First ever RC cruise, need tips

[Sackboy]

Hello,

So we are looking at going on the Mariner of the Seas for a 5 night cruise soon. We’ve done Disney cruises multiple times and only have that for personal reference.  Dining wise, does the main dining room offer you the ability to try multiple things in a single night, or are you supposed to stick with one dish for each course? Is there a sushi place that’s included? Any other tips (food or not) welcomed!

thanks!

[ChessE4]

Izumi is "specialty dining" and costs more -- for sushi you'd look at their a la carte menu.  My son has tried it (he says it's OK but nothing to brag about.)

In the Main Dining Room (MDR) you can ask for multiple dishes, but please remember the burden it puts on the wait staff, if you make it a habbit.  However, they would be happy to order you something to try that you are unsure of along with something else.  There are members who do this regularly.  I do not -- too much food.   Sometimes a dish is not to your liking and you can ask your waiter to take it away and bring something else.  That is a service they always provide. 

If you are a foodie, consider a dining package of some sort.  Our Travel Agent gives us a couple of coupons when we reserve a balcony room. We found a lunch at Jamie's was outstanding (cheaper than buying a dinner but just as good), and we enjoyed our filet mignon at Chops on our recent Mariner cruise.

Our take on Johnny Rockets is that it was too crowded to really enjoy the experience.

If you download the Royal App to a smartphone, you will find that you can browse menus for each day.  We were able to do this the week or two before the cruise, although menu selections did change when we boarded. 

[Sackboy]

Thanks so much for the reply! Sounds like if I’m interested in multiple things in the main dining room’s menu, the best way to go about it would be to just let them know up front when ordering.

 

I may have to try Jamie’s for lunch! I’ve been the Johnny Rockets so much on land in younger years that I’d probably only try it for breakfast (heard it was included and never had a breakfast there before). 
 

Thanks for the tip on the app! Will have to download. 

[OCSC Mike]

3 hours ago, Sackboy said:

Thanks so much for the reply! Sounds like if I’m interested in multiple things in the main dining room’s menu, the best way to go about it would be to just let them know up front when ordering.

Order multiple items for any course you want (or all 3 courses). I or members of my traveling party have done this many times and the servers have always been happy to oblige!

Only other food tip is to take a quick trip through the Windjammer (buffet) if you like to try different stuff or eat a lot or both (like I do) even if you're eating in the MDR. The offerings change nightly and you never know when you might stumble upon something you find especially appealing. If nothing looks special, move on.

[Ampurp85]

Just an FYI, Johhny Rockets only does breakfast on Oasis class ships. Mariner isn't an oasis class, so they will most likely be open for lunch and early dinner. 

Also, you can ask for smaller portions of items to try. I do this when I want to try multiple items but not waste a ton of food. 

[Sackboy]

Thanks so much everyone for the replies, really appreciate it!

[Audrey V.]

You can always visit Windjammer if you want a little more dessert (or other food). I always seem to want more veggies. No judging when on a cruise!

Another tip: You can ask your waiter at MDR for food  to take back to your room for later, and put it in your mini-fridge.  Thinking a dessert or fruit and cheese to go with your wine in your room.

Each room may bring up to 2 bottles of wine (750 ml each on the cruise). Your steward can bring you a corkscrew  and 2 glasses, and the Steward will replace the glasses with clean glasses after use. 

Finally, in the UK I bought a  USB port to charge my phone. This will come in handy because I can use more plugs in the room, with US and UK outlets.

[leesam82]

This is a non-food advice

1) Bring a small battery pack for your phone. Its nice to have so you don't run out of power for your cell phone

2) Bring magnetic hooks. They are nice cause you can hang your hats/lanyards/and other items. I have also used them to hang up a shoe rack organizer and use it to put common items eg sunglasses, sunscreen etc. 

3) bring a USB splitter such as this it allows for charging of multiple devices rather than having a plug for every single device. 

4) if you do buy a photo package via the cruise planner just know that once you choose a digital print you cannot un-choose it to get a different photo. So wait till the last night before picking your pictures

5) Ask a lot questions on this blog. There are many experienced Royal passengers on this forum that are willing to share their experience. 

6) Final advice is have print outs and don't just rely on your phone for digital copies. I don't know where the Mariner is sailing out of but when you sail out of Cape Port liberty in Bayonne NJ and have T-mobile as your cell phone provider, the second you step into the terminal you have no signal. So it is really hard to pull up your set sail pass on the app or communicate with other members of your party. So rather than leaving that to chance if you have a print out of all your documents you will have no issues. 

 

[GatorCruiser]

Drink. Lots.

[MTGill]

Since you're familiar with Disney, one small difference in the MDR menus is that Disney splits the starters into a soup/salad category and an appetizer category and the servers will ask you for your choice of both. Royal however has just a starters category, including the salads, soups and appetizers, implying that they expect most people to order just one. As others have mentioned, however, you're more than welcome to order more than one if you wish.

Another difference is that Royal has some MDR items which are on the menu every night ("Classics") along with items that change from day to day. Also there are a few "extra charge" entree choices.

If you go over to the Live Blogs section you should be able to find many pictures of menus, both for MDR and specialty venues.

[JEH106]

On 7/21/2022 at 11:19 AM, leesam82 said:

This is a non-food advice

1) Bring a small battery pack for your phone. Its nice to have so you don't run out of power for your cell phone

2) Bring magnetic hooks. They are nice cause you can hang your hats/lanyards/and other items. I have also used them to hang up a shoe rack organizer and use it to put common items eg sunglasses, sunscreen etc. 

3) bring a USB splitter such as this it allows for charging of multiple devices rather than having a plug for every single device. 

4) if you do buy a photo package via the cruise planner just know that once you choose a digital print you cannot un-choose it to get a different photo. So wait till the last night before picking your pictures

5) Ask a lot questions on this blog. There are many experienced Royal passengers on this forum that are willing to share their experience. 

6) Final advice is have print outs and don't just rely on your phone for digital copies. I don't know where the Mariner is sailing out of but when you sail out of Cape Port liberty in Bayonne NJ and have T-mobile as your cell phone provider, the second you step into the terminal you have no signal. So it is really hard to pull up your set sail pass on the app or communicate with other members of your party. So rather than leaving that to chance if you have a print out of all your documents you will have no issues. 

Heartily agree with numbers 3, 5, 6.