Questions for our first cruise on Royal

Nike4000

Mouseketeer
Joined
Mar 7, 2014
We've been fortunate enough to cruise Disney several times and have absolutely loved every one. This July we're giving Royal Caribbean a shot for a myriad of reasons. Of course this new experience comes with tons of questions. I'm hoping that some more experienced Royal cruisers can provide a few answers!

We're sailing on the Liberty of the Seas, doing the Western Caribbean itinerary that stops in Cozumel, Grand Cayman, and Jamaica. We're a family of 4 with two cabins booked (one balcony, one interior). Kids will be 17 and 13 at the time of sailing.

Our questions (with too much exposition) are:

FOOD RELATED
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).

Also related to dining, does anyone know if the kid's menu has cheeseburgers and pizza on it? The most recent kid's menu I found via Google was from 2011.

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?

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?

COMMUNICATION
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?

EXCURSIONS
We've visited Cozumel and Grand Cayman several times on DCL, so we have our excursions for those two ports already lined up. What do you recommend for Jamaica? The DS doesn't like getting in the ocean, so snorkeling or anything heavily beach-related is out. We're open to ideas! We're zip lining in Cozumel and meeting up with friends in Grand Cayman. We have no clue what to do in Jamaica. What were your favorite excursions in Jamaica?

ACTIVITIES
Do they have pin trading activities on Royal? My DD fell in love with trading pins on our two most recent Disney cruises. She's hoping to get some cool Royal-themed pins if possible.

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.

I'm sorry if this is a dumb question, but are the shows different each night? I've heard that the Disco/70's themed show and the ice show shouldn't be missed, but that's it. We typically plan our evenings around the shows on the Disney ships, just trying to figure out if it's similar on Royal.

We saw something about a Murder Mystery activity. What's that? Is it worth the price of admission? What about teens (13 and 17 years old) participating?


I think that's about it - for now. Please note that I'm not asking for a comparison between DCL and Royal or looking for pros and cons between the two. We love sailing with DCL and are looking forward to experiencing all that Royal has to offer. We just want to go in to the Royal cruise with as much information about Royal as possible.

Thank you in advance for your input!
 
We've been fortunate enough to cruise Disney several times and have absolutely loved every one. This July we're giving Royal Caribbean a shot for a myriad of reasons. Of course this new experience comes with tons of questions. I'm hoping that some more experienced Royal cruisers can provide a few answers!

We're sailing on the Liberty of the Seas, doing the Western Caribbean itinerary that stops in Cozumel, Grand Cayman, and Jamaica. We're a family of 4 with two cabins booked (one balcony, one interior). Kids will be 17 and 13 at the time of sailing.

Our questions (with too much exposition) are:

FOOD RELATED
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).

Also related to dining, does anyone know if the kid's menu has cheeseburgers and pizza on it? The most recent kid's menu I found via Google was from 2011.

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?

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?

Lobster will be served on Formal Night. There is no extra charge. No need to spend any extra money on drinks unless you want something special. I have never eaten in a specialty restaurant or have anything I needed to pay extra for in the dining room.

Burgers and pizza are on the children's menu, but do encourage your child to try some items from the regular menu. You will find burgers and pizza all over the ship, I imagine.

I have never experienced an evening where everyone wore white, but I can't say for sure it doesn't exist.
 
ACTIVITIES
Do they have pin trading activities on Royal? My DD fell in love with trading pins on our two most recent Disney cruises. She's hoping to get some cool Royal-themed pins if possible.

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.

I'm sorry if this is a dumb question, but are the shows different each night? I've heard that the Disco/70's themed show and the ice show shouldn't be missed, but that's it. We typically plan our evenings around the shows on the Disney ships, just trying to figure out if it's similar on Royal.

We saw something about a Murder Mystery activity. What's that? Is it worth the price of admission? What about teens (13 and 17 years old) participating?


Thank you in advance for your input!

No pin trading (or any pins) on any of our RCI cruises. And decorating your stateroom door is generally frowned upon. I'm not saying you'll get kicked off the ship, but most RCI cruisers are of the opinion that it's a bit tacky. Outside of a small sign saying "Joe's 40th Birthday Cruise" or something along those lines, my advice would be no.

Different shows every night-you will receive a list of all activities in your stateroom daily.

From the RCI website:
Q: Are children allowed to make reservations for the Mystery Dinner Theater?
s.gif

A: Mystery Dinner Theater
All guests under 18 years of age must be accompanied by a parent or guardian.

However, it is about $65 pp and there are no kids prices.
 
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There is a White Hot Party on Norwegian Cruise Line where everyone wears white clothing.
 


