Royal Caribbean informed guests scheduled to sail on Grandeur of the Seas, that the next sailing will be delayed due to an immediate repair need.

In an email to guests, Royal Caribbean indicated that Grandeur of the Seas is currently experiencing a technical issue which limits the operation of one of the two rudders used to steer the ship.

The cruise line went on to explain, "While the ship is fully operational, in an abundance of safety, we will be making the repairs immediately." Moreover, Royal Caribbean apologized for the schedule change, "We are very sorry for this impact to your vacation and thank you for your patience."

As a result of the repairs, the January 11, 2018 sailing has a new departure date of Saturday, January 13th.

Royal Caribbean is actively working through the details and will have another update today at 12:30 PM EST. This update will include boarding times on Saturday, compensation details and all other necessary information.

1:00PM EASTERN UPDATE: Royal Caribbean has provided an update on the shortened Grandeur of the Seas sailing.

Compensation details

Royal Caribbean will offer guests sailing on the shortened Grandeur of the Seas sailing a 50% refundable Onboard Credit to their account.  This amount will be based on the cruise fare portion paid, non-inclusive of taxes and fees.  If their onboard spend does not reach this amount, the remaining balance will go to the credit card on file.

If guests are unable to travel and need to cancel their cruise, Royal Caribbean will provide them with a refund to their original form of payment.  

For guests flying in

For Air2Sea guests or guests that purchased air directly with Royal Caribbean, Royal Caribbean will be reaching out to work through new travel arrangements.

If guests purchased air on your own, Royal Caribbean will be reimbursing change fees of up to $200 per person for Domestic flights and up to $300 per person for International flights (change in airline reservations must be like-for-like cabin class and a faxed/email copy of air fees assessed must be provided for reimbursement).  Please submit receipts to [email protected].

Pre-purchased items

If guests have a pre-purchased beverage package or an internet package, Royal Caribbean will provide them with a refund of the prorated 2 days.

Itinerary update & check-in

A Royal Caribbean cruise is a great family vacation choice, where both they and you can enjoy plenty of fun at sea and on shore.

Royal Caribbean welcomes children of all ages, and you will find plenty of other families on all Royal Caribbean sailings.  In fact, Royal Caribbean offers a variety of activities and programming for children and their families to ensure there is plenty to do onboard.  Royal Caribbean has dedicated facilities for children, where trained crew members supervise the children and guide them through different daily offerings.

What's available for kids on a Royal Caribbean cruise?

Royal Caribbean's Adventure Ocean offers programming for children as young as six months old, all the way through the teenage years.

Infants and babies

For most cruises, infants sailing on a cruise must be at least 6 months old as of the first day of the cruise. For transatlantic, transpacific, Hawaii, select South American and other selected cruises, the infant must be at least 12 months old as of the first day of the cruise. Moreover, any cruise that has 3 or more days consecutive at sea will require infants to be 12 months old on the first day of the cruise.

Children between the ages of six months and 36 months old can participate in the Royal Babies and Royal Tots (6-36 months) program.  Most Royal Caribbean ships offer a nursery, where parents can drop children off throughout the day and evening. Use of the nursery comes at an hourly charge. Young children can enjoy soft play areas and age-appropriate toys, as well as cribs and cots for napping or sleeping.

If you have children under the age of three, be sure to book a Royal Caribbean cruise that offers a nursery.  For child and parent alike, the nursery is a wonderful resource.

In addition to the Nursery, there is often a open play area set up during the day for parents to bring their young children to and play.  This is unsupervised play time, but does provide an opportunity every day for parents with toddlers to have space to crawl, play, and have some fun.

Children 3 years and older

Royal Caribbean's primary program for kids is Adventure Ocean and is offered in three segments

• Aquanauts (3-5 years old)
• Explorers (6-8 years old)
• Voyagers (9-11 years old)

Adventure Ocean is complimentary and is offered for most of your day onboard your ship, whether the cruise is in port or at sea.  From when Adventure Ocean opens until 10pm, there is no additional cost to use Adventure Ocean. From 10pm to 2am, Royal Caribbean offers an after hour option that has an hourly cost for parents that want to let kids stay a bit later.

There's a lot for kids to do here and the programs specialize for each age group.  It's a mix of learning, play time and socializing.  

