I just read your cruise portion of your TR and I think I have convinced myself to go on one. My Dh and boys are dying to go but I do not want to go. I do not swim well and am terrified to be surrounded by water. However, I am up for new experience and since DH is giving me the ok to book(which is unusual for him. He always cringes at the word Disney.) I might as well do it. I figured DH can swim with the boys while I enjoy laying on the beach or taking pictures. I have a few questions. One I will PM you about since it is on the topic of tipping and I think it is not allowed to discuss on the boards.
1- Do you have to go to the restaurants for dinner or can you just go to a buffet/counter service for dinner? I am not really looking forward to getting dressed up while on vacation. Plus, I have 2 picky eaters and I don't think they would eat much more than pizza, burgers, or nuggets.
2-What do I need besides passports and driver's license? Do we need any forms from our family doctor saying we are healthy enough to travel. I am trying to figure out all the extra costs.
Thanks so much for doing this TR. It is very informative and entertaining. Thank you also for taking the time to answer my questions.
I think that's great that you are going to do the cruise! I know what you mean about having to get over your fears too. I am a good swimmer, but I was still afraid to sail. I think it's a pretty adventurous thing to do. Some people would laugh at that, but I think people forget that even though the ship is huge, the ocean is even bigger and way more powerful! I thought about all of the scary scenarios before the trip, like the Titanic...
I think that is pretty normal.
Honestly, I think you are crazy if you don't have a healthy fear of the ocean. All that being said... I felt very safe on the ship. Other than that last night when I was so sick from the motion, I never even thought about anything going wrong, and I am a worrier for sure! I really think you will be ok.
Make sure you pay attention during the muster drill and that will give you a peace of mind just knowing what to do and where to go if you should need it. I studied the map of the ship before the cruise so I was familiar with it and I knew the lifeboats were on deck 4 and the life jackets were in the closet of our room. To me, knowledge = peace of mind.
Also, you will have a TV in your room that will show you where the ship is on a map. If you are doing the cruise to the Bahamas you will never be very far from shore. The Bahamas is REALLY close to Florida. That gave me a peace of mind because I knew if anything went wrong, rescue ships would be there in no time. Also know that if there is a really bad storm at sea, the captain will sail around it. They might even change the ship's itenerary if that is needed to avoid serious weather.
I don't think you are crazy at all for being concerned over safety. All this stuff I just told you were the very first things I researched before booking my trip. No way was I going out in the ocean not knowing EXACTLY what I was getting into. But after all my reading, I felt very good about the whole thing. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend cruising with a reputable cruise line.
Now as for dinners... No you don't have to go into the dining rooms to eat. The counter service places and buffets are open and they serve burgers, fries, nuggets, etc. Just keep in mind that you don't have to dress up for dinner. We wore casual clothes (polos, khakis, capris, even dress shorts) to dinner and we were not out of place. We were on the 3 night cruise though and that one seems more relaxed. I really saw very few people dressed 'fancy'. Besides, my feeling was that it's my vacation, I'll dress how I want to!
I know people will argue that one with me, but I paid good money to be there and should be able to vacation the way I want to. I don't see how me not wearing a sequined gown to dinner made anyone else's dining experience any less enjoyable, ya know! For me, it's a cruise, not a White House dinner.
If I were you, I'd go to the
DCL website and look over the menus for each restaurant. You might actually find some things that you guys would like to eat. I think you would really enjoy Animator's for the atmosphere, so it's worth taking a glance at the menu at least. They might even have some burgers on there somewhere!
As for extra costs... that's a big can of worms there!
You need to think about lots of things. If you are flying, you'll have the extra cost of the DCL shuttle to/from the ariport, or a car rental. Then you need to decide if you want to come in the night before to make sure you are not late getting to the port. That may mean a one night hotel stay the night before you sail. Lots of people do this (including us). If you are driving, you'll have to pay for parking. There are a couple of options there. Another 'extra' cost are tips. DCL gives you recommendations of who and how much to tip servers (if you eat in the restaurants) and your stateroom hostess. You'll also need to tip the porter who takes your bags if you are driving there. Alcohol is also not included in the cost of the cruise. We didn't buy any, but it is for sale in lots of places. Excursions are extra and there are TONS to choose from! Spa services and the fancy restarants (Palo/Remy) are not included either. That's about all I can think of there. I can help you a bit more with the transportation stuff if you'll tell me if you are flying or driving. Also, which cruise are you conidering?
There is a debate about the whole passport thing. If you are doing a Carribean cruise, they are NOT required. You can sail with only your birth certificates. This is what we did and lots of others do as well. If you already have passports, use them. If not, you will have to decide if it's worth it to you to buy them. It was going to cost my family of 3 about $430 to get them. That was a HUGE added cost considering that the BCs were only $10! We just decided to use the certified BCs instead and had no problems at all. The only problem with using BCs is that you cannot fly outside of the US without passports. So that means, if you need to fly out of the Bahamas (or wherever you are going) for any reason during the cruise (say someone gets sick, something happens back at home, you don't make it back to the ship in time after an excursion and get left behind, etc.), you can't fly back to the US without a passport. That is very unlikely to happen, but that is a risk you will have to decide if you are willing to take. We figured for just a 3 night cruise, we would chance it.
No doctor's note is needed. DCL will not let you board the ship if you are sick.
They ask you that when you check in and you have to sign a form declaring that everyone in your party is healty.
I can't think of any other 'hidden' costs to cruising right now, but if I think of anything else, I will let you know and if I missed something, someone will chime in! Hope this helps!
Let us know when you get it started!
