Itchy&Scratchy

you cannot book more than once. Moreover, if you booked but were a no show, it will not let you book again... If you cancelled in time - it will let you book provided there is availability.

yes and yes. They let people without reservations in 15 minutes before the show. We didn't make it to a couple of shows we had reservations for because the MDR dinners ran late...

in 2020 we paid extra for the Cirque show+dinner on Mera, but the cruise was cancelled due to the pandemic.

yes, and it's lovely.

Enchanted Princess had a very beautiful mall inside. 🙂 Just saying. 🙂 Just look at this perfume store: We love RCI for all the fun stuff we can do with our kiddo. We love Princes for its food and general ambiance. We are yet to try MSC (third time is a charm, right?). P.S. My parents loved Harmony.

but they do... You can purchase Plus or Premier for guests 3 and 4 separately. Although, I wouldn't buy it for minors, because it's not worth the money unless they actually drink 15 alcoholic drinks per day. Which they don't. So, you thought a drink package for an adult would also cover the drinks for a minor? That's not how packages work. We got our kid a soda/mocktails package for $11 a day and shared one internet plan among 3 phones (you can easily switch from one device to another) - and it cost us way less than $1,000.

ouch. Rude.

if you put Coco Cay in the search field, you will have TONS of threads for you to read...

I'd bring mom on a Princess cruise instead. Fewer kids (aka, germ factories), less noise, better food, less crowded. But then - we only travel during school holidays with our own germ factory....

they are concerned about the lack of choices.

read your card's terms and conditions. Or call customer service.

it may be because YOUR credit card doesn't charge the foreign transaction/currency conversion fee. Mine may.

not free, though. Right now I am pricing the same cruise (7 days, Seascape, Thanksgiving) to bring my MIL with us: for a 2 person cabin the "free" drinks and wifi are $180 pp. for a solo sailing - the "free" drinks and wifi are $324 pp. for a 3 person cabin - $143 pp, even for a minor When i booked this cruise for ourselves (2 adults, 1 minor) a couple of months ago, the "free" package cost us $90 per adult, or $60 per person. Totally worth it at that price point, even though not free. We are not big drinkers at all. I had to forgo this package for my parents because they don't drink and don't need wifi on this cruise, so paying $180 pp for a "free" package is unreasonable. Of course, for someone who drinks a lot of alcohol on a cruise $180 for drinks and wifi will be a great bargain, but it's not for us. Needless to say, MIL isn't getting the package either.

can I pay the grats in cash by adding it to the account onboard? I've read that there will be a foreign currency fee added if I am using my US visa credit card to pay for onboard charges (in the Caribbean). I found this online, but I want to make sure: Alternatively, you can leave cash deposit at the Reception – Guest Service. Settling Your Final Bill You can settle your final bill in any of the following three ways: By credit card By debit or prepaid card Cash Any amount deposited in cash and not spent during the cruise will be reimbursed in cash at the Reception - Guest Service on the final morning before disembarkation. Please note that personal checks are not accepted. For cruises in the Caribbean, South America and South Africa, as well as MSC Grand Voyages going to Europe and to Australia, the onboard currency is the US Dollar ($).

yes, Twinings and Bigelow, thank you very much. Times when the likes of Lipton were good enough for us are far behind us. 🙂 Having a cup of Bigelow Vanilla Caramel with a splash of milk right now - like a dessert, but without all the (sugar) guilt. 🙂

now that I've been working from home in yoga pants, sweats and pjs for 3 years, jeans is definitely dressing up for me now. 🙂 A lot has changed...

thankfully, all sorts of (free) tea are widely available on both Princess and RCI ships, so we don't even have to bring our own. We are huge tea drinkers (hot, not iced). We bring large insulated tumblers with us onboard for tea and cold drinks because the tiny cups at the buffet don't do it for us.

