Questions for our first cruise on Royal

[Nike4000]

You seem to have a really open mind regarding trying Royal- that's great! It's different from Disney of course, but we love both...for us where we are now in life, we would rather vacation more, so Royal is the fit rather than Disney- we hope to cruise Disney again, but who knows...I want to try NCL's getaway class and also the new Carnival ship - some amazing reviews out there. We will still do Disney- just the parks

Yeah, we're in a similar life stage. Last year's cruise to Alaska was our big DCL farewell. During the cruise I watched as the kids had little to no interest in the Disney-specific activities onboard and nothing stood out to me as being exceptional other than the service. I kept asking myself if anything I experienced was worth the price of admission. The answer was no. Don't get me wrong, we love sailing DCL, and look forward to doing so again sometime in the future (maybe with grandkids one day?), but like you we'd prefer to vacation more often. When we figured out that we could get two (possibly even 3) cruises in on other lines for the cost of 1 DCL cruise, it made it hard to justify another DCL trip.

I'm fully expecting Royal to be different from DCL, but different doesn't mean worse. I posted in another thread that my mantra is "a bad day cruising is WAY better than a good day working!" Anything I can do to increase the number of days I'm cruising is a good thing.

 

[Chaitali]

Just to add our experience with MTD, we really loved our serving team the first night so on the way out of the dining room we asked if we could have them every evening. And sure enough, we were placed in their section every evening, even if we came at a different time. I really loved MTD

 

[Nike4000]

Just to add our experience with MTD, we really loved our serving team the first night so on the way out of the dining room we asked if we could have them every evening. And sure enough, we were placed in their section every evening, even if we came at a different time. I really loved MTD

That's a good idea! If we like our team the first night we'll definitely request them for the rest of the cruise. If we don't, we'll request a change the following night. Thanks for the suggestion!

 

[FairestOfThemAll37]

That is very good to know. Even with the high fee, the wife and I were considering it. Your feedback cinches it that we're going to pass this time around. Thanks!

The food is meh (Giovanni's is meh in general). They keep the mediocre wine flowing during the event.

It is absolutely cheesy and purposely so. I don't really enjoy the regular shows because they're cheesy and meh. But I think if you can go in the right mindset that it's a fun evening. It was one of those things where it's so ridiculous it's funny-the actors know it. If you like spoof type comedies, it's enjoyable.
just offering another perspective.

 

[plutolovr]

That's good to know. I'm curious as to what our experience will be like. My Time Dining wasn't our first choice, but we had to change our original sail date from March to July. By the time we made the switch, the only option available was MTD. I've heard both good and bad things about MTD. We've already scheduled our dinner times for each night - same time every night. I'm hopeful that we have the same server, but it's not critical to my enjoyment of the cruise. Honestly, my main focus for dinner will be securing a table with a window! I love looking out on the ocean while eating, there's something soothing about it.

Just let the Maitre'd know that you would like to have the same serving team each night, if possible. Do this on your first night.

 

[Nike4000]

The food is meh (Giovanni's is meh in general). They keep the mediocre wine flowing during the event.

It is absolutely cheesy and purposely so. I don't really enjoy the regular shows because they're cheesy and meh. But I think if you can go in the right mindset that it's a fun evening. It was one of those things where it's so ridiculous it's funny-the actors know it. If you like spoof type comedies, it's enjoyable.
just offering another perspective.

Thanks for the additional input. I still don't know if I want to pay that much for meh entertainment. I can visit murder mystery shows at home for the same price and get top notch food. I'm okay with a bit of "wink wink this is silly" entertainment, but I'm not sure I necessarily want to do that on my vacation. I'll see if your input changes my wife's mind, but for me, I'm still out.

 

[FairestOfThemAll37]

Thanks for the additional input. I still don't know if I want to pay that much for meh entertainment. I can visit murder mystery shows at home for the same price and get top notch food. I'm okay with a bit of "wink wink this is silly" entertainment, but I'm not sure I necessarily want to do that on my vacation. I'll see if your input changes my wife's mind, but for me, I'm still out.

That makes sense and from that perspective, I think your instinct not to go was probably right.

I have mystery dinner places around me but they're over in the throngs of the tourist areas where I have no interest in fighting traffic after work or on the weekends to go. For me, the only time I would do something like that is on vacation where I just go down a few decks and I have nothing else to do. So, totally opposite how you look at it

 

[ronandannette]

I'll definitely pitch Dunns River Falls to the family. It sounds great and the pictures I've seen have been beautiful.
The kids will probably check out the teen space (or spaces) the first night, just to get an idea of what's available. In fact, we'll probably strongly encourage that they do so. After that, all bets are off!
I can't wait to get on the ship!

Definitely do it!! It's one of those "soft adventure" things that are really not as hard as they look and give your average sofa-spud like myself an amazing sense of accomplishment!

 

[OKW Lover]

Burgers and pizza are on the children's menu, but do encourage your child to try some items from the regular menu.

This is a great suggestion. And not just for children. A cruise is an awesome opportunity for anybody to try "different" foods since if it turns out that you don't like it, the waiters will happily bring you something else.

 

[Nike4000]

This is a great suggestion. And not just for children. A cruise is an awesome opportunity for anybody to try "different" foods since if it turns out that you don't like it, the waiters will happily bring you something else.

Totally agree. The wife and I usually end up ordering multiple entrees to split. When the kids were little we had them try something from one of our plates at every dinner. Now our DD is 17 and is a fearless diner. She's the one trying out the more exotic items from the menu - elk, rattlesnake, oysters, snails, whatever, she'll try it at least once! Our DS, on the other hand, is a creature of habit and loves his burgers and pizza. We still require that he try something from one of our plates at dinner, but he's pretty well locked in to what he likes. We're confident that he'll come around eventually.

