First time cruiser, tips advice most welcome!

Hi all,

 

First of all, what a great website!!

 

My partner and I have taken the plunge and have booked our first cruise! (has taken me years of persuading lol). I have wanted to do a cruise holiday for many years, having spent some time in the Royal Navy, I wanted to enjoy some sea time, rather than having to work ;)

 

We have booked an 11 night Southern Caribbean cruise for February 17 (543 days to go lol) on the RCI Serenade of the Seas. Ports of call are:

St John's, Antigua

Casteries, St Lucia

Bridgetown, Barbados

St George's, Grenada

Kralendijk, Bonaire

Oranjestad, Aruba

 

It will be our first time on each of the above islands. We haven't really started looking at potential excursions as yet, but I would appreciate peoples thoughts on the "must do" trips/ places to visit on each island. Which islands have the best beaches and which islands are more about sight seeing or shopping please?

 

Now for a few more general questions for our time on board: :D

 

Are sandals for men acceptable in MDR? (with long trousers and shirt of course) I never know what shoes to wear with linen trousers lol

 

Is just a shirt ok for smart casual nights, or do I need a tie and/ or jacket?

 

Do the speciality restaurants tend to get booked up early, or can we wait until we are on board?

 

How close to the cruise would I expect to be able to view the entertainment schedule?

 

Are extension leads allowed on board? (saves having to bring lots of travel plugs over with us:D)

 

I have read in other posts that on the morning you arrive back in home port (Ft Lauderdale for us) they like to get the ship cleared ASAP (which I can appreciate). We plan to spend two nights in South Beach, Miami, just to round off our holiday (this will be my first time in the US, so am looking forward to this part as much as the cruise). My concern is that we would be off the ship by mid morning at the latest and we won't be able to check into our Miami hotel until 2pm at the earliest, potentially 5 hours to kill. I am aware that Royal Caribbean do some excursions, to the Everglades for instance, but they all seem to end at either MIA or Ft Lauderdale airport.

I have visions of us all wandering around Miami with our case waiting to be allowed into the hotel :eek:

 

Thank you all advance :cool:

Hi all,

 

First of all, what a great website!!

 

My partner and I have taken the plunge and have booked our first cruise! (has taken me years of persuading lol). I have wanted to do a cruise holiday for many years, having spent some time in the Royal Navy, I wanted to enjoy some sea time, rather than having to work ;)

 

We have booked an 11 night Southern Caribbean cruise for February 17 (543 days to go lol) on the RCI Serenade of the Seas. Ports of call are:

St John's, Antigua

Casteries, St Lucia

Bridgetown, Barbados

St George's, Grenada

Kralendijk, Bonaire

Oranjestad, Aruba

 

It will be our first time on each of the above islands. We haven't really started looking at potential excursions as yet, but I would appreciate peoples thoughts on the "must do" trips/ places to visit on each island. Which islands have the best beaches and which islands are more about sight seeing or shopping please?

 

Now for a few more general questions for our time on board: :D

 

Are sandals for men acceptable in MDR? (with long trousers and shirt of course) I never know what shoes to wear with linen trousers lol

Yes. I'm assuming you mean something like leather sandals rather than beach type flip-flops.

 

Is just a shirt ok for smart casual nights, or do I need a tie and/ or jacket?

Yes. My husbands usually wears casual slacks and a polo shirt.

 

Do the speciality restaurants tend to get booked up early, or can we wait until we are on board?

Usually depends on the cruise and what time you want to eat. We would wait until we get on board. If you definitely want a particular night, etc. I would book it ahead.

 

How close to the cruise would I expect to be able to view the entertainment schedule?

I think probably 4 or 5 months out. I take it you mean excursions

 

Are extension leads allowed on board? (saves having to bring lots of travel plugs over with us:D)

That's debatable - some folks have been able to bring them, others have had them confiscated.

 

I have read in other posts that on the morning you arrive back in home port (Ft Lauderdale for us) they like to get the ship cleared ASAP (which I can appreciate). We plan to spend two nights in South Beach, Miami, just to round off our holiday (this will be my first time in the US, so am looking forward to this part as much as the cruise). My concern is that we would be off the ship by mid morning at the latest and we won't be able to check into our Miami hotel until 2pm at the earliest, potentially 5 hours to kill. I am aware that Royal Caribbean do some excursions, to the Everglades for instance, but they all seem to end at either MIA or Ft Lauderdale airport.

I have visions of us all wandering around Miami with our case waiting to be allowed into the hotel :eek:

Most hotels will store your luggage for you if you arrive earlier than their check-in time. Check with the hotel you choose for their policy.

 

Thank you all advance :cool:

 

First of all, welcome to Cruise Critic. :) And the great world of cruising - prepare to be hooked.

 

For more cruise line specific info you can go to the Royal Caribbean board. At the upper part of the main page there are 2 groupings with all of the cruise lines.

 

And further down that page there are port areas so you can look up each of your ports for more info.

