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I have learned that things don't always go as planned, so being flexible is important. On my first cruise years ago the muster was conducted during my dinner hour, so it was a mess trying to eat in the Main Dining Room. I wasn't prepared for that. Hasn't happened since. We have had weather issues and an occasional missed port. Nothing you can do about that. Just always be on the look for an alternative. If getting a particular seat for a show is important, go early. But then you might miss something else, so my best advice is to learn what you actually enjoy (not necessarily what is popular). When you want quiet, there is always a quiet spot somewhere on every ship. When you want energy from a crowd, there are plenty of venues for that. If you hate cigarette smoke, stay out of the casino and avoid the smoking area on the pool deck (larger ships) or deck 5 (smaller ships). The hardest thing for me was avoiding arguments with my son (we're both stubborn). So dealing with any family members is something to think about. Finally, don't worry about gaining a few pounds, you are on vacation....

Concur with Twangster. Bring your snorkel gear if you can fit them in your luggage, and you can snorkel off the beach (by the floating mat rental). There are plenty of fish at the man-made reefs. Post cruise blues are helped by, you guessed it, posting your experience on the various fora shown here.

Note - sometimes the OBC is split among two or more people, so each person will want to use Sea Pass card to exhaust the OBC. As an example, we "lost" a big $4 on Harmony last month because one of our party never used her Sea Pass for the nonrefundable OBC. When you are on the ship, you should see your account on the stateroom TV, and you'll be able to see how the OBC is split up and being utilized from day to day.

It depends upon whether you want to address appropriately or not. For dinner in the MDR or specialty restaurants, shorts aren't considered appropriate. I agree with the advice to wear long pants and a collared shirt. What you choose to do is up to you, but even on vacation it's best not to be selfish, to consider the norms because it affects the experience of the other guests (like folks who want a romantic dinner for two in a nice environment). That said, there are always extenuating circumstance. When we lost our luggage and couldn't dress "formal", we notified our waiter in advance and he said "no problem". So we enjoyed the nicer menu of MDR instead of eating at the WJ. Happily, our suitcases arrived by day 4.

By using the ship's towels and not packing your own, you have room for something else, like nice clothes for formal night or windbreaker for bad weather.

There is information on shore excursions under the Shore Excursion message board. Rome in the summer is hot, so plan on drinking lots of water. There are free/clean fountains in Rome but bottled water is sold everywhere. If you like exploring on your own, RCI has some "at your leisure" excursions in various ports that provide transportation to and from the port. There can be traffic problems during peak season, so an RCI excursion gives you some peace of mind vs. another provider who is $10 or $15 less -- you won't be left behind on an RCI excursion.

Matt has stuff for 1st time cruisers at this link: https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/getting-started He also has a video on the deluxe beverage package.

You could check out Matt's videos about 1st time cruising if you want tips. Also, take a look at a recent Cruise Compass from the Enchantment. Recommend you hang out around the Centrum for music or to stare out the windows....We enjoyed the RC Singers and Dancers in the production shows as well as the guest entertainers. In my opinion, they are as good as the shows on the Oasis-class ships albeit a little shorter.

On the Harmony last month, I recall caribbean night in the Main Dining Room, a white night pool party, and music focused on 50's/60's or 70's/80's. As stated, specialty dress is optional, and some folks don't even dress for formal night. Most try to wear socially acceptable attire but err towards casual.

And in some ports, 18 is legal for alcohol, such as on an excursion or in a local bar. It depends which ports you visit. The departure port drives the drinking age on the ship, which is 21 for US ports, as previously stated. However, my son could drink in our NZ/Australia cruise although he was under 21.

Last month - the week of 19 May on the Harmony Eastern Caribbean cruise.

Yes, we did try it. The pasta/cheese/wine sampling at the first stop was good. The lunch was in a family-run seaside restaurant/snack bar near Marigot. It was "authentic" barbecue, and we saw how hurricane-ravaged that Saint Martin still is. It is not glamorous. Dessert was nice - we sampled gelato at a shop run by an Italian family. After three courses, we weren't hungry. I do think it was overpriced on the ship -- we booked our excursions online at a sale price. Our guide was knowledgeable (a British expat), and we learned a great deal of history as we drove around the island. At the end of the excursion, you have the option of getting off in town for shopping or staying on the small bus to go back to port.

