I’m back with another round of cruise tips! If you missed part one, you can find it here.
(Four sleeps ‘til my cruise!)
11. Don’t bring a computer and keep your phone off. For one, Internet fees are insane and for another, it’s nice to be totally unplugged.
Last year, I brought my laptop with me where I mainly wrote a daily update on what I did to help me remember when I wrote about it on my blog. This year, I plan on keeping my laptop at home and bringing a little journal to write in every day. For one, I want to get into a habit of journaling so this vacation offers me the perfect starting point. And for another, there’s really no need for a laptop. (I also plan on turning my phone on airplane mode when I get on the ship.)
A cruise is a perfect time to completely unplug from it all. For the majority of my cruise, I wasn’t in range to get a signal on my cell phone anyway. Honestly, it felt completely normal and relaxing to be away from my laptop and focused on the present. It’s so easy for me to get caught up in Twitter and blogging and emails that it was the best way for me to get away. (And now that my job requires me to be in front of a computer screen 8 hours a day, I imagine this vacation will feel even more luxurious!)
So this is my advice: leave the laptop at home. Turn your phone off. Those things can wait. Be in the moment. Be present. Because the cruise flies by in a blink of an eye.
12. GET A OCEAN-VIEW ROOM!
You have the option of four types of rooms: interior, ocean-view, balcony, or suite. Now, obviously, the last two are the most attractive options. But they are also more expensive. (For example, on my upcoming cruise a balcony room would have cost us $300 more, while a suite would have cost us $800 more! Ouch!) While I would one day love to be in a balcony or suite, the ocean-view rooms are pretty nice themselves.
I wasn’t sure what to expect from our room and it was small, but I was pleasantly surprised at how spacious it felt! We had plenty of room to store all our luggage, clothes, and odds and ends that women seem to need. 🙂 And it never felt cramped, even when we were both trying to get ready. My only issue with the room we were in is that it only had two outlets – one of them being on the ceiling of the bathroom! That was quite tricky to figure out but we managed.
In any event, I’ve never stayed in an interior room and I would never want to. I think it would disorient me to be in a windowless room – and the fact that the room would be pitch black when you shut the lights off! – so pay the extra money to at least have ocean view. Waking up to see the ocean surrounding you out your window is an experience not to be missed!
13. You don’t need as many clothes as you think.
I overpacked a LOT during my first cruise. I don’t think I wore half of what I brought. What you need: bathing suit(s) and cover-up, flip-flops, clothes for your excursions (if needed), pajamas, and outfits to wear for dinner. That. Is. It. I promise. On “At Sea” days, you mainly spend the entire day in your bathing suit until dinner. Or at least my mom and I did. I plan on packing much lighter this time around!
14. Best sleep you will ever have is on a cruise ship.
I have never slept better than when I did when I was on my cruise. Between the happy exhaustion from a day lived well to the gentle swaying of the ship along the waves, I conked out each night and woke up leisurely. There is nothing like it in the world. I know some people worry about being able to sleep while in movement but trust me, more often than not, I would forget I was on a moving vessel while on the ship. There are few things worse than not being able to get a good night’s sleep while on vacation!
15. Don’t ever wear a dress on the top deck of the cruise ship.
I learned this the hard way. And perhaps every one of you is thinking, “Well, duh! It’s the top of the ship! It’s bound to be super windy.” Obviously, I am not that smart. I wore a cute little sundress on the top of the ship while trying to play mini-golf. This didn’t go well. I spent the majority of the game with one hand gathering my dress so it didn’t billow up and the other hand on my golf club to tap the ball in the hole.
(In case you’re wondering, I lost that game. By a lot.)
17. Two dinner options: early and late. Both offer their own pros and cons.
Early dining is at 6:00 and late dining is at 8:15. My mom and I prefer late dining since we’re late eaters by nature. This meant we weren’t rushed to get back on the ship, showered, and dressed on our excursion days. It also meant there was a beautiful window of time when it was less busy and noisy out on the decks. But late dining means missing some of the nightly entertainment choices. There were more than a few shows and activities we missed out on because they started when we were still eating. But you also miss the crowd of little kids when you choose late dining which, for me, is a huge plus. (No offense to those who have little kids.)
On our May cruise, we have late dining and on our June cruise, we have early dining. So I guess we’ll see which option we like better!
18. There is nothing in the world like waking up to the bluest waters out your window, or a vast ocean surrounding you.
Becky asked me if I ever felt trapped on the ship. I can honestly say no. I never, ever felt trapped or claustrophobic or scared. I trusted the captain and the staff at Carnival to know what they were doing and they did. If anything, I felt freer than I ever have in my entire life. Standing on the top of the ship with the bluest waters I’ve ever seen surrounding me was simply amazing. Waking up, looking out my window, and seeing the ocean surrounding me is an experience I treasure every day. Sigh. I can’t wait to experience it all again!
