Booked our 1st cruise - now what?!?

Just booked our first cruise with Royal Caribbean to Alaska summer 2019. What do I do now??

Some specific questions - I know I can look at shore excursions. If we decide to book through cruise line, when should this be done? I realize that we may want to book on our own...

What if cruise prices change? Can I call RC and get a "refund"? Not expecting this will happen...

We are on the Ovation of the Seas. Do we need to pre-book the Northstar or the iFly experience on board?

How do I find out about drink package pricing? Or sales?

What about dining? Should we eat dinner every night in MDR? How do we decide on a time to reserve or is flexible timing better?

I have not had any time to look at our cruise planner - I just booked today. Is that the best resource I should use?

What else should we do? Or be looking for??

Thanks in advance!

Time to head over to the RCI board here to get info about Ovation. Then to the Alaska board under Ports of Call for info on excursions. And a little googling of your ports wouldn't hurt. Fortunately, you have a year to work on this. EM

You can look at your cruise planner for excursions and also about drink packages. They do go on sale at times, but you can always cancel and repurchase.

Up to final payment, which is 90 days before sailing, if the price drops, you can call and they will lower the price. Although the new pricing may affect on board credit or other perks from when you booked.

You have a number of dining options. MDR is one. We prefer My Time Dining. If we feel like eating in the MDR, we go, wait a few minutes, and are seated. There are also the specialty dining venues. And the Windjammer buffet. Which is our choice most nights. More flexible. And many times they have several of the same dishes as the MDR.

If you don't have MTD, make sure you let them know if you will not be there for dinner. So if you are sharing a table, people are not waiting for you, when you will not arrive.

As for excursions, you can do ship or on your own. In some places, the other sources are much cheaper, in some places they are about the same. One thing is, if on a ship's excursion, and you get back late, the cruise line is responsible for getting you back to the ship. If your do excursions on your own, you are on your own. So some people prefer to book ship excursions for peace of mind.

But the MOST important thing is RELAX and HAVE FUN.

Do some research on your ports before you start booking excursions. You're right, in that you can probably book your own things outside of the cruise line. Research is key to that, tho!

Of course airfare and if flying in a day before, hotel reservations. When the shore excursions open, you can book them as well as any beverage packing or specialty dining. We prefer fixed dining and inbetween enjoying specialty restaurants. If you are interested, you can also book spa services. We prefer shore sponsored excursions as I have heard horror stories of people missing the ship due to an excursion. If you book with the ship, they wait for you, if not they wave goodbye if you arrive to the pier late as another poster pointed out. Worth a few extra dollars as we consider it insurance!

I would wait until about three months before the cruise to book all, except air and hotel. Keep watching the price as if the price drops, you can call celebrity and they will adjust the rates, including any extra's that might be on sale. We have multiple times upgraded to a nice suite if the price falls to what we are willing to pay.

I also like to beginning packing a couple of weeks before the cruise, and purchase whatever I think I might need.

Here's my packing list; will give you ideas for what to bring. Obviously adjust for potential cold weather in AK.

http://laurenofalltrades.blogspot.com/2017/10/cruise-packing-list.html

We always book the flexible time dining. If you like your waiters the first night, you can always request to be seated with them again. Or if you don't like he waiters, because not every wait team will appeal to everyone, you can request a different table. If you decide some nights to go to the buffet or one of the paid dining options, that's perfectly fine also.

Just booked our first cruise with Royal Caribbean to Alaska summer 2019. What do I do now?? Planning and research is part of the fun and excitement. You have plenty of time to research each port and then decide what you want to do.

 

Some specific questions - I know I can look at shore excursions. If we decide to book through cruise line, when should this be done? I realize that we may want to book on our own... Go to the RCI website, register, and log on. You will have access to your cruise planner and have the ability to book excursions. With a little bit of research and perhaps joining your roll call, you may be able to find better or cheaper excursions.

 

What if cruise prices change? Can I call RC and get a "refund"? Not expecting this will happen... If prices goes down, yes, you can call RC and adjust your price. Please be advised that you can lose any OBC, onboard credit, that you may have received from the original booking.

 

We are on the Ovation of the Seas. Do we need to pre-book the Northstar or the iFly experience on board? They are very popular...and the IFly is our favorite...(we spent 34 wonderful days on the Ovation)...yes, you should pre-book and reserve them on your cruise planner. Note: If you need to change the time or date, there are "Ipads" onboard, where you can change it.

 

How do I find out about drink package pricing? Or sales? Your cruise planner....or here on Cruise Critic :)....as EssieMom suggested, it's best that you go visit the RC board....here it is: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=83

 

What about dining? Should we eat dinner every night in MDR? How do we decide on a time to reserve or is flexible timing better? Is there just the two of you?...or are you a family? Yes, you could eat in the MDR every night...you just have to decide whether you want early or late seating. This is up to you. As someone else said, you can choose to do MTD and eat when you please. You will find out that there are plenty of places to eat onboard and you won't go hungry........you can eat at the: Windjammer, Solarium, , Cafe Two70, Sorrentos, Hotdogs inside the Seaplex, English Pub....then you'll have the specialty restaurants (extra $$), Chops, Izumi, Jamie's, Wonderland, and Chef's table.

 

I have not had any time to look at our cruise planner - I just booked today. Is that the best resource I should use? Yes...and Cruise Critic....oh, Welcome to Cruise Critic. :D

 

What else should we do? Or be looking for?? Research all your ports and decide on your shore excursions. Learn what the Ovation of the Seas has to offer....there's simply so much to do. Don't overpack...layering is best in Alaska. As someone already said...relax and enjoy your cruise. And if there's one thing you need to bring......bring a smile. :)

 

Thanks in advance!

Answers above in italic and I think purple...color blind.

Just booked our first cruise with Royal Caribbean to Alaska summer 2019. What do I do now??

 

Having booked the cruise I would immediately start researching the ports of call - I use Tripadvisor, CC Ports of Call Boards, Google searches and some port guides

- CruisePortWiki - http://cruiseportwiki.com/

- Tom's Port Guide - http://www.tomsportguides.com/

- What's in Port - https://www.whatsinport.com/

Some specific questions - I know I can look at shore excursions. If we decide to book through cruise line, when should this be done? I realize that we may want to book on our own...

 

Excursion in Alaska are very popular. Once you have decided you definitely want a particular tour, book it at the earliest opportunity. Other nice to have tours book at your convenience, either before the cruise or aboard ship. However, if waiting tours may be fully booked.

 

What if cruise prices change? Can I call RC and get a "refund"? Not expecting this will happen...

 

We are on the Ovation of the Seas. Do we need to pre-book the Northstar or the iFly experience on board?

 

How do I find out about drink package pricing? Or sales?

 

Suggest posting these questions on the RCCL Board

 

What about dining? Should we eat dinner every night in MDR? How do we decide on a time to reserve or is flexible timing better?

 

This is entirely personal preference. We started cruising when all meals were fixed or traditional seating and still prefer that option. However, both options have pros & cons. When deciding on a dining time I compare the dining times with departure times, as I prefer to be on deck watching departures.

 

I have not had any time to look at our cruise planner - I just booked today. Is that the best resource I should use?

 

See above cruise guides.

 

What else should we do? Or be looking for??

 

Thanks in advance!

See responses in red.

Thank you all for the responses! You are all so helpful and cruise critic has SO much information! Thanks again -- looking forward to this new adventure!