Cruise Lesson and Tips

Every time I plan a trip with my family I always learn something. If I wasn't an organized person I don't think I would have been able to enjoy myself. I think it would have cost us more money and not a run a smoothly. The hiccups that did occur barely hit our radar.

So here is my list of what I think we did well.

Money: We knew when we booked the trip that the cost alone was just step one of what we were going to pay out of pocket. We paid our cruise off in October with the expectation of gifting the cruise as part of our kids Christmas gift.

1. Watch the cruise prices after you book: Carnival will prices match current offers. Nate kept a close eye on the pricing and contacted Kristen every time there was a promotion. It resulted in $280 in room credits.
2. Luggage: We were going to need additional luggage for the kids. We included this in our Christmas budget and surprise for the kids.
3. Christmas gifts: I worked bathing suits, flip flops, dress ups, snorkels, and cash into the kids Christmas gifts. I suggested snorkel sets for each of the kids from family. Their lanyards for the S&S cards were gifted from Marie. Money from my mom Ethan saved as the start of his cruise fund.
4. Research the Excursions: Thanks to forums like Cruise Critics you can research each port and even your exact ship. Through the site I was able to book each excursion outside of the ship saving almost $50 per person in the DR and $75 per person in Aruba. Total Excursion price in DR: $343 including trip, taxi, and captain tip. Aruba: $89 including trip and taxi
5. Spending money: A cruise is all inclusive up to a certain point. For our family we planned an extra $1,500 in spending money. To pay for the excursions and extras. Extras: Gambling, coffee shop, pictures, souvenirs, Camp Ocean from 10pm-1am, ect. Split your spending money between your credit card and cash. Then split your cash into smaller bills for tipping drivers, stewards, ect.
6. The cruise includes food and water/juices/lemonade. We promised our kids soda during the week so we purchased a soda card for each. You could either pay $3 per glass or purchase a $45 unlimited. You aren't required to purchase the soda card for each person in the cabin so we purchased it only for Lorelei and Ethan. If we wanted a soda they could then grab it for us. (FYI: Each passenger can also bring a case of soda a piece on the ship. If we wanted to save $80 we could have done that but our kids were excited about unlimited soda. I did bring a couple cases on to mix with my drinks.)
1. Cheers Card: Cruise ships now also include drink cards. For $480 you could buy a card that included unlimited coffee, bottle water, powerades, rockstars, and 15 alcoholic drinks a day. If you plan on drinking it is a good deal. The ship also allows each adult to bring one bottle of wine. I forgot mine in the car but Nate brought a bottle of his beer that looks like a wine bottle. If you purchase this item each adult in the room is required to buy it. That would have been an additional $900 for us so we had planned not to do it. BUT since Kim had 2 rooms she was technically the only adult in her room and only required to buy 1 so we split the cost 1 card with her. That allowed for 7-8 drinks per night split between Nate and I along with unlimited coffee. Momma needs her lattes! (If we were required to pay the $900 we wouldn't have done it.)
7. Kids Money: If you are going on vacation you know your kids are going to want to spend money. On a cruise they can spending extra money in the arcade, candy shop, gift store, and build a bear. Starting after Christmas our kids started working to save their money. Ethan had his $100 from my Mom and then he got paid for cleaning and babysitting. Lorelei started cleaning every Friday with her brother and would save her money in her piggy bank. They didn't spend a dime during that time and ended up saving a big chunk of cash for themselves. Yes, it was mostly our money. Yes, I paid them to do chores they would be required to do for free but I would have had to give them money anyhow. At least they had to earn it, save it, and budge it during our vacation. We put each of the  kids money into envelopes and labeled them with their names. Each night before bed Nate would sign into their S&S cards from cabin TV and deduct what they spent and put it into our pile of cash. We never told them no. We let them spend their cash on what they wanted but also held them accountable for their spending. Like Ethan's $50 in the arcade the first night. On shore days, they would tell us how much of their money to bring and Nate would hold it for them and be their bankers.  Ethan ended up spending 75% of his money and Lorelei spent 20% of hers.

Media Package: At first we were against this. We enjoy turning off our phones for the week and locking them into the safe during our cruise but this time we did purchase the media package on only Nate's phone. The purpose being to keep in touch with Marie and Kim while on board via FB messenger and to keep track of our new friends while on board.  To communicate with Ethan I brought a stick pad and dry erase board and I would write notes and leave them on the door. It worked perfectly.

