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GRENADA- Wednesday, March 8 Today we had an incredible 3 part tour organized by Nathalie at Explorer Grenada, who was also our incredible guide who made sure our daughter was entertained the entire time. First up we went river tubing near the Grand Etang rainforest. At first our daughter wasn’t sure about wearing the lifevest and helmet but once we got in the water she loved it. She rode with her mom for the majority of the trip, but once we got to a calm spot she was able to sit in her own tube for a bit and was giggling like crazy. Next, we traveled to Belmont Estate, a 17th century farm that is still in operation that grows all sorts of fruits and vegetables, and they specialize in Cocoa Beans which they make into their own chocolate bars. While my wife and I toured, our daughter was able to walk around the estate with our guide meeting the animals and even got to walk on top of the drying beans, a process that helps turn them over. Finally we went to the River Antoine Estate, a rum distillery that has been making their rum the same exact way since 1785. Instead of using molasses like many modern distilleries this place uses only the juice extracted from the sugar cane they grow on their property. Every step (except for checking the alcohol percentage) is done by hand. This tour was truly an all-day tour. We left at 9 and we were walking back onboard at 5:10. When we realized what time it was we ran as fast as we could to Adventure Ocean, and got there just in time for the family activity.

TRINIDAD- Tuesday, March 7 My wife and I really don’t like ship sponsored excursions. We almost always will have a private or small group tour (or just do the city on our own if that is doable). But there were MANY MANY security warnings about Trinidad. We felt that a ship sponsored excursion was the safest thing to do for our family. This morning the 3 of us did a morning tour of Caroni Swamp where we had the opportunity to see all sorts of animals including Blue Herons, snakes, ant eaters, flamingos, and the National animal of the country the Scarlet Ibis. We had an absolutely fantastic guide who pointed out all of the animals he could see. It was hot when the tour started (and got hotter as the two hour tour continued), and our little one got a little bored after the 60 minute mark, but luckily the other cruisers near us on the tour fully understood and helped keep her happy. At one point she laid down on the floor of the boat in the only shade near us for about 5 minutes. When our 20-something passenger bus arrived back at the ship a little after noon our daughter was sound asleep in our arms, but when we put her down for a nap in our room she woke up and announced that she wanted to go to the kids club, and WITHOUT US. She spent a little over 2 hours happily playing while mommy and daddy napped in the room, the heat was definitely affecting me. When the beeper from Adventure Ocean went off we were a little concerned, but they wanted to let us know that she was hungry and asking for food. Since my wife was also hungry they went to Windjammer for a late lunch while I got all of our stuff ready for the pool. A quick change of clothes later we were all swimming, while Black Panther: Wakanda Forever played on the big screen. The water was cool and lovely and I was finally feeling better, and there were a few other young kids by the pool that our daughter was able to play with. After swimming we went to the family activity in Adventure Ocean. We then decided on a light dinner at Windjammer (a first for us, we usually do MDR or a Specialty Restaurant) and had an early night.

TOBAGO- Monday, March 6 We had an absolutely incredible private tour that was completely designed for our daughter’s interest by Terry at Tobago Island Fun Tours. It included a short walk in a beautiful rainforest where we got to feed fish and swim by a waterfall, a visit to a hummingbird sanctuary, and time at a beautiful beach, Enlighman’s Bay, including a delicious lunch of either chicken or fish with rice, beans, salad, macaroni pie, and a drink (we tried the Carib lager and the Carib Ginger shandy). Terry met us in the KFC parking lot immediately across the street from the port as soon as the gangway was down, and we were back a little before 5, so it was a long but truly wonderful day. After we got back to the room we put our stuff down and headed to Adventure Ocean. Every day at 5:15 they had a family activity for parents and kids to do together. We did this activity on Monday (arts and crafts), Tuesday (science experiment), Wednesday (Potato Muffalo, where you use numbers and letters to draw other things (in this case a turtle) Thursday (a scavenger hunt that our daughter was a little young for) and Saturday (family bingo). It was a great opportunity for our daughter to unwind after long days of touring, and for us to meet some of the other families.

