Wow! So I have not written in a while!
I guess between working and traveling as much as I can, writing on my blog hasn't really been a priority lol!
This blog went from being personal to me posting quotes, recipes, and now traveling tips!!
My friends swear I'm on a cruise every month, which is usually NOT true!
But I did just get back from my 8th cruise yesterday, and that was my second cruise in 1 month! But those 2 cruises were an exception.. You see, one of my really good friends is working on a cruise and so I went to visit her, since it's summer and I can! ;)
Now I will be going on my 11th cruise in February. Did I mention I've only been cruising for 4 years? :)
This is for my friends, and anyone who might end up here, who have questions about cruising.. Here we go!
1) What is the best cruise to go on? Ok, this is a tough question to answer because it depends on who you are!
This is my personal opinion:
Carnival Cruise Lines is like the party cruise, lots of fun, I recommend it as a first cruise. It's not very fancy, but it IS fun! It's the Fun Ships, hello!! ;)
There are 2 formal nights on 6 day cruises and up, and 1 formal night on less days.
For formal nights if you want to eat at the dining room you have to dress.. Formal!
Guys should wear long sleeve shirts with a tie, or a suit or tux. Ladies, pretty dresses, nice skirts or nice shirts with dress pants.
Shorts, tank tops and sandals are not allowed in the dining room at any time though, besides that, if it's not formal night, you can get away with wearing anything else, besides those things I listed.
What I have learned from cruising with Carnival is that the older ships and the cruises that are 4 or 3 days, people really don't care about what they wear to the dining room. I on the other hand, no matter what ship or how many days, I like to dress up every night. What a better excuse than a cruise to look nice, doll up every night and take awesome pictures? You will seriously see me in a dress every night! And if you are single (not my case, but still) HELLO! Do you know how many other single DRUNK people are roaming around? Dress nice!!
Another new thing about Carnival is that they are adding nice restaurants that work all morning/day like Guy's Burger Joint, the Blue Iguana taco and burrito bar, they also added the Red Frog Pub which you have to pay for, but appetizers are only about $3.
Ok let me stop cause I'm starting to sound like a Carnival spokesperson. Check their website!!!
Norwegian Cruise Lines is what they call freestyle cruising, it's different than "normal" cruises because you don't have a set dining room for dinner, and it can get a little expensive actually paying to go to restaurants if you don't want to wait in line to have dinner.
There are NO formal nights, but the "shorts, tank tops and sandals are not allowed in the dining room at any time" rule still applies.
I never went back on Norwegian, not because I didn't have a great time, but just because it has worked out in my benefit to cruise with Carnival, living in Miami I can always find great deals with Carnival and I have a lot of friends who work for it. But like I said up there, people don't really follow the dining room rules, especially when this is supposed to be a "freestyle cruise".
Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines is fancy!
Just like Carnival, there are 2 formal nights on 6 day cruises and up, and 1 formal night on less days.
For formal nights if you want to eat at the dining room you have to dress.. Formal!
Guys should wear long sleeve shirts with a tie, or a suit or tux. Ladies, pretty dresses!
Shorts, tank tops and sandals are not allowed in the dining room at any time though, besides that, if it's not formal night, you can get away with wearing anything else, besides those things I listed.
Don't get me wrong, I HAD to cross out that Royal is my favorite. Still a great cruise line, but after cruising with Carnival more I changed my mind. Maybe when I get a little older I will change my mind again! But I have been on 7 Carnival cruises, and only 2 Royals, and I have to say if it isn't the Allure of the Seas, I probably won't be cruising with Royal for a while. Now the dining room rule I have noticed on Royal that people actually follow it!
2) How much is a cruise?
Prices vary depending on the month/week you want to cruise.
End of May till the beginning of August is the most expensive season since its summer.
September I feel like is the best month to cruise.
It's cheaper and it's not too hot but not cold either.
November to January/February is too cold so it's not as fun because you can't really lay out.
Prices also vary depending on how many days you are cruising.
3 day cruises, I honestly wouldn't want to pay more than $250.
