New to Royal Caribbean

[librarycin]

Hi! I've done three cruises so far, but none have been with RCCL. I've just booked one to Alaska in May on Rhapsody of the Seas.

 

I was wondering if there's anything I should know, any tips, anything I should look for/seek out (i.e. on Celebrity, there are the waffles and croissants), etc.?

 

My previous cruises are in my signature - two with Celebrity and one with NCL.

 

Some specific things I'm wondering about:

- formal nights - how many on a 7 night cruise?

- I was wondering about tips, but I saw there is another thread going for that.

- price drops - did I see something that they will be honoured, even if it goes down after the final payment (like Celebrity)?

 

I probably have more, but of course, as I go to type this message, they have disappeared from my brain! :confused: I'm sure I'll add to this thread as I think of things...

 

If it helps, a little bit about me. I'm travelling solo, and am in my mid/late 30s.

 

Thanks for any help/tips/advice! :)

[librarycin]

Another question. I guess if I want to go to a Meet and Greet party, I just use the link above to "register to attend a meet & mingle party"?

 

I'm not sure that there will really be enough people, as the roll call seems especially slow for this cruise. :( But, it doesn't hurt to try...

[negc]

Another question. I guess if I want to go to a Meet and Greet party, I just use the link above to "register to attend a meet & mingle party"?

 

I'm not sure that there will really be enough people, as the roll call seems especially slow for this cruise. :( But, it doesn't hurt to try...

 

Register and then try to get things going on the roll call. Ask questions about the cruise or its itinerary and you might get people more involved. We have been very fortunate in having very active roll calls for our transatlantic and repositioning cruises and have had over two hundred folks attend the Meet and Mingles. Often our roll calls have resulted in a group of people getting together prior to the sailing date.

 

One of the few things I missed after our Celebrity cruises was the waffles, but in most other ways I found RCI better suited to my tastes.:)

As far as formal nights are concerned, there should be two such nights on your 7 night cruise: 1 on the second night of the cruise and the other on the second last night.

Enjoy your cruise and don't spend a lot of time and effort comparing the two lines. You can do that after the cruise has ended and you have time to reflect on the overall cruise experience rather than individual differences between the two.

[librarycin]

Register and then try to get things going on the roll call. Ask questions about the cruise or its itinerary and you might get people more involved.

 

Thank you for the tips! I did post on the roll call at the end of December when I was thinking about booking, then posted again tonight after I'd booked it. I'll probably pop back over there every so often, and ask more questions or something. (Though, so far, there have only been 4 other people who have posted to it altogether... and one has cancelled the cruise! I'm hoping more people will wander over as it gets closer to the time, as well.)

[printingchick]

How far off is your cruise? Sometimes it takes a while for the roll calls to get going.

 

You'll have two formal nights. There are no more "smart casual" nights. It's either formal or casual. They sometimes have THEME nights, such as Caribbean Night where people tend to wear their tackiest tropical shirts.

 

Standard tops work out to something like $9.85/day, which covers all your servers. You can prepay them, add them to your sea pass or hand out cash at the end of the cruise. We prefer to prepay them or add them to our sea pass and just hand out any additional tips to those who went above and beyond. It's difficult to find places to get small bills for the tip envelopes on the last night. And I don't want to risk forgetting to tip someone.

 

RCL will honor price drops, but only if you NOTICE them. Don't expect them to just send you a check. If you don't ask, they leave it alone. So you have to keep checking the posted prices on-line. If you've made your final payment already, you'll get the refund in the form of an on board credit to your account or you can choose to upgrade to a higher level cabin if one is available. After the final payment, they don't like to issue actual refunds.

 

Have fun!

[librarycin]

How far off is your cruise? Sometimes it takes a while for the roll calls to get going.

 

You'll have two formal nights. There are no more "smart casual" nights. It's either formal or casual. They sometimes have THEME nights, such as Caribbean Night where people tend to wear their tackiest tropical shirts.

 

Standard tops work out to something like $9.85/day, which covers all your servers. You can prepay them, add them to your sea pass or hand out cash at the end of the cruise. We prefer to prepay them or add them to our sea pass and just hand out any additional tips to those who went above and beyond.

 

Hi! Thanks for the reply, printingchick. The cruise really isn't that far away: May 7-14th.

 

And, I meant to ask about "smart casual" as well, so thank you for answering that already! :)

 

For tips, I plan to do it exactly the way you do. It's just so much easier to let it go on to my account.

