Heading off on my first cruise
 

It is Carnival and we are going on a 5 day/night cruise through the Western Caribbean. Actually my flight leaves today at 1230, but just wanted to tell you guys to keep up with the training camp and scrimmage updates, I will be checking my laptop for it once in a while. I hope it will be fun.

Adios!

Re: Heading off on my first cruise
 

Have fun, but remember: if you feel a strong, strange desire to stand on the bow with your arms stretched out and yell "I'm the king of the world!" you should probably just punch yourself in the face right there on the spot.

Re: Heading off on my first cruise
 

[QUOTE=hooskins;335919]It is Carnival and we are going on a 5 day/night cruise through the Western Caribbean. Actually my flight leaves today at 1230, but just wanted to tell you guys to keep up with the training camp and scrimmage updates, I will be checking my laptop for it once in a while. I hope it will be fun.

Adios![/QUOTE]
What ports are you hitting? I did a W Car last year. Cruises are money.

Re: Heading off on my first cruise
 

[quote=ArtMonkDrillz;335921]Have fun, but remember: if you feel a strong, strange desire to stand on the bow with your arms stretched out and yell "I'm the king of the world!" you should probably just punch yourself in the face right there on the spot.[/quote]
Or he could just jump. There is no hope.

Re: Heading off on my first cruise
 

The wife and I go on our first one together in Jan. The new Emerald Princess for 10 days to Barbuda, Antigua, St. Lucia, Barbados, St. Kitts, St Thomas, Princess Cays [their private Island]

Gonna be great!

Enjoy man!

Re: Heading off on my first cruise
 

hoo - best of luck and weather on your trip...

Wife and I want to take my parents on a cruise for their 30th anniversary...so we're looking. SBF - your cruise sounds incredible, however, if (Or for those optimistics, when) the Skins are in the playoffs, how is that going to work?!?!

Re: Heading off on my first cruise
 

[quote=ArtMonkDrillz;335921]Have fun, but remember: if you feel a strong, strange desire to stand on the bow with your arms stretched out and yell "I'm the king of the world!" you should probably just punch yourself in the face right there on the spot.[/quote]


Your right because it's really the booze and your getting ready to puke......

Re: Heading off on my first cruise
 

I'm in Tampa right now, at the pool, drinking a frozen drink.. and hating that I have to return to you losers.. (joke).

Re: Heading off on my first cruise
 

Are you going on the Valor hooskins? I went on that one for my honeymoon and it was amazing. It's likely it was the same boat. I went West Caribbean as well and I loved it...

Re: Heading off on my first cruise
 

[QUOTE=TheMalcolmConnection;336013]Are you going on the Valor hooskins? I went on that one for my honeymoon and it was amazing. It's likely it was the same boat. I went West Caribbean as well and I loved it...[/QUOTE]What TMC means is, if you happen to be on the same boat don't go in cabin 237 because TMC made an [I]awful[/I] mess in there on his honeymoon.

Re: Heading off on my first cruise
 

I won't make any promises, but they said that Hazmat should be done by now...

Re: Heading off on my first cruise
 

[QUOTE=FRPLG;335925]What ports are you hitting? I did a W Car last year. Cruises are money.[/QUOTE]

I agree...I've done two western car. (Progresso / Belize / Cozumel) and (Cozumel / Georgetown, Grand Cayman / Montego Bay, Jamaica / Labadee, Haiti), and one eastern car. (Nassau Bahamas / St. Thomas / St. Maarten). We're cruising Hawaii in January.
I LOVE to cruise! Best vacation, and cheaper than you think.

Re: Heading off on my first cruise
 

Totally agree. I will probably never do a normal vacation again unless it's something overseas.

Re: Heading off on my first cruise
 

[QUOTE=TheMalcolmConnection;336514]Totally agree. I will probably never do a normal vacation again unless it's something overseas.[/QUOTE]

How many cruises have you done?

Re: Heading off on my first cruise
 

Jsarno, do you have a travel agent or do you just purchase online?

Re: Heading off on my first cruise
 

[QUOTE=TheMalcolmConnection;336013]Are you going on the Valor hooskins? I went on that one for my honeymoon and it was amazing. It's likely it was the same boat. I went West Caribbean as well and I loved it...[/QUOTE]
TMC, Does this really count as a honeymoon? ;)

[IMG]http://cache.defamer.com/images/2006/04/jackass-cruises.jpg[/IMG]

Re: Heading off on my first cruise
 

[QUOTE=TheMalcolmConnection;336013]Are you going on the Valor hooskins? I went on that one for my honeymoon and it was amazing. It's likely it was the same boat. I went West Caribbean as well and I loved it...[/QUOTE]

BTW, my eastern caribbean cruise was on the Valor.
If you like Carnival, you'll love Royal Caribbean. I'll never go back to Carnival, RC is twice the cruise line.

