First Cruise

jalamcmillen

New Member
Me and my wife are taking our first cruise in July 19th. 5 day Gulf of Mexico cruise from Alabama to Cozumel and Yucatan. We have been researching and want some friendly advice. We took the kids to Disney a few years ago and we flew. We had each a backpack of clothes for carry on and a big suitcase full of snacks and so forth. So I seen where we are allowed a suitcase a piece. Will it be okay to fill a suitcase full of snacks to keep in the room? BTW it is Carnival. Its not like we will be carrying snacks around with us, just stuff to keep in the room for midnight snacks and so forth........

Any other advice we can get will be great.

Thanks in Advance!
 

bob

Community Manager Part Time Dinosaur
Staff member
A - Welcome to Cruise Addicts
B - Welcome to Cruising
C - We took the kids to Disney a few years ago and we flew. We had each a backpack of clothes for carry on and a big suitcase full of snacks and so forth
Trade:::: Backpack of snacks for suitcases of clothes, but don't go crazy it is only a 5 da'er.
With the exception of a few hours for setups the ships buffet will be open from apx 7 am till apx 11 pm for all other carnal demands there is room service, YOU WILL NOT STARVE. Kids want a hamburger go to the Lido grill for a burger and fries, or wherever it is on the ship you are on, an ice cream, it's there somewhere, slice of pizza most all ships have a pizza station nowdays. What I am trying to say is there is no reason to take food on with you, with the exception of specialty dining and a small amount of specialty items all the food is free. If the kids are soda freaks get them a "soda card", pay one price and they can drink all they want, if you are into gor met coffee you can get a coffee card that saves you on the super special coffees. So if you want to pack a backpack full of Lays Wavies go for it but you will be giving up valuable space for things like tablets, gameboys, laptops and any other "fun" stuff. As I said if you starve on a cruise ship it will be because you are anorexic.
OH and you want a "midnight snack" just call room service there will be a menu in the cabin of what is available and you can even get a hamburger, just tip the guy a couple bucks, he's working late.
Which brings up another point, take about $20 or so in 1's, they come in handy in these situations, a couple now and then come in handy.

Any other advice we can get will be great.
If you keep asking questions someone will keep answering
 

BSeabob

Forum Manager
Staff member
all you really need beside your medications and personal toiletries is two swim suits and duck tape. (oh and a credit card)
 

jalamcmillen

New Member
thanks...We aren't taking the kids. I was just thinking snacks because I'm not always going to want to leave the room for a quick snack....Another question.

I have been looking at booking snorkeling in Cozumel, not with Carnival. I've heard that some cruise line will nickel and dime you a lot. Is there any fee's with just leaving the boat without having anything scheduled with the cruise line. Also if anyone has any good places for lunch in Cozumel, that would be great.
 

George C

Staff Captain
Agree it’s good to avoid ships tours there normally overcrowded and over overpriced. Love downtown Cozumel been there dozens of times . For restaurants our favorite is Pancho‘s backyard . Wife loves shopping there and haggling over price with local stores.
 

bob

Community Manager Part Time Dinosaur
Staff member
I second Georges choice of Panchos, they have a Senior Frog but if you want good food, Panchos it is.
Only down side to not booking with the cruise line, well two downsides, it will cost a bit more through the cruise line but the big downer is if something happens and you get back late the ship "will" leave without you even if you were crew.
One of the best and most respected independent tour companies is Shore Trips, they are reasonable and dependable they will get you back to the ship on time. They have at least a couple snorkel packages for Coz and probably more.
 

George C

Staff Captain
Tons of great bars Senior Frog, Carlos and Charlie’s , a cool Margaritaville which has live music, many of the restaurants have live music , drinks are cheap . Definitely one of my favorite ports never get tired of visiting here.
 
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