caffeinated

I just signed up here, booked my first cruise for next year today on Harmony of the Seas, and I am already so excited. Such a long wait though! 🤪 It's me and my hubby going! We have cruised before but it's been a looooong time.
Give me all your tips. I am confused on dining. Which is best? I am signed up for My Time dining? How does it work? Can we just show up whenever? Are beverage packages worth it? They seem so expensive! Anything else worth knowing? I am already feeling overwhelmed.

I just signed up here, booked my first cruise for next year today on Harmony of the Seas, and I am already so excited. Such a long wait though! 🤪 It's me and my hubby going! We have cruised before but it's been a looooong time.
Give me all your tips. I am confused on dining. Which is best? I am signed up for My Time dining? How does it work? Can we just show up whenever? Are beverage packages worth it? They seem so expensive! Anything else worth knowing? I am already feeling overwhelmed.

I just signed up here, booked my first cruise for next year today on Harmony of the Seas, and I am already so excited. Such a long wait though! 🤪 It's me and my hubby going! We have cruised before but it's been a looooong time.
Give me all your tips. I am confused on dining. Which is best? I am signed up for My Time dining? How does it work? Can we just show up whenever? Are beverage packages worth it? They seem so expensive! Anything else worth knowing? I am already feeling overwhelmed.

One more thing I would add.  Get travel insurance.  If you get it 48 hours after booking it also covers pre-existing conditions in most cases.  I say to get it not necessarily to cover the cost of the trip you might miss, but instead to cover the possibility of a medical situation that requires evacuation.  That can run ten's of thousands of dollars.
I don't insure land vacations and just risk the cost of the trip, but I do insure cruises primarilyfor the medical.

Awesome @caffeinated!
We like traditional dining and choose the early seating.  We prefer it because we like to walk up and go directly to our table, no waiting.  Same table, waiter and time each night.  MTD is sort of like on land restaurant dining.  For the best results you would still reserve individual MTD slots each day or you can just show up.  the former results in a shorter wait than the latter.  
You of course don't' need to dine in the MDR (Main Dining Room) each night, you are welcome to hit the buffet or any of the specialty restaurants (at an extra charge for specialty).
Drink packages are personal and they are costly.  For the Deluxe Package (Alcohol), I always say that if someone needs it, they know they need it.  Otherwise I recommend you fund your own drink package as you can probably save.  For Soda package, if you're moderate soda drinker there is probably value there.  it comes out to only like 3 soda's per day.  Refreshment package is in between and good for those that want mocktails, specialty coffees and soda.  
We're all over the board in our clan.  I take Soda, teenagers get Refreshment and my wife brings 2 bottles of wine onboard and we self fund the rest with no package.  Just remember when doing drink calculations per day, that you are talking every day including port days when you may be off the ship.  Your drink packages will work in the private stops of Labadee and Coco Cay.
Other tips.  Get a passport.  Arrive in port a day early.  Pack less than you think you need to pack.  If there is something you want from the cruise planner, it will not be less expensive on the ship.  If an item in CP is at a price you can accept, buy it, don't wait.  If it goes down you can cancel and rebook it.  Try to plan less and let your experiences onboard guide you.  Don't worry if you don't do everything, the ship will sail again.