Kids are checked in and out by parents and it's fully supervised by Royal Caribbean staff. The requirement for children to participate is to be at least 3 years old and be fully potty trained.  There are after hours programs offered as well in Adventure Ocean for an hourly fee if parents want their kids to have supervision later into the evening.

On sea days, Adventure Ocean is typically open

• 9am - noon
• 2pm - 5pm
• 7pm - 10pm

On port days, Adventure Ocean is open for the entire duration your Royal Caribbean ship is in port.  Once the ship leaves port, it resumes the normal schedule described in sea days.

In addition, Royal Caribbean will open Adventure Ocean early enough for guests booked on Royal Caribbean shore excursions to drop children off.  Check with the staff on exact times.

Tweens and Teens

Tweens and teens have their own programming on Royal Caribbean ships. Just like the younger children, there is crew member supervision, but the activities are designed to be more open and less restrictive to the kids. Royal Caribbean built the teen programs to be about empowering teens to do their own thing but still offer activities and fun events to help introduce everyone.

There are teen-only spots onboard the ship where they can come and go as they please. Each day there are teen only events planned in the Cruise Planner, where teens can have dedicated time to enjoy special activities. Royal Caribbean ships are known for their amazing features, like ice skating rinks, surf simulators, bumper cars, and more, so teens will have opportunities to enjoy these activities exclusively.

Sample Activities by Age Group

If you want to get an idea of the kind of activities offered by Adventure Ocean, here is a sampling from previous cruises.  This list is not indicative of everything offered by Royal Caribbean, nor is it a guarantee that it will be offered on your sailing.  It is merely an example of the sort of programming available in the past.

Aquanauts (3 - 5 years)

• Finger Painting
• Camp Aquanaut
• Building Blocks
• Play dough sculptures
• Music Activities
• Dot Dancing
• Games – animal, color and shape BINGO 

Explorers (6 - 8 years)

• Pirate Night
• Backstage Tour
• Nutty Nicknames
• Carnival Night
• Sports Tournaments
• Wide World of Sports Night
• Autograph Hunts 

Voyagers (9 - 11 years)

• Karaoke
• Sports Tournaments
• Adventure Challenge
• GaGa Ball
• H20 Thunder Races
• List-o-Rama
• The Art Walk 

Navigators (12 - 14 years)

• Sports Tournaments
• Pool Parties
• College Night
• Challenge Series
• Scavenger Hunts
• Karaoke
• Disco Dancing
• Video Games 

Teens (15 - 17 years)

• Dancing
• Pool Parties
• DJ Training
• Battle of the Sexes
• Karaoke
• Coffee Talk
• Talent Show
• Formal Night
• Survivor Series 

Cruise pricing for kids

A common question is if kids are charged the same as adults on Royal Caribbean, or if there is a cost to bring infants onboard.  

Like most of the cruise industry, Royal Caribbean charges all of its guests the same regardless of age. Cruise line pricing is based on double occupancy in a stateroom, and this has to do with the pricing model the cruise industry relies on to be profitable.

If your children will be the third or fourth (or more) passengers in the same room as two adults, their cruise fare is usually far less than the first two adults.  Occasionally, Royal Caribbean offers discounts on third and fourth passengers, as well as Kids Sail Free deals.  Be sure to consult your travel agent for guidance on taking advantage of these deals when they are available.

Staterooms

Most families book a single stateroom for their family during the cruise.  Royal Caribbean has staterooms that can accommodate three and four passengers easily, along with some stateroom configurations that can handle even more guests.

In recent years, Royal Caribbean has begun offering family staterooms, which provide extra space and are designed to handle families of five or six passengers.  If you need more space, some suites can handle even more guests.

Depending on your family size, age of your children, and your comfort level, booking multiple staterooms can often be the same or cheaper than booking a large room.  Multiple rooms provides not only additional living space, but extra restrooms and separation from parents and children. Royal Caribbean does offer some rooms with a connecting inside door between rooms.  

If you need a crib, Royal Caribbean can provide a pack 'n play upon request.  You can request this prior to your cruise by contacting Royal Caribbean or your travel agent, however, you can still get one once onboard the ship.

