You will need to present a passport, passport card, or an official birth certificate to be able to check in for the cruise prior to sailing. If you already have a passport or passport card, please make sure that the expiration date is at least through 8/19/2024. If it is set to expire before then, you should renew your passport/passport card NOW as it is being projected to take around 6 months to get everything completed. If you plan to use a birth certificate, ensure it is the official document or a copy of the official document. Information regarding acceptable forms of ID can be found on the carnival website. Everyone will also need to have their driver's license, passport and boarding pass on them upon arrival to the terminal. The boarding pass and luggage tags will be available to print once you've checked in for the cruise online 14 days prior to sailing.

Parking is available at the cruise terminal if you plan to drive. The fee to keep your car parked at the terminal is $15 per day, and payment must be made with credit card only upon arrival at the terminal. If you live in/near Baltimore, I would advise Uber/Lyft/getting a ride to save yourself some cash. Carpooling is also an option so that the parking fee can be split up.

When arriving at the cruise terminal, you will have the option to leave your luggage with a porter. If you choose to do so, your luggage will be delivered to your cabin, but it's important that you plan ahead and bring a carry-on bag that has any medications, toiletries, clothes/bathing suits, etc. in case your luggage arrives to your room late. If you would prefer to carry your luggage onto the ship with you to be sure that you have all of your belongings before dinner on the first night, you will have access to the main lobby and/or the lido deck to wait with your luggage while your room is getting cleaned/ready for your arrival. There are pros and cons with either option, but from personal experience, keeping your luggage with you ensures that your belongings are available to you at all times and there is no chance that you will be without a change of clothes for the first night's festivities.

Dining for our wedding group (all cabins that are booked through our travel agent) will be assigned to early dining at 6PM every night. You are not required to go to dinner in the main dining room (MDR) every single night as there are plenty of free dining options throughout the ship, but be advised that any specialty dining areas will cost extra, so make a note to review the carnival website for our specific ship (Carnival Pride) to see what dining is included with your booking. If you do choose to dine in the MDR each night with us (Mitchell and I plan to be there for dinner the entire week!), you will have an assigned table that is yours whenever you plan to dine at the MDR throughout the cruise. Please note: The night of the wedding will likely be an "elegant night," so if you don't plan on dining in the MDR every night, please plan on at least dining with us that night so that we can show off our nice wedding outfits :)

If you have any dietary restrictions, please be sure to note that information on the carnival website when you check in for the cruise. If you do have a dietary restriction, please let Mitch or Tess know prior to sailing as we will need to provide that information to MDR prior to the first dinner.

I've gotten a lot of questions regarding whether or not it is worth it to buy the Cheers! Drink package for the week. The Cheers! package (along with the alcohol) includes bottled water, soft drinks, energy drinks, specialty coffees, and juices, and all non-alcoholic beverages DO NOT count towards the 15 alcoholic beverages allotted per day. The package is around $60 per day, so with gratuities included it will be just under $500 per person for the week. If one person in a cabin decides to get the drink package, all adults in that cabin will be required to also get the drink package (this is because they do not want people to share). If you are strictly a beer drinker, the package might not be for you because the cost breakdown may not be worth it in the long run. If you are more likely to drink liquor/cocktails, and you plan on drinking at least 5 of them per day, the package will pay for itself. If you don't get the drink package, you have the option to order drinks a la carte and will receive an itemized bill at the end of the week. The card that is put on file for your cabin will be charged for anything a la carte at the end of the cruise. That said, all of the non-alcoholic beverages I mentioned before will also be a la carte, so keep that in mind.

The quoted price detailed for the Cheers! drink package is at a 10% discount if purchased prior to boarding through the carnival website. You can buy the drink package on the ship if you'd prefer, but it will cost more. The drink package is only available for the entire cruise, meaning you cannot pick specific days you'd like to have it and make it cheaper.

Each adult is allowed to bring a standard-sized bottle of wine onto the ship with them, so if you think that that will be enough alcohol for you for the entire week, that is a "free" alcohol option as well! There is a Bottomless Bubbles package that Only includes soft drinks and juices, so if you are interested in that as someone who doesn't drink alcohol, that will be available to purchase on the carnival website and on the ship.

Gratuities are included if you buy the Cheers! Drink package. If you decide to buy your drinks a la carte, an 18% tip will be included on the receipt you receive for each drink. There will be an additional line for you to include your own tip if you want on top of the 18% already included, but it is not required.

