20 Tips for Cruising with Royal Caribbean
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| Oasis of the Seas |
Most people see cruise holidays as easy to organise and relaxing holidays. However to make the most out of your trip, most won't know that there is a large amount of planning to be undertaken before the trip itself. In fact, the more you plan before the holiday, the more relaxing the holiday will be! Here are some tips to help you maximise your holiday.
1. Plan all your dinners before your holiday
Why dinners? On Royal Caribbean, most dining options require a table reservation for dinner, even in the main dining hall. Of course, things like buffets or cafes won't need a table reservation. Instead of standing in line waiting for a table, you can book on-line prior to your cruise all your table reservations. Also, by planning your meals you can maximise trying out all the different restaurants at different meal times. On the larger vessels like the Oasis, there are as many as 25 options!
2. Private Balcony Breakfast
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| Premium Balcony Breakfast |
3. Why queue for the breakfast buffet? Go somewhere else!
One of the best places on a cruise for breakfast is the main dining hall. You won't have to make a table reservation. There an ala carte menu plus a smaller buffet spread. On the plus, there is hardly a queue there. The other good options are the different cafe options, some even with healthy options for breakfast.
4. Make full use of the TV channel on how busy restaurants and cafes are.
This is an amazing info-channel indeed. It would show you what restaurants and cafes are serving a meal and how full they are. This way you can minimise your chances of having to stand in a long queue.
5. Bring some laundry detergent and a line.
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| Peg-free Travel Washing Line |
There isn't any self-service laundry facilities on board. This can be quite problematic if you are on a longer cruise. So unless you would like to pay an arm and a leg for laundry service, bring your own laundry detergent and a line along. You can get lines with hooks and suction pads to put up your temporary drying line on your balcony or your bathroom. There are even peg-free travel washing lines.
6. Bring 2 sets of swimming costumes
Having to put on wet swimmers can be pretty uncomfortable. So, bring 2 sets along. They aren't that heavy anyway.
7. Bring a highlighter along
On any Royal Caribbean cruise, your room attendant will provide your daily cruise compass when they turn your room down for the night. This would consist of a very long and exciting list of things which happens daily ranging from competitions, to classes and to shows. A highlighter would be very handy to help you pick up the things you like to do.
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| Ice Show - Frozen in Time |
There are a very large range of shows on each cruise. This includes ice-shows, diving shows, stand up comedy and Broadway style musicals. Most shows get booked out before you even get on board the ship. It would be best if you pre-booked your shows. If you don't have a booking, you might not be allowed in. Also, be sensible when you book these - 1 show a day is a pretty safe.
9. Plan all your shore excursions before you go.
Most cruises will consist of ports which you will stop at in between. These are excellent opportunity to learn about the places where you port at. You might like to join a tour or plan an activity. It is almost certainly cheaper if you book a tour not through the cruise. However, sometimes due to language difficulties or security, it might be safer or easier to plan that activity through the cruise. It is also significantly easier booking these activities before the cruise than on the cruise itself, even if you are booking it through the cruise company.
10. Consider meal packages if you want to go gourmet
Meals are already part of your ticket. However, if you want to go up-scale and try a speciality restaurant, consider their meal packages. You might get things like 4 meals for the price of 3.
11. Beverage packages are not a must
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| Soda Drink Mug |
To make sense out of beverage packages, for the normal non-alcoholic beverage, if you drink at least 3 cups of soda a day, the Unlimited Fountain Soda Beverage is for you. I would say these fountain machines are amazing with many choices of diet options even. You would also get a free soda mug.
For wine, if you can't finish your bottle of wine, the restaurant you opened the bottle with will keep the bottle for you. They will even send it to the next restaurant you plan to go to. If you plan to buy multiple bottles of wine, you should compare the wine package with how much what you plan to drink costs. You might find some of the wine you plan to drink is actually cheaper than the wine package. Sometimes what you want to drink can't be found on the wine package. So make sensible choices.
For alcoholic beverage packages, be careful of what each package has. For small drinkers who are picky with what they drink, a package is not the best option. Some of their fancy cocktails or fine wines aren't in the package. A good way of knowing if you should buy is to be honest with yourself about how much you are planning to drink and what you plan to drink, then back calculating if the package is worth it. Be careful also, as if you are taking a cruise in summer, having too much alcohol can dehydrate you.
12. Celebrating a special occasion? Tell them before you board!
13. Bring a Lanyard holder
14. 3 Pairs of Footwear!
You must think I'm pretty crazy to bring 3 pairs of footwear. But kid you not, you do actually need it. You would need 1 pair of runners or good walking shoes when you go on port excursions. 1 pair of formal shoes for your formal dining nights. 1 pair of slippers or sandals when you go to the pools, spas and sauna. I don't think you would want to miss out on the great port excursions, or the fancy formal dining nights, or the wonderful spas on board. So yeah, 3 pairs of foot wear actually makes sense.
15. Opt for an early embarkation time
The cruise doesn't quite inform you what time you can embark on the cruise, and often tell you when you have to do so by. Normally, you can do so from around lunch time. Lunch is served on the embarkation day at the buffet.
16. On embarkation day, bring a bag with essentials as a hand-carry item.
Your luggage will be delivered to your room sometime after lunch. There will be sometime (1-2 hours) where you can't get access to your room and luggage. It is very advisable to bring the essentials along such as medicine, your hat, towel and camera. You also can take advantage of this time to use things like the Zip-line (must wear shoes), Flow-rider (must wear swimmers) or rock climbing as the queue are significantly shorter.
17. Be on time!
Every thing works like clockwork on the ship. So they won't be waiting for you. At port visits, give yourself about 1 hour before the sail-off time to get on the ship. When they say 6:30 pm sail off, means 6:30 pm they will leave, even if it means leaving people behind. If you booked a 7 pm dinner, mean come just before 7 pm. Dinner tables are often booked for at least 2 seatings, so be considerate to your fellow cruisers.
18. Bring enough cash to tip
This is particularly for the non-Americans who don't have the habit of tipping. Royal Caribbean is a US based company and their service employees do work on tips. Most of the tips (or they call it gratitudes) are already pre-paid. However, you most certainly will have a good reason to give an extra tip, especially your room attendant and sometimes your waiter on the last day. Staff do very often go above and beyond to bring you excellent service and it will be a shame not to reward that.
19. Plan for an early disembarkation to avoid taxi queues.
If you are catching a taxi right after your cruise, try disembark early. The earlier you get off, the less likely you will have to stand in line for a taxi. Also, you can always grab a quick breakfast if you get up early on the day of disembarkation.
20. Join the Crown & Anchor Society
This is their frequent cruiser club. Every time your return aboard a Royal Caribbean cruise, there will be a Crown & Anchor party (free alcohol!). Also, it is worth it to put in the deposit for your next cruise to get bonus as you will get a significant onboard credit bonus on your next cruise.
I hope this helps to make your cruise a memorable, relaxing and enjoyable one!
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Queuing is really a pain in a cruise. There is nothing worse than waiting 1 hour for a free seat in the buffet to eat some luke warm leftovers from a dirty plastic plate. Our solution has been booking last minute and making sure cruises are not overbooked.
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