Itchy&Scratchy

that just creates 2 additional unnecessary steps. First, adding the money, and then getting the leftover balance back. Just add a credit card to your folio and the drinks will get charged to it. Easy. It's the same bill, but in the first case you are prepaying it and then trying to get the money back. In the latter case, your credit card gets billed automatically at the end of the cruise. You will check your folio for any wrong charges daily in any case.

that's exactly where we keep 2 of our 28" suitcases, at least one of them lying down flat. We don't usually unpack all the way and just keep most of the clothing in the suitcases.

we are not worried about the schedule at all, but I do want to see MDR menus in advance so we could book specialty restaurants on nights when there is little we want. This will be our one and only cruise with specialty dining included (2 pp) so we want to try it.

in that case we stop by a local grocery store and get a 12 pack pp.

I would definitely look into Celebrity and Princess. For Celebrity I'd go Reflection and newer, and for Princess I'd aim for Regal Princess and newer (but I'd give Sun and Star Princess ships a bit more time to iron out the brand new ship wrinkles first). Even our kid's favorite line is Princess.

are you flying in the day before? We loved having the Classic soda package for our kid. He totally drank his weight's worth of sodas and mocktails every day. It was worth it to us as a present to him.

same here, only 30 days away. There are very few things on the Ship's journey. And I can't see menus in advance. Grrr.

We asked the mini-bar to be emptied because we brought our own sodas. Didn't take photos. We checked the charges on the app every day. We took the screenshot of the final folio on the last morning. I checked my credit card bill yesterday (the cruise ended 3 weeks ago), and the charges were correct.

we've decided to leave my Dad on the ship for the day, while we are doing cave tubing. 🙂 I looked up reviews for Cucumber (Kukumba) beach, and it's not all that. Hard to believe that Belize City doesn't have any beaches aside from the islands 45 minutes away.

are the crepes still available at the buffet during dinner? All the way in the back. 🙂

it wasn't always awful, though, even when the band was playing. We have been on other cruises where being on the pool deck was unbearable when music was playing very loudly. This wasn't this bad. Oh, and don't forget - they have family nights at the Sanctuary. It's very quiet - children are usually not allowed during the day, but some evenings (not a popular choice so close to dinner) are designated as family hours. It's a covered pool + hot tub.

also first time. But I checked on Hyatt's page after I received my confirmations from valuetrips, and both of my reservations for May 31 are there (even though my name is grossly misspelled, lol, like Stephanienienienienie). Many people on cruisecritic vouched for this travel agency on the Florida Departures board (although this travel agent sometimes makes mistakes - hence, double checking on Hyatt's site).

it took 4 weeks for our kid's passport in December 2023, but it took 8 weeks in August 2023 for the adult passports. Both unexpedited. Sometimes it takes a bit longer before and during the summer due to more people needing a passport for international travel. But I certainly wouldn't renew a passport in May 2024 if the cruise is in December, I'd renew around September-October time frame.

I wouldn't know if it's something new because it was our first time on Celebrity. Towels were freely available by the pool on sea days, but on a port day we had to check them out if we were going to take them off the ship.

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/3002524-a-great-first-cruise-on-celebrity-reflection-review-dailies-menus-food-and-cabin-pics-march-2024/ check out my review of our very first Celebrity cruise which also happens to be on Reflection. We really liked it. If you like dancing, don't miss the silent disco. Check out lounges for musical entertainment. Queen sing-along was marvelous. They have Truvia at the buffet and MDR in case that's what you bring with you on a cruise. You can bring your own soda onboard - whatever you can carry on at embarkation. We stopped by Publix and got some for us. Otherwise, if you don't have a package, it's almost $5 per can. Oh, and apparently they don't have Dr Pepper on board if that's what you like. Oh, and something we didn't know but if you need beach/pool towels on a port day, they check them out to you by the pool the day of (as in - they write down the cabin number). If we knew that, we'd have grabbed some by the pool the day before when they don't take your cabin number down.

milk is always available for free at the coffee/tea station. only if the kid still uses one. Mine stopped using a stroller at 14 months and never looked back. the same questions are asked on this board quite a bit. You may want to do a quick read when you have a moment. We started cruising with DS when he was 3. I covered several points here: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/3004270-cruising-with-autistic-4-year-old/#comment-67301176

why now? it takes 8-12 weeks now - for the US passport, and apparently less than that for a Canadian one. May to December is a looooong time.

