Cruisin' Newbie!

[RocketCityMama]

Hi! My dh and I just booked our first cruise for our 20th anniversary! We are going on the Harmony of the Seas, May 24, 2020 and can't wait! We have started reading up on the ship and the ports to figure out what we want to do. Though we have a long ways to go, I have a feeling it'll go by super fast (or at least I hope!). We are Disney and Universal pros, a lot thanks to the wonderful Disboards, so I am sure I'll be reading a lot of info here.

Any newbie tips are welcome!

 

[FabFourteenFamilyFun]

You will love it!!! I think you are a planner so you will be well prepared! You can find out everything here and other sites. We were on Carnival 15 years ago but then Allure of the Seas, Harmony of the Seas and Anthem of the Seas this coming September. So I don’t have a lot of experience cruising but our cruise on Harmony with 6 people was perfect! You can find the daily Cruise Compass online to get a good idea of show times and activity schedules. What is your itinerary? A few of my recommendations:
Fly into Fort Lauderdale the day before-take an Uber to the port.
We had 8:00 dining(they thought it was too late but all agreed it ended up being the best).
Reserve all the shows as soon as they open up on your cruise planner( based on your dining time)
As you do your research and have specific questions many people here will try to help

 

[starvenger]

20th in 2020. Nice! I have my 15th in 2020. Trying to convince my family to go to Hawaii in the summer - keeps my wife’s streak of going about every 5 years alive.

Cheap plug - I sailed Harmony in 2017 and did basically your itinerary on Allure last year. You can read the long-winded ramblings I call a trip report in this forum. Just click on the links in my signature.

Tips
- You know that thing at WDW where people are running around like mad men trying to do everything? You’re going to do the opposite of that. “Cruise mode” is all about relaxing, taking your time, and not worrying about missing an activity (or five) simply because you’re relaxing by the pool. To me this is, without a doubt, the one piece of advice I wish I could pass on to my younger self when I first cruised as an adult.

- Learn about the port. I think Harmony is sailing out of Port Canveral, which is great, since you can find a lot of information about the port on the DCL boards and in their cruise reports. And get some ideas on the best non-DME ways to get there.
- Since you’re a WDW/Universal vet I’ll just assume you know all about MCO.
- You will read tonnes of “first time cruiser” articles that tell you that you MUST get there a day early. I will say that it is always a good idea to do so, but many people simply cannot do that for various reasons (usually it’s time or budget) and while it’s a bit more stress on what is generally an overwhelming day, it is not the end of the world to fly the day of departure. But do go at least a day early if you can make that work for you.
- Aside from that, definitely read “first time cruiser” articles.
- You can bring 2 bottles of wine and (I think) a case of bottled water/soft drinks aboard with your carry on. Might be a hassle if it’s just the two of you, but something to think about.

Excursions/Ports
- Roatan is supposed to have some lovely areas for scuba/snorkeling, if that’s your thing.
- Chichen Itza is way too far from Cozumel to really enjoy it on a cruise excursion. If you ever go to a resort in Cancun or Playa del Carmen, I’d recommend doing it then.
- Tulum, by contrast, is close enough to do. But it’s far enough that I wouldn’t book independently - book through the cruise.
- My Allure trip report has reviews of Nachi Cocum in Cozumel and Tropicante in Costa Maya. I recommend both.

 

[RocketCityMama]

You will love it!!! I think you are a planner so you will be well prepared! You can find out everything here and other sites. We were on Carnival 15 years ago but then Allure of the Seas, Harmony of the Seas and Anthem of the Seas this coming September. So I don’t have a lot of experience cruising but our cruise on Harmony with 6 people was perfect! You can find the daily Cruise Compass online to get a good idea of show times and activity schedules. What is your itinerary? A few of my recommendations:
Fly into Fort Lauderdale the day before-take an Uber to the port.
We had 8:00 dining(they thought it was too late but all agreed it ended up being the best).
Reserve all the shows as soon as they open up on your cruise planner( based on your dining time)
As you do your research and have specific questions many people here will try to help

I am thinking so too! I love the beach and ocean, so I am hoping this will get me into a good frame of mind after a few stressful years! We are leaving out of Port Canveral, CocoCay, Sea Day, Cozumel, Roatan, Costa Maya, Sea Day and back to PC. We are driving from home to PC the day before our trip, it's about a 10ish hour drive, we've done many times to Orlando, so we know what to expect there. Our main concern is finding a hotel but we have a long time before that needs to happen LOL

We did my time dining, but plan to book a certain time once we have an idea of what are our days will be like and port times/reboarding etc. Definitely plan on booking all the shows we are wanting to see ahead of time, but it seems that is not until a lot closer to cruise time if I recall. Thanks for your help! I will be sure to come back with questions!