Speaking of toddlers and young children, you will need to bring your own supply of diapers, bottles, and other supplies.  Royal Caribbean provides milk to all guests without an additional charge (skim or regular).  Some parents prefer to bring their own kid-friendly snacks and food, which is permissible by Royal Caribbean. Refer to our Taking an Infant on a Royal Caribbean cruise article for more information.

Kids activities on Royal Caribbean beyond Adventure Ocean

There's lots going on onboard a Royal Caribbean cruise regardless of if your kids are in the kids club or not.  There are pools and even dedicated pool and splash areas on select ships.  Known as the H2O Zone or Splashaway Bay, these areas offer water spouts, slides, colorful decorations and lots of areas to get soaked and the perfect place for kids to run around.

Speaking of fun in the water, Royal Caribbean has begun offering water slides on some of its cruise ships.  Water slides are open to all guests, provided they are tall enough to enjoy the slides safely. We do not have to describe the virtues of water slides, but families with older children may want to ensure they book a cruise that offers water slides.

Oasis, Quantum, and select Freedom and Voyager Class cruise ships offer the DreamWorks Experience, which incorporates the DreamWorks film characters into meet-n-greets, parades and character breakfasts.

Each day of your cruise, the Cruise Director's staff offers many family-friendly activities in the Cruise Compass. Families can join in trivia, scavenger hunts, tournaments on the sports deck, pool games and more. 

The signature activities on many Royal Caribbean ships is also open to children, such as mini-golf, the FlowRider, the rock climbing wall, ice skating and more.

Eating with kids on Royal Caribbean

Every parent knows that dining out with their kids is an adventure that can never be predicted.  Luckily, Royal Caribbean offers a variety of culinary choices that are sure to appeal to all palates.  Whether your child is a pizza and chicken fingers kind of kid, or enjoys the finer foods in life, there is lots available.

The main dining room has a special menu just for kids (adults can order off of it too), which has plenty of kid-friendly fare.  This includes pasta, hot dogs, burgers, mac and cheese, and more.  Of course, kids are free to order off the regular menu too. 

The dining room staff is usually very accommodating to families, and can work with parents to find something that their child will eat.  On past cruises, we have had instances where the waiters went to other restaurants onboard the ship to bring our kids a food not offered in the dining room.  That level of service is what makes dining (and cruising) with kids on Royal Caribbean such a pleasure.

My Family Time Dining

There is a special dinner option in the main dining room known as My Family Time Dining, which is offered for the first seating time in the main dining room, for children ages three to 11.

Here is how it works

1. You arrive at the dining room with the kids and let your server know that the kids will be headed to Adventure Ocean as part of the My Family Time Dining program.
2. The kids order and are served right away so that they can finish their meal within the first 40 minutes.
3. After about 45 minutes, the Adventure Ocean staff arrive in the dining room lobby to sign in and hand off the kids.Parents will need to escort their children to the designated Main Dining room entrance doors at 6:45 pm to check their child in with the Adventure Ocean counselors. Once checked­in, the Adventure Ocean counselors will then escort their children to Adventure Ocean for ongoing evening activities.
4. Adults return to their table to enjoy the rest of their meal at a more leisurely place.

Prior to the cruise, you can can contact Royal Caribbean or travel agent to book it. Alternatively, guests can sign up onboard in the Adventure Ocean area. Pre­-cruise reservations are encouraged.

Windjammer

The holy grail of kid friendly dining is the Windjammer, which is Royal Caribbean's buffet style restaurant.  Open for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks, it offers the greatest variety of food that includes many different types of food.  

Most importantly, there is lots of ice cream available on Royal Caribbean! In fact, there is usually a self-serve ice cream station conveniently located near the pool for anyone to enjoy throughout the day.

Specialty Dining

If you want to take your children with you to a specialty restaurant, they are more than welcome to eat there as well.  Kids ages 6-12 can dine at specialty restaurants for a $10 cover charge. Kids 5 years old and under eat free.

Kids 5-12 have a modified adult menu,which is a round-up of kid-friendly favorites from the regular menu. Kids under 5 are free and have a kiddies menu similar to the kids menu in the main dining room. Some restaurants do not have kids menus and so kids order off the regular menu.

Royal Caribbean specifies restaurants such as Wonderland Imaginative Cuisine, 150 Central Park, and Chef's Table do not have kids menus, as those experiences are better suited for guests age 13 and older.

