Kids get special pricing at a specialty restaurant, so buy dining packages only for the adults. For just a few dollars, you can make the embarkation and disembarkation process significantly easier. Unsubscribe whenever you want. Carnival allows you to check-in 14 days before the cruise date, for Royal Caribbean its 45 days, and for Norwegian Cruise Line you can check in 21 days before a sailing. By going on embarkation day, not only will you likely have a short wait but you may be able to re-ride a number of times! Check-in opens up 45 days before your cruise begins. The drink packages have become quite popular with guests, but Royal Caribbean rewards guests that purchase their drink package early with a discount. Here are my tips for the Royal Caribbean Cruise Planner. And if this gets delayed it will also impact when you can embark. This is a 9 night cruise and price per night is noted below for each cabin type. (He was right!) Be sure to look up all your benefits, and ensure you use the most lucrative Crown and Anchor Society perks during your sailing so you can reap the best rewards! Embark LocationE6, 448, Ist Floor Gounder Complex, Trichy Road As an added bonus, by arriving to your embarkation port at least a day early, that means you get to start your vacation sooner! Been a while since I've been on Royal Caribbean and we are sailing tomorrow out of Miami. They also re-wear their embarkation clothes since this first day is typically not dressy at all. The benefit of doing this is you get to "meet" other people on your sailing, which may result in new friendships, or saving money on a shore excursion or other activity that has a group discount. I just boarded the first Royal Caribbean cruise in North America in All rights reserved. Just one of the perks of being a suite guest on a cruise ship is having priority access. The online check-in process is super simple and consists of filling out personal information among other tasks. Guests should arrive at the terminal within the arrival time slot you selected during Royal App check-in. Guests who pay for this upgraded status typically receive priority access upon arrival on embarkation day. Things like weapons, candles, and irons are on the list of things NOT to bring. 20102023Regal Sea Media LLC. You should always check with the cruise line to see what is not allowed on their ships. What is the Best Time to Board Your Cruise Ship on - Cruise Fever Tipping hard working crew members is a must-do, but double check the bill that it's not already included. Each excursion will list the price, details of the activity and any physical or age restrictions. The moms in our group then ran errands to take care of some items. However, I highly recommend traveling with a passport. Share them in our comments on this post. This is a great spot to see the port as you leave, especially for those that do not have a balcony stateroom or simply want something a little different. You're probably wondering what to expect on the day you board the ship. And the earlier check-in time you have, the sooner you get to get onboard the ship and start vacation. This means the terminal will open up . Click on the person icon, and it should fire up the camera again. If not, just leave blank, How being early is the secret to the best Royal Caribbean cruise, from start to finish, purchase the drink package of your choice online, 5 Royal Caribbean things you had no idea existed. In the morning, there is an omelet station available. That means if a couple buys The Key for a 7 day cruise it will cost at least $350. Set Sail pass states that boarding begins at 2:00 PM. And it may seem way out of your budget. There's an impressive amount of discounts and benefits included in Royal Caribbean's loyalty program that you should absolutely know about in advance. Just like dining, you can reserve shows in advance by going to Royal Caribbean's Cruise Planner site. ", "When is the best time to book a cruise?" And the price you paid for the cruise is the same whether you get onboard at 11am or 2pm, so may as well get the most time possible. Then, we walked right into the suite waiting area. Guests who were sailing in Star Class and had access to a Royal Genie were permitted to move to the front of the line in order to receive the priority boarding that was included in their suite perks. Ideally, you'll book a cruise at NextCruise while on a sailing when struck with the inspiration to book another cruise. All E-Docs will be available up to 21 days prior to departure, provided full payment has been received and Online Check-In has been completed. We fly in early enough to explore the port city if we want to prior to embarkation day. As for Royal Caribbean opening up additional earlier times, it's not usually the case. From sunny Aruba to, If you are at least a Diamond member or above in Royal Caribbean's Crown and Anchor Society, here is a great way to, Taking a Royal Caribbean cruise is a great family vacation because of all the great things to see and do onboard. Guests can choose boarding times in the afternoon or earlier times of 10:30 or 11:00. One of the best cruise ship cabin hacks is to bring magnets with you on your cruise. Tasks such as repricing, making special requests, dealing with weather events and more are why I use a travel agent every single I book a cruise. So if you have an early flight and can carry all your bags, then you can be among the first to get off the ship. 2) Take a