Gabrielbeblo Posted June 17, 2022 Report Share Posted June 17, 2022 Hello everyone! Im Gabriel and me and 7 other friends are all going together on our very first cruise. We chose the Wonder of The Seas in September over the mediterranean. We are quite excited for the ship itself, because as we are all international flight attendants we have explored all the countries we will visit. So the thing is: we are as clueless as a 5 yo. Like we do not know what is a must have, nice to have or not necessary. Specially when it comes to the drinks and food packages. For those experts out there, would you say you were satisfied with what is already included on the price? Do you feel the need to buy the refreshment package? Because honestly I don't know if its ok for me to stop at the windjammer mid of the day for some juice. How does the dinner work? It asked for our preference on timing, but is there a separate dinner other than the restaurants mentioned as complimentary? We got deck 7 ocean view riiiight in the front of the ship. Did we make a poor choice? Any tips are very welcome! And if you have any aviation questions Id be more than happy to assist you with that! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GregD Posted June 17, 2022 Report Share Posted June 17, 2022 @Gabrielbeblo first off, welcome to the blogs. You will find lots of info here and on the main page. I'll do my best to give you some insight/answers. Drink package question : I personally always get the deluxe drink package. I find that I easily drink enough between cocktails, wine, water, coffee, soda to make the price worth it for me. So you should ask yourself the same question. How much do you plan on drinking each day etc, and figure out if the value is worth it to you. There is no hard and fast answer. While its easy to run to the windjammer to grab a juice during the day, its also much easier to be at one of the many bars and order a great cocktail etc. Dinner question: The main dining room is included in your cruise fair and they have three options. Set timed dining which is either early (5:30pm) or late seating (8pm) or my time dining which you go when you want during their operating time. Many people like the set time because you can get the same wait staff for the duration of the cruise and build a relationship with them. With mytime, that option(same waitstaff) may not be there depending on the time you go. You also are encouraged to make reservations early for your time slots so you don't have a wait for a table. The other option is the windjammer for dinner, or any of the other complimentary places ie sorentos for pizza etc. I personally have not had a bad experience in the main dining room for dinner and have always done the early seating, mainly because I have younger kids, so making them wait until late for dinner makes for grumpy kids. Deck 7 - I personally have not sailed in that area of the ship and you will have thousands of opinions on those locations. Some will say they are great, others will say you will feel tons of motion, only you can decide after sailing in that room if you made a good choice or not. Other tips, read many of the articles @Matt has written on the main page about all of the options for drink packages, internet, dining, and on an on. Don't sweat the small stuff, relax and have a good time on your cruise. Hopefully this will be the first of many for you. Each time you sail you will learn something new, as I do with each cruise, and take that information into the next one. Neesa, Kathleen, WAAAYTOOO and 1 other 2 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScooterScott22 Posted June 17, 2022 Report Share Posted June 17, 2022 Welcome, and hopefully you enjoy your initial cruise and continue to cruise and post here. Cruising can be very fun and also very individual, some like to relax, some like the ports and other like the adventure and experiences on the ship. You can really make a cruise into what you want it to be. Some great info provided above already. We did the Wonder back in March and had the dining package. Since it wasn’t covered above, just adding that we felt it was worth it. I’m not knocking the MDR. We found that the Wonder really has a good selection and liked all of the restaurants to some degree. It probably has the most specialty dining of all the ships so if you are a foodie at all you should consider it. Our experience in 150 alone was the best we have seen in the Oasis class. Have fun planning and have a great cruise. Gabrielbeblo 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smokeybandit Posted June 17, 2022 Report Share Posted June 17, 2022 Just be careful not to get the drinks package just to get the drinks package. Do the math to see if it's really worth it depending on how much you'd drink. I personally would recommend against a dining package for a first time cruiser. You're better of maybe sampling one or two nights of the specialty restaurants and compare it to the main dining room and see if you think it's worth it. Gabrielbeblo 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JC Pats Posted June 18, 2022 Report Share Posted June 18, 2022 Welcome to the Boards! 6 hours ago, Gabrielbeblo said: Hello everyone! Im Gabriel and me and 7 other friends are all going together on our very first cruise. We chose the Wonder of The Seas in September over the mediterranean. We are quite excited for the ship itself, because as we are all international flight attendants we have explored all the countries we will visit. So the thing is: we are as clueless as a 5 yo. Like we do not know what is a must have, nice to have or not necessary. Specially when it comes to the drinks and food packages. For those experts out there, would you say you were satisfied with what is already included on the price? Do you feel the need to buy the refreshment package? Because honestly I don't know if its ok for me to stop at the windjammer mid of the day for some juice. For Beverages, I, at a minimum, get the refreshment package, if anything, just for bottles of water and the occasional soda. Depending on what kind of cruise I am on (with friends, or completely solo) also depends on if I get the deluxe beverage package. I find between the bottles of water, and comradery with friends (well into the night), I more than "make my money" on the alcohol package, even at these higher prices. If the Windjammer is open the afternoon (there are times it is closed for cleaning/prepping for the next meal) you can certainly grab a juice. If you and your group drink alcohol at a regular pace and plan on enjoying the ship, more than getting up early for the ports, the deluxe beverage package may make more sense. How does the dinner work? It asked for our preference on timing, but is there a separate dinner other than the restaurants mentioned as complimentary? You Have the Main Dining Room with 2 times, 5:30pm and 8pm, and then you have my time dining, which is also in the main dining room, but you can reserve a time to eat between 5 and 830 (some ships have different times, so use caution with this). You have the windjammer marketplace (buffet) open for dinner nightly as well with a wide variety of food to choose from. There are also restaurants which charge for dinner which have limited/specialized menus. For a 1st time cruiser, with a group of people, I would recommend the 3-night package. 