Microsoft word - cruise_tips[1]

Cruise Information Sheet
All complimentary on Carnival cruises:
Room Service beverages:
Juices: Orange, tomato, apple, grapefruit.
Regular and decaf coffee, hot tea, iced tea, hot chocolate, milk, skim milk,
chocolate milk, water.
Lido Deck beverages:Variety of juices, coffee & decaf, hot & iced tea, lemonade, hot chocolate,chocolate milk, regular milk, skim milk. Dining room beverages:Coffee, iced tea, water, cappuccino, and espresso. What to Bring:
1. Booze- put in your checked luggage. They will not go through that and we have never had a problem getting it onboard that way. If you put it in yourcarry-on, it will be confiscated. Also, you may bring one bottle of wine perperson in your carry-on without a problem. Anymore than that, put it inyour checked. Also, double Ziploc the bottles incase they break. Plasticbottles work much better. Any booze bought in port will be confiscatedand you will get a tag. The booze will be delivered to your cabin the lastnight of the cruise. Dito for any booze you buy in Duty free- when youpurchase it, you won’t get it until the last night.
2. Sodas- you may bring a limited amount of sodas aboard. When in port, 3. A chip-clip or binder clip - clip at the bottom the shower curtain - the weight keeps the curtain from sucking in and sticking to you! 4. A nightlight - those inside cabins are DARK.
5. Bungee Cord- to hold the balcony door open6. Power strip - cameras, cell phones, iPODs, etc. Lots of things to plug in an 7. Ziplocks - good for everything.
8. Air freshener for the bathroom - if you know what I mean.
9. alarm clock10. medicine bag: a. cold medicineb. sleeping pillsc. Advild. Tylenole. band aidsf.
11. suntan lotion and after sun cream12. binoculars13. big insulated mug- at least 24 oz so you don’t have to keep going back to the room to make your drinks. It’s a big ship and the walk from front toback is a hike.
14. collapsible ice cooler- tip the cabin boy $20 at the beginning of the cruise and tell him to always have it full. Leave it in the shower in case they leak.
Ours does and it was a mess. This way you can have ice for your drinksall week.
15. 1 large empty gatorade container (to fill up w/lemonade/punch for mixing Trip leader tip:
If you have a group of over 20 people on a Carnival cruise, you can contact thecustomer services and setup a private party during the day. I have done thistwice. It’s usually held in the piano bar and it is $20/person all you can drink.
They also give you light snacks- chips, chex mix, peanuts. They will give you atime and charge your sign and sail card for the entire amount and you are all set.
If you get over 40 people, they will add servers to make sure you are well served.
The open bar includes ANY drink that is normally under $8, which is beer, wine,your rail drinks, DOD, and your average call liquors- ie-Jack, Bacardi, Stoli, etc.
Believe me- 2 hours is PLENTY of time! You can also just do an hour for$12/head. At the end of the party, I will “pass the hat” for tips for the servers.
Cruiser Tips:
The drink of the day (DOD) comes in a plastic souvenir cup that is yours tokeep- you can save a couple of dollars to just have the DOD in a regularglass instead of the souvenir glass or just keep your glass and keephaving it refilled.
When you get on the cruise, head down to the duty free shop- they alwaysdo tastings and you can get a pretty good buzz going for free. Rememberthough, any purchases won’t be delivered until the last night of the cruise.
At the Captains cocktail party (and after your second cruise, at the pastguest party), avoid what the waitresses are carting around drink wise, andorder directly from the bar. All drinks are free so don’t feel you have tosuck down electric blue foofy drinks when you are a beer drinker.
On some of the Carnival ships, you can get a deck of cards w/Carnivallogo, just by asking at the purser's desk.
In the casino, they'll give you a lanyard, as well as punch a hole in yourSign and Sail (S&S) card for you.
In the dining room, ask for espresso after lunch and dinner - not usuallylisted on the menu, but espresso or cappuccino is available at no extracharge.
Hint: Read your Capers carefully, as some things are in small print. (Takea highlighter.) For instance, "tea time" is not announced in a big separatearea, just in the listing of day's activities.
The Purser's Office will carry stamps of the different countries that you aregoing to. Buy stamps ahead of time so you don't have to find a post officein each port. Makes it much easier to send the postcards home from thedifferent ports.
Print off address labels to take with you for post cards- easier thanbringing your address book and saves you time.
If you have a fridge, freeze damp washcloths the night before goingashore. Pack the frozen washcloths on ice in a zip lock bag and use themto cool off with while walking around If you have a balcony room, bring bungee cords to hold open the balconydoor at night. You will be able to hear the ocean and get a nice breeze.
