sabarwolf

Go you YouTube and check out cruise Dollar Tree Haul videos. Great tips there.

No experience on WOW Bands, but from what I understand...

They function the same as your Sea Pass card: opening your room and charging your onboard account. (Think like the wrist bands given to you at some place like Great Wolf Lodge.) As I've heard, they are not available for pre-purchase. You have to go to guest services on board and purchase there. I've heard repeatedly that they are $5.

My opinion is this: I'm on vacation! I have absolutely no desire to do laundry!

That said, I knew that I needed to do a little during our 7-night sailing. I just put the clothes in a gallon bag with a little detergent, washed it in the shower, and hung it to dry in the stateroom. (Utilizing the clip hooks from the dollar store, on the magnetic walls.) Quick and easy and basically free.

Congrats on your first cruise!

We went with the three-night dining package as it seemed to be the most cost-effective way to enjoy some of the specialty dining as well as the regular (included options). We just didn't feel that the unlimited dining package would be worth our money as we wanted to have a diversity of food experiences. Don't regret our choice. Other persons' mileage may vary.

Depending on your CPAP machine, it can fit in a normal size duffel bag. We also kept our tuxes for formal night in there, so as to get them out and hanging right away. But as others have said, things that you can't live without or are too high value to leave in checked luggage should go in a carry on.

Hope Edward gets back home!

Repricing is best done through a call to Guest Services, IMO.

Only reason to bring your own towel is that you want your own. Otherwise the towels Royal Caribbean provides are just as good.

We took our own on our first cruise last August; it was one of those things that we thought we might need and really didn't end up needing. Won't be packing again.

If you have something particular you'd like to wear to dinner on the first night, pack it in your carry on--just in case your luggage doesn't arrive. As said in another thread, if your luggage arrives early, count your blessings. Don't expect it.

Rooms open about 1-1:30pm, but be aware that your luggage may not arrive until later in the evening. If luggage comes early, count your blessings, but if not be aware.

9 hours ago, raahc said:

What time did you leave the ship?

I want to say we were off the ship by 9am, but I don't remember specifically. We had breakfast in the Windjammer right away when it opened, finishing about 7 (ship was docking while we were having breakfast), headed back to our stateroom for our luggage, and then headed off the ship.

We put our debit card on file when aboard, but went to Guest Services and just paid our bill pretty much right away. Made the bill at the end of the cruise so much lower. The only downside was the wait at Guest Services, but even that wasn't horrible if you go midday or at a non-peak time.

My husband and I took the "walk off" option during our Allure sailing in August. The elevator issue (as others have noted) was our only problem, but even then, have a little patience and you'll be through in no time. Walking off was very quick and getting through customs was a breeze--thankfully due to having nothing to declare. At this point in our cruise life, we recommend it. Saves time, in our opinion, and gets you on your way pretty quickly.

Might be a good time to lounge around the pool with a good book (or your balcony, if you booked that type of stateroom)? Might be worth checking a previous Cruise Compass to see what was offered on a similar sailing...

150 Central Park (on Oasis-Class ships) is awesome. Very intimate and romantic, IMO. Get dressed up and feel like you're going to Tavern on the Green in NYC (before they closed).

That said, romance is what you make of it.

Our experience on Allure was about 2 hours in the MDR on night one with My Time Dining. The other couple times we ate there, was a little bit shorter.

After our sailing in August, we bit the bullet and bought a Hero 7. I've liked so far. Video quality is decent and it is easy (for me) to operate. I've figured out most of the accessories, but still testing things and figuring out how best to utilize it.

I really don't utilize the GoPro software for editing, mainly because I use Adobe Premier for editing.

Ultimately, you have to decide if you can get the footage you want (or hope for) by means other than GoPro. Kinda like a lot of cruise purchases: will you get what you want out of it?

Thank you for posting these!

Agreed. If it is something that you definitely want for your sailing, pre-purchase in Cruise Planner.

19 hours ago, Mike P said:

I think 150 Central Park is a great restaurant for a "date night".

Seconded!

We celebrated our 10th Anniversary (on our 11th) with our first cruise on Allure. 150 Central Park was our Anniversary Celebration meal (on Formal Night), so highly recommend.

I'd also add that take the time to make the cruise romantic.

We worked through Next Cruise and they were kind enough to link the reservation to our TA.

For our upcoming sailing on Mariner, we could have booked adjoining balcony rooms. Knowing my mother's aversion to heights, we instead booked them the interior cabin across the hall from ours' (as we like the balcony staterooms). Might be an alternative to having directly adjoining rooms...

The strawberries are good. My grandparents bought them for my husband and I on our Allure sailing last August. Nice treat waiting for us when we got into our stateroom.

My husband went down to Cafe Promenade when he had insomnia or out to Central Park (we were on Allure). There are definitely places insomniacs can go. 

Shut down your computer. Unplug anything that doesn't need to be plugged in. Eat/throw away any food that will expire while you're away.

Definitely recommend either bringing your own toiletries or purchasing some at a Dollar Store or Walmart.