Cruise Advice

FH and i are going on a 7-Day Southern Caribbean cruise (Royal Caribbean) from Puerto Rico for the honeymoon -- neither one of us have EVER been on a cruise. Can anyone offer us some advice or hints for our trip??

TIA....

Re: Cruise Advice

Cruises are fun so just enjoy it. The only tips I give people are, if you drink soda, buy the drink special its better than paying per drink. I usually saved some money by buying the drink specials. Other than that everything is basically taken care for you.

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Posted by Ivyqueenz

Cruises are fun so just enjoy it. The only tips I give people are, if you drink soda, buy the drink special its better than paying per drink. I usually saved some money by buying the drink specials. Other than that everything is basically taken care for you.

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I thought soda , water was included??? I know alcoholic beverages are extra... but we have to pay for soda too???
Actually i think i remember my friend telling me she bought a huge cup where you could get free refills...but she said just make sure you don't lose the cup! LOL!!

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I was on royal caribbean. And yes they give you a huge cup but they also put a sticker on your room key and that's how you also get drinks. At the bar they flip it over to see if you have the sticker.

Water, juice, ice tea, and lemonade are no charge.

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We used to purchase liquor on the islands and sneak it in inside of coke bottles

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Posted by vika111

We used to purchase liquor on the islands and sneak it in inside of coke bottles

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My kind of couple!! LOL... im thinking rum in water bottles?? lol!!!

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Posted by sharivera

FH and i are going on a 7-Day Southern Caribbean cruise (Royal Caribbean) from Puerto Rico for the honeymoon -- neither one of us have EVER been on a cruise. Can anyone offer us some advice or hints for our trip??

TIA....

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Sharivera...I just went on that cruise this summer. Which ship are you taking? We were on Adventure of the Seas...but have also been on Freedom of the Seas. To be honest...there really isn't too much of a difference in the layout of the ship. They are almost identical, except for a few add on here and there.
FM me the island that you are going to and I will give you advice on what excursions are good and not good.

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Sharivera...You're in luck. I found a FM that I sent someone about our cruise a few months ago. Here it is:

Hi! We had a good time on Adventure of the Seas. Definitely go to all of the shows. There is a show just about every night. There is an ice show one night as well. The shows are all really good. We went to comedy night, but I didn't care for the comedian. Get to the port in PR as early as you can. We got there at 1030 and was on board around noon. Otherwise you have to wait on a long line. We were one of the first ones to get on the ship so we were able to hang out by the pool w/o a lot of people there. Also, make sure you wear a bathing suit onto the ship so that you can lay out. You should also carry with you dinner clothes. Sometimes your luggage doesn't get to you by dinnertime. I've never had that problem, but I know people who have.
You can get some lunch at the buffet on the same deck as the pool. It gets realllly crowded once people start boarding the ship, so get there as early as possible. The first day we kind of just walked around and familiarized ourselves with the layout of the ship and what was happening for the week. Make sure you take advantage of room service. We ordered coffee every morning (the night before) as our 'wakeup call'. We still went to the main dining room for breakfast, but this way we were awake by the time we got down to breakfast and we didnt have to set our alarm.

I'm not sure if you are going to these islands, but i'll give you some info on them anyway:

We did not care for Barbados. We just took a bus tour, but there really wasnt anything exciting. The best thing we got out of it was the rum, lol. Also,
Barbados is a little run down and the people there know you are a tourist. Honestly, I wouldn't even get off the boat. It's not worth it.

Antigua was okay. We went on a bike tour through a rainforest (which was barely a rainforest). There was a waterfall, though, which was nice. There are other things to do there, like the zipline.

St. Lucia was very nice. We took a catamaran to this place called Bird Island. You also given the opportunity to snorkel. I highly recommend it. It was very relaxing if you just want to relax.

St. Maarten was also very nice. We took a 4x4/aquaboat tour, which was a lot of fun. It was a whole day adventure, but a lot of fun. The aquaboats were for two people. They crossed over to the french side and gave you a little history of the french and dutch sides.

By the time we got to St. Thomas, we were tired of all the excursions b/c we had to get up so early. So, we just went to all the shops and got some souvenirs. FYI- Tiffany and Co. is in St. Thomas, which is duty free/tax free. but you have to pay for a watertaxi which i think was 3 or 4 dollars each way. So, in the end i'm not sure if it's really worth it. We decided not to go b/c we wouldn't have saved anything by buying any Tiffanys stuff in St. Thomas.