Correct. it's a lie. I've seen people wearing shorts and even they weren't turned away. Smart casual is plenty. pfft, no. I agree with you. 🙂

As promised - we tried our first Celebrity cruise this month and loved it. Reflection was just the right size ship, not overcrowded, in great shape and super clean, food was very good, entertainment was great, soft serve was delicious, the crew was absolutely fabulous and friendly. We loved it. There was a ton of people our age - 40-50s and quite a few teens with them. I do think the MDR and buffet food in general was better overall on Enchanted Princess in Nov 2022, however, I will get to refresh my memory and get a more up-to-date opinion next month when we'll be back on Enchanted. Of course, Reflection doesn't have International Cafe or crepes in MDR, but we we were still pretty happy campers.... And I liked X's escargot and mushroom risotto more than Princess'. If you want a more detailed review, it's in my signature.

But one has to pay extra to enjoy MSC's YC, right? It's not free.

my kid is NT, but does not do kid's club. Never did. He dislikes playing with kids he doesn't know.... He started sailing 2 months short of 4 yo and at that age he had a very strong separation and stranger anxiety. So, he always tagged along and still tags along to everything with us. At MDR dinners he always watched cartoons/movies on his tablet (with headphones) between 3 and 10 years of age. That kept him busy and content while we could have a very nice dinner without a whining, bored to tears child. kid's menu on Reflection (but since the kid is an adventurous eater, he can order off of adult menu): You can click on the link to Reflection review in my signature for more cabin and food pics, and the dailies. Also includes pics of the food my kid ate and his opinions. On cruises he leans heavily towards pastas, but did also enjoy burgers and grilled cheese. He only has slight problems with texture. He also ordered a caesar salad and fruit salads a lot. The buffet had a kid's corner with the typical American kid's fare. Other than that, the food was varied and very good. Pizza at the buffet was great as well, and the chef told me he could make whatever I wanted as well. We always bring a stuffed animal for him to sleep with. Oh, and a night light. When DS was young, it helped check on him at night. Now I need it more for myself for night blindness. However, Reflection has built-in bathroom night lights, so mom should bring one for the cabin itself if needed. The muster drill on Reflection involved watching a video on the app and then scanning your cruise cards at your muster station at any time before sailing. Nothing overwhelming for anyone. Reflection is a smaller ship. The noisy areas are the pool area (not always, but they play loud music a lot), and the grand foyer area on deck 3 which carries the noise up several decks. Not overwhelmingly so.

try to get one that has both. We booked an inside cabin on Reflection which had both. Our 13 5'5 yo loves pullman beds. He would have been comfortable on either the sofa or the pullman bed, but if given a choice, he always chooses the upper bunk. So, it depends on what your kid will be comfortable in at that height and whether he is still agile enough. 🙂 I am not, but I am 50, not 15. 🙂 Here is a link to our cabin review with pics: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/3002524-a-great-first-cruise-on-celebrity-reflection-review-dailies-menus-food-and-cabin-pics-march-2024/#comment-67222957 I was surprised by how spacious the inside cabin was. We are so used to microscopic cabins on RCI Oasis class....

wow. A 40 minute call to save 2 minutes at embarkation for medallion pickup.

you are confusing free with included. They are not free if you paid for them. 🙂 Instead, they are included in the package price. But that's exactly how some cruise line advertise these "for purchase" things as free. On MSC they used to advertise it as "Free drinks and wifi", but you end up paying about $270-400 pp per 7 day cruise for them at a "Better value rate". Thankfully, they stopped calling it "Free drinks and wifi" and now call it "Add Drinks, WIFI and Save".

you are gonna love it! Especially with a Premier package. We are having our second Enchanted cruise this June and I already booked her again for next summer. And right now the 3rd and 4th person free promotion is finally working correctly on their website, so I've just repriced our 2025 cruise and saved $400.