Attend the on board shopping show

If you are new to cruising, attend the shopping show! It’s a lot of fun and very informative.  Each cruise ship has a professional shopper on board who can give you the ins and outs and the best places to shop in port.  Especially if you are in the market for large purchases like jewelry!  Yes, she may lead you into a shop that is working with the cruise line and yes she make make a commission of of the sale.  But you can be sure this way you are getting a good product.

Pro tip: Be sure to sit up front as they throw free stuff into the audience!!

Photo from Cruise Critic

Let the bank know…

Make bank and credit card companies aware you are traveling out of the country.  Nothing will be more frustrating than finding the perfect purchase only to have your credit card declined!  They do this for your protection of suspicious purchases so let them know that sale in Mexico is coming from you!

Don’t use a debit card!

This can create holds on your checking account and there is less protection against fraud.  Instead use a credit card with a free international exchange rate.

Cash is best in port

Have smaller bills for ‘negotiating’ with vendors.  Many of the vendors will tell you a price when you first ask and then throw a lower price at you when you begin to walk away.  Know this going in and be prepared to negotiate for what you want.  It still kills me that my brother-in-law and I bought the same item in Cozumel and he paid less than I did because I caved on the price too soon!!!

Leave the cruise port

The shops outside of the cruise port will have better deals than those when you first get off the ship. You will also have a better chance of negotiating prices with these vendors.  Many of the shops within the port have their prices regulated so if you are looking for a good deal, look outside of these shops that are laid at your feet for convenience.

Did you forget a t-shirt?

Forgot to buy something in port? They will more than likely have the souvenir you are looking for in the shops.

I collect magnets from each port we visit and was upset when we ran out of time and I was unable to get one in Jamaica.  No worries, they had one on the onboard gift shop!

FLASH SALE

Check out the on board shops for their shopping deals – some are not great, but sometimes there is a good deal like t-shirts 2 for $20.  You will also find good deals on watches, etc on certain nights of the cruise.

Free liquor???

Shops will normally have free samples of alcohol on certain nights… check your schedule.  This is always fun!  There is usually a long line, but strike up a conversation.  They will hand you a small cup and allow you try a few of the options they are selling.  And there is usually a sale to go along with the tasting…

Of course, all purchases are duty free on a cruise ship!

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; what to do after boarding; food & drinks; ports & excursions; tips & gratuities and activities not to miss on a Carnival cruise.

If you want all 101 Cruise Tips, click here:

Want to see these tips live:  Here is the video:

Want more cruising posts?  Here is our full list.

If you have enjoyed this post, please share!  Also, sign up for our emails so you have every new post delivered right to your inbox!

Thanks,

Alisa

EECC Travels

The post Cruise Tips: Shopping While in Port & On the Ship appeared first on EECC Travels.

There are five options of what to do while visiting a port:

1. Book a shore excursion through your cruise line (this can be pre-booked online or while you are on the cruise ship)
2. Book online with an outside vendor
3. Walk off the ship and hire one of the local tour guides in the port
4. Explore the port on your own
5. Stay on the ship

While some of you may want to stay on board and enjoy and empty ship… these tips will help everyone else enjoy their day in port.

Pre-book through your cruise line

If you want to book through your cruise line, do it online before your leave for your cruise.  There are several reasons to do this.

1.  Some popular excursion book up quickly so if you wait until you are on board you will miss out.
2.  You can research the excursion better.  Online, there is a rating system and reviews from cruisers who have done this exact excursion! Also, you can read other reviews online (Cruise Critic, Trip Adviser, etc) and look for videos on YouTube.  To me a video really lets me know if I will enjoy it or not.
3.  Price protection – Carnival offers a price guarantee where if you find the SAME excursion for less online, they will price match it 110%.  And this does work, I have done it before.  It has to be the exact same description so read the details.

Isla Pasion, Cozumel

Pre-book with outside vendor

There are many reasons to do this, but price is a big one.  Check online before leaving to book excursions for way less than through the ship.  Each cruise line builds in a little for themselves as a referral fee for organizing the excursion.  So if you book direct with the local vendors, you may save substantially!

