Cruise advice.........

[HONDABBQ]

Thinking of taking a cruise. I am sure a good handful of you TS members ahve been on one or several. I hae been doing some research on them and it seems to me there is a number of daily add ons at the end you get hit with. What is a normal amount per person that is added at the end of the cruise?
What other tips/ advice/ tricks can you toss my way to assist me in making my choice.

[ATV_babe]

We went on a Carnival Cruise this past February. I was amazing! They treat you like Royalty! There is always something to do on the Ship and I definitely recommend researching excursions off shore (the Catamarans were my favorite! Tons of free Booze and snorkeling) and booking before you get on the ship is always best as they are on a first come first serve basis.

Everyone is given a "ship card" that is needed to get on and off the ship at all ports and acts like a credit card on the ship for alcoholic drinks, shopping, the additional restaurants, photos etc. For our 8 day cruise I think they added something like $ 100.00 per person (including our 2 year old Daughter) for gratuities.

I would definitely recommend a cruise! It was an incredible experience and I can’t say enough about Camp Carnival for the kiddies!

[Mrstrailboss330]

Boy do we have a prize for you.... one of our silent auction prizes is a cruise there are three different destinations for you to choose from and it is for three days and can be upgraded. Come to the social for more info and a chance to win it.

[cowboy_barney]

We have done 5 cruises, all with Royal Carribean. You have an option with them for gratuities, you can automattically charge your credit card or pay with cash to the servers. We typically go the cash route as then I know the people are getting their tips. The prices recommended were around 100 bucks per person.

Shore excursions range from 20 to 300, depending on what you do. Do your research on them and try to book them before the cruise as the lineups on board can be pretty long.

We have our 6th cruise booked for this winter, stopping in Cozumel, Jamaica, and Grand Cayman. We have been to Cozumel, Jamaica, Belize, Honduras, St Thomas, St Kitts, Aruba, Curacao, and Puerto Rico. Off all the places, we found Honduras the nicest, followed by Aruba, Curacao, then St Thomas and St Kitts.

[Fat Cat]

Bin on three cruises. Loved every one of them. Lots of fun get to see lots and eat lots too. Drinks are pricy but other than that will go again. we did a 12 day and two 7 day cruises. I think it's better to go with other couples also book your self a out side cabin with your own balcony. Rooms are bigger and you can enjoy the mornings and the evenings without all the peeps around ya.

[Sniper-T]

tagged for interest. Wife and I are going on a cruise this winter

[rubberdown]

We have our 5th cruise booked for this coming January, we are huge criusing fans. We have done 2 with Princess, and 2 with Carnival, Princess is always a more "elegent" trip and caters more to the older crowd, not saying its an old person thing, there were lots of kids on both of our Princess trips, its just a more elegent cruise. For example, on the 2 "fine dinning" nights, there are people in tuxedoes and women in really fancey evening gowns, I wore a suit, my wife wore a nice sun dress or whatever, but NO ONE comes to the main dining room in shorts, not acceptable, HOWEVER, on the Carnival fine dinning nights, a decent collared shirt and nice shorts is fine, t-shirts are frowned upon but we did see a few people dressed like slobs on the 2 fine dinning nights.

Nore kids on Carnival for sure, more games for grownups around the pools where people seem to be getting loaded and having a great time.

For shore excurssions, you will save a TON if you research and book outside of the cruise line, trust me, we did it both ways, we wont book through the ship again unless we have to.

For booze, you are allowed to bring on 1 bottle of wine per adult per cabin, so if its you and the wife and an adult child, 3 bottle in your room from home, if you dont drink wine but like booze, re-bottle the hard stuff in your whine bottles and get them corked, or go on ebay and order the "rum runners" and sneek on a couple 60 ouncers in your luggage We had enough vodka and rye that we didnt drink it all LOL.

Food on both lines I have been on are incredible, we NEVER eat dinner in the buffet, the dinning room is like eating at a 5 star (or better) restaurant every night. If you like something on the menue and want 2 of them, ask for 2 or 3 or whatever, if you like all the main courses (or any course for that matter) ask for all of them, or whatever ones you want. I eat like a king on the ships, I usually have 2 or 3 appetizers, and 2 of the main courses LOL, but I'm a big guy and I love good food.

Tips are usually taken off your room daily and added to your final bill, they range from around $9 to $11 per day per person, so you wont have to hand anyone a cash tip if you dont want to. We always leave stuff for our room steward, and we also give out wait staff a nice tip on the last evening, but we have always liked our wait staff and request their section every night.

For dinning, there is "anytime" dinning and then the other one is called something else, the other one is a set dinning time every night, you miss it, you are eating at the buffet, we always select "anytime" dinning so we can go to dinner any time want.

Theres so much more I could add, we love to cruise, I cant say enough good things about them, any questions on anything I left out, feel free to ask, and if you book one, let me know what ports you are going to, we have been to a lot of them and could give you travel and excursion advice there too!

Paul

[Sniper-T]

Do they check your baggage for alcohol when you come on board? what about after an island day, do they search your bags?

