Are you planning to go on a Royal Caribbean Cruise? Well we just came back from our first cruise with Royal Caribbean. There were a few surprising factors that caught me off guard that I would like to share. There is a lot of cruise advice for first time cruisers, but these are things that I did not see posted on other blog sites. These tips and tricks will help make planning, booking and sailing easier for you.
Before you set sail, here are 5 things you need to know.
1. Daily Gratuity- Royal Caribbean charged me $16 per day, per person for gratuity. The charges were added to our app. At the end of the trip, they were charged to the card we had on file. We paid a total of $96 for 2 people. The reason this caught me off guard is because I was expecting to pay for gratuity in cash. I also expected to pay waaaaaay more than $96. I brought $300 worth of small bills specifically for gratuity. I like paying gratuity through the app because the money gets distributed evenly between all the staff, including staff we didn’t interact with. (laundry, chefs, engineers etc). I left extra cash tips for our housekeeper, childcare staff, and my favorite bartender.
2. Kids Club- Royal Caribbean provides free/ low cost childcare for children ages 3-12. Aquanauts (ages 3-5 years), Explorers (ages 6-8 years) and Voyagers (ages 9-12 years) participate in supervised group activities throughout the day. Childcare opens as late a 1am. You have to pay from 10pm-1am. My son went to the Explorers room for 2-3 hours a day. He loved the childcare providers and group activities.
3. Destinations NOT Guaranteed- Although cruise ships have a tentative itinerary, there is no guarantee the cruise ship will be able to dock at every port. Weather and other conditions can prevent ships from docking. During our trip, we were not able to stop at CocoCay (Royal Caribbean’s private island) because of the weather. It was too windy, so we had a “Perfect Day at Sea” instead.
4. Maritime Law- All cruise ships follow Maritime Law while sailing. Maritime Law is a field of law that regulates and settles special problems associated with sea navigation and commerce, including, but not limited to: the dangerous conditions of the open sea, crime, and offshore disputes. The cruise we went on had to stop to rescue a group of 17 refugees. Their boat was at sea for 15 days and was carrying men, women and children. Because of maritime law the cruise had to help the boat that was in distress.
5. No irons or steamers- There are not irons or steamers allowed on Royal Caribbean cruise ships. This is listed on the list of prohibited items list, but of course I didn’t read it thoroughly. The cruise ship does have a dry clean service that will iron/ steam your cloth for $10- $20. I suggest you bring clothes that don’t need to be ironed. We had on wrinkled clothes the entire trip.
These are 5 thing I wish I knew before sailing with Royal Caribbean Liberty of the Sea.
