Going to my 1st Carnival cruise. Tips? Excursion recommendation?

That sounds like an awesome cruise! I personally loved Carnival!! They are so much fun and definately keep you busy and having a great time. The only advice I can give you is take tons of pictures and get involved. Even if you have to stay up late to watch the shows or get up early or whatever, DO IT because there is no going back! I have never been to those places so I cant really suggest any excursions, but if you look on the Carnival website, there are recommendations. It also describes each one pretty good to give you an idea. Have a great trip!

Hi there! I love cruises and I am only 14 years old. I have been on 4 so hopefully I will be able to help you out. Ok, so... -cruises are soo fun and you dont ever have to worry about being bored and having nothing to do. -it sounds like your are going to a lot of places. That is good if you like to see different islands and vacation spots. However, if it is only a 7 day cruise, you wont be on the island long enough to enjoy the very best of it. - my last cruise was not even a month ago and we cruised with NCL. we went to st. georges bermuda for 3 days! However we didnt go any where else. It all depends on you- would like to visit different places on the island like beaches and historical monuments? Or would you rather just go to an island and stay there for a few hours? Honestly, they are both great! -Carnival is a "fun ship", Where everything you do there is have fun. Celebrity cruises are more romantic. Royal Caribbean is along the "fun ship" line too. Norwegian? Ahhh, its both! It's freestyle cruising so you dont have to dress up every night for dinner. However, it is all up to you. Everybodys opinions are different. -I dont know how old you are so I will try and guess about the excursions. You should try swimming with the dolphins! Now that is fun for all ages. I would also do a cave tour. There are other excursions like snorkeling, helmet diving, horse ride and tour, ferry tour, zip lining, and lots more depending on where you are at. Don't worry, you will find one that you like. -Now, you must understand, that cruises are not for everybody. Why? Because some people get sea sick. Yes, a good amount do. BUT! You can easily help this. There are an abundant amount of medicines that can help. If I were you, I would play it safe and either go to your doctor and get a patch that goes behind your ear. Or go to your local drug store and get "sea bands". These help with motion sickness. The patch is a little circle that goes behind your ear. Many people wear these. THEY DO HELP! The bands go on both your wrists and help with the nauseas feeling along with your balance. You will see a lot of people with these on too. -Please be aware of your ship that you are going on. You know, what is on the ship and what isn't. Go to cruisecritics.com and join in on the forum for the Carnival Freedom. Many people write all kinds of reviews about it. This helps prepare you. Now all I can say is: Have a great time! Cruises are very fun! Bon Voyage!

i recently came back and i had the best time. the people are so friendly and it is really clean. i recommend you to book excursions before just because they fill up quickly

we did and excursion in St. Thomas that took you to St Johns Trunk Bay beach. It was listed as top ten Beaches. It was breathtaking. Short but oh so sweet.

We did that itinerary on the Liberty a year and a half ago. Bring lots of Dramamine because the first two days at sea before you get to San Juan will be ROUGH and the shop will run out the first day. When we went to San Juan we didn't get there until 6pm so we just went to Senor Frogs for a couple of hours since it's only a couple of blocks from the ship and an easy walk. In St. Thomas, since it was our 1st wedding anniversary (we got married in St. Thomas the year prior on the Carnival Destiny), we went up to paradise point and did shopping. It's the shopping mecca of the Caribbean. Antigua is a bit hit and miss for excursions. The first year I went there we did the mini boat thing and our boat broke out in the middle of nowhere. So last year we just had the cab driver take us to a beach that had a nice restaurant on it. In Tortola we did the excursion where they take you to a resort to spend a few hours and they give you lunch. It was okay. And in the Bahamas we went on the Yellowbird Party boat. It's really for hardcore partiers. My husband and I didn't feel like drinking because we drank the night before so we felt a bit out of place. But I've heard a lot of good things about going to that Atlantis resort for the day. Finally, if there's anything about cruising you want to find out, go to www.cruisecritic.com and go to boards and then go into roll call for your cruise and you can find people who are going the same time you are. They are also wonderful at answering any questions you may have. And most importantly, have fun! Wish I was going!!

