Carnival Cruise Tips - Average Cruiser

Looking to get the most for your money on a Carnival Cruise? After over 10 Carnival Cruises, these are our best tips and tricks for how to have the most fun possible on one of Carnival Cruises’ many fun ships. Read on for our top 10 Carnival Cruise Tips!

Disclaimer: As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. That means that, at zero extra cost to you, I will earn an affiliate commission if you click through the link and finalize a purchase.

Learn the layout of your ship

Don’t be annoyed at long lines, lack of seating or crowds until you have fully explored your ship. We recommend walking the ship on embarkation day to see what is where. Want an official tour of the ship? Carnival usually has a ship tour in the afternoon of embarkation day – just look for it on your Hub App!

Carnival Sunrise Ship Map — Lost? Check out the maps in the elevator banks!

You are allowed to bring a certain amount of soda and wine on board.

While the Cheers and Bubbles packages are popular (and I think get more popular with each sailing), the truth is they are also expensive. If you just want one soda or one glass of wine a day, bringing those things on board can significantly help you cut costs. Each person over 21 can bring a bottle of wine on board in their carry-on luggage. You can also bring on cans of non-alcoholic beverages. (Keep in mind TSA requirements if you are flying to the port.)

Want to fly with your bottle of wine? Check out these bags to keep them safe from spills while they are in your checked luggage: Protective Bottle Bags

Think you might need a snack later? Stash some food from the buffet.

Buffet closes between three and six. If you think you are going to get hungry between lunch and dinner stop by the buffet and grab a snack before it closes at 3:00. I like a plate of cheese cubes and olives. It won’t go bad if I don’t get around to eating it for a few minutes and is a healthy-ish way to tide me over before dinner.

Bring a water bottle or an insulated cup.

The water on board is perfectly good to drink and a water bottle is a great way to make sure you stay hydrated. If you prefer to have something very cold to drink – an insulated cup is a great way to make sure your drink stays cold even on the hottest day.

We usually travel with both a cup to put our fun drinks in to keep them cold and an insulated bottle for keeping water ice cold while going on excursions. Check out this insulated water bottle with a wide enough mouth to fill with ice!

We usually travel with our yeti to keep everything else cold. We think this one is a nice size for cruising.

Don’t forget travel sized dish soap to wash your insulated mug in between drinks!

Take advantage of the free entertainment

There are full production shows every night, but if you are interested in music there are also usually other musicians located around the ship in the evenings from the piano bar to the Red Frog Pub and places in between. Don’t forget day-time trivia and multiple shows by different comedians. Again, check your Hub App for details about all the entertainment options.

Don’t forget the daytime activities! There is always plenty of daily trivia!

Daytime activities on Carnival Cruise — Don’t forget the daytime activities! There is always plenty of daily trivia!

Utilize the Hub App

You can still go to guest services and grab a paper copy of the Fun Times to find out what is going on around the ship, but Carnival is focusing on the Hub App as the way to find out what is going on. Spend a few minutes on your first day figuring out the app. It has what is going on, allows you to book excursions and – very important – allows you to see the menu for the whole cruise so you can plan what you want to eat each night by the first day!

Or is it just me that has food FOMO?

Daily menu for the entire cruise is located in the Hub App!

Menu Carnival Sunrise — Daily menu for the entire cruise is located in the Hub App!

Buy the Chat Feature

Another really cool feature of the Hub App is the chat feature. For $5 per person (no matter the length of your cruise) you can add the chat feature to your Hub App. This allows you to use the ship’s wifi to communicate with any other passengers on board. This is great if you have people in multiple rooms and you can communicate about when and where you want to meet up.

Even if you are traveling in one room, it is totally worth $5 to be able to text when you are apart. It solves the whole “I’ll be on 10 aft until 4:45 then I’ll go downstairs to change and then I’ll be in the casino until dinner time.” Pay the $5 for the chat. It’s fun.

Take the stairs.

A classic in the lists of tips for a Carnival Cruise, but still an important one. Taking the stairs can save you a lot of hassle! The elevators are slow and when you take the stairs you don’t have to feel quite so guilty about the warm chocolate melting cake for dinner. Especially the first day or busy times of day, the elevators can get very crowded and it can take a while to snag one. The stairs can be super helpful, but so can going up or down a deck or two and then across the ship. Sometimes it’s only one elevator bank that is crowded and the other one will be completely empty.

Bring a clock.

Dinner is at a certain time, excursions are at a certain time, the show you want to get to, etc. It is amazing how many things on a cruise ship are time specific. A clock is a great way to make sure you don’t miss anything. The clock we have also has a couple of USB ports to help with all your charging needs, especially on older ships. Check it out here: Clock with USB and Battery Backup.

Towel Chair Clips.

Chair clips for your towels are invaluable in the world where all the beach towels look exactly the same. Please note, I’m not advocating that you leave your towel on a chair with the clips for hours at a time, but if you have gone for a dip in the pool they can help you find your way back (or help someone else not mistake your chair for theirs). You can also customize them to your personality! I like the flip flops myself.

There are plenty more tips for sailing on a Carnival Cruise and plenty more tips for cruising in general, but these are the ones that I tell my friends and family when they are going cruising for the first time.