Royal Caribbean Blog

You might know you should book certain things, or check-into other things on your Royal Caribbean cruise, but did you know there's an advantage to going back in later and doing it again?

Things can change when it comes to planning a cruise in the weeks and months leading up to the sailing, and sometimes it can be worthwhile to double check there is not a better deal or option available.

Whether it can save you time or money, Royal Caribbean will sometimes adjust what it offers and those that take the extra step to go back into the Cruise Planner, booking engine, or app may end up benefiting from these updates.

Here are the top things that definitely worth checking again, even if you already took care of it earlier.

Earlier check in times

The time you can check-in for your cruise on embarkation day can sometimes get additional options after check-in opens up.

Ever since Royal Caribbean began enforcing check-in times, getting an early time has become important to many cruise passengers because they want to maximize the amount of time onboard the first day.

While check-in times will open up for everyone on a certain date leading up to their cruise (right around 45 days before your cruise departs), Royal Caribbean has been known to open up earlier times later on.

It is becoming somewhat common for earlier check-in times to suddenly appear, many days after check-in times were first available. There's no notification or alert of these earlier times, you just have to check back periodically.

The good news is you can easily go back into the check-in process in the app and select a new time.

In the app, below the "View SetSailPass" button is a link to "Edit Check-in". Click that and then click "Arrival Time" to see if there are any earlier times to select.

You will have to repeat this process for every guest on your reservation.

Price drops on your cruise fare

It is hard to beat the feeling of saving a lot of money, and you should be checking the price of your cruise regularly to see if the price has dropped.

Up until your final payment date, if you see a lower price for the same cabin category on the sailing you are booked on, you can get the difference refunded back to you.

With Royal Caribbean's enhanced Best Price Guarantee, you can get the difference as onboard credit if you spot the lower price after final payment date.

If you do see a lower price, contact your travel agent to have them re-price it for you.  If you booked directly with Royal Caribbean, then it is up to you to contact the cruise line to make the adjustment.

Read more: Do cruise prices drop?

Price drops on pre-cruise purchases

Just like cruise fares, the price you paid for drink packages, wifi, shore excursions, and more can all get lower in price.

Royal Caribbean makes it easy to cancel and rebook something before the sailing in its Cruise Planner website.

If you spot a lower price than you paid, you can instantly cancel your previous purchase and then go back and re-purchase it for the lower price.

If you used onboard credit to pay for some or all of it, the onboard credit will come back instantly to your account after you cancel the previous purchase.

There can often be wild swings in prices for certain pre-cruise purchases, especially the drink package, CocoCay cabanas, and wifi.

Read more: How to cancel and rebook pre-cruise purchases on Royal Caribbean's Cruise Planner

New shore excursions

Depending on when you booked your cruise, Royal Caribbean could add more shore excursion options later.

What to do in the ports you visit is always a popular topic, and shore excursions can be limited depending on the port and how many other guests are booking excursions.

Royal Caribbean does sometimes add new tours to choose from. This is especially true if you checked tours more than a year before your sailing is scheduled to begin.

In addition, if a guest cancels a tour, suddenly a previously sold out excursion is bookable again.

Read more: How to book a Royal Caribbean shore excursion

New health protocols

Consumers have no choice but to be vigilant about staying up to date with new health protocols these days, and you should keep an eye on the health protocols for your cruise leading right up to embarkation day.

In short, health protocols can (and often do) change often. Technically, you should get an email with any update to health protocols but do not rely on that.

Instead, check back on Royal Caribbean's website for any new health protocols, especially in the month leading up your sailing.

Ignorance is never an excuse, and too often there is a family that misses their cruise because they were unaware of a change to testing or vaccine requirements.

Read more: This should be your approach to getting a Covid test before your cruise

Cancelled staterooms

Whether for a price drop or option not available before, it is a good idea to check if new staterooms have opened up for your cruise.

The best time to check if there are new stateroom options or a lower price is right around final payment date.

Since a lot of people will have to decide at final payment date if they want to actually go on the cruise or cancel it, this is when you typically see the most cabins come back on the market to book.

If there is a better room location, or more desirable cabin category that you have had your eye on, it behooves you to check back for rooms that someone else cancelled.

Room assignment

If you booked a guarantee stateroom, it may be worthwhile to check not only if a room has been assigned, but where it is and if you can move it.

