Vacationdreamer<><

DH and I are this close to booking a March Elation (we live in Greenville SC and the dates in JAX are better than Charleston). I don't know much about beach time in the Bahamas, though and I'm not sure we should even get off the ship. What do like to do there?

Hey @skittles4s - did you end up taking a cruise on Elation? I am ...this close... to booking a four night out of Jacksonville on the ship.

Can I rent chairs at Junkanoo? I haven't been there since 2014. TIA

What do you prefer? I'm disappointed because there is only one beach trip in Cozumel and it’s to a resort I’ve been to and did not care for. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Yes.

Love your TR. We are parents to six and found cruising "late" in life for the oldest ones. We would have done many more. Taking 5 of the 6 on a Voyager OTS in May with the same itinerary. I appreciate this on many levels!

How was the sand at Playa Mia? In 2016 it was coarse and uncomfortable to play in. No sandcastles or burying one another, etc.

I am somewhat disappointed with the offerings for our just-booked May cruise (never thought to look first). Would it be likely that more excursions could still pop up, or is it really inside the window already and it is what it is? Thank you.

I have been to Cozumel three times. After the second visit, I swore I'd never go again. We'd gone to Nachi Cocum and Playa Mia and both times the sand was rough and unpleasant. I ended up there again in 2019 and this time went ot Isla Pasion on the north side of the island and this time the sand was delightful. We have a wonderful time and I was willing to book another cruise that had a stop in Cozumel. But now I see that RCCL has very, very few beach excursion. I tried to look up Isla Pasion for a direct booking, but they idicate cruise ship passengers should book with their ship. And given the location, I can see why it would be valuable to have a ship doing the transporting. I hate to lose a beach day, but I would be hard pressed to visit Playa Mia again. We are a group of 7, with the youngest 10 years old. Does anyone have any suggestions for excursions to the north side of the island?

Thank you so much for mentioning this. Tracking down those details was on my list! in 2021 when we were in the process of selling our house in NY and moving to SC, we spent a few days in a hotel and the girls and I binge watched a bunch of those episodes. We don’t have access to HGTV otherwise. It occurred to me that we might be traveling through where those shows were shot and I think it would make my kids very happy to see that IRL. Part of our own “moving story.” Thank you. yes. Living in SC has been very welcome after the Covid NY part of our lives. It’s bittersweet. I think if we hadn’t been locked down like we were we may have never taken the plunge to do something so brave and crazy. But it was the push we needed.

Well - Galveston isn’t CLOSE to Waco. But it’s closer than SC… so if we have already gone that far, a few hours more isn’t awful. We were big time road trippers pre Covid lockdowns. We used to live in NY and had driven from NY to OR once and NY to SoCal once, plus many trips to FL and even once to PEI. After the year+ of being locked up in NY we are super eager to make up for lost time and Magnolia Market is a bucket list item. ❤

I believe so. We done NCL Getaway and DCL Magic and CCL Valor with the kids. They’ve had a good time on each of them. They are very flexible in general.

there are so many cool ships to choose from. It came down to a particular week working for us and us wanting to go out of Galveston. VOTS was the only one that still had connecting rooms at this point. (Allure and Vista did not as of Friday.). we are just so happy to cruise again. It’s been a long 3 years 😭

really? 😧 our last cruise was Carnival Valor - a small ship. NOLA 2019. It just had one slide, small golf course, movies in PM. We had a ball. Kids were 19, 17, 15, 13, 9, 6. VOTS seems to have much more than Valor did. “kids” going this time are 20, 18, 17, 12 & 10. I think they will like golf, flow rider and slides. ???

That certainly could be valid!! I almost never drink. Like 3 drinks a year, tops. I am not sure I would be even remember the cruise if pushed to get my money’s worth. 😆😆

Thank you so much. we chose the 5n cruise over a 7n so we could do some touring in the area. I can’t wait to plan!

oh man. I missed that. 🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️ my kids love the freestyle at Taco Bell. 😜 do you know if the package costs as much on VOTS? Do you just ask bartenders for drinks like other lines then? Thank you for the info!!

Need to follow this. I think when we disembark we will go to Waco for the Texas Ranger museum and Magnolia Markets/Silos, before we start weaving our way back to SC.

This is what I will select. I agree. We would not get our money’s worth for a higher package. We will do a la carte for wine or beer at dinner. I do love pop and coffee and mocktails. My kids will love the freestyle machines. Thank you.

I’ve cruised multiple lines with four to a room and have found it wholly comfortable. We spend very little time in the stateroom anyway. We’ve always had a room like the first image. we’ve also done plenty of beach vacations and we firmly prefer the cruises (and they are typically more relaxing and cheaper).

Awesome. Thank you.

Is this a fairly average cost? we are booking a VOTS today and I am trying to get some ideas. Thank you.

Cool. Thank you! Ugh. I wasn’t quite ready to book yet. 😜 Thank you for the info. Perfect. Thank you. Wow. Thank you. I didn’t have a frame of reference. 👍

I am planning to book a VOTS cruise tomorrow and was trying to look around the RCCL website for some information. I found a page describing the different packaged, but couldn't find any pricing. Would anyone be able to guide me to approximate costs? We hope to do a 5n out of Galveston if that makes a difference. Also - if we get the Refreshment or Deluxe package it says, "Premium coffee and tea." Where would we get this? Would that include lattes and/or cold coffee drinks? TIA! So eager to get on a ship again!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sounds like you are recent cruisers. Did any of you have children in your group - particularly kids in the Circle C age group? I'd love some insight into what that was like. Thank you.