We started cruising in 2014 and we have been hooked ever since. We kept seeing our friend go on cruises and post all of these amazing photos on facebook. Sooooo we said why not and we tried it. We slapped our total payment on a credit card and went out to sea. I do not recommend putting your cruise on a credit card, but hey, YOLO I guess? LOL. Anyway, after our first cruise we were hooked. Since then we have learned how to book, when to book, how to get the best rate, where to go and how to pay cash for them! We have currently sailed on 4 cruises and we have 2 booked for 2019. We have sailed to the Bahamas, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Jamaica, the Cayman Islands, Mexico, Honduras, and Belize. Thanks to Wynee for letting me tell you a little bit about the fun life of cruising!

Personally, we have only sailed on Carnival. It’s known as the “Fun Ship.” It’s the most affordable & it’s super easy to book it yourself!  There are deck parties at night. Thousands of people will be on the main deck by the pool. It’s literally like a huge night club. Everyone is dancing and having so much fun. The DJ gets everyone pumped up and you can be yourself. My husband does not dance, but he will get out on the dance floor because it’s that much fun! There are different shows at night, from dance shows, to singing shows, to comedy & they even have a lip sync battle. Just like the show lip sync battle on TV! They choose two guests to perform & it’s soon cool to watch. Switching over to dinner, it’s beyond good & you can order as much food as you want. Want to try 3 different appetizers? You got it. Want 4 desserts? Sure thing! They will bring you whatever you want!! You have the same servers at dinner each night. You will get so close to them that they end up being family. We always add crew members on facebook and we keep in touch. Now to the alcohol. We love the alchemy bar. ITS THE BEST BAR EVER. The bartenders are alchemists, so they can make you anything & everything. You tell them what fruit you like and what liquors you like and they will make you drinks that aren’t even on their menu! We sat at this bar for four hours every night on our last cruise. There are so many things going on all day long and all night.  They even have movies at night by the pool on a huge screen! They have a spa which is nice if you want to relax and get a massage. There are water slides, a water park, mini golf, a gym, multiple buffets, unlimited ice cream, casino, and more. Carnival has an app you can download and once you are on the ship you can see the itinerary for what is going on around the ship. You can also see how much you have spent on alcohol, souvenirs, etc. You can also see your photos. There are sooo many photographers everywhere & when they take your picture it shows up in your app. You can then purchase the photos which is really cool.  We are sailing on Royal Caribbean in February of 2019. I can give you an update then if we prefer it more. 🙂

I book through Carnivals website. I then log my cruise in the app called Cruise Shipmate & I turn on pricing notifications. If the price drops or increases I get a notification. If it drops, I can call into carnival & have them adjust my rate to the cheaper rate! If I have already paid for the cruise in full & the rate drops, I can call in and get an onboard credit. The onboard credit can be used towards the casino, alcohol, souvenirs etc.  This app is a MUST HAVE. I also find the Facebook group for my sail date. If there isn’t one, then I create the group myself & then people will join. For example, this last cruise we sailed on was the Carnival Magic, so I went on FB and entered the following in search bar: Carnival Magic August 25, 2018. There was a group already created and it had 200 people in it. The group is great because you meet new people & find out about deals, excursions and more. There is typically a meet and greet that the group sets up, so you can meet everyone in the group once you are on the ship. It’s perfect because if you are sailing by yourself you can meet a lot of people! There is also an app called Cruise.com. You can find last minute cruises for great prices!