After booking a guarantee stateroom, Royal Caribbean will assign you a specific cabin.  You have the option of changing that room assignment to another unsold cabin of the same category.

It needs to be the same room category, but checking your room assignment again after booking may get you a better location than you were previously given.

Royal Caribbean regularly trademarks names and phrases it intends to possibly use for a new offering in the future, but they recently filed trademarks for a number of names that they have been using for years.

In paperwork filed with the United States Patent and Trademark Office, Royal Caribbean Group filed four trademarks for things guests who have sailed on Royal Caribbean cruise ships for years would easily recognize.

The reason for a company to trademark anything is to protect them so competitors cannot steal creative ideas, names, or symbols from other businesses.

Royal Caribbean Group filed trademarks for these terms recently:

• RCTV (October 14, 2021)
• Cruise Compass (October 19, 2021)
• RCG (October 22, 2021)
• Royal Caribbean Group (October 19, 2021)
• Royal Caribbean Group logo (October 28, 2021)

RCTV is the abbreviation for Royal Caribbean's in-house television programming. Certain crew members working on RCTV manage the programming, as well as film select events onboard for broadcast onboard.

Cruise Compass is the name of Royal Caribbean's daily newspaper that lists all of the events and important information for the day onboard.

Passengers onboard can browse the Cruise Compass in the paper version or the digital version found in the cruise line app.

Read more: First time cruiser's guide to Royal Caribbean's Cruise Compass

Royal Caribbean Group is the business name of the company that owns Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises and other brands.

RCG is the abbreviation of Royal Caribbean Group.

Read more: Who owns Royal Caribbean?

How important are trademarks?

When Royal Caribbean trademarks something, how important is that to cruise fans?

Historically, Royal Caribbean uses trademarks for two purposes: protect names and slogans it is using, or protect names and slogans it might use.

In many cases, trademarks can provide a glimpse of plans the line has in the future, but not every trademark is necessarily an indication of a direction the company will go.

Royal Caribbean has trademarked many different cruise ship names over the years that it never used.  Usually names get registered in a batch, and perhaps one ends up becoming the name of an actual cruise ship.

Last year, Royal Caribbean trademarked a name for its own brand of face mask, but ultimately decided not to do anything with it.

Read more: 8 things Royal Caribbean trademarked but never did anything with

In other cases, trademarks gave us a heads up on plans the line had before an announcement came, such as emuster, Chilla Thrilla beer, and venues on Wonder of the Seas.

We now know when Royal Caribbean will open up new 2023 bookings.

Royal Caribbean's Senior Vice President, Sales, Trade Support and Service, Vicki Freed, released part of the new deployment schedule, although it is not complete.

The partial deployment schedule will cover Alaska, Europe, and 7-night Caribbean sailings.

• Week of November 29, 2021: Alaska
• Week of December 6, 2021: Europe
• Week of December 13, 2021: 7-night Caribbean

Royal Caribbean promises more release dates will be announced soon for 2023 sailings from the Northeast, Los Angeles, Short Caribbean and more.

All itineraries are subject to change without notice.

What is a deployment schedule?

The deployment schedule is the plan for when Royal Caribbean will open select sailings for sale.

There is no indication of which day, just the week the new itineraries will become available to book, but it could be on any day of the noted week.

Guests will commonly misconstrue the new cruises to come out on the exact day, rather than at some point during the week.

When the new sailings are available, it is common for the new itineraries to be entered into the booking system first, and the website second. This means in some cases cruises are bookable earlier if booked over the phone or with a travel agent, even if they do not appear on the website.

What should you do now to prepare?

If you are in the market for a cruise during one of these new deployments, you will want to keep an eye out for once cruises go on sale.

Royal Caribbean typically allows Crown and Anchor Society members a 24 hour head start on the general public, but since anyone can sign up for Crown and Anchor Society, there is no excuse for waiting.

Talk with your travel agent in the days leading up to the new deployments coming online so you can jump on specific bookings and book them.  

One of the best strategies for the lowest prices is to book a cruise as soon as it goes on sale.  Hard-to-find staterooms are also available during this period, so now is the time to lock in a studio room or a suite.

Planning on booking a cruise in 2022-2023? These stories will help:

• What is the best time to cruise to the Caribbean?
• 7 tips for a great Mediterranean cruise
• What is the best time to cruise to Alaska?
• What is the cheapest month to go on a cruise?

