When do I...

[canadadreamer]

I have our families first cruise booked, along with air, transportation to and from the airport and hotels. When should I book our on-board drink package, excursions, and reservations for dinner/shows? Is there anything else I am missing?

 

Thanks

[griffy116]

It will help if you give additional information like what cruise line and where you are leaving from, where your cruise is going. On most cruise lines, you don't have to pre-book for most of the shows. For RCCL's ice show, you pick up the tickets onboard and the time/place will be given to you on your cruise Compass once you board. For drink packages (soda/wine) you can purchase on-line with the cruise line now or after you board. You have two options on excursions. You can book through the cruise line or with a private tour/excursion. Sometimes the advice is different, depending on the port or the number of people in your group who want to go on each excursion.

[canadadreamer]

We are going on Freedom of the Seas Royal Caribbean. I plan on prepaying for drinks, and I already have arranged my time dinning, but my understanding is that you should still arrange dinning reservations at the MDR. Thanks for the info about the shows, in particular the ice show, I thought you needed to pre-book. Our port of call are Cocco Bay, San Juan and St. Martin. I was going to do a private excursion for St. Martin; Bernards.

[CruiserBruce]

I would be researching this on the RCI board, here:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=83

[paul929207]

I would book them as soon as they are available. Excursions can book up and the late people can be shut out.

[wallie5446]

We usually wait till we are no ship to add a drink pkg. Bernard's is a wonderful choice for St Martin, we used him last yr. We sailed the Freedom in 2011, another great choice. Only one word of 'other' advice, do not try and 'RUSH' all around the ship with the feeling you have to try and do everything! There is so much to experience it can not be done in a single sailing.

For your speciality restaurant, Chops is a must and well worth the cost.

[garlinn]

It will help if you give additional information like what cruise line and where you are leaving from, where your cruise is going. On most cruise lines, you don't have to pre-book for most of the shows. For RCCL's ice show, you pick up the tickets onboard and the time/place will be given to you on your cruise Compass once you board. For drink packages (soda/wine) you can purchase on-line with the cruise line now or after you board. You have two options on excursions. You can book through the cruise line or with a private tour/excursion. Sometimes the advice is different, depending on the port or the number of people in your group who want to go on each excursion.

 

Unless they have changed again Freedom does let you precook the Ice Show plus some of the shows in the theater.

[dna1990]

Unless they have changed again Freedom does let you precook the Ice Show plus some of the shows in the theater.

 

Where does the water drain to?

[Krazy Kruizers]

I always book our excursions as soon as possible. Some could sell out.

I also always book all specialty restaurants, etc. as soon as possible.

[canadadreamer]

Thanks for all the responses. I think I will book my excursion now. I will look into how soon I can do the rest with Royal Caribbean.

[cb at sea]

There is no monetary advantage to booking drink packages in advance. They don't "run out".

 

Unless you are on Oasis/Allure, there's no need (or way!) to book shows...you show up according to your dining time, or preference, if you have MTD.

 

Excursions....if you NEED an excursion through the ship, book when you know what you want to do. Many things need no excursion. It's best to do a bit of research on your ports before you start paying big $$$ for things that you might be able to do much cheaper on your own! Research is KEY! Get a guidebook at your library and read it!

[mkmom514]

We are going on Freedom of the Seas Royal Caribbean. I plan on prepaying for drinks, and I already have arranged my time dinning, but my understanding is that you should still arrange dinning reservations at the MDR. Thanks for the info about the shows, in particular the ice show, I thought you needed to pre-book. Our port of call are Cocco Bay, San Juan and St. Martin. I was going to do a private excursion for St. Martin; Bernards.

 

You do not have to arrange reservations for My Time Dining. You may if you wish, or you can just show up when you get hungry.

[beachbum53]

I have our families first cruise booked, along with air, transportation to and from the airport and hotels. When should I book our on-board drink package, excursions, and reservations for dinner/shows? Is there anything else I am missing?

 

Thanks

 

For excursions, some popular ones tend to sell out quickly, so you'll probably want to book them as soon as possible. You don't need reservations for the shows. There is no reserved seating. However, the earlier you arrive at the theater, the greater the choices of seats. Dinner reservations for one of the specialty restaurants should probably be made in advance (the earlier the better). You won't need reservations for the MDR. Your table assignment will be made the Maitre D.

