Plenty of guides out there on what to do and things to look out for. Milelion has some great posts so please check that out. I scoured the Internet religiously so that I know how to make the most out of my trip.

My sailing date was 11-15 Nov, 5D4N and these are some tips that were useful for me. DO NOTE that Royal Caribbean changes up the rules regularly so by the time you cruise, the rules may have changed.

1. Groupbuy Voom Stream & Surf

The cheapest way is to get 1 user with 4 devices – it’s a bit like Netflix where 4 devices can be online can the same time. You create an account with a user ID and PIN. If you want to switch devices, simply log out of your earlier device.

If your group is less than 4, try and post on your social media to see if there are anyone who’s on the same sailing dates. I posted on my microblog, Dayre, and found someone.

Alternatively, try the Milelions Cruise Society where people often ask re: group buys.

I had no issues streaming YouTube videos in my cabin (11281).

2. Book your cruise early, monitor prices

It’d be best to plan your cruise ahead instead of being spontaneous. The reason is: the early check-in slots run out pretty quickly. The earlier you get on, the earlier you can book your speciality dining and have time to enjoy the facilities before everyone else boards.

We booked our cruise about 2.5 months ahead. Booking early also gives you time to stalk and monitor prices for whatever packages you might want to get.

For my November 5D4N sailing, these are what I paid.

• Unlimited Dining Package (UDP): S$157

• Voom Surf & Stream for 4 Devices: S$217

3. Bring non-alcoholic beverages

You can bring 2 x 750ml of wine and 12 x 500ml of non-alcoholic beverages onboard. That’s more than enough for two pax consumption really. Most restaurants serve brewed coffee, tea and water, At Windjammer, there are cordial juices as well.

I didn’t manage to finish the bottled drinks I brought on board and gave them to the room attendants.

For water bottle refills, you can ask for cups of water at the pool bar.

4. Have a tight Game Plan on Day 1

I got the 2pm check-in slot, I arrived at about 1.20pm. By the time I was done with ART and made it on board, it was about 3.15pm.

I was ushered with my luggage to my muster drill station. Upon completion, I went to Guest Services Counter. By then, it must have been about 3.30-3.45pm to do my speciality dinner bookings.

My game plan was that I’d do the speciality dinner bookings while my friend does the shows but… she didn’t link our reservations ahead so she couldn’t book for us.

By the time all the fuss was over, it must have been about 4.30pm or so which didn’t leave us much time – our initial plan was to try the Flowrider that day. By the time we got changed and all, we were rejected from Flowrider due to capacity.

Pro tips:

• Have everyone in the cruise bookings link their reservations ahead.
• Don’t dilly dally and be awwww at the cabin. Be quick and leave the admiration for later so you can get a Flowrider slot on Day 1.

5. Manage your expectations and stomachs

During my sailing, you’re allowed only one dinner booking at Wonderland. I loved Wonderland and it was the only place I asked for seconds – which you can and please do ask for seconds. I had seconds of the crab cone and shrimp. The tomato water is amazing too.

For mains, the branzino (the first pic, first row) with tamarind sauce is quite unique.

As much as Chops is raved, it wasn’t my thing as I’m not a steak lover. Their dinner menu’s variety has more stuff than the lunch menu. Try the Tuna Tartare and Jumbo Lump Crab Cake.

For Jamie’s the risotto balls (second row, first pic) are a must. The dessert – tiramisu was way better than the meringue (overly sweet and sugary)

For the UDP, you’d be brought a $0 bill at the end of the meal, that’s when you decide if you want to tip your servers.

I’d suggest time your restaurant reservations as far apart as you can because you’d be so stuffed. We had our lunches at 1pm and dinners at 8pm. We usually have a pre-dinner at Windjammer abt 5.30-6pm.

The Main Dining Room and Windjammer’s food are mostly repeats of each other. If you want a small serving, try it at Windjammer so you can order the items that are exclusive to Main Dining Room (e.g. the escargots and shrimp cocktails).

