NEGeekymama

On 2/12/2024 at 5:42 PM, Ourusualbeach said:

Royals newer ships (all of Quantum class and Oasis class Harmony and newer) do not have options for the pullman beds in regular staterooms.

Ugh, I'd much rather have the pullman. A trundle bed is effectively sharing a bed, and that just wouldn't fly with our two daughters.

On 2/12/2024 at 5:11 PM, Kellie in Texas said:

@taglovestocruise I've seen people make that suggestion many times (two cabins cheaper than one) and I've never found it to work out that way. I guess it's worth checking though.

It totally depends on what promos are being offered. If it's Kids Sail Free, that offer doesn't apply to two rooms of two.

5 hours ago, CruiseCriticAaron said:

I was able to check out Firefly Park, for ages 0-6, on embarkation day but didn't make it to the 8-12 or teens clubs. They're pretty well closed off to random people walking through at this point, but I'll see if I can set up a time to view them.

 

This probably doesn't help much, but here's Firefly Park:

I appreciate it! I found a ship tour video yesterday that included a quick glimpse of Neon Grove, so that helped for now.

Hi! Thank you for all of your amazing posts, photos, and videos.

Can you confirm if there is an arcade (or a space that will be one) onboard, and if so take some pictures? This is a huge selling point for our teenager. 

On 3/10/2024 at 12:11 PM, kj_connections said:

@CanadianBurger Hello fellow Torontonian!  Thank you for the photos and info!  I was wondering if you have time to post photos of the kids clubs?  I have only seen artist rendered depictions and no live pictures.  Do you know if the Neon Grove is supervised by staff? Thanks in advance

 

In one of the earlier posts of this thread there was a picture of the youth activities info, and it did say that Neon Grove is supervised by staff. 

Would love pictures of the kids club areas, specifically for the 8-12 year old range (our youngest will be 11 when we cruise next year). 

Just now, RoperDK said:

The bed and closet/desk area alternate. Either bed by the bath or closet/desk by the bath.  The bed has to alternate because of the interlocking cabin design.  

Okay, that makes sense. The one we have booked for February 2025 has the bed closest to the door, so the closet/desk area will be in between the bed and sofa.

13 minutes ago, Mike07 said:

 

 

 

What specific discussion are you looking for on the ship? Would you want similar discussion of every other ship in the Princess fleet?

 

People are attracted to the brand... And PCL's utter failure to deliver a product on time is disappointing. Padgett is turning PCL into the same Disney experience his previous gig taught him... Maximize revenue and demand dollars for anything enjoyable on the ship.

Disney cruises have very little upselling and nickel & diming. 

On 3/1/2024 at 7:10 PM, JimmyVWine said:

The FB posts from people currently on the ship are replete with complaints about the skimpy decor. 
And I didn’t declare them a disaster. I was referencing many, many video reviews from noted cruise influencers who have stated in them. I trust them. You don’t have to. 

Cruise influencers (or any, for that matter) are all about the DrAMa for more clicks. 99.9% of the time I immediately mute the video because I want to make my own decision on things, and not one based off of someone's opinion. 

1 hour ago, dides said:

bigger for accessibility 

 

standard mini suite:

 

 

 

 

I don't think that's a typical standard mini-suite? The pictures and videos I've seen so far show that the closet/desk area is between the bed and the sofa, allowing a little more separation between the two areas. 

Booked on the Sun Princess for February 2025. I put the deposit down on a mini-suite for a family of 4 on December 30; I checked the price today and it's almost $1700 more!

1 hour ago, PrincessLuver said:

 

Agree also.  The piazza looks more like some kind of public area at a mall or airport.  They certainly took the warmth and charm out of it.  Does not look inviting at all like most Princess ship's piazzas do.

There's actually natural light! I think that's way more warm and inviting than artificial lighting.

4 minutes ago, SouKnoMe said:

And there’s a lot of negativity. For some of the videos that I’ve watched on ytube they start out talking about all the things that aren’t to their liking. Even the titles are negative. I can’t listen to them. I’ve fast forwarded some with no volume. And the ones that they’re still showing the storage in parts 1 & 2… it’s too much. 
 

I often wonder if they actually allow themselves to enjoy the moments, or is it about being first, or monetizing the videos. 

It's all click-bait. BIGSCARYLETTERS!!!! to get someone's attention, and then it's really not that big a deal.

