Reserve in advance vs purchase onboard??

[Flyers2893]

We are going on our fist cruise via Royal Caribbean in 41 days--without the kids--yippee!! We're going to Bermuda and I've already decided that we're probably going to do most of our excursion, except for any beach transports via the cruise line just because I don't want to stress about the logistics of it all. So, should we scheduled our on shore excursions NOW or wait until we're on board? And, what about the specialty restaurants and drink packages? We have about $350 in on board credit that we'll need to use as well, so I'm just not sure what's the best/most efficient way to use that and when/if they will be running specials on the restaurants or drink packages as well. Thanks in advance!!!

[Essiesmom]

Three places for you to visit here at CC:

1. the board for Royal Caribbean, located under Cruise Lines P-z. for general questions about the cruise line and ship.

2. Join the roll call for your cruise. Go to ROLL CALLS, select Royal Caribbean, then your ship, and scroll down for a thread with the dates for your sailing. Here you will find other CC members sailing with you and find out what they have planned.

3. The Ports of Call boar for Bermuda. You will get lots of sugestions/ideas there for excursions.

Bermuda is small and easy to get around, so it is the last place I would book a ship excursion. EM

[cruiserking]

We are going on our fist cruise via Royal Caribbean in 41 days--without the kids--yippee!! We're going to Bermuda and I've already decided that we're probably going to do most of our excursion, except for any beach transports via the cruise line just because I don't want to stress about the logistics of it all. So, should we scheduled our on shore excursions NOW or wait until we're on board? And, what about the specialty restaurants and drink packages? We have about $350 in on board credit that we'll need to use as well, so I'm just not sure what's the best/most efficient way to use that and when/if they will be running specials on the restaurants or drink packages as well. Thanks in advance!!!

 

Welcome to Cruise Critic Flyers2893. I would recommend purchasing your beach transfers now, they have a tendency to sell out and it's better to have the peace of mind that you have a spot.

 

If you're doing your own excursions I would strongly advise doing the research now and booking with outside vendors ahead of time.

 

Of course everything your pre-book will be paid for in advance ie; specialty restaurants and excursions. You should look at the Bermuda boards here at Cruise Critic:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=196

 

If you plan on having a private car take you around the island you need to make sure it's a certified guide car with a blue flag on the cab. These are official guides with set rates sanctioned by the country.

 

Drink packages can be purchased on board and this way some of your obc can be used to defray the cost. I believe the super deluxe drink package is $55 per day. So unless you think you'll drink that much you might just let your obc take care of the cocktail you enjoy on board.

 

Have a great cruise.

 

Jonathan

[kelkel2]

I can't answer all of your questions as I haven't sailed Royal Caribbean. But, as far as shore excursions I would think if you are booking them with the cruise line there is no reason to not just book them now. That way you are not running the risk of one you want filling up and you not being able to get in it. If you wait until you board the ship to book them there may be limited availability of shore excursions and you may not have much to choose from. It's not really to your advantage to wait.

[EGG]

Spend some time figuring out how much money you will spend on board. I can't tell you how annoyed I was when I had $100 use or lose on board credit and I ended up buying it back at the casino (not sure if that is even allowed now). We had purchased a very expensive excursion before the cruise and as you know that does not come out of OBC. I also think they had forced us into My Time Dining on booking so the gratuities were prepaid before the cruise.

 

First figure out your gratuities. I think RCCL is in the $12 per day per person so that would be $168ish. How much you drink will be the next biggest factor. Go to the cruise critic forum for Royal and get the drink prices. Ballpark how much you will spend on drinks/wine. Remember that you will be off the ship for a good portion of 3 days and possibly rough weather where you don't feel like drinking for 1 or 2 days.

 

You can usually get the excursion you want if you go to the excursion desk embarkation day. A bonus with Bermuda is you will have an idea of the extended weather forecast before you board and you may be able to choose the best day for your beach excursion. If the worst happens and it is sold out, you can still take public transportation.

 

Love Bermuda, enjoy the cruise.

[cb at sea]

Public transport for beaches is super easy..no "logistics" at all!

 

If you want to use your OBC to book things, you have to wait until you're ONBOARD to use your ONBOARD credit! Specially restaurants rarely "book up" as long as you are flexible with times.

[t_car]

By the time you add gratuities, and a few specialty restaurants together, and a few drinks, your OBC is done. Do a specialty restaurant on your first night. Most cruiselines offer good deals on meals and wine on first nights on board. To use the on OBC you have to book them when on the ship.

Drink packages are $55 per person per day and both adults in cabin have to be in on it, so for 7 nights this adds up to $770(plus guess what, gratuity at least 15% automatically added on) :eek: good deal if you plan on drinking that much.

Check out the Bermuda board. When we were there, we bought a transportation pass good for buses and ferries. Easy island to get to anywhere, no excursions needed at all. Do some research on the Bermuda board, check out Bermuda.com

Bermuda very easily became my favorite ports after the first visit.

[Bevv]

Drink packages are $55 per person per day and both adults in cabin have to be in on it, so for 7 nights this adds up to $770(plus guess what, gratuity at least 15% automatically added on) :eek: good deal if you plan on drinking that much.

 

That is true for many cruise lines but not for Royal Caribbean at this time. One person can purchase in a cabin, sharing is not allowed.

[t_car]

That is true for many cruise lines but not for Royal Caribbean at this time. One person can purchase in a cabin, sharing is not allowed.

 

This I did not know. Still pretty expensive though.

[FlaGirl13]

If you book excursions ahead of time you will be charged for them immediately. Onboard credit means just that, can't use it till you are on board. We waited and used our credit after boarding and had no trouble getting the excursions we wanted.

[ontheweb]

If you book excursions ahead of time you will be charged for them immediately. Onboard credit means just that, can't use it till you are on board. We waited and used our credit after boarding and had no trouble getting the excursions we wanted.

 

This is not entirely true. Princess allows you to book excursions and then have them charged to your shipboard account which allows you to use your OBC to pay them.

 

In fact for a while Princess was offering OBC with the proviso that it could only be used for excursions. (Though if you read the small print it could in fact if left over be used for other on board charges.)

Edited July 6, 2015 by ontheweb
added second paragraph

[FlaGirl13]

I was referring to RCI policy.

[t_car]

I was referring to RCI policy.

 

Correct. After all the OP is going on an RCI cruise, not on Princess.

[ontheweb]

I was referring to RCI policy.

 

I understand that the original question was about a Royal Caribbean cruise, but your statement read like it applied to all cruise lines.

 

I just wanted to mention that there is a cruise line that does not require payment in advance.

[Flyers2893]

Thank you to everyone who has responded! This has been very helpful. I think we're going to book our excursions ahead of time and then wait until we're on the ship for the specialty restaurants and any drinks packages to use up our OBC.