Re: Heading off on my first cruise
 

[QUOTE=jamf;336762]Jsarno, do you have a travel agent or do you just purchase online?[/QUOTE]


The very first I did was through a travel agent...the last 3 were on my own. You save more money that way.
I usually go to [url=http://www.cruisesonly.com]Cruises, Last Minute Cruises, Cheap Cruises, Cruise Deals, Cruise Bargain, Cruise Line[/url] cause their search engine is the best. I will then look around to see how much the other sites are charging. It's best to buy through the cruise line themself if they are the same price.

Re: Heading off on my first cruise
 

quit talking about how great they are. i have been after my wife for years to go on one. she says once she cant see the land, she would be petrified

Re: Heading off on my first cruise
 

[QUOTE=dmek25;336791]quit talking about how great they are. i have been after my wife for years to go on one. she says once she cant see the land, she would be petrified[/QUOTE]

My wife said the same thing until I got her on one. These boats are so massive, you have no idea even when you leave port if you're not looking outside!
Talk your wife into it, it's totally worth it. They are the best vacations you can buy.

Re: Heading off on my first cruise
 

[quote=jsarno;336708]How many cruises have you done?[/quote]

Uno, and that's all it took.

Re: Heading off on my first cruise
 

[quote=jsarno;336788]BTW, my eastern caribbean cruise was on the Valor.
If you like Carnival, you'll love Royal Caribbean. I'll never go back to Carnival, RC is twice the cruise line.[/quote]

I've heard a lot of people liking them as well. We'll probably try them next just to see who we like the most before we get set with a certain company.

Re: Heading off on my first cruise
 

Hey guys just came back home. I went to E.Carr, and two stops at Grand Cayman and Calica, Mexico. I had tons of fun on the excursions and on the ships I pretty much gambled, drank, and whatever that led to.

I dont know how much weight I put on, but I was in the gym everyday, so I dont think I put on too much.

Re: Heading off on my first cruise
 

[quote=jsarno;336788]BTW, my eastern caribbean cruise was on the Valor.
If you like Carnival, you'll love Royal Caribbean. I'll never go back to Carnival, RC is twice the cruise line.[/quote]

I didnt think Carnival was too bad, but there were some points that were upsetting. We went with extended family(about 20+ people) so trying to get them all to spend more money on a nicer cruise line didnt really work.

Re: Heading off on my first cruise
 

[QUOTE=TheMalcolmConnection;337064]I've heard a lot of people liking them as well. We'll probably try them next just to see who we like the most before we get set with a certain company.[/QUOTE]


My hawaiian cruise will be with NCL (Norweigan), and it will be my first on that cruise line. I've heard good things about their freedom dining.

Re: Heading off on my first cruise
 

[QUOTE=hooskins;338342]Hey guys just came back home. I went to E.Carr, and two stops at Grand Cayman and Calica, Mexico. I had tons of fun on the excursions and on the ships I pretty much gambled, drank, and whatever that led to. [/quote]

I think you mean Western Carib...GCayman is directly south of Florida, and then you would go west to Mexico, meaning it's a western caribbean cruise.
Glad you enjoyed it, cruising is amazingly fun, and you can do whatever you want, whenever you want!

[quote]I dont know how much weight I put on, but I was in the gym everyday, so I dont think I put on too much.[/QUOTE]

Actually, I have lost weight on all my cruises. I think it's cause I usually eat two meals a day, and when I cruise I eat like 6 times a day. Plus I usually pick excursions that require exersion.

Re: Heading off on my first cruise
 

[QUOTE=hooskins;338345]I didnt think Carnival was too bad, but there were some points that were upsetting. We went with extended family(about 20+ people) so trying to get them all to spend more money on a nicer cruise line didnt really work.[/QUOTE]


What points were upsetting?

Re: Heading off on my first cruise
 

[quote=jsarno;338374]What points were upsetting?[/quote]

Well you could tell they were being cheap at times. One of the "free drink" events they only gave you one, and avoided you the rest of the night because they didnt wanna give more than one drink. Also the pools werent too big on the ship they were really shallow, so I never went on any of those. I also think they didnt have enough activities on the ship for people to do.

There were others, but I can't remember off the top of my head.

Re: Heading off on my first cruise
 

[QUOTE=hooskins;338553]Well you could tell they were being cheap at times. One of the "free drink" events they only gave you one, and avoided you the rest of the night because they didnt wanna give more than one drink. Also the pools werent too big on the ship they were really shallow, so I never went on any of those. I also think they didnt have enough activities on the ship for people to do.