security photo. All Guests must board the ship no later than 4:00 pm. Not only will buying your drink packages online save you money, it will also save you time because typically there can be lines to purchase the drink packages onboard the ship. Printed Set Sail Pass this morning for April 2nd Sailing of the Serenade of the Seas, out of San Juan. Please see my disclosure policy at the bottom of this page for more details.). Get Cruise Savvy with our FREE Newsletter! How early can I board my ship (Mariner)? - Royal Caribbean Arrived to the port at 10:30. My Tips for Using the Royal Caribbean Cruise Planner Once you board the Royal Caribbean cruise ship, youll want to take care of a few chores. In addition, Royal Caribbean has onboard laundry services you can use to make wearing the same clothes later in the cruise more practical. The "3-1-1" rule is ubiquitous in airports. Take advantage of the opportunity to get tickets and not be stuck in a line waiting to enter the theater or worse, miss out on the show completely. Nor do they publish their entertainment schedules prior to a cruise. Things I've tried on Royal Caribbean that I won't do again, The worst cruise mistakes our readers have made on a ship. Here is a list of a few prohibited things Royal Caribbean has on their website: If you try to bring any of these things onto your cruise ship you will not only get the items confiscated, you could also be in some trouble with the law. Second, you're spending extra money for a benefit that is not cheap. In short, the app is tied to so much of the cruise experience now. If you are sailing on an Oasis or Quantum Class ship, you can pre-book shows in advance, such as the Broadway musicals or ice shows. The right slugs can turn a 12 gauge shotgun into a. Some families prefer to arrive in the afternoon, so they dont have to navigate crowds at the terminal. Serenade April 2- How early can u really board? - Royal Caribbean Have you heard about Royal Caribbean's unlimited drink packages? Do you know about when you'd like to sail? When I tried to check in for my May 2022 cruise, this step was the only glitchy part of the whole process. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached, or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Royal Caribbean Blog. However, if you show up just 10-15 minutes before these events, you will likely find few, if any, other guests waiting and first shot at even the most popular activities. Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL), also known in short as Norwegian, is an American cruise line founded in 1966, incorporated in Bermuda and headquartered in Miami. Re: Changing one guest name - Royal Caribbean. Those who arrive early will not be able to begin boarding, and those who arrive late will . If you get on the ship early you will find this is one of the best times to enjoy the cruise ship pools without any crowds. When I tried on my Android / Pixel 6 Pro, I had to hit the button a bunch of times to take a picture . There are a few tricks to scoring early arrival times if you are eager to be one of the first passengers on the ship. Norwegian Cruise Line - Wikipedia Suite guests still need to get a check-in time for their sailing, butusuallythey will be give more flexibility in their times. The concept is simple: pay a few bucks and skip the lines. On my most recent cruise on Oasis of the Seas, my family and I had junior suites booked with a 10:30 am port arrival time. For some folks, that may sound like lunacy to plan a vacation up to two years in advance, but the fact of the matter is employing this strategy is the key to getting a really great price. The earliest that guests can board a cruise is between 4-5 hours before the ship is scheduled to sail away. When should I arrive at the cruise port terminal? | Royal Caribbean Cruises If you are in My Time Dining for dinner, your best strategy is to make reservations either before the cruise, or during the cruise. Most people go on vacation based around their school or work schedules. You should always let the cruise terminal porters take your large bags for you. Remington Premier Copper 12 Gauge 3 Inch 1550 FPS 1 Ounce . Several years ago, I decided to start this blog to document our family trips. What you want to do is log onto the Cruise Planner on Royal Caribbean's website and purchase the drink package of your choice online. A number of factors affect when you can embark a cruise ship. That being said, my sister had a junior suite AND an oceanview room booked. Your fellow guests won't notice you wore that pair of jeans or dress from night two. While showing up early can be a problem, coming in later is not as much of a concern. If you want to try Sky Pad, FlowRider, rock climbing wall or zipline, take advantage of lower waits on the first day of the cruise. We have an entire forum dedicated to Royal Caribbean roll calls on our message boards that is totally free to use! In the weeks leading up to your cruise, be sure to complete online check-in. We also use the hairbrush for the kids hair after swimming. But it wasn't a nightmare either. We have spent years sharing tips, secrets and strategies on this blog about taking a better and more fun Royal Caribbean cruise, and we discovered there is one common thread among so many of our best tips: being early. Those who arrive early will not be able to begin boarding, and those who arrive late will need to wait until we are able to work them into another