Royal Caribbean just extended the ability to cancel a cruise reservation at the last minute for a future cruise credit, but that may be the last time the cruise line extends this generous offer.

The Cruise with Confidence program is the name of the offer for guests who can cancel their cruise even after final payment date, up to 48 hours before a ship is scheduled to sail in exchange for a future cruise credit.

The program was introduced at the start of the global pandemic so passengers could feel assured they could change their mind closer to sail date.

Speaking to travel agents during a webinar, Royal Caribbean's Senior Vice President, Sales, Trade Support and Service, Vicki Freed said she does not think the Cruise with Confidence program will get extended again.

"This is a program that's been going on for some time. I do believe this is probably going to be the last extension of it," Ms. Freed told travel agents.

The reason for Cruise with Confidence likely not getting extended again? Ms. Freed said bookings are stronger now, "We are seeing such active bookings right now that I'm not sure we need to continue it much longer."

Royal Caribbean did extend Cruise with Confidence to include allow passengers to cancel up to 48 hours before you sail and get a future cruise credit valid to book by April 30, 2022 and sail by December 31, 2022, or one year from the original sailing date, whichever is later.

Cruises must be booked on or before December 17, 2021 to qualify for Cruise with Confidence.

Without Cruise with Confidence, guests would incur a penalty for canceling a sailing after the final payment date, which is typically 90 days before a sailing begins. Cruise with Confidence provides a great deal more flexibility to change minds with no penalty.

Also part of the Cruise with Confidence program is the Best Price Guarantee, which allows guests to reprice their sailing up to 48-hours prior to the sail date if the price drops.

Anyone who has booked a cruise already, or will do so before December 17, will have the Cruise with Confidence program included with their reservation.

If having this flexibility is important to you, be sure to book a new sailing, or change a ship or sail date before December 17th to qualify for Cruise with Confidence.

Protocols

Ms. Freed also talked about onboard protocols as Royal Caribbean begins to get back to full capacity again.

Last week, Royal Caribbean Group executives told Wall Street by the end of the year, the company plans to get its ships back to normal capacity again.

"I just want to give you a little bit of the updates on protocols," Ms. Freed said during Wednesday's webinar. "We're going to start phasing all of this out because as we are getting back to service with our entire fleet.  We're always looking at what the CDC is saying and the public health standards."

Ms. Freed's comments echo what Royal Caribbean International President and CEO Michael Bayley told investors last week.

"Some of the protocols that we have in place will naturally fall away as the pandemic moves further and further in the rearview mirror."

"I think as we move into '22, hopefully what we'll see is is the protocols become easier and less cumbersome for our customers."

Air Canada, the nation’s largest airline, is making it easier for Canadians to get pre-travel Covid testing, which is great news for cruisers flying to the United States.

The airline recently announced that they are selling a portable test kit for both molecular and antigen testing. These kits allow for a self-administered test which will be monitored by a health professional via a mobile device, with results in 45 minutes.

Mark Nasr, Air Canada's Senior Vice president of Products Marketing and E-commerce noted "We are pleased to offer our customers the most comprehensive range of travel testing options that will make travelling abroad easier and more predictable"

This provides Canadian travellers with added flexibility, especially with varying testing requirements for flying.

Testing requirements

Currently, there are specific testing protocols for both flying and cruising. The latest testing requirements for Canadians flying to the United States for a Royal Caribbean cruise:

Flying to the United States - Canadians, aged 2 and over, flying to the U.S. must provide a negative Covid test within 3 days of their flight. More specifically, the test must be performed no more than 3 days before the first scheduled departure time in the flight itinerary. For flights to the U.S., either an antigen or molecular test(such as PCR test) is accepted.

Pre-cruise testing - Cruisers must provide testing 2 days before the sail date. The day a passenger sets sail is not included as one of the days you count back from. For kids under 12, there are additional testing requirements as noted on the cruise line's website. It is important to note that supervised telehealth tests are not accepted for unvaccinated guests (kids under 12), they must be completed in person.

Return to Canada testing - For the return trip home, travellers must have a negative COVID-19 molecular test (PCR, RT-PCR, NAAT, RT-LAMP) result. The test must be taken a maximum of 72 hours before the departure of their last direct flight to Canada.