 

[nkereina]

We're planning on eating in the main dining room each night via the My Time Dining program. We've already reserved our meal times online, so we're good there. However, my question is about extra expenses. Elsewhere on this board or another one, I read that we should be prepared to spend money at each dinner, even in the MDR. What am I going to be paying for? None of us drink alcohol; tea, water, and lemonade are more than sufficient beverage options. The DW recently sailed Carnival for the first time and saw that their dinner menus had paid options - i.e. you could get Steak and Lobster for a fee. Should I expect that on Royal? If so, how much do those options typically cost? What's a good amount to budget? Again, only referring to the main dining room - not specialty options or the other extras (such as Johnny Rockets or Ben & Jerry's).

As PPs mentioned, yes, there are some upgrades like lobster for a fee. We never paid to upgrade in the MDR. But I wouldn't rule out the specialty restaurants just because they cost money - Chops and Izumi were amazing, and we enjoyed them more than the MDR. We bought the 3 restaurant specialty package and ate at Chops, Izumi, and Sabor for $85 per person, which was a great savings and well worth the cost IMO.

I read somewhere about a dress up night where passengers wear all white. Is this a thing? Should I pack my Saturday Night Fever inspired disco suit?

We were just on Oasis last week and there was a white party, but I don't recall where or when. We never saw it. There was also a 70s night and people were encouraged to dress up, but I don't recall seeing guests dressed up. I'm sure some did, but it was not a majority.

Fourth dining related question - is there a place to get cheeseburgers during the day outside of Johnny Rockets? I saw that there is a pizza place, which will be ideal for DS, but he's also wondering about the availability of cheeseburgers and I really don't want to spend $5 each time he wants a burger. Does Windjammers or the other open food places offer burgers?

Yes, Windjammers had burgers during lunch and dinner every time we ate there. They were make your own burgers.

On DCL we usually rent an extra Wave Phone to stay in communication with the kids as they head off on their own shipboard adventures. What communication options are available on Royal? I'm not spending a fortune on internet service for 4 devices just to be able to send a text to someone letting them know that we're at the pool/climbing wall/ice cream place/etc. Do we go old school and synchronize watching with a plan to meet up at specific times & locations? Are walkie-talkies a good option? What do you guys recommend?

We saw some people with walkie talkies. We had one person in each group we were with buy the 1 device internet package, and since we all had iPhones, we were able to iMessage and surf the web with it. We also were able to use wifi calling. DH and I shared the internet code, so he would just log off whenever I wanted to log on.

Do people decorate their stateroom doors like on Disney? We have built up a collection of magnets from prior cruises and don't know if we should leave them at home or bring them along.

We saw several doors decorated.

 

[Nike4000]

As PPs mentioned, yes, there are some upgrades like lobster for a fee. We never paid to upgrade in the MDR. But I wouldn't rule out the specialty restaurants just because they cost money - Chops and Izumi were amazing, and we enjoyed them more than the MDR. We bought the 3 restaurant specialty package and ate at Chops, Izumi, and Sabor for $85 per person, which was a great savings and well worth the cost IMO.



We were just on Oasis last week and there was a white party, but I don't recall where or when. We never saw it. There was also a 70s night and people were encouraged to dress up, but I don't recall seeing guests dressed up. I'm sure some did, but it was not a majority.



Yes, Windjammers had burgers during lunch and dinner every time we ate there. They were make your own burgers.



We saw some people with walkie talkies. We had one person in each group we were with buy the 1 device internet package, and since we all had iPhones, we were able to iMessage and surf the web with it. We also were able to use wifi calling. DH and I shared the internet code, so he would just log off whenever I wanted to log on.



We saw several doors decorated.

Wow! Thanks for all of this great information! I'll share this with the family. We cannot wait!

 

[kabbie]

We're also sailing on Liberty this July...2nd-9th to be exact. Same ports.

 

[Nike4000]

We're also sailing on Liberty this July...2nd-9th to be exact. Same ports.

We sail on the 16th, just a couple of weeks after you. Take good care of the ship for us!

 

[DPRincess81]

@Nike4000 I can't wait to hear your reviews when you get back. We are sailing Oasis for the first time in October and many of your questions look the same as ours. Same-ish itinerary too, Western Caribbean, even though the ships are different. So excited for you! We are so excited too! (No kids for us - they're staying with Grandma.)

 

[Princess Minnie321]

My husband and I did Dunn's falls on our first cruise and it was great. I recommend buying water shoes. We bought them on the way and paid more then if we had bought them at home. It made the climb easy.

We always found the MDR to have good food and by drinking water or lemonade, we never paid an up charge.

 

[Katiedara]

My hubs and I did Dunn's falls on our honeymoon and soooo loved it. Water shoes or old keds type gym shoes are good for the climb as well as water shoes.

 

[Nike4000]

No go on Dunn's River Falls in Jamaica! Both the wife and DS decided they'd rather stay on the ship and enjoy all it has to offer. So, my DD and I are doing a dune buggy excursion. One of the pictures showed the buggy drivers getting covered in mud, which sealed the deal for her. I'm not quite so sure about this one, but she got to pick, so that's what we're doing. It's going to be interesting to say the least!

The rundown is:
Zip lining in Cozumel
Stingray City in Grand Cayman
Dune buggies in Jamaica

Should be quite the adventure!

Counting down the hours until vacation starts!

 

[starvenger]

Best of luck to ya? I'm sure you'll have fun, even if it's not the fun you were hoping for at Dunn's...

 

[Princess Minnie321]

Sting ray city is so fun! I love Grand Cayman!