12 Things to Do on a Royal Caribbean Cruise for First Time Cruiser
I recently experienced my very first cruise abroad Royal Caribbean’s Allure of the Seas back in February! We spent a week visiting the Western Caribbean with port stops in Roatan, Honduras, and Cozumel, Mexico (we were also supposed to stop in Costa Maya, Mexico, but the weather prevented that). The Allure of the Seas is one of the largest passenger cruise ships in the world; there were over 6,000 passengers onboard our cruise (and thousands more crew). There are so many things to do, see, eat, and experience onboard the ship that you won’t ever be bored! In fact, it can feel overwhelming at times, and I put together this post to hopefully make you feel less overwhelmed as you plan for your trip. We really enjoyed our time and look forward to our next cruise, whenever that may be.
I spent a considerable amount of time researching all the things before our cruise because I had no idea what to expect, and I rounded up the top things to do if you are headed on your own Royal Caribbean cruise for the first time! There are even things I wish I knew prior to our cruise that I included here. Also, each Royal Caribbean ship varies slightly so things I mention may be slightly different or not exist on your ship. Be sure to start with my first tip below! 😉
READ NEXT: Royal Caribbean Cruise Packing List
12 Things To Do On A Royal Caribbean Cruise For First Time Cruisers
1. Research your Royal Caribbean cruise ship
Prior to your cruise, search your cruise ship on Google and YouTube to read about it, watch ship tours, and learn what all there is to do onboard. You can also search your specific room number to see if someone shared a tour of that room! It’s also helpful to do this before you book the cruise if you aren’t sure which ship you want to cruise on.
2. Book all of the onboard entertainment (aqua, Broadway, comedy, and ice shows)
About 45 days before you set sail, onboard entertainment will open for reservations. Book all of the shows as soon as they open up, and I recommend booking them for early in your cruise; that way, if weather or high seas cancels your show, you’ll get another opportunity to see it, and if you end up loving a show, you can see it again! Note that you can only book one time for each show, and if you plan to go to others, you’ll have to wait in the standby line.
We were onboard Allure of the Seas, which featured the OceanAria Aqua Show, Mamma Mia Broadway musical, Comedy Live with Gregory Behrendt and JR McCollom, and the Ice Games ice skating show. (All of these are included with your cruise fare.) I enjoyed all of the shows but really loved OceanAria and watched it from the end of deck 7 for two nights after our show!
We had late dining in the MDR, so the 7 pm OceanAria show worked perfectly. We booked the 10 pm shows for Comedy Live and Ice Games. Mamma Mia was too long to see in the evening and interfered with our dinner reservation, so we caught the matinee showing at 2:15 pm on Saturday.
3. Book shore excursions ahead of time
Research the ports on your cruise and book shore excursions ahead of time! If you decide to book excursions directly through Royal Caribbean, they are frequently discounted in advance. Highly desired excursions book up quickly, even some of those that are offered through a third party. Always check the cancellation policy of any excursion you book!
While most people would recommend booking excursions offered through Royal Caribbean just in case something happens and you’re late getting back to port (the ship won’t leave you behind if you’re on an RC excursion), I felt comfortable booking our own excursions outside of RC. Third party companies rely on positive reviews so that others book with them, and customers won’t leave a good review if they miss their ship! So, I wasn’t worried about that personally.
4. Eat dinner in the Main Dining Room
Speaking of the Main Dining Room (MDR), if it’s your first cruise, I highly recommend you eat dinner there every night! You’ll be assigned either early or late dining (but can switch it if you’d prefer the other option). I was planning to book one of the specialty restaurants but forgot to before we left for our cruise, and I’m actually glad I didn’t.
You’ll still have a great time if you do end up opting for specialty dining, but you definitely don’t need to spend the extra money for it if you don’t want to. The food in the MDR was delicious, and I loved having the same wait staff every night. You really get to know them, and they get to know you and your preferences, too!
In the MDR, you receive three course meals (plus an assortment of rolls to start; these are baked fresh every day): a starter, a main course, and a dessert. But, you can order two starters if you want… or two main courses, or two desserts! Or more! If you want to have a Chops steak but don’t want to pay for the Chops specialty dining, you can order a Chops steak in the MDR for an upcharge of $20, which is significantly less than the $64.99 you’d pay at Chops.
5. Try all of the free dining options onboard
Besides the MDR, you can also eat at the Windjammer (breakfast, lunch, and dinner buffet), Solarium (breakfast and lunch buffet), Wipe Out Cafe featuring El Loco Fresh (Mexican buffet), Sorrento’s Pizza, and Park Cafe (breakfast and lunch soups, salads, and sandwiches). The only place we didn’t make it to is the Solarium for breakfast or lunch, but we were told that the food was similar to Windjammer.
You won’t go hungry if you choose not to do specialty dining! Park Cafe had delicious bagels and cinnamon sugar donuts. Korri and I loved popping up to Wipe Out Cafe to eat nachos, quesadillas, and chips and guac in the afternoon. We stopped by Sorrento’s frequently to pick up a slice or two of pizza to curb cravings (they are open until 2 am). We didn’t eat at the Windjammer until the end of the cruise and I regret not eating there sooner! They had fantastic breakfast options (get the hashbrowns), and Korri also loved their burgers at lunch.