How the test kits work  

Air Canada has partnered with Switch Health, which currently provides in person testing through clinics and airports in Canada. For the portable kits, they are currently offering both antigen and molecular (RT-LAMP and PCR), available for purchase via Air Canada’s website. These are accessible for purchase pre-trip, shipped to the desired Canadian address.

Travellers need to register the kit by creating an account prior to testing. When ready to test, log into the account with government issued identification such as passport or driver’s license. Access to the internet and a mobile device with a camera is required to join the telehealth session to complete your test. Telehealth sessions are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Participants will be guided through the testing process by a health professional. Results will be uploaded to the account within 45 minutes with an official electronic report suitable for travel verification.

At this time, Royal Caribbean is not yet accepting these tests, but they do provide travellers with more options when flying to and from the United States. 

How to order

The kits are available for purchase through Air Canada’s website under “Covid 19 testing locations”. This is fulfilled in partnership with Switch Health.

Currently, there is special pricing for Air Canada's Aeroplan members (the airline’s loyalty program ) with promotional pricing of $79 CAD for two Antigen tests. An RT-LAMP test kit is priced at $149 CAD and a RT-PCR for $159 CAD. In addition, members will receive 500 bonus Aeroplan points for the purchase of a kit. For those who are not currently members, signup instructions are included on the site. Additionally, tests can be purchased using existing Aeroplan points through the Aeroplan e-store.

Free shipping is included, mailing within 5-7 business days, or express shipping for 1-3 business days, for an additional $15 CAD.

I recently shared extra tips to help prepare for a cruise in the case that you have anxiety, and several comments from readers really hit home. So many people in the US, and globally, suffer from anxiety and other mental illnesses, and this can make vacation planning so tough. 

Why, though, if you have anxiety, would you want to plan a vacation where you’re essentially stuck on a ship full of people in the middle of the ocean? Let’s break down together the reason why this is actually a DREAM vacation, and not a nightmare scenario.

Financing

Let’s start with the big one:  money.

I don’t know about you, but nothing makes me feel more anxious than big expenses. Vacation is one of those--it’s one of the few times a year we get to escape work, kick back, and not think about real life, so we want to make it as enjoyable and memorable as possible--and that costs money.

When we were “land-tripping,” we’d save up for our trips, but because we had to open our wallet at every stop (gas station or flight, hotel, restaurant, tourist trap, etc), the anxiety about how much we were spending never left me. I was constantly calculating how much we were spending, ordering the cheapest thing on the menu, forgoing that glass of wine with a romantic dinner, skipping out on places we wanted to go because it was the end of the trip and we were cashed out. 

With a cruise, we start planning at least a year in advance. A deposit goes down, and we can set a payment plan and add it to our monthly budget right up until Final Payment Date.

Along the way, there are sales on excursions, drink packages, internet, etc that we watch out for. That way, we don’t have to buy everything all at once.

We also usually put it on a credit card, so we can earn points. By this point (I have under a month left to my next cruise!), the only thing I have left to pay for are some cruise wardrobe refreshes, and toiletries.

Once I get on the ship, we will carry cash to tip our favorite bartenders and waitstaff (most gratuities are included), and we will have a few minor expenditures in port, but mostly, there aren’t any money worries. I can totally relax in that sense.

Planning

While we are on the subject of planning, you can do as much of that before the trip that you want, as well.

Like I said, there are always sales for excursions well in advance of the cruise, so we will sit down and figure out what we want to do in port. Is it a beach stop, like Coco Cay & Labadee; or a tour port like San Juan? Do we want to just walk around and do our own thing, or actually purchase an excursion? We are even staying on ship for one of the ports this time. 

There’s also plenty of activities on ship too! You can plan a trip to the spa, or a galley tour. What shows do you want to see? Some entertainment you can’t fully schedule beforehand, but looking at past Cruise Compasses from similar sailings can help you feel less overwhelmed by all the activities when you are onboard.

Remember, your Sea Day plans can always change. Leave some room for spontaneity--you may end up spending 3 hours drinking chocolate martinis on the Rising Tide with a fellow cruiser, instead of going to that trivia game you planned on...not that I know from experience or anything. 

There's more space than you think

The number one thing I hear from fellow anxious travelers, when I mention cruising, is this:  “I could never do that, I’d be so claustrophobic, being surrounded by water, on a boat with thousands of other people.” And I cannot blame them, because that’s exactly what I thought when Mr. Mills approached me with the idea for our first cruise. But these ships are huge. Small cities, really.

