mayan ruins in Mexico - its best to book through the cruise line since a traffic delay becomes much more likely and those excursions usually have to cut it close in order to cover the distance.

22

For the Nassau shore day I’m not sure we’ll book anything, just go into town, wander to the beach, have lunch. Has anyone been to Atlantis for the day? That might appeal to us as an excursion.

Travel insurance is a definite for this trip. If we book an excursion it’ll probably be through the cruise line to give us added comfort as first time cruisers. I watched some videos of pier runners; it’s only funny if it’s not you.

How does packing work? I understand that when you embark all your luggage gets taken and arrives at your cabin later. Our ship sails at 4:00 PM, so what time should we expect to get our luggage? What do we need to carry with us until then? I assume all of our valuables, medicines, electronics. We plan on taking a bottle of wine each with us; I guess that goes in the luggage?

When do you pick (or get assigned) your seating time in the dining room? Is that during the booking process?

23

Bahamas? Are they still there?

If you believe that you might be the least susceptible to sea-sickness, then you want your cabin to be as low as you can go and at the back of the boat. You will feel less motion in this part. I’ve found that other than sleeping, I didn’t spend very much time in our cabin.

Don’t be late coming back from on-shore excursions. The boat will not wait on you. There are always people that get left behind, left with the expense of getting their way back to their home, without their luggage and many times without their passports.

24

You have a lot of factual questions that could be answered specifically for your cruise in a call to the cruise line. IME they are very helpful (never used Carnival).

[ul]
[li]Back, Middle, or Front of ship, or does it matter?[/li]
Look at what is near the room. Are you directly over, under, or next to a dance bar with loud music? Might want to avoid that.
[li]My parents don’t drink. My wife and I drink some but aren’t planning to go wild. Are the drink packages worth getting? [/li]
No. Not unless you are a heavy drinker. The drink packages are often used as a promotion, so are overpriced to make it look like getting it free is a great deal. On my last cruise I was having maybe 3-4 drinks a day and paying as I went was cheaper than the drink package. Also, if someone gets a drink package, they require everyone in the same room to get the drink package.
[li]We’ll probably do one night’s dinner at a fancy restaurant. Do we need to make reservations in advance? Can you make reservations before you get on board?[/li]
Yes. Reserve ahead if you know what you want. You may still be able to get a reservation on board but it may not be the time you want.
[li]Shore excursions - buy them from the cruise line or roll your own? We’ll be in Nassau, Bahamas.[/li]
The ship generally uses third-party contractors for excursions, and you can usually get them cheaper if you go on your own. But you have to do a lot more research that way, whereas with the ship excursions you can choose from a single list. If you book it through the cruise line they guarantee to have you back on time before the ships leaves. A third party will not do that.
[/ul]

If tips are required and should be considered “part of the fare” then it should actually be part of the fare so you can compare costs apples to apples. Given today’s reality, however, your advice is good. Pricing in the whole travel industry has become disturbingly opaque.

I have been to Atlantis for a week. Not sure what options are available to day visitors. Nice beach and pools. Casino. Hellacious straight-down water slide.

25

I’ve been to Nassau several times. If it were me, I’d stick with something on Paradise Island, such as the public beach or a day at Atlantis. An excursion to Atlantis is typically fairly pricey, though, and when my sister did this a couple of years ago, there was a lot of walking involved.

When we went to the public beach next door to Atlantis, all it cost us was a taxi, and I then paid for a couple of loungers, an umbrella, and a couple of drinks from the vendors on the beach. The drinks consisted of two small, sealed bottles of Bacardi rum, and all the mixers and ice we needed over the course of the afternoon. The beach we went to was Cabbage Beach.

I would not particularly recommend wandering on your own into town, but if you do, stay in the main tourist areas. There have been some incidents with crime with respect to American tourists. Unfortunately, the island is very impoverished.

For your luggage, it typically arrives piecemeal over the course of 1-3 hours after you board. On DCL, they place it outside your stateroom. Keep your valuables and passports with you in your carry-ons. Check with your cruise line for carrying alcohol onboard…for DCL, it must be hand-carried and and can NOT be placed in your luggage.

With respect to pier-runners, I remember what one of our cruise directors once said a few years ago: “You must return to the ship no later than 4:45 p.m. If for some reason that’s not possible for you or if you are running late, be sure to bring your camera with you…so you can get a photo of the lovely Disney Fantasy sailing away without you.” :eek:

26

My boss’s boss is a long time cruiser, and he gave me his Carnival cruise planner’s contact info so I’ve sent him a message, will hear back on Monday. That will help for the booking the right room for my parents (least motion, close to elevators, mobility concerns) and I plan to ask him all the questions I’ve posted here. But this input is fantastic so I know what additional questions to ask him and can discuss with my wife and parents about the decisions.

