All the tips for cruising on your first cruise with Royal Caribbean including dining, what ship to choose, and beverage packages.
Over the summer, my family and I took a 7-night Greek cruise on Royal Caribbean. We had a fabulous time and really enjoyed cruising with Royal Caribbean, however, we did choose a very port-heavy cruise with only one day at sea. You can read more about our port days here: Athens, Greece; Mykonos, Greece; Chania, Crete; Kotor, Montenegro; and Split, Croatia. Would I consider another Royal Caribbean cruise? Yes, however, I would again pick a cruise that I know fits my family and how we vacation.
Which brings me to my first Royal Caribbean tip…
How to Pick a Cruise
Be sure to choose your ship and itinerary based on your family and travel preferences. My family prefers smaller ships with fewer guests when cruising so we choose to sail on the Enchantment of the Seas which has a capacity of 2,440 guests. We also picked a port-heavy cruise with only one day at sea since the smaller Royal Caribbean ships do not have a lot of recreational activities onboard. The Enchantment of the Seas does have a rock wall, swimming pools, hot tubs, and ping pong tables. Your family may prefer a cruise ship with lots of activities onboard like water slides, zip lines, flowrider, etc. which then I would suggest one of the larger ships.
Online Check-in
Online check-in begins 45 days out from your cruise. During online check-in, you will get to pick your port arrival time, submit passport information, and set up your onboard charge account. Checking in early allows you to have the largest selection of port arrival times so that you can pick one that works for your travel plans.
Bid for Upgrading Stateroom
Royal Caribbean allows you to bid to upgrade your stateroom as it gets closer to your sail date. If you want to upgrade, I suggest bidding early and making an aggressive bid, but not one that would cost you more than the stateroom would have originally cost.
Dining Times
There are three different dining times on a Royal Caribbean cruise. The first two are early or late dining which is a set time to dine at the main dining room each night. The third time is anytime dining, which allows you to choose what time you want to visit the dining room and that time can vary throughout the cruise.
Tender Ports
If your cruise has any ports that you will need to use a tender for and you do not have an excursion booked, you will need to obtain a tender ticket. Tender tickets are available on the morning of your port day for pickup. The tender ticket pickup location will be posted in the Royal Caribbean app and you should arrive early if you are looking to receive an early tender time.
The Key Program
For an extra special cruise, you may be interested in The Key program which is a paid program that has a variety of benefits. We decided to pay for the The Key program for our cruise mostly because we had several ports that required tendering. Some of the benefits of The Key program are:
- Priority access to the cruise ships (The Key group was the first to board the ships on our cruise).
- Carry-on bag drop off with delivery to your stateroom
- An exclusive welcome lunch in the main dining room with an exclusive menu (our menu was from Chops Grille)
- Private time at select onboard activities (our cruise The Key members had a private hour at the rock wall)
- Priority departure at tender ports from the cruise ship (we were allowed access to board tender boards after the excursion guests and before the rest of the guests).
- Dedicated seating at shows.
- Internet access for one device at a time.
- An exclusive a la carte breakfast on disembarkment day along with your choice of departure from the ship.
Wait for Sales for Beverage Packages and The Key
Royal Caribbean does a lot of sales on their beverage packages and sometimes even on The Keys. The sales will vary in percentage amounts and Royal Caribbean will send you a lot of emails about their sales. We chose to wait until we were comfortable with the price point before purchasing. You can also choose for only one person in your stateroom to be on a beverage package. For example, during our cruise only my husband was on the unlimited soft drink package.
