Newbie on Royal - What are your best tips?

[DisneyDad64]

We are a newbie on Royal Caribbean and are looking for some tips to make the trip enjoyable. We have done 11 Disney and 2 NCL and 1 Carnival cruises. We are staying in the 1 bedroom Aquatheatre suite (Sky Class).

We have the Coco Cay water park day pass booked. We are also planning on eating often at Coastal Kitchen.

How are reservations made for the shows?

Should we eat at a specialty restaurant?

Should we get the drink package?

Are there any tips for parking at the port? (Port Canaveral)

 

[Sehsun]

We are a newbie on Royal Caribbean and are looking for some tips to make the trip enjoyable. We have done 11 Disney and 2 NCL and 1 Carnival cruises. We are staying in the 1 bedroom Aquatheatre suite (Sky Class).

We have the Coco Cay water park day pass booked. We are also planning on eating often at Coastal Kitchen.

How are reservations made for the shows?

Should we eat at a specialty restaurant?

Should we get the drink package?

Are there any tips for parking at the port? (Port Canaveral)

Awesome!

We make reservations on the app before the cruise. If the app says all the shows are full, then on embarkation day, there will be a section of the ship where the crew helps you with booking shows. We did that for our last cruise, and they were able to get us a reservation for every show we wanted. And even then, if you are unable to (or you cancel a show or something else happens that you don't have a reservation), there should be a standby line before each show that you can wait in if there is room or people don't show up. Be sure to ask if the line is the standby or reservations line because on our last cruise (Wonder of the Seas), it was not marked.

Everybody is different, but my husband and I don't do a whole lot of specialty restaurants. We enjoy the food in Windjammer (buffet) and the included main dining rooms. However, if there is one that interests you, go for it. We found Wonderland to be really unique and fun, worth doing once, even if it was a bit pricey.

Hopefully someone who has had the drink package can provide feedback, but we (personally) do not get the drink package. We have found that in order to make it "worth it," you would have to drink about 6 drinks a day. And I think to book the drink package online, every adult in the stateroom has to purchase it.

The only tip I have for parking at Port Canaveral is if it's available, I like finding parking near the stairs and elevators to make it a little less of a walk.

Have a great time, and I hope you really enjoy cruising with Royal Caribbean! It is one of our favorites, and we have done DCL and NCL as well.

 

[peacefrogdog]

In all honesty, my biggest tip is : try not to read too much online about the quality of the food on Royal. Let yourself be the judge. To be more specific, you will find a lot posted on boards like these about how much the quality of food on Royal has deteriorated over the past 5-8 years. By the way some people wrote, you would think they are in prison. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion of course and I realize has their own standards for what they are entitled do for what they pay.

As someone who has been cruising since 2001 (10 on Royal, 2 on Disney), who has lived long enough and been lucky to have travelled a bit that I think enables me to appreciate good food: I think the main dining room and Windjammer food is totally fine. I would not call either 5 star dining nor 'imaginative' food, but is food that I would consider to be restaurant quality. Using a Disney comparison, it's like eating at a non-signature dining table service meal.

Like a previous poster, we have not seen the need to book a specialty restaurant. We have not been to Wonderland, but that would one place to Google to see whether its focus on presentation and imagination appeals enough to you. The others we have tried (Chops, Hooked, Jamies/Giovanni's) were good, but not better or unique compared to similar restaurants at home.

We did like food at Coastal Kitchen more than the MDR food, so i would consider booking that for your dinners every night - you will likely get the same table and servers for your entire cruise similar to what would occur in the MDR.

I would consider doing my time dining. The main reason is, if like us, we found the available options for fixed dining (530 or 830) just didn't fit - we were typically too full from lunch or snacking (!) in the afternoon to actually feel hungry at 530, and 830 was too late for us. You can book any time for My time dining (I believe any time after 630 pm), and if so, you tend to be seated at the same table for the entire cruise, with the same staff waiting on you (just like would happen if you did fixed time dining).

 

[peacefrogdog]

Regarding the drink package - it really does depend on how much you drink. We are not big drinkers so the deluxe package never appealed to us. The times we got the non-alcoholic package, we found we were ordering drinks like specialty coffees, smoothies, fresh OJ etc. just to take advantage of the package rather than actually want them. Even then, when tallying up how much we would have paid a la carte, the daily total was the same if not less than the daily cost of the drink package. But again, it really does depend on what you tend to drink on cruises.

 

[peacefrogdog]

re: Coco Cay - the Beach Club is quite nice. The included lunch menu has the best steak (a filet) I've ever had on a cruise. At the price we had paid for it in 2022 (~ 75 USD) it was worth it. However I've since noticed the cost has increased to a crazy price of > $250 USD. There is so much free seating on Coco Cay that provided you get off the ship at a reasonable time, you should have no problems finding a spot.

