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Cruising 101


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Shoutout to all those cruise afficinados.  I am booked on the Mariner of the Seas Spring 2019.  I will be taking my first cruise ever (excitement overload).   Looking for all those little tips to make it the best experience possible; must have packing items, ship navigation, are reservations required or encouraged for dining (party of 2), how to find out and register if necessary for activities included (shows), dress code, how to find out if/when formal night is, room assignment?   I appreciate any advice or guidance.  Happy Sailing!

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

First time cruising on Freedom Feb, 2019. Trying to decide whether to purchase internet pkg, just to check on elderly parents a few time while gone. Not sure it will be worth it. If I do NOT purchase internet pkg and there were to be an emergency at home, how would someone get in touch with us? 

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On days you are in port, you can probably find some free wifi somewhere.  Some port towns offer municipal free wifi.  A lot of restaurants on the islands also provide it to customers so pop in for a drink and call home.  (Be sure to setup/enable wifi calling before leaving home.)

My parents needed to reach me while I was on a cruise last year so they called Royal's main customer service number, provided our ship and room number, and were put through to Guest Services on board.  We weren't in our room at the time so Guest Services left a message saying my parents had called and to stop by their counter to receive a complimentary call home.

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Gosh, sounds like things have improved as far as reaching guests by phone onboard. We were onboard the Jewel 2008 in the southern Caribbean and there was a serious family emergency at home. Both my daughters tried numerous times to reach me onboard. Either the phone would ring and never answer or they got a busy signal and never reached us. Finally, we received an email message that my mother was in the hospital and non-responsive. Fortunately, we were on the last day of the cruise and got to the hospital in time. The crowning blow was that they were charged for every phone call attempted and not completed. RCCL said they could do nothing about the phone charges since it was a phone company charge for the satellite phone. Now ships have wifi and we also check in from every port using free wifi there.

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17 hours ago, Nay said:

First time cruising on Freedom Feb, 2019. Trying to decide whether to purchase internet pkg, just to check on elderly parents a few time while gone. Not sure it will be worth it. If I do NOT purchase internet pkg and there were to be an emergency at home, how would someone get in touch with us? 

Depending on your cell phone carrier, you might be able to text or wifi call while in port. I have t-mobile and most ports are free text and data or find wifi and use wifi calling 

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We were just on Liberty this summer with our Grandson, and even though we didn't have to we paid for Voom and used Whatsapp so that my Grandson could talk with his Mom each night  and video chatted with her a couple of nights. Otherwise I leave the below information for family.

Emergency Contact Number, 1888-724-7447                        
Ship Name, Liberty OTS                        
Reservation ID, xxxxxxx, under the name, ????                        
Room number, 1286           

 

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