THE ROOM: As mentioned earlier, we ended up with 7656, an Aft Balcony, at an amazing deal! The room is nice, with only a couple signs of it’s age (2 cabinet doors that don’t like to stay open being the worst thing, and that really isn’t that bad) and a couple things I miss from other classes, like the shelves by the vanity that are the perfect size for books. And I’m not a fan of the shower curtain in that tight a space. But there were MANY positives. There is a large amount of storage, the bed is actually really comfortable, the couple in the connecting room next door said they can’t hear our daughter even when she’s being loud, and the BALCONY, oh the balcony! It is so deep, 2 chairs, a round table, and 2 loungers. The room steward (Herri, who is also wonderful) suggested also putting the oval table from inside the room out on the balcony so that there is actually a little bit of space when the sofa bed is out, and it is the perfect height and length to go between the loungers. My wife and I love to read and drink a glass of wine on our balcony after our toddler has gone to bed. The previous balcony we had was a Central Park balcony on Allure, where there was enough light to read by, but after asking here we decided to purchase usb powered lights that can clip to the chairs. They have long cords, and we plug them into an external usb battery that we charge during the day. They have 4 different brightness settings and we found the second lowest is perfect. This was a really wonderful room, we were thrilled that we got it, and we are going to be missing the size of the balcony when we are on Oasis in July.

EMBARKATION DAY- Sunday, March 5 In the morning we walked down to the beach and had breakfast at Baby Doll, right on the water. The food was good (blueberry pancakes, cheesey eggs on sourdough, and the Persian breakfast, which was like a shakshouka with baked eggs, onions and mushrooms), the coffee was weak, and the service was very slow, even factoring in island time. We went back to the hotel, repacked everything, and had the front desk call us a taxi. The trip was pretty quick, and the price is set before you step in the vehicle. When the taxi got to the port security asked to see our passports and proof we were on one of the cruises that was there. Porters met us as we approached the pier, collected our bags and walked us to the check in line. We chose to not get in the line right away, we wanted to walk around the few little shops there were and pick up some souvenirs (there is also a nice looking bar/grill, plenty of people were drinking Banks and Carib at 11 in the morning). When we were ready to board we walked to the line, but as soon as the staff members saw us they ushered us to benches by the front of the line and had us lead the next group to board. Because Rhapsody docks a short distance from the pier they let people through in groups, walking them from the line, to a shuttle bus, which then drives you to the Royal check in. Because this is happening in smaller groups it happens VERY QUICKLY. So while there might be a small wait while you are in the initial line once you get to the shuttle bus it really moves fast. Unlike every other cruise I’ve taken this one boards from the main gangway on deck one, and as you get on board they put you in elevators to deck 5, the floor where most of the muster stations are. They really want you to get the muster done with ASAP, which still didn’t stop some from not doing it hours after boarding. After checking in we stopped by Adventure Ocean to register our daughter, our room to drop off our carry on luggage, and then to the pool. The pool was awesome. We were on Jewel in August and were a little disappointed by the pool, but this pool was large and pretty deep, and while there was always a decent crowd it never felt crowded. We swam a while, and then headed back to the room to find our suitcases and unpack (see the next post, THE ROOM for more about the room). After getting the room set up for the week we went back up to the pool area to listen to some music and let our daughter dance a little bit. We then headed back to the room and got ready for dinner. We had My Time Dining, reservations at 6:30 every night. We always request the same table if possible, and if not to always be sat with the same waiter. I will be posting about food at the end. After dinner we were all exhausted. We got our daughter to sleep, went out on our balcony for a glass of wine and a chapter or 2 of reading, and then went to bed. We would have early mornings every day this week.