Ahhh, you are making me so jealous! I wish I could go on cruise, they are so much fun! Maybe next summer…
Hope you have the best time!
ps. I’m a total fan of the late dinner option. 🙂
The ocean view room sounds AMAZING! What a nice view to wake up to.
Also, as hard as it sounds, I can relate to the fact that computer/phone are completely useless, when you’re on vacation having fun… it’s better to use the time otherwise and enjoy every minute. The Interwebs will be there when we get back 🙂
Great advice! You are going to have so much fun! I totally agree with the unplug theory. When I travel, I take a journal with me and keep notes about what is going on. It also helps to keep a calendar (I just draw one out) and jot down bullet points just in case. Because sometimes I don’t get to the writing part until a bit later and I want to remember everything!
I can’t wait to hear all about your trip! It’s so, so close!!!
Thank you for the info. It really helps. Going on my first cruise in Nov. Going on a 7 day cruise. So should I bring about 5 outfits and 2 nice dresses? Thank you again for your help.
It really depends. I’ve only been on a 5-day cruise and we only had one fancy dinner, the rest casual. I would venture to say yes to bringing two nice dresses and five more casual outfits for dinner. Thanks for the comment!
I think turning your cell to airplane mode is very important! Sometimes just completely unplugging is EXACTLY what you need. My first 9 days in Greece we were in an area with ZERO internet unless we went into town which we did… Twice. The first time was really tough because I was VERY homesick & seeing e-mails start flooding in made me really sad. But once we left that first island & got more regular internet I felt SO much better. I could be connected when I WANTED to rather than when we could find it. I stayed unplugged during the days & would check my e-mails at night in between beach & dinner. It was like, 30 mins or so a day. There was one day, probably in week 3, where I just needed ME time. I borrowed my friend’s computer & read blogs for about an hour while the rest of the girls napped and then I felt better. This is just me personally, but I know that in the first few days of vacation I didn’t particularly miss my phone all that much. It’s SO nice to just be able to read and relax & not worry about who’s trying to contact you.
I think the really cool part about a cruise is that if you like the ship aspect (which obviously you do) then you get to experience it over & over again while you go see different countries! I’d love to re-visit Greece for example, but it’s just so far & expensive. If I fell in love with cruises, I’d at least get to return to that one awesome place. These posts of yours are making me miss traveling. I can’t wait to book my next trip- then it will feel VERY real and I’ll start getting excited too! 🙂
Yes, exactly! What makes cruising so awesome is all you get to experience. Sure, you’re in the countries for less than a day but the excursions are great at letting you get a real feel for the countries. I do the more touristy excursions now but the options are really vast. So, basically, we should go on a European cruise. OK? Let’s start planning this. 😉
Totally agree with all these tips. For our honeymoon we splurged on a balcony and it was so worth it! I loved being able to sit out there with coffee in the morning or watch the stars at night. I prefer late dining as well- that way I never worry about getting back to late after the shore excursions. On our last cruise to Alaska we had one night with rough waters but I still slept wonderfully. It’s amazing how easy the ocean can lull you to sleep.
Ahhh… all that sounds amazing! I think when I one day go on my dream European cruise, I will splurge on a balcony. It has to be so incredible!
I don’t ever remember feeling claustrophobic either, and not having a cell phone or computer didn’t really phase me because I was 12 and 14 when I went on my cruises, and my cell phone was just a flip and I didn’t even have a laptop then. Plus, I wasn’t into blogging and Twitter and Facebook (they weren’t even around, except for blogging), so it didn’t really bother me. I think it would be nice to get away from all that for a week, though, like you said, I love keeping up on blogs and other social media platforms, but sometimes it’s nice to get away from it for a while. I’ve actually been thinking of taking a social media fast soon.
Oh, do it! I’ve gone on a week-long media fast and it is SO good for the soul. I’m actually planning on taking a month-long fast in September to completely step away from all social media outlets + blogging. A little weird to think about being away for so long, but I think if it’s something that scares us to do… we need to do it. 🙂 I’m a big fan of social media fasts so email me if you want to chat about it!
This is an awesome list of thinks to know and do! I haven’t been on a cruise since my senior year in high school and I really want to go back and do one again someday. I totally overpacked. We had a great time on ours as a family and I think it’d be fun to do a Disney Cruise with the kidlets and then an Alaskan cruise for me and Knight at some point! Can’t wait to hear all about this one. I know you’ll have a blast and it’s totally well earned 🙂