4 days, I wouldn't want to pay more than $350.
7 days, prices should vary depending on which ship and what cruise line you choose.
For example, you might be able to get away with only spending $650 on a 7 day cruise, but if you choose to go on Royal Caribbean's Allure of the Seas, be prepared to dish out at least $1,200! (This was back in 2012, the price has gone down now, but it's still pretty pricey!)
3) How long in advance should I book my cruise?
You should book your cruise the sooner you can! The closer you get to your sailing date, the more expensive it will be! Trust me. Plus, some cruises book fast, so you might not get a cabin at all. And if you're flying to port to cruise, buy your plane tickets early too!!
4) Should I book on the cruise line website? With a travel agent? Another cruise website?
I feel like other cruise websites give you a better deal.
Like www.cruise.com so I usually book through them.
Check out the cruise line's website too and compare!
If you feel better about booking with a travel agent, but the prices are cheaper on another website, then maybe you can let the travel agent know and maybe they can do something about it.
5) Traveling with kids.. What can they do?
All 3 cruise lines I have been writing about have a free kids camp! It's great! So they can make friends and enjoy themselves, while mommy and daddy enjoy themselves too! Babysitting is also available at night if you want to go out but the kids are sleeping, they tend to be an extra $10 an hour though.
Carnival will start implementing Seuss at Sea and having a lot of Dr. Seuss themed places and characters for the kids!
Norwegian has Nickelodeon in their ships too! Spongebob, Dora and other characters can be seen around the ships, they even slime kids!
6) Dining times? When can/should I eat in the dining room?
Dining room times are Early Seating at 6:00PM or Late Seating at 8:15PM or My Time Dining. I used to always pick the late seating,
I changed my mind here too. I will stick to the late seating just because I found out that I would rather have the same time, same table, same server every night. My Time Dining is still great though! I would just rather not have to wait for a table.
7) Can I bring my own alcohol?
Ha! Definitely not! They want you to spend as much money as you can! But...... There are definitely ways to sneak it in! ;) And I'm about to tell you how! First of all, DO NOT, try to sneak a whole bottle in your suitcase, they get scanned, and even if you lock your bag, they will keep it hostage until you go down to security to open it for them so they can check out the "suspicious liquid" in your bag. They will take your bottle and keep it till the end of the cruise, and on the last day you have to go claim it.. It's a pain. Don't do it. Trust me. You are allowed to bring a small wine bottle per guest, but they charge you the corking charge, so it's really not even worth it.
Rum Runner Flasks- http://www.rumrunnerflasks.com/ check it out for yourself! I have them and they WORK! They're plastic flasks and they don't show up in the x-ray! If you don't want to buy the flasks, here are different options.
Mouthwash Bottle- Unless you want to put food coloring in your liquor and pee green all night, buy the freaking Vanilla Flavored one, a whitening one, or one with a white bottle, not clear so you can't see through it. Make sure you wash the bottle with HOT HOT water to get rid of all the mouthwash taste.
This a lot of my friends have gotten caught with lately.. But if you wanna try it, go for it! I've gotten away with actual bottles twice already lol. I haven't tried it anymore because now I have the Rum Runner Flasks, and those have never failed me! :)
Perfume/Spray Bottle- Easy to get in, everyone has spray! I would suggest you buy an empty one so you don't have to wash it off. Make sure whatever alcohol you try to sneak it, you put it in your checked bad, not your carry on!
I hope I helped! Feel free to comment with any other questions!
Happy Cruising,
Laura
1- Liberty of the Seas - September 2009
2- Norwegian Epic - September 2010
3- Carnival Imagination - December 2010
4- Carnival Dream - June 2011
5- Carnival Destiny - November 2011
6- Carnival Dream - March 2012
7- Carnival Imagination - June 2012
8- Carnival Imagination - July 2012
9- Majesty of the Seas - July 2013
10- Carnival Breeze - December 2013
11- Carnival Victory - February 2014
Published originally on 7/21/12, updated on 1/21/14.
