Cjess86
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Posts posted by Cjess86
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Thanks this was such an informative review for our trip this coming Saturday. I really appreciated this.
Glad to hear it's still helping!
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I would recommend cave-tubing.com. Their website has a height requirement of 40in to go in the caves. We were on RC and made it back in plenty of time and they were very nice
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We did enjoy the horseback riding tour but again, not that DH is boring, but because of the lack of interaction with our particular guide it might have been more enjoyable in a group. We also both preferred the horseback riding in Puerto Rico that we had done on a previous cruise over this one in St Kitts.
DD was always with us during trivia. We never received even a funny look as we came prepared with a couple of toys or a bottle so she never really was any trouble. We participated in trivia held in the Schooner bar as well as the Star lounge.
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Hello! Thank you so much for such a detailed review. We sailed with our son over the summer (he was 22 months at the time) and had a great experience with the nursery too. We are sailing again next month on this same ship. I was curious if you had to have a shore excursion booked through the ship in order to use the nursery during the day? On our Alaskan cruise this summer, they required us to show our tickets. Also, our hours of operation were reduced with closing for lunch/dinner for about an hour each. Were you able to use the nursery and go off ship on your own? Thanks!
There was no problem booking nursery during day even if you did not have an excursion booked with royal and they were not closed for lunch. We booked our horseback riding excursion on our own and were still able to use the nursery with no problem.
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$6 during the day and $8 in the evening. They are open til midnight.
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Thank you everyone for nice feedback I am happy you all found it helpful and I hope everyone enjoys their trips
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DAY 8 - SATURDAY - AT SEA
Crazy how time on vacation flies by. On our last full day we woke up early again and were out of the room to get coffee and a Danish at the promenade by 645. Hung out on deck 5, reading and playing till MDR opened for breakfast at 8. Breakfast was great per usual and we got to the pool deck by 930 for DD's morning nap. We were able to read and relax a little before she woke up and we then headed in the baby splash zone. Unfortunately, for most of the day it was too windy/wavy and the kid's park was not running. Headed to WJ about 1145 and back to room for early to get showered and ready for the rest of the day because Harry Potter trivia was at 2! We thought that we would do well as we are big fans and are old enough to have actually waited for each book to come out to read the series, lol. We split a wonderful wild berry daiquiri as we competed, but, alas, we did not even come close to winning, as there are bigger geeks than us out there....
Back to room to start packing . Dropped off the bag of toys we rented from the nursery as it is a $90 charge if you forget ($25 if even one toy is missing) and headed to the pub to get a beer before dinner (again - we FINALLY figured out the nap situation!). Enjoyed a lovely last dinner with our table mates and got some pics of the girls together :) Dinner was good. I was a little disappointed with my appetizer as the scallops with the cauliflower mash usually comes with the big scallops and they were only able to provide us with the baby ones this night. DH had the lamb shank which he liked and I had the alfredo pasta which was good. DH had a frozen strawberry soufflé (not very good) for dessert and I enjoyed my key lime pie. Back to the room for football and to finish packing as it would be early morning departure.
DAY 9 - SUNDAY - TRAVEL
DH woke up early to check us in to our flight. We docked at about 5AM and were in line to walk off the ship just before 6. There already were about 40 people in front of us. Many of the 40 people were getting very irritated with RCI at this point because they did not start letting people off of the ship till about 645. We heard that some people had 740 flights! I called our transportation company and they ensured that they were sending someone for us. We did make it through customs by 705 and were waiting for our shuttle by 710. We made it to the airport by 720 and to the gate by 8 in time for a quick diaper change and to get in line for family boarding by 815 for our 850 flight!
I hope that this review has been entertaining and informative. Please continue to pass along any questions. I will post some more pictures and the remaining compasses later today or tomorrow. Thank you everyone who has read the review!
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Here are some leftover pics from st kitts....
