MuttMutt

Many times I have asked other people to get something to eat with me after losing my wife. The one thing I hate doing is going to eat something alone. I also have not felt up to cooking since she passed away so other than something I can toss in the microwave or maybe a frozen pizza I don't eat much and most of the time those things are not all that healthy anyway. I have helped a few people do things and rather than them paying me I just tell them they can cook something or go eat something, sadly most of them just blow me off.

Things are just getting started but will soon be up and running. These tips should either be to help cope with the loss or for others who are trying to help a friend or loved one deal with a loss of their own.

Attacks and attitudes will not be tolerated here. Be civil or else.

I will eventually be looking for moderators to help with the community. This will all take time but rest assured there will eventually be more people to help. When I start looking for mods I will be looking for people who have a good attitude as well as people who have posted things that seem to be helpful.

Every so often there will be a vote put to the members to pick the top tips that will be put on to a master list.

You may ask why I may be qualified for this community. I lost my son who was 9 days old quite a few years ago and also lost my wife of ten years. Things have been difficult and I wanted a place to share with others the things I wish people would do or things I have done to get by. I am by no means an expert but I have dealt with a lot and hope to help others get by.

I am currently migrating this community and a few others I have setup from Reddit at this time. I am trying to do this as quickly as I can and as such posts may look a little off or have links that do not work. Please bear with me as I migrate through this process.

-MuttMutt

I originally created this community on Reddit and have decided that I no longer want to be there. As such I am migrating my posts over and links may not work correctly or posts may look odd.

Please bear with me as I move this and other communities I have created over to Lemmy.

Thanks, MuttMutt

So while I am mainly focusing on Royal Caribbean and it's ships this is pretty well universal for cruising, taking excursions only with ones offered by the cruise line.

Now don't get me wrong there are certain things that are great about taking an excursion with the cruise line. I personally like to SCUBA dive (for those who don't know it means Self Contained Underwater Apparatus which is why it is all caps) and my first cruise had a dive in Cozumel. The dive was nice and the crew did a good job, in fact I have dove with them since my first time on a ship and will likely go back. However since you must be certified to dive there are no where as many people on the ship who will be going, case in point my first dive had about 30 people total and that was on Liberty of the Seas which had around 3000 people onboard so about 1 percent of the number of people on an excursion. IMHO that is a pretty small number and the only places you will find numbers like that on a cruise ship excursion will either cost a lot, require a ton of effort, or will require some sort of certification. I don't mention unpopular excursions mainly because it's hard to determine which ones will be unpopular and if they are unpopular they will likely get removed as a possibility.

So you know you want to take a cruise and are the type to book ahead. There are a few options and each has good and bad things to think about. One of the big ones people worry about is getting back to the ship on time because there is nothing worse than watching someone running along trying to catch the ship when it's already dropped the moorings. These people are often called "pier runners" by people who see them. This is a major reason why people like to book with the cruise line as if you are on an excursion and something breaks down and you will not make it back to the ship by departure time the cruise line guarantees that you will get back to the ship or home if you book with them. That is a great thing and something we all want to have for the "just in case" that is why we buy insurance (or are forced to in certain cases) because no one wants to be stuck in a foreign place wondering how they are going to get home.

Another thing you often wonder is if the people operating the excursion are professionals or just some random person who offers a tour. Again this is a reason why people book ahead and use the cruise line. Some random guy may take you on a great tour but could also have you an hour from your pier and then start telling you to pay up to get back and no one wants to deal with that possibility.

And a big one is transportation, how do you get from the pier to your excursion. Being in another state let alone another country can make things nerve racking when trying to get around. Do you take a cab, bus, train, boat, etc. to get to your destination. Yep, I said boat as well because some islands offer hop on hop off ferry services fairly close to the pier and it is a perfectly viable way to get around. But figuring that out can be a PAIN which is why I often look for excursions with pickup right at the pier and most cruise lines have this already baked into their programs.