27

Don’t know about wine. When is your check-in time? Usually the luggage arrives before sailing, but how long after you check it depends on lots of factors. Definitely carry valuables and medicines and reading material with you.

Depends on the line. On Holland America we had an assigned seat - I think we picked the seating when we did our final arrangements on line. On NCL it was pretty open. When we left Malta we went to dinner very early and got a seat right by the window where we could watch the harbor as we left. The Malta Harbor is the most impressive one I’ve been to.

28

If you’re too close to the elevator, you’re going to hear everyone coming & going, especially the (loud) drunks coming back late at night. You don’t want to be the first room from the elevator.

29

I couldn’t figure out the multi-quote option so I’m going to answer without quoting your original post.

Background - 15 cruises since 2010, 14 of these on Carnival; 100 days total on Carnival ships. We board #15 in 3 weeks. Unfortunately I have not sailed the Carnival Victory.

First, 3-day cruises do not have the same vibe as longer cruises. Many veteran cruisers refer to them as “booze cruises,” people blowing of steam on a 3-day weekend trying to consume as much alcohol as possible. That said, I have never seen anyone falling-down, vomiting drunk on any of my Carnival cruises; tipsy, yes; having a good time, yes; falling down drunk, no.

Now on to or original post bullet points questions. . .
>Balcony Room - The choice is really yours. My wife and I don’t spend a lot of time on our balconies, but it is nice to be able to just step out and watch the ocean go by for 15 minutes or so. It’s so relaxing to the n-th degree.

>Sea days - Carnival will publish a schedule you will get in your cabin the night before. Sea days might include trivia, karaoke, art auction, Lido deck activities, bingo, port talks (avoid these, they are thinly styled shopping talks pushing you to merchants that kick back a cut to the cruise line), music. The casino will be open.

>Room location/higher decks - Higher decks are closer to the activities, but also could have a lot more motion. Here is where a good Carnival Personal Vacation Planner (PVP) can help you pick a good cabin that is not under the casino, lido pool, above the galley or other noisy spots, and can assist in cabin location if motion sickness may be a concern. PVP’s are like travel agents, but work for Carnival and only book Carnival. They are also different (more knowlegble than) a Carnival CSR.

>Drink packages. Again your choice. It runs about $60/day and all adults in the cabin must purchase; Carnival limits you to 15 alcoholic drinks per day. Break even is 5-7 drinks per day. It doesn’t make sense for my wife and I now in our 50s. . .when we were in our 20s, yeah baby!

>Dinner at “fancy” restaurant - Unfortunately the Carnival Victory does not have a steakhouse. The sushi restaurant and seafood shack are lunch/dinner but more casual. The Victory does offer a Chef’s Table, which is just like a Chef’s Table on a land based restaurant, but pricey at about $90pp. However some of the best food I have ever eaten was at a Carnival Chef’s Table.

>Shore excursions - For first timers, I recommend booking through Carnival. Everyone is afraid of missing the ship on their first cruise. But if you do miss the ship, you will have pictures of the ship pulling away that nobody else on your cruise will have!

>Booking - I’d go Carnival PVP. My PVP has booked all my cruises; he has steered my away from rooms I thought I wanted, suggested excursions, and is quite well versed and sailed all the current Carnival fleet. He is also a member of the Carnival Emergency response team; if a family has an emergency he would basically travel to whatever island and act as the Carnival liaison. Oh and he was an extra in the movie Caddyshack! You can PM me if you want his contact info.

>Travel Insurance - Always the 1st thing a book after booking the cruise. www.insuremytrip.com and www.squaremouth.com are two third party travel insurance sites.

Just because the Victory is going into drydock next year do expect it to be rundown. It’s last drydock was only two years ago when a lot of the bars and food places on the Lido deck were added along with hotel maintenance. Crews are always keeping the ship up with painting, polishing, etc.

Further down - your post #22

>Nassau - The wife and I don’t get off at Nassau anymore. In fact we avoid itineraries that stop there. It’s your fist time - you need to do something!

>Packing - Yes the porters will take your bags at the pier (tip them like you would a Skycap). Take a small carry-on (airline overhead size) with medications, a change of clothes, your bathing suit. Rooms will be available around 1:30PM. Your luggage will appear outside your room anywhere from 2:00 – til maybe 7:00PM. First night in the dining room is pretty casual.

>Dining seating - You can pick early (6:00-ish), late (8:00-ish) or anytime dining (go when you want) when you make your reservation. For early and late have your PVP link the reservations for you and your parents. This will get you seated at the same table. Not necessary for anytime dining (although you and your parents need to sign up for anytime dining). Breakfast and Lunch is open seating in the dining room.

