Cruise Tips: What to do After Boarding
So you are officially on your vacation and have boarded the cruise ship! Now what? Here are 17 tips of things to do after boarding and during your cruise.
Switch your phone
Set your phone in airplane mode and use the ships wifi for communicating – this will avoid international fees. I have heard horror stories of people who didn’t know about this and once they received their first phone bill after their cruise they about had a heart attack!
The Hub app rocks!
Use the Carnival Hub app! It is free to use and has all of the info from the Fun Times where you can set reminders of what you want to do. Also, there is a chat feature for $5 per person for the length of your cruise so you can text with everyone in your party, even group messages. Tip: The app must remain open for the chat to work.
Unpack your bags
Unpack as soon as possible, it’s no fun to live out of a suitcase. This is your home for the next week (or shorter or maybe longer) so make yourself comfortable! The steward can bring extra hangers if needed.
Have a mini-bar?
Ask the steward to empty the mini-bar (avoid accidental charges and fill up with your own drinks) – some ships do not have a mini-bar. Some have an empty mini-fridge and some have none at all.
Freebies anyone???
Ask the Guest Services desk for a postcard with the ship’s picture on it – should be free. Also, ask if they can give you a free deck of cards. Last cruise we grabbed a deck and played cards in the atrium while we waited for show time.
Open my wine please
A corkscrew can usually be obtained by your cabin steward if you brought your own wine. This is if you want to open and drink it in your room. If you want to drink it in the dining room, bring the bottle to your waiter and he will open it and serve it with your meal. Can’t finish the bottle in one sitting, they will put your name on it and hold it for the next evening. They will even chill it for you. Note: there is a $15 corkage fee per bottle in the dining room.
Update: I received a comment that someone was charged $25 from a steward for use of a corkscrew. We have always been allowed to use them at no charge, but I wanted to add this information. We may want to pack one…
What about glasses?
Your steward can also bring ice and glasses for your wine or other beverages. Just ask, they will go out of their way to help you make your vacation perfect.
Game time
The library has free crossword puzzles and trivia games each day of the cruise. There are also board games and… books… in the library 🙂
Forgot a lanyard?
Visit the casino for a free Carnival lanyard for your Sail & Sign card. They are long and stretchy, our kids love them!
Separate your pictures
Take a picture of the day’s schedule each morning, this will date set the photos taken each day on your camera or phone which makes it easy to see each day’s photos at a quick glance.
Pick your daily activities
Look through the list of activities each day and mark what interests you so you don’t miss it. Mark with a highlighter or bookmark on the Hub app on your phone.
Extra showers…
Use showers, saunas & steam rooms near spa free of charge. These are nice and larger than the showers in your cabin. Also, if you have several people getting ready at the same time in one cabin with one bathroom, some can go shower in the spa area.
Meet new friends
Teens need to attend the first night meet & greet! This will be the best time to meet the other kids in the teen clubs and make new friends for the duration of the cruise.
You may need a nightlight…
Inside cabins are dark. You can turn the tv to the forward camera channel for minimal light at night and it lets you know when the sun is up. Or you may want to pack a nightlight.
Laundry rooms
Laundry or ironing rooms are on each floor but they are scarce. If ironing must be done, try to go in the middle of the afternoon as there will be a long line on formal night! (This info is Carnival specific)
Pictures!!!
Have your photo taken by the ship’s photographers! You do not have to buy them, but you may want to if they are really great! How often is your entire family dressed up with a photographer right there?
Our family photo from our last cruise
Secret decks
Look for the ‘secret’ decks at the front of the ship. Some ships have a deck that go all the way around… and some don’t. Most of these have secret decks – well they are not really secret but they are not public decks. You have to access these from a cabin deck, not a public deck like Promenade. To access these, walk all the way forward and look for an access door leading outside. You may want to ask the cabin stewards and they can point you in the right direction. (ex. Carnival Magic has on decks 6, 7, 9, 10 & 11)
I hope you find these tips helpful! Be sure to check out our other posts for: what to do before your cruise; extras to pack; food, dinner & drinks; ports & excursions; shopping; tips & gratuities and activities not to miss on a Carnival cruise.
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Thanks,
Alisa
EECC Travels
19 Responses
Secret deck? Why, do I need to look for these? If they are secret, maybe they for the staff and it’s private space. What if a staff member finds someone who doesn’t belong there on these decks? All the rest of the info is helpful to this cruising newbie.
Hi Patty! The secret decks are not off limits to passengers, you can go to them and crew will even tell you how to get there. Some ships have a deck that goes completely around the ship and some do not. Those that do not have these small decks at the very front of the ship. You go there for the view! If you turn on the cabin’s tv to the forward camera it is the same view but so much better in person. I hope this helps explain what I meant.
It’s not private space. Anyone can use them. They’re call secret because most people don’t know where they are and are usually very quite.
Cool tips, nicely packed thanks!
Hi! Do they have a hair dryer in the room?
Yes there is a hair dryer in every cabin.
If you decide to take a bottle of wine make sure it’s in your carry on bag (one per adult). If not it will be confiscated if left in luggage. I had two bottles one for me and one for my friend and it was consficated(didn’t get luggage until 8pm with a note) Glad I didn’t buy the expensive wine.
We learned this the hard way too on our first cruise. Luckily after we explained we were newbies to guest services they returned them to us.
If you empty the minifridge, you will get a surprise on the account if the housekeeper tries to refill it. I suggest a small portable & compact cloth fridge & use a freezer bag to put inside ice. So you keep ur beverages cool.
We asked our cabin steward before emptying it. He told us as long as nothing was missing at the end of the cruise we would not be charged. Thanks for your suggestion.
That’s why she said have the steward do it
First of all, I want to thank you for being so knowledgeable on “Cruising”. This will be my first cruise ever (Celebrating my 50th shhhh don’t tell anyone). I will be solo… Before I travel to any location or destination etc, I always rely on friends and family who have done it before. This is not the case this time. So many YouTube channels that have very opinionated tips etc about cruising. I stumbled upon your channel and felt as if I was talking to two friends that I have known for years. I am no longer nervous nor scared I might break a “Cruise Golden Rule” that I am not aware of. Keep up the excellent information and knowledge. Thank your son for his service to our country!!!! One last thing any tips that Jason can give me on how to grow my hair long!!!!!
Does Carnival allow us to bring non-alcoholic beverages in bottles?
No. A 12 pack of non-alcoholic drinks in cans only.
I just wanted to tell you and Jason, thank you for all your helpful information, myself and my husband are going on our first cruise and I thought I would watch some of your videos, and let me tell you I ended up watching all of your videos even the ones at Disney. I thing you both are awesome. Thank you so much you have made this entire trip not so scary…
First time cruisers here. Cruising on the Carnival Dream in Sept 2020 was wondering about the pixel package right now they only have the one that has the canvas will they offer more later/closer to cruise time? Also there is another couple cruising with us can we just link all pics to one room (they will be in a separate room)?
Carnival no longer does a free deck of cards. It is now $1 per deck.
[…] Be sure to check out our other posts for: what to do before your cruise; extras to pack; what to do after boarding; ports & excursions; shopping; tips & gratuities and activities not to miss on a Carnival […]
[…] find these tips helpful! Be sure to check out our other posts for: what to do before your cruise; what to do once onboard; food, dinner & drinks; ports & excursions; shopping; tips & gratuities and activities […]