So booking with the cruise line often solves those three things but it adds another one which is crowds. As I said at the start SCUBA diving isn't going to have a ton of people but at the same time it's nice when it's even less and there are places that offer excursions that can be booked outside of the cruise line. I have used them before and it was mostly good. However you may have to find your own travel to the excursion destination though they often offer guarantees that you will get back to your ship even if you have to work out your own travel from the pier to the excursion. You will also have a lot less people going along and I have actually been on an excursion basically by myself with only a guide.

Another option is to just find a place and set up a booking. I did this with my last cruise since most of the pickup points were at or very near the pier but in Antigua I had a 45 minute ride from the pier to the dive operation. It's nerve racking the first time for sure but I was lucky enough to spend 2 weeks in Montego Bay, Jamaica and had taken the local route taxi's so I knew mostly what I needed to do to get around. Plus most ports do have area's where taxi's will be available to get tourists around and they are worth using if you have never been in an area before but in some cases the transportation costs will be higher. Jamaica itself has a "tourist taxi" called the Juta and it's MUCH more expensive than taking the route taxi (operates similar to a bus service) or the Knutsford Express (intercity bus service) but it has the advantage of being a true point A to point B transport service and often drivers will do work as tour guides.

And a final option is to just hop off the ship and go for a walk. If you don't really know what you want to do and there are no excursions that interest you, go for a walk. The port area's almost always have some sort of duty free shopping and you can easily go outside of the port area and explore. This is also a good option for before or after an excursion because it's basically free. Just be sure to take your passport, a photo ID, and your SeaPass (or whatever you use to get on and off the ship SeaPass is a RCCL naming for it) so that you can get back on the ship and if something happens and you don't make it back in time. I have done this in San Juan - Puerto Rico, Costa Maya - Mexico, Progresso-Mexico, and before an excursion in Georgetown - Cayman Islands. There are a ton of things to look at and sometimes just going into a grocery store can be interesting. For instance in Jamaica you can get all kinds of interesting treats like Rum cake and spice buns among other things. Just make sure that you have an app for doing currency conversion or local currency as most grocery stores are just not setup to handle conversions.

Sooooo I think that's mostly it in a nutshell. The disadvantage of taking an excursion outside of the cruise line offered excursions is you will be less likely to meet some of your other passengers. My first cruise was about 8 months after my wife passed away and I honestly have huge holes in my memory on certain things but a couple years later I lucked upon diving with someone whom I had dove with on that cruise and he remembered me. We got to dive together again and have done our best to stay in touch. If I can ever get some extra cash burning a hole in my pocket he and I are going to head down to Cozumel and spend a week or so diving every chance we can get.

If you found this information worthwhile and would like to support me for free you can click on my Amazon affiliate link and consider heading over to watch a video and subscribe to my Youtube Channel and watch some dive video's like my Shark Dive in St Kitts.

So I booked a sailing that was 10 nights while I was on a ship and it was only 200 down. Now I am kicking myself because I would love to book something else but dropping more than 200 at a time is tough for me right now.

I am by no means rich, I do a lot of DIY when things need fixed and it saves me enough that I can manage to make some travel happen. I don't stay in suites or fancy 100 per night rooms when I travel. For that matter I have slept in my vehicle on longer trips or drive for a very long time to get where I am going. So believe me when I say every penny counts for me and I can swing a certain amount without issue but 200 is generally easy for me to put down if I find a cruise I really want.

So why am I kicking myself you may ask? Well the cruise I wanted to book was a 500 deposit, it's a little further out as well (fall 2024 vs spring), and like I said 500 in one shot is tough. Sadly cruises I believe 9 nights or longer are a 900 deposit... I don't have that kind of cash sitting around!!

But you can put a deposit down and not even pick a cruise when you are on a ship and you can literally book a 10 night cruise for that same 200 down. In fact the sailing I was on previously was 10 nights and the deposit was 200 onboard. Not to mention that if you sailed using a travel agent they will automatically have your cruise added unless you specifically ask them not to be. That means your agent will be able to help you do things with your cruise and will be the person you call to make payments.

You can also have multiple deposits placed at the same time and I believe that you can even gift a deposit to someone else of your choosing but you will have to check that out onboard.

So anyway stop by NextCruise while on the ship and find out the details on anything they have going.