Look for the newer boats, or boats that have been recently renovated. We only sail on newer boats with the best amenities. Not all Carnival ships are the same and you don’t want to pay $2000 to be on an older boat. I use this link to see the ships by age… it also shows the renovation dates!  (http://blog.shipmateapp.com/carnival-ships-by-age/) Also, we only sail on the Carnival ships with Guy’s Burger Joint, the Blue Iguana Cantina & the Alchemy Bar.  If the ship does not have these three places then it’s pretty old & hasn’t been renovated in awhile. Always do a 7 day cruise. It’s the best to get to experience all of the activities of the ship & it’s worth the price. When booking, always book deck 6 or higher. The elevators are typically full & you will do a lot of walking. Food is usually on deck 10, so you don’t want to be on deck 1 and have to walk 9 flights of stairs. We usually book on deck 8. Balcony rooms are the best. Interior rooms are the cheapest, but are super small and you don’t have a living room area. Always book in the middle of the ship.  Also, we never sail out of Charleston. These boats are smaller and older. We book sailings out of Port Canaveral the most. We sometimes sail out of Miami as well. When you are cruising it’s best to go down the day before so you aren’t late getting on the boat. Call your hotel & ask about a park and cruise package. This includes you staying one night at your hotel & leaving your vehicle parked there. They will then drive you to the port the next day and bring you back to the hotel to get your vehicle after the cruise. If you park at the port for the week, they charge you $120 for the week. This is why a park and cruise package is worth it because it includes your hotel stay plus them taking you to the port/picking you up. As far as getting the best deal, summer is going to be superrrr expensive because it’s when everyone has vacation time. We usually go the last week of August and it saves us $600. When you are booking your cruise you can compare different dates and it will show you the difference in price. We have always cruised during hurricane season & we have always been just fine! They will take a different route to keep you safe if there is a hurricane.

I always suggest planning a year in advance. This is the best way to make sure you have plenty of time to save. Carnival Cruises typically vary from $1500 for two people to $5000 depending on the type of room & how many days. Royal Caribbean does offer some rooms that go up to $10,000. The rooms that cost 10K are BEAUTIFUL & they include a full kitchen, living room with a playstation & they even have a second floor in your “room.”  I say “room” because these look like apartments and not rooms LOL! Typically deposits are $250-$500. The deposit is deducted from your total, so if the cruise is $2000 for two people and the deposit is $500, you would owe $1500 after the deposit. Final cruise payments are always 75 days before the cruise, so a year is always enough time to save! Carnival allows you to set up automatic monthly payments, so this makes it super easy to pay. Always pay for as much as you can before your sail date. Your cruise rate includes the following: breakfast, lunch, dinner, water, lemonade, tea and coffee, and taxes. We always go ahead and factor in our tips to our total as well. Your final rate does not include alcohol, soda or shore excursions. Shore excursions you can book when you get off of the boat, but go ahead and pay for alcohol & soda upfront! The soda package is unlimited and it is around $125 for 2 people for 7 days (Carnival Pricing). If you purchase it once you are on the ship it will be more. The alcohol package is around $840 for 2 people for 7 days (Carnival Pricing).  Again, if you purchase it once you are on the ship it will be more. The alcohol package is 15 alcoholic drinks per day, per person. It also includes unlimited soda, bottled water, energy drinks & you can get drinks for free at the coffee shop as well. Personally, I have never hit my 15 drinks per day. You are in port sometimes all day, so we don’t start drinking until 5 pm somedays. Royal Caribbean offers the soda package & alcohol package as well. Pricing is around the same; however, Royal Caribbean offers UNLIMITED ALCOHOL. So, if you are a heavy drinker this might be a better option for you to cruise with Royal Caribbean; however, Royal Caribbean’s room rates are much more than Carnival.

Excursions are not included. You can book excursions through the cruise line, or book them when you get off of the ship. Personally, we do not book through the cruise line. The cruise line guarantees your safety, but most of the time we end up with the same group from the cruise and pay wayyyy less than they did. This past cruise we paid $20 per person for a city tour, shopping & beach. We were with the same group from the ship, but they paid $80 per person. When you get off of the ship and enter port, there are soooo many companies waiting to take you on tours, to the beach, shopping etc. Just make sure you go with a company and not some random person & you will be fine! You can bargain with them to get the best deal!