1) it's cheaper than the full ultimate dining package 2) you can experience all the dining venues (Main Dining Room, Windjammer and specialty dining to get a feel for what you like best) and 3) group dinners at the specialty dining restaurants can be really magical experiences and are among my favorite cruise memories. And, that's what cruising (and vacations with friends in general) are about, making lasting fun memories. We got deck 7 ocean view riiiight in the front of the ship. Did we make a poor choice? It is a bit of a hike from the elevators/stairs to the cabin, but alot of cabins can have that issue. The comfort level (pitch/rocking of the ship) is mainly weather dependent. The better the weather, the less pitch/rocking, if it's a storm, you're liable to feel the pitch/rocking of the ship more. It would be more pronounced in the bow (front) and aft (rear) of the ship (I can speak from experience having done both). But you will hear alot of other opinions, so you won't really know until you set sail. But you're on a cruise ship and on vacation, so it could be a lot worse! Any tips are very welcome! And if you have any aviation questions Id be more than happy to assist you with that! Tips for Wonder - make sure you make reservations for the Aqua 80s show Intense - it's not like any show you've probably ever seen as well as the ice show. Have a specialty alcoholic drink at the Mason Bar - they are AMAZING! Also, don't over pack your schedule to try and see everything - let the events come to you as you feel - that (in my opinion) makes for a fulfilled vacation (besides, you can spend 7 days on board and not experience everything) Gabrielbeblo 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Posted June 18, 2022 Report Share Posted June 18, 2022 16 hours ago, Gabrielbeblo said: what is already included on the price? https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2022/03/01/whats-included-your-royal-caribbean-cruise-fare Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gabrielbeblo Posted June 19, 2022 Author Report Share Posted June 19, 2022 On 6/18/2022 at 12:54 AM, GregD said: @Gabrielbeblo first off, welcome to the blogs. You will find lots of info here and on the main page. I'll do my best to give you some insight/answers. Drink package question : I personally always get the deluxe drink package. I find that I easily drink enough between cocktails, wine, water, coffee, soda to make the price worth it for me. So you should ask yourself the same question. How much do you plan on drinking each day etc, and figure out if the value is worth it to you. There is no hard and fast answer. While its easy to run to the windjammer to grab a juice during the day, its also much easier to be at one of the many bars and order a great cocktail etc. Dinner question: The main dining room is included in your cruise fair and they have three options. Set timed dining which is either early (5:30pm) or late seating (8pm) or my time dining which you go when you want during their operating time. Many people like the set time because you can get the same wait staff for the duration of the cruise and build a relationship with them. With mytime, that option(same waitstaff) may not be there depending on the time you go. You also are encouraged to make reservations early for your time slots so you don't have a wait for a table. The other option is the windjammer for dinner, or any of the other complimentary places ie sorentos for pizza etc. I personally have not had a bad experience in the main dining room for dinner and have always done the early seating, mainly because I have younger kids, so making them wait until late for dinner makes for grumpy kids. Deck 7 - I personally have not sailed in that area of the ship and you will have thousands of opinions on those locations. Some will say they are great, others will say you will feel tons of motion, only you can decide after sailing in that room if you made a good choice or not. Other tips, read many of the articles @Matt has written on the main page about all of the options for drink packages, internet, dining, and on an on. Don't sweat the small stuff, relax and have a good time on your cruise. Hopefully this will be the first of many for you. Each time you sail you will learn something new, as I do with each cruise, and take that information into the next one. I just wanna say thank you so much for taking your time replying to my message. You have made great points and I'll definitely share them with my friends! I really appreciate your kindness! Neesa and GregD 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gabrielbeblo Posted June 19, 2022 Author Report Share Posted June 19, 2022 On 6/18/2022 at 1:10 AM, ScooterScott22 said: Welcome, and hopefully you enjoy your initial cruise and continue to cruise and post here. Cruising can be very fun and also very individual, some like to relax, some like the ports and other like the adventure and experiences on the ship. You can really make a cruise into what you want it to be. Some great info provided above already. We did the Wonder back in March and had the dining package. Since it wasn’t covered above, just adding that we felt it was worth it. I’m not knocking the MDR. We found that the Wonder really has a good selection and liked all of the restaurants to some degree. It probably has the most specialty dining of all the ships so if you are a foodie at all you should consider it. Our experience in 150 alone was the best we have seen in the Oasis class. Have fun planning and have a great cruise. Thank you so much for adding to that! I'll definitely consider the dining package to try some restaurants. I hope you have the best time on your next cruise! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gabrielbeblo Posted June 19, 2022 Author Report Share Posted June 19, 2022 On 6/18/2022 at 5:43 AM, JC Pats said: Welcome to the Boards! OMG! You were so thorough on your replies and definitely answer every single thing with great insights! I deeply appreciate the time you took to reply me. I'll make sure to book the Aqua show! You seem to be quite an expert but I hope your next sail will be the best one ever! WAAAYTOOO and JC Pats 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScooterScott22 Posted June 19, 2022 Report Share Posted June 19, 2022 1 hour ago, Gabrielbeblo said: Thank you so much for adding to that! I'll definitely consider the dining package to try some restaurants. I hope you have the best time on your next cruise! No problem, expect a flight question in your future from me. I travel a lot for work (about 100-125 flights a year, pre-pandemic) so always looking for tidbits. Gabrielbeblo 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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