From Ed’s post in our Facebook group: 

I’m making a post about all the info I can think of for the newbies to book the cruise, and for the others to just have all the info they might need. If anyone has any info they want to share, please post in this group to help everyone!

Everyone will get on the ship September 15th and we get off the 22nd. The ship is Harmony of the seas. It’s a brand new ship in the fleet and considered a mega ship. The port we sail out of is Port Canaveral, Florida. Try to plan to get to or close to the cruise terminal a day early so you are not fighting traffic the day of getting on the ship. In my opinion the best area to stay is any hotel of your choice in Cocoa Beach. Find a hotel that offers cruise parking and shuttles to and from the cruise terminal. Between 9am and 3pm is the time you will be able to get on the ship. It’s a vacation, so the earlier you can get there, and through the customs and cruise terminal the better. The as soon as you get on the ship everything will be open. Bars, restaurants, pools, and everything else the ship has to offer. The only thing that will NOT be open when you get on the ship before noon will be your staterooms. The crew will be cleaning up rooms from the previous cruise. So if possible consider that when you know you may have to carry around your carry on bag for a few hrs.

First step is booking. You can book the cruise at anytime. You can go through Royal Caribbean’s website and book it all yourself, which is how I have done all 4 of my cruises, or you can contact your favorite travel agent/company and they will tell you everything you need to know. Unless Royal Caribbean changes is in the near future, your deposit will be 250 dollars a person. That deposit goes towards the entire cost of your cruise. If you are a single cruiser not wanting a roommate, you will be paying 1 and a half times the price of your room. The rooms sell for double occupancy, but they have it set up to where you only pay 1 and a half times the cost instead of paying he full price of double occupancy. It makes sense to have 2 or more people in one room. You can add on your reservation to have the beds separated into 2 full size beds or one big bed. For people with more than 2 people in a room, the couches pull out into a bed also. For more than 3 you may want to consider a larger stateroom, which will cost more. The cheapest rooms will be interior state room. These rooms have NO windows, and NO balcony’s. If you don’t plan to spend much time in your room and can deal with no sunlight or nice room views this is a good room. The next stateroom up will be Interior stateroom with ocean view. This room comes with a window that may or may not open for a breeze, but you will have a nice view. And after that you move into multiple balcony options, and suite staterooms which are obviously the more expensive rooms. From my experience I recommend booking on Black Friday. I received the best booking deal I have ever seen offered online and received great booking incentives, such as 300 dollars given to us to spend onboard the ship. I have also heard that cyber Monday, Christmas, and New Years is also a good time to book. I don’t know how true those are, I only know of the Black Friday deals. After your deposits are in and your vacation is booked, you will have up too, 90 days prior to have your trip fully paid off, which I think is June 17th if 2019. Booking the cruise gets you, on the ship, all the food you can eat free(included with the ship purchase) and non alcoholic drinks at breakfast, lunch, and dinner. It’s also get you all the activities on the ship. There are speciality dinning options that you can go to, but they cost extra. They are not needed. If you want a more fancy dinning option or a more romantic personal experience, maybe look into some of the speciality dinning options. They offer drink packages, of different sorts. They have an AYCdrink option, that included every drink option on the ship including alcohol. As many as you want in a day. They have drink packages for every drink option on the ship, except for alcohol. This is a cheaper package and good for non drinkers, and they have soda packages, and water packages. Or you can pay for your drinks as you go. Depending on how heavy of a drinker you are should determine how you should pick. These packages go up and down in price. So it makes sense to watch the website and watch for deals too book your package. For an added cost you can also get internet for how ever many devices you have. This is good to have if you need to stay in contact with someone back home. From my experience, I figured out you can buy the internet package, and several people can use the code on separate devices. Kaci and I bought one device, and passed the code back and forth, you just have to disconnect your device for the second person to connect. Or you can go without internet for the trip. If you want to book your room based on where our room is just ask, and we will tell you our room number.

The schedule for the cruise.

