First Time Cruise Mistakes

[@richsack]

Best place to get FREE awesome filtered water on a cruise is from the onboard gym. Most have auto-fillers for bottles. Cruises also charge gratuities on beverages delivered to your room and it’s bad for the environment to use those single-use plastic bottles.

[@chezellis]

I'm not sure what line you were on, but the taps in cabins on NCL ships are fine to use for drinking water. The ship uses Reverse Osmosis, which is often better than the bottled water being sold in cartons or plastic.

[@almaboneconstable2539]

I was in NCL Joy in October. Something must have been wrong with system. Tap water was undrinkable. I drink tap water at home not bottled.

[@jackieburgio5834]

Your videos are very honest and insightful. Thank you for sharing great informaiton.

[@PrimeTimeTravelers]

I don't drink at all and T barely so drink packages are a no from us. We plan ahead and usually do shore excursions on our own too. Take care

[@FraserAtSea]

Great tips! I'm finding the world of beverage packages to be starting to get even more confusing than it was before - with some ships, you really need to intensely study the menu to determine which package to go for - it can be such hard work nowadays!

[@harveyh3696]

Never been on a cruise and thinking of NCL's "Pride of America" soon. Thanks for the info. I'll be getting the drink package.

[@carolynknisely2383]

Great info. Thanks!!

[@travelingfool9096]

Great info, did NCL and did drink package ( free, but you pay 20% gratuity), next time I will not. Also, Specialty dinning times are the first thing to schedule, all good times gone in first hour or so, it was free but absolutely only the worse times were left, made the mistake of eating first. Each line will have its own tricks, watch a ship tour of that ship ( or at least the line), that will help you get set for an amazing vacation.

[@user73958]

I agree, if you can't prebook the speciality dining, the first thing you should do is to go book the speciality dining restaurants. On NCL on my cruise last year, the prime restaurants got fully booked. The next thing to do is to book show tickets.

[@cynthiamyers5740]

Have never had an issue drinking water from the tap- only cruise I was on that had stinky water was Celebrity Equinox- I usually fill my water bottle with ice from the ice bucket and their water had a distinct odor and taste.

[@debbietummel5732]

Honey you should say about the drink package. Just yesterday we decided we didn't really need it because on Royal they have so many free options

[@TheMuirite]

Thank you. I looked up the thermal suite for my next cruise and I am def buying

[@TMB62]

You guys have been so helpful in helping us decide to cruise or mot . Also for ehich cruise would eork best for us.

[@blush1967]

My wife and I got on a cruise and noticed they had us sitting at different tables. We went to the dining room and corrected it right away.

[@kat64470]

I've always heard that Disney has the best food! I was going to book just to try the different foods. What about Palo brunch?

[@TheKillJoyRobot]

One thing I'd like more insight/context on is how inconvenient/difficult is it to purchase drinks a la carte versus having the package - I get the argument about "oh you'd have to drink X amount of Y drinks a day to make this work," but are the packages worth it if you just don't want to hassle with carrying a card and calculating gratuity every time you swipe or tap? Is it like Vegas where I can just say "put these drinks on my room/cabin?" My wife and I are planning to take our first Celebrity cruise next spring that goes to all their private resort islands where the drink package does supposedly work, so even if I don't reach my "cap" to break even, in my mind the convenience of not having to worry about any book-keeping/hauling my wallet to remote beaches on vacation seems like a worthwhile investment, especially if I can get a deal on said package(s), right?

[@carriemccullough7675]

I’m working on planning an Alaskan cruise on Carnival with my husband and kids (12 and 10 by the time we get to cruise) and not sure whether to do the excursions or explore on our own. We are hitting a lot of milestones with this trip…Empire Builder from Chicago to Seattle, 7 day Carnival cruise to Alaska, then coming back home on the Empire Builder. I kind of want to go all out because we may never get another shot as a family to do this while the kids are still at home. Any suggestions? And did you ever send your kids to do the kids club activities on your family cruises or did they want to go anyways and be independent? Sorry so many questions! 😬 I really love and appreciate your videos! ❤ 🛳️ 🚆

[@TheMuirite]

For Alaska look up tips for travelers, KZbin page by Gary Bainbridge he has a lot of Alaska tips for what excursions are worth it and what excursions are not. I’m actually planning my Alaska trip and some places I am doing the surgeon because it’s worth it I’m gonna do the White Pass train but I am not going to do the lumberjack show. The cruise line that I am on has their dock very close to where the lumberjack show is so the excursion is just reserve seating area for double the price of just paying for it.

[@carriemccullough7675]

@@TheMuirite Thanks!

[@msmarji]

Travel WiFi 6 Router that might be of interest. Very small. GL.iNet GL-AXT1800 (Slate AX) Pocket-Sized Wi-Fi 6 Gigabit Travel Router, Extender/Repeater for Hotel & Public