A fellow on YouTube
recently complained that when he boarded Wonder of the Seas, he went to the
ticket booth, only to find that all the shows were sold out. Yikes! How did
this happen? Clearly, a lot of people knew something he didn't.
Read on for important tips on what you should do and
what to expect in the lead up to your Royal Caribbean cruise.
Once You Book
·
Save on eat, drink and surf packages – If you’re looking to buy a package, know you’ll
have plenty of opportunity to get it at a discount before your trip.Royal Caribbean will barrage you will promo
emails—ours started four months before the trip—even before we made final
payment.
About
a Month Before Your Cruise
·Download Royal Caribbean’s app. Then, when you do online check-in, (available
beginning about 45 days before the trip), you’ll get a digital boarding pass called
the “SetSail Pass.”
Main dining room on Wonder of the Seas
Check
out the app periodically; the closer you get to the trip, the more stuff you’ll
see for your cruise, such as activities, menus and even loyalty club events.
Print luggage tags – You’ll get a “Guest Ticket Booklet” PDF via email, with the luggage
tags on some of the pages. You can print the tags in black and white, but Royal
Caribbean prefers color. We loaded the booklet onto a thumb drive, took it to a
local Office Depot and for a few dollars, printed the luggage tags in color on
the self-service printer.
Signup for shows now – In the “Manage My Cruise” section of Royal
Caribbean’s website, you can make reservations for the date and time you
prefer. The longer you wait, the fewer choices you will have.
Dine your way
– You can also make reservations for the main dining room if you’re on My Time.
It’s a good idea to do this, especially for formal nights, to reduce the wait
at the MDR doors.
·
Keeping track
– Your booked shows and meals will be listed in the Calendar section of the
app. Also, consider making a paper chart and mounting it on the cabin wall with a magnet. It’s a good way for you and your roommate to see your schedule at a glance. I list for each day what port we’re in, where we’re eating and what show we’re seeing.
Before
Leaving Home
·Print your boarding pass – While you’ll show the SetSail pass on your phone at
the port, it’s a good idea to also bring a paper copy, just in case the wifi in
the terminal is down, you left your phone in your suitcase, you run out of
battery juice, you dropped it in the toilet…
·Ban the banned stuff – Double check that your carryon doesn’t include banned stuff.
My spouse forgot he had a Swiss army knife in his toiletries bag and it was
taken from him.
If
something does slip by you, you’ll get it back at the end of the trip. A table
was set up outside the cruise terminal in Port Canaveral on disembarkation day.
Your possession will have plenty of company—our knife was nearly obscured by a
vast collection of irons, steamers and power strips.
Musing’s Top Tip: If
you’re doing a specialty restaurant, do it on the first night. Chops Grille was nearly empty, the service was attentive and it was just plain lovely. It was the
opposite experience a few days later!
No matter how many cruises I take, there
are always a few things that stand out from each one. Here’s a batch from our
recent Harmony of the Seas to the
Western Caribbean:
Port
Canaveral’s easy on, easy off. Never
has getting on and off the ship been better or faster. The baggage drop-off
wasn’t crowded, there were no lines into the terminal and because we did online
check-in with our phone and Royal Caribbean app, we showed our SetSail Pass and
were climbing the gangplank in minutes.
On disembarkation day, we walked off
with our luggage, smiled at Customs, which is now using facial recognition
instead of asking to see passports, and were out of the terminal and on the
road in a flash. (Note: passports are
still needed for the cruise.)
Coco
Cay, a fun way to spend the day. The
beaches were pretty, there was a lot to see and do, and the food was better
than expected. It was very spread out and never felt crowded. (Note: our ship was the only one there.)
The tropical foliage was photograph-worthy, there were whimsical sand dunes and
people-watching galore. A huge pool with swim-up bar (although there were more drinkers than swimmers). Then there’s the water park.
One side of Coco Cay...
...another side of Coco Cay
Hand-made
in Mexico. There were many ships in
Costa Maya when we got there, with thousands of passengers descending on the
small pier area. But somehow, through the throng, I stumbled on a very special
shop, d.origen. Prices were in pesos, so I was initially scared off. But the
unique clothing, ceramics and knickknacks—and the helpful and friendly staff
(who were happy to convert prices to dollars)—drew me back again. It’s an
artisan cooperative, and all items were made by Mexicans, using traditional
techniques.
From
the “You Won’t Believe This” category.
Walking along the busy main road outside the cruise pier in Cozumel, we stopped
in our tracks to see an extremely tall man with a tiny woman sitting on his
shoulders, reaching up to pick a coconut.