More cruising with kids info

You may have additional questions about cruising with kids on Royal Caribbean, or simply would like to learn more tips and advice.  Here are some good resources to consider:

• Moms of the Seas: Question and Answer family cruising guide
• Six things to know about Adventure Ocean
• 6 cool things for kids to do on a Royal Caribbean cruise
• Podcast: Guide to cruising with young children on Royal Caribbean
• Dinner with kids in Royal Caribbean's specialty restaurants

Your thoughts

Now that you have read over our guide to taking kids on Royal Caribbean, let's hear from other parents. What tips do you parents think are most important? Which advice we shared do you agree with? Where do you disagree? Share your thoughts in the comments!

Royal Caribbean's unlimited alcohol package has become incredibly popular with guests, primarily due to the option of providing all the alcohol drinks for one flat cost.

Given the interest in the drink packages, we get a lot of questions about them, and decided to list answers to the most commonly asked unlimited alcohol package questions for everyone's future reference.

The drink packages really are unlimited

While other cruise lines may impose limits on their unlimited alcohol packages, Royal Caribbean has no such rule.  Some guests coming to Royal Caribbean question just how unlimited the alcohol packages are in reality.

The answer is, there is no limit on the unlimited alcohol package and no daily caps on how many beverages you can get.

The closest thing to a limit that exists, is with the soda fountain cups each drink package receives, the automated machines do limit refills to once every 10-15 minutes.  This is prevent abuse of the self-serve soda machines.

Gratuity is included with the drink packages

When you purchase an unlimited alcohol package, your purchase price includes gratuity for every drink you order.

Royal Caribbean advertises one price for each drink package, but if you look at the receipt, you will notice a cost for the base package plus a "service charge" that covers your gratuities.

When you order a drink with the drink package, your receipt will show an 18% gratuity has already been added, although there is the option to add additional gratuity if you so choose.

Everyone in your stateroom needs to get a drink package

Since the start of 2018, all Royal Caribbean passengers 21 years of age and older (18 years in Australia and the U.K) are now required to purchase the Deluxe Beverage Package if at least one other person in their cabin has one.

Royal Caribbean does provide an exemption that rule for guests that do not consume alcohol for personal, health or religious reasons.  Instead, those guests may purchase the Royal Refreshment package.  To arrange for an exemption, you must call Royal Caribbean and explain the situation.

You cannot share the drink packages with someone else

Let us be crystal clear here: it is against Royal Caribbean's rules to share the benefits of the drink package with anyone else. Period.

Royal Caribbean stipulates the drink packages are solely for the person purchasing it and if caught sharing the package, you may have your drink package canceled without refund.

You do not have to buy the drink packages on the first day

In the months (or years) leading up to your Royal Caribbean cruise, you will see a ton of advertising to purchase a drink package and even on embarkation day, there will be plenty of opportunity to buy a drink package.  But you do not have to buy it on day one.

As long as there are at least four days left in your cruise, you can opt to purchase a drink package later in your cruise and pay a prorated amount for the package.

This means on a seven night cruise, you can wait until day two or three to buy a drink package and then pay only for the remaining days of the package.

Can I upgrade a different drink package to the unlimited alcohol package?

Sometimes guests purchase or receive a less expensive drink package, and wish to upgrade it to the Deluxe Beverage Package.  The answer to if you can upgrade depends on how you got the initial drink package.

If you purchased the first drink package from Royal Caribbean, you can always cancel that package and then book the Deluxe Beverage Package.  If you are already onboard the ship, Guest Services will often allow you to pay the difference.

If you received the drink package as part of a promotion from Royal Caribbean or a travel agent, then you cannot upgrade to another package.  

Does the unlimited alcohol package work at specialty restaurants?

Yes, the unlimited alcohol package benefits extend to Royal Caribbean's specialty restaurants.

Just like at any bar or lounge on your Royal Caribbean cruise, there may be liquors or drinks that are not included in the drink package because their cost exceeds the individual drink maximum limit, but cocktails, beers and even a few wines are available to enjoy with a drink package.

I see some drinks on the menu are $13, but the drink package only covers $12 drinks. 

On Oasis and Quantum class ships, Royal Caribbean's Deluxe Beverage Package individual drink limit is increased to $13 to match the pricing of cocktails on those ships.

On the rest of the fleet, cocktails tend to max out at $12, and thus, the drink package limit remains the same.

