Marsha's Cruise Tips

This will begin a series of several post concerning our cruise. Some of them will provide practical information, some short vignettes and some musings from aboard the Carnival Liberty 2009.
will….” or “next time I won’t….”. This time I decided to make a list of Marsha’s Cruise Tips:

• Boat Drill: GO LATE, seriously wait about 20 minutes before going to your muster station. IF you don’t you will be stuck in the back of an extremely hot group of grumpy people with HOT lifejackets on. Save yourself the grief and be fashionably late.
• Get a cabin with a balcony if at all possible. I know you say you won’t be in the cabin that much, but it makes all the difference in the world when you are there.
• If you want good food all week—just plan on eating every meal in the dining room. This is one area that has really declined since my last cruise three years ago. The “Lido” deck buff
I have been on three cruises, but this was Kent’s first. Every time I go, I always say “next time I et style food was mediocre at best. They do have 24-hour pizza that’s pretty good, but the food in the dining room is always great.
• Buy only ONE soda card to share per two people. You might have to be a little sneaky passing the card back and forth, but it saves bucks.
• Don’t buy all those photos taken by the ship’s professionals. They are really expensive. Just buy one as a souvenir and take snapshots. Candid pictures will mean more anyway.
• Go to dinner the first evening about 10 minutes late. This will save you the hassle of the first night cattle call/find your table mess. Just wait and walk right in—fashionably late again.
• Room service is complementary—so take some empty Ziplock baggies with you in your suitcase and on days that you have shore excursions order pbj’s, fruit, chips for breakfast from room service and take them with you for the shore excursion.
• In Jamaica, don’t leave the boat too early for your excursion. You only need about 15 minutes and if you get there earlier you wait in a REALLY hot building.
• Remember that the shore excursions are reasonably priced comparatively, but what you get by booking them through the cruise is that you are covered under the cruise insurance (huge benefit if you dive) and the boat won’t leave without you if you happen to be late.
• Don’t forget to take cash (esp. small bills) with you on excursions for tips or emergencies.
• For those of you who enjoy an occasional alcoholic beverage—according to our table mates they NEVER buy alcohol on the ship. Apparently, they bring their own—checked bags are never “checked”, so a little bubble-wrap protects the product and you’re set for the week.
• Remember you don’t have to do everything and doing nothing is doing something—at least on a cruise.
• If you don’t enjoy meeting other people, interacting with other people, sharing life for a week with interesting folks from around the world—find another vacation a cruise just wouldn’t be your “cup of tea”. On the other hand if you enjoy people a cruise can be the best vacation ever.

Feel free to add things I may have overlooked or forgotten.