show reservations

[williamson_ja]

Do you need to make reservations to go to the shows on RCI ships? I thought I read somewhere that you had to get ticket to go to the ice shows, etc. I've only done the Disney cruises so far, and for those you just show up to whatever show whenever you want to.

 

So, specifically which shows need tickets?

 

How do I get reservations for the shows?

 

When do I get the tickets?

 

We are looking at sailing on the Mariner this Oct.

[AF-1]

You do not need tickets to see a show in the main theater. You do need tickets for the ice show. the tickets are released to the passengers prior to the dates of the show. if the first ice show starts on a tuesday, you can go to studio b, where the ice show is located and pick up your tickets. Everyone onbaord can see the show. Normally the cast will put on two to three shows during the cruise; they are at different times, so don't worry if you have an early seating or late seating for dinner. the reason they hand out tickets is so no one has to stand, they want everyone to have a seat and enjoy the show. For the main theater, just show up 30 minutes prior to the show and you should be able to find excellent seats.

[DonnaK]

No worries, it's only the ice show that you need tickets for, because the skating arena is small and they need to distribute the crowd amongst 4 shows or so. There will be instructions in the Compass (the newsletter) on where/when tickets are distributed. On our Mariner cruises, tickets were distributed outside Studio B (the ice arena) at 9am on the first sea day. (In actually, they started issuing the tickets about 20 minutes before the posted time). Just send one person from your party to pick up the tickets for all of you. It's quick and painless. (And of course, the tickets are free). If you miss the distribution time, you can get tickets at the costumer service desk later in the day, or show up 20-30 minutes before showtime for stand-by seating.

[39august]

Whether ice show tickets are issued or not varies from ship to ship. On some ships there are no previous tickets and you just show up for your selected show. I much prefer tickets to limit the number of pax who show up. It's pretty much a zoo without tickets. I have read on these boards that on Oasis you do have to make reservations for shows.

[Clarea]

The preceding posts are accurate for all RCI ships except Oasis, and most likely Allure. Shows on these 2 ships can be (and are) reserved in advance. Some friends of ours were on Oasis last month and said that people without advance reservations are turned away from the Comedy Club and the main production show, Hairspray. The size of the main theater on Oasis is about the same size as on Freedom, while the passenger load is in excess of 50% greater, so Oasis cannot fit all the passengers with just 2 performances of each show. The traditional 2 performance setup (one for main dining and another for late dining) does not work on Oasis.

[smmountaingal]

Is the Freedom one of the ships that requires tickets in advance for the ice show? Any tips how to get them in advance of boarding?

[DonnaK]

From reviews I've read on Cruise Critic, it seems that the Freedom class ships often do not issue tickets - they just seat you first-come, first-serve.

 

I don't think you can secure tickets ahead of time. If you are in a full-suite, the concierge will get the tickets for you. Otherwise, it's really not a big deal to send one person to the appointed place to pick up tickets for your entire party. It takes about 10 minutes total. If you have a preference for a particular showtime, then go down about 20-30 minutes before the appointed time.

[cruie4ever]

Very Good info as we will be sailing B2B on the Navigator of the Seas next May & definitely want to see the ice show on both cruises . Thanks to all who have posted about the ice show .