BARBADOS DAY 2- Saturday, March 4 Our daughter woke us up over 90 minutes before our alarm was set to go off, not sure if it was the bright Caribbean sun or the hours of sleep the day before. After getting ourselves together we headed down toward the beach for breakfast. We found a lovely little spot, ArtSplash Cafe, with nice food, an artist’s market, and a rather large playground that our daughter really enjoyed. We had pancakes, a salmon Benedict, and a smashed pea toast with a poached egg. The Benedict and pea toast were great, the pancakes had good flavor but were tough, and we later found out they were gluten free. Our daughter ate about half her plate, but was very happy with the fruit smoothie she had. This was going to be our one full day in Barbados, and we had a lot planned. We booked a tour on Viator operated by SunTours Barbados to visit the Barbados Wildlife reserve and Harrison’s Cave. Our driver picked us up a little before 10 and we were pleasantly surprised to see it was a private tour, some reviews had mentioned being part of a small group. Our driver was wonderful and talked to us all about the island as we made our trip to the Wildlife Reserve. We arrived there minutes before the monkeys were to be fed, so we were rushed there first. This was such a cool experience. The moneys are wild, but since they are fed they hang around, and boy were there a lot of them. Before the feeding began everyone was reminded to not get too close, and especially to not touch the food, the monkeys will bite you if they think you are threatening them or their lunch. We hung out there for about 20 minutes watching the monkeys of various sizes come and go, grabbing food and scurrying away a bit to eat it. Our daughter especially loved it. When we were done watching the monkeys we made our way back to the main part of the reserve to see the other animals. We saw turtles, chickens, deer, and a peacock. We then drove to Harrison’s Cave, but we arrived a few minutes late for the tour. We decided to wait until the next one, and our daughter took the opportunity to take a nap while waiting, and my wife and I took turns walking around the complex, which is in the middle of a major restoration/change (they are adding more attractions like zip lines and infinity pools). When it was time for our tour we were glad we stuck around. First you watch an educational film about Barbados. You then take an elevator down to the entrance to the cave, where you put on a hairnet and watch another film about the geology of the cave. You are then escorted to your team and given a hard hat before the tram goes down down The tour was really cool, and it is extremely impressive to see what little space and light the original explorers had to work with, compared to what we got to experience. If you are at all a fan of geology I totally recommend coming here. When we were finished at Harrison’s Cave (an hour later than originally scheduled) our driver took us back to our hotel. We wanted to go to the beach, but our daughter first wanted to take a quick swim in the hotel pool. After she cooled off in the pool we walked the one block to the boardwalk, and then walked until we got to The Tiki Bar. As I mentioned earlier this cruise had an incredible social media presence, and a bunch of people wanted to do a pre-cruise meet up. One of the cruisers who is from Barbados suggested The Tiki Bar as the location, and they have a wonderful beach right there that we could enjoy before saying hi to everyone. After a good 90 minutes of playing at the beach we walked over to the restaurant and joined our ever growing group. Originally this meet up was going to just be for drinks, but enough people wanted food that we ended up with a gigantic table of around 30 people, plus there were other cruisers at smaller tables as well. This was so much fun, and it was great to introduce everyone to Jennie so that when they saw her all over the ship they called hi to her. After having a good dinner (and a fair number of cocktails) we walked back to the hotel and fell asleep quickly.