There is a wine and cheese shop near the port. It is visited on one of the excursions, the Royal Family Food Tour. I believe the shop is the Amsterdam Cheese and Liquor Store, but it is walking distance from the port exit (outside the gate, on the road towards town). We were there last month. They do cheese tastings.

Karli, I don't think you get a better price from a travel agent, but you get service. We have always used a travel agent because we are AAA members. Aside from educating us about cruising and traveling to various embarkation ports, they have helped solve problems. Sometimes they have canceled and rebooked cruises to get us the benefit of a special promotion. We do get a bottle of wine and periodic OBC, and we sometimes get free specialty dinners or lunches. But when American Airlines lost our luggage on a 3-week trip to New Zealand and Australia, it was nice to know our agent was working on our behalf to find the luggage. As was stated, we don't pay the agent anything for cruises. There is a fee for airline tickets, so we only have our agent book those tickets when we are traveling overseas. For the NZ/Australia trip, our agent found a lower price than we could arrange on our own. I'd rather talk to an agent than fight computer glitches, which is why I prefer agents. Most of my life I've done things on my own, and I've made mistakes that would have been avoided had I asked for help. So now I ask for help when I can't be the "expert".

In another post someone said the half-day passes aren't being sold anymore. For my September cruise, the price quoted is $58 for full-day pass, and supposedly that is 15% off. A few days ago there was a sale and it might have been 20 or 25% off.

"Please note that while Royal Caribbean ships are typically scheduled to dock at the Crown Bay Cruise Port," I dug down deeper in the article about Royal Caribbean ships docking in Charlotte Amalie, and I found this statement I overlooked the first time. This is consistent with the report that Havensight is not being used.

Here is a YouTube video about the dock.

Update: The Oasis-class ships appear to go to Crown Bay and the others to Havensight, but check with someone recently on the Empress. My cruise there was a few years ago.

Charlotte Amalie is the normal port in St Thomas. That is where my RC ships have always docked. Your itinerary should list each port. There are a number of gift shops within walking distance, but most excursions require transportation. Some people even take a ferry to St. John.

Correct, that is what most people who have posted have done. The photos are tied to the stateroom and whichever credit card is on file for that room. But there are some families who have multiple staterooms with extended families. Not everyone is in the same picture, etc. So in that case you might need to re-think your photo strategy. We have only ordered "free photos" we get through the loyalty program or take our own pictures.

Good advice from Matt and others above. The production shows are fairly good, in my opinion, on all of the ships with Royal Caribbean Singers and Dancers. They are shorter than Oasis-class shows, but you don't have the strange plots that leave the audience puzzled...I actually enjoy the entertainment options on the "smaller" ships. Have fun in August!

We got it at a duty free store, but it was designed for cell phones You had a seal (like a sandwich bag), then snaps that folded over the seal. We use it when we both swim together in a pool or ocean (we don't leave sea pass at our chair), and we use it on excursions (tucked under my shirt if we are exposed to water). My wife says she has seen them on Amazon listed as waterproof phone holders. There is no brand logo on hers, and the plastic is somewhat soft (vinyl). Some on Amazon are as low as 7.99 for two. MPOW "Universal Waterproof Case". Something you could check into.

Since you brought up the showers, some have curtains and some have doors. I prefer the doors, but older ships have the curtains. As the cruise director usually jokes, they can cling to your rear when you least expect it. You have probably seen the posts about bringing magnetic hooks to hang things in the bathroom or main stateroom, such as wet swimsuits, lanyards, hand-washed laundry, etc.

We saw the tubing excursion but didn't book it for our upcoming September cruise. We are in our 60's and selected the rafting at Uchben Kah Eco Park. The park is at the north end of Lake Bacalar. I believe only four people share the raft with a guide. We did tubing in Belize, and while not strenuous, we all got wet. It was somewhat awkward (for seniors) getting in and out of the tubes.

No, not the soda package. Only you would get the glass and a little sticker to put on your Sea Pass. They wouldn't have stickers, so if they did order a soda from a bartender, they would be charged. Some rooms currently come with soda packages for everyone in the cabin (e.g., Boardwalk Balcony on Oasis-class ships). In that case, there are multiple coke glasses and stickers (in an envelope--don't throw it out). When my son was young, we ordered a soda package just for him. As he got older, we combined Voom with the soda and saved some $$.