I am a SCUBA diver. I am actually a fairly advanced SCUBA diver. I have a Rescue Diver certification currently and am at the point of deciding if I should start the steps to becoming a Dive Master and instructor. It is something that I love to do and have a unique look on things. Honestly what I would love to do is offer free training to people who normally wouldn't be able to afford it so those people can get out there and enjoy some time under water as well. But I digress because this post is about learning to dive and diving on a cruise ship.

So anyway if you want to learn to dive I congratulate you on your interest and hope that you get the chance to take it to the next level and actually learn. If you are still on the fence but are interested you can sometimes find what is called a "try dive" where a dive master will teach you some basics and take you around under water. I personally love being under water and I feel at peace there, I learned at a local shop that I wandered into a few months after my wife passed away in 2019. I broke down crying while filling out some paperwork because they had a checkbox for married or single, in my heart I was still married and would have been still if she was no longer with me. A few hours later I was at home reading over the lessons and watching some video's to start my learning process, that evening I was in the water going over the basics. It's a skill well worth learning and can allow you to experience so many things your surface dwelling friends will envy and some will even cringe over, lol. But this post is more about where you should learn to dive.

So there are good teachers and bad teachers, some have a knack for helping people get things to stick in their head and some just don't. I can't advise much on that but what I can say is do your research and give you some advice before you get started. With that said unless you have absolutely no time to learn outside of your vacation I would skip learning on a ship.

Now I am not saying that the dive master on your ship will be incompetent or anything like that. But you will likely feel a bit rushed and it will be much harder for you to learn good skills that will stick. For one your instructor may not have the best English language skills, many of the people working on cruise ships do not come from English as a first language countries. And while the skills taught worldwide are standardized asking questions is a big part of understanding. If you have a potential language barrier it will be tougher to figure things out and be safe. You will also be doing all your learning on your phone, tablet, or computer at home or on the ship if you have internet access. Royal Caribbean is a PADI (Professional Association of Dive Instructors) affiliate so you will be taking the PADI e-Learning course. IMHO there is nothing wrong with it and I used it for my Advanced Open Water and Rescue Diver certification courses but I already had a good understanding of diving when I completed my Open Water certification classes and those were done in a nice little classroom with a person who could answer questions and point out certain things to remember. IMHO it is well worth doing your classes at a reputable local dive shop because your instructor will go over things even if you are doing the e-Learning course online.

Another thing is you may not be able to learn on every ship. Many of the smaller ships have a "dive shop" but all they are able to do is offer you is to purchase your mask, fins, and snorkel along with some other accessories or a GoPro camera. Most of the larger ships however will have a PADI dive master onboard where you can take the course. But your onboard instructor will not be the person taking you on your actual dives, you will actually be doing a PADI Open Water Referral course and can actually be done at home in many instances. And that is one of the reasons why I don't personally recommend it as you will be paying more to learn on the ship and your instructor likely won't even be in the water with you when you actually do your certification dives and your instructor for the certification dives may also have a language barrier as well which just compounds potential problems. All of those things combined makes me cringe and increases the chances that you will not learn your skills properly and puts you in a situation where your very life could be in danger.

I also don't recommend going out and learning to dive in a foreign country because it's cheaper than doing so near your home. The language barrier comes into play there as well and it's not uncommon for someone to be certified only to end up near home taking an advanced course for the new instructor to learn that you don't properly know your dive skills. In fact when taking my Rescue Diver certification course this absolutely came up in the conversation with a few people and one of the owners/divemasters. Long story short someone came in who certified in the Philippines and thought they were good divers but once in the water it was apparent they had barely enough skill and knowledge to dive and they were not very safe about it.

You could do your training at a local shop and get a referral to someplace where you will be traveling on the ship the same as how your training would work while on the ship, however it takes 4 dives for your certification and most shops only do 2 and sometimes 3 dives per day so you will need to work that out ahead of time or plan to have referral dives in 2 different locations. This all adds up to spending even more cash to learn to dive.