BARBADOS DAY 1- Friday, March 3 We spent Thursday night at the Raddison at JFK. While I don’t love flying out of JFK (or flying Jet Blue who have screwed us before) it was the only option anywhere near us with a non-stop flight. Other airports had flights with connections, but either only 25 minutes or over 9 hours, neither good when traveling with a 3 year old. Our flight was scheduled to take off at 10:30. We got through security quickly, boarded the plane on time, and then sat, and sat, and sat. 30 minutes later the pilot comes on and tells us that there is a problem with the plane, we will have to get off the plane, and that Jet Blue is working on getting another plane ready for us. This was crazy, and stressful (especially with a toddler) but we were actually very impressed that our new plane took off by 1pm (it sucked that we all had to schlep to the other end of the terminal, but oh well). Once we finally did take off the trip was smooth; our tired daughter slept the entire flight and I got to finally watch EVERYTHING, EVERYWHERE, ALL AT ONCE (a weird and wonderful film, totally deserving of the praise it is getting). We were getting off the plane within 10 minutes of landing, and we were through customs shortly after that. ***Barbados does have an immigration form you have to fill out, they have a bunch of terminals to do it at the airport, but you also can do it ahead of time online (starting 48 hours before you land) and print it at home. This definitely saved a little time. *** Our luggage took about 15 minutes to come out, and we were escorted right to the taxi stand, where they write down your destination and the amount to pay (both is US Dollars and Barbados Dollars, which by the way is 2 to 1 with America, so while there is some sticker shock prices aren’t terrible). We were quickly in a cab large enough for our luggage and on our way to our home for the next 2 nights, PIRATES INN. There are tons of incredible hotels, many of them right on the beach, and most of them EXTREMELY expensive (especially the weekend we were there, which was when the biggest horse race in the Caribbean was happening). Pirates Inn is more of a motel feel, mostly designed for people staying weeks at a time, but the property is nice, the room we have is unbelievably large with a nice sized balcony looking out onto the pool, a full kitchen, and air conditioning that is strong (very important). Our 2 night stay came out to about $237 total, which is less than most hotels were charging per night (before taxes and fees). AND it is one block from Rockley Beach, and close to tons of restaurants. After an extremely quick check in we walked a little over 5 minutes to Shaker’s Grill for dinner, recommended by the front desk, only to discover they had no tables available, and wouldn’t for at least 90 minutes. But they did a great job putting together a to go order (including frozen cocktails) which we ate on our hotel balcony, before going to bed after an exhausting day. We had fried shrimp, a grilled chicken sandwich with roasted potatoes and slaw, and the catch of the day (kingfish). The food was fine, though the breading on the fish didn’t hold up well on the walk back to the hotel. The drinks were both delicious and much needed after the drama of the day.

WHO WE ARE/ CHOOSING THIS CRUISE My wife and I are in our mid 30s and love cruising, especially to interesting ports. We almost exclusively cruise on Royal (we did one Carnival cruise because it gave us almost 48 hours in Cuba), and while we cruised a little pre Covid we’ve made up for lost time since the restart and took great advantage of the double points offered. Our daughter is now 3 (and a half!) and this is her third cruise. She is full of energy, and on “traditional” cruises we would normally go on an Oasis class ship (or at least Freedom) to make sure there was lots to do. However this cruise is 7 ports in 7 days, with no sea days, so we weren’t too confused about a (much) smaller ship. She loves food and music, and this ship would have both of those things. LAST MARCH we had just finished all of the planning for our summer 2022 cruise (British Isles) and started to look for what our following cruise would be. We were very interested in the sailings departing from Barbados, and this one really caught our eye. 7 ports, all brand new for us, in 7 days. Tobago, Trinidad, Grenada, Saint Vincent, Dominica, and Saint Lucia. We looked at the various dates and decided that the cruise departing February 26th would be perfect, so I called and booked a Guarantee Balcony room. With the Kids Sail Free sale happening the price was EXTREMELY good, and we were happy. Two weeks later I get an email from Royal. The Feb 26th cruise has been chartered, but I can pick from a list of different dates and change at no cost. We settle on March 5, I call, and a wonderful thing happens. The agent explains that there are no Guarantee Balcony rooms, but that he has been authorized to give any remaining balcony rooms at no charge to those switching from this cruise. I look online and see 7656, an AFT BALCONY. I quickly request that room, and it is soon ours, for the same cost that we paid for a guarantee room for the previous cruise. We went from being excited about the itinerary to also thrilled about the room. I now had 12 months to plan the perfect week in the Southern Caribbean. We had an extremely active Facebook page for the sailing, and more-active-than-most-sailings roll call here on Cruise Critic, and we were all super excited for a cruise that would be different than most.

