jennybean

Thanks everyone for your feedback! We are going in August so I think we'll look into shark diving. 

Thanks @Matt and @tiny260 but what about the village experience? That's what I'm most interested in from this excursion 

On 2018-01-16 at 7:55 AM, Matt said:

What time of year? Biking in St. Maarten in warmer months of the year might be really hot

Good question! We are going in August, so it's going to be very hot. I totally didn't think of that! 

Thank you @DunkelBierJay good to know! I have gone scuba diving before and quite enjoy it. Have you done any in St. Maarten? It looks like there's some shark diving that you can do there that sounds really cool! 

There's a couple excursions that really interest me in Phillipsburg, St. Maarten but they are both only offered in the morning when we are there (which is unfortunate for RCCL cause I'd give them my money for both if I could do one in the afternoon). 

One is the historical Phillipsburg by bicycle and the other is the Sea Trek St. Maarten. Has anyone done either of these? I love history and cycling so I think the bike ride would be so cool and fun. But I've also always wanted to try Sea Trek and don't know where else I'd get a chance to try it. 

I'm curious if anyone has been on the parasite cove escape and Haitian village experience. I've never been to Labadee and This particular type of experience is exactly the type of thing I really enjoy. I'm looking for som feedback from anyone that's done this one. 

I like the idea that you get to see some local culture, have a private beach and still get to do some snorkelling or kayaking. Seems like you get a little of everything!

New cruiser here. I'm interested in the deluxe drink package but online it says it includes drinks up to $12. Does this mean if the drink is over $12 I have to pay the full price of it? Or will they cover the first $12 and I would just pay the difference?

I'd love to know about this as well! I want to have my hair done in braids before I go and if it's not much more expensive then off cruise I'd rather just have it done on the ship. 

THANKSSSS!!! This is great info! I'll go take a look at Matt's blog post. 

Thank you!!!!

Thank so so much everyone!!!!! You are all so helpful!

Thank you! This is helpful! What would you say the average alcoholic drink cost is? The only extra drinks I can see myself getting are the cool cocktails at some of the restaurants and I don't see myself having more then 2 maybe 3 in a day so I don't know if the cost of a drink package is worth it. 

Apparently our room booking came with something called dine drink discover which gives us a soda package for two.

12 minutes ago, cruiseseason said:

Dear Jennybean,

You can see the current price of the different specialty restaurants on the cruise planner (start dummy bookings for each restaurant).

Below the link to a detailed blog post about the Ultimate Dining Package, including calculations how much money you can save:

https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2017/07/11/royal-caribbean-ultimate-dining-package-costs-and-review

As stated by Royal Caribbean you can save up to 60% on the restaurant price. This depends of course on which restaurants you choose (you will get more value out of more expensive ones, but of course you probably want some variety...).

A good idea would be to make a list of all the restaurants you'd definitely like to visit and then check if it's cheaper to go all-in with the Ultimate Dining Package or if you're really just interested in a few restaurants and might be better off with a 3, 4 or 5 night dining package (that also have considerable savings)...don't neglect also the factor of 'food fatigue': eating only in restaurants you payed for might take away your appetite for all the great complimentary snack options on the ship (Park Café for example). You would also never be able to taste the Brasserie menu for lunch on sea days (as you'd be out in the specialty restaurant). It could well all be too much for a first cruise, and definitely not necessary.

The Main Dining Room can also be a nice specialty restaurant!

There is no need to eat every night at a specialty restaurant. This depends of course on your preferences...but especially as a new cruiser it is great to opt for lots of Main Dining Room dinners. Maybe you decide to splurge sometimes but it is definitely not a must to reserve specialty dining, especially not every night of your cruise! If you never eat at the Main Dining Room you will never be able to gauge the value you get from specialty restaurants, also for future cruises.

Taking all these factors into consideration will help you take the right decision for YOU!

Thank you so much! This is super helpful! My cruise is still too far out for me to make mock dining reservations hahaha

Brand new cruiser here. I have a question on this topic and thought it would be best to post here rather then create a new one. Do all ports accept their local country currency? The reason I ask is that I am Canadian and I might get a better deal for my cash if I get the local currency rather then getting american cash before I leave. 

I also had noticed when I did travel to Jamaica before that the locals gave me better deals and seemed to treat me a little nicer when I used their currency rather then american cash. So I'm just wondering if it will be worth it for me to just get out a little cash for each country I'll be visiting. We stop in Haiti, Jamaica and Mexico. Thanks!

I'm just trying to create a budget for my cruise (it's my first one ever and still over 300 days away haha I am super excited). I want to know how much money I should be saving up because I don't want to be limited on the trip if I decide to get a drink or go to a speciality restaurant. What are the average costs for specialty restaurants and drinks?

I just want to make sure I have enough money saved up so I can splurge without worry. 

Super newbie here. Never been on a cruise and I'm crazy excited.

I have heard and seen so much about Wonderland that I have to dine there. I will be there for my birthday so I want it to be my birthday dinner, but we are also traveling with my family which includes my 4 nieces. 3 of them will 4yrs old and one will be 7. Do they have a kids menu? And are the kids a different price? Or would this be a place you wouldn't want to bring young kids to?

I have a related question as a new cruiser. I've never been on a cruise before and I am booked on Harmony. Are the specialty dining packages worth their cost? I wish I knew how much the restaurants cost on average, to see if the ones I want are worth getting the dining package for or if I should just book a couple specialty restaurants.