So what do I recommend you might ask? Well do some research on a local dive shop. In the US you may think that you have to head to the oceanfront states to learn to dive but you would be wrong. If you have a city with a fairly large population you can easily find a dive shop to certify. I got mine in Oklahoma City, OK and there isn't any oceanfront property for about 10 hours of driving. There are shops out there and you can learn to dive though depending on where you live it may require a commute or plans to spend a couple weekends in a major city nearby.

So you found a shop and are taking the plunge. Great, but... You will generally need a couple pieces of gear and if you travel on a ship it's worth having them. Those pieces are a mask, fins, snorkel, and dive computer. Few people still dive with charts and without a dive computer you will have to do a lot more work to figure out your second dive time limits, just buy a dive computer and get going. It's not a huge cost overall compared to your regulator set or BCD and it will make your trip much more enjoyable plus it's cool to be able to show your friends and family how deep you were and track how much time you have under water (as of writing this I have been to 100 feet deep and have over 60 hours total time under water). Fins, Mask, and Snorkel are pretty basic low tech items and can be picked up just about anywhere. The thing you need to make sure of is that your fins are the proper size for diving. Short fins are for surface swimming or snorkeling and will not propel you through the water very well. Long fins are made for freediving and will wear the user out in a short period. Most free divers do not swim for long outside of when they make the dive and then have a long period of rest afterwards. The long fins will also be a pain to put on and take off on a boat. You can get a fin that is for barefoot diving but then you have to carry shoes and with my dive boots on I walk around on the ship and in port so it saves me a ton of extra stuff to carry. For a Mask and Snorkel even a cheapo will work in a pinch but SCUBA masks are generally made with a tempered glass lens and will have a soft silicone skirt so that it molds to your face better and prevents leaks. A snorkel is just a tube that sticks into the air and you can breathe through a basic but serviceable one can be made at a plumbing store so don't overthink that.

I personally love the Cressi Pro Light fins but I do replace the original straps with one of the rubber band ones that snug the fins as you dive and will require a dive boot to protect your feet. For a mask and snorkel I just use a cheapo from Amazon, it's honestly so low tech I don't think branding matters much unless you are looking for certain features like the ability to have corrective lenses made for your mask and many masks will be packaged with a snorkel as well which should work in most situations. For a dive computer I use a Mares Puck Pro currently but will eventually upgrade to something like the Garmin MK2i but will keep the Mares as a backup as well. There is an upgraded version of the Mares Puck Pro that adds bluetooth for transferring your dive logs to your phone or tablet but it is nearly twice the cost of the Puck Pro, I personally use a cable to transfer my dives with a USB OTG connector and have had zero issues.

The only other thing I can recommend is a dry bag. You don't have to have one to scuba dive but if you carry a cell phone, towel, and change of clothes with you it's well worth having one.

So that's it, I know it may not be what you wanted to hear but IMHO it is better to get your initial certification locally as the skills you learn in the water when you get started will be the skills you build on every time you dive. And if those skills are not very good you will not be a good diver.

Here are a few Amazon affiliate links to some basic gear that I either have or plan to get if my advice has been helpful please consider using the links to make a purchase.

Cressi Pro Light Fins

SCUBA Dive Boot

Mares Puck Pro

Garmin MK2i

Mask and Snorkel

Dry Bag

Yes the travel agent. Some people love them some hate them.

I don't bother with having them help me with getting to the port or getting a place to stay but on the ship it's well worth having someone to help you. Do your research and make sure the agency has a good reputation. There is nothing worse than to have an issue and not be able to contact someone. My go to travel agent is with VacationsToGo and even if he is out of the office I can get things done with just a little longer wait. If you are looking for a good agent call them up and ask for Jason Whitson!! Just tell him the geek that is rebuilding his house sent you, LOL. He will know.

But anyway I like working with my agent because I often get a little bit of onboard credit, pay the same price or less, and I found out today that I can actually use RoyalCaribbean Promo Codes with them as well. So my latest cruise came with 50 onboard credit and I got a discount with the code SetSail. Maybe it's only a few bucks more but it all adds up in the long run, right?

