Long-time cruisers — particularly those that are loyal to the same cruise line, cruising with them over and over again — have their cruising routine down to an art. They know exactly what they’re going to do on embarkation day, where to go to avoid the crowds, what to do to save cash and how to have the overall best time possible.
However, newer cruisers aren’t so lucky. If you’re new to Carnival Cruise Line, there are certain things you’ll want to be sure that you do and don’t do, for the most enjoyable, affordable, stress-free experience possible. Here are the 15 top mistakes to avoid making on your first Carnival cruise.
1. Thinking All of the Cruise Ships Are the Same
First things first, don’t make the mistake of assuming that all Carnival cruise ships are the same or nearly the same. Depending on the ship you book, your cruising experience could vary wildly.
For example, some of the older Carnival cruise ships offer a more classic cruising experience, with minimal activities and venues but still the traditional favorites like three-course meals in the dining room and a big pool deck.
These ships are smaller and hold fewer cruisers, and are ideal for cruisers who want a more laid-back, low-key cruise. These cruisers just want to get to the next island; they don’t necessarily need a floating resort at sea to get them there.
Carnival Elation Cruise Ship (Photo Credit: Melissa Mayntz)
In contrast, some of Carnival’s newer ships are just that: basically floating resorts at sea. If you want every single second of your cruise to be filled with entertainment and variety, with loads of options for what you do during every part of the day, you’ll want to cruise on a newer ship.
It’s not just size, activities and venues that change from ship to ship, though. Certain amenities that you might just naturally assume are on a cruise ship, don’t exist on every Carnival cruise ship.
This is the case, for example, when it comes to laundry facilities. While most cruise ships have them, Carnival’s newer Excel-class ships (Mardi Gras, Carnival Celebration and Carnival Jubilee) do not (though you can pay for laundry service on these ships).
2. Not Buying the Carnival Faster to the Fun Pass
If you’re not a VIFP Club Diamond or Platinum member (and, let’s be real, if this is one of your first Carnival cruises, you’re probably not), then one of the biggest mistakes you can make is not buying the Carnival Faster to the Fun pass, ahead of your cruise.
This pass gives you loads of perks that can make your cruise all-around more convenient. You get priority check-in at the cruise terminal. You’ll have priority stateroom access to drop off your bags, once you’re on the ship.
Photo Credit: JHVEPhoto / Shutterstock
Your larger luggage will be expedited to your stateroom. You’ll have a dedicated guest services phone line. You’ll get priority dining reservations. You’ll even get priority water shuttle boarding and late or early debarkation.
All of this can ensure you spend more time actually having fun during your cruise, and less time waiting around in lines, bunched up with the rest of the cruising crowds.
3. Visiting Guy’s Burger Joint at the Most Popular Times
Along the lines of, well, waiting in line, there are certain areas of every Carnival ship that get particularly crowded, at certain times. One of these areas is Guy’s Burger Joint.
Guy’s Burger Joint is a Guy Fieri-endorsed, complimentary dining option that’s available on every single Carnival ship. After being launched in 2011, the restaurant quickly became a fan favorite.
Guy’s Burger Joint on Carnival Mardi Gras
As such, it can get pretty crowded, with fans flocking to the restaurants for their burger and fry fix. If you go during certain times, you may find yourself waiting in a long line (albeit a fast-moving one).
Guy’s Burger Joint is only open six hours per day, on most days, so you’ll find it most crowded around lunchtime, as well as on embarkation days and during sea days. For fewer crowds and less of a wait, visit on a port day, when the rest of your fellow cruisers are off the ship, or go a little earlier or later than normal lunch hours.
4. Hitting Up the Lido Deck on Hot Sea Days
We get it. It’s a hot sea day in the Caribbean or similar warm locale. You don’t have any port to explore. Where else would you go other than the Lido Deck, where you can lounge in the sun, take a dip in the pool or just sip some tropical drinks at a bar?
Carnival Cruise Line Lido Deck (Photo Copyright: Cruise Hive)
Unfortunately, that’s everyone’s idea, so the Lido Deck can get pretty busy on sea days, especially when the weather is nice. If you don’t mind the crowds, proceed with caution, and just make sure to get there early, if you want to snag a good lounger.
If you do mind the crowds, find something else to do. There are plenty of indoor activities that you can enjoy on a Carnival cruise, if you want to stay cool but the pool’s not an option.
5. Not Taking the Behind the Fun Tour
One of those fun, indoor activities? The Behind the Fun tour. This is an exclusive activity that’s booked as an excursion, and is limited to just over a dozen participants, so you’ll want to book your spot on the tour in advance.
Behind the Fun Tour
During the tour, you’ll explore areas of the ship that are off limits to the public, such as the ship’s bridge, galley, staff areas and more. It’s literally a behind-the-scenes tour of everything that has to happen for you to have a fun cruise.
The tour can take up to just under four hours, depending on the ship you’re on, and you’ll also get some cool gifts to take home and light snacks.
6. Not Following the Carnival Code of Conduct
While a cruise can be a fun time to let down your hair and your inhibitions, it’s still important to follow the cruise ship rules, so that you and all your fellow cruisers continue to have a good time.
The Carnival Code of Conduct simply asks you to consider your fellow cruisers and be respectful and mindful of others. That means supervising your children, keeping noise in hallways down and not skipping lines, for starters.
You’ll be asked to acknowledge the Carnival Code of Conduct when you check-in for your cruise and, if you’re found in violation of the code during your cruise, you may be fined $500, confined to your stateroom or even removed from the ship and banned from the cruise line.
(And if you think that a cruise line would never go to such lengths, think again. Carnival has been cracking down on bad behavior, reminding passengers of this code and warning them to stay in line.)