Can I use the drink package as soon as I board my Royal Caribbean ship? How about on the last morning?

Yes, your drink package benefits are available as soon as you board your Royal Caribbean ship and extend throughout your cruise until you disembark.

Did we miss your question? Post it in the comments below and we will try our best to answer it!

Happy New Year! The first week of 2017 had plenty of Royal Caribbean news, and we have it all summarized for you in this week's round-up!

Earlier this week, it became apparent that there will be no DreamWorks characters on Symphony of the Seas.

Royal Caribbean confirmed via Twitter that Symphony of the Seas will not have DreamWorks characters or shows onboard its newest ship.  This is a change from the other three Oasis class ships, which all featured DreamWorks characters.

There is no indication as of yet why Symphony of the Seas will not offer the DreamWorks characters.

Royal Caribbean News

• The January Wave Season offer features 30% off all guests and onboard credit.
• What first time cruisers need to know before booking a Royal Caribbean cruise.
• Our list of 10 awesome things to do on Anthem of the Seas.
• Here is a cruise hack for maximizing the Crown and Anchor Society discount on Voom internet packages.
• Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. hired a new Chief Human Resources Officer.
• Everything you need to know about formal night on a Royal Caribbean cruise.

Royal Caribbean Blog Podcast

The 231st episode of the Royal Caribbean Blog Podcast is now available and this week, we offer packing tips for going on an Alaska cruise.

On this episode, Sheri joins Matt to discuss packing strategies for going on an Alaska cruise, and what sort of things you ought to pack that might not be considered for a Caribbean cruise.

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.

Royal Caribbean Around the Internet

The Chicago Tribune looks at how technology is changing cruising.

Royal Caribbean UK interviewed Rhapsody of the Seas' environmental officer.

The SunSentinel says don't be quick to blame cruise lines for excursion accidents.

Happy New Year! Welcome to the first edition of Friday Photos for 2018.  Each week, we showcase our readers' favorite Royal Caribbean photos for everyone to enjoy!

Throw another log on the fire, put on an extra blanket, and let us jump into this week's batch of terrific cruise photos!

The first Friday Photos of the year comes to us from David Ep, and it is of Grandeur of the Seas anchored off the coast of CocoCay.

Next up is a beautiful photo of Oasis of the Seas by twangster.

Bill Barber sent in this photo of the rainbow bridge on Freedom of the Seas. 

Here is a shot of Gibraltar, taken by Leon.

It looks like Allen Shaffer was impressed by Hubbard Glacier while on Radiance of the Seas.

Next is a photo of Jewel of the Seas in the caldera of Santorini (one possible site for the ancient Atlantis), taken by Pascal Everard.

Ed Buhain shared this photo of Allure of the Seas and Harmony of the Seas ported together in St. Maarten.

Thank you to everyone who shared photos with us this week. You can send in your favorite Royal Caribbean cruise photos via this form to be included in a future edition of Friday Photos!

Royal Caribbean is offering up to 30% off select Cruise Planner purchases during its Sip, Tour & Stream sale.

Guest that log into the Cruise Planner will find certain items discounted.  The exact discount available will vary from sailing to sailing, but there are discounts on shore excursions, certain beverage packages, and internet packages.  Keep in mind that not all sailings may see the sale applicable, nor are all offers significantly cheaper than previously posted.

Based on the countdown timer, the sale expires at midnight on Monday, January 8, 2017.

To check if your sailing has this new offer available, log into the Cruise Planner on Royal Caribbean's web site and navigate to the Dining & Beverage section to see any available offers.

If you spot a better discount on something you already pre-purchased, you should be able to cancel the purchase and then re-purchase the same item under this promotion.

If you are at least a Diamond member or above in Royal Caribbean's Crown and Anchor Society, here is a great way to maximize your savings on a Royal Caribbean Voom internet package for your cruise.

This deal assumes a few things for it to be worthwhile:

• You must be at least a Diamond member or above in Crown and Anchor Society (Diamond, Diamond Plus, or Pinnacle).
• You are interested in buying a Voom package for the duration of your cruise.
• You want to get the best possible price on a Voom package.
• The price of a one-device Voom package on Royal Caribbean's Cruise Planner before your sailing is $15.99 per day or higher.