Other advantages are that you don't have to wait to speak with someone if you need to make a change. You simply contact your travel agent, let them know what you need done and they will see what they can do to make things the way you want. I was recently booking a trip for January 2024 and in the rush I learned my cash transfer to another account was taking longer than usual. The booking was put on hold for a couple days till I could get the payment to process and even though my regular guy was out of the office I was able to speak with someone else and get things done. To add to that it was only a 5 minute wait because a supervisor needed to deal with the issue otherwise I am sure the wait would have been much shorter. But let's be realistic, a 5 minute wait on hold for someone to be available is a very short time compared to the sometimes hour long wait for someone at RoyalCaribbean and if the cost is the same why not go for it!

Anyway that is my little tip for the day and actually something I didn't even realize I could do. But from now on I will be using that trick when I make a booking. Just be sure to have them apply the code before the deposit is made otherwise you likely can not add it without canceling a previous booking and if you had a nonrefundable deposit it's likely not worth it.

So I personally am not made of money and NEVER expected to be able to sail again after my first time. It's a long story but my wife passed away and I had some extra cash as well as a need to plan something and heal.

Since then I have sailed a couple more times and will soon be on another trip. Here are my secrets.

Search, search some more, then search again. Don't just rely on the RCCL site in fact I recommend VacationsToGo.com The 90 day ticker is awesome if you have extra cash and want to get something really cheap and can easily get to a port or live near one.

Book with a travel agent. Vacations to go often has 50 to 75 dollars onboard credit they apply when you book through them. It's not a ton but everything counts and the onboard credit can be used for the tips.

Don't bother with drink packages, upgraded restaurants, or excursions. Pack a couple bottles of wine if you want something to drink (just remember that if you want to drink it at a restaurant they may charge a corkage fee which covers opening the bottle and providing glasses) and grab a 12 pack of soda to take with you. You are limited to 2 X 750ML bottles of wine and one 12 pack of soda. There is free food in the windjammer, main dining room, and a few other spots around the ship. And you can go ashore and walk around in the port area or venture into town for free, if you really want to shop find a local grocery store and look around to see what is interesting. You can easily take along some stuff for the beach, some fins a mask and a snorkel for swimming, or even a skateboard, surfboard, or bicycle to use while in port. https://www.royalcaribbean.com/faq/questions/prohibited-items-onboard-policy

Pack commonly needed medications with you. Take something along for allergies, pain, sunburn, cuts and scrapes, etc. If you have a sensitive stomach take some pepto or whatever your preferred substance is. While there are medical facilities onboard they are not exactly free so why run the chance of needing to stop in if you can prevent it. Same goes for nausea meds.

If you are driving look for places to park outside of the port area. On an upcoming sailing parking at the official port parking is 15.00 per day. I was able to book with a private lot with a shuttle ride to the port for 7.55 per day. Sometimes you can find lodging where they will allow you to park your car for free just for staying there and sometimes will have a shuttle as well.

If more than one person is traveling plan to drive. It sucks especially for long trips but to travel from many locations it's just cheaper. Yes there is wear and tear on the vehicle but you can carry your bags to the port for free, spend time in the port area without paying someone to drive you around. This is not always the case but most of the time will be unless you are traveling an extreme distance or have tons of direct flights from your local airport most of the time driving will be cheaper. And if you have to pay to check bags that pretty well sinks it.

Look at all your travel options. Yes driving with more than one person will generally be cheaper but I still look at flights and Amtrak when I make plans. For long distances where there is a direct route to the port city or nearby you may be able to take the train for less and you never know when a sale will be happening.

Shop around when looking for a room before sailing. Sometimes being a few miles further from the port will be drastically cheaper. When I travel to Galveston in the off season I get a room on Galveston Island, the rest of the time I end up staying further away because the room is almost half as much per night.

If you travel in early look for a grocery store vs fast food. Yes it's a convivence factor to buy fast food but if you are driving a long way get in a couple days early so you can have a day to relax. Take a small microwave or book a room with one included. It's easy enough to take a cooler as well if a refrigerator is not available. You can then still have a warm meal that won't break the bank. Also traveling with a cooler means you can make sandwich's and such while driving saving a bit more over fast food on the road, not to mention you can easily pick up healthier options if you want them.