 

If you have Google Earth on your computer go to each of the ports to see what the area looks like. You may decide you don't need an excursion if you just want to walk around and maybe do some shopping.

For your ports, i'd suggest getting a guidebook and seeing what interests YOU in each place. Once you decide WHAT you'd like to see/do, come back and find out HOW to do it! Most things are easy to do on your own. If you could narrow down your interests, we can be specific with suggestions!

 

Sandals (not flip flops) are fine on casual nights, although I prefer a closed show on men...JMO!

 

You can wait until you're on the ship to book specialties. When you book, you are charged!

 

I'm sure someone will post some of the Compasses...they might not be exact, but will give you an idea of what to expect.

 

Yes...you can bring extension cords...but NOT surge protectors.

 

The hotel will hold your bags for you until your room is ready, so you can use the other facilities at the hotel. I would call the hotel, and ask for an early check-in, if possible. I would not be in a rush to leave the ship...if you can stay on the ship until around 9 am, then head to the hotel, you'll be ok!

Get some guide books and write down what sights appeal to you for the various ports.

Some specialty restaurants do book up before the ship sails. I like to pre-book them as soon as I can.

We have never had a problem with a hotel putting our luggage in a storage area until a room is ready for us.

Thank you all for the advice.

 

We are very open minded when it comes to excursions. I have taken a quick look at the forum page for each island we are due to visit and we will of course make informed decisions based upon what we want to get out of the holiday. The main reason I asked was I didn't want to come back from our trip and have people say something like: How could you have visited that island without going to seeing that! ;)

Have a great time!

My husband wears leather sandals with trousers to dinner and looks great. Shirts are either polos or woven cotton or linen. For formal night he will wear a dress shirt and tie with a sport jacket. We can pack for a 10 day vacation in two 22" carry on bags so that may influence our attitude on dress. For port ideas I suggest looking at the Ports of Call boards here for ideas, additionally I comb through Trip Advisor, etc for ideas. If the speciality restaurant date is important for an event, those I would get in advance, otherwise you can wait until you are on board.

in st lucia i recommend cosol tour its about 75$ tour of island fresh baked bread and cheese plenty of drinks water beer soda and rum punch then they take you to sample food well worth the money you go to the souffier springs water taxi between the pitons it was the best and most economical tour i had been on believe web site is http://www.cosol tours.com but not 100% sure you can google it

My advice for anyone is to always arrive at least a day ahead in your embarkation city. Since you're coming from the other side of the ocean, you may want to add another day or two. This is really to make sure you don't have any flight delays, and also to allow for some getting used to a different time zone.

 

I agree with the others to get a guide book that covers your ports and also google each port's name as there are many tourism sites with great suggestions. See what interests the two of you. I always do this before every cruise -- I know what my hubby and daughter like to do so I'll present my ideas and see what they say. I borrow a guide book from our library and if I like it, I may buy the latest edition to take with.

 

But I don't worry about people saying, hey why didn't you...other people have their interests, after all. But if you do have friends who went to the same ports, you can ask their advice during your planning.

 

I haven't been on any Royal Caribbean cruises, but my hubby likes to wear tropical shirts on non-formal nights. He does stick with closed shoes, except when at the pool, but that's him.

 

We don't do specialty restaurants (our first time was on our last cruise but we were given a complimentary dinner), but on Princess, you can't prebook these before you board. But unless you want to book an extremely popular night (like Valentines Day), there doesn't seem to be a problem booking.

Hi all,

 

 

 

Are sandals for men acceptable in MDR? (with long trousers and shirt of course) I never know what shoes to wear with linen trousers lol Brekfast and lunch absolutely. Smart casual nights.. probably. Formal nights, no.

 

Is just a shirt ok for smart casual nights, or do I need a tie and/ or jacket? just a shirt is fine. collared is better than tee shirt

 

Do the speciality restaurants tend to get booked up early, or can we wait until we are on board? usually PLENTY of options no matter what your prefernce is as to day and/or time.

 

How close to the cruise would I expect to be able to view the entertainment schedule? you don't, not as such. there may be specific shows you can advance reserve but they do not list all entertainment on board, especially the lounges and poolside.

 

Are extension leads allowed on board? (saves having to bring lots of travel plugs over with us:D) officially NO. unofficially, you might be able to sneak one on. they can and do present fire hazard when overloading a circuit.

 

[...]

I have visions of us all wandering around Miami with our case waiting to be allowed into the hotel :eek: no worries. even if the hotel does not have a room ready for you, almost certainly you will be allowed to drop your bags off so you can sight see.

 

Thank you all advance :cool:

 

another option, since you will be spending couple of days post cruise, is to rent a car and just stash the bags in the trunk until it is time to check in.

Hi Guys

 

First of all would just like to say how great this website is!! So helpful for me when i was first time cruising and needing information.

 

I have just sailed on the Anthem of The Seas in June for the sunshine in the canaries cruise and i would recommend it to any first time sailer!!