In front of me is where we met Liz at the smoke n booze shop. As you can see it's nice and close to the ships and easy to find
The view about 45 min up the mountain. A nice one of the ships and that is Nevis in the background
Missed DD so we ran back on the ship and got her for some local cuisine......parenting done right [emoji6]
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Sorry a little slow on the pics and I don't have the day 7 kids compass
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DAY 7 - FRIDAY - AT SEA
Woke up at the usual 530 and had to stay in bed till WJ opened at 7. Headed out to pool deck about 9 and read for a little bit while DD napped in her stroller. Met DH at the flowrider at about 930 for stand-up surfing which was obviously busier because it was a sea day. We have definitely learned that if you want to get the most out of the flowrider the key is to go when you are in a port. We each took 2 turns and our flowrider mates were very generous in letting us kind of take our turns after one another as they could obviously see that we were switching out with DD. After we had our fun we took DD to the baby splash zone later in the morning.
Kind of a lazy rest of the day today as it was very windy out on the pool deck. After our lazy pool day we got ready for our second formal night dinner. After another obligatory RCL photo we made our way to the pub for an adult beverage while DD fell asleep for a cat nap. As everyone knows the second formal night is lobster night. DH’s lobster was very good and mine was a little fishy but still good. I had brownie madness for dessert, which is always good.
After dinner we changed DD and drop her off at nursery for the last time. We made our way to karaoke superstar auditions at the on air bar. It was normal karaoke, a wide range of talent/entertainment. After staying there for a while we made our way to the casino. We made a small donation. We then elected to skip the headliner show for the evening which was Once Upon a Time since we had seen it on a previous cruise. It is a very good show but did not feel like seeing it again. We went back to the pub for nightcap and then picked up DD from the nursery. We said our goodbyes to the nursery staff, who were all great, and called it a night.
A couple of last notes on the nursery: If you book the nursery for a certain amount of time and end up not using it you only get charged for the amount of time you use it. This came in handy since we had reserved a couple of nights until midnight but ended up picking DD well before that as we cannot hang as well as we could before becoming parents. Finally, if you need to cancel a nursery session you previously booked you need to cancel 30 minutes beforehand or else you will get charged. I think they are pretty flexible on this policy but worth the warning.
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DAY 6 -THURSDAY - ST KITTS
DD woke up at 520 so we had to wait for the MDR to open at 7AM for breakfast. DH said French toast was fresh and delicious. DD was cranky at breakfast but thankfully she fell asleep for her nap early and we proceeded to drop her off at the nursery at about 915 so that we could go horseback riding (I really enjoy it and DH plays along).
By the way, during the day the nursery is $6/hr while evening is $8.
We headed off the ship and met our contact person for our excursion. Through Periera tours we made our way to Trinity Stables. Liz from the company met us promptly at 930 at the Smoke n' Booze shop and about ten minutes later her co-worker drove us to the stables. He was very nice and it was fun talking with him about the island and its history. Elvis took us out for the riding. He was a nice enough 19 year old man but was not overly talkative. It happened to be a private tour and it would have been nice to hear a little about the country and what not. Great views of Basseterre and Nevis as well as the port. We rode for two hours up a mountain and into the rainforest and then back. On the way back, our driver took us by the Carib brewery and pointed out his favorite bbq chicken stand. As we were starving, we proceeded to get back on the ship, check DD out, quickly change and to load her into the ergo and we were back on the island by 1. We headed back to get the chicken which was great and we washed it down with 3/$5 Caribs.
As we were smart this time around, getting back on the ship was quick and easy and we made our way to the pool deck. DD loved the baby splash zone and we split time going in the hot tubs and getting ice cream cones. While on the subject of ice cream, am I the only one who thinks it is wrong and gross to allow your child to get a cone and then eat it in the hot tub? Just doesn’t seem that difficult to eat the ice cream and then go but maybe being too sensitive.
After the pool deck we got ready for dinner. It took until day 6 but I think we finally figured out how to do dinner. We got ready early and gave DD a bottle at about 5PM. We then put her in her stroller and the walk down to the pub lulled her to sleep for her afternoon nap and enabled mom and dad a relaxing beer on the promenade a first course of dinner in peace. Dinner was great! Clam chowder and seafood ceviche appetizers were pretty good and a new entrée for me, the chicken kiev, was very good. Very juicy and well seasoned. Warm chocolate cake (with extra vanilla) was great for dessert. As always, we enjoyed chatting with our table mates, often talking differences between Canada/US customs.
