Annabanana1234

I’m surprised they let you on the ship with only a copy of their birth certificate. I cruise every year with my children and we only use a birth certificate since passports are so expensive when you have to get one for 4 kids.

Royal-Caribbean-blog

If you go to google and look up ****************** you will find cruise compass and menus and such!

Ahhhh, thank you for the information. If your 3 year old said he was bored, I can only imagine my 10 year old lol! He told me he still likes seeing characters and to be honest, this sounds about like what we experienced at Disney. He liked it then (at age 7), and still says it was cool....but I'm thinking if everyone else in the room is pre-school aged he might have a much different opinion.

Your child will have several opportunities to see the characters and have pics taken. The dreamworks parade is very nicely done and my children of similar age to yours enjoyed the parade.

If there is a Grimaldi’s pizza near you they have the Quattro formagi and on special they have the arugula and prosciutto pizza!

I’ve never cruised Disney but I think I can weigh in on your options between royal and carnival! I sailed carnival magic when my triplets were 4 & my oldest was 6. My kids loved the kids club! When we sailed royal Caribbean liberty of the seas last year they were 7 & 9 and only two loved the clubs my oldest and my middle triplet (boys). Three of my kids are somewhat easy to please and one is picky but they really like the Carnival pizza! My kids eat a variety of items from the kids and adult menus. I have one (the middle triplet) that only eats chicken tenders and fries...every night! 🤦*♀️ Overall as a family we prefer Carnival’s food! If your ship has the guys burgers they are one of the best I’ve ever had! I felt like the kids club was more interactive and my oldest begged to stay for the late night party which costs money but we let him stay anyway! For Royal on the liberty the first night of the sailing the kids club were a mess of confusion and lines! They don’t offer a pager or phone like Carnival did (first come first serve). I wasn’t ok with allowing my son to check himself out but I felt like I had to go back often to see if he had enough. We sail again in just a few weeks so we shall see if they still want to enjoy the kids club. I think the most important thing to consider are the activities, if I were planning between two ships and the kids club was the deciding factor I would recommend looking at the kid daily activities which I’m sure someone on here has, I would then review this with the kids along with YouTube videos of the ships amenities. We sailed NCL twice and the kids loved them too! You should have an amazing time either way! Enjoy.

Very nice review! If you have a chance reviews with pictures are always appreciated! [emoji1303]

So there’s no food after 9pm???

There is room service and they have a cafe on the promenade with limited items like sandwiches and salads, not sure their hours! It’s very limited!

Big French key is beautiful and it shares a lagoon with little French key.

I haven’t done this excursion in fact for Belize I choose to generally stay on ship with my kids. I’ve researched beaches in Belize and my concern with this excursion with my 4 kids was that there didn’t seem to be any shade really! Three of my kids are very fair and it wasn’t like I could say take me back to the ship we’ve had enough fun in the sun. I would recommend reviewing this port of call for this specific reason, many excursions leave at a certain time and get back at a certain time. I hope someone responds to give you more info so you can make an informed decision. Have fun!

We went to maya key a few years ago and it was nice. You can take your own pictures with the monkeys. Some of the beach area had sea grass which wasn’t great. The snorkeling looked amazing from some of the brain coral that I ran into since the water was choppy the day we were there. My son was afraid to continue on with snorkeling because of the water and the current...it required more skill then he had! I highly recommend water shoes depending on your fins, where you enter the water requires some navigation to get past the coral and it’s very sharp. Some of the coral are so large that you can’t just float over them since you need to use your fins to fight the current. They have a pool which needed some tlc when we were last there but it was functional and the kids enjoyed it. I will also recommend if anyone in your group has difficulty with getting around this may pose a challenge. They drop you off at a dock and from there you walk up a slight hill and then down a somewhat steep decline to get to the beach. Not sure if there is an easier way to maneuver but this is the path everyone ahead of us took. I enjoyed it but last year we went to big French key across from little French key and we loved it! It was exactly what we were looking for, a relaxing beach day! Have fun finalizing your plans!

My girlfriends husband has vertigo and ringing in his ear constantly, they enjoy cruising. I would recommend taking precautions like a prescription patch for motion sickness. I don’t get motion sickness but my son gets car sick and first cruise we took we had rough seas in the Gulf of Mexico and it ruined our day! He spent the day in the room feeling miserable and sleeping. So it’s best to take it and not need it then to Wait until you need it because it will ruin your entire day! I agree with what everyone said, bigger ships you don’t generally feel the movement if your mid ship and low. I will say to pay attention to the time of the year because my first cruise was in September of 1998 and there was a hurricane heading toward Miami and the captain went around the storm but the sea was very choppy and our table of 10 for dinner only had 4 people show up....everyone was getting seasick! Plan accordingly since you know your have vertigo, cruising is so much fun! Enjoy!

I think the biggest difference between carnival and ncl in comparison to royal Caribbean is the free food options are very limited on royal after 9pm. The Buffett closes early and they don’t have 24 hour ice cream, they don’t have good pizza we ❤️ carnivals pizza! We loved ncl’s food in general the speciality dining and the main dining room! We loved the crepe stations on ncl! Royal doesn’t have great options for food in comparison but we enjoyed the main dining room. The other stuff like slides and pools and the surf simulator are where royal truly shines! I’m not familiar with the ship your cruising on but Royal is a nice line and a change of pace! You will have fun, just know coming into it that it’s a different experience!