Once you're booked, you will be able to download the Carnival Hub App! This app will allow you to see the countdown until the cruise prior to boarding, but will also be helpful throughout the cruise with ship maps, weather information, port information, dining menus/reservations, and the daily itinerary for activities and dining room attire. The app also allows you to see a breakdown of onboard spending - for example, if you have the drink package, you'll be able to keep track of how many drinks you've had each day and how many you have left. For a flat fee of $5 per person per cruise, you will have access to the chat feature - this will allow you to chat with anyone else in our group that has paid for this feature (this is always helpful when trying to coordinate activities with friends throughout the week). I will detail this feature in more depth when discussing Internet packages.

When it comes to packing for a cruise, unless you're flying in, there isn't really a limit to how many bags you can bring. They suggest two bags per person, but If you need more room, they aren't going to turn you away or say you can't bring addition bags onto the ship with you. There is also no weight limit for your bags, so no need to worry about that either! There are items that are prohibited and cannot be brought onto the ship, so please check out that information on the carnival website to ensure none of your belongings get confiscated.

For a week-long cruise, expect two "elegant nights" for dinner in the main dining room. There will be opportunities every night to get pictures taken with different fun backgrounds that you will be able to buy if you'd like towards the end of the cruise, so be prepared to pack clothing accordingly. The carnival website has information regarding the types of clothing acceptable for "elegant nights" and "cruise casual" attire, so please refer to that if you are unsure of what to pack.

The wedding attire will be cocktail, but aside from the wedding day/evening, you can wear whatever you want for the rest of the week! This probably goes without saying, but please do not wear white to the wedding :) I will likely wear white the majority of the cruise because I'm extra, but you are totally okay to wear white any of the other days besides the wedding day.

Wifi is not free on the ship. The carnival hub app does not require wifi, but with that, it can be slightly laggy at times. If you would like to have access to the internet, use social media, or be able to contact family/friends outside of the cruise, you will need to buy a wifi package. There are many to choose from, so please consult the carnival website to get more information and purchase at your leisure.

Please note: It is very important to make sure you put your phone on airplane mode and that you don't take it off of airplane mode for the duration of the cruise as roaming charges will be applied based on your particular phone plan once we head into international waters. You may want to contact your phone carrier prior to sailing to see what your phone plan will cover in case they do cover international travel.

When arriving at a port, you will be given information in your daily itinerary detailing how long we will be at the port, when you need to be back on the ship so that the ship doesn't leave without you (because they will), and what documentation will be needed to disembark and come back onto the ship.

Excursions are available for purchase on the carnival website or on the ship. You will be told where to meet prior to disembarking the ship for carnival-affiliated excursions. Please note: All excursion that are carnival-affiliated will have you back to the ship in time before we depart for the day. If you book an excursion that is not carnival-affiliated, it will be on you to make sure that you have ample time to return to the ship before it departs.

DRINK PACKAGES DO NOT WORK OFF OF THE SHIP. The only port that you can use your room key to "pay" for your drinks is Half Moon Cay, and they will be charged to your room at the end of the cruise. All other ports will require you to use a debit/credit card or cash as they are not islands affiliated with carnival (Half Moon Cay is Carnival's private island, which is why the room key works there for a la carte beverages).

Here are some random thoughts and information that I would like to include to ensure smooth sailing ;)

Cigarette smoking and vaping/e-cigarettes are the only forms of smoking allowed on the ship. That said, there are only a few designated areas where you are allowed to smoke throughout the ship, so don't assume you can do it anywhere. What you buy/smoke in the Bahamas is your own business :)

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE DO NOT THROW ANYTHING OR ANYONE OFF OF THE SHIP. This sounds like a joke, but the ship has sensors on the outside that will pick up any objects thrown overboard (no matter the size). You will be fined $500 per incident, so I will find you and I will kill you if I hear of any of these incidents. I love you all dearly, so please don't make me kill you :)

I feel like I don't really need to say this as we believe you all to be the best people we know, but please remember to be kind and courteous to everyone who is working for/serving you on or off the ship. Gratuities should already be included with your booking unless you opted out, so you will not need to tip everyone you see (as much as you may want to!). By all means, tip extra because I'm sure they would be extremely appreciative, but just know that the level of service provided to you will not be effected if you don't tip.

If you have any super-specific questions that aren't answered here, you can contact my mother at fivealexanders@hotmail.com! She knows everything there is to know about Carnival cruising, so she will be a wealth of knowledge if you need any additional assistance.