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Cruise #6, First Time on a RC!


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Greetings!!

My wife and I are thrilled to be sailing with Royal Caribbean on Serenade of the Seas from 29 MAR - 10 APR, on a 10-night Southern Caribbean cruise! This vacation is one that's been long overdue for us, following a successful 5.5-month long deployment ??⚓️ and two year anniversary celebration that fell through the cracks due to hurricane season ?

As previously mentioned, this will be my sixth cruise altogether, but my first on a Royal Caribbean. I am all ears for any tips that one can provide! 

 

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The man behind this site is @Matt.  He has created many blogs for first timers to RCI:

What time to get to the port

What makes Royal Caribbean different

and so on.

If you go to the main page of RoyalCaribbeanBlog.com there is a search box in the upper right.  Just type in "first time" and you will see more blogs that he has written and possibly some podcasts as well. 

My only Disney experience is a long time ago but I sailed ten Carnival ships before switching over to Royal two years ago.  Disney is great, no argument there but also very expensive.  For me I love Royal and haven't looked back.  

Cheers!

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For new to Royal cruisers something you'll want to figure out is the cruise planner on Royal's website.  They have a sale running this weekend on select items so its worth jumping into this now.  Here is @Matt's podcast on the cruise planner:

Cruise Planner Podcast

Many things are offered for purchase in the cruise planner at discounted prices compared to on board prices.  Internet (Voom) packages, drink packages, dining packages, etc.  It's also where you book shore excursions and My Time dining if you didn't select traditional or fixed time dining when you booked your cruise.

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1 hour ago, SaltyNavyCruiser15 said:

4-Disneys and 1-Carnival. And awesome!! I'll be seen singing karaoke or drinking fine brandy with cigar in hand ?

Hi @SaltyNavyCruiser15 ! Welcome to the boards!  What I found initially helpful the first few cruises is just to read lots. The questions will come as you read and then the people here are great at answering them.  Royal is way better than Carnival (although some will disagree with me ?) and IMO it is way better value than Disney (I've done 3 of those in the last few years).  The size of Serenade is comparable to the Disney ships but your money will go a whole lot further on Royal.  Have fun reading.  The links that @twangster posted are great.  And feel free to ask away!

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On ‎1‎/‎6‎/‎2018 at 10:15 PM, twangster said:

The man behind this site is @Matt.  He has created many blogs for first timers to RCI:

What time to get to the port

What makes Royal Caribbean different

and so on.

If you go to the main page of RoyalCaribbeanBlog.com there is a search box in the upper right.  Just type in "first time" and you will see more blogs that he has written and possibly some podcasts as well. 

My only Disney experience is a long time ago but I sailed ten Carnival ships before switching over to Royal two years ago.  Disney is great, no argument there but also very expensive.  For me I love Royal and haven't looked back.  

Cheers!

Hey Thanks a lot!!! I appreciate the feed back. I'll be sure to read up on a lot of the details before I head out. Disney is extremely expensive.... nice, but pricey.

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On ‎1‎/‎6‎/‎2018 at 11:43 PM, Sabrinaklai said:

Hi @SaltyNavyCruiser15 ! Welcome to the boards!  What I found initially helpful the first few cruises is just to read lots. The questions will come as you read and then the people here are great at answering them.  Royal is way better than Carnival (although some will disagree with me ?) and IMO it is way better value than Disney (I've done 3 of those in the last few years).  The size of Serenade is comparable to the Disney ships but your money will go a whole lot further on Royal.  Have fun reading.  The links that @twangster posted are great.  And feel free to ask away!

Thank you as well! I really enjoy reading a lot of the inputs on here.... something I have yet to see for Disney. Yeah, my time on Carnival wasn't really all that fantastic :/ I'm really hoping to see what Royal Caribbean offers. We have the room with a balcony... definitely a must on catching those Caribbean sunsets! B ^ )

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On ‎1‎/‎7‎/‎2018 at 2:31 PM, Sweety said:

Serenade is a beautiful ship. I have been on her four times including a B2B. The ship is easy to navigate. 

Really good to know. The wife and I are very thrilled about our trip coming up. Funny question, but do they by chance have a hot tub to relax in? I haven't noticed any pictures really of the pool deck.

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1 hour ago, SaltyNavyCruiser15 said:

Thank you as well! I really enjoy reading a lot of the inputs on here.... something I have yet to see for Disney. Yeah, my time on Carnival wasn't really all that fantastic :/ I'm really hoping to see what Royal Caribbean offers. We have the room with a balcony... definitely a must on catching those Caribbean sunsets! B ^ )

Disney has their Disneycruiselineblog.com which is similar to some of the posts on the main page here.  @Matt does a way better job maintaining this and keeping it current.  This site has way more info as well.  And there's the message boards here which the disney blog does not have along with the wonderful people here.  People here are helpful, not CCritical ? So it's just better here all around :6_smile:

Oh and yes, balconies are a must in my books....

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  • 2 months later...
9 hours ago, twangster said:

Indeed.  Business trip at the moment, gotta get through this before vacay mode kicks in. 

Ugh I was that way this week too.... WITH a flippin cold that both my wife and I caught. Luckily though with a bit of sudafed, we kicked it right out of us! Heading to the in laws now to catch a flight out of Asheville to FLL. 

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