- Check out port excursions ahead of time: Kenny and I weren't planning on doing any of the excursions offered on our cruise due to cost/lack of interest, but I'm definitely glad I checked ahead of time rather than waiting and risking fun ones selling out. We did end up booking a tour of the Atlantis resort in Nassau the night before, so it's nice that you also have the option of booking one on board.
- Check in online ahead of time: Carnival gives you the option to check in the night before, which saves time before embarkation. They make it seem like a required step to check in ahead of time which it's actually not, but I would definitely recommend doing it to make the process of getting on the ship smoother.
- Download the Carnival Hub app: The Carnival Hub app is really useful onboard, and it doesn't require purchasing WiFi to use. You can check meal times and menus, view a map of your ship, look at what events are scheduled, check times for arriving to/leaving ports, and lots of other information.
- Purchase a WiFi package: Of course this isn't necessary, but odds are you're gonna want to 'gram your trip while you're there. The WiFi on board isn't great by any means, but I had decent success sending iMessages, Snapchats, checking email, and posting Instagram photos, although sometimes it worked better than other times, and we had the most expensive package. Don't expect to be able to stream videos or send a ton of emails.
- BYOB: This may have been my top priority - ha! Carnival allows each (of-age) guest to bring one regular-sized (750mL) bottle of wine (or 12 pack of canned soda, or case of bottled water... but wine was my choice) onto the ship. First and foremost, it's a great deal, especially if you didn't purchase an alcoholic drink package ($50 per person, per day on average). It also allows you wine snobs out there to pick your own poison. Which leads me to my next tip...
- Don't forget a cork screw: Traveling without a cork screw will cost you; the ship charges a $15 corkage fee per bottle if you have to have someone open it for you.
- Get a travel surge protector: Outlets in staterooms are limited, so you'll definitely want to bring a small power strip so you're not fighting over who gets to charge their phone. I got this one from Bed Bath and Beyond; Amazon also has a ton of options.
- Take note of meal times: The times that breakfast and lunch are served can be a little odd, so make sure you check the times. A couple of times, Kenny and I showed up to a dining area ready to eat and they were closed to prepare for the next meal. Also, make sure to check if, when, and where lunch is being served on shore at ports. At least one of the days we were at port, they served lunch ashore because we had to take a water taxi from the ship to the shore.
- Schedule a later dinner: This is a personal preference, but I liked having the late dinner slot (8:00pm) because we never had to rush to get ready for dinner or stop what we were doing to get to dinner on time. With the exception of the "fancy" night, dinners are casual, but I still liked getting made up and dressed up for a nice seated dinner each night.
- Actually GO to dinner: The couple we were seated with on the first night never returned for dinner any of the other nights! Why would you want to miss out on a chance to get dressed up (if you want) and get served a nice dinner?!
- Order whatever you want: The restaurants will serve you as much as you want of whatever you want, so don't be shy asking for more of something that you love.
- Bring warm clothes: This is especially important if you're traveling somewhere warm and may not be thinking about cooler temperatures. It gets chilly (even cold!) at sea at night, so you'll definitely want at least one pair of jeans or leggings and a sweatshirt or sweater for nighttime.
- Take full advantage of "at sea" days: You're literally stranded on a boat on the middle of the ocean with no obligations and all of the food and drinks you could possibly desire. You get to be as lazy as you want! Kenny and I really enjoyed our time sitting by the pool doing nothing, and also exploring the ship. The ships are truly huge, and there's so much to see and do!
- Take advantage of "adults only" areas: The family-friendly areas (namely the pools) get packed early, so it's nice to have somewhere to escape from all of the splashing kids.
- Get an ocean-view room close to the water: This is something Kenny made sure to do that I ended up being so, so grateful for. The ocean view room was just a luxury, the inside rooms feel kind of like a closet. The "close to the water" part is what I really want to emphasize; the closer you are to the water, the less you feel the up-and-down of the ship. This ended up being so nice, because it helped us sleep better and we always had somewhere to escape to if we started to feel sick or just needed a rest away from the sun and people.
- Bring Dramamine: Everyone told me that the ship would be so big that you aren't even able to feel it move - WRONG! You can definitely feel the sway of the ship back and forth, and while it's not always sickening (I'm very susceptible to motion sickness), when you need it, you really need it.
- Make sure to tip: Porters, housekeeping, bartenders, waiters... They're all amazing and deserve the tips, and they may treat you even better when you tip them accordingly. You have the option to tip housekeeping ahead of time, which I would recommend because then you don't have to worry about it afterwards.
- Take all the photo ops: There will be photographers around all the time taking photos of you, and then they print out all of the photos and display them for you to find and purchase if you want to. Take as many photos as possible! It's so much fun to go find your photos each day and see them, some are posed and very professional, and others are more silly and candid. Kenny and I ended up buying two of our shots because he was given a gift card since we were sailing during his birthday month, but they were expensive (I want to say $12-$15 per print).
- Carry your own bags off the ship: You will get two options for debarkation: checked luggage debark, and express debark. Kenny and I opted for the express debark option because it seemed a lot easier, all you have to do is carry your own bags off the ship the morning of debarkation. Of course this depends on the size/number of bags you bring, but since we were on a five day cruise, we didn't have an insane amount of stuff to carry off, so it wasn't an issue. The checked luggage debark option requires you to leave your luggage outside of your room on the last night of the cruise (I think 10:00pm was the cutoff for us) for housekeeping to pick them up, and then retrieve your bags at port after you leave the ship. I didn't want to have have everything packed up by the cutoff for checked luggage, or have to take out all of my makeup, toiletries, and clothes for the next day out of my luggage to use in the morning, so those were the main reasons we opted for the express debark option. It's also the better option if you're in a hurry to leave the ship to catch a flight.
- Purchase travel insurance: Because you just never know.
Bon voyage!
xoxx, Laura
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