Going on my first Cruise!

[mikejet]

What are they like? We are taking a short cruise, 3 day down to Mexico. Leave on a Friday and come back Monday morning.

I think we are going on Carnival. So what should I expect? Not sure what we will do for the day excursion, we really are in Ensenada for only one day.

When I watched the Travel Channel they were saying cash isn't used on the ship and you kind of get this card that you are billed for everything after. Is that true?

How is the food? Is there room service?

Going in the middle of May!

[Blu-Benny]

we went on a carnival for our honeymoon....it was great!!

really liked it and can't wait to go on another.

the food......AWESOME!!!

all night pizzarias so if u work up an apetite doing any nocturnal activities....

we had a formal dinner each night avail. to us, fancy food & what not but then they have sandwich bars, burger stands, pretty much anything you can think of.

no cash, they tie an on board "credit card" to all of your purchases and you can either charge your actual credit card @ the end or pay cash or check....whatever.

we went to the mayan ruins on our day excursion, we went from miami to key west to cozumel mexico.

room service was great too.

have fun dude, anything you can think of is pretty much avail. to you.

if you have any questions, let me know!!!

[mikejet]

Yeah if we really like this one then we will take another cruise later on and fly to Florida and hit the Bahamas.

[Blu-Benny]

we wanted to go on another for our 5 year anniversary.....that's in 3 months....ain't gonna happen!!!

our's was a 5 day cruise and that was actually the perfect length for us.

left on monday and flew to miami, sail overnight and had 1 day in key west, sail overnight to cozumel spent the day there, then turn around and sail back and spend 1 day @ sea get back on friday.

one great part, we bought 9 bottles of booze on the ship duty (tax) free.

got what would've been a $40 bottle of gin for $19!!! we packed them in our bags and luckily every one made it home safe!!!

[HuskerGuy]

Cruises are great, I'm sure you'll love it. I've been on two, both of which were Carnival. The food and service are wonderful. I actually enjoyed our sea days as much as (if not more than) our excursion days.

[Psychonaut]

I've been wanting to do an extended Alaska cruise for a few years now. Last time I priced it, the tally went above $10k for everything we wanted to do and that's prior to souveniers and booze and stuff. We agreed now's not the time to be dumping cash like that.

[HuskerGuy]

Originally Posted by Psychonaut

I've been wanting to do an extended Alaska cruise for a few years now. Last time I priced it, the tally went above $10k for everything we wanted to do and that's prior to souveniers and booze and stuff. We agreed now's not the time to be dumping cash like that.

I'd absolutely love to do an Alaskan cruise. The two we've been on were Carribean.

[Blu-Benny]

my parent's went on an AK cruise a couple years ago.

i think they spent $5k for the 2 of them to go but don't know what they all did.

i know they went and watched the whales as a side trip.

[Chordata]

I'll echo everyone else -- the food is great.

I can't recall not having to use cash...I think we DID use cash on Norweigian.

[HuskerGuy]

Regarding the charge card, it's true for Carnival. They issue you pass cards that are used for charging things and getting you on and off the boat. No cash was need on the boat, with the exception of leaving cash tips for room cleaning.

[sfmarine]

I went on a Carnival cruise in '06. Left from Miami and went to Jamaica. I thought Jamaica itself was a dump. The port, Ocho Rios, is located in the ghetto lol.I ran into numerous prostitutes and a lot of drugs. Very different atmosphere from the states. Jamaica is nice if y uo stay in a hotel lol but Ocho Rios is literally in the middle of a craphole. Once you get past all the prostitution etc. there's plenty of shops to see etc.

I got my cuban cigars and headed back to the ship. Carnival ships are fun and there's so much going on throughout the day. They even do a turn down service so you get back to your room and find the itinerary for the next day. I literally gained 10 lbs so watch your eating habits lol. 24 hour pizza/ice cream + room service can take its toll. The midnight buffets were also very elegant. The food is probably the best thing about the cruise. Lobster, steak it's all good and you can order as much as you want lol. The hot tub fills up rather quickly so your best bet is to go after it in the morning or late in the evening. I'm looking forward to my next cruise, hopefully to Cozumel.

Edit: I'm not sure if Carnival has free wi-fi now or not. I went 4 years ago and you had to pay a hefty price to get online. Hopefully that's changed by now.

[Moefiz]

Mike we did a Carnival Cruise in 97 for our honeymoon, it was the best.At that time most cruise were leaving from Florida only now they leave from alot of the major cities.
We enjoyed it completely, food was great and we had one of the cabin with a balcony..beautiful in the mornings...the only thing we had to pay for at the time was alcohol drinks.. you can basically eat anything and anytime you want..we never had to use cash our cabin door key was our pass card to get on and off the ship and used as a credit card.

