New To Royal Caribbean

[Cruisin D]

My family and I are about to book B2B cruises (I hope!!) on Radiance of the Seas forthe cruises starting on the 10th of September & 24th of September 2010.

I am wondering if RCL have a drinks package?

Do they cater well for children?

How formal are the formal nights (black tie??)

What is the quality and variety of the resturant menus like?

I look forward to your feedback.

Thanks in advance

Donna

[39august]

Welcome to RCI. RCI offers a wine package and a soda package. No liquor packages, and you are not able to purchase liquor by the bottle on board. No black tie needed for formal nights. There will be a few tuxes, maybe, but most men will be in suits. Actually, those shorter cruises tend to be even less formal than the longer cruises. If you do a search you might find one of several threads posting dining room menus. You will also have access to the Seaview Cafe up on deck 12 toward the aft. There is no extra charge for food there and I have found the sandwiches, burgers, onion rings and desserts to be excellent. The hours a varied, but are posted each day in the ship's daily newsletter. I have not used kid's facilities, but most folks seem to be quite pleased with childrens' activities.

[Tranquil Waters]

My family and I are about to book B2B cruises (I hope!!) on Radiance of the Seas forthe cruises starting on the 10th of September & 24th of September 2010.

 

I am wondering if RCL have a drinks package? Yes, they are listed on the Royal Caribbean web site.

Do they cater well for children? One of RCI's strengths!

How formal are the formal nights (black tie??) You will see all types of dress from tux and long gowns to jeans. Most will be dark suit and cocktail type dress

What is the quality and variety of the resturant menus like? Main dining room quality and variety so-so - think banquet for 2000. Specialty dining venues excellent.

 

I look forward to your feedback.

 

Thanks in advance

Donna

 

Hope this helps......:)

[Mack2]

I love Royal... Just wanted to get that out, since you might want to take it into consideration when I talk about it.

 

 

I recently went on the Carnival Legend, and I feel I can make some nice comparisons. Although, my last five Royal cruises have been aboard their Gigantic-class ships... Explorer, Adventurer, Liberty, Mariner.... so...

 

 

I WANT to desperately book a cruise aboard a Radiance class vessel. One thing that I noticed in comparison to the Carnival Legend is that I felt there's a lot more variety with Royal... whether it be the buffet line or the Main Dining Room... there's more variety on RCI... So instead of pancakes one morning, waffles the next, and french toast the day after that... you have a choice of all three on RCI.

 

I feel the food on Carnival was better... but I might attribute that to the size of the ship (why I want to go Radiance next)... Aboard a ship like the Freedom, or the Explorer for that matter... there's 4000 people the galley has to feed at dinnertime.... so... the food reflects that.

Don't get me wrong... food's great! But it could stand to spend less time under a heat lamp.

 

I have 3 kids.. they LOVE Adventure Ocean... great program. Although... most cruise lines will do a good job with kids if there are a lot of kids onboard. We did a Princess... not as many kids... but they kept them engaged... lots of medals were won. I wouldn't worry about Adventure Ocean with Royal. Biggest thing for kids is finding a carton of milk around bedtime... but I'm pretty sure the Windjammer staff can get that for you around the clock... Actually, it was Princess where it was hard to get the milk.. had to order room service and wait, or find a bar that had one...

 

Formal night... I dunno... I've seen on the bigger ships guys that rent a tuxedo... but I have a nice suit... Ive seen shirt and tie guys, too! Black tie isn't a requirement.

 

The menus are pretty much similar to anyone else who has a cruise line. Popular dishes are a staple. Duck L'orange the one night, Filet Mignon or Chateaubriand, some pasta thing, ribs.... I vaguely recollect seeing venison once... long time ago... didn't order it anyway <shrug>.

I feel that a smaller ship might do a better job with food. On the bigger ships... again... 4000 passengers... of which 2000 people are eating at once in a 2 hour time period... You should have a great time aboard the Radiance.

 

They do have a soda/pop package, I purchased a wine package (bought the wrong one)... The first package they advertise is the BEST package (diamond?)... a little more expensive with more wines available... but I should've gotten the basic package (gold?) since all we drank was White Zin and Reislings.... Cocktails.... you're on your own on that one.

[Desert Cruizers]

We love the Radiance Class and especially the Radiance of the Sea. Formal nights, men were mostly in a suit & tie during our RT Hawaii Cruise. Women wore anything from a nice evening dress to lovely pants outfit. My husband hasn't always gone with a dark suit and been fine. I felt our best meals were on the Radiance, but honestly been only on two RCL ships, the BOS & ROS.

[Cruisin D]

Thanks everyone for the fantastic feedback. I think we will need to give RCCL a go.