Selecting your Stateroom
The staterooms vary greatly and so do the prices. We generally select a veranda or balcony cabin. You should make a selection based upon your itinerary. A late season Alaskan or Transatlantic cruise may offer limited time to sit out on the veranda of have room service breakfast outside. Naturally if most of the cruise is in warm or mild weather the veranda is special. If you do select a veranda, be sure to have room-service breakfast (delivered at no additional charge,) cocktails at sunset, or just quiet reading time as you float above the brine.
Dining
When you book your cruise, you will be offered an early or late dinner seating. Early seating is usually around 6.00pm and late seating is at approximately 8.00pm.We prefer the late seating. If you have been off the ship during the day you may feel rushed to return and prepare for dinner at 6.00pm. We have also enjoyed the time to shower, dress and have a pre-dinner cocktail or two! The main entertainment is usually at 8.30pm for the early diners and 7 or 7.30pm for the late seating diners.
Tables in the main dining room range from “tables for two” and up to “tables for twelve.” We always request a table for two simply because we have witnessed too many examples of overbearing loud bores with opinions about everything dominating the dinner table discussions, and we avoid them at all costs.
Enjoy the experience if you are assigned to a polite, interesting and enjoyable dining group. Alternatively, speak with the maître d about another table. We have always found them to be most gracious and accommodating. You are left to your own devices for breakfast and lunch. They usually comprise buffets with hundreds of options. We have always enjoyed the poolside grills as an option and of course room service for breakfast.
Dinner is almost always a delight. All the ships we have graced offer 12-15 entrees. They usually have a “standing” menu that may include 5-6 entrees which are available every day and a featured menu with specials which vary daily.
Portions are average in size so don’t be shy. My wife and I have often ordered 3 entrees to share between us. Don’t hesitate to request another entrée if you are not happy with your initial order. Remember you are a paying guest!
Tipping
Most cruises now allow you to pre-pay your gratuities which we prefer. We’ve never been disappointed with the cruise staff, and requests made to our waiters and cabin stewards have always been quickly and graciously fulfilled. Prepaid tips avoid the last day hassle of distribution and possible embarrassment.
Dressing for Dinner
Gentlemen: “country club” casual, khaki pants, dress shirts, possible a blazer. Tuxedos are nice to have but by no means a requirement. We have witnessed a few people turned away from the main dining room on “formal” nights for showing up in a Mickey Mouse T-shirt and blue jeans. Kudos to the maitre’d.
Ladies in cocktail dresses and dressy slacks and tops are perfectly acceptable.
On Board Activities
The activities on board ship are as varied as the passengers. We’ve always enjoyed the guest lectures and trivia contests. Anyone who is bored on a cruise ship needs their head examined.
General Ramblings
We really enjoy cruising. We have three more planned for the next year: a 14 day Baltic cruise, an 8 day Caribbean cruise, and another 14 day Transatlantic to Southampton, UK. We feel cruising is the best vacation bang for the buck. We usually pay less than $100 per person per day. Remember that includes “hotel,” all meals, entertainment and transportation (excluding appropriate airfare.) One final piece of advice on disembarkation: on the last night of the cruise passengers are required to leave their bags outside their rooms for collection. You will be re-united with them on the quayside when you have vacated the ship the following morning. Alternatively you can choose to carry the bags off the ship yourself. It can be rather cumbersome, but exiting the ship and port is much faster.
We hope these “ramblings” will help if you decide to take your first cruise or planning your next water adventure.
Three meals a day are served in each Carnival ship’s main dining room during set hours. Breakfast and lunch are always open seating. At dinner you can choose traditional seating, dining at the same table and time every night of the cruise, or the open seating Your Time Dining option. All food in the main dining room is included in your cruise fare, and you are welcome to order as much as you like.
If there’s one thing cruise ships have in abundance, it’s definitely food. Food can be found in all sorts of places and all manner of ways. A passenger could spend their entire cruise eating if they wanted to, moving from one food venue to another. Cruise ships have dining rooms with multi-course meals, buffets, room service and usually some sort of 24-hour food venue, all at no extra charge. And if that’s not enough, there’s late night buffets and the special eateries that cost a bit extra.
Three meals a day are served in each Carnival ship’s main dining room during set hours. Breakfast and lunch are always open seating. At dinner you can choose traditional seating, dining at the same table and time every night of the cruise, or the open seating Your Time Dining option. All food in the main dining room is included in your cruise fare, and you are welcome to order as much as you like.
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