1 minute ago, Sox Fan Cruiser said:

We just reserved it for April.  $45 per person. Children up to 12 year is $22.50.

Thank you! And is it considered Casual Dining, or Specialty Dining? 

Another request (sorry!): Can anyone confirm what the price will be for the Umai Teppanyaki?

Thank you to everyone posting from the ship/collecting posts from elsewhere.

If anyone has pictures of a category MD Mini-suite (we'll be in 10602 next February), and also pictures of the kids club area (ours will be 11 and is dying to see what it looks like) it would be greatly appreciated!

No alcohol packages in the traditional sense, but there is a wine package.

On 12/16/2022 at 9:41 AM, Nike4000 said:

As for the kid's clubs - my kids never enjoyed them either. They much preferred hanging out with my wife and I or just finding a comfy place to sit and read that was within short range of ice cream and pizza.

We can never get our kids out of the kids clubs, no matter the cruise line. lol. 

We've cruised on Carnival (4 times), Royal (1 time, with another next year), and Disney (1 time, with another in February). If we could afford it, we would cruise Disney every single time.

If you have Disney+, and are able to sail fairly soon (As in January-March), I highly recommend checking out the Disney+ subscriber deal; 3rd and 4th guests in a cabin are FREE. This saved us over $2000 for our cruise. 

Pros:

While you're absolutely paying for it, the Disney experience cannot be beat. It's absolutely the best out there. I'm talking about our server feeding our (at the time) cranky toddler; both girls loved him so much that they wanted pictures with him on the last day (Kevin, you rock!)

The kids clubs are top notch. The 3-11 year old area has multiple themed rooms to choose from; not just one room like most cruise lines, and it takes up nearly 1/3 of an entire deck. We couldn't get our then 10 year old to leave.

Soda is free! You can even bring your own tumblers to fill up on the pool deck.

Disney also has the most liberal alcohol policy out there. In addition to being able to bring 2 bottles of wine or champagne per 21+, you also have the option of bringing 6 12oz cans of beer instead. And when/if you buy any alcohol in port, you get to keep it! It's not packaged and labeled and put away until the last night like other cruise lines.

The nightly shows are legit Broadway caliber. 

The dining experience is super unique. Each ship has three main dining rooms, each with its own theme and menu. You rotate throughout each one during your trip, all while keeping the same servers. Animator's Palate includes Turtle Talk with Crush!

Two words: Pirate. Night. Most sailings in the Bahamas and Caribbean have pirate night. You'll see everything from simple shirts to full out costumes on this night. The characters are all in pirate gear as well. There are pirate themed events all day, but the best part is the giant deck party at night, including fireworks!

Themed cruises! Right now they have Pixar Day at Sea, and Marvel Day at Sea cruises. Each features special character appearances and menu items. There's also Halloween on the High Seas, and Very Merry Christmas. If you've ever been to one of the parks during Halloween or Christmas, you know how well they do things.

All of the staterooms have a split bathroom; one room has the toilet, the other has a shower. And I believe that all of the ships now have a rectangle tub. The newest ship, the Wish, has glass shower doors instead of a shower curtain.

Door decorations and Fish Extender Exchanges! The doors are magnetic (with a very few exceptions), and people tend to go all out for decorating. Just do a quick search on Etsy and you'll see what's out there. Fish Extender Exchanges are a lot of fun. Basically, there's a "fish" that's outside your stateroom door that they use to stick letters/tickets/etc., in, and you can buy a hanger on Etsy. It's kinda like a Secret Santa, and people will fill the extender with little goodies. It's totally optional, too, so you're under no obligation to sign up for a group.

On that note, the planning/meet-up groups tend to be super active and pretty awesome. We're still friends with some folks from our cruise group from 2015.

Character meet & greets without the worry of weather!

Disney's private island, Castaway Cay, is amazing. It may not have as much as Royal's Perfect Day, but with Perfect Day you're paying to do anything beyond a basic pool and beach (the waterpark is upwards of $90/person)

Cons:

The biggest con, in my opinion, is the cost. Disney really doesn't do the big sales like other cruise lines, especially ones that include onboard credit. The Disney+ subscriber deal is really the best deal I've seen in years. But if you're flexible with your travel dates you can find some pretty good rates.