Filet
mignon at Chops. I polished off a terrific
9 ounce filet mignon, shrimp cocktail, salad with breaded goat cheese and warm
chocolate cake with ice cream. Worth every penny. And beats the main dining
room any day.
Dinner
with wine. If you’re Diamond Club or
higher (Royal Caribbean’s loyalty club), you’ll like this: you can now order
drinks off the free Diamond Club menu from restaurants throughout the ship,
including specialty dining. Wine with dinner. Sweet!
His
and hers. One of the great features of
the Harmony balcony stateroom is the two separate closets. It helps having your
own space—especially when there’s not much to spare.
A
balcony for napping. And here’s another:
reclining chairs and hassocks on the verandah, which you won’t find on the Allure of the Seas. You gotta love
it—furniture tailor-made for napping!
We were intrigued. Royal Caribbean’s new Unlimited Dining Package
certainly brought savings over dining in specialty restaurants at their regular
price.
And at the specialty restaurants, the food is better, the service is
better. And there’s lots of choice.
Intimate and gracious 150 Central Park
What’s not to like?
So we sprung for it. Should you? Consider this:
The broader your food taste, the
better. You’re going to be in these restaurants every night of your trip.
It helps if you want to eat in many of them. Or if you only like a few, that there’s
enough variety on the menu for you.
You need to make reservations.
But. Sometimes, we couldn’t get the time we wanted. So we chanced it, and
showed up at the restaurant without a reservation, and almost each time, we got in.
Lunch may be wishful thinking.
The Unlimited Dining Package allows you to eat lunch in the specialty
restaurants on sea days for no extra cost. But after the big meal the night
before, and a big meal on the evening ahead, somehow, we didn’t feel much like
doing a specialty lunch. And never did.
Good for the adventurous. Since
you can order multiple dishes, you can afford to experiment. I tried something
at Giovanni’s that I would never have tried otherwise—Tonno Crudo, or raw Ahi tuna
with garlic chips and a sweet-ish citrusy flavor. I fell so deeply in love that I did the unthinkable (for
me)—I had two.
Ahhhhh...i Tuna Crudo, a Giovanni's appetizer
Better bring an appetite. But
the biggest challenge? It was a lot of food. The specialty meals are big. And
you’re going to be doing it every night. After a few days, I started cutting
down on the courses. And I never thought I’d say this: I got tired of filet
mignon.
Filet mignon at Chops Grille
If you’re a big eater, and really enjoy the specialty restaurant food
and service, the Unlimited Dining Package may be perfect to you.
For my part, I wish doggie bags were an option. I could sure use some of
that filet mignon now…
Musing’s
Top Tip: The price for the Unlimited Dining Package went down by $20
a few weeks before our trip. Watch the promotional emails from Royal Caribbean
as your cruise gets closer.
"Nobody
knows the truffles I’ve seen.” – George Lang
If you’re like me, you can’t get enough
of the stuff. Even when there’s so much other stuff to be had.
Luckily, the cruise ships oblige. The
main dining room, specialty restaurants, buffets and cafés—they’re chock full
of chocolate.
Some of the ships even go overboard. There
was the chocolate
buffet in Harmony of the Seas’
Windjammer at dinner. And the same ship had a chocolate fountain and dessert
bar in the main dining room for lunch on sea days. The Regal Princess had the biggest surprise—a chocolate buffet at breakfast in Horizon Court on the last full
day.
Going overboard? Chocolate buffet on Harmony of the Seas' Windjammer
Then there are the sheet cakes, the layer
cakes, the puddings and cookies. Some are so-so, others are good and a few are
positively memorable. Among the standouts:
The Bittersweet Chocolate Bourbon Tartat 150 Central Park outshines the Liquid Center Chocolate
Cake at Chops Grille—both specialty restaurants on Oasis class ships. The chocolate tart
with flaky crust, and cranberries and spiced pecans on top create an explosion
of complex flavors.
It's bittersweet when you eat it and bittersweet when you finish it
Of the Norman
Love desserts we had on the Regal and Royal Princess, the crème de la crème was the Chocolate Pistachio Dome—as wonderful
to eat as it is to look at. Chocolate on the outside, chocolate, pistachio and cookie
in the inside. Pure Heaven. Brings to mind Jane Seabrook’s quote:
“If there’s no chocolate in Heaven, I’m not going.”
While the dome is served in the main
dining room, Love’s sweet masterpieces are sprinkled throughout Princess’
specialty restaurants, such as the Crown Grill and Sabatini’s.