[cowboy_barney]

Originally Posted by Sniper-T

Do they check your baggage for alcohol when you come on board? what about after an island day, do they search your bags?

Royal scans your bags, and will confiscate alcohol, but if you put alcohol into a water bottle, opened and not full, they let it go.

Also, go with an outside cabin with a balcony, we finally had one last year and will never cruise again without the balcony.

[Ilovetoys]

We went on the norwegian epic and had a good time. This is stuff you need to know here. Be in the middle of the shipand the highest level you can afford for less boat movement. The fiancee got sea sick and the boats do rock on rough days so bring gravol. Best way to book is through what ever cruise line you decide on. Don't waste your time with a travel agent. The tipping they add at the end of the trip you don't have to pay you can get them taken off. There also all inclusive cruise lines out there if that's what you want. Royal carribean has a a drink pkg for liquor and depending how much you drink it might be worth it for you to get. Food was good and bring lots of ones to tip. Drinks range from 8 to 13 bucks and beer is the cheapest. On the epic it cost 30 bucks for 6 beers. Cruising is not for everyone older crowd from what I seen and the people I talk to. The fiancee won't do another one except for a pan am canal which we are doing for our honeymoon. All inclusive is better for us but I recommend doing it once for sure

[rubberdown]

Originally Posted by Sniper-T

Do they check your baggage for alcohol when you come on board? what about after an island day, do they search your bags?

Yup, scanned just like the airport I would imagine. We did our 1st 3 cruises with gatorade bottles filled with Vodka and left them in the suit cases, they all made it into the room just fine, and they even went through the one suitcase LOL.

For getting booze ashore, they will hold it for you untill your cruise is over, or like already said, fill a water bottle and just bring it back on the ship, I usually hold it like I'm drinking it and no problems at all.

I dont tip much at all during the day, they take enough from the 3 of us on a daily basis, and then by the end of the cruise, like I said above, I'll tip the room person, the wait staff we use and if theres a good waiter on the deck that takes care of us, he gets a tip too.

[rubberdown]

Oh and yes, get a balcony sweet, we did interior on our first one, nice because its pitch black, you can sleep at any time and never know the sun is outside. We did a window room on our 2nd cruise and then the last 2 have been balconey's, worth the extra money.

Also, with cruises, booking sooner is usually cheaper, unlike a last minute Cuba trip that gets cheaper the closer it comes to the trip dates. And if you book the cruise as an "early saver" setup (ask your travel agent about this) and you keep an eye on the price of your trip, if the price goes down, you get an on-board credit for the same amount

[cowboy_barney]

ILoveToys mentioned being in the middle of the ship for less movement, agree there. Being higher up seems to add to movement side to side, think of a simple geometry, the further away from a pivot point (ie. bottom of ship) the more movement so I would disagree with being higher up. And have been on the same ship on different levels and lower in the ship is better.
Interior cabin is good for sleeping, dark as can be, but when you wake up in the middle of the night and the ship is rocking, you have no sense of perspective. The first cruise we did I was positive the ship was going over, until I turned the lights on, then it was barely moving.

[Frabill 1]

Been on 3 cruises with Norwegian. Free style. No fancy dressing up if you don't want to, eat where and when you want. Loved it!

Mixed bag of ppl of all ages. booze is definately pricy but if your reasonable in your consumption, you only spend a couple hundred bucks at the most between 2 people on a 7 day cruise.

Gratuities are standard and you should know beforehand how much you'll be paying. I don't remember any surprises.

Don't go for the spa, manicures, massages, and you'll be fine again. Definately room with balcony. First time we had a window that gave us a great view of a life boat. Other two times were balcony and I spent a lot of time there.

I recommend Norwegian to anyone who asks.

[Sniper-T]

Uhoh... The wife already mentioned wanting a spa 'day'... I assumed they'd be pricey, but...
??

[Ilovetoys]

we went to the spa 3 times on the ship. First day we booked it cost us 700 and worth every penny... some deals to be had when at port for the spa

[four_420_twenty]

Originally Posted by Ilovetoys

we went to the spa 3 times on the ship. First day we booked it cost us 700 and worth every penny... some deals to be had when at port for the spa

so men do go get pedicures and manicures. hmm always wonderd lol jk. are there baths in your rooms or just a shower? must be akward in rough seas

[Ilovetoys]

Originally Posted by four_420_twenty

so men do go get pedicures and manicures. hmm always wonderd lol jk. are there baths in your rooms or just a shower? must be akward in rough seas

Yeah sure do I am secure with my man hood :) Did 3 messages and a sea weed wrap and facial and go to the spa on a regular basis with the fiancee

[Frabill 1]

Originally Posted by Ilovetoys

we went to the spa 3 times on the ship. First day we booked it cost us 700 and worth every penny.

$700 for one day and you went back! You have a lot of money to blow.

[Ilovetoys]

Originally Posted by Frabill 1

$700 for one day and you went back! You have a lot of money to blow.

I'm on vacation so really don't worry about cash to a certain point trip was paid way before we went