For years, Royal Caribbean has been offering a pre-cruise discount on its Voom internet packages, which is an option on top of taking advantage of the onboard internet package discount Crown and Anchor Society provides.  Essentially, you can pick one, but not both.

Recently, Royal Caribbean has seemed to change the pricing of its Voom Surf and Stream internet package when purchased onboard, to be $19.99 per day (for one device).

The strategy

Thanks to Royal Caribbean Blog reader twangster, there appears to be a way to take full advantage of the onboard discount, which will yield better savings compared to the pre-cruise discount.

What you have to do is wait to book the Voom package onboard, and then wait to buy the internet package on day two of your cruise.

If you can skip buying the internet package on day one, you can reap significant savings.  Most guests will have cell phone coverage to provide internet access on day one for most of the day.  Assuming a 4pm departure time, it is likely you have just 8 hours until midnight of no internet access.  With dinner, entertainment and everything else going on during the first day, waiting until day two to book a Voom package is seemingly easy.

Here is a breakdown of the discount options:

7 Nights

On board - 7 * $19.99 = $139.93 - $22.99 Diamond discount = $116.94

Pre-cruise - 7 * $15.99 = $111.93

Best buy - On board Day 2 -  6 * $19.99 = $119.94 - $22.99 Diamond discount = $96.95

9 Nights

On board - 9 * $19.99 = $179.91 - $22.99 Diamond discount = $156.92

Pre-cruise - 9 * $15.99 = $143.91

Best buy - On board Day 2 -  8 * $19.99 = $159.92 - $22.99 Diamond discount = $136.93

12 Nights

On board - 12 * $19.99 = $239.88 - $22.99 Diamond discount = $216.89

On board Day 2 -  11 * $19.99 = $219.89 - $22.99 Diamond discount = $196.90

Best buy - Pre-cruise - 12 * $15.99 = $191.88

The Diamond discount is effectively between 9.6% and 28.8% based on cruise length. Longer cruise yield less effective discount.

Of course, if you really want to get some additional savings and are okay pushing off internet access for another day, waiting until day three of your cruise will yield even higher savings.

Gold, Platinum and Emerald members

If you are a Platinum or Emerald member in Crown and Anchor Society, you get less of a discount (15%) off onboard internet prices, but the result is pretty close to the same as Diamond members.  Just like Diamond members, the best buy is to wait until day two. 

• 4-night cruise: Diamond Voom discount: 28.8%
• 5-night cruise: Diamond Voom discount: 23%
• 6-night cruise: Diamond Voom discount: 19.2%
• 7-night cruise: Diamond Voom discount: 16.4%
• 8-night cruise: Diamond Voom discount: 14.4%
• 9-night cruise: Diamond Voom discount: 12.8%
• 10-night cruise: Diamond Voom discount: 11.5%
• 11-night cruise: Diamond Voom discount: 10.5%
• 12-night cruise: Diamond Voom discount: 9.6%

For anything longer than 7 nights, the Platinum and Emerald discount is better than the Diamond discount. 

For 12 night cruises, the Gold discount (10%) is better than Diamond discount.  

Royal Caribbean's Wave Season offer is now available, where guests can get 30% off every guest and get onboard credit.

The January Offer is valid on cruises booked between January 4, 2018 and January 31, 2018 on sailings departing on or after February 4, 2018.

The offer includes:

• 30% off cruise fare for all guests’ in the stateroom
• Up to $100 onboard credit
  • 5 nights and less
    • $25 OBC for Interior and Ocean View
    • $50 OBC for Balconies
    •  $75 OBC for Suites on sailings
  • 6 nights or longer
    • $50 OBC for Interior and Ocean View
    • $75 OBC for Balconies
    • $100 OBC for Suites
• Start Wandering Offer
  • Cruises booked between 1/4/18 through 1/10/18 are eligible for additional onboard credit 
  • They will receive up to $350 per stateroom onboard credit when booking a non-refundable rate 6 months or more prior to cruise departure date and up to $250 to spend at sea when booking a sailing less than 6 months prior to cruise departure date.
  • Onboard credit is determined by sailing length and category booked:
    • Sailings 5 nights or less
      • $75 OBC for Interior and Ocean View
      • $125 OBC for Balcony
      • $150 OBC for Suite
    • Sailings 6 nights or longer
      • $100 OBC for Interior and Ocean View
      • $175 OBC for Balcony
      • $250 OBC for Suite
• Free Gratuities are available for those guests who book a Royal Suite class room sailing on Oasis Class or Anthem of the Seas sailings to Bahamas, Bermuda or the Caribbean departing on or after February 4, 2018.
  • Free Gratuities are for the first two passengers only.
• Free upgrade from Oceanview to Balcony exclusively on Anthem of the Seas and Adventure of the Seas sailings departing from May 1, 2018 – September 30, 2018
  • Free upgrade refers to purchasing a Balcony at the price of an Oceanview and Oceanview at the price of an Inside at standard/full fare.
• Free upgrade from Inside to Oceanview exclusively on Grandeur of the Seas sailings departing from May 1, 2018 – September 30, 2018.
  • Free upgrade refers to purchasing a Balcony at the price of an Oceanview and Oceanview at the price of an Inside at standard/full fare.