We just got off Rhapsody of the Seas this morning in Barbados and are currently in the air on the way home. Since there have not been many reviews of the cruises out of Barbados, and especially the Island Hop itinerary where you visit 7 islands in 7 days, I wanted to post this review. I am not an expert review poster, so this might be a little all over the place. This is mostly going to be about our experience on each island, including what we did on Barbados. Rhapsody is a small ship, without the fancy bells and whistles, but this cruise was so busy we didn’t miss any of that. We didn’t spend a lot of time doing ship activities, but I have tried to include some of what we did do. Also, yes we had the new menus, no we did not have lobster (at least not free) on Royal Night, that isn’t a complimentary item on sailing from Barbados. I have made a whole post about dinners, at the end. I’ve broken this into sections so it is hopefully easier to read and understand, and there will be a few pictures throughout as well. If you have any questions please ask.

Harmony is moving to Galveston in November

Call Customer Service and have it added to your reservation. And then also mention it to your waiter on the first night (maybe even stop by after boarding the ship and talk to the head waiter)

I booked a bunch of rooms for a July Oasis cruise back in October. When I looked online there was no choice between neighborhood or ocean balcony guarantee, just balcony guarantee. When I called I was given a choice between ocean balcony guarantee, or just balcony guarantee, and was specifically told it could be either depending on availability. There was no option for a neighborhood balcony guarantee.

My wife and I did this on Freedom of the Seas during a Mediterranean cruise and we had a blast. We started in the upper dining room, greeted with tables full of champagne and mimosas. After a few glasses a few important crew members, including the head chef, were introduced. These crew members gave an overview of just how much the kitchens do, and what to expect during our tour (including all of the rules). After that we broke into 2 or 3 smaller groups, and started the tour. My wife and I are foodies who both worked in the food industry when we were younger, so we loved seeing just how they were able to manage all of the food in such a relatively small space. Yes, it can be cramped, and yes, it can be hard to hear (especially since the kitchens are in full work mode getting ready for both your brunch and lunch for the rest of the ship), but we got a pretty good look at most of the areas in the galley, a chance to talk to various members of the crew, and our guide was able and willing to answer tons of questions, both about the kitchens and life living on a ship in general. After the tour we ended up in the lower dining room and got to have a lovely brunch, with more drinks, and a live musician. It was the typical quality we have come to expect from the main dining room, not super elegant, but not disappointing.

We just booked that exact itinerary but leaving February 25! Very excited, first time in Galveston, Roatan and Puerto Costa Maya!

It isn’t in the app, it will be in the daily planner, but it will say “BABIES & TOTS” before the name of the activity

It will be listed on the cruise compass and in the app (under Babies and Tots). It is held in the Teen Lounge room, right across from Adventure Ocean and the Arcade. On our British Isles cruise there was an activity every Sea Day.

Adventure Ocean starts at 3. Instead of a nursery they do have occasional “Babies and Tots” activities, a chance for little ones (with their parents) to play together with toys and do arts and crafts.

Don’t even think about doing a ship excursion for Florence/Pisa. If you want to maximize your time find a small group tour (I recommend https://www.italytours.eu , they also do an awesome Rome/Vatican tour). They will meet you as soon as you get off the ship and you will be on the road in minutes. The van will be able to park right near the leaning tower (certainly a lot closer than any bus). The classic photo stop as you approach Florence will take only a few minutes instead of the long time it takes to get everyone off and back on a bus. Your small group will get to skip the line to see the David like the large groups, but will get to see more of the museum because of the small size. Yes, your post David tour of Florence will be quick, mostly pointing out highlights for you to check out the next time you are there, but at least you will get a tour, and with a guide listening to your questions and directly engaging with you instead of having to keep track of a large group.

Tap Water, which is distilled and quite good, is free. If all you want in addition to water is soda you can get a soda package. If you want to also get mocktails, coffees, milkshakes, etc you can get the refreshment package. OR if you don’t think you’ll drink enough of those to justify the cost you can just purchase as you go.

