New to RCCL--a couple of questions

[jdkbrim]

Looking forward to our first RCCL cruise in May on Grandeur, and I have a couple of questions:

 

- On Carnival cruises, you can access the Carnival.com website for free without an internet package while on board. And via the website, there is an online forum for those "Currently Onboard" to communicate with family members back at home. So, while a public forum, it is a free way to keep in contact with family members while on a cruise. Does RCCL have anything similar?

- We were forced to go with My Time Dining. I'm planning to sign up for 8:00 every night. From reading this forum, I know I could choose to not make reservations and just show up every night. However, the one time I did My Time Dining on Carnival I always had to wait. So, I'm hoping to avoid that. My question is, what if we decide late in the day that we want to eat a little earlier or a little later. Can we just show up saying our plans have changed? I was thinking they would be too busy once dinner has started to contact about a change.

- We will be stopping in Port Canaveral on a Sunday. Since this is a common day for ships originating in PC to arrive/depart, what are our chances of docking within walking distance of Jetty Park instead of on the other side of the port?

Thanks in advance for the help!

[Clarea]

Looking forward to our first RCCL cruise in May on Grandeur, and I have a couple of questions:

 

- On Carnival cruises, you can access the Carnival.com website for free without an internet package while on board. And via the website, there is an online forum for those "Currently Onboard" to communicate with family members back at home. So, while a public forum, it is a free way to keep in contact with family members while on a cruise. Does RCCL have anything similar? Nothing on Royal like that.

- We were forced to go with My Time Dining. I'm planning to sign up for 8:00 every night. From reading this forum, I know I could choose to not make reservations and just show up every night. However, the one time I did My Time Dining on Carnival I always had to wait. So, I'm hoping to avoid that. My question is, what if we decide late in the day that we want to eat a little earlier or a little later. Can we just show up saying our plans have changed? I was thinking they would be too busy once dinner has started to contact about a change. If you show up earlier, just mention that you had a later reservation. If you want to eat later, or skip the MDR altogether, it would be good to contact the MDR desk.

- We will be stopping in Port Canaveral on a Sunday. Since this is a common day for ships originating in PC to arrive/depart, what are our chances of docking within walking distance of Jetty Park instead of on the other side of the port? Unpredictable, but I have seen day stops docked on the Jetty Park side.

Thanks in advance for the help!

 

Answers in RED above.

[jdkbrim]

By MDR desk, do you mean where you check in for My Time Dining? Also, if we get our act together and make a decision earlier in the day when the dining room might not be open, how do we tell them about our change in plans?

[cruisenfever]

By MDR desk, do you mean where you check in for My Time Dining? Also, if we get our act together and make a decision earlier in the day when the dining room might not be open, how do we tell them about our change in plans?

They will give you a number to call and the hours that someone is there to answer the phone.

[RSLeesburg]

On our Grandeur cruise, we stopped out by Jetty Park. There were four ships leaving PC that day, so you may want to check on how many ships will be in port the day you arrive.

[AlanAllyn]

Although I know of nothing like the public board you described on Carnival, you can acces the Royal Caribbean(also Celebrity) site for free.

[jdkbrim]

Thanks everyone for the helpful information. Anyone know how I can find out how many ships will be docked in Port Canaveral on Sunday, May 31st? This may be a rare chance to walk off the boat to Jetty Park. I'd like to take advantage of this if possible.

[Clarea]

Thanks everyone for the helpful information. Anyone know how I can find out how many ships will be docked in Port Canaveral on Sunday, May 31st? This may be a rare chance to walk off the boat to Jetty Park. I'd like to take advantage of this if possible.

Cruisett says only 3 ships in port. My guess is that Freedom uses terminal 1 and Grandeur uses one of the north port terminals.

[jdkbrim]

Oh, OK. Maybe I will decide to go kayaking through the mangroves instead of the beach after all. I see no reason to pay to go to the beach when Nassau and Coco Cay will already be cheap/easy beach stops for us.

[scooter90]

We were recently on the Quantum on a Sunday. Freedom uses the new terminal (1?) and the ships that are porting for the day use the terminal by Jetty Park -- at least that is how it was explained to us. It was very cool to be there to see the ships sail out while watching them from the top deck of the Quantum.