moopetswife

This is the first I've heard about the AO staff coming to take your child from the dining room. Is this available with MTD as well? And on the Harmony? How does one go about arranging for this? Would love to be able to enjoy dinner without stressing over how long the service might take and leaving to take the 4 year old to AO

AO staff meet outside one of the dining rooms between 6:40-6:50pm every evening. They will tell you which one at orientation on day one. Once your child/ren is/are registered, you just show up at the designated time and place and the AO staff will be there to collect them.

if they don't say anything to you at registration on day one, make sure you ask which dining room the pick up is at. It is always at the same time. It gives parents a chance to enjoy dessert and conversation.

I was super nervous the first time we used the pick up service, because DD is a runner - or rather she was when she was smaller. But they get them up there safely, and all is well. The AO staff seems really well-trained. It has always been a highlight for us.

It is my understanding this service is available on all the ships that have adventure ocean.

Coffee is so personal. Everyone takes things differently, everyone prefers slightly different strengths, Different amounts of milk or cream, different amounts of sugar.

I personally love the coffee on RCL. On my last cruise, liberty of the seas, I particularly enjoyed the decaf from the promenade. I am currently caffeine restricted but cannot stand to give up coffee completely. For my personal preference it was perfect in terms of strength and acidity. Others views may vary.

coffee is so personal that some people, like me, don't even like the most popular coffees like Starbucks. I find Starbucks a little too strong for my personal taste.

I am also not one to complain about a cup of coffee that was free and that I did not have to make myself :D. I did not find much difference between the promenade coffee and the MDR coffee on this cruise. On previous cruises there has been a big difference. There is a difference between the promenade, the MDR, and the WJ. I did not always care for the WJ, it was inconsistent in terms of strength and flavor. Interestingly enough the decaf was always good. But then it's decaf so you may not like that. I loved it.

Coffee is too personal to be able to say roundly that it is all good or all bad for the whole cruise. Other people were drinking it besides me and other people seem to like it besides me. On a ship of several thousand people there is no way to make a single cup of coffee to please everyone.

On our last cruise on the night they serve the lamb shank, DD got seasick. She needed to leave the table and wanted to lie down. I took my lamb on the dining room plate with the dining room utensils and my napkin and took DD back to our cabin with my glass of wine. No one had a problem. None of the waiters tried to stop me. No one gave me any funny looks. Well maybe one or two, but no staff or crew. It wasn't a problem.

After getting back to the cabin, DD made a miraculous recovery and wanted to return to the dining room. I took my lamp shank, my wine, my napkin, my utensils, and DD and we returned to the dining room. Again walking through the halls with a plate and a glass of wine and a child caused no strange looks no one to stop me, no one to question me, and nobody minded. One crewmember stopped to ask if I needed help carrying it, and that was all.

It doesn't seem to be a problem to take food from any dining room anywhere else on the ship as long as food is permitted. Food is not allowed in the pool so I expect they would ask you to leave the pool if you were eating in the water. Other than that, you are probably fine.

(Ps, if you were wondering why I took all my food it's because it was lamb. I will never pass on a good piece of lamb.)

One more thought on dining with kids...

You may get an excellent waiter, or you may get one who...well...dawdles. We've had both. I never mind if the waiter dawdles slightly, as I am super talkative and won't notice... until it is 6:30pm and I'm still waiting for DDs dinner. If she's being picked up at 6:40, this annoys me. But it's not always the waiters fault.

Best way around this, I have found, is to make sure the waiter knows on the very first night that you are planning on having your kid(s) picked up by the AO staff every (or most) night and they need to be done their dessert by 6:40pm (pickup is between 6:40-6:50, and if you miss it, the AO doors don't open until 7pm).

Even on our last cruise, where we left less than awesome reviews for our waitstaff (kinda the slowest service we've ever had), they were superb about getting DDs dinner and dessert (as well as the food for the other kids at the table) out ahead of the adult meals so they could be fed and gone on time. We grown ups then got to leisurely sip our wine and eat our desserts sans kids every night.

We noticed on the first night that the trend was going to be towards slow service, and so I said something after dinner. From then on, the adult meals still took a while, but the kids meals were speedy fast.

Moopetguy and I have always specifically requested to be seated at a table with other families with kids. This has allowed our DD to make a friend early in the cruise, and it can be easier for some little ones to meet in a small controlled setting with parents (your child and experience may vary). Then they end up going up to Adventure Ocean together after dinner.

DD is still penpals and occasionally Skypes with a previous cruise buddy. It's pretty cute, actually.

You *can* request to be seated with another family and it has been my personal experience that RCL honors this. You don't have to, though. Both times we have done it, the families we were seated with didn't know we had made such a request nor that you could.

If you are specifically looking for a dining experience where your kids will make friends their own age, this is definitely something to request. If it doesn't really matter, then RCL doesn't seem to have any specific way to group guests.

DH and I will be going on Liberty in February with our 4 yr old DD. Between what we bought and what our agent gave us we only have one night in the MDR. Is there a night the meals/"show" in the MDR stood out? Thanks in advance! :)

Will this be your first sailing with Royal?

I hope you have an amazing time! I'm a new poster here, but have been on as many cruises as moopetguy, being his wife and all (unless he's sneaking off for cruises I don't know about:confused:). From our second cruise, first one with DD, I have been completely taken with the quality of childcare on board and hope you find it as agreeable as I have.

We used the in room babysitting services when DD was too small for Adventure Ocean so we could enjoy dinner quietly in the evenings while she was put to bed. While pricey, the staff they send are police checked and qualified and sent in pairs for safety. It's a great option if you occasionally prefer a later dinner without kids or don't feel like your little one is up to a later night in Adventure Ocean, but you still want to go out and do something or see a later show.

The Adventure Ocean staff have been consistently amazing. We make use of the dining room pickup service. We have family dining at 5:30pm, and DD is picked up at 6:40pm outside the MDR with other kids by the AO staff and taken upstairs to the evening program. You can request a dect phone so they can contact you in case of emergency and they will bring one down to the dining room for you at drop off time.

This allowed moopetguy and I to enjoy dessert quietly each night and enjoy the show after if there was one.

Adventure Ocean is the one thing that has consistently wowed me. DD doesn't always love it, but that's mostly because she is 5 and would much prefer being a pain in mommys butt over playing fun and awesome games. :D Whenever moopetguy or I have gone up to get her after insisting she at least try it for 5 minutes, she's always having a blast.

Our next stop was at Half Moon Resort for a leisurely lunch out on their deck.

 

The views never disappoint, especially on a day like we had!

 

 

We both ordered shrimp, and relaxed with some local flavor while we waited for our food.

 

The local residents were very interested in our shrimp!

 

 

I am, as my name may suggest, the wife of the poster above me. We were definitely at the same restaurant, it was great. I have that same picture of that same adorable kitty and her sister. Best fed strays ever.

Roatan was my favourite Port on this cruise. Lots to see and do. The view was gorgeous, and the coffee I brought back is the best I've ever had. Many thanks to our driver, Tex, who took us to a local grocery store to get it.