Items I'm glad I packed:

1.  Highlighter (we reviewed the fun times kids events each morning and highlighted the things we wanted to do. I then carried them with me all day so we knew when/where/what was going on)
2. 2 beach towels: The ship provides beach towels for you to use on and off the ship but if not returned they cost $22 a piece. I don't trust my kids so we bought our own and they had to keep track of their specific towels all week.
3. Decorations for the Door: It was fun. Kids loved it BUT it also helped Lorelei recognized which room was ours. 
   
4. Sticky Notepads: See above
5. Long sleeve: evening on the ships can get chilly. It was nice having comfy long sleeves some nights
6. Snorkel sets- Most beaches would charge $5-15 for snorkel set rentals. Our kids received as a Christmas gift and used at each island for free.
7. Life jacket- We brought Lorelei's life jacket to help her snorkel. This was something we learned during our cruise with Ethan. a 5 year old has an issue floating, breathing, swimming, all at once. The life jacket helped her float and be able to focus on snorkeling.
8. Over the door shoe rack: Genius. Organized. I will never go on another cruise without one.

Room Service: Use it. Enjoy it. It's free. It's 24 hours. After our island days we would sometimes come back on board and order a couple sandwiches. Ethan and his friends ordered it at all hours of the day or night. They have the best BLTs. And you already read how we used it for Grand Turks along with the morning on leaving the ship.

Easter:  I'm glad I was organized and planned ahead for that day. Lorelei doesn't understand there isn't magic to it. It allowed us to come back into town and still have some sort of holiday.

Organized Dinner outfits: I know it seemed extreme to organize each night and then even assign a set per night based on excursion schedules but it was so helpful! My family looked great and it was a no brainer. No arguing. Bickering. What do I wear? I took out the 4 hangers every night and everybody was set. I also knew that my kids after spending 6-7 hours on an excursion wouldn't want to put on their most dressed up outfits so I planned easy sundresses and shorts/polos for those evening. 

And yes, I still like to dress up on dinner nights. Some of our fellow cruisers seemed more relaxed but to me you are sitting down in a formal dining room. Put on a nice sundress and a collared shirt for the boys. A little bit of effort never hurt any one and it makes for nice pictures.

When packing for the kids we also made sets for each day..That made for easy grab and go for every morning.

Tip your Josie:  When we get on a ship one of our top priorities is to introduce ourselves to our room steward and hand her $20. She then makes sure you have cold ice in your room for the beer you smuggled in. :) Yes, she knows we smuggled it in. No she does not care. Each night should would make sure they were cold for us. You can also ask her to clean out the fridge of the mini bar stuff and fill it with your own carried on sodas. Just make sure to tell you kids not to touch the stuff from the fridge!

What I would do different:

More shirts/underwear: One day 7 I skipped breakfast and sat outside of the laundry room and washed some clothes for my kids. They were running low and shirts and underwear. Especially Ethan. I would have packed more to avoid the laundry. It cost me about 80 minutes of my time and $8 in cash. (I got to read my book while I waited and Nate brought me my favorite breakfast from the dining room and he took Lorelei swimming while I finished up)

Tuxes: I choose to carry on the tuxes because I was worried they would get wrinkled or lost. In the future I would toss those bad boys in the garment bags. They were a pain to carry.

Things I should have packed: Baby powder (For the boys), heavy hair conditioner (the sun and salt water was harsh on all our hair), Nail polish-to fill in the chips of my gel nails towards the end of the week, Nail file- for the chips and dings from the week.

Room Selection: We didn't need 2 rooms and we managed with zero issues in our inside cabin but on our next cruise I would probably upgrade to an ocean view ONLY because it would allow for a tad bit more space. Even though it would pain us because we would miss the glorious darkness an interior room provides.

Let them be:  As a mom that likes spending time with my kids I had a hard time with this one. We did this well but I think I would have prepared myself for it more. I really thought Ethan would want to spend more time with us. By day 7 it kinda hurt my feelings that he didn't but I didn't want to ruin their fun or force them to spend time with us. At one point a saw a teenage boy "hanging out" with his parents. He was sitting at a seperae table and looking miserable having lunch "together". Or I saw a parent dragging their child around but they were playing on a handheld device. I had to remind myself that this is their vacation too. If they wanted to sleep in and stay out late (within reason) even though to me it made no sense it's what he wanted to do. 

It did make for some good one on one time with Nate and I. 

I think that's it! I hope you enjoyed the quick summary. It was literally a brain dump that I haven't read though. Sorry about the improper grammar or English. Deal with it!