Going on a carnival cruise - who's been on one?

[crystalmethod]

What's up NT fam?
I'm getting married on October 26 and taking a cruise for our honeymoon. Were going thru carnival and our ship is the carnival paradise. It's a 5 day cruise to the carribean, we're stopping at the cayman islands and Cozumel Mexico. Wanted to know if anyone on here has been on one. And if you could let me know how it went.. Any advice.. Things I should bring etc.

 

[ill steelo]

It was amazing. Free food, free gym, free night clubs. You almost don't want to get off the ship when they make their stops.

Just make sure you stay away from the casino. And their basketball "court" is less than halfcourt & they only have 1 hoop & the ball isn't that nice, at least on mine.

But everything else offered makes up for that & much more.

And you're married so you don't have to worry about packing condoms or getting burned.

Have fun!

 

[vanillagorilladx]

- Plan your island days beforehand
- Wake up early on island days
- Plan for expenses in travel and TIPS
- You will gain weight. All the food you can eat! During dinner, you can order as many entrees as you want (got lobster 2x one night)
- Dramamine (seasickness)

 

[jrp44]

Went on my first and only one so far almost exactly a year ago..Went to the Bahamas on the Carnival Fantasy...Had fun as hell

-Order whatever you want
-Seemed like it was hard to sneak on alcohol because they check every bag etc., but you can each bring 1 12 pack of soda and 1 bottle of wine
-You can order liquor through the Bon Voyage phone # and have it waiting for you in your room. You can drink this on the ship and while it cost more then a regualr liquor store, you will save $$ if you order a bottle and mix your drinks.
-Go to as many of the shows, comedy things etc...You have all day to chill on the ship so when there is a show we went to all of them.
-You can just get off the island and probably get to the local beaches etc. without booking any excursions.
-If you like liquor get some from the duty free shop...They will deliver it to your room the last night and they have some great deals.
-Don't bring too many clothes..You will be chilling in bball shorts/ T-Shirt most of the time anyway, but bring a nice shirt/tie when they have formal dinner night.
-Do the tip thing in advance on your card. All the tips will be included already. Tip your cabin guy/ room service though
-Get the ice cream/pizza late at night
-Bring a watch/clock

 

[crystalmethod]

What's the deal with room service? Is that also free?
N what's good of I just want something to drink? Is the dinning room or w/e
Open 24/7 ? Or do I do room service for that ?

 

[jrp44]

What's the deal with room service? Is that also free?
N what's good of I just want something to drink? Is the dinning room or w/e
Open 24/7 ? Or do I do room service for that ?

Room service is free 24/7 if I remember correctly. The main formal dinning room is open for breakfast and dinner. They have another room with tables etc and usually lines where you get the food.. They have water, iced tea, and lemonade always available for free. You can get soda, but you have to pay for it individually or get a soda card. Anything you buy you just swipe your card and at the end of the trip they send you a bill with all of your charges

 

[ideezy1023]

Tip your room service they will give u free pop the whole time.....the 24 hour ice cream/pizza

Have breakfast sent to the room lol

 

[corndogmcgee]

Congrats. I went for my honeymoon too. Be prepared to be the youngest couple on the ship. We avoided dinner rushes by going "later" which meant 730-830. Don't overpay for the ship sponsored excursions, you can usually find much more cost efficient options by planning ahead or finding a tour on shore. Also, if you can, definitely upgrade to a room with a window or balcony - well worth it, otherwise the dark room feels basement/prison like.

 

[crystalmethod]

Tip your room service they will give u free pop the whole time.....the 24 hour ice cream/pizza
Have breakfast sent to the room lol

Where's that at? The dinning room?

Room service is free 24/7 if I remember correctly. The main formal dinning room is open for breakfast and dinner. They have another room with tables etc and usually lines where you get the food.. They have water, iced tea, and lemonade always available for free. You can get soda, but you have to pay for it individually or get a soda card. Anything you buy you just swipe your card and at the end of the trip they send you a bill with all of your charges

All about that room service

 

[2 RAWW]

Being able to order food any time day or night was my favorite part of my cruise haha.

 

[dbyrd501]

man i think i'm too scared to go on a cruise, surrounded by all that water just makes me uneasy

 

[ksteezy]

Cheapest way to vacation!...you'll love it, DONT!...book any excursions with Carnival, wait till you dock...locals will swamp you with offers and you can bargain....plus they will REALLY be worth your money....some dude took us to his hood for some food and some crazy beers out in Dominika if I remember correctly....it was crazy fun!