Definitely get some formal pictures. They will have it on formal night (tuesday) up until I think friday night. Your FH will probably be against it, just like mine was, but the pictures are between 9-20 dollars a piece. And for professional pictures, it's worth it. They take your picture, then you decide if you want it. You are not obligated to buy it.

I didn't go to the gym at all on this cruise, but if you go to the gym on a regular basis, it's a great way to work off the extra food you are consuming. Plus, there is nothing like working out in front of miles and miles of water.

We played miniature golf one night, which was a lot of fun. It brought back memories of high school, lol. There is also rollerblading and rock climbing, which we didnt do on this cruise. You can go ice skating, too, which we did do...but the rink is not that big, so it does get boring after 10 minutes or so. If you or your FH are into gambling, i think the first day at sea for one hour the tables are only 1 dollar. Then they go up to 5 or 10 dollars. We spent a lot of time there at night. Unfortunately, we lost :(

Oh, and def. book PORTOFINO for one night. It costs 20 dollars extra per person for the dinner, but it's worth it. They really treat you like royalty (more so than in the dining room). They will come up to you and ask you if there is anything they can do to make your dining experience better.
Highly recommend it!

I could write forever about the cruise, so if there is anything else you want to know, just ask me. I'd be more than happy to give you my opinion/insight.

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they will give you a choice for early dinner or late dinner.. i would suggest the later dinner, it gives you more time inbetween the island and getting ready for dinner. AND there is always so much food around during hte day you definitely wont be starving by the time late dinner comes.. and you can go to the late shows after your dinner.. i think its more romantic. request a table for two. if they dont grant your request you can request to switch your dining table.

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It sounds kind of obvious, but bring sunscreen!!!!! You dont want to get sunburnt the first day of your cruise and then be miserable the whole time!!! Trust me on this one...made this mistake and it stunk...Liquor in water bottles is a good idea, as is the unlimited soda thing you can purchase. wear your bathing suit onto the ship/have it in your carry on to change into quick so you can get to the pool while everyone else is still checking in/getting setteled. Make sure to be a little early getting back to the ship after an excursion, I have known people who missed the boat and they had a very 'interesting' time getting back to the ship...

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Posted by DnT2010

they will give you a choice for early dinner or late dinner.. i would suggest the later dinner, it gives you more time inbetween the island and getting ready for dinner. AND there is always so much food around during hte day you definitely wont be starving by the time late dinner comes.. and you can go to the late shows after your dinner.. i think its more romantic. request a table for two. if they dont grant your request you can request to switch your dining table.

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Yay..we already booked the later dinner..then we dont have to rush back from the islands! But I booked a 4-6 person table.. FH is a social butterfly and honestly we've been living together & we'll be together alone enough on the vaca, i figured some dinner convo w/ others would be kind of fun!

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what is your itinerary? i did adventure of the seas last May and it was lots of fun.

like gaby said, def lather up with sunscreen..especially if you tend to burn..i piled it on like every half hour and still got burned. the sun is strong there!
try to see the shows...usually they are good and they are free! def get yourself on the newlywed game and also there wa one at night i forget the name but it was like a massive scavenger hunt, it was held where the ice skating rink is...so much FUN!
if you dont like your food...send it back..your food is unlimited! if you want 2 desserts...order them!
dont forget your ID when you get off the ship. i suggest buying one of those plastic container things that go around your neck, you can keep your ID and room key in it since you need it when exiting the ship.
take care of your final bill the last night before you leave...if you wait til the morning of departure the line can be crazy.
bring a few bathing suits...you'll need a dry one at hand.
be sure to have a cell phone or alarm clock of some sort..there are no clocks in some staterooms and if you have no windows it'll be pitch black and you'll want to sleep all day in those comfy beds lol.

cruises are so much fun. we actually booked one on royal for the 2nd part of our HM

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Posted by vika111

We used to purchase liquor on the islands and sneak it in inside of coke bottles

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we did that as well

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I am also going on the SAME cruise... only in the summer for our honeymoon. We are also 1st time cruisers so this should be interesting

Dedecakes... I think thats the email you wrote me a couple of months ago lol!!! You really offered great advice!!

We are also thinking of just paying for the soda package because I do drink a lot of soda.

I was thinking of getting a 2 person table but then thought about how it would be nice to meet other people and mingle to make some friends on our honeymoon. But, how do we book how large our table is?

Re: Cruise Advice

Definitely get the wrist bands for sea sickness, it was a life saver for me. You'll see half the ship will have them on.