Previous threads on this had to do with RCL. I AM ON CARNIVAL.... My question is: If I book this thru the SHIP, will I get my tickets onboard, or will I have to wait for "everyone" who is going to be shuttled in a big group? If I buy through carnival using my carnival MC, I can get a 10% refund, which saves me $20 ... but wont be worth it if I have to wait around for other passengers to get off the boat.

 

 

 

Also, I hear that they have cameras which take your pictures, do you buy them individually or are they in a package? How much? Are they on a zip drive?

 

 

 

How much are lockers rental?

 

 

 

Anyone used a Go Pro on the zip lines?

 

 

 

Thanks!

I haven’t been yet but on a previous post I read that the pictures for the entire day cost $29 and they give you a 8mb thumb drive!

I was very disappointed with the character breakfast! I booked in advance and paid $10 pp for this “experience”. We showed up early and we expected it to be like I’ve seen on YouTube! They only had two characters show up and it was so lame! They had the kids come up one at a time for a photo op and then the characters made their way around to the table for more pictures. I think the many opportunities to meet the characters in the promenade were just as good if not better since if you pay attention you will get pictures with all the characters!

^^^This is exactly my opinion too. I loooove pizza and I must say that this is one area that Carnival has RCL beat, IMO. Loyal to Royal otherwise.

 

 

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Carnival has the best pizza on board! I’ve had ncl and royal and there is no comparison imo!

I would add in glow necklaces and bracelets for everyone! I also brought Godiva chocolates for my kids for that little something at the end of each night since we don’t get chocolates on our pillows!

This is an honest question. So many people talk about how they love cruising with their kids (ours will be 2) because they can drop the kids off at the kids area/"daycare" if you will, while they enjoy alone time, dinner, a show, etc. Understanding of course that programs, ages etc will vary by ship and line.

 

Is anyone else like my husband and myself; in that we think the idea of a family vacation is to spend time AS A FAMILY and not pawn our daughter off on some strangers that are hired to work in the kids area of a cruise ship?? Admittedly we haven't used a sitter yet (my SIL has watched her the few times we have gone out, and it is mostly after she is asleep anyway), maybe we are just weird. We've already discussed either just turning in early when she goes to bed or maybe alternating - like one night I stay in and he goes out, then we switch.

 

Thoughts?

We cruise in less than 30 days and this will be my kids 5th cruise. We love spending time together as a family and rarely leave the kids in the club. My oldest son loves going, my triplets can take it or leave it! We take the kids to the specialty restaurant with us, once or twice over the years we’ve had a meal just the two of us, and that’s ok! You will find what works for your family, there’s no right or wrong. Have fun and enjoy your vacation!

I would think the third or more passenger would be reduced, timing is everything! We are family if 6 going on a cruise in April for just $3000!

It’s an ocean view at the very front of the ship, so be prepared to walk because the food is at the back of the ship! It was still a great option for our family of 6.

I think the family staterooms are very comfortable! We stayed in 8200 on liberty and now we are staying in a promenade room!

I have to say sailing with kids I get my fair share of rude adults toward me cruising with my kids. I’ve heard from a man on the elevator as he looked at my family and said to me you know a good vacation for kids is Disney World! I politely replied that we’ve done Disney World several times and we enjoy cruising as a family! I wanted to say something else but I bite my tongue! The audacity of some people! I have to say also if you want to cruise without kids then don’t go on a ship that is geared for kids. Take a river cruise or maybe holland american. If you go on a ship with three water slide and a dream works parade then I’m sorry but there will be kids on your cruise! I love seeing posts where people get that not all kids are evil minions out to ruin their vacation. I watch my kids and they don’t roam the ship. Thank you! Rant over. 🤭

My now 10 year old took his first cruise at 4, he gets motion sickness in the car. When we cruised we gave him Dramamine for kids and it worked great! On the ship my son only needed Dramamine when the seas were rough. I still take it just in case!

I recommend kids medicine for upset tummy and Tylenol and Dramamine. I would pack extra shirts because they will use them! I recommend a good quality water shoe like reem since if you go to the beach it can be rocky and hard for them to walk in the ocean and they can double as a walking shoe since they are a very good quality shoe. I pack the kids glow sticks just because it’s fun. You may want to pack a little netted hamper for the dirty clothes! Oh! I would pack double the amount of sunscreen you think you will need just in case, running out isn’t an option since they has a small selection and may not carry your brand. If you have puddle jumpers you may want to bring them, depends on your plans for excursions and on ship. Have fun! My kids are 8 and 10 and the cruise in April will be their 5th cruise! [emoji568]

Can anyone suggest a good website to get matching sibling outfits? I would like to have my kids ages 2.5 and 6 months (at time of cruise) to have a few formal pictures taken in matching outfits. Any ideas where I could get these? I saw on etsy but anywhere else? I'm looking for a vest and tie for DS and a dress for DD. TIA.

Children’s place has matching outfits!