posted by admin on Dec 27
Any suggestions would be very helpful, we are first time cruisers. We are going on a 7 day cruise to Jamaica, Grand Cayman, and Cozumel.The ship will be leaving out of Galveston, Tx at 4:00p.m. My biggest question is, what do we wear for the formal nights. What are some great things to do on ship and off ship at the different ports. How much cash should we bring for our trip? Thanks in advance for your answers.
We have sailed the Conquest three times…here are a few suggestions…
- Park at Lighthouse parking instead of the cruise terminal. Lighthouse will deliver you and your luggage to the cruise terminal. If you use the terminal parking, you have to drop off your luggage, drive the the parking area, park your car and take the shuttle back. A huge hassle. Plus, Lighthouse will save you a few bucks. Make an advance reservation at: http://www.lighthouseparking.org/
- Don’t arrive at the cruise terminal too early. Galveston does not start embarkation until about 11:30 am. Cabins are not available until about 1:00 pm. A buffet lunch and the hamburger grill is open for lunch when you board.
- Take plenty of $1, 5 and 10 in US dollars for tipping luggage porters, taxis, shopping, tips for shore excursion staff. Other than the casino, the ship is cashless. All charges are posted to your on-board account which you can set up with a credit card or cash balance. Notable…Carnival charges your on board account for the tips $70 per person the moment you step on board.
- Cozumel is the best port for shopping. You can get some good deals in the open air markets. They are willing to negotiate with you. Grand Cayman is expensive. Other than the shops in the port, I don’t recommend shopping in Jamaica.
- You can book shore excursions in Coz and GC or go on your own. However, we recommend you only book a Carnival shore excursion in Jamaica. There is a ton of road construction going on near the cruise terminal. We were stuck in traffic for 2 hours and were late getting back to the ship. Because we were on a Carnival sponsored shore excursion, there were no worries about getting left behind. Don’t wander around Jamaica on your own.
- Formal nights will have a variety of wares…from a little black dress on the ladies to formal gowns. A coat and tie is a good choice for the gentlemen. Notable for ladies…make sure the soles of your shoes are not slippery.
- Cash in ports…depends on what you plan to buy…if you want jewelry, several hundred bucks…while the store vendors take plastic, they prefer US dollars. If you are just buying souvenirs, you can get t-shirts for $3-10 each, same for baseball caps and shot glasses. We also tip our shore excursion staff about $10 per guest in our group plus a few bucks for the bus/cab drivers.
- Only buy the photos you really love. There are dozens of photo opps on-board but the cost can add up…$22 bucks a sheet.
Bar drinks run $4-12 bucks each plus an automatic 15% gratuity is added to your bill.
Sodas are $1.75 plus 15% gratuity per can or $5.50 per day plus 15% gratuity for the soda card program. If you drink 3 sodas per day, then get the soda card. It will pay for itself.
To help you budget…here are a few of the "extra costs"-
- Bar drinks – $4-12 each plus 15% gratuity
- Soda – by the can – $1.75 plus 15% gratuity
- Soda fountain card – $38.50 plus 15% gratuity
- Photos – $7.99 to $21.99 (depending on size and style)
- Shore excursions – $50-200 per person per excursion.
- Spa treatments – $50-200 per treatment (but there were many specials on this last trip as many people were skipping the spa…)
- Casino. Use cash in the casino to avoid 3% fee for using card.
- Bingo cards – $5-20…depending on day and games
- Gourmet coffee – $3.75 and up
- Internet – 75 cents per minute
- Ship to shore phone – $7.99 per minute
- Parking at the port
- Tips for luggage porters – $1 per bag
Items above are optional…
To stay within a budget while sailing Carnival, you should open a cash account when you board instead of linking your account to a credit card. When you reach your cash deposit, the purser will send you a note and you can add more money to the account or stop spending that way you don’t end you vacation with a huge credit card bill!
- Last tip…mark the handles of your luggage with bright ribbon or marking tape. When you de-bark, there is a sea of luggage, most of it black. The marking tape will help you find your luggage quickly. Using a porter will help get you through customs quicker…tip $1-2 bucks a bag for the service.
December 27th, 2009 at 11:26 pm
Formal nights are less formal these days. The man should take a suit and the lady a nice coctail dress. No real need for a formal gown unless you really want to.
As to ports, you can look over the shore excursion brochure but buy it after getting off the ship. I do not do them myself as I enjoy the ship when near empty. I sometimes go ashore for an hour or two or to a nearby beach. You will only need cash for street vendors, small shops and parking fees ($10.00 per day) as you will use a credit card on board – no cash used.
Get to the ship by 11:00 and get aboard without long lines and have lunch.
On board there are shows, pools, hot tubs, library, deck games, and other activities like discos and lounges. Have fun!
References :
Many cruises on many lines.
