Cruise honeymoon advice

We did the Carnival Liberty to the Bahamas for our honeymoon! We had a great time! There are so many fun activities on the ship, and we booked a couple of excursions, too. Definitely take lots of sunscreen! The sun is intense. The serenity area on the ship was really nice because it’s 21 and older.

On the day you board the ship you’ll have to do the mandatory safety meeting, so be prepared for that on the first day. We were so excited to start enjoying the cruise, and we wish someone would have told us about this meeting ahead of time. We opted for the cheers drink program, and it was fun trying out so many fun drinks during the cruise. I loved the mocha chocolate getaway!

That was our first cruise, and we had a great time. We would definitely cruise again. Feel free to ask any questions!

View Quoted Comment Thanks for the advice Emily! We will be taking LOTS of sunscreen! We are both very fair!
I did know about the safety test, but when about to the do that? Had you been on the ship for a while and then got surprised with that? Or do they generally do it pretty soon after everyone is on board? I’m not sure how that works.

View Quoted Comment Our boarding time was around 1:00. I think everyone has to be boarded by 2:00 or so. Shortly after everyone is on board they start the safety meeting. Your name badge will have your designated area, so you’ll go there first and then they lead you to another area where you would get a life boat if needed. Once you’re in that area, they have to scan everyone’s badges so they know everyone attended the meeting. It’s really not that bad, but we were so excited to get the party started and didn’t know we’d have to get through that meeting first.

If you have an earlier boarding time, you’d have more time to go to a pool or somewhere else on the ship. Your luggage arrives at your room later that day, so I’d recommend packing a small bag with a change of clothes and swim suit.

View Quoted Comment I believe our board time is 11:00! We have the faster to the fun passes so I think that’s why our time is earlier. But good to know! I’ll be careful to not throw down too many drunks before that safety drill 🤪

Get there a day early. If you try to get there same day and your flight is cancel or delayed you make as the ship. Make sure you get back to the boat early for same reasons. Make sure sun
screen is coral reef safe. There are tons you you tube videos on cruises.

You may already know this, but Carnival lets you bring on a bottle of wine or champagne per person. I can't remember the criteria offhand, so you may want to look into that. We don't drink enough to buy the alcohol package, so we appreciate that we can bring our own wine to enjoy.

We always buy cases of water in advance and have them put it in our room the day we arrive. We didn't do this our first cruise and kept having to go to the dining hall to get something to drink.

Other than that, just bring a swimsuit and have fun!

Be sure to pack a small carry on bag with a suite and anything you might like to have handy. We had faster to the fun and boarded early, grabbed some food and then had to wait 5 hours before our bags made it to our room...valuable pool time wasted! lol . If you want to try Guy's burgers, do so right away. You'll be on first with faster to the fun so almost no line. Once everyone gets on, the line never goes away! If both of you drink, definitely do cheers, its worth it, especially since drinks are like $10-15. FH hasn't had a drink in almost 9 years and you have to buy it for everyone of age in the room so it doesn't make sense for us, I just mooch off his sisters or parents when we cruise together lol. I never wear my ring when I leave the ship, just want to avoid being a target as much as I can. I have an old claudaugh ring from high school that I wear instead, but on the ship you should be fine. If you start feeling sea sick, head up to the Lido deck, the upper middle sections of the ship rock less then the lower and ends. I only got sick 1 night at dinner (since dining was in the lower back of the ship) and as soon as I went up I was fine again. Don't bring a garment steamer, I know when I went on my first cruise it only mentioned irons and my steamer got confiscated. Everyone's a little wrinkled lol. For the excursions, if you have water shoes of any kind, bring them. everything gets really hot from sitting out in the sun so not having to run across sand or concrete or whatever is a plus. I don't know about your ship, but the Dream had some smaller hot tubs on deck 5 that were almost always empty (assuming most people thought the only pools/hot tubs were on the lido deck) so make sure to wander and check out every area you can, never know what you'll find. Meander around the shops, even if you don't plan on buying anything. We were entered into so many raffles and giveaways. FFIL won a diamond necklace for FMIL. Check out some of the shows, even the ones that sound corny. We went to a "Newlyweds" show and it was figgin' hilarious!