Offer open to residents of U.S. or Canada. Offer excludes China departures. Refer to Royal Caribbean for combinability guidelines.

A Royal Caribbean cruise is a fantastic family vacation choice, but before you book, you should arm yourself with some knowledge to ensure your cruise is terrific.  The saying "you don't know what you don't know" is certainly true when it comes to cruising.  First time cruisers make a lot of mistakes and there are many things that are simply impossible to know until you go.

With that in mind, we have written this guide with some important things that first time cruisers ought to know before they actually book a cruise.  There is plenty of planning to be done after booking a cruise, but here are some good things to consider prior to picking a ship and sailing.

Use a travel agent

Whether this is your first cruise, or you have cruised a ton, I always recommend using a travel agent.  Simply put, travel agents work to make your vacation planning easier on you and they are paid by the cruise line (not you) for your business. You literally have nothing to lose by using a travel agent.

For first time cruisers, a good travel agent is a great resource of information on Royal Caribbean in general.  Moreover, they can answer the kind of personal questions that no blog can ever tackle.  Often, many first time cruisers have questions about their particular circumstances, and a good travel agent can leverage their own experience to provide the right answer for you.

In addition, travel agents are knowledgeable about the many discounts and offers available by Royal Caribbean. If there are pricing questions, or changes to be made to the reservation, they are the ones that call Royal Caribbean and sort out the details for you.  That frees you up to do something far more interesting and fun.  Essentially, a travel agent is your advocate for any concerns you may have, including when you are on the ship.  All too often, new cruisers try to do it themselves because they can, and it leads to time and effort that could have been saved by using a travel agent.

When considering which travel agent to use, ensure you pick one that is deeply knowledgeable about Royal Caribbean, and does not charge any fees to you for changes.  Talk to them before even committing to book with them and ask questions about their experience and level of service they provide so you can feel comfortable in how they will work with you.

Try to learn the lingo

If you have not been on a cruise before, you may quickly run across terms, options, and phrases that are unfamiliar to you.  Frankly, it can be a bit overwhelming.

Thankfully, we have taken precautions to help you adjust to a Royal Caribbean cruise in advance.  Our Royal Caribbean cruise ship term glossary will break down everything from Adventure Ocean to WOWband so that you understand everything in the cruise planning process.

Compare ship features

Royal Caribbean has 24 ships in its fleet, and while they share a core experience across them all, the ships in Royal Caribbean's fleet vary from class of ships and even between individual vessels.  This means, you need to be aware of what each ship offers, and which features each ship you are considering has and if it is important to you.

In short, Royal Caribbean breaks up its many ships into classes.  Ship classes are groupings of ships that share a common structure and layout.  Think of ship classes like types of cars: you have pickup trucks, sedans, minivans, etc.  Within each type of cars, you then have individual car models.  That is fairly similar to how Royal Caribbean categorizes its ships.

In addition to just size and tonnage, each ship class tends to include similar entertainment, activities and onboard amenities.  What you want to do is think about which features you want on your cruise ship, and then see if that class has what you want.  If water slides are important, then Oasis or Freedom Class ships would be a good pick.  If you want a nursery, then skip Majesty of the Seas.   Again, a good travel agent can greatly assist with narrowing down the choices for you.

You should also be aware that while ships within each class are similar, Royal Caribbean has added new features to some ships over the years that have differentiated them more than in the past.  Basically, do not assume one ship in the class is identical to another ship in the class (especially on the newer ships).

