Question about dining and nightlife...

[newenglander58]

Hi all - DH and I are planning a cruise for next spring for my 50th birthday - I have only cruised once before (last summer DCL) - DH has never cruised.

 

We are pretty laid back - DH does not like being "tied down" to organized activities - etc. I've been browsing through all of the cruise brochures - websites - etc and it looks like RCCL would be a nice "fit" for us.

 

I especially liked the idea of some of the ships having a pub and know DH would as well.

 

What can you tell me about dining - late nite buffets - etc. I doubt DH would want to do the formal night - will we really be missing out if we don't attend????

 

Thanks for the input.

[Nothin' But Sun]

Yes, RC would be a great fit for the two of you. The bigger the ship the more to choose from. Also more quaint drinking areas to sit and listen to music or just people watch. My hubby and I are in our early 40's and have found we can't make it up much past 11 pm because we are so exhaused from the days activities so we have never experienced the "nightlife".

We do app50% of our dining in the dining room and the rest of the time the Windjammer. Thats whats so great about cruising, you can do as you choose. I personally do not think you are missing anything if you do not attend the dining room, however we have met some awesome people and I'm glad we did. Late nite snacks are easy to come by.

Let us know what ship you choose and I'm sure many CC members will be more than happy to fill you in on all the in's and out's of the ship.

[alcheme]

Let's see.

 

Dining - We almost always dine in the main dining room and almost always enjoy the food and the service. Other options are your buffet restaurant, the WindJammer, and some combination of Johnny Rockets (burger joint), Chops (steakhouse) and Portofino (upscale Italian), depending on the ship. Most, if not all, ships have a little burger & pizza grill/snack station in the pool area. The Promenade Cafe, on some ships, has sandwiches, pastries, pizza and such.

 

Late Night Buffets - They don't have midnight buffets every night, but there is usually a big buffet in the dining room one night and another night that has a more casual late-night buffet on the pool deck. (I'm speaking from experience with 7-night cruises of a couple years ago, so someone will correct me, if this has changed some.) There will also be late-night bites available in some of the lounge areas, and your daily "Cruise Compass" will let you know where. If none of this is enough, there's room service 24/7.

 

Night Life - There's probably something for you somewhere on the ship, depending on what you want among the various lounges and dance venues. We tend to go dancing a couple nights, relax in the Viking Crown lounge and listen to the music there a couple nights and just call it an early night on a couple others.

[FL_Cruiser64]

Hi all - DH and I are planning a cruise for next spring for my 50th birthday - I have only cruised once before (last summer DCL) - DH has never cruised.

 

We are pretty laid back - DH does not like being "tied down" to organized activities - etc. I've been browsing through all of the cruise brochures - websites - etc and it looks like RCCL would be a nice "fit" for us.

 

I especially liked the idea of some of the ships having a pub and know DH would as well.

 

What can you tell me about dining - late nite buffets - etc. I doubt DH would want to do the formal night - will we really be missing out if we don't attend????

 

Thanks for the input.

 

As the other posters before me already have stated I concur. To add: Since we are late nighters and early risers, you won't be alone on the ship past 11pm. The Schooner Bar and the Viking Crown Lounge are popular late night meeting points. We are usually the last ones out of the Schooner Bar (around 2 or 3) and there is always people in them. On Disco nights, you can have fun easily until 3 or 4 on a lot of nights (not every night though). The Viking Crown lounge is set up in a way that you can have tables to sit on away from the music in case you are not a 'clubber'.

 

RCI vessels are perfectly made for "do it all" or "do nothing at all"; "plan into details" or "fly by the seat of your pants". Ships, regardless of size are easy to navigate, do not appear crowded.

 

JUst push your spring cruise to summer cruise and sail with us on the 21st of September. We show you.

 

:D

[alcheme]

Whether you'll be "missing out" by not attending formal night is entirely up to your preferences. If you don't like the formal atmosphere, then by skipping it, you'd miss something you don't care for, anyway. They do have what some people consider some of the better menu selections on formal night, though, so if the menu is something that entices you, you might be missing that, if you skip formal night. But there are always other good dining options, as I mentioned above. If you want to skip the formality and go to a specialty restaurant, though, book early, as there will be others with the same thought.

[newenglander58]

Thanks for the great input - I'm hoping by the end of this weekend we can narrow down destination and from there decide if we want to fly to FL (DH wars bother him horribly while flying) or just drive to NYC.

 

So far RCL is #1 for me!

[CLQ]

And we've found that no 2 nights are ever the same for us on board. Some nights we're back in our cabin by 9:30 or so. Others, we may be out until 11:30 for a late night show or music. Rarely later though. There's so much variety that we just don't ever seem to do the same thing. You'll have more choices than you can make. I agree, the larger the ship generally the more options you'll have. That said, Majesty had just about as many entertainment venues as we've seen. Have a great time.

[newenglander58]

I just realized that I typed that DH "wars" bother him while flying - I really meant that his EARS bother him - lol :p

 

Can you tell I'm excited to be cruising again?? I can't believe I waited so long to try such a wonderful way to vacation. I think I'll be browsing the RCL website and my brochure again today.

 

I'm new to this board and love reading all the great advice and postings!!

 

Thanks again and keep the input coming.

[alcheme]

I just realized that I typed that DH "wars" bother him while flying - I really meant that his EARS bother him - lol :p

 

:D Thanks for explaining that. You had me picturing him getting some kind of PTSD flashbacks brought on by flying . . .

[newenglander58]

good speller - bad typist!! :D