Carry your bags to the luggage drop off area. The porters are not free, they work mostly for tips and while they will probably take your bag it's still best to at least drop them a few bucks for doing so.

Search for cruise's during off season's or when everyone else HAS to be at work/school. The summer cruises are always going to be busier because school is out. Not only will there be less kids on the ship while school is in session but there will be less people and usually cheaper fares as well.

DO NOT BOOK A CRUISE THAT TRAVELS ON A HOLIDAY LIKE CHRISTMAS OR OTHER LOCAL HOLIDAY. In the USA Christmas, Thanksgiving, New Years and Valentines day are ALWAYS jacked in the price category. Everyone has the same though of a romantic or family vacation and the cruise lines know it. Book the week before or after, while the date on a calendar is nice you can celebrate a little before or after easily. Plus if you really don't want to drive the flights to get to the port will be higher around those times as well. I am sure other holiday's will be similar.

Do lots of mock bookings. The advertised price on the RCCL site isn't always the same as the price you can actually book at. So do a mock booking and see if your age, job, state of residence, or Crown and Anchor Society benefit can get you a discount. Sometimes it's worth trying them individually as well.

Take a risk and go for the guaranteed room option. I have done it and the room was fine, yes it's a risk that you could end up near a noisy area. If that happens politely go to the guest services desk and mention that you hear a lot of noise in the room and they may be able to move you or give you a little onboard credit as an apology. Don't be a jerk, these people have limits on what they can do and they want to make sure everyone is happy but it's not a perfect world. If the ship is fully booked there isn't much they can do. Also if your category is fully booked they can't put you in a suite just because without you paying extra.

Consider interior rooms. Seriously they are almost always cheaper. So unless you plan to sit on the balcony every chance you get why pay extra for the room. They are all on the small side but lets face it most of the time on the ship will be spent around the pool, at a show, or eating. For an Alaska cruise I would spring for a virtual balcony or actual balcony for the views but I also doubt I would be in the pool as much then either.

Take along your own entertainment. I carry a tablet with some movies and TV shows on it as well as a Raspberry Pi with a bunch of games on it. Take a look at some of my basic tips and tricks for more information.

Honestly if you do a little legwork and shop around you can get a trip on RCCL for not much cash. If you have a rewards credit card you can even use that to help decrease the cost a little bit as well. But it does mean you will be doing less while on shore but lets be honest you can take a towel and go sit on the beach for nothing most of the time and if you want to snorkel you can buy that equipment and take it along for a lot less than paying someone else to provide it.

First off the first time ever being on a ship can be a pain. They seem like huge floating cities to my girlfriend and she does get a little lost without me sometimes but always makes it to where she was intending with a few tips.

-Any time on a Royal Caribbean ship you will sometimes see models of the ship onboard, those ships will ALWAYS face the same direction and the front of the model ship will be pointed towards the front of the ship. The same often goes for deck maps and such.

Most of the ships now have touch screens near the elevators on each floor that will allow you to get help and make your way around. Use them as they are each programmed with their location and will give pretty good directions to get around if you are unsure.

Remember that you CAN often make it to another elevator bank instead of waiting. When shows are released the elevators are often packed and busy, this includes port days. But often only one of the elevator groups will be busy but if you walk towards another part of the ship you can catch an elevator with minimal waiting even if the other bank of elevators is literally packed with people waiting. For instance when a show releases the elevators nearby will be packed but you can often walk along the ship to another set of elevators to use.

Try to use the elevators for going up more than 2 floors only. I know some people have a difficult time walking and that is fine but if you are going up one or two floors consider taking the stairs and every chance you can use the stairs to go down. Again this is more for those people who do not want to wait.

If you have just gotten out of a show and do not want to walk through the casino (and all the smoke) go out onto the deck instead. Many of the ships have an area outside on the same deck as the casino that you can walk along easily to navigate towards the rear of the ship. This is highly useful when a large show has released. For instance on Freedom or Voyager class ships when leave the theater I come out on deck 3 and take the stairs to deck 4 and then walk along the outside deck and avoid the casino to head to the rear elevators. Doing this I can often beat others who walk through the casino and will beat most of the people waiting for an elevator on deck 3.

