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INSIDER's tips for first time cruisers


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I read this and had some thoughts about it. This is why letting someone know about the included food is so important.

https://www.insider.com/royal-caribbean-first-cruise-what-to-know-photos-2022-6?amp

Never being on a cruise before they booked specialty restaurants for every meal at $40-60 each. Didn't even buy the unlimited dining plan from what I can tell.

 I know people like to look down their noses at anything that isn't coastal kitchen but the windjammer isn't that bad, folks.

They also brought only a carry on for a 7 night cruise. I thought I was a light packer but that's expert mode.

 

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I read the same article and I thought the author was an idiot.  I would think that any journalist worth their salt would thoroughly investigate their topic (or in this case a cruise) prior to experiencing it. And I am sorry but if you get motion sickness, getting a room in the middle of the ship and near the bottom is NOT going to help you.  After all, restaurants, venues, pools are not in your room.  Plus you can still feel the motion of the ship - just maybe not as severe. Idiot! 

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12 minutes ago, FireFishII said:

I read the same article and I thought the author was an idiot.  I would think that any journalist worth their salt would thoroughly investigate their topic (or in this case a cruise) prior to experiencing it. And I am sorry but if you get motion sickness, getting a room in the middle of the ship and near the bottom is NOT going to help you.  After all, restaurants, venues, pools are not in your room.  Plus you can still feel the motion of the ship - just maybe not as severe. Idiot! 

I probably wouldn't call someone an idiot but we book mid ship rooms as low as we can get. I get bad motion sickness. I use prescription patches, ginger capsules, ginger ale, looking at the horizon, floating in the pool, getting in a big room, drinking sprite, taking Dramamine... All simultaneously and I still feel sick.

I still love cruising though. 😂🤢😂

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It doesn't look as though they did any prior research on cruising. It almost is they just booked and went seemingly unprepared.

Just some simple poking around the official RC website would have been informative.  It's as if she didn't even look at the Cruise Planner page. That alone would've saved A LOT of extra $$$ on dining.

Being a travel blogger, you would think she would have put out a pre-cruise blog telling her reader's about the upcoming trip and receive hints, tips, and tricks from her readers. (And I'm sure a reader would have told her about royalcaribbeanblog.com to better prepare her for cruising!)

 

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About the food....kinda feel like that was really their mistake. The same area of the site that talks about the specialty dining talks about all the included areas...
also guessing they didn't realize she could cancel those reservations at any time...

I kind of have to wonder if some or all of what the author got was chosen for them...

 

I also went on to read why this person thought that cruising wasn't for them and...

"The passengers I met love cruising. I didn't find any other first-timers."
 - 100% this had to do with the fact that this was the or one of the inagural sailings of Wonder. It's big and newsworthy and is FULL of fans wanting to be first. Not a good sample size to judge.

Motion Sickness.
 - fine....i guess...there are plenty of people who cruise with high-sensitivity motion sickness but I won't be the one to tell her to suck it up.


"I booked excursions for the ports, thinking I'd have time after to explore the destination....I was also hoping to see the stops at night, but we always departed before sundown."
 - all of this is pre-published literally on booking and should not have been a surprise.

"I found myself seeking solitude in pockets like the adults-only area, but every day involved dealing with busy crowds."
"I'm not much of a swimmer, athlete, or thrill-seeker. I don't have kids, so I'll admit that most of the activities on board didn't appeal to me."
"Cruising solo proved to be more expensive and challenging than other solo vacations."

 - personal preference, true and sadly, true. No disagreements here - valid reasons cruising may not be for her. Or at least, this type of cruising.

 

Overall..I think...she didn't know AT ALL what she was getting herself into and I put the blame for that on her and her company for not giving her more information

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1 hour ago, endofturn said:

I probably wouldn't call someone an idiot but we book mid ship rooms as low as we can get. I get bad motion sickness. I use prescription patches, ginger capsules, ginger ale, looking at the horizon, floating in the pool, getting in a big room, drinking sprite, taking Dramamine... All simultaneously and I still feel sick.

I still love cruising though. 😂🤢😂

Yeah, calling someone an idiot was not a good call.  My bad. But it just gets frustrating when you read all of those poorly written, incorrect, or just bad articles that are getting out on the web. It just hits home that you can't believe everything you read.

