Advice from cruise veterans?

LaurenMarie1234 · January 2012

Hi ladies -

We'll be cruising for our honeymoon on the Royal Caribbean Allure of the Seas. Despite all the bad PR lately with the cruise crash in Italy, we're very excited! This is my first cruise ever, so I'd love any advice, particularly when it comes to packing/things you'd do differently from anyone who has cruise experience.

Thanks in advance for your guidance!

BeachLover2885 · January 2012

The Allure of the Seas looks beautiful!! I've been on two cruises, 1 Royal Caribbean and the other Norweigian. Both were really nice!

Definitely pack a few cardigans or light sweaters for night time. The boat is cold at night especially if you are walking around on the deck! Bring a nice outift for each dinner and a cocktail dress for the captain's night. Just a tip for Royal Caribbean-- you have to pick your seating time for dinner and you may have to sit with other people. We were able to get our own table after the first night by speaking with the maitre' d. We had nothing against the people they sat us with, we just wanted to sit by ourselves for a more romantic dinner. Definitely try that if you don't want to sit with other people in the main dining area. I believe Allure of the Seas has a lot of dining options, so definitely look on RC's website to check it out.

For during the day, pack a bunch of bathing suits and cover-ups. If you're doing excursions, pack appropriate clothing for that. (For example, sneakers if you're going hiking, etc.)

HTH!!

dalm0m · January 2012

Join www.cruisecritc.com if you haven't already. It is to cruising what the Knot is to WP. Join your Roll Call thread to chat with other cruisers. Go to your meet & greet. Tell the ship's staff there that you are on your HM.

Do not fly to the port of departure on the day you sail. Go the day before b/c too much can go wrong & you will miss the ship.

If there is an excursion you really want to go on, book in advance. The good ones sell out.

Pack 2x as much $$ & 1/2 the clothes. Adhere to the dress code. If it says formal, dress up don't ask if it's OK to get away with whatever casual outfit you have, If dressing up is not your thing, do something else that night.

Try new foods aboard. The portions tend to be small & you can have as much as you want -- 3 appetizers, 2 entrees, 4 desserts, whatever. . .

Take the stairs rather than the elevators b/c you will be eating a lot.

The drinks they hand you when you board are NOT free. Souvenier cups add to the cost of the drink. Ejnjoy them if you like but be aware.

Put an inexpensive magnet on your door so you can find your cabin more easily. The doors all look alike.

ekk120 · January 2012

I agree with a lot of the advice that previous posters have given!

One thing that we did was pack a bottle of wine in each of our checked baggage when my FI went on a cruise last year (dont forget a corkscrew!). It was great because we could have a few glasses in the room while getting ready and we saved ourselves a lot of money because drinks can add up.

You can always go to the pursars desk in the main lobby and get a print up of what you've spent on your vacation. It helped to keep me relaxed and not too worried about how big our tab was getting!

Each day youll get a schedule with things to do -- some of them sound lame, but they are actually pretty fun! We did sports trivia in the sports bar one day and ended up meeting a lot of new people who we spent time with later on in the vacation.

If youre doing excursions, book them beforehand. On the first day, theres always a huge line of people trying to book excursions at the desk in the lobby.

Have fun! Youre going to have a blast

bmoruzzi · January 2012

We went on RC's Navigator of the Seas last year for our hm. We weren't huge fans of cruising just because we found the boat itself boring. The activities are really geared towards older people or kids. We loved all our stops/tours though. We booked all our tours before hand and I felt they were very organized. We didn't buy a liquor package, and that's probably something I would have done differently if I could. There are different wine packages available. We hardly drank any alcohol aboard b/c it was so expensive. I also would have flown in the day before had we realized how exhausted we would be. After our cruise we stayed 4 nights in Rome which was fantastic. I'd definitely recommend that if you can.

dalm0m · January 2012

You cannot legally bring wine on an RCL ship. There is no corkage. If they find it they will confiscate it.

If you do get it through, you don't need to pack the corckscrew, the cabin stewart will bring you one.

Sscholfield · January 2012

We cruised on RC's Monarch of the Seas last year and will be cursing on Allure of the Seas in less than 2 weeks! I agree with the previous posts about flying into the port the day before the cruise. We were so rushed last year when we flew in the day of the cruise, and barely had a chance to eat before the safety drill. Definitely do excursions at the different ports! I loved snorkeling and touring Nassau. Also be sure to check out the different shows on the boat! Battle of the Sexes was really fun.

GreenEire · January 2012

While it is recommended that you fly to your port city the day before the ship leaves, it's not absolutely necessary. We got married the day before so we had no choice but to arrive the day of. We did have to wake up super early and catch an early flight, but we arrived with plenty of time to spare.

Royal Caribbean has an option where you have an "open eating" plan, where you pretty much go to dinner whenever you want. That's what we chose and we always got a table to ourselves without having to request it.

RC requires that you always have your passport with you when you leave the ship and they check it when you get back on, so make sure it's handy!

Like PPs said, sign up for excursions beforehand. There was always a huge line at the activities desk.

If you can afford it, get a room with a balcony. We spent a lot of time on ours. It was nice being able to sit outside without having to fight people for a deck chair.

If you're using a travel agent, make sure they let the cruise line know that it's your honeymoon. We had a complimentary bottle of champagne with a congratulatory note waiting for us when we arrived.

Bring snacks! There was only one store on the ship that sold snacks and the selection was tiny and expensive.

Our ship had a bank of six elevators near us and they were always busy and packed, so just take the stairs. Otherwise you'll be waiting forever.

Don't sign up for an excursion that takes place at the end of the trip after the ship has come back to port. We had and ours was cancelled and it caused a huge issue. We had no way to get to the airport and the ship staff was less than accomodating. Luckily there were a bunch of taxis out in the parking lot!

alithebride · January 2012

pack much less than you think you'll need. do not bring a different outfit for dinner every night. bring 1 skirt, 1 lbd, 1 pants and tops/cardigans that can mix and match iwth them. that's for the non-formal night. if you want to go to the formal night bring a cocktail dress. if not make ar eservation for one of the other restaurants on board. for during the day a swimsuit and cover up are fine. if you're booking an excursion they usually give you a suggestion of what to wear/bring.

vexie · January 2012

We were on RC's Navigator of the Sea last winter and had a blast!! You've been given great advice.... the only thing I'd add is to let you know that you can check your account through the TV in your room. Check it... often! They made a mistake on hubby's account and thankfully we caught it quickly and had it taken care of. They don't tell you this... but you can pay off your tab whenever you want during the trip. They don't encourage it but we did as a way to keep track of how much we spent. Drinks are VERY expensive. Not just alcohol either. You need to pay for pop, real fruit juices etc. and it's very easy to let that bill get totally out of control.

Oh... and yes, make sure you have lots of small bills for tipping!

Have fun!

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