Travel - Cruise 101 - Useful Tips and Tricks concerning your Room Cabin for a Great Cruise Vacation

After my family completed our 7 days Western Caribbean cruise on the Carnival Vista cruise ship, I realized how much information I was missing about my room cabin. I'm happy to share these lessons and tips to you!



Before our trip, I watched dozens of videos on door and cabin decorating. Most blogs and bloggers talked about buying or making customized magnets to hang on the door or hanging magnetic hooks on walls for extra storage. Well, we quickly learned that some of the walls were not magnetized at all in our cabin. Talk about disappointing! Luckily I had brought command hook strips and painter's tape. Try to google your specific ship to find out what is/isn't magnetized in your specific cabin type. For the Vista, the wooden wall panels and the cabin room door are not magnetic. The panel next to the door is magnetic.

Here are some doors we passed by that were decorated:



Another things many blogs talk about is the lack of space. Our cabins seemed roomy enough to contain all our luggage and items. Even with 3 people per cabin, I never felt cramped. But I did use magnetic hooks on the walls (that were magnetic) to hang my lanyards and hats.

Ask you room steward for extra hangers. Ours wanted to know specifically how many we needed.

You may not need to bring towels on your vacation. Our cruise ship provided towels for each of us to use on the ship as well as for use offshore at various beaches (as long as we brought them back). We always had clean, fresh towels. You will want to return these the night before your debarkation date to avoid long lines.

Do not take the robes home. You will be charged. Leave those in the room.

Your room steward can get your furniture re-arranged if you don't like the set up (even if you requested it in a certain way).

Write down the name and country of every single person who provides you excellent service so that you can mention them in the survey the cruise line will send you after your trip (they may qualify for incentives and rewards). Bring some small bills for tips. Even if you pre-pay for tips, you may want to single out a great employee with a little extra.

Travel - Cruise 101 - Carnival Cruise for Families - Onboard, Now What?

This blog reflects my own experiences on the Carnival Vista which departed out of Galveston, Texas for a Western Caribbean cruise, but some of the steps will be similar for other cruise lines and Carnival ships. The most frustrating part is that your travel agent and the cruise line will give you no useful information on what to expect once you step onto the ship. Hopefully this blog will help you with those expectations!

When we first boarded the Carnival Vista, we started on Deck 3 (shown on their map as "Lobby"). You can click here for more Carnival Vista deck plans. (For your specific ship try googling "deck plan" and the name of your ship to find the floor plans).

For the Carnival Vista, Deck 3 is where the big Dreamscape Funnel and bar sat. It's the important deck of the ship as the Customer Service desks and the Excursions desk are located here. On the first day, it will be crowded as all cruisers board the ship at this deck. Many cruisers headed to the buffet on Deck 10 (also called the "Lido Deck").

Also, if you board in the morning, the crew will not let you head to your stateroom unless you have some kind of VIP package. The elevators to some of those floors were blocked as well. So be prepared to carry your bags/purses around until the room is available. We had swim clothes packed in a carry-on just in case we couldn't get to our luggage/room. Your checked-in bags will be set outside your stateroom so don't pack any valuables in those.

The first thing you will need to do is find your muster station. This is especially important if you have children travelling with you because each of them will receive a wristband. If at any time during the cruise, your child gets lost, a helper can take them to their assigned muster station and someone will be able to reach out to their guardians. You will watch a video or presentation (or in your stateroom) that explains the safety procedures. Some cruiselines require you to acknowledge your understanding of these procedures.

Now, you can wander the ship. Some of the food options are not yet open. Casino and bars weren't opened yet. The pools and slides were open and not crowded at all.