Last: if you are on a Oasis-class ship that has a Vitality Spa Cafe, that is a hidden gem if you like Smoothies and freshly squeezed juices.

 

[OKW Lover]

In all honesty, my biggest tip is : try not to read too much online about the quality of the food on Royal. Let yourself be the judge. To be more specific, you will find a lot posted on boards like these about how much the quality of food on Royal has deteriorated over the past 5-8 years. By the way some people wrote, you would think they are in prison.

Excellent advice. Another point is that there is no way to know just what the posters tastes are like. They may be very different from yours.

I think the main dining room and Windjammer food is totally fine. I would not call either 5 star dining nor 'imaginative' food, but is food that I would consider to be restaurant quality. Using a Disney comparison, it's like eating at a non-signature dining table service meal.

Got to agree with this analogy.

We did like food at Coastal Kitchen more than the MDR food, so i would consider booking that for your dinners every night

Loved CK. It's the difference between cooking for a couple of hundred people vs 5 thousand.

 

[FreeTime]

We don’t get the drink package as it has always been cheaper for us to pay out of pocket.

We also have not added any specialty dining. We actually enjoyed our cruise more by just being able to eat where we wanted when we wanted. On DCL we felt like we had to eat in the rotating dining room for the experience. On RCCL, if we wanted pizza one night, we had pizza. We felt it was okay to forgo the dining room as it was nothing special and the overall cruise price was so much cheaper we didn’t feel guilty eating the fast food.

 

[DisneyDad64]

We did like food at Coastal Kitchen more than the MDR food, so i would consider booking that for your dinners every night - you will likely get the same table and servers for your entire cruise similar to what would occur in the MDR.

for CK and staying in a suite does concierge reach out to us before the cruise or do they do it after we board?

 

[OKW Lover]

for CK and staying in a suite does concierge reach out to us before the cruise or do they do it after we board?

You'll hear from the concierge about 10 days (maybe less) before your cruise. You can ask them to make your CK (and other specialty dining) reservations at that time.

 

[DisneyDad64]

Thanks for all of the info!

 

[Frozen2014]

We also enjoy the MDR., but food is subjective. Also, I have never stayed higher suite , but have heard very good things about Costal Kitchen (if on Oasis or Quantum class). If you want to try specialty, maybe look at the menus and give 1 a try? We also like traditional dining so we get the same table, same waiters each night, but we eat in the dining room every night so may not be as much of a difference if you trying different things.

Unfortunately the drink packages have gotten very expensive. You need to drink 6 drinks or so, but the package does include specialty coffees, soda, water, and other non-alchoholic drinks. So it's your call if it would be worth it to you.

If you on Oasis or Quantum class ship, you should be able to pre-book a few shows on the cruise planner. Keep an eye on it before your cruise. Others may not need reservations....but book the comedy show as this one is a small venue and sells out.

 

[ScooterScott44]

For Dining and shows you can work with the concierge. They will reach out a week or so before by email. All you need to do is reply with your request. I would just have mainly the dining times based on port times ready for request. The shows have had suites seating so that might give you some flexibility to no have to make a reservations.

The with Sky class you will have access to the lounge in the costal kitchen area during the day and for the happy hour drinks so a drinks package is not really necessary. During the happy hour standard liquor and mix drinks will be available. Wine and Beer will also be available during that time and from 11-11 during the day. Unless you are drinking a specific or special drinks you likely don't need a package. There will also be a specialty coffee machine that you have access to in there as well as the snacks and breakfast choices.

Some of the specialty dining is pretty decent and we have done the specialty dining packages even when sailing in Sky class. You didn't share which ship but you are obviously on an Oasis class. Since Oasis class has the most options with specialty dining, I would say consider it. The Wonder of the Seas had the best 150 Central Park in the fleet. Chops is usually a good choice on any ship, and the ships that have Jamie's is preferred by us and friends. Allure has the Samba Grill which is not found on other ships, it is decent but not best Brazilian steakhouse. Wonderland can be fun but the concept and food is not for everyone. If it is something you are interested in then probably a good option.

 

[Deb]

I had the drink package once. I got what I considered a good deal and did not regret it but it's unlikely I'll purchase it again on Royal. I've reached a loyalty level where I get free drinks daily. Even if I need a to purchase a few here and there it will be cheaper than a package at this point. One thing I did appreciate with the package, if I wanted to order something because it sounded good, I could take the chance that I might not like it

 

[MsChristy12]

In all honesty, my biggest tip is : try not to read too much online about the quality of the food on Royal. Let yourself be the judge. To be more specific, you will find a lot posted on boards like these about how much the quality of food on Royal has deteriorated over the past 5-8 years. By the way some people wrote, you would think they are in prison. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion of course and I realize has their own standards for what they are entitled do for what they pay.