Royal Caribbean is a master of traffic control, so there are very few times you will be in a crowd. There’s only two times I can think of when I have felt overwhelmed by a crowd on a ship: 

1. Muster Drill, which was in the Pre-COVID days when we all had to gather in the same area for the safety information. Now it’s on your phone, so that is no more
2. Getting off the ship first thing in the morning on a busy port day. That’s easily remedied by waiting an hour or two after the gangplank opens, but Mr. Mills and I are early risers, so I mostly just grin and bear it. 

As for the ocean, it was a little intimidating the first time out. We like to keep the live ship tracking map up in our stateroom, so we can see where we are. This helps because I can see what islands are around us at any time. You almost always can see other ships off in the distance too, so you rarely feel alone.

By the end of that first cruise, I was totally in love, and now I find the ocean so peaceful. I crave that peace when I’m away from it, and it’s been a VERY long 2 years.

Travel with a home base

Cruising is one of only two vacations that I know of (RVing being the other), where you travel with your own home base.

Imagine visiting three different countries in a week, but never having to move hotel rooms, drive between them, check customs between each country, etc. Instead, you have one giant floating all-inclusive resort that takes you there.

So often with anxiety, we get in our heads that these big trips aren’t worth it, because they are so overwhelming. But because you have a place to go back and rest, it makes it so easy! There are often days where I will go out to port in the morning, come back and take a nap, and then find some fun activity to do in the afternoon before dinner. 

Staff prepared to help you

Lastly, Royal Caribbean’s staff is the absolute best I’ve ever come across in the service industry. They make you feel at ease from the moment you step into the terminal. If you have any concern, they will do everything they can to put it to rights.

As anxious people, we naturally have a tendency to avoid asking questions or causing a stir if something isn’t to our liking, but I have found every single person to be extraordinarily helpful and genuinely kind. The staff wants you to enjoy your vacation, and they will do what they can to make that happen. 

I did not want to go on our first cruise. I tried to get Mr. Mills to book an all-inclusive resort instead, but we had a special deal for Royal Caribbean. I was so nervous, and was sure I was going to be miserably anxious and overwhelmed the entire time. I came out of that experience not only happy we went, but absolutely in love with cruising.

In my opinion, it is the best vacation someone with an anxiety condition can take, because there’s so much preparation that is done to make sure you have a good time. Give cruising a chance, and come back and tell me how it goes! I can’t wait to hear from you!

No matter how much research and planning you do before a cruise, there are bound to be a few surprises.

Looking back on last month's cruise to Alaska on Ovation of the Seas, there were several things I think I did right, but also several mistakes I made along the way.

From packing for Alaska's unpredictable weather to rushing to make my flight home, here are a few takeaways and lessons learned from my sailing.

What I did right

Planning what to do in port in advance

A cruise to Alaska is less about lounging on a beach with a cocktail in hand and more about experiencing the nature and sights that each Alaskan port has to offer.

Do you want to book a whale watching tour? Go on the White Pass & Yukon Railway? Explore Mendenhall Glacier? Doing a little research on each port before arriving can make your time in port go much smoother. Not only that, but many popular excursions run the chance of selling out. Planning early ensures you can book an excursion when it is still available (and often at the best price).

Planning in advance doesn't just have to mean booking an excursion directly through Royal Caribbean, either. You can research local tour operators and transportation, too, as well as restaurants, bars, shopping, museums, and hikes you may want to check out.

While I don't recommend planning a day in port on a super strict schedule, it can be helpful to know the basics of what there is to do in each location before arriving.

Bringing binoculars

Binoculars may not be an object you use very often at home, but they come in handy on an Alaskan cruise.

Throughout my sailing, I was happy I brought binoculars with me. Alaska's scenery is stunning in every direction. Binoculars allowed me to feel closer to the state's gargantuan nature.

While sailing through Alaska's inside passage on the way to Endicott Arm & Dawes Glacier, I used my binoculars to look for eagles in the trees and watch waterfalls flow into the icy water.  At Mendenhall Glacier, binoculars allowed me to see the glacier "up close" even though I was standing several hundred feet away.

The basic binoculars I purchased for my Alaskan cruise ran only $30 and were worth every penny.

