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'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!