20th in 2020. Nice! I have my 15th in 2020. Trying to convince my family to go to Hawaii in the summer - keeps my wife’s streak of going about every 5 years alive.

Cheap plug - I sailed Harmony in 2017 and did basically your itinerary on Allure last year. You can read the long-winded ramblings I call a trip report in this forum. Just click on the links in my signature.

Tips
- You know that thing at WDW where people are running around like mad men trying to do everything? You’re going to do the opposite of that. “Cruise mode” is all about relaxing, taking your time, and not worrying about missing an activity (or five) simply because you’re relaxing by the pool. To me this is, without a doubt, the one piece of advice I wish I could pass on to my younger self when I first cruised as an adult.

- Learn about the port. I think Harmony is sailing out of Port Canveral, which is great, since you can find a lot of information about the port on the DCL boards and in their cruise reports. And get some ideas on the best non-DME ways to get there.
- Since you’re a WDW/Universal vet I’ll just assume you know all about MCO.
- You will read tonnes of “first time cruiser” articles that tell you that you MUST get there a day early. I will say that it is always a good idea to do so, but many people simply cannot do that for various reasons (usually it’s time or budget) and while it’s a bit more stress on what is generally an overwhelming day, it is not the end of the world to fly the day of departure. But do go at least a day early if you can make that work for you.
- Aside from that, definitely read “first time cruiser” articles.
- You can bring 2 bottles of wine and (I think) a case of bottled water/soft drinks aboard with your carry on. Might be a hassle if it’s just the two of you, but something to think about.

Excursions/Ports
- Roatan is supposed to have some lovely areas for scuba/snorkeling, if that’s your thing.
- Chichen Itza is way too far from Cozumel to really enjoy it on a cruise excursion. If you ever go to a resort in Cancun or Playa del Carmen, I’d recommend doing it then.
- Tulum, by contrast, is close enough to do. But it’s far enough that I wouldn’t book independently - book through the cruise.
- My Allure trip report has reviews of Nachi Cocum in Cozumel and Tropicante in Costa Maya. I recommend both.

Oh nice! Hawaii is amazing, I agree! We went while my stepdad was stationed there in Oahu and spent 2 weeks there. Ah one of the best relaxing trips we have had (and it was paid for LOL) but that was in 2008, so I'd love to go back one day!

I will read your trip report, I love to see how others view similar trips Plus it gets me more excited!

Great tip on the relaxing, I really do plan to do a lot of that, one of the biggest reasons we booked an ocean view balcony. I simply can't wait to sit there and relax, have a drink or two and enjoy the scenery. Especially sunsets! We are driving down to PC, as it's only about a 10ish hour drive for us, we drive to Orlando no problem with kids, so it'll be a piece of cake just us I have thought about bringing some wine, but not sure yet on that. My dh doesn't drink at all, so I think we'll probably get the refreshment packages and then I'll just buy my drinks as I go.

I think we will likely skip the majority of water activities, unless it's a sightseeing, glass bottom type tour. However I am super excited about going to the Monkey and Sloth Hangout in Roatan! That is the only thing I am set on doing, the rest is icing on the cake. Thank you for the tips on other excursions we have just began to look at all the options both thru RC and third party ones I was looking at Maya Chan as well, I just remembered. The reviews look great and it seems like it's a really great price as well!

Off to read your trip report!

 

[starvenger]

Our main concern is finding a hotel but we have a long time before that needs to happen LOL

Yeah I can’t imagine that finding accommodations in Orlando will be hard.

 

[msjprincess]

We also did basically the same cruise on Allure except for Coco Cay.

Roatan we did ziplining/monkeys and sloths. Through a third party
Costa Maya we went to Chacchoben with a third party. It was very interesting. It doesn't compare to Chichen Itza but it was a nice day
Cozumel we took a taxi to Paradise Beach