Ready to book your first cruise and in search of some good Carnival cruise tips? Or perhaps you already have your first cruise under your belt but feel like you may have missed some valuable information. Researching cruises can be pretty overwhelming. With 13 Carnival cruises completed, and several more booked, we’ve accumulated some helpful information for those new to Carnival.
Table of Contents
BOOKING
General Info
Everyone wants the best deal possible. The prices will always be highest on weekends, holidays, and the summer months. My general advice is, when comparing multiple ships and lengths of cruise, know your per person per day cost after all taxes and fees and minus any on board credit. This helps you suss out the truly excellent deals vs the mediocre ones. An inside cabin for $65 pp/pd or less is a good deal. My best price to date was a $0 cruise where we paid taxes only. It worked out to $28 pp/pd.
VIFP Club
Go ahead and sign both you and your cruising partner up for the Very Important Fun Person Club before your first booking so you can start getting email deals before your first cruise. Be sure to log into to the VIFP profile for each person to check the available discounts. It is not uncommon to get completely different deal offers. You will earn a point for every day you cruise and move up the loyalty ladder as you accumulate points for bigger and better amenities. We are almost platinum. Hooray free laundry!
Traveling With Past Guests
If you’re traveling with someone who has cruised with Carnival, anyone staying in their cabin is eligible for the same past guest discount deals so long as they are the primary guest on the booking. For instance, my husband and I are traveling with a couple who have not been on a Carnival cruise before. I am booked in a cabin with one person while my husband is booked in a cabin with the other. We all get the same great deal. Once on board we just go to the purser’s desk and have them move us and issue new keys so I am back to a cabin with my husband.
Carnival Vacation Planner
One of my best Carnival cruise tips is don’t be afraid to use your Carnival Vacation Planner. They are essentially Carnival travel agents who get a small stipend when you book through them at absolutely no cost to you. A good vacation planner can be worth their weight in gold and can be particularly helpful in finding the best prices. I love mine because she is super responsive to email and something as simple as a cabin change can be taken care of quickly versus calling the helpline and waiting on hold for hours.
Cabin Selection
We take a lot of cruises so I’m always looking for a good deal. This typically means we book an inside room as they are easier on the budget. Some people will only stay in an ocean view or balcony cabin. I reserve balcony cabins for special occasions or special trips. Carnival has some older ships and I’ve found the window seals to not always be the greatest in those cases meaning my cabin didn’t get as cool as I’d like. And honestly, nothing beats sleeping in a dark cold cabin after a full day of sun and partying.
If you’re especially prone to seasickness you should book a low central cabin. I personally prefer a cabin close the action and a few doors away from the elevators. This usually means a cabin on lido deck or near the atrium bar. Just remember to check the decks above and below your cabin before making your final selection. Cabins near theaters and clubs can be noisy as can those directly below non carpeted deck areas as you may hear chairs scraping overhead.
For the most part we’ve done well with cabin selection. We don’t spend too much time stressing over it. However we have run into noise issues that were not so obvious to us when choosing a cabin location. Once we had a cabin very far forward and were subject to hearing the chains drop very early in the morning on port days. On another cruise I chose a cabin below the spa thinking it would be closed while we were sleeping and therefore quiet. However we quickly learned the spa was a shortcut to kitchen access and we heard very loud carts of plates pass through to the buffet at 4 a.m. every day.
Cruise Insurance
Trip insurance is never a bad idea. Outside of reimbursement for the cost of your trip, it can cover emergency medical expenses and medical evacuation. My advise is not to buy it through the cruise line. You get better coverage, including trip cancellation, for a much better price by purchasing trip insurance separately. In order to be covered for existing medical conditions, you need to make sure you purchase insurance within 14 days of booking the cruise. I like to use insuremytrip. They make it very easy to compare insurers and coverage options.
What to Pack & What to Leave at Home
One of the best carnival cruise tips for new cruisers is to take a few minutes to review what items are prohibited and will be confiscated. Outside the obvious no drugs, alcohol, or weapons people are often surprised to find they can’t bring portable steamers and irons on board. CBD products and THC are also prohibited, regardless if it is prescribed. Most recently boomboxes and large stereos were added to the list. You may bring an extension cord as long as it does not have a built in surge protector. This is particularly necessary if you have a CPAP because there is rarely a plug by the bed.
As for what to pack you will find endless lists of suggestions online which will probably lead to unnecessarily heavy bags. Leave beach towels, shampoo, body wash, and hair dryers at home. These are provided. I like to pack a small first aid kit with plenty of ibuprofen. Don’t forget the sunscreen and after sun. I also bring a lanyard for my room key because my clothes don’t have pockets. Room keys come pre-punched.
The cabin walls are all metal and we pack a few heavy duty magnets to hang up hats and wet suits in the room. Also consider packing a few magnetic dollar tree decorations to pop up on your door. It can make your cabin super easy to find in a sea of sameness. Plus it’s just fun.
As for clothes, pack pieces you can mix and match and things you will be comfortable in. We pack less by planning to wear some things more than once. Don’t forget swimsuit cover ups for getting back and forth to the pool. I usually pack a few things I’m ready to toss so I don’t have to bring it home and it becomes one less thing to wash. For instance if we have a hike planned I’ll bring old tennis shoes and leave them in the room when we debark.
There are 2 formal nights on a 6 to 8 day cruise and you will find participation mixed. If you want to get dressed up and take some nice pictures, you can, but you certainly don’t have to. We actually missed our first formal night because we couldn’t justify the expense of a tux and thought it was a requirement. Buddy usually wears a polo and dress slacks and I wear a nice sun dress and we don’t feel out of place. We actually like to get a seat at the cocktail bar near the restaurant and people watch all the great outfits that go by!