December 28th, 2009 at 12:07 am
First I’ll say, if your ship leaves at 4pm try to be there around 10-11am. They might not let you on then, depending on what your documents say, but you will be able to find a parking spot if you are driving, check your luggage, fill out all your paper work if you haven’t yet and finally check in and board.
For formal wear, anything from what you would wear to a wedding if you were a guest, some people really like to dress up but you don’t have to. For you a nice dress would suffice and for your husband, if he doesn’t have a suit of some sort, khaki and a polo will work. Just don’t wear your bathing suit or shorts.
As for money to bring, budget $10 a day per person for tips. You do not have to tip but this is how the staff members make their money. So if it’s just the two of you, $20 times 7 days is $140 in tips, and this goes to pay your room steward, dining room sever and his/her assistant. On Carnival this is automatically added to your bill so you will see that at the end. As for not tipping, if you feel someone doesn’t deserve a tip you must bring this up with customer service. All alcohol beverages have an automatic gratuity added to the bill.
I have not been to these ports yet but anywhere in the Caribbean has great snorkeling, so I do suggest that and jet skis if you get the chance.
In all honesty I would not bring to much cash, for one because you will have your room card which work like a credit card, most ships now do not use cash. As for in port I would not take to much with just like I would not walk around my town/city with to much cash. The best way to determine how much to bring would be to write down what you would like to buy and go from there.
As always, when going to the Caribbean always bring Waterproof suntan lotion no matter the time of year.
Have a great time!
References :
December 28th, 2009 at 12:38 am
Grand Cayman is a great place to shop for great deals. We bought Rolex’s there(yes they are the real deal) for 1/2 of what they cost in the states. Great snorkeling too. The sun will be hot, so bring protection. Have a great cruise.
References :
December 28th, 2009 at 1:10 am
Cave creek gave you pretty good advice– excellent on the dress code and suggestions of onboard activities. The only modifications to his advice I would add are: peruse the shore excursions catalogue (which should be online) in advance and book anything you REALLY want to do– you can always cancel on the ship as long as you do it 48 hours in advance.
I would bring small bills (1s and 5s to tip porters, room service, any other miscellaneous people; and 10s to tip tour guides); you’ll also possibly want cash for transit to-from the ship/airport if you are taking taxis. If you like to buy tourist trinkets, the ports you are going to all have vendors who accept the USD, so bring extra cash for that.
If you go over to boards.cruisecritic.com and select "Carnival Cruise Lines" you will get much more thorough replies.
References :
December 28th, 2009 at 1:42 am
We have sailed the Conquest three times…here are a few suggestions…
- Park at Lighthouse parking instead of the cruise terminal. Lighthouse will deliver you and your luggage to the cruise terminal. If you use the terminal parking, you have to drop off your luggage, drive the the parking area, park your car and take the shuttle back. A huge hassle. Plus, Lighthouse will save you a few bucks. Make an advance reservation at: http://www.lighthouseparking.org/
- Don’t arrive at the cruise terminal too early. Galveston does not start embarkation until about 11:30 am. Cabins are not available until about 1:00 pm. A buffet lunch and the hamburger grill is open for lunch when you board.
- Take plenty of $1, 5 and 10 in US dollars for tipping luggage porters, taxis, shopping, tips for shore excursion staff. Other than the casino, the ship is cashless. All charges are posted to your on-board account which you can set up with a credit card or cash balance. Notable…Carnival charges your on board account for the tips $70 per person the moment you step on board.
- Cozumel is the best port for shopping. You can get some good deals in the open air markets. They are willing to negotiate with you. Grand Cayman is expensive. Other than the shops in the port, I don’t recommend shopping in Jamaica.
- You can book shore excursions in Coz and GC or go on your own. However, we recommend you only book a Carnival shore excursion in Jamaica. There is a ton of road construction going on near the cruise terminal. We were stuck in traffic for 2 hours and were late getting back to the ship. Because we were on a Carnival sponsored shore excursion, there were no worries about getting left behind. Don’t wander around Jamaica on your own.
- Formal nights will have a variety of wares…from a little black dress on the ladies to formal gowns. A coat and tie is a good choice for the gentlemen. Notable for ladies…make sure the soles of your shoes are not slippery.
- Cash in ports…depends on what you plan to buy…if you want jewelry, several hundred bucks…while the store vendors take plastic, they prefer US dollars. If you are just buying souvenirs, you can get t-shirts for $3-10 each, same for baseball caps and shot glasses. We also tip our shore excursion staff about $10 per guest in our group plus a few bucks for the bus/cab drivers.
- Only buy the photos you really love. There are dozens of photo opps on-board but the cost can add up…$22 bucks a sheet.
Bar drinks run $4-12 bucks each plus an automatic 15% gratuity is added to your bill.
Sodas are $1.75 plus 15% gratuity per can or $5.50 per day plus 15% gratuity for the soda card program. If you drink 3 sodas per day, then get the soda card. It will pay for itself.
