Tip #1: Wear things you can repeat.
We flew out of dallas at 7am in November and it was chilly, so I wore skinny jeans, a 3/4 length t and booties. Stupid outfit for cruise wear seeing as to how as I soon as we reached Miami I was dressed as an idiot! 
I would suggest a maxi dress and cardi, maybe flats but sandals would be a better choice.
tip #2: Pack more casual outfits.
When you get up early and go to breakfast, then go on an excursion, then back for lunch, then another outfit for dinner (if it's casual, which is mostly what we did) you run out of shorts and tanks quickly. I made the mistake of taking super dressy dresses, and cut offs with racer back tanks. No in between, and I felt like an ass at the bar with smartly dressed women while I had a plain tank and white skinnies on, but the night before had a silk dress on and was over dressed.
Tip #3. Be smart about your drinks.
Luckily, we were gifted with the Ultimate Beverage Package, so we didn't pay for any Cokes, beer, liquor or wine, but we had to sign for every one of them, so I noticed that a bottle of beer was $6.50, a mixed drink was $10, and a COKE was over $3! Bottled water was $4.50! Lunacy. If you don't intend on spending over $150 PER DAY for you and your boo to drink all day, look into the rules for your specific ship on what can and can't be brought on, or do what I would do and smuggle it.
Tip #4: pack odds and ends you MAY need.
For instance, tweezers. I don't carry them in my bag, but I have a pair in my car and one in my desk drawer. On day one I was wishing I'd brought mine. I was glad we packed sunscreen, Chapstick, our own bar soap and toothpaste, ibuprofen, heartburn pills, etc. Small items to include, and they cost A WHACK on the ship.
Tip #5: Don't pack:
*Beach towels. They give you these to use!
*anything that wrinkles can't be steamed out of by hanging in the shower.
*a blow dryer. The one we had was pretty snazzy!
*a watered down version of your hair and makeup routine. When we go to a beach resort, I always decide to just go with my natural curl since we're mostly outside and it will frizz all the way back to Texas anyway, and I never pack any kind of makeup besides tinted moisturizer and mascara, but you shouldn't do this on a cruise because what I didn't realize prior to this one is that YOU'RE INSIDE the whole time! Eyeliner and a flat iron don't take up enough space to leave home.
Tip #6: Take advantage of the buffet!
We made a lot of friends on the cruise who went out of their way to make reservations, dress up WAY more than I like to on vacation, and paid extra to go to specialty restaurants. Chance and I never planned to do this because we have a SUPER laid back vacation style so we would split from them, go have a burger by the pool or hit up the seafood night in the main dining and then meet back up with everyone afterwards. Not ONCE did any of them so "oh the food and service were AMAZING and well worth the extra $75!" They always said "it was okay. My shrimp was bland/my steak was over cooked/it too forever/ potatoes were instant" and we would say really? We had ALL the things and are almost too stuffed to drink these beers!"
If fine dining is your thing, by all means, go right ahead, but don't think you'll be missing out by not hitting the sushi bar on the boat. (There was sushi on the buffet that same night! And no closed toe shoes or slacks required. Pretty sure Chance wore a tie dye tank top.)
tip #7. If you'll be flying into or out of the Miami airport, they are SERIOUS about carried on luggage.
Luckily, Chance and I packed one large duffle and I carried my purse on, but there were other people we were LIVID that the luggage they carried on without a bat of an eye in DFW wasn't allowed on in Miami. One lady had to pay $25 to check her PURSE because it was wider than the example bag! Crazy. Be prepared!
Lastly, Tip #8: if you've ever had even a HINT of motion/sea/car/morning sickness, buy a box of 24 hour Dramamine.
(I actually bought the off brand!)
The boat moves....NON STOP. So many people told me I would never feel a thing, and every one of them turned out to be a teller of lies. Since the formula I bought was 24 hour, I took at right before bed and although I felt the rocking constantly, it didn't upset my stomach or make my head swim. You MUST take it before bed though, because for the following 30 minutes after you dose yourself you will feel as high as the grocery bill on Thanksgiving week. This was me after making that mistake on day one:
Please comment if you have great tips I missed!
Until next time, happy cruising!
Xoxo
Lo
Okay.. so your tips rock (hopefully MORE than the ship does, as sea sickness is one of my biggest fears over the next wk!) Did you try "sea bands" or just the 24 hr dramamine?
ReplyDeleteWe have a reserved dining time nightly (we're crusing Carnival & hear the food in the MDR is much better than the buffet - plus sweet Joe has a serious phobia of buffets.. ie. peeps sneezing and/or coughing around the food) sooo - how "formal" is formal?? Will I be cool in a smart LBD? Khakis & a sport coat is really pushing the envelope for my usually starched jeans & button down pearl snap beau also, so was that about the norm? Or were there lots of prom dresses & tuxes?
And... How crowded was it? Did y'all have room to hang by the pool or hot tub on deck without a billion and one people all in your space, or was it about like Skateland on a Saturday night circa 1996?
Third question - how small are the rooms? I'm taking my big suitcase & one carry on sized suitcase, along with my big vs tote and my purse.
You're a big help!
-kj
Y'all are going to have SO MUCH FUN!! I didn't do the SeaBand or the patch simply because the pills were less than $2. A lot of folks had the patches behind their ears and seemed to be happy with them but I'm telling you I have the worst motion sickness than anyone I've ever heard of! When I was pregnant with Layla I had to take a prescription pill every single day! I get seasick on a pontoon boat at Pat Mayse! It's bad, and once I took a pill on this cruise it was long gone!
DeleteThere were a lot of cocktail dresses and sports coats but those were the Nanas and Papas. Most people our age were in really cute summer dresses and espadrilles, and the guys were in sperrys and khakis with a button up, short sleeved shirt. If I were yall, I'd have him WEAR his boots and jeans so you're not having to pack them. Packing everything in zip lock bags worked SO WELL, I'm glad you brought that up on IG! If you roll your stuff before putting it in there the only wrickled part is whats on the inside, so roll pants with the waistband inside, so the ankle is the last part rolled. Wrinkles steam right out! I would HIGHLY suggest unpacking everything when you get to your room. We had plenty of drawers, shelves and hangers. Budweiser went all out so we had a big room with a balcony but it was still a tight squeeze around the king sized bed.
Literal LOL @skateland 1996. Bumping into people while trying to couple skate. There are so many bars and restaurants that none were ever too terribly crowded! On the last day we were at sea the whole time so every single human was on the boat and they threw a big party at the pool so it was packed, but even with everyone in presence we didn't have a hard time finding a group of chairs together on the second pool deck.
OH and one thing I forgot to mention! Y'all warn your girls that you might not be able to talk to them as much as youd like because even though our ship had wifi it was really touch and go. I would go all day with no messages and then *BAM* 32 would pop up, all out of order, and then my messages going out would fail. Everyone was having the same issue! You could pay to get online but it was on an actual computer and I was like 'What the hell am I going to do with that?" Once you get into port they usually have it all over.
Holler at me if you think of anything else!!