I just got off the Allure last week. The Liberty was next to us in Cozumel.

There were hamburgers in the Windjammer. On the Allure they also have them at Wipeout Cafe.

I didn't pay for anything extra in the main dining room. As the post above says you get lobster tails on one of the formal nights. There are 4or 5 steak and lobster type items on the bottom on the mean in the $20 range that had a charge but I didn't pay attention to them. Lots of other good choices. For drinks we stuck to lemonade, water and coffee. We did not get a drink plan and were fine. I ordered 2 cocktails the whole trip. We are not drinkers and were fine without pop the week.

They did have a night marked as white night ir casual. I didn't see much white though.

No communication devices like the Wave which we could have used.
 
you don't need extra money for dinner. I do recall some menus having an extra fee for something in MDR but it wasn't necessary

I decorated my door

Is Windjammer 24 hours? it wasn't on Rhapsody
 
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Breaking it down:

I read that we should be prepared to spend money at each dinner, even in the MDR.
No, you will not need to spend a dime on any food on RCCL (especially in the MDR). Alcohol & soda are extra. On our last cruise the MDR started serving menu options from the specialty restaurants for an additional fee. But you'd have to be really picky to choose the Chops' filet over the MDR filet. They're all really good.

does anyone know if the kid's menu has cheeseburgers and pizza on it?
I think cheeseburgers, pizza, spaghetti, and chicken tenders are the normal kids options. The waiters also have a way of running to the windjammer kitchen and grabbing things in you're in a bind with a choosy kid. They're great people just aiming to please. I see your using my time dining. I'm not a big fan because you won't get to know the waiters that well. We typically do early seating and if we miss it then oh well...

I've been going to this site lately:
http://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/menus

They have specialty menus and a good blog.

I read somewhere about a dress up night where passengers wear all white. Is this a thing?

On a week long cruise there will be 2 formal nights. Men are expected to dress in a suit and tie, women in long dresses. But that is only in the main dining rooms and I've never seen it actually enforced (they just stick our like a sore thumb). The rest of the week I typically wear a polo shirt and khakis.

Fourth dining related question - is there a place to get cheeseburgers during the day outside of Johnny Rockets?
Windjammer - Americana section will have burgers/dogs/pizza everyday for lunch and dinner. Café Promenade/Sorrentos will have pizza right in the middle of the ship all day long.

Communication, What do you guys recommend?
RCCL ships (at least the newer ones) are very open mall-like ships with a simple layout. I've never been put in a situation where I couldn't find a family member within 15 minutes or so. I know that doesn't help you, but just putting that out there.

What do you recommend for Jamaica?
For older kids and able-bodied adults, climbing up Dunns River Falls is pretty darn awesome.

Do they have pin trading activities on Royal?
No :( But there are kids clubs that I have to drag my kids away from kicking and screaming. And there's a teenager section.

Do people decorate their stateroom doors like on Disney?
I see it more every cruise. I like it.

but are the shows different each night?
Yes, for a week long cruise there will typically be 2 Broadway style shows intermixed with comedy, other traditional RCCL shows like Love and Marriage, etc... There's usually something in the theater every night.
 


Thank you guys for all of the outstanding feedback! This is extremely helpful! We're so excited about trying Royal, just counting the days until we cast off.

The boy will be super happy that he can get his daily dose of cheeseburgers and multiple slices of cheese pizza. In fact, he wasn't so sure about trying Royal until he saw that the ship had a pizza place that serves slices all day long. That was his main requirement for the ship.

A few follow up thoughts/questions:
@moericus - with regards to Dunns River Falls, how "in shape" do you have to be to make the climb? My wife and I aren't exactly fitness buffs, I get winded going up a couple flights of stairs. Is it fairly easy?
You provided all sorts of great info. I'll definitely check out that other site for the menus and more. I'm eager to see how my kids respond to the youth clubs on Royal. They had zero interest on DCL. After our first few cruises we stopped wasting time registering them for the clubs because they never went.
I'd been thinking about getting walkie-talkies, but I'm now leaning away from the idea. You're right, on most ships it's not a big deal to find someone within a short amount of time. I'll probably change my mind 50 times between now and when we sail!

@Vijoge - thanks for the 411 on the Mystery dinner. The kids are 13 and 17, so I don't know if it's worth $65 each for them to participate. Maybe the wife and I will go while the kids enjoy Windjammers!
Also, about the door decor, we typically have hung a magnetic white board on our door to relay messages to the rest of our party. Would that be too tacky? Also, bummer about the pin trading, my daughter will be disappointed.