View Quoted Comment Thanks for the advice Colleen! We will be getting there a day early. We fly out to Florida on Sunday afternoon and will stay the night there, then shuttle over to the ship port Monday morning. And how do you mean “coral reef” safe? I’ve already bought all our sunscreen 😬

View Quoted Comment Yes I did know that! I’m not sure if we want to do that just because there will be so many fun drinks to try on the ship. But we are not doing the drink package either, so maybe we do want to pick up some wine in Florida!

View Quoted Comment GOOD TO KNOW about the Guy’s burgers!! My fiancé will for sure want to be trying that so I’ll be sure to mention that to him. Also, are you normally prone to motion sickness? I have never been motion sick in my life but I still want to be prepared with some Dramamine on hand. Did you take anything for it or were you fine once you moved to the center of the ship?

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I do have a tendency for motion sickness... like even if I read on plane which makes almost no one sick. I didn't take anything the entire time I we were cruising and even without it was just sick that one time and the seas were REALLY rough that night. My FMIL gave me some kind of sweatband looking thing with metal disks on it but it didn't really do anything so I just went back to the lido deck and was fine.

View Quoted Comment Oh okay! Yeah that is a Seaband! My FH aunt has those for us but I’ve always been a bit skeptical. I have never gotten motion sickness so I think as long as we come prepared we’ll be alright!

Faster to Fun is such a good investment.... Right after we boarded, we booked the Behind the Scenes tour and got the last two seats at the Chef's dinner. Both are extra charges, but we thoroughly enjoyed both experiences. The tour took us all over the ship to places usually off-limits to guests -- crew quarters, the laundry, storage, the bridge, backstage/dressing rooms for the shows, etc. It was really interesting to see how everything works. The Chef's dinner was amazing -- it was SO many courses, each introduced and explained by the head chef. There was table side entertainment, and the other guests were really fun (I think it was limited to 10-12 people total, in a private dining room). It also included a tour of the kitchen (although, we saw that on the Behind the Scenes tour), with champagne and appetizers served in the tasting kitchen. For both, be sure you have flat, closed-toed shoes, as they are required (the only ones I had with me were tennis shoes, so I ended up wearing them with a fancy dress to the dinner...).

View Quoted Comment That sounds so fun! I would really like to do the behind the scenes tour, did you have to book that in advance? Or were you able to book that once you got on the ship?

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We booked it when we boarded, but you might want to check. It is very limited, so if you can make your reservation ahead of time, I would.

Get faster to fun!

We are going on our third cruise for our honeymoon! Its going to be on the brand new ship the Mardi Gras and it wont be until october 2020 (wedding is april lol)

But yes Faster to fun is the way to go! You get to board the ship before everyone else and get off sooner. Also i suggest taking your own luggage to your room instead of letting room service take it because sometimes it takes forever. We've never bought a drinking package cause its way more expensive than just buying drinks as we go.

I didn’t read previous posts so I apologize if I’m repeating....faster to the fun is crucial in my opinion. It lets you get on the ship ahead of most people so you can start to unwind and enjoy the space before it’s too crowded. The alchemy bar is amazing!!! If you like to have a few drinks it’s a great place to socialize and try new drinks. In addition to this, if you plan to drink definitely get the drink package. It’s soo much cheaper.

Sunscreen, Dramamine in the morning if you get motion sick, and a lanyard for your card. You’ll have a blast. I’ve done this exact cruise twice and loved it!!!

I've been on 4 or 5 cruises to the Bahamas/Caribbean and several of them were on Carnival. While they were fun trips, I just want to warn you that Carnival does have a very "wild party" feel to it compared to Royal Caribbean or Norwegian. It's basically Las Vegas on a boat haha. Since it's only 4-5 days I think you guys will be able to focus on the activities you really want to do, but personally I don't think it's a very honeymoon-esque environment.. I highly recommend swimming with stingrays if you can, and if you happen to be going to the Western Caribbean, there is an island by Roatan called Little French Key. It was such a beautiful little secluded island with music and some drinks and a lot to do on the beach! Either way I think you guys will have a great time

I also agree with Colleen, do not try and fly there the day your ship departs! Cruise lines are not very forgiving and if your flight is delayed then you're pretty much smiffed

View Quoted Comment Oh that is great I’m so glad you liked it!! We did get faster to the fun, which thank goodness because that seems to be everyone’s number one tip. We will have to check out the Alchemy Bar! Is there a certain drink you recommend? Someone told me to get a Miami Vice!!