After taking 29 cruises, I thought I had seen every rookie cruise mistake in the book. Yet while cruising on Carnival’s newest ship, I saw passengers making 6 mistakes they easily could have avoided.
Earlier this month, I took a 4-night cruise aboard Carnival Firenze, the latest vessel to join Carnival Cruise Line’s fleet. The ship, which originally launched in 2021 for Costa Cruises, was acquired by Carnival in April of 2024. She currently sails from Long Beach, California.
During my short cruise, I saw countless passengers making poor decisions. From stressing at the cruise terminal to eating at the wrong restaurant, their rookie mistakes negatively impacted their cruise vacation.
If you’re sailing on Carnival soon, whether on their newest or oldest ship, you’ll want to avoid these 6 mistakes that I saw other cruisers make.
Not printing their boarding passes
In today’s day and age, most cruise lines have transitioned to a digital boarding process on embarkation day. When cruising on lines like Royal Caribbean and Norwegian Cruise Line, for example, you simply show a digital boarding pass on your phone while checking in at the cruise terminal.
Carnival Cruise Line, on the other hand, still utilizes paper boarding passes. All guests must print a physical copy of their boarding pass to bring to the cruise terminal; digital passes are not accepted.
Read more: Carnival Cruise Line Check In Process
Clearly, a lot of passengers on my recent Carnival cruise did not get this memo. I witnessed countless guests try to figure out how to print their boarding pass at the last minute.
Luckily, there were several cruise terminal employees walking around with small printing devices. Passengers could use these to print their boarding passes with little hassle. Still, it’s better to arrive at the terminal for a Carnival cruise with your boarding pass already in hand.
Waiting outside the dining room for dinner
Carnival had one of the easiest flexible dining systems I’ve encountered on a cruise ship thus far. Instead of waiting in line for a dinner table, passengers can check in on Carnival’s app when they are ready to eat.
An estimated wait time will populate—usually only 10-20 minutes. Once a table is ready, guests will be notified on the app, and they can head to the dining room to be seated.
The process is extremely convenient, but I constantly saw passengers standing outside the dining room while waiting for the notification that a table was ready.
Read more: 11 foods you must eat on a Carnival cruise
There’s no need to wait in the cramped, narrow elevator lobby outside the dining room. Instead, passengers should check in for dinner while in their cabin, or perhaps at a bar or lounge near the dining room. Once a table is ready, they have ten minutes to get to the dining room, and this is easily achievable from almost anywhere onboard.
Waiting in a comfortable lounge or in a cabin is far more comfortable than standing outside the dining room.
Sneaking alcohol onboard
One evening of my cruise, I overheard two passengers discussing how they snuck liquor onboard Carnival Firenze, replacing the wine in their wine bottle with whiskey.
Although I cannot attest to the truthfulness of their claim, sneaking alcohol on a cruise ship is a huge mistake.
Carnival permits passengers to bring one bottle of wine per adult in each cabin, but under no circumstances are guests allowed to bring liquor and beer onboard. If caught, the beverages will be confiscated upon check-in.
It’s relatively unlikely guests will be denied boarding on a Carnival cruise if they are found sneaking alcohol onboard, but I’d argue it’s still not worth the risk.
Eating at the buffet for breakfast
Carnival’s Lido Marketplace buffet offers a wide selection of foods for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, but I recommend skipping the buffet in favor of other options.
You won’t go hungry aboard Carnival Firenze, or any other Carnival cruise ship for that matter. There are over a dozen places to eat onboard, from the traditional main dining room to Carnival favorites like Guy’s Burger Joint and Pizzeria del Capitano.
With nearly endless options, I was surprised to see so many passengers eat breakfast at the buffet. I tried eating breakfast in the restaurant one morning, but encountered long lines and a rather basic selection of food.
Instead of the buffet, I'd encourage passengers to eat elsewhere for breakfast. I loved my breakfasts in the main dining room, where I indulged in caramelized-banana French toast and an egg white frittata with crusty, rustic bread.
You can also find breakfast at casual, grab-and-go venues like the Chicken Shack and Tomodoro, which offer items like huevos rancheros, breakfast burritos, and made-to-order omelets.
Packing the wrong clothes for the itinerary
The idea of a cruise may be synonymous with warm, tropical weather, but that’s not always the case.
Carnival cruise ships visit everywhere from the Caribbean to Alaska, Europe, Australia, and beyond. Weather can vary drastically between these locations, so it’s important to research the weather on your cruise itinerary before packing.
Read more: 16 Packing Tips for First-Time Cruisers
My Carnival Firenze cruise visited the ports of Catalina Island, California, and Ensenada, Mexico. In March, the weather hovered around the upper 50s and low 60s. I researched the weather beforehand to ensure I packed appropriate clothing, but the same could not be said for some of my fellow passengers.
I saw several guests wearing strapless dresses, shorts, tank tops, and sandals. While conversing with one passenger, she mentioned she didn’t pack any cold-weather clothing and would have to buy a sweatshirt in port.
Before packing for your Carnival cruise, make sure to research the weather—you don’t want to end up feeling miserable in a less-than-ideal outfit.
The last mistake I saw passengers make was showing up too late for onboard activities
Carnival Firenze’s daily schedule was packed with things to do, including game shows, trivia sessions, live musical acts, and more.
Something I quickly realized, though, was that if you wanted to find a seat at popular activities, it was crucial to arrive early.
Some venues, like the theater, offered ample seating, but smaller venues had more limited capacity. Comedy shows, for instance, were held in the Limelight Lounge, which had limited seating. One evening, I arrived at the Limelight Lounge just ten minutes before the show began, and all seats were taken. This left me with no choice but to stand in the back of the venue.
At any given event, I always saw passengers scrambling to find somewhere to sit, especially if they were with a larger party. It’s better to show up to events roughly twenty minutes before they begin to ensure you have a seat.
Jenna DeLaurentis
Jenna DeLaurentis enjoys exploring new ports of call around the world on a cruise ship, learning about new cultures, discovering beautiful landscapes, and trying diverse cuisine. She loves to get active while in port, whether cycling through mountains in the Caribbean or scuba diving under the sea.