Being flexible

Royal Caribbean cannot, of course, control the weather. Itinerary changes and other unexpected events can happen on a cruise.

There are two ways to approach any unexpected changes: by going with the flow or by letting it negatively impact your vacation.

Your North Star reservation gets cancelled because of windy weather? A port changes due to high seas? Sure, it may not be the best news you've ever heard, but remember that Royal Caribbean's top priority is to keep everyone safe.

I encountered quite a few unexpected changes in Alaska, but embraced whatever new scenarios those changes brought.

When our itinerary dropped Sitka and added Ketchikan as a port, I found myself excited to explore a new place I did not know anything about. When our highly anticipated North Star experience was cancelled, we watched the scenery while enjoying a drink at the North Star Bar instead.

Being flexible is always important on a cruise, but especially in Alaska where the weather can change every five minutes!

What I did wrong:

While there are many things I did right on my Alaskan cruise, I did, of course, make a few mistakes.

Packing way too many clothes

I am usually a light packer and a big fan of traveling with just a carry on, but I packed WAY too many clothes for my Alaskan cruise.

When I looked at the weather forecast for Alaska, I panicked. It showed rain nearly every day and temperatures in the 40s. I packed my rain gear and winter gear. I packed daytime clothes to wear around the ship and dinner outfits. Plus swimwear. Plus pajamas.

My aforementioned light packing skills failed completely and I checked a 50lb bag filled with what felt like my entire wardrobe.

How many clothes did I end up wearing? About half of what I brought.

The old saying to pack a suitcase and take out half of the clothes before leaving for vacation rang true here, and I definitely regretted packing so much.

Cruising in cold weather is much different than in warm weather. In the Caribbean, for example, clothes tend to get dirtier much faster due to the sweltering heat, sand, and salt water.

In Alaska, where I was often shivering instead of sweating, I found that my clothes stayed cleaner for much longer.

In fact, I ended up wearing nearly the same exact outfit every day of the cruise: jeans, waterproof boots, a sweater, and a raincoat. Therefore, most of what I had packed remained untouched.

Booking my flight home before noon

I booked my departure flight from Seattle at 11:27AM on disembarkation day. Originally, we were set to arrive in Seattle at 6AM, leaving me plenty of time to get to the airport (or so I thought). Due to the sailing's itinerary change and unexpected delays, though, I did not have nearly as much time as I anticipated.

While I did make my flight home with nearly an hour to spare, I wish I had booked a flight just a little later to avoid the extra stress I encountered due to my early flight.

On the last morning of the cruise, I brought my suitcase to the Royal Esplanade to get in line for disembarkation. At around 7AM, there were only a few people ahead of me.

Then the departure process ran into several delays as we entered and docked in Seattle, leading to huge lines and a little bit of chaos. Many passengers were getting nervous about their early flights.

Luckily, since I was one of the first people in line for departure, I was able to quickly get an Uber and did not run into traffic on the way to the airport.

Was it worth the stress, though? Not really. While waiting at the airport longer before a flight isn't always enjoyable, it is certainly better than missing a flight if things go wrong. Disembarkation can be affected by many scenarios, so if you're sailing to Alaska, try to get a flight leaving Seattle at 1PM or later.

Ultimately, whether in Alaska, the Caribbean, or anywhere else, a little bit of planning and flexibility can go a long way.

And while I made a couple mistakes along the way, my cruise to Alaska was unbelievably beautiful and was an adventure I will definitely never forget.

Walking onto a cruise ship for your first day of vacation is one of the best feelings. There’s so much excitement that comes with exploring a new ship and getting settled in your cabin. The first dinner at sea always feels extra special as the servers go above and beyond to take care of you. Finally, you don’t have to worry about cooking or cleaning for a few days!

If you’re like me, you love looking forward to your next cruise. This is a time for me to disconnect from reality and reconnect with my family. I greatly value the opportunity to relax and reset, all while enjoying delicious food and visiting amazing destinations. 

Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end. If only vacation could last forever! 

You might find yourself feeling depressed after a highly anticipated cruise. As a kid, I would cry as we left the ship because I was so sad for our cruises to end. My mom used to remind me that the anticipation was sometimes just as exciting as the cruise itself. It’s so hard to not feel sadness after your cruise ends, especially if it was a once in a lifetime vacation for you. 

