HWC

This is exactly what I was looking for, thank you very much. That should hold us over until we have to get back to the airport around 2. Luggage won't be an issue.

LOL that doesn't sound like the most terrible thing, if they want me off bad enough maybe they'll carry my luggage for me :)

My wife and I have a September RC cruise booked out of Ft Lauderdale. It returns to port on a Sunday (9/30) and the best flight for us getting back home doesn't board until 3:25PM. I've been looking for some cool things to do near the airport since we'll have a bunch of time to kill. One question, what is approximate latest we have to be off the ship, I think it docks at 6-6:30AM? Second question, somewhere to go on a Sunday morning? I found a link for the "Museum of Amazing Things" which looks awesome but they only list their hours as M-F. Any advice appreciated, thanks.

While I agree the DCL website leaves a lot to be desired, I'm talking more about the options to navigate once you've booked - not the actual booking process. As you know on DCL there are no reservations for anything unless you want to eat a night or two in their specialty dining area, or you have special needs. So after I book DCL I don't think about drink packages, shows and entertainment (you just show up early and grab any seat). We took some neighbors with us last time as first timers, and after we boarded we just told them if you can see it, you can eat it and if someone's not serving it to you and wanting your card, it's included. They were totally off and running with that for the week. That takes some of the guess work out of cruising - but for a price. But I absolutely agree what drew us to RC was the variety and something new and shiny (as we are easily distracted) - but because there's so much to do one has to do more pre-planning to take advantage of it. I'm fine with that. This discussion board has been a godsend for helping me figure this stuff out and I feel like I'm going to be a mile ahead of at lease some percentage of first timers. That should be good enough :)

That's actually our preference so I'll just trust it'll work out fine.

Thank you that's very reassuring. We are jumping DCL because of some serious price hikes but I will say this, one thing DCL has going for it is that it does make cruise planning a LOT easier. Don't get me wrong on the surface it certainly appears we're getting a lot more for the same $$ on RC, it's just a bit harder to figure out how. That's OK, it'll only take once.

This is loosely on topic... We are first time RCI cruisers coming from DCL. We have a JS (J4) booked on the Allure in September. I have booked a number of DCL cruises and haven't had to deal with figuring out all the show/food/booze options before lol. Obviously it's way too early but I'm trying to get prepared and figure some of this out. For you long time RCI cruisers, I read a catch-22 here and I'd like some advice on how you all handle this situation. We were planning on taking advantage of the CK for dinner - at least for some nights. That's actually one of the things that swayed us to the JS based on what we've read about CK. However, I want to book entertainment before we get on the ship because I understand shows fill up fast and I didn't want to go thru the hassle along with thousands of others doing the same thing on day 1. But how can I book entertainment early if I might not be able to book CK reservations until embarkation day? Would it be reasonable for me to assume (which I hate doing) that reservations would be available to work with our show times? At what times do most shows start, around the same or scattered? Thanks in advance for responses.

Thanks for confirming that, makes it easier.

Yep that's another good plan but that one doesn't really work for us either. We rarely ever drink sugary stuff outside of sweet tea and if I ever do, never coke products. I'm in the Pepsi camp - yea I know, the minority.... Maybe I should ask a question here based on your statement about a la carte drinks - on Disney whatever we ordered from any bar or stand showed up on our OB account because they just scanned our card, and we paid any balance at the end. Is it more complicated than that on RC - because if so then I'm rethinking the package? Disney's stateroom prices have kinda gotten out of control so that's why we're trying RCI. Disney's price for a common stateroom with a verandah is currently about the same as an RCI Allure Junior Suite (which is 100 sq ft larger) and with each of us having the deluxe drink package - go figure. However, I will say after digging into Royal's packages, Disney does make eating and drinking a lot less complicated. Everything on the ship is complimentary with the fare except for one dining room requiring reservations and alcohol. Everything else, any non-alcoholic drinks, juices, coffees, soft serve IC, all included and you just don't have to think about it. Plus they also allow two bottles of wine in a carry-on during embarkation - last time we went it was PER PERSON not per stateroom like RCI . My wife was all set for the week.

My wife and I are considering trying a different approach to this. This is our first RCI cruise as we're coming from Disney - which has no such packages. Given that everything in addition to alcohol is included in the deluxe package, we think it *might* be a good option - but we don't know. My wife likes the premium coffees, wine at dinner, and an occasional tequila. I'd like the juices, coffees, and I can be talked into good mixed drinks. Neither of us are beer drinkers (much) and we'd both drink a lot of bottled water. When we consider adding all the things we will likely drink in total besides alcohol, it would probably be close for us, except on the days when we leave the ship. The cruise we're doing later this year is a 7-night on the Allure with 4 ports of call, two of which we plan to explore, so there are two days where things get iffy. I got a $200 OBC for booking a junior suite. We are considering just adding $500 to our OBC, so for a total of what the drink package will cost for both, and then do a la carte for the whole trip and see where we land. At least that way we'll know the next time. Really when I think about the drink package - I am saving absolutely *nothing* on each drink, they are still the same price. I can get all the bottled water we'd consume for about $10/day. We only start saving when we can (and want to...) consume more than $55/59 day besides what is complimentary, x2 for both in the stateroom. Realistically, I don't see us consuming $100/day EVERY day on premium beverages even if we do a la carte. We might go over some days, but also be way under on others. Obviously this adds the extra hassle of checking the OBC account which takes some of the fun and adventure out of cruising, but on the other hand I find it as much of a hassle to keep track of how many drinks I've had and then force myself to have two drinks I don't really feel like having just to get my "money's worth". To each their own - we're gonna budget $700, take two bottles of wine with us, order a 24-pack of water and see what happens. If we do go over, well, then we're willing to say we were idiots and worse alcoholics than we thought, and we'll know next time. I have a feeling anything extra will be targeted toward wife @ spa so I'm not figuring on coming out with a surplus anyway