A dome like any other, only on Princess
And while you’re on Princess, in case
you haven’t had enough after the sheet cakes, layer cakes, pudding, cookies, breakfast
buffet and Norman Love treats, there’s always the chocolate on your pillow.
After 20 Caribbean cruises, including three on Oasis class, we felt
we’d done it all—and eaten it all.
So on our recent Allure of
the Seas trip, we set out to find something new to do, driven by our longing
for appealing food. The answer came in a package—a specialty dining package.
Why go specialty? For desserts like this from 150 Central Park
You might ask:
Why go specialty
at all? In short, the food’s better than the main
dining room (MDR). Way better. So is the service. And the ambience.
Is it right for me? Specialty dining
is especially great for:
Veteran cruisers hungry to spice up
their next trip
Foodies in search of better quality
Romantics looking for more intimate dining
Celebrants who want to commemorate an
event
Why package it
up? If you dine out one time, you pay top dollar.
Chops Grille is now $49 a person. A dining package brings the price per meal
down a lot. On Oasis class, you can get a three-, four- or five-night package.
We did the five night at $115 a person, which brought the per meal price to $23.
How the package
works:
Signing up
You can do it with your travel agent, or with Royal Caribbean on
the phone or online before you leave or once you’re on the ship. Note: You’ll set a time for each meal, but
you’re not locked in to it.
Plan your shows first. The cruise line
won’t let you select a dining time that’s within two hours of your show. (Fyi,
several of our meals went a full two hours.)
Chops Grille for steak on the Allure's Central Park
Making your
dining choices
Once onboard, it’s like on land. There's actually quite a lot of flexibility. You choose where you want to eat
on what day, in any of the restaurants and as many times as you want. You can even change the time if they have openings. (We were able
to get just about any time, any place on any day.)
You can make reservations on the same day you’re
dining or in advance. They can be made at any restaurant in person, by phone or
your stateroom TV. Note:One of your meals must be on
night 1 or 2 of the trip.
A little bit of Italy at Giovanni's Table
There's even some flexibility with the menu. At Chops, diners next to us loaded up on multiple appetizers. At 150 Central Park, though there was no ice cream on the menu, the waiter brought us some from Chops.
Few more tidbits
Tips – They’re included in your
overall trip gratuities
Drinks – What cost extra in the MDR
cost extra in the restaurant
Dress – “Smart casual” (although
diners tend to get more dressed up)
What’s the food
really like?
Note first that taste is a subjective thing, and that quality can vary
by who’s doing the cooking and by what you choose. That being said, here was my
experience:
Chops Grille
– The onion soup was very good. The 9 oz. filet mignon was cooked just right,
and we were offered a choice of three flavorful sauces, as well as a number of
potato and veggie side dish options. The “liquid center chocolate cake” was a
small satisfying delicate cake, sort of like a sponge cake, but with deep
chocolate flavor, and a mellow chocolate sauce poured over it with a scoop of ice cream and caramelized bananas on the side.
The filet mignon was hearty and tasty at Chops Grille
Giovanni’sTable – The osso buco was wonderful
with a great taste and fork-tender. The filet mignon rivaled the one at Chops,
and the meaty lasagna was also quite good. Desserts are typical Italian
restaurant fare—tiramisu, cannelloni—as well as a few others. (If you’re a
chocoholic, you’ll need to get dessert somewhere else.)
150 Central Park: intimate, romantic with stellar service too
150 Central Park
– The food is continental-meets-nouvelle cuisine, but more continental than
nouvelle. The squash soup was so velvety and sweet that I wanted to lick the
bowl. The lobster gnocchi and short rib were also great, but the pièce de résistance was the chocolate
bourbon tart. The fudgy inside was topped with spiced pecans, cranberry chutney
and whipped cream, creating a bittersweet/sweet/spicy explosion of flavors. The
place was also library-quiet and uber romantic, with its plush high back chairs
and couches.
Smooth as silk, sweet as squash at 150 Central Park
Other specialty restaurants on Allure:
Samba Grill (Brazilian steak house) Izumi (hibachi and sushi) and Sabor (Mexican).
The bottom line
If you want an overall better dining experience at the cost of—say,
one excursion—consider a specialty dining package. It “beefed” up our cruise
and will most likely do the same for you. Musing’s Top Tips:If you're thinking about a specialty dining package on an Oasis class cruise, check out Musing About Cruising's YouTube video to help you decide if it's right for you. Just click below and play:
Here’s
another: For more easy planning and keeping track of
your busy schedule, before leaving home, make a chart with separate columns for
the shows, and where you’re dining and when. Also factor in the days in port
and the hours you'll be there.
Note: All
restaurant menus and prices are subject to change.