The most important thing to do is have fun and not try to do everything in the schedule. I still relive the excitement I felt that first cruise still, every time I board.

30

The guy I’m working with tomorrow is an EPVP (Elite Personal Vacation Planner) so I think I’m in pretty good hands. I have no idea if the “Elite” means anything.

My boss’s boss suggested the Chef’s Table as well, which we may do for our anniversary. But the reality is that we’d be just as comfortable celebrating with a late night pizza and a tequila based drink. :slight_smile: I just spoke with my wife and she thinks just the regular meals or one of regular dining options will be fine. We’ll celebrate our anniversary at home with a romantic dinner for two.

My parents are both mostly deaf without their hearing aids, the elevator traffic shouldn’t bother them. My wife and I are a bit more sensitive to it but we’re used to sleeping in huts and hostels, so hopefully earplugs will cover any problems. I’ll work with the PVP to make sure.

This trip is coming together quickly, it should be interesting.

31

Honestly, no, IMHO. I’ve had them on a few cruises, but ended up hardly using them. In the evening, I love sitting out on the back deck and watching the ocean and, if permitted, having a nice cigar and a lot of tequila. The room, IMHO, is just for sleeping or doing other, non-public things, lets say, but I spend most of my time on the ship doing stuff…or doing nothing.

Me? I’d relax. You can eat when and what you want, wander the ship, read, or there are usually myriad activities. Usually they have classes in all sorts of stuff, there are pools and other entertainments, shows at night. But, for my part, I enjoy basically sitting on one of the decks on the side, listening to a good book or reading, and watching the ocean and all the marine life. I hardly ever get to relax in my RL job or life, so I really enjoy the downtime from a cruise. My wife and I generally go on 1-2 a year, and plan to do more once we retire.

Depends on what you are looking for. If you plan to entertain folks in your room during the cruise, then it will be worth it to have the larger cabin. But, really, for me the cabin is a place to sleep or just spend some time with my wife.

Doesn’t really matter to me, personally, but generally we’ve gotten cabins in the middle of the ship, maybe a few decks up from the water line. Usually all services and areas of the ship are fairly easy to get too, and IMHO you’ll want to move around and wander, though you have a short cruise so you won’t be able to see everything or do everything.

I don’t think so, but then I tend to buy stuff to bring back from me on the usual cruises, and I bring things like cigars and such with me. You can usually bring booze too, which I do, though I’ll often also buy a drink (or 3) on deck or at one of the lounges, at least if they have decent stuff available (say, single malt scotch that’s really good, or very good tequila). I don’t think the drink package are worth it though unless you plan to drink a lot and don’t plan to bring your own or buy your own on the cruise.

The caveat to this is not all ships allow you to bring stuff on board, and they have been tightening this up recently, so check the cruise and see what they do allow.

We usually eat at the formal dinning room at least once. I used to really love when they had pizza parlors and such, but that doesn’t seem to be as much of a thing anymore, and the buffet is the king. But you shouldn’t have to make reservations, at least I don’t recall having to do that. Of course, that sort of real life stuff isn’t my forte, so my wife might know more about it than I do. Generally, I pack a suit and just show up at dinner time to sit down and eat. :stuck_out_tongue:

I wouldn’t. I think they are generally a rip off or overly structured. My wife and I usually just go ashore and find a likely looking local who wants to make some money to take us around, though that might be living dangerously for some. We’ve never had a bad experience, though I have heard some folks have. For a few days cruise though, I’d just wander around and go to the beach if it were me. Stuff is fairly close in Nassau, at least it was the last time I was on a cruise to the Bahamas…which was, admittedly, quite a while ago.

We usually book straight through the cruise line, but I don’t really know what’s best. Again, this sort of thing is more my wife…I just show up, bags in hand.

I’ve never gotten it, that I’m aware of anyway, so no idea. Sorry.

I’ve gone on a few Carnival ships, and they are pretty nice, so I’m sure you’ll have a great time. Hope some of this helps! :slight_smile:

32

I haven’t cruised on Carnival, so I can’t help with the specifics but -

Drink packages - if you aren’t big drinkers, it’s probably not worth getting an alcoholic beverage package unless you get it free or by paying only the gratuity.* But check the availability and prices of non-alcoholic drinks - most likely, the only included beverages are lemonade, iced tea, non-bottled water, coffee and tea. And you may only be able to get those at the restaurants or buffets, not at every bar. It might be worth getting a soda/juice package.