Book as early as you can

A very common question before you book a cruise is, "when is the best time to book a Royal Caribbean cruise" or "when should I book my Royal Caribbean cruise."  The simple answer is: as early as you can.

For years Royal Caribbean has urged its customers to book early. It is a mantra that used to be simply marketing, but these days, is absolute gospel. 

The best prices for cruises on Royal Caribbean are when the cruise line first starts taking bookings. Prices tend to rise as you get closer and closer to your sailing date, so waiting to book can actually cost you more money.

Why does the price increase as you get closer to the sail date? For one, it's a matter of supply and demand. The more people that book, the less supply there is and therefore, the price rises. In addition, Royal Caribbean wants people to book early so it can fill up their ships and by giving early birds financial incentive to book early, it helps Royal Caribbean accomplish that goal. These days, Royal Caribbean cruises are incredibly popular and ships sail full routinely.  So trying to wait for a "deal" is not advisable because it may never actually show up.

Time and time again, the lowest pricing for all sailings comes when they first go on sale.  

The caveat to this tip is you have to be prepared to book a cruise 1-2 years in advance.  For a lot of folks, that is not very practical since work and school calendars are rarely published that early.

Your best bet is to book something with just a deposit and have the flexibility to change it later.  Even if you book only 7 or 8 months in advance, that is still better than trying to book 4-5 months in advance.

Check airfare prices

Odds are that you may not live close enough to be able to drive to the cruise you will eventually book, so that means you will need to book a flight to get there.  Before booking a Royal Caribbean cruise, consider airfare costs because that may make or break your cruise plans.

Airfare prices are anything but predictable, so you will want to start looking into flight options to ensure the best possible price. Just like cruise fares, the best prices for airfare seem to favor those that book well in advance.

What you want to do is when considering different cruise choices, check on airfare for each cruise to ensure you are not picking a great sailing that will come with an expensive or impractical flight choice.

Be sure to also consider nearby airports that could save you a lot of money. As an example, if your cruise leaves from Port Everglades in Florida, nearby airports of Miami, Orlando, Tampa and West Palm Beach are close enough to be an easy car ride over, especially if that helps bring your total airfare price down.

Read an old Cruise Compass

When trying to pick the right ship and sailing for you, you will likely have questions about what there is to do onboard.  In fact, the available activities may play a major role in which ship you end up booking. 

There is no way to know in absolute terms what your upcoming Royal Caribbean cruise will or will not offer, because Royal Caribbean does not publish its activities or entertainment in advance. What you can do to learn about what to expect on your sailing is to consult a past Cruise Compass to see what was available on those similar sailings.

A Cruise Compass is Royal Caribbean's daily newspaper that is distributed to guests on each day of the cruise.  Generally speaking, Royal Caribbean sailings on a particular ship do not change that much from week to week in terms of the activities or entertainment offered. There will be some discrepancies, but an old Cruise Compass can give you a good ballpark of expectations to plan around.

Your thoughts

Are you looking to book a cruise and have a question or concern?  Have you taken many cruises and want to share something you wish you have known before your first cruise? Share what is on your mind in our comments!

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. announced Laura B. Miller has been named senior vice president and chief human resources officer. Miller will report directly to Richard D. Fain, chairman and CEO of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.

Miller joins Royal Caribbean with more than 25 years of experience implementing human resources strategies for leading companies, and most recently served as SVP and chief human resources officer for ADT Corporation.  Prior to that, Miller was the chief human resources officer for Coca-Cola Refreshments, a $20B subsidiary of the Coca-Cola Company, where she lead a team of over 650 HR professionals that were responsible for supporting 70,000 employees in over 600 locations.

"At Royal Caribbean, we know it takes all 67,000 of our employees working together to surprise and delight almost 6 million guests each year," said Fain. "Laura understands the importance of teamwork, and her background and skills are ideally suited for the role of leading and managing our HR organization as we strive to identify, hire, develop, motivate and retain the best employees, both shipboard and shoreside, responsible for providing our guests with extraordinary vacations."

As of December 31, 2017, Royal Caribbean's global brands employed over 67,000 employees, including 61,000 shipboard employees as well as 6,000 full-time and 100 part-time employees in our shoreside operations.