We booked, now what?

[Luv2cruise!]

We are used to sailing with Disney, so I feel lost with booking a Royal Caribbean! We just booked but our sailing isn't until October. What do I do now? I looked at the cruise planner, but the only thing I can do is book excursions or drink packages. Do you have to book your shows or do you do that on board? It shows nothing when I click on "Entertainment".

Also, the only option for us was My Time Dining. Is there any way to get this switched to a set dining time? Or if it isn't available now, it probably won't be?

One more question- how does boarding work? I know with Disney, you select a time when you do online check in. Will we receive a time to check in?

Anything else I should be doing/ reserving until I can check in?

Thanks!

 

[jenf22]

We've also got as Royal cruise in October - Harmony on the 13th. We sailed Allure last October, so I assume a lot of things will be similar. We did book shows ahead of time. I think reservations show up 90 days out. I don't think you'll have a problem switching to a set dining time. I think with the My Time Dining you can reserve a set time every day if you'd like. But I'm' not sure about that, we had the early dining. They might have a wait list you could get on. With boarding we did pick a check-in time, but I don't know that it meant anything. We got to the port, checked in, and then were sent to a huge room where they then called people to board based on sections of the room. It was kind of a mess. This was in Ft Lauderdale. This October is out of Port Canaveral, so it could be totally different.

While you're waiting you could hop over to Cruise Critic and see if there is a roll call for your sailing. There may be a meet and greet or a slot pull or something else social.

Oh, and with regards to wifi, drink packages, and excursions - Royal puts these things on sale all the time! The prices change weekly it seems. If you book something and then see it cheaper later, you can cancel online and rebook it at the cheaper rate.

 

[msjprincess]

We are used to sailing with Disney, so I feel lost with booking a Royal Caribbean! We just booked but our sailing isn't until October. What do I do now? I looked at the cruise planner, but the only thing I can do is book excursions or drink packages. Do you have to book your shows or do you do that on board? It shows nothing when I click on "Entertainment".

Also, the only option for us was My Time Dining. Is there any way to get this switched to a set dining time? Or if it isn't available now, it probably won't be?

One more question- how does boarding work? I know with Disney, you select a time when you do online check in. Will we receive a time to check in?

Anything else I should be doing/ reserving until I can check in?

Thanks!

It's too early for entertainment I think it usually opens about 60 days out. What ship are you on? You can't book entertainment for all ships.


You can be out on a waitlist for your preferred time.

When you do online check in they ask when you plan on arriving and assign a check in time. But it is not enforced for cruises out of the US. They usually start boarding around 11am.

 

[Frozen2014]

What ship? You can only book shows on Oasis and Quantum class. For those just keep cjrcheck your cruise planner to see when available.

You should see dining packages/single bookings soon if not there already. This is optional if you want to try a specialty restaurant (versus Main Dining Room or Windjammer)

For your dining, I would call whomever you booked with. Sometimes traditional early dining fills up but call and see.

 

[hdrolfe]

For the dining, you can always reserve for a set time each day, I did that on our last cruise and we were seated at the same table each night, with the same servers. Just an option to consider.

 

[Luv2cruise!]

We are going on the Harmony of the Seas. Good info, thank you guys!

 

[starvenger]

- Check in time is just a suggestion. Peak check-in time is probably the same as it is on all the other cruise lines, so boarding early (11am) or late will probably lead to the least amount of frustration. Of course, with Port Canaveral being where it is, that is easier said than done.
- Entertainment opens 2-3 months out. I want to say that it opens at the start of the month, but I haven't really paid attention to the actual date. But with an October sail date you should see your entertainment options in July/August.
- You'll be able to book the following: Grease, Columbus: The Musical, The Fine Line (First aqua show), the first Ice show, Comedians and Feature Performer.
- You will not be able to book the second aqua show and the second ice show.
- FYI: Email Royal in early September and they'll be able to tell you who your Comedians/Feature Performers are. Chances are that they're no one you've heard of, but that's what google is for
- Dining: If you can book your MTD now do it. You should be able to change it later, especially if you want to work your meals around the shows. Some of the shows finish up right around the start of early dinner (6pm). Others coincide with the end of early dinner (8:30, which is also the late dinner start time).

- Example schedule: Here is a photo gallery of Cruise Compasses and Show Times on CC

 

[Frozen2014]

You can also start researching your ports. Royal offers excursions, do can do outside of Royal, or just grab a taxi and go to a beach or somewhere.
Cruise critic has good 'ports of call' section.

 

[starvenger]

@Luv2cruise! What are your ports? Any that you haven't been to?

 

[Luv2cruise!]

We have thought about switching from My Time dining to early dining, if available. Are there typically long wait times if we do My Time compared to having a set time? We have little kids, so I don't want to be waiting longer than we have to be.

 

[Garyjames220]

We are used to sailing with Disney, so I feel lost with booking a Royal Caribbean! We just booked but our sailing isn't until October. What do I do now? I looked at the cruise planner, but the only thing I can do is book excursions or drink packages. Do you have to book your shows or do you do that on board? It shows nothing when I click on "Entertainment".

Also, the only option for us was My Time Dining. Is there any way to get this switched to a set dining time? Or if it isn't available now, it probably won't be?

One more question- how does boarding work? I know with Disney, you select a time when you do online check in. Will we receive a time to check in?

Anything else I should be doing/ reserving until I can check in?

Thanks!

What makes u jump from royal to Disney. Just as we are thinking about it to depending on the next lot of prices by Disney

 

[starvenger]

What makes u jump from royal to Disney. Just as we are thinking about it to depending on the next lot of prices by Disney

OP is going the other way.

I did a Disney cruise after doing Princess and Royal. And yeah, the prices are pretty $$$ compared to Royal at certain times of the year (the other times it's just $-$$). But still, we wanted to try other cruise lines. Being a cruise optimist I figured that the worst that could happen is that - barring injury, sickness or bad weather - you just don't enjoy the cruise as much as some previous cruises. And as it turned out, we didn't like our DCL Fantasy cruise as much as our other cruises, so back to Royal we went (we're aiming to do Princess in 2021). Zero regrets about doing DCL though. It wasn't bad and I can see why people love it so much, but just not for us.

 

[Garyjames220]

OP is going the other way.

I did a Disney cruise after doing Princess and Royal. And yeah, the prices are pretty $$$ compared to Royal at certain times of the year (the other times it's just $-$$). But still, we wanted to try other cruise lines. Being a cruise optimist I figured that the worst that could happen is that - barring injury, sickness or bad weather - you just don't enjoy the cruise as much as some previous cruises. And as it turned out, we didn't like our DCL Fantasy cruise as much as our other cruises, so back to Royal we went (we're aiming to do Princess in 2021). Zero regrets about doing DCL though. It wasn't bad and I can see why people love it so much, but just not for us.

Yeah true

What ships have u been on or would u recomand with royal

 

[Denise W]

We have thought about switching from My Time dining to early dining, if available. Are there typically long wait times if we do My Time compared to having a set time? We have little kids, so I don't want to be waiting longer than we have to be.

We always have My Time Dining and I book reservations for each night on the cruise planner before we go. Once on board you can cancel or change the time if needed. We have never had any wait at all when we show up at the desk.
Denise

 

[starvenger]

Yeah true

What ships have u been on or would u recomand with royal

I've only been on the big ships so I can't make an informed recommendation. Will be doing Independence next Jan though, and possibly Symphony in Aug 2020.

 

[msjprincess]

We were a party of 6 with on Allure in November. We only made reservations for the two formal nights. There was never a wait and we easily changed reservations at the last minute.