First cruise

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We are doing our first cruise in May (me,dh, dd14,dd3) with royal Caribbean from Rome - any tips? Is the VIP pass worth it? We are thinking dining isn't worth it?

I haven't been with RCI for a long time.

Organised trips are expensive, but minimise the risk of literally missing the boat.

Enrol both DC in the kid's clubs, even the 14yo. The RCI teenage club has party nights and the teenagers use it as somewhere to hang out and make friends.

If there is a Wave Rider, always wear a T shirt over your swimwear.

The whippy ice cream machines are awesome.

If you go onto You Tube and look up Cruise with Ben and David you can find out tons about RC what to expect - I’m pretty confident I’ve actually watched a video of the exact same cruise you’re taking.

We sail RCI. We don’t bother with extra dining. The standard dining room is enough for us alongside the buffet. What are your Ports of call? Is the VIP pass called the key? If so, then no I don’t think it’s worth the cost.

Are you buying wifi and drinks packages? What ship are you on?

We're on the oasis stopping at Naples, palma, Barcelona, pisa/florence and Rome. With dd being 3 didn't think dining worth it - the key seemed like it might be re getting off and on but I don't really understand how long that takes! Barcelona and Palma we planned to do under our own steam - Florence and pompeii using the shop excursions. On the kids clubs the blogs suggest you don't need to book but surely they get full up? Being able to deposit dd3 occasionally was a major draw as she is super sociable and lets us spend some time with the eldest.

Thank you all v much

Yes we were going to buy drinks but again can't find enough info on a single drink cost to work out the difference - we'd need WiFi for my work and Dd14.

If you are going to Palma under your own steam, be aware that there are two cruise ports, Club de Mar and Dic de l'Oest. You can see one from the other but they are 2km apart by road. Have a look on Google Maps when you dock and make sure you know which one you want so the taxi can take you to the right one. Some taxi drivers make a note of the ship names each day but not all of them. (Do get a taxi to and from town — it will be no more expensive than the bus for four of you.)

Thanks - the ship tours for Palma were either too adult or the only one appealing involved Dino land which just seemed not great for dd14 (unless someone can tell me different that it is amazing). As it will be the only beach stop - we just want to go to a a beach for a couple of hours and come back.

usually on Port days, the first people off the ship are those on ship excursions, then everyone else. I can’t remember a time when we’ve waited too long to get off. Tender days can take longer as you’re waiting on the boats going back and forth but the ship are so used to it, they keep everyone moving.

Never had an issue getting ours into Kids clubs but ours were a bit older.

Drinks packages - if you buy them, it will include things like bottled water, freshly ground coffee and freshly squeezed orange juice as well as wine, beer, cocktails etc etc. work out what you’d realistically have each day. For us our last drinks package was, from memory around $45 per person per day which sounds a huge amount but we had a couple of coffees each morning, OJ with breakfast, loads of bottled water, all before a cocktail by the pool, wine with dinner and a drink at the bar or watching a show. It all adds up quickly. Some drinks are included like filter coffee, juice from concentrate, tea etc. We just liked the upgrade. I’ll see if I can find prices for you.

This has good information.

https://cruisingkids.co.uk/royal-caribbeans-latest-drinks-package-guide-and-drink-menus/

You don’t need the key, I do like a few meals in the speciality restaurants but they are not needed.
A cocktail on RC is about $14.
Hop on hop off buses are a good option for seeing a new place. I think there’s one in Palma.

If you like a proper coffee rather than the supplied coffee, this should help. I have this from our last cruise.

Cala Mayor beach is very close to the port and has all you need. Alternatively, you could visit the castle, which is quite impressive. You can actually walk up there from the ship, especially if you dock in the Club de Mar section, but it's up a bit of a hill, so it might be better to get a taxi up and maybe walk back down.

Have a look for Cruise Mummy's website and on Facebook. She has blogs on numerous cruises

8t looks as though RCI still adds gratuities at the end of the cruise. In theory you don't have to pay. They can be a nasty shock if you're not expecting them. Check out the FAQs as there is a flat daily rate per passenger & a % on drinks.

Emma cruises and Tips for Travellers on YT are all about cruises.
TfT often does ‘things to avoid’ type videos.

I recommend you look at a guy on you tube named " tips for travellers" - Gary Bembridge he is very informative about all aspects of cruising .

This sort of thing was helpful when I was looking at cruises:

Have a look on Cruise Critic too

The kids clubs on RC were unlimited when we went, for my 16 yo it was more just turn up any time to socialise with other teenagers, he spent the first 2 days looking for people to hang around with, as there wasn’t structured timing like they do with P&O cruises. We stopped in Palma and went to a nearby beach for a few hours, we did the ships excursion, but I’m pretty sure you could get a taxi to drop you off and pick you up. Drinks on RC are expensive, it’s the only main thing that put us off going with them again, we did drink, but not much. We really loved the buffet on RC, great choice and free squash for children. We did a mix of restaurants, we didn’t get any extra packages.

Yes they do. For us (2 adults, 1 DD) it was £300-something for the week. If you go to guest services on day 1 you can have them removed.
It cost us about $15 for 2 pints in. The British pub inc tip & tax, but we only had the one so a drinks package wasn't worth it for us. I think you'd have to pay for all 4 of you for the soft drinks package even though the 3 YO won't be chugging coke all day.

Are you stopping in Marseille? If you are (we did) it's not really worth getting off if the weather is Nice enough or swimming,there isn't much to do (we had lunch & wandered round a mall) but it was v hot when we went (aug)

Please don’t remove the tips. Staff rely on those. Yes, it’s a pain in the arse. Just factor the costs in. When you pay the tips they are spread out across all staff, even those who clean during the night, do the laundry, bakers, security staff. All those you don’t see.

We have cruised with RC a lot with kids.
we always bought them the soda package. They get a reusable cup that they can get filled up at bars or soda machines. Or can just flash their room card to get a drink.

We sometimes buy a drinks package, but they have ramped the costs up considerably since COVID. Used to be approx $50pp per day but now nearer $80! With the rubbish usd exchange rate, it just isn’t worth it (for us). We just pay as we drink. You can buy the drinks package mid cruise if you want to see how it goes. Or cancel mid cruise too!!

They sometimes have deals online to prebook at a discount.
We sometimes got BOGOHF offers on embarkation day, but not for many many years.

Our kids loved the clubs. Make sure they go to the first meet and greet on first night. Teen club especially! They do sports and fun challenges and have their own hangout which was pretty cool!

have a look at the various drink/dining packages on the RC website, they sometimes have deals but prices have definitely increased for all these little extras over the years.

Tips: $18 per person per night plus 18% on drinks and 20% on spa treatments. It does get confusing which brands add them and which don't these days, even within the same group, so it can be a hidden expense.

I agree with@moreoutsidespace that you should budget for them. Some of the crew will be sending every penny back to their families.

It's very much an American thing . In the UK the tips are factored into the price you pay for the cruise and paid to staff in wages. So not necessary in UK .

Sorry to re-rail the thread slightly - but with the tip thing..so you're saying if you live in the UK and the cruise is bought in the UK even if you're sailing abroad with an American company that tips are factored in the prices? I'm not sure thats correct and think that it's down to company policy rather than the place you bought the cruise from? I've been on cruises with Disney and Celebrity (USA) and the tips have always been added on and paid.