Jardry

We're not huge alcohol drinkers and we buy the soda package. If we want an alcoholic beverage, would we be charged the full price or would we be charged the difference in price between a soda and the alcoholic beverage?

Not sure if I should start a new thread or add to this thread. I'll start by adding to this thread. We've bought a soda package for our cruise. If we want an alcoholic drink or my wife would like a mocktail, so we pay the full price or would we pay the price difference between the soda and whatever we order? Apologies if this has been asked and answered elsewhere.

Correct! We've been on several cruise lines. Norwegian Pearl - 7 day Alaskan Cruise (Seattle, Junea, Skagway, Ketichan to Vancouver) P&O Arcadia - 11 day Scandinavian/Baltic Cruise (Southampton - Copenhagen, Stockholm, Tallinn, St Petersberg, Helsinki to Zeebrugge) CMV Astor - 5 day Australian Cruise (Adelaide, Hobart, Burnie to Adelaide) Carnival Legend - 8 day South Pacific Cruise (Sydney, Mare, Isle of Pines, Noumea to Sydney) Our best experience to date was on the Norwegian Pearl. Thank you for the advice regarding dining experiences. I usually order cold water when dining out, so also have no idea of soda costs at a land restaurant. Good to know that on board soda costs are likely to be more than the cost of a soda package. We've done our laundry like this with most of our extended holidays. We've always requested additional towels for our room. Once we've hand washed we wrap the washed clothes in the towel and then wring the towel to remove as much moisture as possible. Once wrung out, clothes are hung to air-dry during the day. We intend to! RESTAURANT DRESS CODE We're not into dressing up, preferring to dress casually. Are you able to dine in the restaurants wearing black "Lee" jeans and a smart button up polo shirt? Or, must you wear dress trousers with a full button shirt? Is it worth purchasing the restaurant vouchers to dine at any restaurant up to 5 times for an additional USD $105 per person. What are the "one off" restaurant surcharges as a comparison? SHORE EXCURSIONS What is recommended - Royal Caribbean organised shore excursions or arrange you own through Tripadvisor or similar? I acknowledge that cruise line organised shore excursions ensure you won't be left behind, but then some of these shore excursions seem quite pricey. Thank you to all that have provided comments to my initial post - it is appreciated.

Just found this website and joined to get some advice on our upcoming trans-pacific cruise in April 2018, departing from Sydney and ending in Seattle. We are cruising on "Explorer of the Seas" and the cruise duration is 23 days!. We don't intend dining in any of the "user pays" restaurants. Will only be dining in the buffet restaurant. We are teetotalers, so aren't interested in any alcoholic drinks packages. TIPPING From the Royal Caribbean website: Stateroom attendant USD 5.00 a day per guest Dining Room Waiter USD 3.75 a day per guest Assistant Waiter USD 2.15 a day per guest Head Waiter USD 0.75 a day per guest Would our tips be USD 11..65 x 2 = USD 23.30 per day? We should therefore budget around USD 535.90 for tips. Are we expected to leave an additional tip each day for our cabin steward over and above that advised above? BEVERAGE PACKAGE (Classic Soda Package) From the Cruise Planner for our cruise: Classic Soda Package USD 9.95 a day per guest At USD 20.00 per day this would be USD 460.00 for the duration of the cruise. Is tipping then an additional 18% (USD 82.80) on top of that total? Could anyone advise what the individual cost per soda would be? We would consume between 3 and 4 sodas a day. Does Royal Caribbean offer any discount soda packages? Does Royal Caribbean allow passengers to BYO their own soda drinks? If so, what would be allowed to be brought on board which would only be consumed in our cabin. Is there any restriction on whether soda brought on board is in plastic bottles or in aluminium cans? LAUNDRY FACILITIES As we will be on board for 23 days, are there laundry facilities on the ship whereby you can do your own washing and drying? What would be the approximate cost per load be to wash and to dry. We anticipate taking between 4 and 5 days of clothing, each which suggests we would need to wash and dry at least 5 times during the cruise.. ANY THING ELSE TO CONSIDER Is there any other "surprises" to be aware off with regard to possible hidden costs? Does anyone have any suggestions as to how we might be able to minimize our on board expenses?