It isn’t that so much as it is that 4 adults to 1 toddler is a good ratio. Sure, there is babysitting, but there is also having different people to sit next to and occupy attention during meals and excursions/just another pair of eyes to watch.

My wife and I have currently done 2 cruises with our daughter, and have two more planned for the upcoming months. She first cruised in July 2021, just after turning 2, 7 days on the Allure. This was a perfect ship for such a young child, and being right when the restart was happening was awesome. The entire crew, and most of the passengers, knew her name by day 2, there was plenty for her to do, and the Babies and Tots Nursery program was available for her. Next was 12 days on the Jewel doing a British Isles cruise. This was originally supposed to be a Baltic Cruise when she was an infant, which would have had its own set of pros and cons, but that cruise was delayed multiple times first due to Covid and then Putin. We were lucky enough to have Grandma and Grandpa with us which really helped. While this ship doesn’t have all the bells and whistles the larger ones do we still found plenty to do with her. She liked being able to be in the “real pool” since she is now diaper trained, but she had some major separation issues and didn’t want us to leave her at Adventure Ocean. Our next two cruises will be 2 very different experiences. We are going on Rhapsody out of Barbados on an Island Hop cruise. 7 days, a different island every day, with 0 sea days. Yes this ship is very small compared to others with not a ton for young kids, but we won’t be spending a lot of time on the ship. When we are on board we will be in the pool and now that she goes to preschool at home she is more excited about Adventure Ocean. Grandma and Grandpa are not joining us for this one, but we are cautiously optimistic. This summer we will bringing a bunch of friends on Oasis. Her other grandmother will be with us, and this entire trip is about having fun with all the kids. So, what are my thoughts? If you can’t bring grandparents try to go on a larger ship with more for young ones to do, and a nursery program. Realize that you won’t be able to do everything you used to, but you and your partner should take turns doing a few fun activities while the other watches the kid. In terms of a room I suggest a balcony, so that after you put the kid into the pack and play you can go out on the balcony to relax with some wine. It can still be a ton of fun, but you have to know what you are getting in to.

Just bumping this once to see if anyone else has any ideas.

all of the exclusions are in writing when you click “Exclusions Apply”, and if it is a sailing where Kids Sail Free can be used it says (in bold) “You're eligible for Kids Sail Free savings on this cruise” when you first click a date.

A few days ago I tried booking a shore excursion on Cruise Planner but any time my 3 year old daughter was added it did not allow me to proceed (even though it doesn’t list a minimum age anywhere). I called the main number, explained the situation, and after “speaking to a manager” the man i was speaking to told me that it must be a mistake on the website, that the child would be free, and that she would be listed in the confirmation email. But she isn’t. Not being able to book our daughter online is actually the case for every single excursion at this port (Trinidad). I’m not getting anywhere speaking to normal customer service, is there a better number to call (thinking maybe Crown & Anchor, but I have only called them for questions about the C&A program before.

As Ashland said above Kids Sail Free is one of the best deals Royal has (some might say one of the only true deals out there). You do have to make sure you are comparing TOTAL occupancy and correct room category. Two recent success stories! My family did a British Isles cruise this past summer, that was originally supposed to be a Baltic cruise in 2020. After many changes due to Covid and then Putin, we finally had a cruise we were going to go on, and we noticed there was a Kids Sail Free promotion going on. Even though they say “new bookings only” they applied it to the cruise, and it dropped our total by over $1500. A similar thing happened with the cruise we will be taking this March from Barbados. We were Originally scheduled for one cruise, which Royal canceled. They emailed saying we could reschedule to certain other cruises with price guaranteed, I called with the new sailing we wanted. The woman on the phone said “by the way, there is a Kids Sail Free promotion” and added it. The original price for my wife and I remained the same, even though the new cruise was around $400 more per person, and my kid’s entire charge (minus taxes and port fees) was gone, a savings of around $900.