Going on my first cruise and I know NOTHING help!!!

[OhMari]

This is why we have yet to go on a cruise.

We would love to go and my MIL is dying to do a Disney Cruise with the kids, but our two younger kids and I have severe motion sickness.

I always read these threads and hear about everyone's wonderful cruise experiences. We are so tempted to bring some meds and just hope for the best, but it would be such a waste if half of us are absolutely miserable and sick the whole trip.

These newer ships have stabilizers. I also get motion sickness, and I only felt the ship move when we hit a tropical storm.

We cruised in August when the temps were in the high 90's. When we were outside, by the pool or walking around, the breeze and wind kept you colored off. I would definitely bring a sweater and a sweatshirt, jacket.

 

[caborst]

This is why we have yet to go on a cruise.

We would love to go and my MIL is dying to do a Disney Cruise with the kids, but our two younger kids and I have severe motion sickness.

I always read these threads and hear about everyone's wonderful cruise experiences. We are so tempted to bring some meds and just hope for the best, but it would be such a waste if half of us are absolutely miserable and sick the whole trip.

I suffer from motion sickness (won't do the tea cups) as well but have gone on numerous cruises with good and bad results. I sailed through Hurricane Bob in 1990 and was very ill and did not go on another cruise for 10 years. Other times never felt any motion at all. But have always managed to have a good time overall.

You can do some things to reduce the possibility of motion sickness. Stay away from the Atlantic at all costs, go during a typically calm time of year, get a mid-ship lower level cabin, start on Dramamine (or similar) a few days before the cruise and don't stop until you are home. Pick an itinerary with lots of port stops to get off the ship if needed. You would probably make out okay and have a fabulous time.

 

[jeepgirl30]

Cruise critic for sure!

On our first cruise our bar tab/incidentials were more than the cruise/airfare combined! Drinks are expensive on the ship so be sure to find out what all you will be needing to pay for ahead of time. By our second cruise we were well prepared for it but the couple going with us, not so much. During the sail away party waiters come around with the drink of the day just handing them out, they aren't free!

 

[lisajl]

OP--so glad you posted this! We are going on our first cruise in June 2013 to Alaska with my DS, BIL, DSIL and her boyfriend.
So much to figure out!
Have a great time!!!

 

[lilmissdisney216]

I'm on Royal Carribbean line in March 2013 and we're doing Nasau, St Maartens, and St. Thomas. Allure of the Seas is our ship.

Thank you all for the wonderful info so far! Sorry it took me so long to get back to the thread, I got a nasty concussion the other night so I've been extremely under the weather.

 

[wdwmom2]

I'm on Royal Carribbean line in March 2013 and we're doing Nasau, St Maartens, and St. Thomas. Allure of the Seas is our ship.

Thank you all for the wonderful info so far! Sorry it took me so long to get back to the thread, I got a nasty concussion the other night so I've been extremely under the weather.

Same ship, same intinary as what DH and I did April 2011. Any specific questions, please ask. I will help if I can.

 

[lilmissdisney216]

Same ship, same intinary as what DH and I did April 2011. Any specific questions, please ask. I will help if I can.

Okay I have a huge phobia of certain "sea life" (jellyfish to be specific). How many of these little buggers are running amuck at the ports on the beach. This is one of my biggest fears on a cruise. Do you know abouts how big the rink is onboard the ship. I'm looking to go skating while on board (I've been skating for 15 years and have always wanted to ice skate on a cruise ship). Thank you so much for all your help.

 

[bookgirl]

Take half the clothes and twice the money you planned on.


1st law of cruising.


Here's the CC site link with a whole slew of threads for cruising for first timers.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=11

 

[wdwmom2]

Okay I have a huge phobia of certain "sea life" (jellyfish to be specific). How many of these little buggers are running amuck at the ports on the beach. This is one of my biggest fears on a cruise. Do you know abouts how big the rink is onboard the ship. I'm looking to go skating while on board (I've been skating for 15 years and have always wanted to ice skate on a cruise ship). Thank you so much for all your help.

Orient Beach in St Martin was the only beach we went to. Water was wonderful! Didn't see a single sea critter. Did the Benard's Tour there. Highly recommend. Google it!


Never skated in their ice rink, did watch the show. Smaller ice rink, but big enough for them to put on a good show You need socks and long pants to skate there. No shorts.

Here is a link to my review. But there are a TON of reviews on CC!!!!

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1388042

 

[mmouse37]

I cannot say enough good things about checking out cruise critic!