You can always refill empties with the tap water from the ship if the taste itisn’t too bad and refrigerate them or keep them in a cooler. This alsoworks for vodka, just don’t mix them up.
If you want orange juice any time remember the exact place you got itduring breakfast time. All they do is take off the label making you thinkthere is no OJ.
Something else we've done is to order room service the night before withchips and cookies. We make fresh sandwiches in the a.m., but the chipsand cookies from the night before are fine if you put in baggies and nowyou have an even better lunch! For all the deck drinkers - Order all your drinks from the same barserverduring the week. By mid-week they usually slip you a free one now andagain. At minimum, you can make sure there's a little kick in your mixdrinks.
If you are cold natured-take a light sweater- It is always freezing in thedining room, casino and the show lounge.
if you're a big hot tub fan, and choose to go early the first day, be warnedthat they 'shock the tubs' from the previous weeks and jack up thechemical levels (this is why the tubs are on but closed the last night ofyour cruise).regardless, I've bleached a suit or two enjoying a hot tubafter the process of getting on the ship.
All Spas have hot tubs. Most people don't know this, at least early in thecruise and it’s a great place to go relax. Sure, you’re not outside and thereis no service in the SPA, but they are usually pretty empty and you havegreat views out the front of the ship.
There are steam rooms and saunas in the SPA that people may notrealize are free to use, they are separated so men and women can't gotogether, but nothing like a good steam after a hard day of drinking.
 You can order as much as you want. If lobster is on the menu,  If you don’t see anything you like, you can always order a steak,  If you don’t like something, you can send it back and order  Any pasta entre can be ordered as a smaller portion appetizer  When they bring the dessert menus out, ask the waiter for the children’s dessert menu. Here you will find a plethora of dessertsyou've come to love.banana splits, hot fudge Sundays and allsorts of other things. You can always get ice cream added to anydessert.
 don't go to dinner early, you will be waiting outside of the dining room. wait just a few minutes and then walk down and you willwalk right in.
If you want to be really tricky, Carnival has a policy about saving deckchairs, if people leave their towels on the chairs to save them you can pickthem up as a souvenir and a $22 lesson to the person saving the chair.
The midnight buffet opens at midnight, however, it’s nice to go downaround 11:30pm to look at the display and take pictures- it is really coollooking before the masses start tearing it apart.
The pizza place is open 24x7. You do not have to eat what they have-you can have them make you a custom pie if you are willing to wait for it.
Sushi is free from 4-5 every evening.
There are some cool activities that are worth pursuing- wine tasting is $5 and you get 5 tastings and a full glass of wine and a  Galley Tour- they take you behind the scenes of the monster kitchen  Orientation session the first day is a useless waste of time- it’s nothing  Debarkation session is also a useless waste of time. Just freaking pack your bags and either leave them outside your door the nightbefore or lug them yourselves the following morning.
If you want good bananas at the end of the cruise you better pick some upat the beginning of the cruise and put them in your fridge, they cannot pickup fresh fruit so by the end of the week they start looking a little bad.
As soon as you get on board make all your appointments for any spatreatments as the best times (formal nights, sea days) fill quickly.
Also make any reservations for alternative dining, as they have limitedspace and reservations go fast. It’s worth the $25/person extra. It’s a niceexperience.
Go check your table location, number at table. Sometimes you may wantto be alone and not dine with others. Slip the Maitre D $20 and you canpretty much guarantee a two top, even if they have to create it, which theywill.
You can bring our own wine on board- one bottle per person. Carnivaldoes not have a problem with that as they will charge an uncorking fee inthe dinning room, which is $10 or $25 in the steak room. If you want tosave the $10, decork the bottle before getting to the dining room. Use afancy bottle carrier to take it to the dining room so you don’t look like ahobo with the wine in a paper bag look.
For those with balconies and who smoke, there ARE cabins below youand it's so nasty to wake up in the morning to cigarette butts and trashlittering your balcony. You may think it's going in the ocean but itsprobably going down and over a few cabins. So be nice and use anashtray and trash can.
Bring your own beach towels to the ports. It reduces the hassle by thelocal hawkers trying to braid your hair and sell beaded necklaces andcrap. When they see those blue Carnival towels, they get dollar signs intheir eyes and start drooling.
If you want to keep in touch with home, bring your cell phone. Most peoplehave no problem calling out in Nassau and St. Thomas. Not sure aboutother ports. Be forewarned though- you will not only have to pay for thecall, but also the international fees of the tower you are using, AND a feethrough Carnival for using their booster tower. Charges can run up to$4.95/minute.