Luckily, there are few ways to avoid post-cruise depression while still having a great time at sea!

Planning another cruise

Maybe this is too obvious, but planning another cruise is probably the quickest way to avoid the post vacation blues. I am a firm believer that mundane, daily life is better when you have something exciting to look forward to. 

Royal Caribbean makes it super easy to book a future cruise onboard any of their ships. Next Cruise is typically located near the promenade or central atrium. You can meet with one of the travel planners to book your next cruise. These specialists will answer all of your questions and help you book the best cabin with the best rate.

If you decide to book your cruise with Next Cruise, you’ll also receive some pretty sweet benefits. You can reserve an itinerary with reduced deposits and increased onboard credit. This makes it very convenient and affordable to plan your next cruise - and immediately gives you something to look forward to when your cruise concludes!

Disconnecting

Our lives are deeply intertwined with technology, making it harder to truly disconnect from our everyday stress. One of the reasons I love cruising is having the rare opportunity to put my phone down and enjoy the present. Internet packages and international cell-service can be pricey anyway, which gives me a great excuse to disconnect as much as possible. 

I spent 105 days at sea in college during my study abroad with no internet. Can you imagine a ship full of college students in the 21st century with only access to email?! While you might imagine we were miserable, almost everyone agreed that being forced to disconnect was one of the best aspects of life at sea. We learned to live in the moment and soak up every experience. We journaled about our travels and read plenty of books. I took more naps in 4 months than I had my entire life! We all realized very quickly how easily technology distracts us from seizing the day. 

By leaving my phone and computer behind, I am able to be present and live in the moment while cruising. I try to avoid emails, texts and phone calls from home as much as possible. 

This is especially important with work emails and messages! Unless there’s an absolute emergency, I always set the expectation that I will be unreachable on my cruise. I also refrain from reading news articles and checking social media to help myself live in the moment.

The more present you are for your vacation, the less likely you’ll leave your cruise feeling desperate for another vacation. 

Prioritize Your Needs

I always recommend cruising for people looking to take a vacation with a large group of friends or family. There’s something for everyone to enjoy because there’s so much to do! 

However, sometimes traveling in a group can be stressful. Having too many excursions planned or packing your itinerary full might leave you feeling exhausted on the last day of your cruise. No one wants to feel like they spent time and money just for vacation to be stressful and exhausting. 

Cruising should be all about relaxation. Prioritizing your needs is vitally important to fully relax and rejuvenate. 

Book a massage or schedule some alone time to take advantage of self-care opportunities. My mom always takes one port day to stay onboard for alone time - she typically reads a book, takes a nap and enjoys the quiet ship. Similarly, if you want to see a certain landmark but no one else does, take that opportunity to do what you want! 

That 7am excursion you booked months ago? Don’t feel bad if you need to cancel and sleep in that morning instead. Your 7am wakeup call will be at home when you return from your cruise anyway.

Prioritizing and catering your vacation to fit your needs ensures you’ll leave the ship feeling refreshed and rested. We’ve cruised with no plans or obligations because we just wanted to relax and prioritize rest. Other cruises, we’ve been exploring nonstop in each port and walking 7+ miles a day. 

Evaluate what you want out of your cruise and try your best to honor those needs, even if you’re traveling with a group. There’s nothing worse than needing a vacation after your vacation!

Help your future self

After being pampered for days on end, it can be a rude awakening returning to life back on land. No one is making your bed everyday or cooking you delicious food to your heart’s content. The view from your window is just your backyard now rather than the beautiful blue ocean. It can be depressing that your long-awaited cruise is over and you’re back to the normal stress and routine of daily life.

Make a few arrangements to ease your future self back to reality after you return. I found that giving myself a day to get reacclimated before returning to work helps tremendously. Too many times have I flown back from a cruise on Sunday night and dragged myself to work the next morning. I was never productive and always felt depressed that I wasn’t cruising anymore. 

I also schedule a grocery pickup for the first day back so I don’t have to worry about what to cook for dinner. If you have time before your cruise, you can also prepare a freezer meal to easily heat up when you return.

We enjoy meal-delivery services (like HelloFresh or HomeChef) to reduce the stress around cooking and meal-planning. After returning from our last cruise, I scheduled our weekly delivery for the following day with low-effort meals. This helped me feel less overwhelmed about getting back into a routine or needing to go grocery shopping right away.

