These 5 simple tips and tricks will improve your next Royal Caribbean cruise. These handy tips will help you maximise your time on board, save money and improve your cruise experience.

1. Look For Discounts

The first way to improve your Royal Caribbean cruise is to make sure you get the best price.

Before you book, look for any discounts or promotions that are running. You can regularly find deals that include free dining, free drinks, 50%-off the cruise fare for the second guest or onboard credit.

Where can you find Royal Caribbean discounts? A good place to start is the official Royal Caribbean website. A travel agent will also be able to find the best discounts for you.

Royal Caribbean also regally run deals on Pre-Cruise purchases. You can regally see up-to 30% off drinks packages, dining packages and wifi. The deals are launched randomly throughout the year. The discounts available during the sale are usually much cheaper than buying packages onboard.

We will post when a sale is happening on our Facebook page.

2. Dine in the Main Dining Room at Breakfast and Lunch

Did you know that you can dine in the Main Dining Room for breakfast and lunch?

The main dining rooms are open most days for breakfast. It offers a more relaxed table service experience and sometimes includes a buffet too. There is no set time or set tables so it's first come first served.

The main dining room is open on sea days for lunch too. The menu changes daily and there is also a salad bar and pasta station.

3. Use the Cruise Planner

The Royal Caribbean cruise planner is a great place to start planning your vacation and help you improve your Royal Caribbean cruise.

You can use the cruise planner to;

• Reserve shows and other entertainment

• Reserve actives such as the Sky Pad and North Star

• Book speciality dining

• Book shore excursions

• Buy Drink packages

• Buy Internet packages

• Buy Specialty dining packages

• Purchase other extras such as cabin decorations, ship tours and spa treatments.

3. Download the Royal Caribbean app

The Royal Caribbean App is a great tool to help you improve your Royal Caribbean cruise before and during your sailing.

Before you sail you should download the app to your phone. The app includes information about the ship such as the daily entertainment schedule, maps and opening times. You can also book any dining and entertainment through the app.

You download the app from the Apple App Store or Google Play before you sail. The app is free and works with the ships Wi-Fi even if you do not purchase a Wi-Fi package.  

4. Bring A Power Strip

The cabins on Royal Caribbean, particularly on older ships, don't have any power outlets. You can usually find two or maybe three power outlets and on newer ships a few USB outlets.

There is nothing worse than not having enough space to charge your phones, cameras or tablets.

You can improve your experience massively by creating more outlets with a power strip. Make sure that is is a non-surge power strip as these are not allows on cruises. We like the extenders that also include multiple USB outlets.

5. Read the Cruise Compass

The Cruise Compass is the daily guide that is delivered to your stateroom each evening. It includes everything you need to know for the next day including weather, the drinks specials and the ship's entertainment and activities. We like to have a good read of the guide each evening or morning and take it around the ship with us.

We also recommend you keep the cruise compass on you when you are in port. The cruise compass also tells you the all aboard time, location of the dock and important phone number in case of an emergency.

If you lose your copy or would like another, you can find them at guest services.

The Cruise Compass is more than just knowing what time bingo is at. It offers you insight into the next day’s weather, which bars will have drink specials, shore excursion information and much more.

Looking for more Royal Caribbean tips and advice? Read our Top 10 Tips For A Royal Caribbean Cruise.