If drinking and gambling is your thing, there are no casinos on Disney ships. Things also tend to wrap up fairly "early" compared to other cruise lines, though there are some clubs open until 1 or 2.

On 12/13/2022 at 1:38 PM, Nike4000 said:

I think it's fair to share the experience my neighbors had. They are avid Disney fans - every school break involved a trip to Disney World. Summers were spent visiting relatives in Florida to maximize time at the parks. Their house was Disney-fied for the holidays. Shoot, they lived in Texas but had annual passes to Disney World when the kids were little. They LOVE Disney - but absolutely abhorred their Disney cruise experience.  

 

We had been sharing how much we enjoyed our experiences on our Disney cruises and thought it would be a natural fit for them. They had cruised before and enjoyed it - seemed like they were the ideal family to enjoy a Disney cruise. Instead, they found the cruise to be too boring and felt like they were stuck on the ship. They felt trapped by the dinner experience, dining rooms were "meh,"  and they wanted more food options like in the parks. The kids hated the clubs and refused to go. They said it was their worst family vacation.

 

I'm definitely not trying to turn you off of doing a Disney cruise, I just want to share my neighbor's experience. I thought it would be their best family vacation & I still think anyone who likes Disney should try a cruise. They were the last people I told, "If you love Disney, you'll love going on a Disney cruise!"

 

Go on the Disney cruise, hopefully you love it (I'm guessing you will), but it's okay if you don't.

Okay...there's a lot to take in here.

To start, what do they mean by "trapped"? Nobody is literally forced to eat in the main dining room on a Disney ship, or any ship for that matter. Most folks just choose to eat in the MDR each night on Disney because of the unique experience each one offers. That said, there was nothing stopping them from eating elsewhere.

As to "more food options like in the parks", they needed to check their expectations; it's a floating hotel out in the middle of the ocean with limited space. Not acres upon acres of park.

And the kids hating the clubs? Sounds like a "them" thing. We couldn't get our kid to leave the club when we went. 

Disney food is AMAZING. The service is, well, Disney service. Our waiter even helped distract/feed our incredibly picky toddler a few times.

But as others have said....the price point. It's Disney. 

For the cost of a 4-5 day Disney Cruise with one cabin, we can book a 7 day cruise with two balcony cabins on Carnival. I priced out a similar itinerary on Disney to our upcoming one on Carnival, and it would be nearly $10k for two balconies. Yes. $10k. 

Both our kiddos were around the same age as yours on their first cruise.

As other have mentioned, if they're not potty trained yet it makes things a little more complicated. RCCL wouldn't take our kiddo at all because she was under three AND not potty trained, so we could only go to the open house style kids activities. Disney was different, and we could send our youngest to their nursery (had to pay, though). We did a Carnival shortly after that, and she still wasn't fully potty trained; the kid's club did take her, but we'd have to go help her use the restroom/change her pull-up.

Logistics like that aside, both our girls LOVE cruises. 

A really, really useful thing to buy is a battery operated night light. Makes a huge difference for our youngest. 

We also let them pick out what "fancy clothes" they want to pack, along with one (or two) toys/stuffed animals, and their favorite blanket.

Be patient at meal times; we basically adopted the "I don't care what they eat so long as they eat" vacation rule, which has made life a lot less stressful.

Direct from RCCL:

"For voyages originating in North America:
No Guest younger than the age twenty-one (21) will be assigned to a stateroom unless accompanied in the same stateroom by an adult twenty-one (21) years old or older. A guest's age is established upon the first date of sailing.

This age limit will be waived for children sailing with their parents or guardians in connecting staterooms; for underage married couples; and for active duty members of the United States or Canadian military.

Certain other restrictions and conditions will apply; such as compliance with the age twenty-one (21) alcohol policy, and proof of marriage for underage couples or proof of active duty military status required."

https://www.royalcaribbean.com/faq/questions/international-age-policy


We primarily sail on Carnival, which has similar age rules. Since our's will be 15 and 7, we booked two cabins with a parent/child in each, then let both kiddos sleep in one cabin. They were 13 and 5 the first time we did this.

1 minute ago, mmtska said:

Same. I was debating on it, and this made my decision MUCH easier. Blech

Yeah. Works out that our kids don't drink soda, so we can bring all four 12 packs for ourselves.

They switched to Pepsi? 

Well, guess that solves getting Bubbles or not. Ew.