group. For assistance in navigating Online Check-in or questions on how to fill out the information - contact your travel agent or if booked directly, contact our Service Specialists at 800 327-5782, Monday through Friday, 9:00am-10:00pm ET and Saturday and Sunday, 9:00am-6:00pm . You can change in a public restroom, and towels are available at the pool area to use. The helipad onis located on the bow (front)of the ship and during sailaway, Royal Caribbean permits guests access to the helipad. You can save and come back to the process at a later time. Norwegians priority access program includes: Other cruise lines have some sort of priority-access program as well. The benefits wont always be the same, and you have to fill out a form and wait for approval. Some specialty restaurants will cost less if you eat there for lunch. Questions are often worded like, "How do I get a deal? Before you book a room, look at the ship's deck plans and look what is above and below your stateroom. Serenade of the Seas September 13, 2024 Cruise & Port Map Book entertainment and dining as soon as possible. And in many cases, the port you are departing from has its own cultural and historical attractions that you can explore. If you choose to fly ChoiceAir, Royal Caribbean automatically displays only the airline schedules that will enable you to meet your cruise. When you get the terminal, be sure to tell the pier agent you are staying in a suite so you can be directed to the right place. You'll want to do this as early as you can in order to get an early check-in time and avoid wasting time in the cruise terminal. , Cruising in 2023 is mostly back to normal following the pandemic-induced changes implemented across the industry in. In our experience, most guests see the times for an activity and begin arrivingafterthe scheduled start time. That's my quick take on the new boarding process for Adventure of the Seas -- the first Royal Caribbean ship to restart operations in North America.. From the moment I began the process on Saturday in Nassau, Bahamas, in advance of the vessel's first sailing in 15 months to the time I stepped into my cabin, almost exactly one . You can actually get hundreds of dollars of onboard credit by simply booking onboard, but the exact amount depends on how long a sailing you book and in which stateroom category. Prior to sailing, guests may change or cancel their show reservations online up to 4 days prior to their cruise start date. Ships embarking on cruises from Amsterdam are docked in one of two places: Felison Terminal, where smaller ships dock, or the Passenger Terminal Amsterdam , where a 10-minute walk will take you to a popular station. About a week before the cruise, the Suite Concierge will email suite guests with an introduction and outline basic suite policies, including a flexible arrival policy, where suite guests can arrive one hour before or after their check-in time. Royal Caribbean sales promotions will come and go, but if you talk to folks who book their cruises very early, they will tell you that booking super-early beats most sales offers. I'm Shari. Guests may be able to check in earlier but will usually not be able to embark until this time. The exact amount of the discount will vary from sailing to sailing, but in general, the savings of booking a drink package online before a cruise can be as much as over $10 per person, per day compared to booking it onboard. If you have a cruise booked with Royal Caribbean, you can typically check-in around 45 days before your sail date. Royal Caribbean typically allows cruisers to choose arrival times in thirty-minute blocks as shown in the image below. Entertainment is typically included in your cruise fare but on the largest ships, you are required to make reservations. Each cruise line has their own list of prohibited items, so just make sure you follow those instructions and avoid being pulled to the side by security at the cruise terminal. These are the times of year when demand is less for cruises to certain regions. Like what you see? An intangible benefit to pre-purchasing anything is it saves you time onboard from doing the exact same thing, which means more vacation time back to you. This provides the ability to break up the total cost of the cruise. Comment below to share your tips with us! Royal Caribbean asks its guests to arrive within their check-in window to avoid crowding in the terminal. We were technically allowed to arrive an hour before this 10:30 slot since we were suite guests. We make sure to pack several items in our backpack, which I will include below: Youll notice that many of the items listed above are needed because our kids swim on embarkation day. While you may want to save the added expense,regular medical insurance will not usually cover medical services onboard or in port. If youre still not satisfied you can pay extra for the priority access some cruise lines offer. Royal Caribbean's suite accommodations include a variety of VIP perks, some of which overlap with The Key. These are not the times you actually board the ship. In short, to save time and money, use a good travel agent. If you want to find the best prices for the spa on your cruise, consider booking things on port days, or early in the morning or late at night for the best prices. 1. Called RCL this morning and got a weird / rude response when asking about what time I can board the ship. Boarding Time Adjustments for Royal Caribbean Ship