Another reason is that not everything is offered through the cruise line.  Example: we were going to Montego Bay and wanted to go to an all-inclusive resort.  so we began searching with Carnival what was available and then we looked to see what other resorts were in the area.  We found Suncape Splash and loved it… but Carnival didn’t offer an excursion there.  So we booked with resortforaday.com for a day pass to the resort with round trip transportation.  It was a wonderful experience!

However, if you are wanting to go a long way from port, I would be wary of this option as there is no guarantee the ship will wait for you!

Do your research!

If you book outside the cruise line then do your research and be sure to book with a reputable company!  Read their reviews on Trip Adviser.  Email them and see how long it takes to get a reply.  Do they have a money back guarantee if the ship cannot stop in that port?  I make sure I am comfortable with a company before booking an excursion with them.

Goff’s Caye, Belize

New to cruising and need more info?

If you are new to cruising, and did not pre-book excursions, attend the informational talk on board.  The cruise director and members of the shore excursions desk staff will be there to present excursion options available and give you details, and sometimes pictures.  Also, these people have been on many of the excursions they are describing so have first hand knowledge. Ask questions!!!

Bring a bag ashore

Take a small bag/backpack ashore with water, small first aid kit with medications, sunscreen, bug repellent, hand sanitizer, rain poncho and travel toilet paper… in addition to your camera, etc.  Bring what you will need with you when you get off the ship.  Depending on what port you are going into and what you are doing this may vary.  If you are heading to an all inclusive resort you don’t need to bring water a long.  But if your heading up into the jungle to zipline, you may have a long bus ride and want to bring some snacks in addition to that water.

Behold our speedboat!

Doesn’t this look like fun? Twister Boat in Cozumel

Bring your newsletter

Always take the daily newsletter with you when going ashore. This will have the details for the ship’s local port agent who is in constant contact with the ship – call in case of emergency or delay getting back on board.  This is one of those things you hope you will never need!  But if you are not going on a ship organized excursion, you better be safe and take it with you!

Wear a watch!!!

Take a regular watch off the ship and make sure it is set to the SHIP’s time!  Many cell phones will readjust their time to the nearest cell tower.  Local time and ship time may not be the same.  It would be terrible to miss your ship because you thought it was the wrong time!!!

Feed the fishies

If you are going snorkeling, grab some cereal from the buffet to feed the fish.  I am thinking along the line of Cheerios here…

Snorkeling the Belize Barrier Reef

Invest in good water shoes

Water shoes are a great idea! Some excursions require them and some beaches can be rocky.  I have been on beaches where I could barely walk because there were so many rocks and small seashells in the sand.  On these times, I WISH I had water shoes on… Never again, they go with me now.

Also, many of the more daring activities on board (ropes course, rock wall, etc) require closed toe shoes and water shoes usually have good grip on them.

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; what to do after boarding; food and drinks; shopping; tips & gratuities and activities not to miss on a Carnival cruise.

If you want all 101 Cruise Tips, click here:

Want to see these tips live:  Here is the video:

Want more cruising posts?  Here is our full list.

If you have enjoyed this post, please share!  Also, sign up for our emails so you have every new post delivered right to your inbox!

Thanks,

Alisa

EECC Travels

The post Cruise Tips: Ports & Excursions appeared first on EECC Travels.

Choose the nights for specialty dining

Check the dinner menus for the week and pick which night to dine in a specialty restaurant – do this the first day as these can book up.  Check with the Maitre D and he should have these.

Make specialty dining reservations

If you did not pre-book reservations online, make them early in your cruise.  Especially at the Chef’s table as it has a very limited seating.  The steakhouse is a good idea for the first night and you get a free bottle of wine!

Lunch at Cucina del Capitano

Eat lunch at Cucina del Capitano – it’s free at lunch but there is a cost at dinner.  It’s a pretty cool experience too as your dish is made to order from choosing your pasta, your sauce, your meats, etc…  And the bread is to die for!

