Be in the Know Before You Go on Wonder of the Seas

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

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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.

       Sign up 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.

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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!

The Contract You Sign When You Check In Online

We’re so excited when we check in online. We can’t wait to get the must-do done, so we can get on to what’s really fun. Like picking excursions. Deciding on drink packages. Shopping!

So, how closely do we look at that cruise contract we electronically sign?

After mechanically acknowledging I’ve read it for the past 20+ cruises, I finally decided that maybe I should take a look at that fine and tiny print after all.

All 15½ pages of it (when copied and pasted into my computer).

Here’s just a sampling of what I just agreed to on my upcoming Royal Caribbean cruise:

If I go to the onboard doctor, I do so at my own risk. Since RCI is not a medical provider, it can’t supervise the medical personnel.

Hate the haircut I get onboard? I’m on my own. If I change my mind after getting the photo package or am overcome with buyer’s remorse after that art auction purchase or the expensive bracelet I buy on the ship, even though RCI may get a cut from any of it, they assume no responsibility.

Was disappointed with my excursion? Too bad, so sad. Like the onboard shops, medical folks or photographers, argues RCI, the excursions are independent contractors and don’t represent the cruise line.

RCI can change my trip at any time. The cruise line retains the right to alter the itinerary, time of sailing or even the ship for any reason at any time and without prior notice.

Luggage with a view. My baggage is subject to inspection or electronic monitoring without my consent or knowledge.

They own my cruising face. RCI reserves the right to use photos or videos of me taken in connection with the cruise for advertising, sales, publicity and training. Until the end of time.

Indeed, there were some surprises in that lengthy document. Does it dampen in any way my excitement for the cruise ahead? Not one little bit. But what reading it did prove: it’s best to know before you go.

Making the Next Time Feel Like the First Time

There’s just nothing like the first time. That thrill, that excitement, that joy at discovering something new.

You may have felt it during your first cruise; I know I did. But I also know there’s no reason why you can’t enjoy your second cruise as much as your first. Or your 5th as much as your 15th.

The secret? Doing something really different the next time around. Here are just a few ideas for rekindling that first-time feeling:

Try another line. While one line can feel much like another (after all, there’s a view of the sea and they feed you), there really are differences. You can ride a carousel on Royal Caribbean. Watch a movie under the stars and a blanket on Princess. Cook along with the chefs on Holland America.

Recapturing childhood joy on the Oasis

Jump ship. Going from small to big or the other way around can change things up if you’re married to one line. While Royal’s Navigator of the Seas at 139,500 tons is no row boat, Oasis of the Seas at 225,200 is a whole other class by itself.

Room for a change. Always get an inside room? Spring for a balcony. Pick off-season (e.g., not January-March) and a less popular itinerary (e.g., Western Caribbean), and you can get one at a great price. We’ve picked some trips on Princess just so we could afford a mini-suite.

Venture out. After many Caribbean cruises, we got out of our comfort zone (and our shorts) and took one to Alaska for an experience unlike any other. Or, look for Caribbean itineraries that go off the beaten path. We took one of Celebrity Constellation’s rare trips to St. Barts and got a sneak peek of the famous French chic, amazingly hilly, yacht-choked island. See the posting “Off Course and Worth It.”

 

Tough to find parking for your car--or your yacht--in St. Barts

Don’t or do an excursion. Always sign up for one? Wander around town next time. Always roam the port? Parasail, tour the island or cook up a Caribbean lunch for a change.

Dine differently. After years of set seating, we finally tried my-time style. And never turned back. On an upcoming cruise, we’re doing a five-night specialty package for the first time. Stay tuned for how that goes.

Drink it up. Whether you’re a big drinker or not, will get your money’s worth or not, you should try a drink package at least once. It was a throw-in on our recent Princess trip, and it was a blast trying some new drink each day, getting cappuccinos when we felt like it and ending the night with liqueur—and all without a thought about cost. Or who was going to get us home.

Experience this. You might try some shipboard activity you’ve never done—from climbing the walls on Royal, doing the pricey but unique Captain’s Dinner or grabbing the mike at karaoke. It will probably be the one thing you remember most about your cruise.

Take a camera. I don’t mean a smartphone; I mean a real camera. One that lets you get in close from really far away. Shoot the jugglers in low light. Take in the lights around the pool at night. With a camera, you can be creative. And there’s so much to capture inside and outside the ship. It’s particularly great for those lazy days at sea. See “Unleashing Your Inner Artsy-Fartsy” for ideas and photos.

 

We needed a Panasonic GX7 to get this shot on the Caribbean Princess

An excuse for a cruise. Whether it’s over a national holiday or your personal celebration, it’s a great excuse to splurge while onboard. Buy a box of divine chocolates. Make a reservation at a specialty restaurant. Do a couples massage. Throw a party. Don a tiara. Make it special and make it memorable.

 

Norman Love chocolates and more on the Regal Princess for your personal celebration

Bring along friends or family. Perhaps nothing changes the cruise experience more than changing who you’re with. Maybe you’ll finally get that “I’ll-never-be-caught-dead-on-a-ship” person you know to actually take the plunge. And here’s a new experience to look forward to: telling him (or her) “I told you so.”