There were others, but I can't remember off the top of my head.[/QUOTE]

I think the pools are like that due to sway of the ocean...the bigger they are, the more you can lose control of the water in the pool. I have seen many times where the pool water would sway over the sides and they had to drain it.
The rest, I have witnessed myself too.
Carnival is a 2nd rate cruiseline. They are the entry level cruiseline. It's cheap for a reason. You can have a good cruise with them, but you getter a better experience with RC. RC really takes care of you, and they seem like they really care. One of the first big differences I found is that people on RC seem to really WANT to be there and they smile all the time! Carnival has people that will complain about being on board, I've even heard them say that they don't get paid enough, and the smiles are not nearly there on Carnival.

Re: Heading off on my first cruise
 

That's sad. I had the opposite experience in Carnival. My wife was putting sugar in her cappuccino and our server actually was about to shed a tear because he made it wrong. I guess it depends on the crew, but I really enjoyed our's.

Re: Heading off on my first cruise
 

[QUOTE=TheMalcolmConnection;338652]That's sad. I had the opposite experience in Carnival. My wife was putting sugar in her cappuccino and our server actually was about to shed a tear because he made it wrong. I guess it depends on the crew, but I really enjoyed our's.[/QUOTE]

Well, like I said, you can have a good cruise with them.
But you'll notice a remarkable difference if you go on a Royal Caribbean cruise.

I actually had a problem with one of the shop workers. She muttered under breathe at me because she was disgusted with me that I requested another mug since mine had a large chip on it.

Re: Heading off on my first cruise
 

Yeah, that's shitty.

My ass would definitely have been chapped if all that happened to me. I think we just got lucky and had an outstanding cruise. Not only did we have a private dining table just the two of us, we had servers who might as well have fed us and poured booze in our mouths.

Re: Heading off on my first cruise
 

[QUOTE=TheMalcolmConnection;338672]Yeah, that's shitty.

My ass would definitely have been chapped if all that happened to me. I think we just got lucky and had an outstanding cruise. Not only did we have a private dining table just the two of us, we had servers who might as well have fed us and poured booze in our mouths.[/QUOTE]

LOL...they love people that order booze, cause that means extra tips. Drunk people are loose with money.
I'm really not trying to say "Carnival Sucks" and even after going back and reading my comments, it seems that way. My wife and I had a lot of fun on Carnival, and we are hooked on cruising because of them.
We did have a couple problems on both our carnival cruises, and we had exactly 0 problems on RC. It was smooth, and no issues (other than my own problems...brought my suit jacket, but forgot the pants...LOL).
Carnival does a good job of getting new customers in. They are the entry level cruise line, once you try a better cruise line, you'll never go back.
I don't mean to sound like I am dogging on Carnival though.

Re: Heading off on my first cruise
 

[quote=TheMalcolmConnection;338652]That's sad. I had the opposite experience in Carnival. My wife was putting sugar in her cappuccino and our server actually was about to shed a tear because he made it wrong. I guess it depends on the crew, but I really enjoyed our's.[/quote]

Well our servers were amazing they were really nice and held the same attitude as yours did. I am just talking about other instances. I mean dinner time was amazing on the ship. Really good food in a formal but laid back atmosphere. Overall I had a great time.

Re: Heading off on my first cruise
 

dude people in Cancun are sooooo nice. its almost scary how nice they are.

Re: Heading off on my first cruise
 

[QUOTE=hooskins;339015]Well our servers were amazing they were really nice and held the same attitude as yours did. I am just talking about other instances. I mean dinner time was amazing on the ship. Really good food in a formal but laid back atmosphere. Overall I had a great time.[/QUOTE]

Good for you man.
So when is your next one?

Re: Heading off on my first cruise
 

[QUOTE=jamf;336762]Jsarno, do you have a travel agent or do you just purchase online?[/QUOTE]


IM A TRAVEL AGENT, I CAN HOOK YOU UP WITH TRIPS, FLIGHT, CRUISES, RENT A CAR, HOTEL'S......ONLY HIT ME UP IF YOUR SERIOUS...

Re: Heading off on my first cruise
 

[quote=DEVIL'S OWN;339095]IM A TRAVEL AGENT, I CAN HOOK YOU UP WITH TRIPS, FLIGHT, CRUISES, RENT A CAR, HOTEL'S......ONLY HIT ME UP IF YOUR SERIOUS...[/quote]

are you like stuck in caps lock?

Re: Heading off on my first cruise
 

[quote=DEVIL'S OWN;339095]IM A TRAVEL AGENT, I CAN HOOK YOU UP WITH TRIPS, FLIGHT, CRUISES, RENT A CAR, HOTEL'S......ONLY HIT ME UP IF YOUR SERIOUS...[/quote]
NO WAYY MAN I AM SUPER CEREAL

Re: Heading off on my first cruise
 

[QUOTE=hooskins;339444]NO WAYY MAN I AM SUPER CEREAL[/QUOTE]

Yeah, you're better off doing it yourself instead of paying a fee to a travel agent.