first time cruise suggestions

[Bombero1956]

My wife and I are going on our first cruise next month. Any tips that can be offered regarding money on board excursions and stuff in general about cruising. We are sailing out of NYC and stopping in Port Canaveral, Nassau and Great Stirrup Cay.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

1. If you drink, "that's how they get you"

My friend who goes all the time said to take a Listerine bottle (totally cleaned out and sterilized) and replace it with scotch (same color). And regular water bottle with Vodka. We did that and got away with it - but a can of club soda was $5.

All in all, we spent as much as the cruise itself onboard. They make it very easy for you - no cash - just a Norwegian room card. And for $20/pp you can upgrade to the "special" restaurants where the service, food and atmosphere is better. Sounds fairly cheap but ended up doing it every night which added up.

Our favorite excursions were zip lining (St Lucia), pub crawling (Barbados), and kayaking off the coast of Tortola near Richard Branson's island. Bet they have all that going on in the Bahamas too.

One thing we learned about excursions is that the cruise line totally jacks up the price. When you dock, you will see TONS of local cabbies. They are begging for business and we had one take us all over the island we had stopped at for like $20. It was great because he showed us the coolest sights and stopped and we had a drink at his friend's pub then went to where he said the best food was. so less commercialized than getting on a bus with 100 tourists.


I never ever wanted to go on a cruise and we were talked into it. I am extremely prone to sea sickness, so I stocked up on meds - but never took a thing. And, after all I had said before about cruises. I LOVED IT and didn't want to get off. Sitting on the balcony in the morning with coffee, watching the ocean is like heaven

hope you have a great time.

[northoftheborder]

2. My favorite cruise, Norwegian Cruise Line, the most restful and relaxing vacation I ever took.

[TBF]

3. We took a royal caribbean cruise -

it's the only one we've ever done. Be prepared that rooms are really small - even if you are on an upper deck w/a balcony as we were. They expect you to spend time in other parts of the boat and you will because there is so much going on. I think you need to go on with the realization that you are paying for the whole experience - the dinners, shows, casino, spa, pools etc ... we aren't drinkers so we spent our $$$ on excursions and other activities. Those were really fun by the way - I enjoyed touching the stingrays in Grand Cayman and going to the beautiful resorts in Cancun.

Expect to add expenses that at least total what you paid for your room - in our case we wound up with nearly a 5K bill in the end (for us it was our honeymoon - we splurged on excursions, spa, dinner every night -- it adds up).

[aranthus]

4. A few things.

1. Pace yourself. You can eat 24/7. Try to resist the temptation. Also plan on getting as much exercise as possible. Most ships have running/walking track, gym, and exercise classes.

2. Look over your shore excursions early, and order them early if you can. The good ones will fill up.

3. Snorkeling in Nassau is great.

[Bombero1956]

5. we had a great time

We purchased beverage packages which allowed us unlimited refills on soda which is what we mostly drink. We did splurge on wine at some of the restaurants we went to during the cruise. The staff was awesome and couldn't do enough for us. We has such a good time we have another one planned for the end of March on the same ship for 10 days. This time we're going to Puerto Rico, St. Maarten, St. Thomas and the Dominican Republic. Can't wait.