If you are allowed on your ship and you plan to bring your own wine also bring a corkscrew, some cruise lines charge upwards of $15 per bottle to uncork the wine for you

Don't bring a ton of stuff, space is very limited. Do bring a few over the counter drugs (tylenol, allergy meds, stomach meds, motion sickness, etc), you can get them on the ship but they are expensive.

DH ordered wine with dinner and our sommelier informed us that they will recork and hold the bottle for as long as it takes you to finish it (not sure if all ships do that but it ended up saving over buying wine by the glass). As for food, if you don't like what you are served they will bring you something else. Don't like the menu options? They will make you something else. Want a 4th serving of steak? they will bring it to you.

On cruise critic you will be able to find the recommended gratuities for your cruise, it seems like a lot but it is well worth it (at least it was on Celebrity, we got not so great service on DCL). We also tipped our server extra on the first night in addition to his end of cruise envelope, I am sure that helped with the amazing service we received If you are celebrating anything (birthday, honeymoon, new job) make sure you tell them.

Read the daily activity guide, there is a ton of stuff going on every day!

If you decide not to get off the ship on port days, or for the entire day, the spa usually offers really good deals on port days. I got an hour long hot stone massage for about $40, WAY less than the regular price. This usually isn't advertised so I suggest stopping in the spa on the first day of the cruise and asking if they have specials.

Have a great time, enjoy the food, and don't forget to come back and tell us all about it!

Bolding is mine....the "corking fee" has nothing to do with the physical act of opening a bottle of wine....it is basically a service charge for not using the ship's wine. Even if a person opens their own bottle of wine in their stateroom with their own wine opener and brings it into the dining room...chances are they will be charged the corking fee. Every cruise line I have been on does this. Sometimes servers look the other way as they feel it may impact their tip if they charge someone the corking fee, but the fee is for not using the ship's wine.

MJ

 

[wdwmom2]

Bolding is mine....the "corking fee" has nothing to do with the physical act of opening a bottle of wine....it is basically a service charge for not using the ship's wine. Even if a person opens their own bottle of wine in their stateroom with their own wine opener and brings it into the dining room...chances are they will be charged the corking fee. Every cruise line I have been on does this. Sometimes servers look the other way as they feel it may impact their tip if they charge someone the corking fee, but the fee is for not using the ship's wine.

MJ

My understanding is there is no corkage fee if you consume it in your cabin. The corkage fee applies to comsumption in public areas. At least this is how I am understanding it as it was being talked about on CC.

Here is a link I just found.. http://www.royalcaribbean.com/custo...erage&faqId=5442&faqSubjectId=336&faqType=faq

ETA: I plan on taking my wine limit on my upcoming cruise. I will be sipping away on my balcony!!!

 

[ksjayhawks]

Have done the same itinerary as you will be on. Have been on both Allure and Oasis. They are great ships! You will be so spoiled once you have been on one of them--they are like a floating city.

When you are in Central Park, it doesn't seem like you are on a ship at all! Love to get a roast beef sandwich mid afternoon from the restaurant in Central Park and curl up on the comfy seats with my book for some quiet time! So much to do on the ship, you should not be bored!

Skating rink isn't huge, but everyone seems to have a good time. Shows are good--get your tickets ahead of time--plus there are all sorts of other activities you don't need tickets for. Read the daily paper--comes out night before--to find out what is going on. I suggest taking a highlighter so you can mark what interests you.

In St Maartin, we get off the ship, take the water taxi across, then walk down the beach towards the end of the shopping part of town. We rent some chairs and umbrellas for the day. There is a street vendor close by that has great, reasonably priced food.

In Nassau, we swam with the sea lions. In St Thomas, we went to Megan's Bay. Both fun activities!

If you have more questions, pm me.

 

[mdsoccermom]

This.

I've no personal experience with RC, but the people in my cruising group generally say it's okay.

They have said, however, that they have begun cutting food quality in the general dining rooms in order to push people into the restaurants that have upcharges. The humungous ships (Oasis of the Seas, et al.), in particular, purposely don't have enough space in their buffets (because they want you to go to the "specialty" restaurants with upcharges), and there have been many reports of people having to sit on the floor to eat, or wandering around for half and hour just to find a seat.

I must say I have never encountered anything like that on any ship. Furthermore, if your friends were wandering around and sitting on the floor, well, I would chalk that up to poor planning.

Ships like the Oasis and the Allure have around 24 places to eat, at least half of which are free. That's not a secret and the information is readily available. I have never heard from anyone that they had a hard time finding a place to eat or a place to sit on those ships.

Have done the same itinerary as you will be on. Have been on both Allure and Oasis. They are great ships! You will be so spoiled once you have been on one of them--they are like a floating city.

