I'll be going on a Princess cruise around the caribbean

>>1056950

>that pic

Well, shit. I wasn't expecting that.

What could you possibly need to know? You are on a cruise. They will take you places, they will feed you shit, or good food at an exorbitant price. You will get off the ship at ridiculously overpriced markets with the other 5000 captives. You will have to buy their boioze at 10x markup.

In conclusion, cruise companies make sure to give you the bare minimum to keep you alive while gently soaking and drying you in salt water and sunshine in order to squeeze every last dime from your credit limit.

A cruise is my idea of hell.

>>1056950
>I'll be going on a Princess cruise around the caribbean on January.
>Does anyone here have any experience with them? I'd appreciate it if you shared tips or info.
A level above the NCL and RC regular ship, and two level above the low tier Carnival experience. Ship and food perks aside, it simply means you'll be traveling with people an economic class above that riffraff (and possibly a little older too).

Buy travel insurance that has medical coverage. If you're smart, you'll have used a travel agent that gives it for a fee, but refunds it when you end up not using it.

Don't skip shows and events. If you don't go with the flow on what they have planned for you, you'll start thinking like you're in that movie Groundhog Day with the same thing over and over as that schedule gets tucked under the door. Also, cruises are only as fun as the people you hang with on the cruise. Enjoy them like you would a family reunion. If they are boring, (or you are) you'll be bored. Load up the Kindle. Drinking will run up your bill, so maybe think about limiting it to when it actually matters to you, or having your wine bottle follow you from dining room to the bar, or imbibing more in ports, or like just the 1st or last day. It's one of the money makers of the industry to charge a ton for it, and limit your duty free til the last night.

>>1056950
Be a pig. Can't decide which dinner choice narrowed down to one option? Order them both, and watch that they don't blink an eye, when they set down that 3rd plate between your spouse and you. This is how you enjoy yourself, nibble on everything and be wasteful. Another food tip is to view the menu the dining room vs the buffet for each and every meal, and make a choice. If you want to be treated right and feel special and have courses, you do the sit down dinner every time, but sometimes, the more excellent meat choice, like a carving table (vs chicken in the dining room) or finer prepared little gourmet salads or imported favorite cheeses, chocolate fondue/mousse/ flambe' dude or crepe table made-to-order and excesses are on the more casual buffet at that given meal. I breeze through the buffet to eyeball it all, get ready and changed for dinner, make it to the dining room entrance, peek at the menu, and sometimes go, yea, let's return upstairs. Always get the cheese plate in the dining room AND the dessert, and linger over that coffee, wine or tea. Your waiter gets more chatty and you learn things and build an experience.
Breakfast in the dining room is always best. Made to order benedict, toast and bakery items right from the oven, cappuccino and things you won't get on buffet.

If your cruise has sittings, I'd suggest you think about it carefully as to your late night or early morning port plans, the better one will fill up first. You should sign up right away for the frequent cruiser club, and you tip the maitre'd (and go early) on the first night, if you want a window or a specific view.

List your ports, and see what people have for advice therein. Some you will not need an excursion/activity, some you might enjoy that port for the first time best with one of them or a knowledgable taxi driver.

>>1057372
>>1057365

Thanks a bunch, lads.

>>1057308
I've never taken a cruise: the post

There's so many things wrong with your post, I'm not even going to bother correcting them all.

Did a Royal Caribbean back in March and a Princess about a month ago. First time cruising for me was this year, here's a few insights from the Princess one:

Negatives:

-Lots and lots of old people. There's a very correct saying in "newly weds and newly deads." I really hated that part. Maybe *one* looker on the whole ship, and it turned out she was a part of the entertainment. Princess tends to attract an older, retired crowd.

-Like the above, the buffet smelled like a goddamn nursing home cafetaria. Decent food though, but it just felt weird. (The Royal Caribbean was several notches above Princess)

-Soul-sucking for every last dime. I had budgeted about $500 for incidentals and expenses and such, and it came out to $800. Not sure how that happened.


Positives:

+Shore excursions were pretty cool and a good way to (sort of) meet people, especially if it's one of the more active ones.

+I can't really imagine anything that compares on the sun deck of ship in the middle of the goddamn ocean with a frozen drink at 10am in the morning with the sun shining down and reggae playing. It's kind of like a "safe space" to just fuck all and be lazy.

