Hey everyone!

Dawnya · February 16, 2015

My name is Dawnya. I took my first cruise last year with my 3 kids and LOVED it. I'm going again this summer with my 3 kids, my sons girlfriend, my brother, niece and my parents. I'll be on here quite a bit since my brother, niece and parents have never been on a cruise before and they are leaving all the planning and everything up to me, since I've been before (no pressure...sheesh). Any advice will be greatly appreciated! We are sailing on the Carnival Paradise on August 17th to Grand Cayman and Cozumel.

Jan115 · February 17, 2015

Welcome Dawnya! You've come to the right place - we're all hooked on cruising, too. The nice thing about a first cruis is that you figure out what you would do differently the next time. I've got a blog here called Tuesday's Travel Tips that might help. They're just little hints I've picked up along the way. Check it out here: http://www.cruisecrazies.com/forums/blog/18-tuesday-travel-tips/

Your family will love cruising as much as you do!

DebbieandJerry · February 17, 2015

Dawnya, welcome. (You don't look old enough to have a son taking a girlfriend on a cruise with you!)

You will love the Caymans and Cozumel. Lots of snorkeling, sightseeing, culture, shopping, etc. And a huge family and friends travelling together will make the vacation even more memorable.

We did something similar (5 separate rooms) and the only thing that we said was, "if you can - we would like that everyone eats dinner together as a family". That type of no pressure really worked with our group. As it turned out, most of us did a lot of the activities together. Our dinner conversations were always filled with what we did, who we did it with, etc., etc.

KeithnRita · February 18, 2015

Welcome aboard, Dawnya! There is a lot of info available from very knowledgeable CruiseCrazies.

We are happy to have you aboard.

Just click this link: http://www.cruisecrazies.com/cruising/upcoming-member-cruises to add your Paradise cruise and we all will help you count down to your cruise.

WeCruiseToo · February 21, 2015

Hi Dawnya! The Carnival Sensation that you sailed last year is the exact same ship as Carnival Paradise so you should be very comfortable and be able to help the others in your group find their way. If you all want to eat together we’d recommend doing the fixed dinning time; getting a table for nine with open seating could mean quite a wait. We often travel with big groups of friends and family (and do all the planning for them) so please let us know any questions or concerns you have and we’ll sure try to help out. Happy cruising!