[cruzeluver]

You absolutely can pre-book shows for Freedom of the Seas! However, there is no need to do so for the shows in the main theater. We pre-booked for our cruise on Freedom this past April and there was no reason to do so. They do not ask when you arrive at the theater.

 

The ice show is different and that I do encourage you to reserve ahead of time Online. If you do, your reservation will be embedded in your seapass card, so no need to pick up tickets. Those who pre-book are let in first and then those who just show up without reservations.

[beachbum53]

Unless they have changed again Freedom does let you precook the Ice Show plus some of the shows in the theater.

 

Won't precooking the ice show make the ice melt?:eek::rolleyes:

[wynstay]

Are you only able to book excursions etc online when you have paid in full ? We have only put down our deposit so far for a RCCL cruise this Dec to South Pacific. Am unable to login with my booking number as yet.....appreciate any advice !

[reallyitsmema]

You absolutely can pre-book shows for Freedom of the Seas! However, there is no need to do so for the shows in the main theater. We pre-booked for our cruise on Freedom this past April and there was no reason to do so. They do not ask when you arrive at the theater.

 

The ice show is different and that I do encourage you to reserve ahead of time Online. If you do, your reservation will be embedded in your seapass card, so no need to pick up tickets. Those who pre-book are let in first and then those who just show up without reservations.

You can only make reservations online for the ice show for the Freedom of the Seas. No other shows are available to reserve online prior to sailing.

[Rufferto]

There is no monetary advantage to booking drink packages in advance. They don't "run out".

 

I believe in this case there might be, assuming that the OP will be paying using a Canadian credit card. Exchange rates between CAD$ and USD$ are supposed to get worse as the year goes on. It’s been falling steadily for the past few months. I'm not an economist, but buying drink packages and other things online sooner rather than later might save the OP some cash. It might not amount to much, but every little bit helps.

[griffy116]

Here is our reason for waiting to purchase the soda card until we board. You receive an insulated tumbler free with the purchase of the soda package. The tumbler comes in about 3-4 variations (color/design) and we purchase multiple soda cards. Everyone gets to choose a color/design. It makes it easier to tell them apart when two or three are side by side out by the pool, on the balcony, dresser in the cabin.

[cruzeluver]

You can only make reservations online for the ice show for the Freedom of the Seas. No other shows are available to reserve online prior to sailing.

 

If true, that is a very recent change. We sailed Freedom on back-to-back sailings in April and were able to make reservations Online pre-cruise for all shows (Once Upon A Time, Now You See It and Marquee) in the main theater. Having said that, the reservations did us no good as no one checks when yo arrive at the theater.

 

Are you only able to book excursions etc online when you have paid in full ?

 

No, you can book excursions anytime as long as you have a booking number. They do charge you at the time you reserve them, but they refund you card if you cancel.

[reallyitsmema]

If true, that is a very recent change. We sailed Freedom on back-to-back sailings in April and were able to make reservations Online pre-cruise for all shows (Once Upon A Time, Now You See It and Marquee) in the main theater. Having said that, the reservations did us no good as no one checks when yo arrive at the theater.

 

 

 

No, you can book excursions anytime as long as you have a booking number. They do charge you at the time you reserve them, but they refund you card if you cancel.

Lol, "if true":rolleyes:

 

We are sailing Sunday, the ice show was the only entertainment that was available to be reserved online.

 

As far as booking excursions, you can book them as soon as they show up online. It varies by sailing but are usually available around 100 days out, just keep checking. You get charged for excursions as soon as you book them. They are refundable to your credit card if cancelled before your sailing. They can be cancelled on board, usually up until 24 hrs prior to the excursion. If cancelled on board, the credit will go to your sea pass account. You can book cruiseline excursions up until 4 days prior to sailing.

[cruzeluver]

Not sure what warranted the snarky :rolleyes:.

 

I stated that it must be a recent change and apparently it is. What I stated was accurate when we sailed 3.5 months ago.

[wynstay]

Ok, thanks - will follow up with agent about login not working....