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Things I have learned, from cruising!

15) The Disney ships are by far the most beautiful cruise ships out there, they are just gorgeous to look at. Inside & Out- They are classic and not filled with "Disney" stuff, but do have disney touches!

14) Eating at the main seating, 6:00, STINKS! It cuts into your day before your ready and we will NOT do it again!!

13) My father needs a walkie talkie to hang onto while cruising, he is hard to keep up with. He wonders off, does his own thing for hours and blames everyone else for not being where they were suppose to. (hours and hours before)

12) When Andy's missing, look for him napping...somewhere, anywhere! Air conditioned rooms or hammocks in the shade are his favorite spots!

11) Carnival ships have the best beds of any cruise line, you can even buy them. The entire she-bang: mattress, box springs, sheets, pillows, etc... We've looked into it, they are sooooo comfortable. Royal Caribbean's on the other hand, STINK! They are horrid and I hated them! (The rumor that R.C. rooms are smaller, is TRUE, very very very true. You don't spend alot of time in there, but they are MUCH smaller than any cruise we've taken. Even that little old ship, Fantasy!)

10) Royal Caribbean doesn't serve lobster on their 4 night cruises and that's a major rip off! (Have I said that enough?)

9) Disney has good food on their cruises (even lobster) but in general, it's not as good as Carnival or R.C.~ The rotational dinning (where you visit 3 different dinning rooms) is awesome though!

8) Ships that don't offer late night comedy for adults are missing a little something. (Disney) We sure enjoy those nights! We don't visit the casino, but my Dad would have sorely missed that on Disney too.

7) Disney shows are the best! They are broadway worthy and they rock. They made me laugh & cry! Carnivals were awesome too and R.C.'s weren't bad.

6) Pools on all ships other than the smallest & oldest ones are so much better. Most of them now have that shallow little area to sit in around the pool and it's great!! (Those small old ships with dipping holes are kinda rough. Though, after refurbishment, that may have changed)

5) You should arrive to the port terminal about an hour to an hour and a half earlier than they tell you. If you get there earlier, you'll board early. It's much calmer, not near as many people, you'll already be on board eating lunch and watching other people fight in line....it's nice!

4) Be sure you label your luggage with some insane and creative way. I've previously mentioned the fiesty woman trying to steal my luggage. This time we tied huge black ribbon with white polka dots all the way around it, like a big present. It was super easy to recognize and no one else would want it!

3) Be sure to use the drop off luggage areas out front and the throw it outside your room deal on the last night. We've tried that "ah, we'll just carry it and it'll be faster" crap. NOT GOOD. No reason to walk around carrying the stupid, heavy bulky crap with ya. Forget it!

2) If you are a caffeine addict, like me, buy the fountain drink card! Disney is the only ship that serves coke (it's a southern thing you yankees call soda) at a fountain for free. The other lines make you pay an arm and a leg. Might as well fork over the extra bucks at the beginning (like$6 per day or something) and you can drink it anytime you want. Nothing like a diet coke in the morning!

1) There is no better deal than cruising. We are looking right now for something to do in August for a long weekend. It would cost us much more to go to the beach for 3 nights (even staying at the cheapest place ya can find), more to go to the mountains for 3 nights or anywhere else pretty much...than it'll cost to go on a 3 night cruise with our food included. (and entertainment unless we want to do excursions) That's nuts, why not cruise? We're addicted, bad!!

Sum it up you say: That stuff you hear about Carnival being the "party ship" with a wild crowd, not true. We've never seen it be rowdy, not anymore than other ships for sure! We want to do Disney again for sure, 7 nights...it's so expensive though. Worth it by all means, but you have to plan big for those. Carnival rocks, we're Carnival cruisers at heart. Royal Caribbean, it was fun...but unless things just happen to work out where we can't do anything else...we wont be visiting them again.



So, throw in Bobby Darin singing "Somewhere, beyond the Sea" and start booking your next cruise!!! (we are!)