Pack a change of clothes in your carry on baggage, as well as yourbathing suit. Sometimes it may take some time to get your baggage.
Bring an extension cord or a 3 plug adaptor.there is never an electricalout let where you need it.
Buy an 'over the door’ shoe organizer (avail. at Wal-mart for about $5) andhang it over the inside of the bathroom door. It's a great place to put all ofyour toiletries that would otherwise clutter up the miniscule bathroomcounter space. Good for holding many other things as well! Bring ziplocks to put your swimsuits in for traveling home. Then you don'thave to worry about them drying out before you leave! You can get to the cruise terminal early. You are usually told to arrivearound 1pm, but you can get to the terminal as early as 11:00 am and beon board and eating lunch by 12:00. You beat the crowds and have timeto roam around before sailing. Maximize your time on the boat! Use Motorola walkie talkies. It may take a few minutes to find a channelno one else was using, but they will work fine. Try to keep the use of themto a minimum in consideration of your fellow cruisers.
Make photo copies of your passport (inside page with your photo/ID#/dateof issue/exp), credit cards, and air tickets - if they're not e-tickets - and putthem in the safe, another set of copies keep in your luggage under the bed [also carry one of the sets with you-not in your luggage in case it goesmissing on your flight].
Cross pack some of your clothes with some of his incase a suitcase is lostyou both still have some clothes. We are putting one swimsuit in each 2causal outfits each etc. just incase.
Put your luggage outside the door on the last night.
Pack lots of undergarments in your carry-on.
Bring post-it notes so you can leave messages for your steward or familymembers on the mirror or else where in your cabin.
If you have a fridge, and if it has mini-bar stuff in it, and you want the roomfor your own stuff, ask the steward to remove the mini-bar stuff. DO NOTdo this yourself or you may be charged. If the steward balks, take it up atthe purser's desk, it will be removed.
Do not use a debit card for your sail and sign account - credit cards offerlots more protection, and the hold on funds they place on your debit cardaccount can be a problem for some people. Use cash or a credit card.
Alternatively, all ports will have an Internet cafe somewhere near the dock,with rates like $3 for 30 minutes. Do your leisure surfing there. Internetcafé on board is .50/minute and you buy it in packs of $10.
Don't book ship excursions; in port, walk around town for awhile and sizeup the options. Ask some locals what is good to do today. Find a driveryou like and negotiate a price, you will be rewarded, and the more peoplein your group the less it will be per person.
The "secret doors" at the bow of the ship are useless when the ship ismoving; the wind will blow you away - the stern often has protected andtranquil places. Best time to be alone there is in the wee hours or early inthe morning.
For ports, a good idea is one of those backpacks with a bladder and atube for drinking. One of these can satisfy two people all day and thensome, and no need to mess with water bottles. Plus the backpack can beused for souvenirs, etc.
Pack a small suitcase with nothing but soft drinks. (plastic bottles). Drinkthem throughout the week and at the end of the cruise, you've got anempty suitcase to put souvenirs in.
If you need post cards, go to the purser’s desk. they have those with thepicture of the ship for free! When you board, go directly to the casino (it will be closed) and get thefree lanyards that are in the slot machines. Sometime during the cruise goto the purser’s office and have your sign and sail cards hole punched andattach them to the free lanyard.
The “coffee table” books in the cabins are free, if you ask your roomsteward.
Ship's logo corkscrew can usually be obtained by your cabin steward.
If you run out of booze, get some in port and empty a water bottle and fill itup. When you come onboard, they just xray your bag- they don’t go through it, so as long as they are just looking at a water bottle, they won’topen your bag to see the water has a strange color to it.
Casino tip:
 The slots will be looser in the beginning of the cruise. They do that to get participation knowing you will lose whatever you won the first few days inthe last few days  You do not get drink comps, but if you are betting enough, you can nicely  Get the line’s gambling card- this will help you get a few comps if you are betting a lot. Also, it will add that information to your past sailor accountand you may be upgraded on your next trip if you gamble enough. Theyalso single out the high rollers and sometimes have a private party forthem and give them freebies such as special lanyards to wear so the pitchief can slip you drinks and such.
 If you play blackjack, one secret to keep in mind is the Fun21 table - there are NO QUEENS in the decks - They will tell you this IF YOU ASK butwhat they won't tell you, and 98% of the players do not realize, is that thisforces a change in the way you play. check out wizardofodds.com andread about SPANISH21!

Source: http://www.dcfagowees.com/usefulinfo/Cruise_tips.pdf