 

So i have filmed a few videos in order to answer maybe some questions any first time cruisers may have. I still have a lot to upload however firstly i have a video of my first impressions of the Anthem of The Seas boat and as we walk on at first i have walked around the boat and fimed while we were departing from Southampton. You can find this video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fow6XgW9DIU

 

I have also filmed our experience of the Bionic Bar which was excellent!! You can have a look at this here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4OE7JS9SGbU

 

I just know that before i left for my cruise i wanted as much information as i possibly could and found videos very helpful- i filmed pretty much every part of our cruise experience so if there is anything u would like to see please comment on one of my videos and let me know and i will upload in order to help. (Might help me out with what to upload next)

 

Happy Cruising!!

Now for a few more general questions for our time on board: :D

 

Are sandals for men acceptable in MDR? (with long trousers and shirt of course) I never know what shoes to wear with linen trousers lol

You can probably wear sandals. If you are worried about it I think a pair of boat shoes would look fine with linen trousers.

 

Is just a shirt ok for smart casual nights, or do I need a tie and/ or jacket?

On my last cruise (Allure of the Seas) there was only casual and Formal dress sugggested. Never any smart casual. You will be fine wearing jeans and a polo or button down shirt. If you didnt want to you could eat in the buffet too and wear shorts and a t-shirt.

 

Do the speciality restaurants tend to get booked up early, or can we wait until we are on board?

You should be able to book these on board, but as someone else stated if you have a special night you might want to book that before to guarantee that you get the night you want.

 

How close to the cruise would I expect to be able to view the entertainment schedule?

For Royal Caribbean it is right around the 90 day mark. My upcoming one released a show here and a show there but they were all available around 85 days out. You could also see what shows there are on the ship by going to the website. You just won't see the times.

 

Are extension leads allowed on board? (saves having to bring lots of travel plugs over with us:D)

I haven't tried but have heard people having good luck bring an extension cord. I have also heard them confiscating surge protectors.

 

I have read in other posts that on the morning you arrive back in home port (Ft Lauderdale for us) they like to get the ship cleared ASAP (which I can appreciate). We plan to spend two nights in South Beach, Miami, just to round off our holiday (this will be my first time in the US, so am looking forward to this part as much as the cruise). My concern is that we would be off the ship by mid morning at the latest and we won't be able to check into our Miami hotel until 2pm at the earliest, potentially 5 hours to kill. I am aware that Royal Caribbean do some excursions, to the Everglades for instance, but they all seem to end at either MIA or Ft Lauderdale airport.

I have visions of us all wandering around Miami with our case waiting to be allowed into the hotel :eek:

 

You could go to the hotel to drop you bags off with the bel hop or concierge. They will give you a tag and you can have them bring it to your room after you check in. I wouldnt worry too much about it.

 

Most of all have fun on your cruise. The Southern Caribbean is one that I really want to do. A lot of islands that all look awesome.

My advice for anyone is to always arrive at least a day ahead in your embarkation city. Since you're coming from the other side of the ocean' date=' you may want to add another day or two. This is really to make sure you don't have any flight delays, and also to allow for some getting used to a different time zone.

 

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This may be the best advice you will get...don't take a chance of missing the boat!

 

In the same vein - be sure and make sure your watches are on local time when you are not on board, and make sure you know what the all-aboard time is!...don't be a Pier Runner!

 

Have a great trip...

Edited August 27, 2015 by alexspepa

My mother and I are coming In the day before the RCCL New England/Canada Cruise, it sails at 4 pm. How early in the day are you allowed to drop off you luggage. Check out at the hotel is 11 a.m, which means we will have our luggage to carry around with us until near sale time, which would limit us from say visiting a museum or shopping.

 

Thanks

:) Kathy --Arkansas to Baltimore to Canada in 4 days!

My mother and I are coming In the day before the RCCL New England/Canada Cruise, it sails at 4 pm. How early in the day are you allowed to drop off you luggage. Check out at the hotel is 11 a.m, which means we will have our luggage to carry around with us until near sale time, which would limit us from say visiting a museum or shopping.

 

Thanks

:) Kathy --Arkansas to Baltimore to Canada in 4 days!

Bags can usually be checked in well before 11:00am. Just to be sure, you (or your TA) should call RCI to get specifics (location, earliest time, etc.). I don't know RCI's procedures but there are some cruise lines that permit passengers to check their luggage the night before or very early in the morning (7:00am) which helps them handle the logistics more efficiently.

My mother and I are coming In the day before the RCCL New England/Canada Cruise, it sails at 4 pm. How early in the day are you allowed to drop off you luggage. Check out at the hotel is 11 a.m, which means we will have our luggage to carry around with us until near sale time, which would limit us from say visiting a museum or shopping.

 

Thanks

:) Kathy --Arkansas to Baltimore to Canada in 4 days!

 

Make sure you're not late for boarding, all aboard is usually 90 minutes before sailing, later than that and you could be refused boarding. Depending on the cruiseline and ship, people can start boarding around 11.

Thanks for the information, the early boarding tip was very helpful, nothing that I had read said anything about early boarding, only about early checkin on line.

 

Thanks:)

 

Kathy