[vivian02]

Librarycin,

Good choice. Did Alaska on Rapsody in May of 2009. I am attaching a picture of the pool area. Notice that no one was swimming in the outdoor pool at Juneau. Here is the tip you will want to know about. "You can swim in the Solarium" not only that if you proceed to the Spa area at the back of the Solarium you can use the Suna for no change. By the way.... it has to be a decent ship. My wife and I leave for a 14 day cruise on Rapsody out of Sydney Austrialia in less than two weeks. Tim

[librarycin]

Librarycin,

Good choice. Did Alaska on Rapsody in May of 2009. I am attaching a picture of the pool area. Notice that no one was swimming in the outdoor pool at Juneau. Here is the tip you will want to know about. "You can swim in the Solarium" not only that if you proceed to the Spa area at the back of the Solarium you can use the Suna for no change. By the way.... it has to be a decent ship. My wife and I leave for a 14 day cruise on Rapsody out of Sydney Austrialia in less than two weeks. Tim

 

Thanks for your comments, Tim! It's nice to know someone else who braved Alaska in May! ;) What was the weather like for you at that time of year? I'm thinking it will be a bit chilly, but if you notice my other cruises, I haven't yet done a warm weather cruise, so that shouldn't bother me!

 

Thanks again! :) And have a great time in Australia! Wow! As much as I love Alaska, I'm a wee bit jealous.

[birdylady]

Welcome to RCCL. As you can see by my signature, we are going on Rhapsody a few weeks after us. Do get active on your thread. If there are 25 or more people signed up for the M&M, RCCL will have it. If you sign up for a M&M, do go if they have it.

I anxiously look forward to you posting a review after your sailing. Please share all the hints and tips you can.

 

Thanx,

Erika

[librarycin]

Welcome to RCCL. As you can see by my signature, we are going on Rhapsody a few weeks after us. Do get active on your thread. If there are 25 or more people signed up for the M&M, RCCL will have it. If you sign up for a M&M, do go if they have it.

I anxiously look forward to you posting a review after your sailing. Please share all the hints and tips you can.

 

Thanx,

Erika

 

Thanks Erika! I will sign up for the Meet and Mingle, but I'm not sure there will be enough (at least based on our roll call). No question, I will go if there is one, though! I really hope there is! :) How's your roll call doing, by the way?

 

I've never done a review for any of my cruises, so I'm not sure if I will, but I can understand why you'd like to see one. hmmm, I wonder if there's another way to get ahold of you once I'm back to fill you in... ?

[librarycin]

Oh! I thought of aunother question. If I was to sign up for any RCCL excursions online, is my credit card charged right away (like Celebrity?) or is it added to my onboard account (like NCL)? I actually prefer to be charged when I book it online because it spreads out the cost. :eek:

[birdylady]

Thanks Erika! I will sign up for the Meet and Mingle, but I'm not sure there will be enough (at least based on our roll call). No question, I will go if there is one, though! I really hope there is! :) How's your roll call doing, by the way?

 

I've never done a review for any of my cruises, so I'm not sure if I will, but I can understand why you'd like to see one. hmmm, I wonder if there's another way to get ahold of you once I'm back to fill you in... ?

First, IF there is not enough for a M&M you can always 'make your own'. We were on Monarch in May and since RCCL doesn't do M&Ms for cruises shorter then 7 days, we created our own. We met for sailaway and got to know each other better. Then of course, kept bumping into each other throughout the sailing.

 

As far as reaching me, I just 'befriended' you. Maybe once you've accepted, we can IM or something. If not, I can get you my email addy.

 

Oh! I thought of aunother question. If I was to sign up for any RCCL excursions online, is my credit card charged right away (like Celebrity?) or is it added to my onboard account (like NCL)? I actually prefer to be charged when I book it online because it spreads out the cost. :eek:

 

If I remember correctly, when you 'purchase' something through the RCCL website prior to sailing (or at least final payment) it gets added to your bill. But wouldn't bet my life on it.

 

Do let me know what excursions you do, through whom and what you throught afterwards. I'm still in the research phase for all that.

 

Erika

[stevea36]

First, IF there is not enough for a M&M you can always 'make your own'. We were on Monarch in May and since RCCL doesn't do M&Ms for cruises shorter then 7 days, we created our own. We met for sailaway and got to know each other better. Then of course, kept bumping into each other throughout the sailing.

