First of all, there are many great online resources to help you book a cruise. I used a combination of Priceline.com and CruiseCompete.com. CruiseCompete was introduced to me in an excellent ebook. I got the cheapest prices available for what we wanted. Search around to find what fits into your parameters.
Surprising things I've learned about booking and planning for a cruise:
PRICELINE
1) Cruises won't allow pregnant women to cruise after their 24th week of pregnancy. Some do not even allow you to start your 24th week while on board. This affected me because I am pregnant, but was able to get on a cruise during my 20th week. You'll need a physician's permission slip (I felt like a young student again!) that will need to be submitted no later than 7 days prior to embarkation (launch date). Why 24 weeks? I asked a doctor friend and she said that a baby born after the 24th week has a chance of survival, whereas before 24 weeks they really don't. Cruise ships don't have the medical facility to deal with such an emergency.
2) Cruise companies make you print your own boarding pass, travel documents, and luggage tags. Make sure you have a functioning printer or know someone who does. If you go through a travel agent, they can print these for you. These documents will also allow you to pass through the port's security station to get to your dock.
3) Make sure you have a current passport. Remember these can take several months to get, unless you want to pay a lot for expediting the process.
4) You have to plan your flights around their guidelines listed on the cruise websites. You should arrive several hours before embarkation. Most cruise lines require that you be at port an hour before the boat leaves. Give yourself about 5-6 hours after disembarkation (returning to port) until your plane leaves. Factor in travel time to and from the port from the airport as well.
5) Carnival, and I suspect others do to, require that all passengers fill out a long worksheet about our flights, our passport numbers, ages, etc. This is filed with the government. I guess they want to know if we are terrorists. It's good that they are thorough.
Even though I did not ultimately book my cruise through CruiseCompete.com, they were gracious enough to email me some useful articles about packing lists, saving money on board, and how people at home can contact the ship in emergency. That was nice of them!
If you're like me you'll be pretty surprised by the prep work that goes into planning a cruise. However, you'll probably be very excited about your vacation so it won't be so bad, and the leg work won't take too long to complete.
How to Prepare For a Cruise If You've Never Cruised Before PRICELINE
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