AARP Rewards Online Community Cruise Contest 2023

This will be my first cruise. I have utilized social media to get ideas from other members to help me have the best experience on the cruise with savings. One thing I learned through online media is utilizing AARP to buy discounted carnival gift cards to help reduce the costs. Another is to eat green apples to help with sea sickness. 

to enjoy cruise, be organize, every night is a program in paper or electronic in your phone to see all activities next day, include the menu for lunch and dinner, all event all day you can select what you want, also in Carnival cruises you can take 2 bottle of wine 750ml, for cabin, not inside the luggage, take in your back pack , not problem a all, go to Cucina del Capitano in lunch time, dinner is for a charge, also for Asian jiji's, is the same way, and if you buy spa for day, try to go after dinner, i'm always go after dinner a 6, , so 7;30 to 10 the spa is only for you, nobody in there, so enjoy that 

Never been on a cruise 🤧

Unpack as SOON as you get access to your cabin. You can store your suitcases under the bed for more room to move around. An extension cord and extra plugs are a great idea, especially if you sleep with a c-pap like I do. I have had to run extension cords under the bed (and around those suitcases!) in order to get to the ONE plug in. If you have extra plugs (I’m’ not sure you can bring a plug strip) you can charge your electronics over night and still have that c-pap running. 

My tip is to arrive at least one day early, gives you wiggle room if something happens. Just relax once onboard and enjoy the trip. I enjoy reading other tips. Have not used the Carnival cards but planning for the future. Thanks to AARP for all the tips.

My husband and I love to cruise!  Prior to the cruise we check online to make sure the ship has a laundry.  If so, we pack only half as much clothing as we will need.  We do the laundry halfway through the trip and we have fresh clothes.  This saves us the amount of clothes to pack by 50%.  AARP Rewards Tips are very helpful to us.  We follow the fitness suggestions so we are always physically ready for any excursions offered on the cruise.

So you've decided to go on a cruise! Good for you--you have the health and the means to enjoy a vacation to a new and exciting place. I've been on 4 sea cruises and two riverboat cruises and I have a few tips for you. 

1. Do some research on the places you'll visit so you'll know what to see and expect on your shore excursions. (I just returned from a river cruise in Europe and didn't realize that the small town on our stop had not one, but two UNESCO World Heritage sites. Luckily our guide showed us the way!)

2. Don't overpack. With each cruise, I pack less and less, learning to use the ship's onboard laundry service and wash undies as needed. Did you know dental floss can also do double duty as a clothesline?

3. Be kind to other passengers and staff. Hey, we're all in this together. Treat others the way you want to be treated. A "Good morning, how are you?" goes a long way, as does courtesy in assisting and relating to other passengers. Line budgers are the worst!

4. The staff is there to help you, so don't be afraid to ask for their help. When my sister got her fingers pinched in a door, our cruise director George called a taxi and arranged for us to go to a hospital in Strasbourg, France, for X-Rays. We had some new, free experiences with the French health system, and learned it wasn't that different from the American health system (except it's free) AND her fingers weren't broken! Your staff is trained to find answers--use them with politeness. 

5. Save up your AARP rewards for $ off on cruises, as well as airfare, hotels, restaurants, and gas which you may need to pay for going to and from your port. 

6. Roll with the punches. One of my favorite phrases as I travel: IT IS WHAT IT IS! You may encounter delays, travel sickness, rudeness, or bad weather, but that's part of life, and part of travel. We all have strategies to deal with stress. Pull those out of your hat and use them!

Tip:  always plan ahead, you get better deals that way.   Put the gratuity in with your monthly payments so you don't have to worry about it at the end of your cruise.   I used the AARP rewards to purchase discounted carnival cruise gift cards that I applied to pay down my cruise package.

I always check the excursions before leaving and buy them online through local guides; it's much cheaper than buying the cruise's excursions. ALso you can find more interesting excursions this way because they don't have them all on the boat. ANother thing that I do is I I bought some magnetic hooks online (amazon or such) and stick them on the cabin walls, which are metallic. I can hang my hat, some light clothes etc instead of putting them in the cabinets. Third thing is I bring my own bottle of water and fill it up at the buffet where the water fountain is free. No need to spend more buying bottle water on board.