I use the prescription patch since I can get motion sickness just sitting in a car. But I do something that they warn you not to do - I cut the patch by 1/4. When I do this, I wear gloves and immediately wash my hands and scissors. It helps A LOT!  For short trips - like a plane trip, I take Dramamine or Bonine.  Then I plan on sleeping for the next hour.  🙂  

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16 minutes ago, Ampurp85 said:

This person has gotten a lot of milage off of her Wonder sailing. I have seen at least 4 articles written by her about her solo sailing. The room, the food, how big the ship is...etc. She goes back and forth between loving the ship and not.

There's 16 articles about it, just counted. 🙃

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1 hour ago, FireFishII said:

Yeah, calling someone an idiot was not a good call.  My bad. But it just gets frustrating when you read all of those poorly written, incorrect, or just bad articles that are getting out on the web. It just hits home that you can't believe everything you read.

I use the prescription patch since I can get motion sickness just sitting in a car. But I do something that they warn you not to do - I cut the patch by 1/4. When I do this, I wear gloves and immediately wash my hands and scissors. It helps A LOT!  For short trips - like a plane trip, I take Dramamine or Bonine.  Then I plan on sleeping for the next hour.  🙂  

I'm pretty sure you were correct the first time you wrote it, at least if you were using definition 1.  Now if you were using # 2, you should be sorry. 

                                                                                      Just call it the way I see it.

idiot.JPG

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37 minutes ago, CruiseGus said:

I'm pretty sure you were correct the first time you wrote it, at least if you were using definition 1.  Now if you were using # 2, you should be sorry. 

                                                                                      Just call it the way I see it.

idiot.JPG

I was definitely using the first definition.  Of course, I was not thinking of foolish....

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Yes, this person meets the textbook definition of an idiot.  Now if there was only some sort of electronic information place where you could log on to your computer and do a little cursory research on cruise tips.  It Googles err boggles the mind that such a resource doesn't exist (eye roll). How does an editor, even an online one, allow this kind of ill-informed "reporting" to become an article that they would actually publish?

Google, YouTube, Bing, Pinterest, Reddit, various cruise related web sites, vlogs/blogs and more - there are literally thousands (if not tens of thousands) of web pages and articles about what to expect, planning, tips and tricks, ship reviews and more.

Hate to be so harsh, but c'mon this is just poor, lazy work on her part.

We could have sent her a "Here Let Me Goggle That For You" link.

Here let me Google that for you!

 

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This person is using the article for attention and is getting it.  When you write this stuff and place a total of thirteen photos in said article with five of them selfies, you know exactly where her center of focus is and it is not the Cruise, Food or much to do with any correct information about cruising at all.

"O.K.  I am done talking about Me.  How about you talk about ME now."

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4 hours ago, endofturn said:

 I know people like to look down their noses at anything that isn't coastal kitchen but the windjammer isn't that bad

 

Suite Snob here.  Do I like the Coastal Kitchen?  Sometimes.  However, I'm a big fan of the Windjammer for breakfast and other times for the variety of breads during lunch and dinner.  I'm not a big fan of Wonderland, even though I enjoyed it on my last cruise.  Wonderland is just tooooooo fufu for me and so can be the Coastal Kitchen.  I really like the Windjammer for their American type stuff.  I'm not into all the foreign stuff.  I'm a meat and potatoes kinda guy.  Usually, again I say usually I wind up in the Coastal Kitchen because the line up to get into the Windjammer is way too long.  Also, another reason I wind up at other than the Windjammer is because the Specialty Restaurants are included (unlimited) in my cruise fare.  So, the utilization of the Windjammer, at least for me, is based upon convenience (shorter lines than elsewhere) and economics (steaks and other fine foods at no extra cost elsewhere).  Has nothing to do with, "I'm suite class".  

I'm very sensitive (I didn't say I feel guilty) to the fact that I do cruise Star Class and I do my best not to flaunt it.  When I mention it, it is to providing factual information about suite class cruising on Royal.  I put my pants on one leg at a time just like everyone else does.  I just happen to save up my money so that I can spoil my wife and I a little on average of every 1.5 years.

So, I'd like to edit your comment to say, "I know SOME people like to look down their noses at anything that isn't coastal kitchen but the windjammer isn't that bad"  That may be true.  

No @endofturn, this isn't directed directly towards you personally.  I don't think, based upon my reading of your posts in this forum, that you do feel that way about everyone that cruises in suites.  I'm more worried about the people that would read the statement and totally agree with the statement.

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Ah, it was just a writing assignment.  Nothing says you have to know what you're writing about to receive such an assignment. 