Study the deck maps before you even get on the ship. Seriously, look them up or grab the RCCL app on your phone or tablet and figure out the location of your room as well as the location of major area's. Worst case if you are getting confused you can generally find a way to get to area's where someone working will be able to help get you pointed where you need to go.

And if someone starts talking about bow, stern, port, starboard, fore, aft and amidships remember this.

Fore = forward or front of the ship. The front is also where the bow is located.

Aft = afterward or rear of the ship. The rear is also where the stern is located.

Port = the left side of the ship when facing the front or fore of the ship.

Starboard = the right of the ship when facing the front or fore of the ship.

Amidships = the middle of the ship. So if you are in the middle you are amid ship.

If you have never been on a cruise before or never been on a Royal Caribbean cruise I suggest skipping the dining packages. There is a ton of food available and the specialty dining menu’s stay the same but the Windjammer will swap in food that is local to your next stop most times, for instance going to Jamaica you will get jerk pork and/or chicken with rice and peas among other things you would often find in Jamaica. If a country has a local style of cooking odds are the dinner meal the night before will reflect that. You will still have some standard things a lot of times so anyone can find something they will like. By booking the restaurants you are limiting yourself a bit and you already paid for your food. Been on a ship multiple times on the same route or celebrating something special I say go for it but otherwise stick with what is already there.

Late night on most ships you can still stop by the Café Promenade or Sorento’s Pizza (smaller ships may not have one) and grab something to eat or take back to your room to eat. Main Dining Room (MDR) can be a pain. First few times I booked My Time Dining (MTD) and honestly wasn’t worried about going to the MDR but my girlfriend wanted to go one night but when we went to try and book a time nothing was available. The only way to get on the list and not have to wait in line was to speak to someone at the MDR ahead of time to get a table so honestly I suggest skipping MTD and pick either the early or late dinner so you can catch shows. It doesn’t force you to eat there but if early dining starts at 5:30 and you are not there by around 5:45 they assume you are not coming and will start seating MTD people who are waiting in line. And remember the MDR is open for breakfast and lunch and will have less people as most will head to the Windjammer. The Ultimate Beverage Package or Soda Package or Beverage Packages are fine if you drink a lot of whatever you are after but most require multiple drinks per day to break even over purchasing things outright. And remember that you CAN take on a couple bottles of wine and a 12 pack of soda can’s or bottle’s if you really need a fix. I was on Liberty of the Seas for 14 nights and two bottle’s of wine was all we took on then picked up a drink here and there if we wanted something. I carry a drink container and fill it up when we eat, but it can also hold a full bottle of wine and that is what I used when on the B2B headed through the port (it was amazing). Also remember that there is free coffee, hot water and tea bags or hot chocolate packages, Nestle Vitality drinks, water, or in the mornings juices, or milk available for free as well. The Nestle Vitality drinks are often changed out throughout the cruise and remember that you may need to add some sugar or sweetener for it to taste correct for the drinks available. You can easily carry along some of the "water enhancers" as well if you just want something you enjoy but don't want to spend a ton extra. You can carry something that has an HDMI output along and hook it up to the TV in the rooms. I personally carry a Raspberry PI 4 with RetroPie and a bunch of ROM’s for when I don’t want to just hang around the pool. I also load on a few movies to watch whenever. The only other thing you need is some sort of wired controller. Plus it’s kinda nice to play some old retro NES or SNES games.

If you have a tablet I highly suggest loading some movies or shows onto it to take along as well. You may have some times where there isn’t much happening and it does help to pass the time. I actually have a few movies and TV shows as well as some Ebooks I carry along on my tablet.

A multiport charger is almost a must if you don’t want to play the device charging shuffle. Then you can add your regular cables and charge everything up in one shot. You can not take along extension cords or most power bars because they are considered a fire hazard and you will likely only find a couple outlets in most staterooms. I carry a phone and tablet along with a couple Bluetooth speakers and a pair of chargers for my GoPro batteries. Add all that to my girlfriends tablet and phone and let’s just say that if you had a single device charger nothing would be charged up fully unless you are in a suite with multiple outlets and multiple chargers.