6. Bring magnetic hooks for your stateroom
This is one of the top tips you’ll read, and I would have to agree because I found magnetic hooks to be super useful! (My mom gave us each a goody bag with six magnetic hooks, but I had also purchased a pack of 10 myself. I only used the six gifted hooks.) The Royal Caribbean stateroom walls are magnetic, so I used them to hang my baseball caps as well as my fanny pack when I wasn’t wearing it. I also hung one in the bathroom for wet swimsuits. Lots of cruisers put their sea passes in lanyards and hang the lanyards on the hooks when not in use. I did notice that the small 28-lb hooks couldn’t really hold that much weight so definitely opt for the stronger/bigger hooks if you plan to hang heavy things.
7. Decorate your stateroom door
This is another popular cruise tip! Stateroom doors on Royal Caribbean are also magnetic, so I recommend bringing fun magnets (or perhaps an extra hook for a sign) to distinguish your door from the sea of tan stateroom doors in the hallway. Yes, the rooms are obviously numbered on the outside, but I found myself using the door decorations to navigate and always saw the magnets on our door before the stateroom number. (My mom brought us all magnets too!) You’ll see some fun and creative signs and decorations from other cruisers! Some people even attach a small whiteboard to their door in the hopes that passersby leave notes.
8. Spend time in the adults-only Solarium
Whether or not you have kiddos with you, you will be on the cruise with many other kids and may want to spend some time away from them. I highly recommended checking out the Solarium, which is reserved for guests 16 and older (not technically adults only but pretty close, I guess). (Of note, the buffet in the Solarium is open to kids if they are there with their families.) You’ll find lots of lounge chairs and beds across two decks. There are also a few hot tubs (and a pool if you’re on Allure). Plus, there’s also staff around to serve drinks! I loved going in the evening and watching the sun set while reading.
9. Dress up for the theme nights
Let me start by saying that I don’t go out much. It’s just not really my thing. But, I figured, why not get into the theme nights? You won’t see those people ever again, and it’s fun to have fun! Every night on the ship has its own theme that relates to what to wear (and there are also themed dance parties and such). On formal nights, you’ll see people dressed to the nines and others taking a more dressy casual approach (I’m definitely the latter, haha). My mom brought costumes for 70s night. Have fun with it! (I shared my theme night outfits in my Royal Caribbean Cruise Packing List blog post.)
Allure of the Seas Theme Nights:
Day 1: Casual
Day 2: Formal
Day 3: 70s Night
Day 4: Caribbean Night
Day 5: White Night
Day 6: Dress to Impress
Day 7: Casual
10. Take advantage of every professional photo opportunity
This is something I wish I would’ve done! There are professional photo opportunities all over the ship, all week long (and also just outside the ship on port days). I didn’t take advantage of them because I thought they were cheesy, but I wish I had because we ended up purchasing a photo package and most of our photos were from 70s night only. If you do end up wanting to purchase photos, you’ll like having a wide variety of photos to choose from!
I also recommend purchasing the photo package ahead of time; it would’ve saved us almost 50% if we had done that versus paying full price on the ship. (Our 20 photo package included 10 8x10 copies plus 10 digital copies for $180. If you buy a single photo, it’s around $20, so definitely worth getting a package. They were up to 50% off during Black Friday sales.) Another option is to book a private photo session. Those were also heavily discounted prior to the cruise.
11. Watch the ship enter or leave port
It’s really fun to watch the “behind the scenes” of all that happens when you leave port (or enter it, but I was never awake for that haha). When we left Cozumel, Korri and I went to deck 5 aft (along the track) to watch us leave. (Unfortunately, we never docked on the side our stateroom was on or else we would’ve just watched from our balcony!) I found the whole process fascinating and also loved waving to the cruisers in the other ships as we sailed away. We also had a few runners!
12. Bring cash tips for cruise staff you interact with most
Every person is charged $16 per day for gratuities, and you can either prepay your gratuities ahead of time (by calling Royal Caribbean) or you’ll see them added to your balance in the app and pay at the end of the cruise with the card on file. (Don’t be the asshole that removes the gratuities; they go to staff you never see or interact with but that work just as hard to make sure you enjoy your vacation.)
In addition, it is recommended that you bring cash tips (in USD) to the cruise staff that you do see/interact with regularly or that go above and beyond! I brought 50 $1s, a few $5s, a few $10s, and a few $20s for a total of $200 (I do recommend saving your best looking bills if your cruise stops in Honduras; their banks only accept the crisp, not faded or torn bills). Korri also brought a bunch of cash.
We tipped our stateroom attendant $100 at the end of the week and our two wait staff $50 each (in a pool with the others at our table). We tipped our porter (used during embarkation) a couple of $1s and saved the rest to pay for excursions and tips at our port stops. I probably didn’t need to bring 50 $1s as I didn’t need them as often as I thought I would (and Korri had some too). We also probably would’ve needed to get more cash for tips had our ship stopped in Costa Maya (that port was skipped due to high winds and waves).
P.S. I was told after our cruise that if you give cash tips to put it in an envelope with their name on it or else they have to share the tips. I don’t know if this is true or not but may be worth sticking some envelopes and a pen in your bag just in case!
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