+ I had, without a doubt, some of the finest dining of my entire life at the specialty steak house. Perfect service, lobster that was worth sailing into the middle of the ocean just to taste, and steak that was better than some $700-$1000/pp dinners I've been to.

+I just like being on a floating pleasure dome of a city the size of a few football fields. More so on the Freedom-class RC ship, but PC was decent enough to get that feeling.

Overall, cruising is a soul-sucking experience and you'll very, VERY quickly see why Americans have such a bad reputation for being fat, loud, basic, dumb, and all the rest. For some reason, all these old people were wearing collegiate wear. But, if you can weather that for a few days and just enjoy the idea of the travel, then it's fine and in some cases even fun, esp. with friends.

>>1057531
>For some reason, all these old people were wearing collegiate wear.

Yes. Americans are obsessed with wearing American flag shirts to show others that they're big, bad Americans and Americans like to where collegiate gear to show other Americans what part of the USA they're from/studied in.

Americans are so proud it's cringeworthy, but overall they're pretty fucking fun to be around to be honest.

>>1057531
>excursions
>a good way to (sort of) meet people
>Maybe *one* looker on the whole ship, and it turned out she was a part of the entertainment.
Stop thinking cruises are about the other people on them. They're not. With the double occupancy pricing model, you will not likely meet anyone alone, or searching for love or hot or anything else. Cruises are only as fun as the people you bring with you.

The only thing I agree with you about is that RC seems to do food better still. The lines took a real hit during that gas price escalation thing and the economy dip, and first to go was the extreme class of dining. Carnival makes no excuses about sucking and having hot dogs and awful pizza as like it's some kind of family fare. But, cruises used to be about fine dining, dressing up for dinner, and then NCL did that relaxation of dress code "freestyle" and casual stuff. Used to be you weren't allowed in the dining room without a jacket, and certainly not in shorts. Then, the steaks started to get upcharges, and then the extra restaurant fees. It's coming back around, but I think it's really only very lovely on the highest end of each line.

What about the formal night? I wouldn't mind dressing up but I'll be travelling to other places after the cruise and bringing shoes just to use them once, doesn't justify the space it occupies in my bag.

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>>1056951

>>1057308
Could have said that in fewer words. "Stop liking what I don"t like!" is sufficient.

>>1056950
Book shore excursions early, popular ones will sell out. Get in line when the Pursers desk first opens. Better still, book them online before traveling, independent of the cruise line.

Watch the bar bill.

Don't be the guy who makes everybody wait in their life jackets during lifeboat drill. That will happen during the last moments just before they pull away from the dock, there is always one mook who thinks they are kidding when they say "mandatory" and makes everybody else wait. Said mook tends to be disliked afterward.

It is kitschy goofy fun, but you have to buy into that and go with it. If you can't laugh at the stupid comic, ogle the mediocre dancing girls, limbo like your life depended on it, etc. then you will have less fun.

Your rooom is almost certainly going to be surprisingly small -- don;t worry about that, you should almost never be in there except when asleep.

If you do not know for sure that motuion sickness does not bother you, bring something to treat that. They'll sell it on the ship, but there will likely be a good markup on what you can pay at the local Walgreens. Never been troubled by it, but my wife is, she swears by Bonine.

The slots will be the coldest anywhere in the world.

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>>1057535
>Americans like to where collegiate gear

Did your college not teach you the difference between "where" and "wear?" American colleges cover that on the first day.

Nah, I'm just kidding, you're great!

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>>1057654

>Americans' college programme includes teaching the difference between 'where' and 'wear'

>>1057647
>What about the formal night? I wouldn't mind dressing up but I'll be travelling to other places after the cruise and bringing shoes just to use them once, doesn't justify the space it occupies in my bag.
Read the dress code carefully, might get away with a nicer quality silk tommy bahama kind of shirt as "dressy" or even a cheap guayabera like a native and it takes up no luggage room, or simply adding a tie and cardigan vs coat.
Be creative on the footwear Leather deck shoes can go dressy or casual. Comfort mens shoe brands like Clarks, Rockport, or leather euro sneaker brands can be suddenly stomping around town shoes in a casual sense. Even the color can be all you need to do.

Don't be afraid to bring some illfitting pair you're over and done with but could tolerate 2 hours of wear, and simply donate them to your cabin dude when you leave.