And I found myself not clicking on the READ MORE clickbait.  It was just one more  article that I'd normally never have seen , and not particularly stimulating.

First, I again admit that I'm not a foodie.  And as disappointed as so many folks are with the food aboard a ship, I am glad I am NOT a foodie.  I have been corrected multiple times, even on this forum, that there's no way I could have liked the food that I loved so much.  So be it.🥴

I suspect the writer is high maintenance in her real life, and she likely knew she wouldn't like a cruise.  And I suspect she would be one to look down her nose at those of us that think we know the Main Dining Room, as well as the Windjammer, is quite excellent.  I am guilty of suspecting things.🤔 Bottom line, most folks have their favorite foods and their favorite types of restaurants.  If they're happy thinking they're receiving better food because they paid extra, let them believe it.  If they believe it, that makes it true.

A first time cruise may place a person well out of their element.  And if they don't have a seasoned cruiser in their party, it may actually be akin to rocket science.  But some folks thrive on that too, and will go out of their way to make sure it is difficult.

Front of the boat, back of the boat, inside, outside, 12 steps to the elevator lobby for convenience, or 212 steps to the elevator lobby for quietness, everybody has an idea of what works best for them.  And those that have their own ideas, aren't wrong, simply for having a different idea of what works. 

We have met multiple folks who pretty much live aboard a ship.  We met a couple of them in the Windjammer.  Did we instantly judge them as hillbillies such as me, just because they were eating the free comfort-food dinners?  And when they professed to prefer inside cabins, did I think that's all they could afford?  Nope.  These ladies were scientists, were Pinnacle Members with Oak Leaf Clusters, and I'll bet either one of them had  every opportunity to dine in any venue of their choice, and inhabit any cabin of their choice. 

What's my point?  Probably don't have a valuable one.  But I'd like to be an assignment writer.🤓  Maybe write an article on the best corn dogs and canned chili.  They're not all the same.

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I've seen this article, or variations of it, pop up several times in the last month or so. The first time I went to read it, I thought I might learn something, since I am also a first time cruiser. Then I realized that I'm a VERY DIFFERENT kind of vacation planner (at least compared to the article author). Mind you, I fell behind in my cruise research due to some critical health issues, but once I was well...I was a research fiend and am still learning things. Our first cruise will be a group trip with family who are all avid cruisers and I've learned things they never even knew! Still, I think if you're well versed in planning vacations...any kind of vacations...you're probably going to dig into the details to be as prepared as possible, regardless of where you're going.

I suspect some of this could be the author's age. I wasn't much younger than her the first time I started looking at cruises (eons ago) and I probably would have made a ton of planning mistakes or not planned enough. That's not to say all young vacationers are ill prepared, but it seems to happen more than with someone who has decades of trip planning under their belt. 

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Realizing it was way more articles than I thought, I stand by the assessment that the author is an idiot. You can make that many articles but couldn't do even a smidge of research beforehand? I think the author is a perfect example of what is wrong with gen Z. Ample resources at their fingertips but too self-absorbed and entitled to do anything with it. They also have a bad habit of spreading information that is wrong and that can be easily verified.

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  • 1 month later...
16 hours ago, endofturn said:

oh boy...

"Once aboard the ship, I was excited to view the ocean as we sailed away, but I was blocked by tall, thick glass..." (oh...I guess glass isn't transparent enough for author...?)Also...did they want to fall overboard..? cuz...no "thick tall glass" is how you fall overboard...

 

"And when I was finally doing the cool thing I booked, like walking across a suspension bridge amid the treetops, my view was sometimes blocked once more by everyone else who booked the tour, too.".....darn people! HOW DARE a tourist trap location...HAVE TOURISTS?!?!?

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This girl needs to stop. I guess she is a travel blogger, but she writes 40+ articles about the same subject. I kept seeing something about Amtrak on my news feed, (I booked my grandmother a recent trip so of course the internet spies started tailoring articles/ads to me) but the articles were too similar, sure enough it her. Eight articles about the sleeper car of an Amtrak train. We need to stop giving her views. 

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29 minutes ago, Cakemeister said:

That might be her shtick. 

I would ask the community not to call her names. She's just a young writer trying to make a living.

I also wonder how much of it is what Insider WANTS her to do. Negativity gets clicks more than "i took my first cruise and had a good time!" In my opinion, Insider strikes a lot of the same chords as buzzfeed articles where there's a lot of words but little substance and they bank more on clicks than engaging content.

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