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5 hours ago, Theresa72 said:

I just read that the splash zone for babies and toddlers is restricted to a small area on some ships but wasn't sure if this is true for all of Royal's ships that have a splash zone. We're going on Wonder of the Seas in September, and my son and daughter-in-law have a 2 1/2 and 1 year old who are both still in diapers. I know the 2 1/2 yo will especially have a hard time not going in the pool, because she loves swimming and is learning how to swim. They have been counting on the splash zone to keep them happy.  

 

Does anyone know if Wonder only has a small splash zone for babies and toddlers who are still in diapers or is it a larger area they will be able to access?

 

TIA

The Wonder splash area for diapered children is fantastic.  My 3 yr old grandson and 1 year old granddaughter loved it!  It has a small playground with two slides and other fun water stuff.  It’s the largest one I’ve seen on a ship, although it is my first cruise with young children so of course I noticed it more.  You will have a wonderful time!!  P.S. not sure when you are going but in the summer the deck can get very hot so you will want some shoes for them or carry them to and from the splash area.  Have fun!  (I see you said September.  You might still want shoes for the 2 1/2 year old at least)

Just call.  He does not have to get the beverage package.  A lot of people are able to do this.  They may say he needs to get the non alcoholic refreshment package but that is a lot less money and he won’t be tempted. 

15 hours ago, suzyed said:

How do you find that?

 

Toppers rum excursion was offered through the cruise ship. They also offer tours there if you want to take a cab  
The adventure race was offered through the ship but I purchased through trisportsxm.com. We were all on the same thing only the ship people took the water taxi and we took a 10 minute walk. We beat them by 30’min and had to wait on them. But we also paid a lot less 😊

11 hours ago, pharmdawg said:

maybe I'm too far out because I don't see a way to link them on the app or website

When you go to reserve dinner, if you’re doing specialty or my time, or an excursion you’ll be asked to pick which guests and then you will see “add guests” at the bottom and you can add anyone as long as you know reservation number.  If you have traditional dining that would be done by calling or through your TA.

On 5/7/2023 at 8:51 AM, Cruise till you drop said:

thanks for the info.  When you book the tour online, do they charge your credit card immediately upon booking or only put a hold on your card

She has a portable CC machine she will bring around at the end of the tour.  Some argued with her but her website did clearly say you would be charged the day of the tour.  She said she has no access to the credit card numbers we use to put on hold therefore if we leave she has no way to charge us.  She is so sweet!  You will have a wonderful time!

We have done a Toppers Rhum distillery tour that was fun and gave you a nice tour of St. Maarten over towards Simpson Bay and also went by Maho Beach.  Most recently we did a scavenger hunt called the adventure race.  This is fun if you have a group of people you’re traveling with.

15 minutes ago, princeton123211 said:

This is false. 

How is this false?  The OP is on a closed loop US sailing bringing a birth certificate and photo ID.  No passport is needed.  Just did this exact cruise with the same information.  No passport needed.  Preferred yes, but not needed.

Was just there last week.  All the cruise line will tell you to bring ashore is a picture ID and they didn’t even ask for it when returning to port. You do not need a passport.

As you can read here it’s a personal preference and everyone will have a different opinion.  I would go by which menus sound the best to you.  I’ve heard 150 Central Park is amazing!  We did not try it because we had young kids with us and the menu is limited.  We did the 3 night dining package on Wonder last week.  I almost didn’t do Hooked because of some reviews and that turned out to be the best meal of the whole cruise.  Some liked chops, others said their steak in the dining room had more flavor.  We did Giovanni’s and I agree with others, it was disappointing also.  For the most part the best meals we had were in the main dining room but even then from one night to the next the same food can taste different.  I’m not a picky eater so I would consider the dining package again just because I enjoy the dining experience in the specialty dining but I would not say it is always worth the upcharge.  

I just got off the Wonder with my daughter’s family which included my 3 year old grandson and 12 month old granddaughter.  We had a blast.  It was exhausting at times but mainly because there were two and my daughter said she may wait on doing a 7 day again for awhile.  However if you only have the 3 year old I highly recommend it.  He had so much fun he didn’t want to go home.  I would suggest an Oasis class ship because there are more areas to walk around and play.  The Wonder had indoor and outdoor playgrounds.  My first time with a little one so I’ve never noticed what is on the other ships.  Hope you decide to do it!

Just had to post how amazing and fun this was!  It is great for all ages and is a great family activity!  I have a hard time finding non beach activities in St. Maarten so thought I’d try this and it was a hit!  We booked through trisportsxm.com but it was also available through Royal Caribbean.

I would not wait until embarkation if you really want to eat there.  I just got off Wonder and a family with the UDP told me they got on the ship at 11:30 made their dining reservations, then went to Izumi Hibachi and had to get on the waiting list.  They were number 70!!!  

That is extremely high!  My family just returned today and Coco Cay is one of our favorite spots and we don’t spend a dime!  For my cruise it was running on sale for $140 and I thought that was high.  Not sure what ages you are thinking of buying it for but about 4 years ago we spent $40 on thrill water park and the kids have never wanted to buy the tickets again.  They said it wasn’t worth it.  They enjoy all the other stuff the island has to offer.  If you have young kids they have amazing water playgrounds for the kids for free.