Everyone seems to have similar suitcases, black is especially common. I have some luggage tags that work great with the printed luggage tags that Royal Caribbean provides. It makes your bag look a little different and can also be used when getting off the ship. I just pull the paper one out and wrap the one for leaving around it then slip it back into the pouch. They also can come with some lanyards which work nicely for carrying your SeaPass and a couple bucks, haven't had an issue yet since having them or the tags. And getting a handle wrap will help identify your stuff even better, you could draw a picture on some plain ones so they get to get in on getting things ready as well. In October I did have one woman grab ahold of my girlfriends suitcase and she would NOT let go, her husband had already grabbed hers and I tried to get her attention multiple times and she ignored me until I took ahold of her arm to prevent her from walking off.

If you are planning to take a cell phone with you it may be worth grabbing some pouches to keep them protected. I have personally seen them pulled out of the water after over a year and had the phone still work. In fact I took one to around 30 feet after finding it in the water. A dry bag is not a bad idea either if you will be around water and would like a dry towel. I SCUBA dive and carry a dry bag for my towel, some dry clothes, my tablet, and some spare batteries for my camera. Tablet still works like the day I got it and while on the ship I toss my phone inside and clip it to something so it doesn't walk away. I would look at as large of a dry bag I could get though. I have a 10L one and it's actually too small for excursions and I will probably grab something closer to 20L next time.

Towels are available on the ship for use at the pool and for excursions, just remember to bring them back and make sure they scan your SeaPass when dropping them off so you are not charged for a towel. Another hint is grab some towels and roll your wet clothes up in them and then twist the towel to get as much water out of your clothes as you can but especially on the last day. You can hang them in your room and they will be dry the next morning if you did it right.

While on the ship there is a cell tower that is turned on a certain distance from shore. Some service providers have a contract and will automatically connect, this is not generally covered with unlimited roaming of any kind so you may want to put your device in airplane mode while on the ship. If you do splurge for internet you can simply turn WiFi on after turning on airplane mode. You can make calls over the ships internet connection though they may not work exactly right. If you have an Android phone and calling doesn't work right download the Google phone dialer app and set it as default while on the ship and it should work fine if you have WiFi calling available. Can't help with the chewed on fruit devices though, sorry. I have Android devices and have had decent luck with doing internet sharing as well. I connect to the WiFi with 2.4Ghz and then rebroadcast to my tablet with the 5Ghz band. My S21 5G has no issues but I can not say every device will work so your mileage may vary and it will EAT your battery so keep it to a minimum unless you have a big battery, have a portable battery, or are plugged in to a charger.

When packing I suggest having everything packed and in the car or as close to the car as possible the night before. It forces you to remember the little things sooner than if you leave your bag in your room till the last minute. It’s a lot better to be walking around searching for a pair of shoes or something at 6 in the afternoon the night before leaving than the morning you are heading out. And DON’T forget the vaccination card, for COVID tests and boarding pass, get a copy on your device or something printed off in case internet is spotty in the terminal. If you are flying get in at least the day before… with all the canceled flights you may want to spend two days in town instead so if your flight is canceled you can hopefully get rebooked. Driving is another option and my preferred way to get to the terminals. I still get in the day before and have a room booked and prefer to get in a couple days before if I can so I can explore a little. And remember that Amtrak can get you to a lot of the ports as well and will have a lot less cancellations on average but again plan to get in ahead of time. Unless you only live a couple hours from a port you probably want to spend the night within about 15 miles of the port so you have more options of getting there on time.

And if you are not finding an excursion you like through Royal Caribbean you can take a look at some other places to find them. Shore Excursion Group is one that I have used in the past and they offer similar guarantee’s as Royal Caribbean for getting back to the ship.

I am a geek who loves being on a cruise ship. Royal Caribbean is my choice when I sail because overall they seem to be the ones who are doing the best for the environment out of all the cruise lines.

I am also a SCUBA diver and utilize the ships to make it to destinations I would normally never be able to get to so I get to see things on a budget.