What are some things you wish you would have known before the cruise, perhaps found out during your cruise?

 Me, that I just learned is to get your OWN transportation to the port.  I arrive at MIA at 9am and according to the fine print of my PREpaid transfers thru Carnival....I won't be able to leave the airport until noon or so (maybe earlier if the bus fills up).  I'd rather spend that time at the port- not the airport.

 I'm traveling w/ my teenage daughter and your tips, tricks, and insider information will come in handy.

CarnivalConnectionser:

What are some things you wish you would have known before the cruise, perhaps found out during your cruise?

 Me, that I just learned is to get your OWN transportation to the port.  I arrive at MIA at 9am and according to the fine print of my PREpaid transfers thru Carnival....I won't be able to leave the airport until noon or so (maybe earlier if the bus fills up).  I'd rather spend that time at the port- not the airport.

 I'm traveling w/ my teenage daughter and your tips, tricks, and insider information will come in handy.

I wish I would have known that the sauna and steam rooms are included in the overall price; that there are no extra charges for using them!  

Really?  Wow....that is a great thing to know, beforehand.

 

 

 During our research I also found that out about having to wait to get to the port.. we did book a sedan car shuttle so we will be the only ones in it to get to the port the morning of our cruise... 

 

Happy cruising!!

Lucky you!  I thought I read all the 'fine' print but I missed that one.  When the fine print said to let Carnival know at least 5 days in advance I thought they really wanted to know my flight info so I could get the shuttle.

 Instead they should disclose upfront that shuttle departs at noon.

 My digging has come up w/ buy future cruise aboard your cruise and you don't have to have any destination or date in mind...just 100 deposit and they also credit your future cruise w/ 50 bucks onboard credit.

Get a auction #, even if not bidding, so you can get a free print afterwards.

1st day, spa gives tours- and they give a secret "discount code".

Don't get to the lifeboat drill early as 1st ones there are the last to leave.

Anything else?

That we do not have to leave the boat when we our number is called, we just aren't supposed to leave before.  If our number is called at 9:00 we can leave anytime after that, why not stay on as late as you can having breakfast and saying goodbye.

That there would be plenty of space to store things.  I thought the bathrooms would be about the size of those in a travel trailer.  Wow was I ever pleasantly surprised.  My best friend and I had plenty of space in the medicine cabinet to unpack all our toiletries.  Closet and drawer space were sufficient for our other things.  There was room under the beds to stash our suitcases.

I wish I knew to keep some cash handy for tips on the last day.  I wanted to give our cabin steward a little something extra.  We locked our purses in the safe and used my friend's credit card for the key.  I couldn't get to my cash very easily when I went back to the cabin without her.

If you are in a balcony room take a bungee cord to hold the outside door open for that fresh sea air and breeze. very relaxing at night.

I would've packed a lot less clothes. Half the time I just wore a swimsuit and cover up everywhere anyway! You're on a cruise- who needs clothes! lol...

me too! Less clothes, not to worry so much about what I was going to wear. I also mostly did wear my bathing suit and cover up during the day. Also, my last cruise was my first one and I did not know that you could try more than one type of food at dinner. I didn't know I could of asked for something else to eat so I could try different things! Next time I will also make sure my luggage has rollers so that I can bring my own luggage off the ship. This way we wouldn't have had to wait in such a long line afterwards to retrieve our luggage.

 

Take a used gift card (from Walmart, Macys, wherever) that has the black strip on the back to lock/unlock the safe in your room.  You are not to use your S&S card and they suggest a credit card.  However we always worried about losing our cc while at the poolside, etc.  A gift card works fine.  LMP

ProudPatriot07:

I would've packed a lot less clothes. Half the time I just wore a swimsuit and cover up everywhere anyway! You're on a cruise- who needs clothes! lol...

 

DITTO!!!!

LMP:

Take a used gift card (from Walmart, Macys, wherever) that has the black strip on the back to lock/unlock the safe in your room.  You are not to use your S&S card and they suggest a credit card.  However we always worried about losing our cc while at the poolside, etc.  A gift card works fine.  LMP

AWESOME!!!  I never thought of that!!!  We have boo koo Walmart cards laying around the house that DH gets in order to get the 3 cent discount on gas.  That will put them to another great use!

Thanks for the tip!!

 I wish I would have known cruising was going to be this much fun then i would have started cruising long before I did.

Wish I had known you could order more than one dessert at dinner in the dining room...didn't need it, but wish I had known I could have. Wish I had known about the free cruise raffle, and wish I had known how good the breakfast in the dining room was. I didn't find out until the last morning how fabulous it was. Again, probably a good thing I didn't know then, but I know now!!!