Uneventful evening - I think DH was sleeping before 830 and I could only stay awake reading till 9.
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Relaxing on the beach
Galion Beach
Better view of the beach with the restaurant at the far end
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DAY 5 - WEDNESDAY - ST MAARTEN
DD had so much fun in San Juan that she decided she was too excited to sleep in and woke up at 5. DH got her loaded up into the stroller and took her and her stuff for a walk around the ship. They ended up in the Viking crown lounge letting her play since they had it to themselves and watched the ship approach the port. After bringing me a coffee and pastry at about 8 we went up to the WJ for breakfast. DH got an omelet from the made to order station and said it was very good, much better than pre-made ones at buffet. DD fell asleep on way back from breakfast so we relaxed in the room while the people who had to get off the ship right away cleared out. Once she woke up (about 10:30) we got ready and left the ship. Our plan was to just get a cab to Galion bay for the day. We took the stroller at DH's request but next time I would definitely just use the ergo carrier. The walk from the ship to where the taxis are located is a short one and obviously a stroller is no good at a beach. I really hope no one replies with any harsh comments about a lack of car seat but we were driven to Galion Beach in a SUV. It was about a 20 minute ride and it cost $20 each way total. Our driver asked if we wanted to be picked up and she asked for a time and was very prompt in returning us to the port. For those going to St Maarten and are considering going to the Butterfly house, Galion Beach is not too far. Some say that you could walk from one to the other but I would NOT recommend this with small kids.
The beach was very nice. We rented two chairs and an umbrella for $15. There was a nice bar/restaurant that had a waiter taking orders along the beach. During a short 'tropical' rain shower we headed down to the restaurant and shared a very good jerk chicken plate and a few beers. The surprise of the day was that Galion Bay turned into DD's first topless beach! We later learned that the French side allows people to go topless while the Dutch side does not. So be advised that while Galion Bay is great for kids from the standpoint that it is always very calm and shallow you may run into some topless people (There was only one the day we were there). There was a man on the other side of us that told his about ten year old son to “look” lol (Nothing like starting them early I guess). A last note here - no one trying to pedal anything on the beach besides one lady that came around offering massages.
After getting back to the ship without any issues we got ready for dinner. Sorry did not take any notes about dinner. After dinner changed DD into her pajamas, packed a bottle and took her to daycare where she proceeded to fall asleep for the night 15 minutes later. After dropping off DD we made our way to the pub for a beer and then went to the evening game shop which was a family feud style game they held in the star lounge. Very entertaining. After that we walked around the ship until the 9:00 headliner show which was Drew Thomas magic. He was supposedly on America’s Got Talent although we didn’t remember him. Now DH very much enjoys magic acts, as do I to a lesser extent, but he was not impressed. I won’t give away any parts of the show but in summary it wasn’t even close to the best magic we have seen on a cruise ship.
After the magic show we made our way to the casino which was very busy. We took back some of our money! After cashing out we looked at compass but there was nothing going on we were too excited about so we picked up DD at 11 and called it a night.
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Loving this review! I have another question if you wouldn't mind. Was it easy enough to source highchairs in the food areas such as the Windjammer and dining room?
Yes in the dining room they always had one easily available and in windjammer you just had to ask someone and they would get one. The highchairs come with a tray but you can take it off easily if you prefers. Thanks for following and please don't hesitate to ask any other questions
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Learning how to stand-up surf. Notice the long line.....behind those two guys, under the shaded area is actually where we parked DDs stroller when she napped
Some boogie boarding time as well...
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Cruising with an Infant, 1-7 to 1-15 Review on Freedom
in Royal Caribbean International
Posted
Correct, bag of toys was free. They gave you a book to search through as they have over ten different bags you can exchange whenever....
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