*Balcony ** - I’ve gotten a balcony a couple of times when either there wasn’t a big difference in price between inside and balcony or when I won an upgrade bid (which means there wasn’t a big difference in price). Whether a balcony or large balcony is worth it is going to depend on how much time you’re going to spend in the room. Although I like relaxing with a book, there are plenty of places to do that without being in the room and usually I’d rather be on a sundeck or in a lounge instead of the room. The only cruise that I really though the balcony would have been worth the usual price difference was Alaska. ( won my upgrade on that one)
Sea days There’s plenty to do on sea days- game shows, trivia, fruit carving/ice sculpting/towel origami/cooking demonstrations , movies, dance classes. You might be able to find daily schedules for your ship on Cruise Critic or in a Facebook group

  • NCL has a promotion where depending on your room type, you can choose from a number of perks including the drink package - the gratuity is under $20 per day pp , and even though I’m not a big drinker, I will absolutely drink enough for the package to be worth $20 per day. Other lines have similar promotions but I don’t know about Carnival.

** On a 7 night cruise, the difference between an inside and a balcony is usually around $500 on NCL.

33

I’ve never been on a Carnival ship, but on the others the elevators are in large cross aisles, and not nearly as close to rooms as they are in a typical hotel. You might get more traffic past your room if you are near the cross aisle, but I’ve never heard anyone outside, so that shouldn’t be a problem.

34

I’ve been on, I think, 20 cruises. People have answered the OP’s questions, so I’ll just underscore:[ul]
[li]Drinks: It really depends how much you plan to drink. I normally buy individual drinks, whether on the ship or on shore. [/li][li]Balcony: I like a balcony, and haven’t noticed large vs. small making a difference. There are plenty of places on the ship to look out, either through glass or unobstructed.[/li][li]Activities: In addition to those listed, I enjoy just walking the deck with an audiobook on my iPod. There are communal and noisy activities and solitary quiet options. Note that normally during landing days, it’s easier to book a spa appointment for a massage, acupuncture, haircut, etc. Casinos are closed while ships are docked.[/li][li]Deck and position: It’s nice to have the view of a higher deck, but if anyone in the party gets seasick, it’s better to be low and central.[/li][li]Excursions: I was in Grand Cayman after a hurricane. For Nassau, I’d think you’d do best with a ship’s excursion because community infrastructure may be affected.[/li][li]Luggage: Do check the alcohol policy. Do pack medications and valuables in carry-on. I tend to cruise with a 22" bag and a backpack and walk all my luggage on myself. If I want to have a larger bag, I carry on either a backpack or the 22" bag.[/li][/ul]
Enjoy!

35

I should clarify my response here. I think that getting a balcony is worth it. I have no real opinion on the value of a larger balcony because we’ve only ever had a standard-sized one.

We tend to mainly sit out on our balcony in the mornings. For the rest of the time (throughout the day, or even late at night), we might just step out for a few minutes to watch the ocean and to get a breath of fresh air.

If we are planning to lay out on a lounger, we just go up on one of the upper decks. It might be nice to have a balcony that could fit a couple of loungers (like some of the balconies at the back of the ship), but we’ve never had this as an option.

36

Balconies are definitely worth it to us. The Druidess likes to order room service for breakfast, and sit out on the balcony watching the sun come up. I like to sit out there and watch the waves.

Drink packages…I usually get the one for soft drinks, but neither of us drink enough alcohol to justify one of those packages.

Shore excursions–we book through Carnival, because they guarantee not to leave you behind if your excursion runs late getting you back to the ship. If you do not book through Carnival, you could get left behind. Other cruise lines may have different rules.

Sea Days—these are my favorite part of the trip. I’m a big fan of doing very little beyond wandering the ship a bit, and maybe doing some reading. There are usually lots of activities available–bingo, crafts, a casino, shopping, movies, etc. At night, there are live stage shows that are very impressive, near Broadway quality, and standup comics.

Restaurants–I think on Carnival you can make a reservation before you board the ship. The formal dining room is usually pretty good, and comes with the cruise–except for alcohol.

37

txjim mentioned Cruise Critic, I just wanted to second that recommendation as a very helpful resource. You can get very specific info there, about your ship, specific excursions, ports of call, etc.

38

So, the deed is done. We’re booked. Tonight I’ll go though all the online stuff and make any additional reservations or purchase shore packages.

Thanks again everyone for your help. I’ll probably have more questions, but if anyone else has cruise questions feel free to use this thread.

39

Just chiming in to share my favorite excursion from Nassau. We didn’t bother with a real shore excursion, just got a local driver to take us to Ardastra Gardens. It’s really lovely and relaxed. Nice place to walk around, see some cool animals and beautiful scenery. They missed all of the mess and damage.