7. Booking a Carnival Cruise Line Excursion
While, yes, Carnival will try to tell you that booking a Carnival Cruise Line excursion is the only way to really ensure that you make it back to the ship before it leaves port, more experienced cruisers will tell you that the risk of actually missing the ship is low.
Carnival Breeze Cruise Ship Docked in Cozumel (Photo Credit: dkroy / Shutterstock)
All you have to do is make sure you book third-party excursions that leave you plenty of time, in case of an unforeseen delay.
Booking third-party excursions in port, versus Carnival’s excursions, comes with a wealth of benefits. You’ll be able to take excursions and tours that are less crowded, with fewer people. You’ll save money, as most third-party excursions are cheaper. You’ll also get more variety to choose from, as Carnival’s excursions are limited.
8. Playing Mini Golf on a Windy Day
This one is just a basic mistake that you can easily avoid.
Most Carnival cruise ships do have a miniature golf course, either a nine-hole or 18-hole course (with the outlier being Carnival Luminosa, which has no mini golf course).
Carnival Paradise Mini Golf
However, save this fun activity for a day with low winds. Otherwise, you could find yourself chasing your golf ball all around the green, and that getting that hole-in-one is a lot harder than you thought.
9. Not Using the Carnival Hub App
The Carnival Hub app is filled with features and information that can make your cruise more fun. For example, before your cruise, you can make dinner reservations and purchase excursions or spa services.
Carnival Hub App
Then, during your cruise, you can get information about what’s going on, on the ship, that day; chat with your fellow cruisers; and manage your account, viewing your charges and statements.
The app will also load all of your pre-booked reservations into the My Planner section of the app, so you can plan your day accordingly. You can even order food for delivery from the app.
10. Not Listening to the Cruise Director Announcements
Cruise directors are the individuals who are largely responsible for your cruising experience. They plan and organize all the fun, ensure that things keep sailing along and deliver important announcements to help you organize your day.
Carnival Dream Cruise Ship (Photo Credit: Darryl Brooks)
In fact, some avid cruisers have found that they really prefer some cruise directors over others, so they’ll go out of their ways to cruise on certain itineraries, when their favorite cruise directors are working.
Whatever your view on cruise directors, though, be sure that you listen to their announcements. They’ll let you in on important info you might need to know for ship schedule or safety reasons, and they’ll also remind you of events and activities going on throughout the ship.
11. Not Pre-Paying for Your Gratuities or Packages
Before your Carnival cruise sets sail, you’ll have the option to pre-pay for your gratuities. Gratuities are charged per person, per day of your cruise, at a set rate that will differ depending on whether you’re staying in a suite or standard stateroom.
If you don’t pre-pay, you’ll be asked to sign off on your gratuities near the end of the cruise. However, pre-paying comes with a perk: You could save money.
Carnival Cruise Cabin (Photo Credit: Emrys Thakkar)
Occasionally, the gratuity rate increases and, if you didn’t pre-pay, you’re stuck paying the new, higher rate, when you could’ve gotten the lower rate all along.
The same can be said for packages. If you pre-pay, as early as possible, you’ll get a lower rate. If you don’t, you’re stuck paying whatever the going rate is, upon boarding.
12. Not Reading the Tender Information
If you’re traveling on an itinerary that will include tendering (which basically just means that the cruise ship is too large to travel right up into the port of call, so you’ll have to take a smaller boat from the ship, to the port), be sure you read up on all the necessary information.
Cruise Ship at Tender Port (Photo Credit: Ritu Manoj Jethani / Shutterstock)
Before the day you’re expected to tender, on Carnival, you’ll be provided with information regarding the tendering process. This process must be followed and, if it’s not, chaos and confusion can ensue.
Read Also: Cruise Ship Tendering – Top 6 Pro Tips
You can’t just walk off the ship, onto one of the tendering vessels and go. You have to get in line, get a number and essentially follow an orderly system. Reading up on this system ahead of time will ensure you save time and frustration.
13: Not Paying Attention to Debarkation Information
Similarly, there’s a debarkation process when your ship returns to its home port that’s intended to reduce crowds. After all, if five thousand cruisers are all trying to get off the ship at once, that’s just a recipe for disaster.
So, before your cruise heads back home, be sure to brush up on the debarkation rules and regulations. On Carnival, the cruise line asks that you are out of your stateroom before 8:30 on embarkation day.
Carnival Cruise Ship in Galveston
From there, you can go to one of the designated waiting areas, to wait for you to be notified via the Carnival app that you’re able to leave the ship.
Carry off guests, or those that are carrying off their luggage themselves, are the first ones to leave. Guests that have checked their luggage come second.
14. Missing Free Special Dining Options
Don’t feel like you have to miss out on fun or interesting dining experiences on Carnival, just because you don’t want to spend a little extra at the specialty restaurants on the ship.
Keep an eye on the Carnival app and around the ship for free dining experiences that go beyond the handful of complimentary restaurants.
Carnival Luminosa Dining
For example, go to the sea day brunches in the main dining room, the sea day afternoon tea in the main dining room, the Carnival Elegant evening in the main dining room or the free buffet that’s sometimes offered in Guy’s Pig & Anchor Smokehouse and Brewhouse on embarkation day.
15. Not Packing Items That Can Be Pricey on the Ship.
Carnival knows that there are just some items you’ll need during your cruise, and if you didn’t pack them, you may be willing to pay a pretty penny for them.
As such, make sure that you’re packing any OTC medications you might need, toiletries and plenty of sunscreen. Otherwise, you could find yourself paying double or triple the price you might pay, on land.