Sunday, January 10, 2010

cruiSing queStionS

I know a lot of you have been on a cruise before.... but, I have NOT. SO, I am asking for ANY suggestions you might have... ANYTHING! WHAT to pack, WHAT to wear into the dinning room to eat (they say NO jeans or shorts), WHAT to be prepared for, WHAT to do, what NOT to do.... etc! PLEASE SHARE!!! Our whole family is going (well, except for our sweet Diana who CANNOT miss school, she is in a dental hygiene school and it is very intense... We will miss her terribly!!!)

We are going to Cabo San Lucas, Mazatlan, and Puerto Vallarta. IF you have been there, I would LOVE suggestions on what to see and do at each port!

THANK YOU!!!!

11 comments:

Pedaling said...

pack light-
let hair air dry
wear little make up
and enjoy!

Jenny said...

We took this same cruise 1 1/2 years ago. My favorite thing we did was in Puerta Vallarta. We booked an excursion to Las Caletas. They took us on a boat to a private beach where they served us a buffet lunch and had snorkeling and kayaking included! Beautiful place, I'd do it again. I'm not sure what to tell you about Mazatlan. It was pouring rain while we were there. Still wasn't too impressed with the place. We did take a city bus though and that was quite an adventure, maybe the highlight of that port! Cabo is kind of a party city. We went to lover's beach which was ok, kind of crowded. My best advice...when ordering dinner you seriously can pick as many things from the menu as you want! If there is steak and lobster on the menu tell them you want both and they will bring it to you! You can get one of each dessert! Just enjoy it and worry about the weight when you get home!:) You can check out my blog post on it, we went in Sept of '08. Have soooo much fun, I'm totally jealous! Cruising is the only way to go!

Anonymous said...

we did this cruise as a family reunion 6 years ago! It was so much fun!!!!! SO we wore dresses for every dinner in the dining room, and only ate breakfast in there once. Otherwise, we all ate at the 24 hr buffets!!!! Make sure you know that all soda is charged to the room, so we stuck to juice and lemonade and fruit punch since it was included. We had a 10 month old with us (kayla), so the ports were a different experience for us. We did a little shopping right off the boat in Puerto Vallarta, but that's it. In Mazatlan, my uncle got us all a deal on a van tour that was $10 a person and included a tour around the city and a stop on a "private" beach area which was fun. CABO was our favorite... the prettiest and nicest beaches! We did the boat tour there and was worth the money to see the wildlife. Shopping was fun at all three ports of course. BUT we loved the cruise and the boat and there is SOOOO much to do ON the boat! We loved playing bingo, dancing, shuffleboard, swimming, going on walks around the ship, the nightly shows, etc. And of course the FOOD was amazing! Doug even tried crawfish and escargot one night! I am SOOOO happy for you guys... it will be the experience of a lifetime! One day we should go on one TOGETHER!!! xoxo

Anonymous said...

oh and I wore my swimsuit every single day underneath a sundress or shorts and tshirt!

tammy said...

My only suggestion is to take me! ; )

Anonymous said...

I have always heard you will gain 10 lbs on a cruise if you aren't careful....well as soon as we ate in the morning Bud and I hit the track on the top of the ship. After about 2 miles we would hit the ice cream machine. We laughed at your Dad because he would never eat sugar and we said he was mainlining the ice cream. After that we would go to the gym and do some kind of work out. We didn't swim but Mary Lu and I enjoyed the hot tub. As far as the ports it was mostly tourist trap. I think I bought a couple of things but not much. We dressed for dinner each evening which was fun but ate at buffet the rest of the time. I know you will have fun. Oh yeah, we went to the shows at night and they were good. Have fun but if you are going to eat you need to exercise or YOU WILL GAIN WEIGHT. WE DIDN'T.

Joy For Your Journey said...

How fun!! I have learned to love cruising, but it took awhile due to sea sickness a couple times. (So be prepared for that) We have never gained weight even though we have been on a cruise for up to two weeks, but that is because we run around like crazy all day doing fun stuff so you might not need to stress too much over that.

Remember you will need to tip everyone. They give you guidelines on that and how to do it--it is different between cruise lines. I agree with the pack light, but also have nice clothes for dinner--if you eat in the dining room. If you eat at the buffet you can wear pretty much whatever you want. But I love the dining room because where else do you get served yummy food every night? And I think it is fun to dress up at the end of a busy day.

I haven't been on this cruise but I have friends who did one similar and they did a zip line at one of the ports and loved it. If you have that option you might want to try it. We have done a zip line in Colorado and it was a blast.

Have fun!

Jenny said...

One last tip I remembered...Don't check your bags when you leave, they'll assign you a number and you may have to wait a LONG time to get off the boat. If you carry your own bags off the boat, you go when you want.

CB said...

I have traveled alot but never been on a cruise so I am no help.

I hope you have a wonderful time though!!

CB said...

P.S. I love Pedalings suggestions - that sounds just right for any vacation!

The Kooky Queen--Rachel said...

I went on a cruise over the Baltic sea, LOVED it! Spend lots of time on deck, outdoors! Stay away from the decks with a bar... *cough*. SOOOOO much cigarette smoke!!! I hope your room is UP too. My room was lower in the ship and going in my room in the day made me a bit seasick because you could feel the motions more. But all in all HAVE FUN!!!!!!!!! That is SOOOOOOOOO awesome!!!!