Cruising; plan ahead and ignore the idiots.
I keep seeing people post things like: “Top 10 Cruise Mistakes Only New Cruisers Do”, “Top 10 Worst Mistakes A First-Time Cruiser Makes” while some of these makes sense others are just a vague opinion of the person writing the post.
Opinion Based Items:
What to do on the first day on Board:
This one kind of seem stupid to tell me what you think is best to do on the ship. If people plan ahead they have some idea what is available on the ship and what they might want to do until their room is ready. I usually know what I want to do when boarding the ship, swimming is never one of those things. I do like to walk around checking out the ship, seeing all that is around and orientating myself to where things are. I will window shop at the stores, stop by to where the theaters and restaurants are located.
Bring your swim suite in your carry on to get to the pool early.
This one I am like no! No one can go to their rooms, so this is the first thing kids will want to do. I always see a packed pool or slide within one hour of people getting on the ship. If that is your thing then do that, I for one will be skipping this.
Eating at the Buffet on the first day is the worst thing to do for some reason or another.
If you want to eat at the buffet then eat the buffet, if you prefer to do a sit down at the one restaurant that is open then go there. Pick the pool side food if that is your thing as well, especially if your at the pool this one is easiest. Everything is packed on the first day as everyone is getting onboard and has nowhere to go. Do what makes the most sense to you and your family for when and where to eat, there is no one thing that works best for everyone.
Things that should be common sense:
Not bringing ID/Passport ETC….
Ok, if your that stupid to not know what is required to have for each person in your party when traveling anywhere then that is your fault. If your leaving the country then you need to verify what will work for each person as a form of ID to get into the country visiting. This is usually validated when arriving to the ship to get checked in for the cruise, but you should have planned by checking on the Ships website to required documentation. Ask if you are not sure, don’t just assume everything will work out.
Plan for the worst when traveling to and from the cruise:
I do agree that you should never plan to travel to port on the same day your leaving on your cruise. If you do anything, plan to travel a day or more before your cruise is scheduled to leave. This will save you a lot bigger headache of missing the cruise if you have travel delays. Have been on several flights with people who are freaking out because the plane is delayed, and they either are not getting to their destination today or will miss their connection all together. Screaming at the flight attendant or customer attendant will not get you much.
Plan to either get a late return flight or stay an extra day, as there is no guarantee the ship will dock at the scheduled time for you to get off the ship and to your flight. Have seen people trying to push their way off the ship to get to the airport to catch a flight. many of the other shipmates have plans just like you but scheduled accordingly to make sure to be able to get home.
Final notes:
Plan ahead, don’t think everything will work out all the time. I have seen even seasoned cruisers make this mistake. No one can make your time terrible except you! Things don’t always work the way it is planned. Take a deep breath and see what will work instead. Having had a shore excursion canceled the exact time we were supposed to leave, there were several people screaming a the ship crew and complaining how terrible they have maid their day, etc… You know these people have nothing to do with the cancellation. Take a minute, regroup and then plan to do something else, like jsut waling around to the shops or taking local transportation to some place.