I had breakfast at Main Dining Room once – didn’t really like the sets. Windjammer offered a larger variety and you can be creative. For example, on Day 2 there was Nasi Lemak so I had congee and added the anchovies and peanuts from the Nasi Lemak station into my congee.

All restaurants serve brewed coffee which frankly is okay if you’re not a snob. Or… you can bring cold brew on board as part of your drink allowance.

6. Bring back the food

For most of the restaurants, they will give you a plate cover if you want to bring back the food to your room. So instead of ordering room service (which is charged US$7.95 + 18% gratuity fee), get some exercise and bring the food back to your room instead.

I love the pizza and cookies at Sorrento’s for supper.

And… on the last day, I actually brought some of the cookies home. My friend also went to Main Dining Room to ask for breakfast takeouts as our check out was at 7.30am.

Pro tips:

• Bring a tupperware if you want to bring breakfast home on Day 5 as checkout is really early.
• Bring a food-safe ziplock if you want to bring home small snacks.

7. Want to get a ride on Flowrider?

This is probably the most popular item in the whole of the cruise, it’s their version of Hunger Games.

Day 1 (3.30 – 5.30pm): if you get on board early, run for this as no reservations are required.

Day 1, 8pm: Reservations open for Day 2 BUT it’s not a strict 8pm so you got to camp on the app and be quick about it. Each slot of 30 mins has 6 pax. It’s MUCH EASIER to book for 1-2 pax instead of a big group of say 4 or 6pax as the app will only show you availability for that group size.

On Day 1, we were able to book 2 slots each. However, on Day 3 – 4, there was a limit of 1 slot per day imposed.

Day 2 and Day 3, 9am: Reservations for the following day open.

We missed Day 2 reservations for Day 3 slots so we tried to book on Day 3 for Day 4 slots. However, the system was down and by the time the announcement was made that the system was up, the slots were gone.

8. Go for activities & quizzes but don’t pack your schedule too tightly

For the first two days, it felt like we were in a rush, constantly running to the next thing.

For some of the popular activities like live music and dance, queues start forming and admission begins as early as 30 mins ahead. For Day 2’s Kpop dance activity, people were turned away at 3.45pm for a 4pm activity. The dance activities are more like mass dancing and aerobics.

I’d suggest you need to be there at least 20 minutes ahead and factor 5 mins of travel time for the popular activities.

For quizzes and trivia, it seems like you can just walk in. My favourite quizzes are Guess The Lyric and Who Wants To Be A Caribbean-aire. The questions are challenging for most adults.

9. The Solarium is beautiful but disorientating

The adults-only ocean view Solarium is beautiful but the cruising view can get disorientating right. My friend also got seasick. I don’t normally get seasick, the ship is also not bumpy but that wide cruising view got me a bit nauseated. I don’t know how people can read there, especially right at the tip of the boat.

The Solarium hot whirlpools are actually open at night so try a dip at night instead of the day.

If there are people queueing, you’d be asked to leave the pools (including the outdoor and indoor pools, not only Solarium) after 10 minutes. It sounds a bit nuts but it’s not that bad la. You can’t stay in the hot whirlpools for too long in any case.

10. Prepare your cash + credit cards (esp YouTrip) ahead

Do note that RC requires a US$100 deposit on your credit card on board so if you’re using a YouTrip card, you’d need to make sure there’s sufficient cash inside. I didn’t have sufficient cash in my YouTrip account and had to top up then. So that’s about S$137 or so.

RC had a security hold of US$100 which deducted expenses I made onboard and the balance was returned to me in USD – which is still in USD in my YouTrip account.

For tips, remember the bill is in USD. So if you tip the staff at Wonderland $10, it’s USD10 so do the conversions accordingly. Everything on board is billed in USD. Your final cruise statement is in USD. If you’re dining in a group, consider giving the same Seapass to be billed so you can spilt the bill easily later.

11. Prepare a lanyard with a cardholder + TT Token

You’ll need to tap your Seapass and show your TT Token everywhere you go so the easiest way is to prepare a lanyard with a cardholder where you can attach your TT Token to.