@E&Cmom - good to know about the white night. The wife was already shopping for her all-white outfit. You might have just saved me a little coin. Who am I kidding? She's going to get the outfit anyway!

@gumbypee - Even though it's frowned upon, we'll probably do something to highlight our door - that way it's easier for me to locate!

Thanks again for all of this info! I'll share it with the rest of my family and see if they have any additional questions.
 
A few follow up thoughts/questions:
@moericus - with regards to Dunns River Falls, how "in shape" do you have to be to make the climb? My wife and I aren't exactly fitness buffs, I get winded going up a couple flights of stairs. Is it fairly easy?
You provided all sorts of great info. I'll definitely check out that other site for the menus and more. I'm eager to see how my kids respond to the youth clubs on Royal. They had zero interest on DCL. After our first few cruises we stopped wasting time registering them for the clubs because they never went.
I'd been thinking about getting walkie-talkies, but I'm now leaning away from the idea. You're right, on most ships it's not a big deal to find someone within a short amount of time. I'll probably change my mind 50 times between now and when we sail!

You certainly don't need to be a fitness buff. It is the equivalent of a few flights of stairs, but it will be a slow pace and you'll be in the water so you won't get overheated. Your feet will be sore that night, but you'll be having too much fun to notice during the climb.

I was taken back by how much our kids loved it. Even the shy one wanted to go alone one night when our older son was sick. But I can understand it's not for everyone too.

The Anthem is probably the only ship I could really get "lost" on if I wanted to. But most other new RCCL ships (including Liberty) have the promenade layout. Finding them in the Windjammer was tougher than finding them anywhere else.

Edit: Looks like you have teenagers. That won't be a "sign-up" on RCCL ships. Teenagers have a space called the Living Room. I can't vouch for it yet. But I always see kids coming and going from it.
 
You certainly don't need to be a fitness buff. It is the equivalent of a few flights of stairs, but it will be a slow pace and you'll be in the water so you won't get overheated. Your feet will be sore that night, but you'll be having too much fun to notice during the climb.

I was taken back by how much our kids loved it. Even the shy one wanted to go alone one night when our older son was sick. But I can understand it's not for everyone too.

The Anthem is probably the only ship I could really get "lost" on if I wanted to. But most other new RCCL ships (including Liberty) have the promenade layout. Finding them in the Windjammer was tougher than finding them anywhere else.

Edit: Looks like you have teenagers. That won't be a "sign-up" on RCCL ships. Teenagers have a space called the Living Room. I can't vouch for it yet. But I always see kids coming and going from it.

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!
 
oh yes, I have heard wonderful info about Dunn River Falls - I hope you enjoy it if you choose it.

I didn't notice any frowns on my decorated door, a few smiles actually :)
 
Just off the freedom of the seas and we did pay for and attend the mystery dinner theater the first night. It was purposefully lame and the meal was mediocre at best. Dinning was in Giovanni's but you did not get selections from the full menu. I did not find this to be worth the cost.
 
Just off the freedom of the seas and we did pay for and attend the mystery dinner theater the first night. It was purposefully lame and the meal was mediocre at best. Dinning was in Giovanni's but you did not get selections from the full menu. I did not find this to be worth the cost.

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!
 
Hubby and I did my time dining on Freedom of the Seas and had the same wait staff- I think they do try to seat you with the same server.
Enjoy your trip, we love Royal :)
 
Hubby and I did my time dining on Freedom of the Seas and had the same wait staff- I think they do try to seat you with the same server.
Enjoy your trip, we love Royal :)

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.
 
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.

You can probably waitlist for the dining option you originally wanted.
 
You can probably waitlist for the dining option you originally wanted.

We thought about doing that, but we've come around and are looking forward to trying MTD. It's going to be fun to see what its like. My sister-in-law has sailed Royal and prefers MTD. After finding out we were stuck with MTD, she did a good sales job on us and convinced us to give it a shot.
 
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.

When we were on Oasis as a big family group (14 I think we were) we booked our reservations ahead with MTD and had the same table and serving team. When it was just my DH and I we were all over the place with our times that we went to dinner and still had the same team :)
 
When we were on Oasis as a big family group (14 I think we were) we booked our reservations ahead with MTD and had the same table and serving team. When it was just my DH and I we were all over the place with our times that we went to dinner and still had the same team :)

Thanks for sharing that, it'll be interesting to see what our experience is. We've reserved the same time every night, so I'm anticipating having the same table and serving team, but you never know. I definitely cannot wait to find out!
 
Thanks for sharing that, it'll be interesting to see what our experience is. We've reserved the same time every night, so I'm anticipating having the same table and serving team, but you never know. I definitely cannot wait to find out!


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 :)
 

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