HELP! First cruise (carnival miracle) I have questions

No flight home I live in LA. Just with my son being autistic, crowds and waiting in one area can be difficult for him. They said if they are doing the muster drills in person we can schedule a personal one for him. Just worried and check in and check out

Again this depends on the company. Read the instructions on your daily schedule to find out details. Some folks choose to carry their own luggage off, they will be the first to debark. Everyone else is usually assigned a color coded luggage tag or a numbered one. Pre-COVID, you would hang out in a lounge and wait for your number or color to be called. Some lines have you wait in your cabin and turn on the CCTV to listen for the announcement of your group. Once your group is called, staff will walk you through the rest.

FYI, debarking could take HOURS so if you have to book a flight home, the later you can get a flight, the better!

We actually don’t drink alcohol. Don’t like the taste lol. Saves money too lol

I usually have them in a weekly pill dispenser. You can also leave them in a prescription bottle with the label (my DH did this on the last cruise). Customs will be covered in your debarkation talk. I doubt you will be buying enough to cause a situation. If you purchase liquor in Mexico, you may not take to your room. You will need to turn it in when you return to the ship and the pick it up at the end of the cruise. Not a problem if you by vanilla (often purchased in Mexico).

My one piece of advice, don’t try to eat everything as if they’ll run out of food. They won’t.
okay, my other piece of advice ; don’t cook bacon naked. But that’s more worldly advice.

No I’m not packing. I never pack until the day of. I’ll end up packing something I need between now and then.
I wasn’t sure about the meds because I am on pain medication (having knee surgery when I get back from the cruise) and my son is autistic and adhd and takes Ritalin (which I guess is considered controlled in usa) so I just wasn’t sure if I needed a note from my doctor or something.
when I was going to go to japan (thanks a lot Covid) I had to file for a certificate or something in order to take my medication into the country.
hence why I was worried about this.

Good thing we're all still up watching hoops!!!!!!!!!!!! anyway, short answer is no...but its way better to put your important stuff (like meds) in a carry-on, NOT your checked luggage....along with stuff like a tablet, and so on...not to worry, just you and at least 3/4 of the other passengers are taking something or other for something or other...as far as Customs goes...chances are they'll ignore you...getting on, they're virtually invisible...getting off, almost the same...are you packing yet? as a general rule, newbies start at least a week or more beforehand hehehehehe..fun ain't it??

I just thought of another question. Never been out of country and granted we are just going form Long Beach to Cabo and back. I imagine there is customs right?

my son takes prescription medication as do I.
Is there something we need in order to take our medication on the cruise?

EXACTOMONDO! folks are heading home...but many are going back to work...bunch of grouches..heheheh..anyway, yes you can schlepp your stuff off...its a great motivator to bring way LESS next time!!!...and you will do it by decks, but I've noticed they don't really care...you can find a spot to sit and wait relatively near the gang way...and when you think you can, jump in...they're under serious time constraints to get everyone off so the ship can be prepared for the next cruise, they don't hardly say..."nope, wrong deck!..wait 25 minutes..." ...never happened to us...NOTE!! MANY ELEVATORS MAY BE OUT OF SERVICE FOR THE EVENT!!!....actually, we've managed to stay calm enough to have breakfast in the MDR...technically, you shouldn't have your luggage with you at that time, but we weren't going BACK to the cabin to get it...noticed lots of folks had brought their luggage and piled it up at their feet...

Oh yeh, go to that meeting, by all means...even experienced cruisers should go..you can never tell when change 342 (b) might go into effect...and you'll see people getting luggage tags when in fact they're hauling their stuff off themselves (completely unnecessary)...or getting customs forms (and scratching their heads) when they didn't buy anything, or so little it won't go anywhere near the allowance...form also unnecessary...Americans love our forms eh?

Weird feeling in the terminal...watching new folks all happy and excited getting ON, and there YOU are..

well anyway BONVOYAGE!!!.

Stay in touch!!!!

Debarkation is probably the worst part of any cruise. First of all, you have to get off the ship and go back to the real world. How sad is that?!? (Yes, I am trying to be funny).

No two debarkations are alike. Since this is your first cruise, please go to the debarkation briefing. It will be held the day before you are scheduled to get off the ship. We have had some smooth and easy debarkation experiences and some that I don’t want to remember. It will be crowded and others will be pushy and grouchy. If you are prepared with everything you have been told at the briefing, you will be fine.