Weddingbee Blog

My husband Paul and I first discovered cruising about a year ago when his parents took the entire family to Bermuda on a cruise. Paul’s parents are avid cruisers and after going with them to Bermuda, we can see why! Being on a cruise ship is literally, in some ways, like being on a floating palace. You sometimes totally forget you are even at sea!

For our honeymoon, Paul and I went on a lovely 9 night cruise to St Thomas, St Maartean, Puerto Rico, and Labidee, a private island owned by Royal Caribbean. We’ve only traveled on one cruise line so far, Royal Caribbean, because the general consensus from family and friends who have cruised on different lines is that Royal is the best one out there. They’ve served us well these past 2 years and we belong to their Crown and Anchor Society, which is their customer appreciation program. It’s free to join and every cruise you go on with Royal Caribbean adds to your membership benefits - the more cruises you go on, the better things you get.

As second time cruisers with Royal this year, we received two picture frames with the Royal Caribbean logo. Last year Paul’s parents received tote bags. We also each received a coupon voucher book with coupons varying from the picture studio, to Johnny Rockets, to the casinos. And we got invited to their welcome back party for members only with free alcohol, appetizers, and desserts as well as hearing about what future itineraries Royal is coming out with. As an additional note, I do believe most, if not all, cruise lines have some kind of similar rewards program.

I’m going to try to break this up now into various sections to make this easier to read. I am no expert though so some of you may know a lot more than me, but this is my take on my cruising.

Pre-Cruising
- I highly recommend booking any shore excursions you want to participate in ahead of time. You can book excursions on the ship but the lines are always ridiculously long and you risk having the excursion you want to do being sold out.
- You receive 3 luggage tags per person to put on any luggage you want checked in. Most cruise rooms are small though unless you books suites, so I wouldn’t recommend taking 6 bags of luggage with you.
- When you arrive there will be porters to help you unload everything.
- Cruising prices vary and the closer the sail date, the better deals you can get because they are trying to fill the ship. As with everywhere else, if you travel during the summer months (ie no school) prices are much higher than during the off seasons. Also there will be a lot more families and kids on the ship during the summer.

Arriving
- Most ships give you a time that the ship can be boarded; it’s usually a few hours ahead of sailing time. For our cruise, the sailing time was 5PM and we boarded around 2 PM. It’s always worth it to board as soon as you can because you get to explore the ship before everyone else.
- I would suggest taking a small carry on bag with any valuables, medications, passport and other important documents with you. Also bring a spare change of clothes and your bathing suit. Once your luggage is checked in, it can take up to 7 hours before it arrives at your room.
- The pools and hot tubs will be the least crowded at this time and you can have a chance to swim and enjoy the hot tubs before everyone else.
- All shops on board and casinos will be closed until about an hour after the ship sets sail. All shops on board are duty free and thus can not open until the ship hits international waters.
- About an hour before sailing, return to your room and prepare for a safety procedure called mustering. Your life vests are in your room along with instructions and on the back of the door should be a map that shows you where your mustering station is. This is mandatory.

SeaPass
- Your Royal Caribbean SeaPass will be given to you upon arrival. This will be your room key and everything on board will accept it, as it is linked to your credit card. You will need it when you exit and reboard the ship as well so it’s important to keep this card with you at all times.

Dining
- Most ships offer what they call a soda card - you pay a set fee and you can have soda and juice for free for the rest of the ship. Paul and I learned from our new friends on the ship to only buy 1 soda card and just go to two different bars!
- Cruising is all about eating! There are several places to choose from usually, and one place that is open 24 hours that serves sandwiches, pizzas, and small desserts.
- On the ships I have cruised with in the past, there has been a formal dining area and a less formal one. During the day they both basically serve the same food except the formal dining area is wait staffed and the casual is buffet.
- When you book you will be asked to pick a seating time. The earlier seating usually starts around 6PM and the later around 8:30PM. Paul and I did first in Bermuda and second for the Caribbean. The reason we chose second this time is because sometimes due to departure time on the islands, you barely have enough time to get back and cleaned up before it’s dinner time. With later seating, Paul and I never had to rush and had plenty of time to shower and relax before dinner. Since most people eat during first seating, we learned that the pools were basically empty and we could relax and enjoy it for a few hours. Also with second seating we could head up to the casual dinner buffet and see what they were serving that night and decide if we wanted to go to the formal dinner later.
- Another thing you will have to choose ahead of time is whether you want to sit at a table by yourself or with others, ranging in numbers from 2-6 other people. Paul and I chose to sit with others even though it was our honeymoon. When cruising, if you don’t come with other people this is an easy way to make friends. Paul and I met another couple from NY who were around the same age, and we got to spend the whole cruise with them. We even exchanged emails at the end of the cruise. It’s always better to sit with more people if you want to sit with others. That way if you are stuck with one couple you don’t like, there still might be other people you can talk to. Most times they do try to sit you with people around the same age.
- Dinner in the dining room is more formal. Most ships usually do one formal night where you get all dressed up. Depending on the length of the cruise, there might be more. On most nights though you are still required to dress nicely - no pool clothes, tank tops for men, shorts, and hats are allowed in the dining area.
- The formal dining usually takes about 2 hours. You will have one set waiter/waitress plus an assistant waiter/waitress for the duration of your trip. Everyday the menu will change and the wait staff will go out of their way to make your dining experience excellent. Case in point, I love croutons. On the 3rd day of our cruise our waitress Jackie noticed that I mostly only ate the croutons out of my salad and left the remaining salad there. She started to bring me out a huge bowl of croutons as part of my meal everyday afterwards. Another time Paul and I couldn’t choose between 3 different entrees between the 2 of us, so Jackie gave us all 3 so we could try them all. On another cruise Paul’s father got 2 entrees and 2 appetizers because he wanted them. Pretty much anything you want, they will try to give you.
- Room service is free and open 24 hours as well. The selection is limited though.