 

[carlosar33]

Cheapest way to vacation!...you'll love it, DONT!...book any excursions with Carnival, wait till you dock...locals will swamp you with offers and you can bargain....plus they will REALLY be worth your money....some dude took us to his hood for some food and some crazy beers out in Dominika if I remember correctly....it was crazy fun!

That doesn't really sound that safe.. Where was this at?

 

[ideezy1023]

@crystalmeth no it was on the top deck towards the back

The only part that sucks is the boarding

 

[jfmartimcdandruff]

Cheapest way to vacation!...you'll love it, DONT!...book any excursions with Carnival, wait till you dock...locals will swamp you with offers and you can bargain....plus they will REALLY be worth your money....some dude took us to his hood for some food and some crazy beers out in Dominika if I remember correctly....it was crazy fun!

i always thought u had to avoid them (scam)

but man, i def need to go on another cruise

 

[dathbgboy]

I wouldve went with Norwegian bro. That's what I did for my honeymoon. Freestyle dining means u can eat whenever you want and you don't have to sit with ppl.

I got the honeymoon package for an extra $225 too and that def had mrs feelin the vibe

 

[a55a5in11]

i want to go on a cruise so bad hopefully with in the next year

 

[crystalmethod]

Congrats. I went for my honeymoon too. Be prepared to be the youngest couple on the ship. We avoided dinner rushes by going "later" which meant 730-830. Don't overpay for the ship sponsored excursions, you can usually find much more cost efficient options by planning ahead or finding a tour on shore. Also, if you can, definitely upgrade to a room with a window or balcony - well worth it, otherwise the dark room feels basement/prison like.

How would I go about finding these different excursions? All I know about is the stuff on their website.. Which does seem kinda expensive

 

[Mound Raised]

get a room with a balcony....thank me later

 

[control are]

Check out cruisecritic.com...Niketalk for cruisers

I recently went on my first cruise, a 7 day to the Mexican Riviera (2 days in Cabo and 1 in Puerto Vallarta on the Carnival Splendor) - went with my girl and 4 of our friends. Snuck our own alcohol onto the ship (combination of rum runners and shampbooze bottles) and just went down to Lido for juice to use as mixers.

Days at sea were pretty much spent eating, drinking, and laying out. Aside from checking out the nightclub and the comedy show one night, we didn't really check out any of the activities but didn't feel like we missed out either - we had 3 connecting balcony rooms so we had all the space we needed to have our own fun anyway. Overall I had a great time and would jump at the chance to go on another one

If you have any other questions, feel free to ask

 

[arturzee]

The cruises are a lot of fun. There is a ton of food. Make sure you wake up early on island days.

 

[puglife]

bumping this...thinking about going on a cruise right after new years since it's the only time that's feasible with everything going on right now.


basically i just wanna know...besides the actual tickets to get on board, what else should i expect to pay for? is all food covered? i know drinks won't be, but i basically just wanna know what to expect to pay for besides getting on the actual boat so i can better plan out this entire trip.

 

[crystalmethod]

Yeah all the food is free.. Drinks can range from 7-15$.. They have shops and stuff on the boat and when u dock.. We blew thru over a grand real quick.. Other than that all your excursions.. Everything else is extra stuff..
So it's w/e u wanna spend..but definetly bring extra cash.. Better to have it n not need it..then need it n not have it.. We also got charged like $55 per person for the 5 days for the person cleaning the room..

 

[hampisback]

My wife and I went on a cruise on our honeymoon in the Bahamas. It was a 5 day cruise and it was well worth the money. All the food you can imagine lol for free. We packed our own liquor in empty mouthwash bottles. It was a money saver. The drinks are not that expensive, but it was another way to save money. You can also buy drink tickets in advanced which are cheaper than the drinks on the cruise. Make sure you bring a steamer to get your clothes right. There was only like two irons per on certain parts of the ship, and it was hell to iron your clothes. Going off shore is cool we took a hood tour through Nassau which was cool it was like $10 per person. Since you are married like me you will miss out on the easy biddies lol I saw a few dudes that bagged a few while on the ship. The casino is cool as well as the club on the ship. Try to hit up the beaches. We took a free tour of the Atlantis. If I could remember it was free at night, but it cost during the day. Try to meet with a few locals while you are off the ship, and they can show you around a bit. It is best to also bring a nice camera so you can picture jack lol. They will take photos of you everywhere so you will want to buy them all up. We took a picture of the picture and they came out good. Try to be sneaky about it tho lol.

 

[calye2da]

u should enjoy it. i went with da fam last summer on carnival cruise to da bahamas. they have so many fun things u can get into on da cruise & off wherever ur cruise is headed. is it me or cruises or very family orientated lol ?