To help you budget…here are a few of the "extra costs"-
- Bar drinks – $4-12 each plus 15% gratuity
- Soda – by the can – $1.75 plus 15% gratuity
- Soda fountain card – $38.50 plus 15% gratuity
- Photos – $7.99 to $21.99 (depending on size and style)
- Shore excursions – $50-200 per person per excursion.
- Spa treatments – $50-200 per treatment (but there were many specials on this last trip as many people were skipping the spa…)
- Casino. Use cash in the casino to avoid 3% fee for using card.
- Bingo cards – $5-20…depending on day and games
- Gourmet coffee – $3.75 and up
- Internet – 75 cents per minute
- Ship to shore phone – $7.99 per minute
- Parking at the port
- Tips for luggage porters – $1 per bag
Items above are optional…
To stay within a budget while sailing Carnival, you should open a cash account when you board instead of linking your account to a credit card. When you reach your cash deposit, the purser will send you a note and you can add more money to the account or stop spending that way you don’t end you vacation with a huge credit card bill!
- Last tip…mark the handles of your luggage with bright ribbon or marking tape. When you de-bark, there is a sea of luggage, most of it black. The marking tape will help you find your luggage quickly. Using a porter will help get you through customs quicker…tip $1-2 bucks a bag for the service.
References :
December 28th, 2009 at 2:04 am
There is a treasure trove of information at http://www,cruisecritic.com/
Also, there is an area on Carnival’s website for dress code. http://www.carnival.com/
References :
Frequent cruiser
December 28th, 2009 at 2:29 am
We were on the Imagination in Oct. Formal night attire varied greatly. Some men wore tuxedos and some just had on a nice button down and khaki pants. My husband and I are not really dress up people and I wore a nice pair of slacks and a nice shirt and he wore a button down and khaki pants (no tie) and it was fine. We enjoyed having the ship to ourselves while most people were at the ports. We were not crazy about Cozumel. When you first got off the ship there was like a mini shopping mall with people trying to get you to go into the shops. We just turned around and went back on the ship. We had it pretty much to ourselves. Was really great actually. Enjoy your trip you will be hooked. We just booked a belated honeymoon in April. This time were doing NCL. We didn’t have to think twice about what we wanted to do for our honeymoon.
References :
December 28th, 2009 at 3:18 am
cocktail dresses and suits are best suited for formal nights.
Dunn’s Falls River is terrific, fern gully is amazing in Jamaica
and Jet skiing in the Caymen Islands is breathtaking. My sister and I came upon a pod of sea turtles and got off the jetski to get a better look at them. Fantastic photos!!!
For a first time cruiser you’ll always be disappointed if you’re short on funds.
I’d say aprox 100 dollars per person per day in port and onboard is average spending.
Each excursion (if booked thru the cruise) is about 100 dollars per excursion.
References :
December 28th, 2009 at 3:33 am
I have sailed on the same cruise it was loads of fun. know that when boarding you will need to wait in a very long line (usually) and it is all worth it once you are on. there is 2 formal nights and no you do not need to dress fancy my dad usually wears black dress pants or beige nice pants and he wear a tie with a white long sleeve shirt. my mom wheres a plain black dress nothing fancy and my brother wears a suit i wear a Fancy dress (so basically you can wear anything) even on informal nights You still need to dress properly. You do not have to attend supper in the formal dining room (i enjoy it) but you can also eat on the lido deck buffet or at the pizza parlour(best pizza you will ever eat) my family and i don’t buy shore excursions off the boat except for cayman islands where it is usually quite a bit harder too find shore excursions on land. for Jamaica and Cozumel you can usually just get off the boat and there will be people waiting for tourists with there own private tours. I have been to Cozumel 5 times now and we always go to Paradise Beach just get a taxi and they will take you there . 4 out of 5 times it was beautiful. the one time it wasn’t because of a storm. Cozumel has a great shopping Center right off port (i know that 1 of the Jewelry stores rite when you get off is fake because they were selling Alexandrite a beautiful rare stone for so cheap compared to other places so be careful) in Mexico you can barder hugely they expect it. if something is expensive say u wont buy it for that price and they will usually stop u as u walk out the store . In Jamaica i recommend going over to Ochos Rios from Montego then going to Dunn river falls i will remember the experience fr the rest of my life. Grand cayman is famous for the stingrays and you can usually FIND A GOOD TOUR WITH SNORKELING INCLUDE YOU CAN TRY OFF THE BOAT IF YOU WANT TO RISK YOUR CHANCES BUT YOU MITE WANT TO go from on the boat. I dont recommend swimming with the dolphins in Ochos Rios because it wasn’t that great you only got to pet them but not ride them or anything it was fun but not worth the money.if you want to eat lunch off ship it is very expensive but carry about 100 $ each unless you wnat to eat then a bit more. we usually just took some bananas and apples and muffins form breakfast and brought them with us.-hope you have fun on your cruise i know i did i still email my friends i met from different places in the world from 3 yrs ago.
References :