 

As far as reaching me, I just 'befriended' you. Maybe once you've accepted, we can IM or something. If not, I can get you my email addy.

 

 

 

If I remember correctly, when you 'purchase' something through the RCCL website prior to sailing (or at least final payment) it gets added to your bill. But wouldn't bet my life on it.

 

Do let me know what excursions you do, through whom and what you throught afterwards. I'm still in the research phase for all that.

 

Erika

 

 

My experience with excursions, special meals, etc. that are booked via the web site is that they are immediately charged to your credit card. As Librarycin stated it will help spread out the payments, but if you want to use your on board credits (obc) that you have gotten from a price drop or an incentive from your travel agent you will need to book them onboard. That's the situation I'm in right now.. have $350 in OBC coming to me and will need to wait 16 days to use them...

 

Just remember to keep going to the RCCL web site and act like you are booking the same cruise. If the price goes down call your travel agent and have them get in touch with RCCL to get you the new price.

 

Happy Cruising,

 

Steve

[librarycin]

First, IF there is not enough for a M&M you can always 'make your own'. We were on Monarch in May and since RCCL doesn't do M&Ms for cruises shorter then 7 days, we created our own. We met for sailaway and got to know each other better. Then of course, kept bumping into each other throughout the sailing.

 

As far as reaching me, I just 'befriended' you. Maybe once you've accepted, we can IM or something. If not, I can get you my email addy.

 

Do let me know what excursions you do, through whom and what you throught afterwards. I'm still in the research phase for all that.

 

Erika

 

Thanks again, Erika! That is a good point about organizing our own get together. I'll mention that as an option on our roll call (if anyone ever returns to read it! ;)). And, we'll try to find out what the friend thing does on this site.

 

I will let you know about the excursions as well. Another possibility I will also be looking at is tours through a website called shoretrips. I booked one through them in Halifax and really really enjoyed it.

[librarycin]

My experience with excursions, special meals, etc. that are booked via the web site is that they are immediately charged to your credit card. As Librarycin stated it will help spread out the payments, but if you want to use your on board credits (obc) that you have gotten from a price drop or an incentive from your travel agent you will need to book them onboard. That's the situation I'm in right now.. have $350 in OBC coming to me and will need to wait 16 days to use them...

 

Just remember to keep going to the RCCL web site and act like you are booking the same cruise. If the price goes down call your travel agent and have them get in touch with RCCL to get you the new price.

 

Happy Cruising,

 

Steve

 

Good point about the onboard credits! I guess if it turns out I get a big enough one, I can cancel anything I've booked online and sign up once I'm on the ship instead. And, I will do exactly what you are suggesting in checking the website often to check the price. Thanks, Steve!

[librarycin]

Had another question. Are there any specialty restaurants on Rhapsody of the Seas? Thanks!

[GXmanDC]

Welcome on board!

 

There are a few exceptions to the price drop, they won't match for "new booking only specials."

[birdylady]

Good point about the onboard credits! I guess if it turns out I get a big enough one, I can cancel anything I've booked online and sign up once I'm on the ship instead. And, I will do exactly what you are suggesting in checking the website often to check the price. Thanks, Steve!

Keep in mind, IF you book on-line ahead of time, I think they will expect you to pay for it now. Or at the latest by final payment. So if you do that, you will just have that much more OBC. LOL

 

Had another question. Are there any specialty restaurants on Rhapsody of the Seas? Thanks!

Sadly, I think not. There is nothing listed on the ship plans that I can see. Bummer, I wouldn't mind another Chops meal. Or at the least a Johnny Rockets Peanut Butter Shake. Heck, I could go for one now.

 

Erika

[librarycin]

Sadly, I think not. There is nothing listed on the ship plans that I can see. Bummer, I wouldn't mind another Chops meal. Or at the least a Johnny Rockets Peanut Butter Shake. Heck, I could go for one now.

 

Erika

 

Thanks! No worries, I was just curious, really. I am happy to eat somewhere where I've already paid for my food! :)

[aloha of the seas]

Check out Derek Lewis in the Schooner Bar while you are onboard. He will make your night very enjoyable:D.

 

Some of the Vision class ships have had specialty restaurants added behind the Schooner Bar. Unfortunately they have not yet got around to doing the Rhapsody. For a change of pace you always have the Windjammer buffet.

 

Good Sailing, Murf