When Can You Book Shows on Royal Caribbean?

If you’re anything like me, you want to make sure you book entertainment as soon as possible, so you don’t miss out on any of the fun! I love that Royal Caribbean allows guests to plan and book activities before getting on the ship.

This takes away a lot of the nervous feelings that I may possibly arrive to find the shows sold out before I had a chance to snag reservations. It’s also nice to know your entertainment plans ahead of time, so you can pack and organize accordingly.

So, if you find yourself wondering when you can book entertainment on Royal Caribbean, this post is for you. I’ll walk you through the easy process of reserving shows and booking entertainment prior to your upcoming cruise with Royal Caribbean.

How to Reserve Shows

At the time of this writing, Royal Caribbean allows guests to book shows on the first day of the month before their sailing. If you forget to book entertainment on this date, you can continue to make reservations up until four days prior to your sailing date.

In order to book entertainment on Royal Caribbean, you should login to the Royal Caribbean app or into your account on Royal Caribbean’s website. In your Daily Planner, you should see an option for shows and scheduled entertainment.

You should see a list of all show dates and times for your itinerary. Just select the show and time that works best for you. Additionally, you will need to select the guests in your family who will be attending the show.

Once you confirm your selection, the reservation will remain in your Daily Planner. Note that you are not permitted to book the same show twice. If you want to switch times or dates, you will need to cancel your first reservation in order to book the new entertainment time.

Onboard Entertainment Options

Each of the Royal Caribbean cruise ships features onboard entertainment options for guests to enjoy. If you are sailing on one of the larger, newer ships, you’ll find lots of shows and activities available.

Some of the entertainment options sell out, so it’s important to book reservations ahead of time. (Note that you can reserve shows onboard the ship, but availability may be limited.)

Depending on which ship you are sailing, you’ll find entertainment options like ice shows and aqua shows. Additionally, the Royal Caribbean ships offer comedy shows in the comedy club and Broadway musicals in the Royal Theater.

The Royal Caribbean ships feature additional activities and entertainment options that you do not have to reserve ahead of time. Some of the fun things you’ll find onboard the Oasis-class ships include:

• Live music
• Water slides
• Ice skating
• Rock climbing
• Ultimate Abyss dry slide
• carousel

During our cruise, the schedules for the above activities were available in the Royal Caribbean app about a week before sailing. Plus, you can refer to your app while on the ship to see which activities are available each day.

Shows Sold Out on Your Cruise

Above, I explained how to reserve entertainment before your Royal Caribbean cruise. But, what if the shows are sold out before you get a chance to pre book them?

If you attempt to book entertainment but aren’t able to, there are several options you can try.

First, continue to watch your planner for openings. 

Many people cancel their reservations after they make them because their schedules or plans change. If this occurs, a new time could open up for you. If show times do not become available by your sail date, you can try to book reservations onboard the ship after boarding on the first day.

If you are sailing in the Royal Caribbean suite class, the concierge can even help you with this.

If a date and time do not open up before your sailing, you can inquire on the ship about availability for the show you are hoping to see.

Finally, if all else fails, you can stand in line for the show on the evening of the performance. Guests who have reservations are supposed to arrive more than 15 minutes ahead of time to claim their seats.

Crew members will stand outside the entrance to scan SeaPass cards to make sure you have reservations and are allowed to enter early. At 15 minutes to showtime, the crew members will allow ANYONE to enter the theater or studio.

So, if you have your heart set on a certain show that you don’t have reservations for, I suggest arriving 30-45 minutes early so that you can be at the front of this stand-by line. Once the gates open for anyone to go inside, you should be able to find available seats for your family.

Cruise Planner

In order to keep track of your activities and entertainment reservations, you may want to use a cruise planner. I created a printable cruise planner for my readers that allows you to keep track of onboard activities and entertainment.

This printable cruise planner features over 30 pages of outlines and spreadsheets that you can fill in before your cruise. You’ll find pages for things like flight comparisons, budget organization, daily itineraries, outfit planning, packing lists, and more.

You can grab your copy of our printable cruise planner by clicking on the image above. We used this thorough planner to stay organized on our recent seven-night voyage to the Eastern Caribbean and Perfect Day at CocoCay.

Final Thoughts on Booking Royal Caribbean Entertainment

We love having the ability to book entertainment on Royal Caribbean before the sail date. This allows guests to organize their daily plans and itinerary to make sure they fit in all the fun activities they want to experience.

As you can see, the process for reserving entertainment on Royal Caribbean is super simple through the app. If you’re looking forward to specific shows, it’s a good idea to snag the times you want when they become available on the first day of the month before your sailing.

These show reservations are completely free to make as they are included in your cruise fare, and you’re able to change the times if/when needed. However, the online cruise planner also offers options to purchase items for an additional charge before your cruise.

Things like making dinner reservations in specialty restaurants and booking internet packages, spa treatments, and beverage packages all come with an additional fee at the time of booking.

What entertainment do you plan to book on Royal Caribbean? Comment below to share with us!