Royal Carribean - Eastern Carribean cruise advice please

[learntojive]

We're having a week in Orlando and then going on the Freedom of the Seas eastern caribbean cruise.
The main things I am wondering about are the formal nights, we have two teenagers and not sure just how formal you have to be?
Also wether to book the Royal Caribbean excursions for the islands or just get off the boat and see whats on offer from the locals?
It's our first cruise so any tips or advice would be much appreciated.

Thanks, Anne x

[jno]

they say suits and cocktail dresses

http://www.royalcarib...ectId=334&faqType=faq

In reality, people wear just about anything depending on how much they want to fit in - I'd suggest aiming at smart casual if formal is too much for teenagers - but you can generally avoid the whole thing by eating elsewhere: formal mostly applies to the main restaurants, for having photos taken and so on. I had a week an a Royal Caribbean ship a year ago and just wore smart street clothes.

[sddsddean]

Formal for adults - Gents - Tux or suit ( I don't like tuxedo's so just wear a suit...that will be fine), Ladies - as dressy as you like! The wife normally takes skirts and blouses to 'mix n match' to save too much packing, but you can wear more or less any cocktail/formal dress you like. Teens - as long as they are 'smart' (eg no jeans), you will not have a problem. Girls are normally 'into' clothes anyway; boys will be OK in shirt and trousers...a lot depends on their age and what they are happy with, but no one is going to shoot you down if you get it slightly wrong!
RCI excursions are normally very expensive compared to what you can get locally. A lot depends on what you want to do do (eg laze on the beach/climb a mountain!). At a lot of ports, we just get off and wander round. There is always plenty to do on the ship. I would recommend you go to www.cruisecritic.com and look through the boards there. Join your roll call too. Even at this late stage people on your cruise will help with advice. You can even sign up for your Meet and Mingle party and get some free drinks on RCI!

[jno]

as sddsdd says, excursions are usually expensive. If there's anything you simply must see, by all means book it. But on many islands you'll find perfectly respectable operators by the dock offering tours round town and country for half the price. O ryou can just stroll round the towns. However, if you're late back from a non-sanctioned tour the ship (allegedly) won't wait.

You might find this useful (there may be other similar books)

http://www.amazon.co....qid=1296759759&sr=8-2

[clipclop1]

I used to work on cruise ships. Everyone is right and you do need to dress to impress on formal nights.
With regards to the tours.... I would ask some of the crew for their opinions on the ports if you have the time to... I often had passengers come to ask my opinion, they were usually going to book a tour through the ships tour department (which are rather expensive) when they could easily have just gotten off the ship and got a cheap taxi to their desired spot. The crew (esp if they're british or american) will give you a better idea of what to do as they spend every other week at these places so will know where's best. My other suggestion is... if you decide to jump in a taxi, just watch they dont over charge you and if its a busy spot it could be a good idea to avoid the taxi's parked at the dock and go into town and flag one down, again the crew will give you a good idea of what kind of prices you should expect to pay. Enjoy! Royal Caribbean are a good company, very big, but good! :)

[Meg]

I've done a few cruises and don't like the formal night stuff. Just wear what you would to go out for a meal at home.
You don't say if your kids are boys or girls? Girls can get away with anything, boys will be expectted to wear a jacket in the main dining rooms. There's always another venue that doesn't require a dress code.
We dumped cruise ship tours a long time ago, go on the dock, you should meet some people who want to do what you want to do, agree the fare with the driver before you set off.
Hope this helps,
Enjoy Annexx

[auntiebertie]

The best site for anything and everything cruise related is http://cruiseforums.c...forumdisplay.php?f=83

There will be 2 formal nights- children expected to be smartly dressed-you can always adapt their school uniform if they don't own a suit. If they are girls then I'm sure they'll have party dresses. They will want to look smart in front of the US kids who really do dress up nicely.

Eastern itinerary is easy to DIY providing you have done your research.
Pick your destinations from this list: http://cruiseforums.c...orumdisplay.php?f=587 and read what others have done and private tours they recommend.
Finally the best facility on this site is their Roll Calls - this is where you can chat with others on your cruise, perhaps find friends for the kids, and if you are lucky someone will already have done all the planning and you can just join in.
http://cruiseforums.c...orumdisplay.php?f=261
You have to be a member to see this bit, but it is free and the amount of info you will get is invaluable.
And she is a ship not a boat......

[learntojive]

That's very helpful, thanks so much everyone for taking the time x

[Answerprancer]

I went on a ("Carnival") cruise in the Gulf Of Mexico a few years ago and the 'formal' evenings were optional.
We just stayed in the regular servery. (It was great fun BTW)

[learntojive]

That's what I was hoping really, my daughter will be ok but my son doesn't do smart at all. They're 145 and 17 so old enough to do their own thing really if they don't fancy the the formal night.
Thanks

[learntojive]

sorry, that should read 14!!