Me and the wife is actually thinking about taking another one this year but this time we would have the kids with us....not meaning to hijack the thread...anyone cruised with kids before.

[silversnake]

You'll have a blast Mike. I have done about 4 cruises on Carnival. I was never a fan of the excursions mostly because sometimes it looks on the pamphlet / description and it falls way short when you are there.

I had fun being on the boat and than just going into that town and just enjoying the day there.

Food is awesome

[mikejet]

Sound like it will be awesome then. We are going for Mother's Day/Grandmother's Birthday. A bunch of our family will be there. Might be able to squeeze drinks out of my uncles and aunts then

[fatediesel]

Originally Posted by sfmarine

I went on a Carnival cruise in '06. Left from Miami and went to Jamaica. I thought Jamaica itself was a dump. The port, Ocho Rios, is located in the ghetto lol.I ran into numerous prostitutes and a lot of drugs. Very different atmosphere from the states. Jamaica is nice if y uo stay in a hotel lol but Ocho Rios is literally in the middle of a craphole. Once you get past all the prostitution etc. there's plenty of shops to see etc.

I completely agree about Ocho Rios. Everywhere you walk you see people selling drugs and it is not at all nice. When I went there on a cruise there was a private beach so we didn't stay in town long, although we did go on some tour of a waterfall that was pretty cool.

I went on 2 Carnival cruises when I was about 13 and 14. I liked them quite a bit. Like others have said everything is put on a card and you don't use cash. I'm not sure if it's worth it to go on a 3 day cruise though. It is hell getting on and off the ship at the beginning and end of the trip, and I'm not sure if it's worth it for a 3 day trip. There are huge lines getting through customs and everything else that's required.

[mikejet]

My wife and I were planning on doing a Jamaica trip but we would be going to a Sandals or other private all inclusive resort.

[silversnake]

Originally Posted by fatediesel

It is hell getting on and off the ship at the beginning and end of the trip, and I'm not sure if it's worth it for a 3 day trip. There are huge lines getting through customs and everything else that's required.

Yup that's the downside of the cruise. The lines to get on and off the ship. To get off the ship (end of the trip) I think they go by room number or name, I can't remember. If you are one of the first than you are lucky but I remember one year we were one of the last so we had to wait over an hour + on the boat with nothing to do but wait.

[Elandyll]

Did a 7 day Carribean cruise with Carnival back in 04, was one of the best vacation of my life.

TIPS:
- remember that you'll have to leave a (cash) tip to your waiter (if you do the formal dining, but I advise you do, food is great) and the cabin people at the end of the trip.
- if you want to do excursions, go reserve those as -the- first thing you'll do once on board. Cabins won't be ready right away anyway.
- Casino and auctions will be closed when in territorial waters (US ones anyway)
- If you plan on buying stuff at auctions (there can be some pretty nifty deals) or heavy stuff in Tax heavens, have a shipping backup plan when arriving. My in laws had a bit of a headache figuring things out at our arrival with their art bought on board (4-5 large frame paintings)
- Have your bags well labelled. Someone will deliver them to your cabin.
- Be ready to be in a long line and wait for a long time (several times if you do excursions). Hundreds of people boarding/ unboarding is a lenghty thing.
- Orientate yourself in regard to elevators when arriving. The other place you need to know about is the Help desk, and your assigned night time restaurant.
- The cash card is nice, but it can be -very- expensive too. It can be used at the arcade, casino, buying drinks, and the bill can be severe at the end of the trip.
- There is an option for drinks. Unlimited Water / Ice tea are included, but then you have a "soft drink" package (that we didn't take and regretted not to). If memory serves, any alcoholic drink is a per drink charge.
- Each night you have an "entertainment show" in the main theatre. From Vegas style dancers, to magic show, etc. First arrived first seated, so plan accordingly

[Moefiz]

Originally Posted by mikejet

My wife and I were planning on doing a Jamaica trip but we would be going to a Sandals or other private all inclusive resort.

Like many said...one of the stop on our cruise was Ochos Rios, it was one of the worst one...once you get out of the dock, its all down hill from there.

[HuskerGuy]

Originally Posted by Moefiz

Like many said...one of the stop on our cruise was Ochos Rios, it was one of the worst one...once you get out of the dock, its all down hill from there.

While I agree most of the surroundings were less than pleasant, Ocho Rios was one of my favorite stops for excursions. We swam with dolphins and did Duns River Falls (sp?) which I thought was fantastic. Now, if you didn't have any excursions planned and just wanted to bum around, I agree, there are much better places to do so.

Of the places we've been on our cruises, my favorite would have to be Aruba.