Moon Cruise

Have you been on a cruise?

My fiance and I are going on a Caribbean cruise through Carnival for our honey moon. Does any one have any suggestions or tips while aboard? We are going to San Juan Puerto Rico, St. Thomas, and St. Maarten. We want it to be special.

I have been on about 20 cruises and have 3 more booked for this year. I have cruised all over the Caribbean, including multiple times to the ports your cruise will stop at. Here’s my recommendations for planning what to take with you.

Always pack your passport and cruise documents in your carry on bag ONLY.

The dress on ship is casual all day until 6:00PM, so take:
-swim wear (at least 2),
-shorts, tank tops and “T’s”
-sandals,
-beach shoes,
-your snorkel equipment if you have it,
-sun glasses and sun screen,
-lotions,
-a cap or big hat for the sun,
-a book if you are a reader, -
-your music player,
-sneakers and clothes to workout in if you like to use the gym, -good walking shoes,
-your camera, and
-other personal toiletries including tooth paste, mouth wash or lotions.

Your cabin will have towels and soap provided, including pool and beach towels, and a hair dryer. It will also have a generic hair shampoo so you do not need to bring that unless you like a specific brand.

After 6:00 PM they request that you wear “sports or resort casual” attire. That’s attire that you would expect a person to wear in a business office, (like a bank employee), shirt with a collar, slacks, skirt, blouse, etc. You can still wear shorts and swim wear in the pools and spas but not in public areas like dining rooms and restaurants, show rooms, bars, casino, etc. Don’t over pack , take clothes that you can mix and match tops and bottoms and plan to wear each piece twice. You will likely be in shorts and/or swim wear most of every day so evening clothes don’t usually get much wear.

Your cruise will have two formal nights when you can wear your best stuff and get pictures taken, and maybe meet the ship’s Captain. The formal nights are REQUESTED not required attire. You will not be denied entry to the main dining room if you decide not to dress up, as long as you are at least sports casual. But most people do dress up. A gown or party dress for women and a suit or tux for men. Some people dress up both formal nights, some don’t.

- Its best to pack using soft-sided luggage because with space limited in your cabin it fits under the beds better if its not hard sided luggage.

- Pack using the vacuum clothing bags (about $20 for 3 at Target) so that you can get more in your bag AND so that if the TSA at the airport opens your bag they can see what’s inside without rummaging through your things.

-Take a small carry-on bag for the last night of the cruise. On the last evening you will be required to put your luggage outside your cabin by about 2:00 AM so that they can start taking it down to the lower deck for offloading the next morning. So you will need a small bag for your toiletries and your clothes that you sleep in.

- If you can take a six-pack of bottled water and soft drinks in your carry-on for your cabin. You will have to pay for both on the ship and its nice to have those handy in the cabin.

- If you are taking your cell phone, MP3 player or other item that needs to be plugged in take an extension cord as the plugs in the cabin are generally not in the best places and there are usually only one or two.

- Take a small bottle of hand sanitizer and/or hand-wipes. There are generally sanitizer dispensers at the entrances of restaurants, the buffets and dining room, but some times the are not there or not working. The sanitizer helps prevent the spread of the Norwalk Virus that sometimes occur on cruise ships.

-If you plan to get into the pools or hot tub as soon as you get on ship, bring those clothes in your carry on bag; you other luggage may not get to your cabin until much later in the afternoon.

- Take a can of air freshener for your cabin bathroom. The bathrooms do not have exhaust fans.

- Take a few zip lock bags of various sizes; they always come in handy.

- Take some one dollar bills (also maybe a few $5′s) for tipping the porters in the airport, at the pier (they do not work for the ship), and they will come in handy in port stops for buying small items in the markets and at vendor stands; especially bartering places.

St Thomas is a shopper’s paradise. If you want to buy jewelry, perfume, or most anything then St Thomas is the place. If you want to do the beach go to Megan’s Bay, or a better beach is Sapphire Beach (it’s a $10. taxi ride per person each way …. we did this last time).

St Maarten is a shopping and beach stop too.

Puerto Rico has several good tours. We did the city and Fort (old San Juan ) tour back in May from a cruise ship and it was nice. A few years ago we did the Rain Forest tour which was nice because it was a long bus ride from town and we got to see some countryside.

Check the web sites below for planning things to do in each stop.

McLovin Burnout Moon Cruise 2010

Subaru : B9 Tribeca 7-Pass Ltd Beige Int 2006(06)Tribeca AWD Auto Heat 3rd row Moon Cruise Save!!! $1,000.00

Nissan : Maxima 4dr Sdn V6 CVT 3.5 S 2009(09)Maxima S V6 Auto Heat Moon Cruise Save!!! $2,225.00

Acura : RDX 4WD 4dr 2008(08)RDX Awd Auto Heat Moon Cruise Cd Save!!! $7,200.00

Ford : Focus 5dr HB SEL 2012(12)Focus SEL Moon Cruise Cd Abs Save!!! $12,000.00

Volkswagen : Passat Sedan 4dr Auto Lux FWD 2008(08)Passat Lux Heat Moon Park A/C Cruise Cd Chgr Save!!! $2,025.00

Chaperones 45 Cruise To The Moon /Shining(Doo Wop) VG++ $9.00

The Cruise of the Half-Moon: And Other Poems (1914) NEW $20.09

CHAPERONES: Cruise To The Moon / Shining Star $5.00

97 Honda PRELUDE Cruise, Moon Roof, Dimmer Switches R8179 $25.00

mv Zenith … Celebrity Cruises … Cruiseship Under Bermuda Moon $1.99

Moon gate at cruise terminal in the Royal Naval Dockyard, Bermuda, Central Photo Mugs Moon gate at cruise terminal in the Royal Naval Dockyard, Bermuda, Central America….

Born On The Fourth Of July: Motion Picture Soundtrack Album $11.98 There are 14 songs.1)A hard rain’s a gonna fall 4.58 14)Born on the fourth of July 5.44…

Blackwood $12.98 …

From the Isles to the Courts $18.22 …