Considering a first Royal carabean

[4 mickey]

Hi
we have done quite a few dcl cruises
thinking of an 8 th nights cruise on Royal
are all cruises dine anytime ?
soda packages you buy ahead or once onboard ?
where do you get your soda ( I ask because dcl has self serve soda machines ) ?
let’s say I want a soda in the evening how do I get it ?
i am a night owl ( read here insomniac lolll) tv in the stateroom do They have movies on demand ?
shows are there several representations ? Do you have to reserve ? How do you go about it ?
lounge chairs at pools hard to get one ?
thanks for any input

 

[FigmentSpark]

Okay, I just responded to your other thread. If you read my post there, this is the same one, but I'll post again because who knows what comes up in the 'search' section a year from now, lol.

We just got back from an 8 day that we booked 2 months before sailing. We were down for the 5:30 seating, but somehow got changed to "my time" dining, which starts at 6:45, I think. We were eventually accommodated on the 5:30 seating, which was our preference, but if you want 'my time' it didn't seem to be a problem. We did see line ups of people on our way out of our seating, but I don't know if they were all hoping for a table or if they'd made reservations earlier. Also, when we were still in flux about our dining time, we were told to come at 5:45 and they'd fit us in, so it did seem like they were flexible about their dining times.​

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You can buy the packages on board, but if you have the time to wait for sales before your sailing, do that. We got ours during the Black Friday sale. Same with our internet packages. They were cheaper than getting them on board.​

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We found lounge chairs on deck were commandeered by people with towels and towel pins holding them there. There were many empty chairs, but very rarely was there one without a towel and certainly not in a prime space. That was a real pet peeve of ours, but I think it's a problem that crosses all lines.​

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Our sailing (Odyssey) was showing "The Book". We got tickets for that as soon as we were able. It books up quickly. That said, I think you can walk in after a certain point without tickets. So if you have tickets, get there early enough to claim your spot... and earlier than the ship staff recommends. They never told us the right information.​

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There were other shows every night, but in another theatre. We didn't go to all of them, but again, if you can get there early, you'll get the better seats.​

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I didn't use our in-room TV, but I was on deck later in the evening a couple of times and there was a movie showing on deck (once it was Ariel... go figure!). On the Odyssey, the adult section is open all night, but the pool shuts down at 8pm and the hot tub stops 'bubbling' at midnight. We liked going for an 11pm soak. It was quiet at that time.​

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One other thing, since you said it was an 8-day. Ours had 2 formal nights. Day 2 and 6. Not sure if that would be true for all 8-day sailings, but it's something to think about if you're into that or want the photos and the photo packages.​

 

[sam_gordon]

Regarding the sodas... some (most?) ships have Coke freestyle machines that you can utilize if you have a soda package (or higher). Or the other option is to go to a bar. They'll have sodas there too (regardless of whether you have a package or not.

Shows will generally be multiple times on multiple days. I think most stage shows switch about halfway through the cruise. So show 1 will be on days 1-4 and show 2 will be days 4-8 (roughly). Whether you are able to get reservations will depend on the ship. My understanding is only the comedy clubs on the large ships (Oasis, Allure, etc) all but require reservations because the venue is so small (seats ~100-150). Reservations are through the app or website, and on boarding day I'm told there's usually an area set up for those who weren't able to get reservations. I haven't had to use it yet.

You either do MTD (My Time Dining) or TD (traditional dining - early or late). MTD doesn't officially start until 6:45, and that's the first reservation that can be made. But, you can line up early and they might let you in. In the past, they would dedicate one dining room to MTD and the other two to TD. Now, all three are TD for early seating and they fit in MTD as people finish/don't show up for early TD.

Lounge chairs can be hard to get closer to the pool and the later you get there, chair hogs are definitely on board. If you venture further from the pool area, there's a better chance of finding loungers.

 

[RysMomma]

We did a RC cruise over Christmas week. We had a really good time. There were about three or four freestyle machines around the ship. We did buy the package for my son and I on Black Friday, however, then we got it for my daughter while on the ship (so expensive). We did the "my time dining" and had something booked for 6:45 each night. That I did not love. The line was always long, although it did move quickly. They tried to keep you with the same serving team every night, which was nice. Some nights, however, we went to the buffet instead of the dining room. We had no problem getting seats but there was an indoor pool and an outdoor pool (we were traveling from NJ during Christmas week). So, that was nice! No complaints there!

 

[hmsTigger]

Okay, I just responded to your other thread. If you read my post there, this is the same one, but I'll post again because who knows what comes up in the 'search' section a year from now, lol.

We just got back from an 8 day that we booked 2 months before sailing. We were down for the 5:30 seating, but somehow got changed to "my time" dining, which starts at 6:45, I think. We were eventually accommodated on the 5:30 seating, which was our preference, but if you want 'my time' it didn't seem to be a problem. We did see line ups of people on our way out of our seating, but I don't know if they were all hoping for a table or if they'd made reservations earlier. Also, when we were still in flux about our dining time, we were told to come at 5:45 and they'd fit us in, so it did seem like they were flexible about their dining times.​

​

You can buy the packages on board, but if you have the time to wait for sales before your sailing, do that. We got ours during the Black Friday sale. Same with our internet packages. They were cheaper than getting them on board.​

​

We found lounge chairs on deck were commandeered by people with towels and towel pins holding them there. There were many empty chairs, but very rarely was there one without a towel and certainly not in a prime space. That was a real pet peeve of ours, but I think it's a problem that crosses all lines.​

​

Our sailing (Odyssey) was showing "The Book". We got tickets for that as soon as we were able. It books up quickly. That said, I think you can walk in after a certain point without tickets. So if you have tickets, get there early enough to claim your spot... and earlier than the ship staff recommends. They never told us the right information.​

​

There were other shows every night, but in another theatre. We didn't go to all of them, but again, if you can get there early, you'll get the better seats.​

​

I didn't use our in-room TV, but I was on deck later in the evening a couple of times and there was a movie showing on deck (once it was Ariel... go figure!). On the Odyssey, the adult section is open all night, but the pool shuts down at 8pm and the hot tub stops 'bubbling' at midnight. We liked going for an 11pm soak. It was quiet at that time.​

​

One other thing, since you said it was an 8-day. Ours had 2 formal nights. Day 2 and 6. Not sure if that would be true for all 8-day sailings, but it's something to think about if you're into that or want the photos and the photo packages.​

Great Post Are there formal nights on the European RCCL sailings?
A lot to get used to if you have been a loyal DCL traveller.

 

[kimj88]

If you are on a ship without Freestyle machines (and there are some RCL that don't have them), you get your sodas from any bar.

 

[starvenger]

Great Post Are there formal nights on the European RCCL sailings?

There will be, yes.

I think all cruise lines follow the same rule of thumb when it comes to "formal" nights and cruise length, so there shouldn't be anything unfamiliar here.