We did like food at Coastal Kitchen more than the MDR food, so i would consider booking that for your dinners every night - you will likely get the same table and servers for your entire cruise similar to what would occur in the MDR.

Totally agreed! It has been a few years since we were on a Royal cruise, but even on the same ship at the same time, the food from one seating could be a tad different than the other seating, and that actually happened to us. When we were on the Allure, we went to the main dining room for dinner one night and we dined earlier than our friends did, but we had the exact same menu and we actually chose the same entrée. I remembered I really enjoyed the porkchops, it was moist and very flavorful but our friends said theirs was dry.

The way I see it, if you don't like the food, that's okay. It can happen anywhere in the world, but just kindly let your server know and get something else. If you're nice about it, I can promise you they won't give you a hard time and they actually feel bad! They will do their best to make it right (at least on Royal, not sure about other cruise lines).

We love Coastal Kitchen! There wasn't a day we weren't in there. We had dinner there twice, enjoyed the more quiet and intimate atmosphere. It was more personal, because they all remember your names after the first day and sometimes even your preferences!

 

[MsChristy12]

We are a newbie on Royal Caribbean and are looking for some tips to make the trip enjoyable. We have done 11 Disney and 2 NCL and 1 Carnival cruises. We are staying in the 1 bedroom Aquatheatre suite (Sky Class).

We have the Coco Cay water park day pass booked. We are also planning on eating often at Coastal Kitchen.

How are reservations made for the shows?

Should we eat at a specialty restaurant?

Should we get the drink package?

Are there any tips for parking at the port? (Port Canaveral)

Are you into fine dining? If your ship has 150 Central Park, make a resy! We enjoyed it so much that we ate there twice! Their Cucumber Martini is a MUST! They make theirs differently from any other bars on the ship, and it is the best we've ever had. 'Til this day, I'm still dreaming about it!

When we sailed the Allure (sky class), we never made resy for any of the shows. At the time, they had reserved sections for all the suite class, so we just showed the crew member our seapass and they automatically seated us in the reserved section. I don't know if things have changed though.

For drinks package, it really depends on how much you drink. We did the calculation and we couldn't make it worth it. Don't forget you'll get some free drinks in the suite lounge! We would have 1-2 drinks earlier in the day, and go to the lounge in the evening to get the complimentary drinks.

 

[FigmentSpark]

Regarding the drink package - it really does depend on how much you drink. We are not big drinkers so the deluxe package never appealed to us. The times we got the non-alcoholic package, we found we were ordering drinks like specialty coffees, smoothies, fresh OJ etc. just to take advantage of the package rather than actually want them. Even then, when tallying up how much we would have paid a la carte, the daily total was the same if not less than the daily cost of the drink package. But again, it really does depend on what you tend to drink on cruises.

Do you remember what the a la carte price for the drinks (coffees, smoothies, soda) is? Its hard to figure which is a better value without knowing how much they will charge without the package.

If there's a Black Friday sale on drink packages (which I've heard sometimes happens), is it possible it might be worth it?

Also, do you tip the servers (with or without the package) or is that included in the tip total at the end of the cruise?

 

[Deb]

If you don't have a package, your bill for each drink will have a gratuity added on. I think the package charges gratuity at time of purchase

 

[FigmentSpark]

If you don't have a package, your bill for each drink will have a gratuity added on. I think the package charges gratuity at time of purchase

Oh that's good to know.

 

[Kevin O'Brien]

My best tips on Royal Caribbean is that if you want to go swimming on day 1 take swimming kit in your hand luggage as you might not get your suitcases until the evening.
I also look on the app for times and activities I love the rock climbing wall, waterslides, ice skating shows, parades and video arcade. When I go on rock climbing wall I usually ask to go on the easiest level as the harder levels are more difficult to climb so I do the easy level first.

 

[FigmentSpark]

My best tips on Royal Caribbean is that if you want to go swimming on day 1 take swimming kit in your hand luggage as you might not get your suitcases until the evening.
I also look on the app for times and activities I love the rock climbing wall, waterslides, ice skating shows, parades and video arcade. When I go on rock climbing wall I usually ask to go on the easiest level as the harder levels are more difficult to climb so I do the easy level first.

Two questions... what games are in the video arcade? Is it worth buying the pre-package for it?

And.... are the things like rock climbing wall, waterslides, etc all something you can just walk up to or do you have to book times?

I noticed on our sailing, the ifly is already booked, as is the North Star and Flow Rider. I just assumed the other things were booked, as well, but if they are walk-up, then my guys have a chance to try them.