When you are in Central Park, it doesn't seem like you are on a ship at all! Love to get a roast beef sandwich mid afternoon from the restaurant in Central Park and curl up on the comfy seats with my book for some quiet time! So much to do on the ship, you should not be bored!

Skating rink isn't huge, but everyone seems to have a good time. Shows are good--get your tickets ahead of time--plus there are all sorts of other activities you don't need tickets for. Read the daily paper--comes out night before--to find out what is going on. I suggest taking a highlighter so you can mark what interests you.

In St Maartin, we get off the ship, take the water taxi across, then walk down the beach towards the end of the shopping part of town. We rent some chairs and umbrellas for the day. There is a street vendor close by that has great, reasonably priced food.

In Nassau, we swam with the sea lions. In St Thomas, we went to Megan's Bay. Both fun activities!

If you have more questions, pm me.

We have a Central Park Balcony next week. I can't wait! We're doing a Western Caribbean - Cozumel, Falmouth, Jamaica. Since we've done Cozumel so many times, we're staying on the ship to give ourselves and extra "sea day" and take advantage of everything on board.

 

[ksjayhawks]

Falmouth was supposed to be ready when we did that itinerary, but wasn't so we ended up in Costa Maya instead. Found a nice, small beach club where we were pampered the whole time we were there! Anxious to hear what you think of Falmouth.

We have been to Cozumel many times as well. Last time we had our grandkids with us, so did stingray beach tour, then ate at Pancho's Backyard Patio and did a little shopping before getting back on the ship to enjoy it. Was nice and relaxing to be on the ship by the pool without many others around.

 

[mdsoccermom]

Oh, and Royal Caribbean is doing a trial run of unlimited alcohol packages. Oasis and Allure just started them about a week ago. The premium package is $55.00 per person per day, andincludes all house wine, beers under $6.25, fountain sodas, premium brands of liquor and frozen drinks. It does not include room service, specialty coffee, minibar items, canned sodas, bottled water or bottled juices.

Everyone 21 and over in the cabin must purchase it if anyone in the cabin gets it.

 

[mdsoccermom]

Falmouth was supposed to be ready when we did that itinerary, but wasn't so we ended up in Costa Maya instead. Found a nice, small beach club where we were pampered the whole time we were there! Anxious to hear what you think of Falmouth.

We have been to Cozumel many times as well. Last time we had our grandkids with us, so did stingray beach tour, then ate at Pancho's Backyard Patio and did a little shopping before getting back on the ship to enjoy it. Was nice and relaxing to be on the ship by the pool without many others around.

We actually are going to spend the day at the Hilton Rose Hall resort which we booked through www.resortforaday.com. I wanted to do Dunn's River Falls, but my husband still isn't 100% after his summer knee surgery, so we're just going to go rot on the beach, LOL!

 

[lilmissdisney216]

my mom went on a RCCL cruise YEARS ago and she was telling me how awesome they were then. I'm super excited for the cruise.

cruise critic has been an awesome resource so far! currently reading a TR of someone who was on Allure of the seas. LOVE.IT.

 

[furb & dez]

Oh, and Royal Caribbean is doing a trial run of unlimited alcohol packages. Oasis and Allure just started them about a week ago. The premium package is $55.00 per person per day, andincludes all house wine, beers under $6.25, fountain sodas, premium brands of liquor and frozen drinks. It does not include room service, specialty coffee, minibar items, canned sodas, bottled water or bottled juices.

Everyone 21 and over in the cabin must purchase it if anyone in the cabin gets it.

For this to be a good deal, both you and the roommate will basically need to be drunk every day of the cruise. If you're a beer drinker, for example, you'll need to drink eleven $5 beers just to break even.

 

[mdsoccermom]

For this to be a good deal, both you and the roommate will basically need to be drunk every day of the cruise. If you're a beer drinker, for example, you'll need to drink eleven $5 beers just to break even.

There's a separate beer package they're going to have. That price also includes non-alcoholic cocktails and soda.

 

[mmouse37]

My understanding is there is no corkage fee if you consume it in your cabin. The corkage fee applies to comsumption in public areas. At least this is how I am understanding it as it was being talked about on CC.

Here is a link I just found.. http://www.royalcaribbean.com/custo...erage&faqId=5442&faqSubjectId=336&faqType=faq

ETA: I plan on taking my wine limit on my upcoming cruise. I will be sipping away on my balcony!!!

That is entirely correct...the corking fee only applies to wine brought into public areas (hence why I mentioned the fee if personal wine was brought into the dining room). No problem drinking it in your stateroom as long as the cruiseline allows it to be brought onboard in the first place.

MJ