On 1/16/2023 at 6:21 PM, Freckles_51 said:

Hi, I have booked this tour for March.  Since the snacks are not lunch and the tour is quite long, are there any places at the stops to buy lunch or at least more snacks?

We just took this tour and Cristelle is as sweet as the come!  She was such a joy to talk to.  There are several stops but most are not in town where there are stores.  I believe there may have been one place to buy a snack but we didn’t need it.  Some of her “tastes” were small but there were small sandwiches and a couple other heartier things too.  We were not starving when we returned to the ship.  Our driver was a little late so we met her at 9 and returned to the ship around 2:15.  The tour was wonderful!

You should have been able to book the kids in their own room.  RCL allows it as long as the rooms are next to each other (don’t even have to be connecting).  However we often book one adult and one child in each room because only my husband likes to get the drink package.  This way I do not have to get it.  Once we are on board we go to guest services and have new cards made for the correct rooms in which we are actually sleeping.  Honestly, sometimes we don’t even bother with that since the rooms are connecting you can enter either room and get to the other.  Enjoy!

1 hour ago, LadyBerard said:

Cruising soon, and my friend that I'm rooming with has cold symptoms.  Took an at home test yesterday and it was negative, took another today, and it was  positive.  She's going to go get a pcr test today.  IF she is positive, obviously, she is not going.  I do want to still go.  When I check in at the pier, do I notify them that she is a no show or not say anything?  I understand that no shows should receive port fees and gov. taxes back.  

 

On another note, we do have travel insurance (not RCL's insurance).

I went through this in May.  Sorry for the long post but want to save you time.  One of my son’s friends could not go so he was a “no show”.  He was not able to cancel his drink package ahead of time because everyone in the room must have the package.  Therefore after reading things on cruise critic we waited until we arrived to take care of things.  At the pier we told them he wasn’t coming and they didn’t seem to really care or do anything different.  Once aboard I went to guest services and they told me they could do nothing and I had to call shoreside offices.  So then I went to the concierge and she said she was fairly certain it would all be refunded once the cruise ended and that if I wanted to call a week or so after the cruise to be certain I should probably do that.  Fast forward to almost 3 weeks later I received a refund automatically for everything!  Hopefully this will all workout for you too!

In January we parked in garage at terminal 2 not knowing we wouldn’t be returning to that terminal.  When we disembarked Princess provided shuttle buses to take us to terminal 2.  

On 7/17/2022 at 7:30 PM, kpauley said:

Does anyone have experience taking this shore excursion through Royal Caribbean? The description does not say but I'm guessing it is guided. Is the forest trail rough to ride on?  It is labeled as strenuous. Did you find it strenuous?  Thanks.

Just took this tour yesterday with Oceania. It was wonderful!  It was guided and the bikes were ebikes so not strenuous at all from my perspective as long as you remembered to change gear before going uphill. There was a short path that was a little rough but the majority of the riding is on a paved trail. 😊. Overall I felt like I could have done it twice as long. 

Yay!  Have a wonderful cruise!!!

Let us know what happens!  This seems crazy!  Not only does it not compare but don’t the water park tickets come with the water park cabana?  So now you’d have to spend hundreds on water park tickets in addition to paying for a cabana you didn’t want.  If it were me I’d take the water park cabana or no cabana at all.  You will need to be in the water park with the kids at all times when the kids are there. Better off buying tickets and grabbing a chair there most likely.  Good luck!

I found this helpful chart yesterday!

I was on Independence of the Seas last week and it was their first “full” capacity cruise.  I was told at guest services there were 3900 passengers out of 4300 capacity.  They were not staffed for that.  Service was poor and lines everywhere, especially in the Windjammer!

There is no way to tip!  We were shocked and embarrassed our fist night at Sabatinis.  There is no way to tip anyone without having cash.  We were told because of covid they’ve done away with signing a receipt at the end of your meal.  They said we couldn’t even go to guest services and leave one from our account. Thankfully we had cash with us and went back the next day and gave her a tip.  While they all remained up beat when having a conversation about it I could tell they were very disappointed about it but continued to have a good attitude about it and were just happy being able to be back to work.

I would definitely go more towards RCL for a trip with any kids but as was mentioned earlier, a European cruise is very port intensive so there isn’t much time to hang around the ship.  When I took my kids on a Mediterranean cruise many nights we came back to the cabin and they crashed and asked to order room service 😂. Either way your family will have a wonderful time!

5 hours ago, tbo said:

Many thanks for the answers and words of encouragement.

 

Trying to think of this in a positive way-it's new and we are sure ready to get back on the ocean!

 

 

You will have a phenomenal week!  I used to say I could never go on a ship that big but after my first time I was hooked.  We’ve been on that class at least 6 times and have never experienced crowding except at the muster drill which is done differently now.  The best thing is you will be sailing with a lower capacity so it should be an awesome experience.  Symphony has so many places to go and to eat that it really keeps people spread out a bit.  Enjoy!  I’m jealous, I have to wait until the end of May to go on Symphony. 🙂