We also try to leave the house clean and organized before leaving for our cruises. Coming home to a messy house with dirty laundry or chores only makes the post-cruise depression worse. 

In this way, a little preparation can help ease you back into your normal routine again - hopefully with a new cruise to look forward to!

The Royal Caribbean app is getting updates all the time, and some cruisers have noticed a change to the option to upload a photo of your Covid-19 vaccine card.

In September 2021, Royal Caribbean added a new way for passengers to upload a photo of their vaccine card directly into the app to speed up the check-in process in the cruise terminal.

The ability to upload a photo is not yet possible for every ship, but it is being offered on more ships once available.

When the feature was added in September, the app would immediately move your status to green to indicate you are done, but now cruise fans are noticing it changes to a gray hourglass status instead to indicate your card is being validated.

RoyalCaribbeanBlog reader David Beers reached out to Royal Caribbean to get an idea of what this change means exactly, especially as it relates to checking in for a cruise.

Jheanell Pagon from Royal Caribbean's Executive Office indicated the vaccination submission status has been updated so that the cruise line can manually check the validity of the card being uploaded.

"After reviewing your correspondence with our Port Operations team, they advised they recently deployed a new feature in the Guest Check-in App to include a Vaccination Submission Status. So now, the status We are validating your card is the normal new status you’ll see once you enter your vaccine record during Online Check-in."

"Once submitted, it then takes us 24 to 48 hours to approve since we are manually checking the validity of each card."

Guests will still need to bring their vaccine card with them, but taking the photo at home will allow the embarkation process to move just a little bit faster since the terminal staff will not have to take time to take photos of everyone's card.

Royal Caribbean's app is available on the iTunes App Store and Google Play Store.

Happy Halloween! I don't have any bad Halloween themed puns to include here, just the latest Royal Caribbean news to catch up on before you hit up the neighborhood for candy this evening. 

The cruise industry got mostly good news this week when the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced it temporarily extended the Conditional Sailing Order.

The CDC announced a temporary extension of the rules and requirements for cruise ships through January 15, 2022.

While the cruise industry has an additional few months of regulation, the CDC intends to transition to a voluntary program in January, giving the cruise lines a bit more flexibility.

Royal Caribbean News

• Royal Caribbean reports $1.4 billion loss, but expects to be profitable for the full year 2022
• Royal Caribbean releases November 2021 cruise ship health protocols for U.S. sailings
• Royal Caribbean will add adults-only area to Perfect Day at CocoCay
• Royal Caribbean extends ability to cancel cruises, shortens final payment window, and extends Covid-19 assistance program
• Bahamas will extend requirement for cruise ship passengers to be vaccinated
• New Icon Class cruise ship construction update
• Cruise industry supports CDC's temporary extension of cruise ship Covid-19 regulations
• Spotted: Royal Caribbean brings back early check-in and welcome lunch to The Key
• Explorer of the Seas began her test cruise from Puerto Rico
• Royal Caribbean talks higher capacity, protocol changes, world cruise and more
• Royal Caribbean Group announces pledge to get to net zero emissions by 2050
• Top 10 Odyssey of the Seas frequently asked questions
• Save up to 35% off pre-cruise purchases with Royal Caribbean's new sale
• How to plan your dream wedding at sea

Royal Caribbean Blog Podcast

The 2021 Alaska cruise season was a short one, but we were able to check it out before it ended.

This week's podcast episode has a review of Ovation of the Seas' final sailing to Alaska this year from someone who had never cruised to Alaska before.

Please feel free to subscribe via iTunes or RSS, and head over to rate and review the podcast on iTunes if you can! We’d appreciate it.

New RCB Video: Things people do on a cruise that I don't understand at all

Have you subscribed to the Royal Caribbean Blog YouTube Channel? We share some great videos there regularly, all about taking a Royal Caribbean cruise! This week, we are sharing our latest video — Things people do on a cruise that I don't understand at all — and don’t forget to subscribe here.

How to plan a Royal Caribbean cruise on any budget

Royal Caribbean cruises are affordable vacations for guests of pretty much any budget, which makes them an attractive way to vacation.

Whether you are going all out, counting every last penny, or looking for a reasonable value, there are options that should fit into any family spending plan.

Here is a look at tips and tricks for how to plan a memorable cruise vacation on a low, moderate, and high budget.