Day 1, Sept. 15th sail out of Port Canaveral
Day 2, Sept. 16th Cococay, private island. This island is owned by Royal Caribbean. Any drink package you purchased on the ship, you will be able to use on the island. So, if you have the ultimate drink package, you can drink all the beer, and liquor you want, while sitting on a tropical beach. You will also eat for free on the island also.
Day 3, Sept. 17th, full sail day
Day 4, Sept. 18th St. Thomas, the wedding day. If you want to see our Ceremony you will have to get yourself to Sapphire beach by 3pm. We arrive at noon to that port and you will have to be back on the ship at 8pm. DO NOT BE LATE! The ship will not wait for you, and will leave you. It will be up to you to find your way back on the ship, which I hear can be expensive. The ceremony should not be long and will give everyone plenty of time to do their own thing on the island.
Day 5, Sept. 19th Philipsburg, St. Maarten. My personal favorite island. Arrive 7am back on the ship, 4pm. Again don’t be late.
Day 6, Sept. 20th full sail day
Day 7, Sept. 21st full sail day
Morning of day 8 Sept. 22nd we all get off the ship.

Kaci and I are not booking anything on the ship wedding or party wise. We are planning on doing a speciality dinning that night for dinner at a restaurant called Wonderland. It’s a magical restaurant with an intense magical theme based off of Alice and Wonderland. If you want to be a part of this, all you have to do is make a reservation for that night at the same time as us, and her and I will try our hardest to make sure our whole party gets seated together or close together. As far as being on the ship and at ports, everyone can do their own things. Be on vacation and have a great time. We can all communicate with each-other our plans for the people that want to do things together. Kaci and I have a fun little idea for you all to stay up to date on the events and plans if you choose to join us.

I’m not sure how this works through a travel agent/company, but if you choose to book through Royal Caribbean website, after you drop your deposit, and you check back and see that the price dropped for your same room, you can call them, and they will honor the cheaper price. That goes up until 90 days prior, so always keep checking prices and compare. Post them here if you find them so we can all save as much money as we can!

Kaci and I have made great friends on our cruises, who are actually joining us on this cruise, so you may make friends with other, and leave the ship with more friends than when you got on the ship!

When getting on the ship, you have the option to take up too, 2 bottles of wine per stateroom. No other alcohol is permitted. You will drop your luggage off at the cruise terminal and they will take it onto the ship, and deliver to your room your first day on the ship. You will be able to take your carry on bag/luggage onto the ship with you. Keep any important documents, a few changes or clothes, and a nice set of clothes for dinner, and toiletries in your carry on. It may be late in the day when you finally get your full luggage. You will need a passport/passport card/birth certificate, and photo ID to get on the ship.

People bringing children onboard. 1st thing is, kids under 12 I THINK are free...they also have free kid, and teen hangouts all day, everyday. I always thought these would be kinda cheesy, but after seeing what they do, and the areas they get as hangout it looks awesome. I have heard from other cruisers that their kids have loved the programs and never wanted to leave them. For adults. They have big name, broadway shows, that are free to see. Making reservations before getting on the ship is recommended. Hell even reserve every show they have. If you do not show up, they give the open seats away to the people who did not make reservations. There are pools, shows, food, drinks, put-put, ziplines, wave surfers, and so much more on the ship. You will only ever be bored if you choose to be. The gyms onboard are clean, and huge, and all new equipment. There’s a outdoor running track. A full spa area, that has different things you can book for an added cost.

I am trying to put any info I have, to help everyone, and Kaci has designated me to be the group planner/helper for everyone. I will help you book, and answer any question that I can. Just contact me. You can also ask Kaci. She has a lot of helpful info also. We are looking forward to this. It’s going to be epic, especially with all of you joining us. If I can think of any more helpful info, I’ll post here.

So get on that website, and book your cruise! And we will see you all together for an awesome, epic, and amazing vacation, and wedding.

Rooms booked so far:

Kaci and Ed : 8636

Anna and Corey : 8532

Tia and Brandon : 8580

 William and Joyce : 6560

Bob (Best Man) and Makenzie : 8608

Mark and Angelique (Maid of Honor) : 8724

Ashley and Dan : 3642

Cory and Ashley : 11655

Annett and Ed : 7530