Breakfast room service

Order room service for breakfast the night before an early port day.  If you are getting off the ship at 7am, this will save you time from fighting the crowds at the buffet!

Cheese plate

Ask for cheese and fresh fruit plate at the beginning of the meal, let your server know you want this every night and it will be on your table at dinner when you arrive.  This item is on the dessert menu but if you ask they can bring it before the meal.  Our family absolutely loves this as the cheese goes great with the bread service.

Check out the kid’s dessert menu

Nothing on the dessert menu looks good to you? Ask for kids desert menu in the dining room.  Can you say cookies and hot fudge sundae???  YUM!

Tea Time

Check out Tea Time which is held mid-afternoon on sea days.  This is similar to a traditional English High Tea with… well tea of course, but also small sandwiches and delicious desserts.  These cakes and pastries are REALLY GOOD!  I enjoy tea time especially for these!  There will be a couple of tea options at no cost, but they will also have more exotic teas for about $1 per tea bag.  If you want coffee or hot chocolate instead, just ask!

Sea Day Brunch

Sea Day Brunch is fantastic and a nice break from buffet breakfast.  It is served from 8am through lunchtime and the menu has favorites such as ‘Funnest French Toast’ which is french toast covered in cereal, pancakes (my favorite are the chocolate chip with chocolate syrup), steak and eggs, eggs cooked any way you want and Huevos Rancheros!  And let’s not forget to start the day with a cocktail… you can get a mimosa or treat your self to the build-your-own Bloody Mary menu!

Snacks for port days

Pack some snacks from the buffet when you leave the ship.  Items like dry cereal or fruit are perfect to throw in your backpack.  Just remember no fruit in Cozumel, they have dogs as you enter the port checking for ‘contraband’ and fruit is one of them.  I heard that Cheerios are fun for feeding fish – disclaimer I have never tried this before…

Make a custom pizza

Custom pizzas are available at the 24 hours pizza spot. You will have to wait a bit, but you get the whole pie!  I don’t recommend requesting this if there is an extremely long line, but if they are not too busy they will be more than happy to make what you want.  I like getting a pizza with extra cheese and taking it to a Dive-In Movie

ORDER WHAT YOU WANT!

You CAN order what you want off the menu!!! More than one appetizer or entrée or dessert are fine!  You are on vacation, if you want to try more than one item then do it!  Now, I am not saying to waste food and order one of everything off the menu and take a single bite.  But, try new things.  If you order something and you don’t like it, order something else.  We love this with our kids because they will try things they have never dared to try before (ox tongue, calamari, escargot, frog legs) because they knew they didn’t have to finish it if they didn’t like it.  And guess what?  They usually really enjoyed it and discovered something new they would eat.  It has made our kids so much more brave with food!

Pre-Order drinks

You can pre-order bottled water and it will be delivered to your room.  This is actually the case for many beverages.  you can order sodas, juice and even alcohol for your room.  The water is reasonably priced but I feel the other drinks are a bit pricey!  For alcohol, you can get a bottle of liquor (rum, vodka, etc), bottles of wine or champagne and packs of beer.

Drink Packages

This is a topic that is very controversial… should you or should you not get the drink package???  Well first off, let’s mention that there are two different drink package on Carnival:  Bottomless Bubbles and Cheers!

Bottomless bubbles is the soda package.  With this, you can get unlimited soda and juice during your cruise.  The cost is as follows: $4.95 per person, per day for children 17 and under plus 15% gratuities or $7.50 per person per day for adults plus 15% gratuities.  Since you are allowed to carry on a 12 pack of soda per person, this does not seem like a good deal to me, but that is a personal opinion.  The other drawback is that the kids have to go to a bar to order the soda and it is sometimes difficult for them to get a bartenders attention.

Cheers! is the alcoholic beverage package.  But it also includes UNLIMITED bottled water, sodas, smoothies, specialty coffees, energy drinks, etc.  On the alcoholic beverages, you are limited to 15 per day.  The cost is $51.95 plus 15% gratuity if preordered before the cruise and $56.95 plus gratuity if purchased on the ship.  This cost is per person, per day and has to be purchased for the length of the cruise (you cannot pick and choose the days to buy it for).  The only exception is when cruising out of Texas, it is not available on the first day of your cruise. The other catch is every adult 21 and older in a cabin HAS to purchase.  So you have to decide if it is worth it for your family to purchase Cheers!

