Going on my first cruise. Prepare me OOT!

[dcasper70]

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Now what's this with 'Premium' restaurants???? I thought cruise food was all paid for and eat whatever, whenever??? Are these extra cost? How much am I looking at???

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it was $5 extra per person on my ship, and well worth it.

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So a decent meal for 2BB? uh, OK!

[samjjones]

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Now what's this with 'Premium' restaurants???? I thought cruise food was all paid for and eat whatever, whenever??? Are these extra cost? How much am I looking at???

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it was $5 extra per person on my ship, and well worth it.

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There are typically 2-3 "restaurants" on each ship, where you have to make special reservations and pay anywhere from $5-15 extra per head to eat there. There's usually a steakhouse, an Italian place, and maybe a seafood place. They are usually worth it.

Another thing that hasn't been mentioned is that some ships charge extra for stuff like soda or ice cream. Try not to let the nickel and diming bother you too much, and enjoy the vacation.

[tuq]

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sure, there is time for day trips and excursions and what not. the point was that if you really want to explore and fly by the seat of your pants, having to be back at dock X at time Y can restrict your schedule. or if you have a certain type of hotel you really want to stay at, or some 2 day trip, or etc etc

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IIRC this is the beef Wallace had with the whole cruise concept. "Scheduled fun", you couldn't just be spontaneous, it had to be at a certain time at a certain place. I could see that getting annoying, fast.

[tuq]

sam, KB4Z, et al,

Did you guys have to wear a tux one night to dinner? That seems like an annoying tradition - it's YOUR cruise! Not sure if it's a practice still carried out.

In the Wallace story (sorry to beat it to death but it's what jogged the memory), he showed up to dinner wearing one of those tux T-shirts. It apparently did NOT go over well.

[jackdaniels]

It is $20 for Chops and either $20 or $15 for Portofinos. I have been to Chops and it was MORE THAN WORTH the extra $$. When you get on the ship go right up to the restaurant area (they are near the buffet) and take a look at the weekly menu. Select a night where the menu choices don't appeal to you (we chose Jerk chicken/pork night) and make reservations on that night (select 2 nights if you want to expereince both restaurants).
FWIW I have been on 4 cruises over hte past 3 years. 3 of them on RC and once on your ship. You are going to have a great time.

[Hellrazor]

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sam, KB4Z, et al,

Did you guys have to wear a tux one night to dinner? That seems like an annoying tradition - it's YOUR cruise! Not sure if it's a practice still carried out.

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There is a formal night or two - sports jacket is passable - no tux needed. I went with a suit.

[samjjones]

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sam, KB4Z, et al,

Did you guys have to wear a tux one night to dinner? That seems like an annoying tradition - it's YOUR cruise! Not sure if it's a practice still carried out.


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They do have "formal" nights. Hardly anyone wears a tux, but you should wear a suit or at least a shirt and tie. I'd wear a golf shirt and khakis for dinner the other nights. T-shirt/shorts is fine at all other times.

Formal nights are usually pretty nice, because everybody is dressed up and getting their pictures, etc. I wear a hat and jeans to work every day of the year, and it really doesn't hurt to get dressed up once on a weeklong vacation.

[Hellrazor]

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It is $20 for Chops and either $20 or $15 for Portofinos. I have been to Chops and it was MORE THAN WORTH the extra $$. When you get on the ship go right up to the restaurant area (they are near the buffet) and take a look at the weekly menu. Select a night where the menu choices don't appeal to you (we chose Jerk chicken/pork night) and make reservations on that night (select 2 nights if you want to expereince both restaurants).
FWIW I have been on 4 cruises over hte past 3 years. 3 of them on RC and once on your ship. You are going to have a great time.

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$20 for either. No chops on the explorer according the RC website. $2 for Johnny Rockets tho. (milkshakes extra). Portofino's was worth it too, (we also chose jerk chicken night).

[Daniel Magix]

I personally enjoyed the standard dining on RC very much. I like the fact that the menu changes every night. You also typically share a table with some other passengers - these will be your dining table-mates all week. I believe they try to match up young couples with other young couples, and older ones with older ones. We lucked out and met some great people who happened to live in Massachusetts, only a couple hours way from us. So I liked the main restaurant, but we did try one of the other restaurants once or twice, just for varietey. Like I said, I definitely prefer RC, but Norweigan did have one cool thing - all-you-can-eat sushi, for $10! I did that for lunch one day in Hawaii and it was great.

I do understand what some people have said, about having to be back on the ship at a certain time, and how it can be restricting. It really does depend on the person - I think it's a love it or hate it type of vacation. I personally LOVE it.

Oh, a bonus perk is that although it is usually not allowed, you can occasionally locate a more obscure section of the deck, and spot some topless sunbathers! My wife spotted one in Hawaii, I believe, and pointed her out to me! Sweet.

[jaydub]

Daniel,

Good wife.

All,

So RC is the line of choice? I may be taking the family (and extended family) on a cruise in the near future.

J