San Juan is an interesting port. There are tons of options. You could book an excursion when you get there just as easily as booking one on the ship. It will save you money but if something goes wrong, booking through the ship means that the ship won't leave you. It's a toss up really. In my opinion, San Juan is one of those definitely worth taking an excursion. Walking around the down town area is really boring. I did a rain forest hike last time and hated it so I don't recommend that one. St Thomas is your shopping heaven. If you want to buy things (alcohol is very cheap in the Caribbean) St Thomas will be where you do it. There are many stores--lots of jewelry stores which have amazing prices if you are interested. I wouldn't take a shore excursion there--I'd just do my shopping. Nassau the best excursion (if you are a drinker) is a day pass to Atlantis. You get all-inclusive benefits. Other than that, the Bahama stops are not worth getting off the ship in my opinion. Save some money by planning to go to the ship's spa on that day. Days in port have cheaper spa prices than days at sea. I've never been to Antigua so I can't talk about that. You don't need to go on a shore excursion at every port. Some don't have any that interest you and on my first several cruises I only took one per cruise. If one really really catches your eye, do it. But I wouldn't take any like Beach Break, Shopping Tour, Jeep Ride, etc. Those types of things are overpriced and a waste. I love Carnival. It is definitely a party ship and there is a lot to do on the ship. Read your Carnival Caper and pick what you'd like to do the next day. It really depends on you and what you are interested in though. I usually check out the art auction. Not only does it have free champagne but you can also get some good deals on art. Now ParkWest does have a bad rep so I wouldn't buy a Goya or Picasso but I doubt you were going to do that either. But if you like the art, they have lots of larger pieces for less than $100. If you want it to go up to bid you don't just sticker it you have to ask one of the employees to make sure it goes up. If you bring your own snorkel gear you can take a cab to a beach to snorkel and not have to take an excursion there. You will have two formal nights. Maxi dresses are the norm. People on Carnival does not make it seem as "formal" as other lines. Food in the dining room is great but there are so many choices of food onboard depending on your ship. Don't bother bringing "day clothes". I end up laying out and any shore excursions I take are wet excursions so bathing suits and coverups are the "day wear". Bring one shirt in case you get a bit too much sun. Bring aloe vera. Bring your own water camera. If you are likely to get motion sick, bring at least 2 different types. Dramamine knocks a lot of people out cold and you'd hate to sleep through the whole vacation. Bring a lanyard. Most people poke a hole through their room key and wear it around their neck. You don't carry a purse since you don't need cash. Everything is paid through room key. So with a lanyard you have everything you need. My biggest drinking tip is to carry your souvenir glass around with you. The glass is like $8 but you save something like $2 a glass getting "refills" than ordering a new drink each time. I didn't know that for my first couple Carnival cruises and you get more drink in the souvenir cup than if you order the Dixie cup size. Guard your towel with your life. Carnival provides towels but some people recommend bringing their own towel. If you lose a Carnival towel, it's about $25 so I've seen people get crazy when they lose a towel--trying to snatch others and other people going Jackie Chan to protect it. And if you leave it up on deck, someone will take it. I love Carnival and you will have a great time. As it gets closer you'll have more specific questions so I'll look forward to reading them. Enjoy!

Excursions through the cruise line are always huge rip offs when you get there there will be plenty of people trying to get you to use there excursions so just use them. The one bad thing about not going through the cruise line is that you don't know if you will make it back on time but through the cruise line they will wait for you because they organized the excursion. some tips would be to when you board the cruise ship you should bring a carry on like a plane because you don't get your bags and your room until like five o clock so should put in your carry on a bathing suit pajamas ( just in case) dinner wear and anything else that you might need through out the day.