Passport or Birth Certificate & Drivers License. This is number one!! If you don’t have any of these you cannot get on the ship. With cruises you don’t have to have a passport. As long as you have a certified copy of your birth certificate you are good to go! The next super important item would be extension cords! There are limited plug ins, so extension cords are super important. Motion sickness medication is a must. I have to take it the entire time to make sure I don’t get sick. Take any form of medicine for headaches, stomachaches etc. I even take aloe. I once had really bad sun poison and went into a store in the Virgin Islands to get aloe & Benadryl. When I got to the register my total was $45. I was shocked!!! Everything is marked up in ports as well as on the cruise ship, so pack anything and everything! During the day as far as clothing goes, you really only need your bathing suit, a cover up, and good shoes. I always wear Chacos in port. They are great for getting in the water and support my feet. At night we get dressed up for dinner. Realistically you only need your swimwear during the day and a nice outfit for the evening! I of course always over pack, but what girl doesn’t? LOL! Surprisingly my husband brings more clothes and shoes than I do, but it’s better to be safe than sorry. The app I mentioned earlier, Cruise Shipmate that I use has a packing checklist for your cruise which is really cool to make sure you pack everything! Also, you can bring one bottle of wine per person on the ship! Make sure it doesn’t have a cork because they will charge you $15 to open it. You can also bring one 12 pack of soda per person.

Don’t be scared! I was afraid as well at first, but now it’s the only way we vacation now. We are starting to go on cruises every six months. The more you cruise the more they give you offers, rewards and credits! Once you go on a cruise, you won’t vacation any other way. Unlimited food, unlimited ice cream, room service, andddd you get to see the most beautiful places for a great price! Just do it!!! 

When you book your cruise you can include tips in your total and pay for it before the cruise … or you can pay for them at the end of the cruise. It’s the same thing, so I say pay for it before. They charge you a flat rate for your gratuities. It’s usually $100 per person for a 7 day cruise. If you don’t pay for them before the cruise, the last day they will charge your debit card for the tips. So, I always pay for them before, so it’s not added in at the end. The tips cover your steward and servers at dinner. This does not cover your alcoholic drinks or sodas. If you purchase the soda or alcohol package gratuities are factored in. If you don’t purchase the package, they will factor in a tip on each drink you purchase. We bring cash for our shore excursions and for things we purchase in port. There are ATM’s throughout the ship, so you can always get cash out if you need it. When you arrive to port, they will take your picture and this picture is linked to your card. This card will be used as your room key and you will use this card at the bars, casinos and shops while you are on the boat. Anything you purchase on the boat will be put on this card. This card is linked to your debit card, so you don’t need cash the entire week to use on the boat. They will place a $200 hold on your card. If you spend less than $200 they will credit your debit card at the end of the week. If you spend over $200 they will begin to charge your debit card once you pass that $200, so make sure you have plenty of money in your account if you are spending a lot of $$$$. Also, we always tip our favorite bartenders at the end of the week and give them cash. I usually give my 2 bottles of wine to our servers at dinner. They do a really good job, and they don’t get paid much. Plus they are away from their families for 6 months at a time. It’s nice to see the smile on their faces when you give them cash and gifts.

Disney cruises are known as the best cruise line for kids. We have never sailed on Disney, but the boats look really nice. They are a bit more expensive than Carnival, so typically most families sail with Carnival due to the price. Carnival is great for kids as well. They have something called Camp Carnival. They have different activities for different age groups. Camp Carnival will keep your child from 10 am – 10 pm for free. If you want them to stay until 1 am, it’s $20 per day. Everyone we have met with kids have told us that their children will wake them up at 7 am begging to go to camp. The kids love it and they get to hang out with others their age. For the teenagers they have clubs for them & most of them you will see running around together all week. Carnival is great for couples, individuals, or families. It’s FUN for everyone! Don’t be alarmed if you are a couple traveling without kids or grandchildren or if you just don’t have kids. It’s still a lot of fun, and the kids do their own thing! If you want more of a quiet cruise that isn’t as wild and a big party, they say to sail with Royal Caribbean. From what I have heard it is still fun, but more so low-key. Our first Royal Caribbean cruise is in February 2019, so I’m looking forward to seeing the differences.  As far as celebrity cruise lines goes, they are supposed to be super fancy & luxurious.