Newbie Questions, sailing on EXPLORER OF THE SEAS

[kitenski]

We've just booked our first every cruise in July, family of 4, my daughters are 19 and 16.

 

We've got a few questions, and would appreciate some guidance please?

 

1. What time is the evening entertainment on, trying to decide whether to eat at 6 or 830pm

2. The premium drinks package seems very expensive as 3 of us are over 18, does the 10 drink package card get sold on our cruise usually?

3. Tips on "must see" trips?

4. Is there a buffet option for food or alternative if we choose to not have full dinner slot.

5. Anything else you recommend we book  in advance eg a la carte (not sure this is worth paying more for though!

 

Our itinerary is :

 

Southampton, England Gibraltar Cartagena, Spain Barcelona, Spain Barcelona, Spain Palma De Mallorca, Spain Valencia, Spain Málaga, Spain Seville (Cádiz), Spain Lisbon, Portugal Southampton, England

[Clarea]

If the 10-drink card is sold (unpredictable), it will usually show up in the last half of the cruise. 

 

Buffet is always available for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

[Ourusualbeach]

You have to be 21 and older to drink alcohol on the ship. 

 

Sorry just saw that that you are from the UK.

 

The 21 only applies for a North American sailings. 

Edited April 14, 2019 by Ourusualbeach

[kitenski]

59 minutes ago, Host Clarea said:

If the 10-drink card is sold (unpredictable), it will usually show up in the last half of the cruise. 

 

Buffet is always available for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

 

Thank you, so is the "main" dinner we've booked for 8:30pm a sit down and be served meal, but we have an option to goto a buffet at any time in the evening??

[blackshirt]

11 minutes ago, kitenski said:

 

Thank you, so is the "main" dinner we've booked for 8:30pm a sit down and be served meal, but we have an option to goto a buffet at any time in the evening??

Yes. The Windjammer is available for dinner as well. Reference your first question, shows are generally scheduled so that they don’t interfere with either the late or early seating. There is either a single performance scheduled right in between those seating times or two performances, one timed for late seating, the other for early seating. For you, shows will generally be around 7-7:30, before dinner.

[SaphieT]

3 hours ago, kitenski said:

We've just booked our first every cruise in July, family of 4, my daughters are 19 and 16.

 

We've got a few questions, and would appreciate some guidance please?

 

1. What time is the evening entertainment on, trying to decide whether to eat at 6 or 830pm

2. The premium drinks package seems very expensive as 3 of us are over 18, does the 10 drink package card get sold on our cruise usually?

3. Tips on "must see" trips?

4. Is there a buffet option for food or alternative if we choose to not have full dinner slot.

5. Anything else you recommend we book  in advance eg a la carte (not sure this is worth paying more for though!

 

Our itinerary is :

 

Southampton, England Gibraltar Cartagena, Spain Barcelona, Spain Barcelona, Spain Palma De Mallorca, Spain Valencia, Spain Málaga, Spain Seville (Cádiz), Spain Lisbon, Portugal Southampton, England

 

When I was in Lisbon last I did one of the tuk-tuk tours, a great way to see the city with a local guide.

Malaga Has a beautiful beach and the old town is also lovely and you can get horse and carriage tours. Lots of places doing grilled sardines and paella by the water.

Everybody usually does ‘the Rock’ in Gibraltar but there is also a botanical gardens by the cable cars which was gorgeous when we were last there. There is a little zoo in the gardens with entry for about €5.