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; what to do after boarding; ports & excursions; shopping; tips & gratuities and activities not to miss on a Carnival cruise.

If you want all 101 Cruise Tips, click here:

Want to see these tips live:  Here is the video:

Want more cruising posts?  Here is our full list.

If you have enjoyed this post, please share!  Also, sign up for our emails so you have every new post delivered right to your inbox!

Thanks,

Alisa

EECC Travels

The post Cruise Tips: Food & Drinks appeared first on EECC Travels.

Check-In Online

Complete online check-in as soon as possible!  Some cruise lines, like Carnival, will let you choose your boarding time, so the earlier you check in the more likely you will get the boarding time you want.  Also, print and READ all of your cruise documents!

Get Organized

Make a copy of everything and put in a folder.  This includes copies of your passport or birth certificates, copies of health insurance, copies of credit cards and picture id (in case wallet is lost or stolen) and copy of the itinerary and anything you pre-booked before boarding (excursions, drink packages, etc)

Questions???

If you are unsure of a policy or a procedure, look on the cruise line’s website – all answers are there!  Every cruise line will have different policies so verify before you head to the port.

Don’t lose your luggage!

Attach a luggage tag to each checked bag and also put one inside in case it gets torn off.

Make your luggage stand out

Make sure your suitcase is easily spotted – tie a bright ribbon to the handle, etc.

Don’t over pack!

Once you have everything ready to pack, rethink the amount of clothes and shoes and remove some – don’t over pack!!!

Pack a carry-on

Pack swimsuits, a change of clothes, sunscreen, sea-bands or patches for seasickness, & medications in a carry-on – it may be a while before your checked bags are delivered to your room.

Kids Clubs

Pre-register your kids for the onboard kids’ camps.  This goes for your teens too so they can straight to their area when they are ready.

Pre-order your drinks

Order any beverages for your cabin.  This includes bottled water and bottles of alcohol along with sodas or juices for mixed drinks.  Also your drink package – these are typically cheaper if pre-booked.

Don’t be late!

Plan your travel so you arrive in plenty of time – the ship will leave you!  If flying to port it’s best to arrive the day before in case of delays.

Consider travel insurance  

This can be bought through the cruise line or from an outside carrier.  This will protect you in case you miss your trip or have to cancel last minute due to an emergency.  And lost luggage.  Also, it provides health insurance outside the US, so if you are ill and need to see the ship’s doctor or worse need a hospital in port.  

Parking

Look into parking before you leave for the cruise, there are alternatives to parking at the port which are cheaper, especially if booked online in advance. Also, some hotels have ‘stay & park’ deals.

Let your bank know

Make bank and credit card companies aware you are traveling out of the country.  It can be really frustrating when you go to make a purchase and it is denied!

Know your ship

Get familiar with the layout of the ship.  Shipmate app has all deck plans and there are ship tours on YouTube.  Shameless plug… Here are my ship tours for the Carnival Dream & Carnival Freedom.

Get to know your shipmates

Find the Facebook group for your cruise and join it!  You will get to know your fellow cruisers before you even leave and it helps to get excited! There are usually fun activities planned as well.

I hope you find these tips helpful!  Be sure to check out our other posts for: extras to pack; what to do once onboard; food, dinner & drinks; ports & excursions; shopping; tips & gratuities and activities not to miss on a Carnival cruise.

If you want all 101 Cruise Tips, click here:

Want to see these tips live:  Here is the video:

Want more cruising posts?  Here is our full list.

If you have enjoyed this post, please share!  Also, sign up for our emails so you have every new post delivered right to your inbox!

Thanks,

Alisa

EECC Travels

The post Cruise Tips: What to do Before You Leave on Your Cruise appeared first on EECC Travels.