We are going on a Cruise! Any tips??

[crazeedizneefinatic]

What a surprise! We are going on a cruise in April to the Bahamas. We have never done one before and just booking it took a lot out of me. The price differences were enough to drive me crazy, but we ended up with a fantastic deal. Since this is our 1st cruise we need some pointers. By the way we are going on the Carnival Imagination. Thanks!

[jrkcr]

I've never been on a cruise, so I don't have any first hand advice.
But my DD17 and DD15 have cruised with my parents, and my parents cruise ALOT. They've done Alaska, Bahamas, and Caribbean. And they have been on all different cruise lines, and they say their favorite is Carnival!! And my mom says she won't go on any other cruise line again.

So it sounds like you've got a fun trip coming!!

[vicster]

Can't think of any pointers offhand. We did the Carnival Imagination to the Western Caribbean and it was great! Great service and great food - no complaints whatsoever.

Have a good trip!

[Ian]

We just got back from a week long Mexican Riviera cruise on NCL and it was amazing.

You're going to have a blast. They're so much fun. We're already thinking of replacing our December Disney trip with another cruise and we're definitely doing one next Spring to Bermuda.

Enjoy!!

[PrettyMinnie]

SUNSCREEN! We went on a cruise a few years ago and my mom fell asleep when we were sunbathing. She looked like a lobster!! Have fun!!

[crazypoohbear]

We are going on a cruise in June!!
You will have a great time.
I have cruised on Royal Caribbean and Disney, so I am in no way an expert at anything but here are a few tips.
get there early and board early, you can explore the ship and get your bearings.
you won't get into your cabin right away so bring a carry on with essentials, including a bathing suit so you can hit the pools if you want.
Read the navigators, or whatever they are called on your ship, they give updated information on everything going on on the ship with times.
Don't try to do everything, you want to relax also.
If you order the drink of the day, request it without the souvenir glass, it will save you a couple of bucks!
find out if your cruise includes soda or if you have to pay extra.
Find out if you can bring soda/water/alcohol on board.
bring something for sea sickness just in case, better to have it on hand then to be without.
bring extra sunscreen!
Get to know your cabin steward, it will be helpful.
That's all I can think of right now!

[crazeedizneefinatic]

Thanks! Great tips. I am so looking forward to this. We are only going for 4 days. My parents are joining us which is nice. My 8 year old actually started pushing a cruise a few weeks ago. He really wanted to go on the Nickelodeon cruise. Man, that is way out of line! For 3 people for 7 days it was almost $4,000!! No way. So we started looking and got a great deal from Carnival. Airfare to Ftl Lauderdale was annoying to book. Hardly any direct flights to/from pittsburgh. We could have flown into Miami but it was just too expensive. We got one going down which was really all I was worried about. Coming home we have a stop in Atlanta. I am not used to layovers so this should be an experience.

[TheDuckRocks]

Enjoy, enjoy, enjoy!!!
We are new to cruising and have only done 2 so far, but we have 2 more on tap, one in Oct. 2009 and one in Oct. 2010. I so wish we would have tried cruising years ago. For vacationing cruising is running neck and neck with a Disney World trip now.
For tons of cruising info and discussion boards go to cruise critic dot com. Be aware that they don't always play nice on the discussion boards and there are a lot of poeple who go to the website only to complain.

[Ian]

Just a reminder that our friends at Magical Journeys can also do cruises for folks. That includes Disney and non-Disney.

We always like to steer as much business there was as we can, because A. they really help keep INTERCOT up and running and B. because they are so darn good at what they do.

[crazeedizneefinatic]

Just a reminder that our friends at Magical Journeys can also do cruises for folks. That includes Disney and non-Disney.

We always like to steer as much business there was as we can, because A. they really help keep INTERCOT up and running and B. because they are so darn good at what they do.

Thanks! I did not even think about that. I probably should have called, LOL. I searched high and low for this cruise. I was so determined. It's amazing how different the prices were, even those so called last minutes deals. We ended up calling Carnival direct and got $209 for my husband and myself and $99 for my son.
I will keep them in mind from now on!

[crazypoohbear]

We had Wendy book our cruise for this coming June. Then I send my friend and her family to Wendy also.
Magical Journeys ROCKS!!!