Rooms
- Like I said most rooms are small unless you get suites. Paul and I always get a balcony because of my claustrophobia, the extra space helps. Cruise ships often have many different rooms. The basic stateroom has no windows so just know that it will be pitch black in your room, unless you turn on a light, at all times in there.
- Some rooms have a window you can look out of but can’t open. Some look out onto the water, some look in on the ship.
- Balcony and suites cost more but you get more room and windows. The junior suites and up have walk in closets and bathtubs you can lay down in.

Shops On Board
- Alcohol on the ship is cheap and tax free. US customs says you can bring up to 5 liters per person back with you. Anything above that you have to pay customs for (Last I heard it was $2 per extra liter so basically nothing). If you buy alcohol on the ship, they will box it up for you and deliver it to your room the last day, because they want you to purchase it from them.
- Make sure to bring all your essentials from home with you ie suntan lotion, asprin, contact cases, deodorant, etc. If you forget anything the general store on the ship has most sundries but be prepared to pay a lot for it. A bottle of suntan lotion cost me $10 on the ship.
- Practically every day the ship will have something for sale in the middle of their mall area. It’s fun to peak and browse.
- Jewelry and alcohol are always cheaper on the islands though. If you buy alcohol on the islands sometimes they will deliver it to your ship for you.

Drinking and Gambling
- Because cruise lines spend most of their time in international waters they usually have their own rules about this. On Royal you have to be 18 or older to gamble. If you are 18 you will be allowed to drink beer and wine only.

Activities and Other Amenities
- The mark of a good ship is the number of activities it affords its clientele. On Royal Caribbean, Paul and I could have played mini golf (we did 4 times), in line skated, ice skated, climbed the rock wall, played basketball, ping pong, exercised at the gym, read at the library, used the Internet, or attended any of the various seminars ranging from towel animal making to how to buy fine art held on the ship.
- The ship also had a spa and a salon (appointments needed to be made for this).
- At night there were a range of shows to attend from comedians, to variety shows, to the ship’s own gameshows as well as a night club where you can dance the night away!

Tipping
- Everything on the ship is priced a bit higher because 15% gratuity is added to everything. You are still free to tip above that if you feel there is exceptional service.
- At the end of your trip you will be encouraged to tip the following people: your state room attendant (cleans your room and make those cute towel animals for you), head waiter, waitress, and assistant waitress. Most ships will give you a recommended rate of how much per day per person. It ranges from $1-$4 depending on the service and most of the staff depends on these tips. You usually tip in cash though you can put it on your SeaPass (credit card) as well.

Miscellaneous Stuff
- The ship will usually place some kind of newsletter in your room everyday so you can view all the activities, shows and events happening the next night and plan accordingly. On Royal it’s called the Cruise Compass.
- Make friends on the ship if you came alone. Paul and I made friends on this cruise and they took us to this beautiful beach we would have never known of.
- Paul’s tip is to make friends with a bartender and visit him often. On this last cruise Paul and I as well as our two friends Eddie and Jen made friends with this one bartender and we visited him every night. By the end Paul was paying for about 2 drinks when he really had close to 10. He tipped the guy very well for it. Paul’s dad said on his last cruise he tipped $50 and received close to $200 in free drinks. So yeah, if you like to drink that’s the way to do it.
- My favorite part of the ship was the fact that they have photographers to take nice pictures of you. They are usually there when you get off the ship, during formal night they have stations set up, they come to the tables, they are around the pool deck etc. It was always fun to me to go to the photo area and hunt for our pictures. On Royal they would usually have a photo station with a white backdrop and you were allowed to take more causal and fun shots called Lifestyle portraits. Paul and I loved that and have 5 Lifestyle shots from 2 cruises. You have no obligation to buy any pictures so it’s just fun to see if anything comes out well.
- On shore days make sure to get up early (or close to landing time) so you can enjoy the whole day on the islands. Also make sure when you leave the ship you bring all necessary paper work and documents to get back on to the ship. Keep track of the ship’s departing time - the ship will leave without you.

Well that’s all I can think of. I hope this was helpful and if you have never been cruising before, I highly recommend it. It’s a ton of fun and the best way to travel in my opinion! Bon Voyage!

Coming soon - pictures!