I would not bother lugging a tux all the way from the UK to the US for a Caribbean cruise. We only cruise in the Caribbean and we rarely ever see a tux. My DH wears dress pants and a button down shirt. I wear pants and a blouse.

Enchanted Princess' free coffee wasn't bad at all (much better than RCI's) - maybe, because it's brewed individually, I am just very particular about it (probably because I don't like coffee that much and it must taste like a hot Frappuccino for me to like it). My husband liked it just fine, but the coffee machines in the buffet were out of service most of the time. The iced coffee at IC was great - creamy and sweet, just the way I like it. It's definitely on the menu: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2897524-enchanted-thanksgiving-2022-southern-caribbean-review-with-patters-menus-and-pics-of-food/page/2/#comment-64403424 I wrote a little about it in my Enchanted review. They also have the same fancy coffee menu at the buffet in the dessert section (Horizon Bistro?) and on deck 7 at Princess Live! Cafe. On RCI we (both me and DH) have to bring Nestle instant coffee with us because RCI's free coffee is undrinkable to either of us.

speaking of eggs - on our latest Enchanted cruise, IC had these amazing tiny egg muffins... OMG. So good. Three different kinds - I want to say spinach and feta, broccoli and mushrooms, and ham and cheese? I would stop by, got a couple of donuts for DS and several egg muffins for me and then I'd head over to the buffet to meet up with my boys. So, IC has some delicious healthy stuff as well. I don't remember seeing the muffins on Regal in 2019, but it's been so long... I usually don't drink free coffee on cruises because I like it a certain way and I cannot get it right, and I don't buy fancy coffee on the cruise because I am frugal, but we had some OBC to burn through, so I got an iced coffee at IC every morning. They were just right. Full of sugar I can't have, but it's once in a lifetime, right?

please use an ultralight stroller with a reclining back instead. If you are planning for him to nap on the beach, would you even need to use a stroller? A chaise or towel on the sand will work just as well. Signed, a mother of a kid who refused to use a stroller since he discovered running at 14 months...

taxi or Uber would be best for Port Everglades to FLL (or the other way). It's only several miles away, and the taxi ride is usually around $20-25 depending on what terminals you are at. Uber is around $20 as well. Holidays and such result in higher rates. Make sure the taxi runs a meter, or they'll dupe you like they did us - $50 for that ride... If you are the only person, compare shuttle prices with taxi/uber before deciding.

Last time in St Maarten we went to Divi Little Bay hotel beach because it was the closest and I didn't do my research. While the water was fine, and the amenities as well, chaises and umbrellas were available cheap, we hated the water entrance - full of small broken shells, super sharp and impossible to avoid. This time we'll go somewhere else. Red is where our chaises were and green arrow points to the only water entrance that wasn't full of shell pieces.

just take a taxi instead. But I would avoid Magens Bay - very crowded and we didn't like it. We much prefer Sapphire beach with our kid. Someone mentioned Secret Sands beach (Lindquist) above - I think Sapphire and Secret beaches are almost identical in beauty, but there are amenities on Sapphire that you may find useful with kids, whereas there were none at the Secret beach. I still think Sapphire is more beautiful. I don't really know if Secret Sands is the same as Secret Harbor or Lindquist. We HAD to purchase this excursion in Nov 2021 because we had an unvaxxed kid with us. Secret Sands in Nov 2021 In St Thomas you can all be on an open air bus which is equally unsafe for everyone, but you won't have to bring a car seat.... Sapphire beach in St Thomas: no entrance fees, lots of natural shade (we need it as we have a blonde and a redhead), $9 per chaise or you could find abandoned ones This is not the beach area per se, but we love to walk to the right of the beach (facing the water) for some photo opportunities: There are some resort grounds behind the beach where you can see lots of iguanas and chickens: By the way, taxi prices have increased dramatically since April 2022. This is November 2022.

and we thought just the opposite. WJ on Harmony in Nov 2021 was spectacular by RCI standards, but we were unpleasantly surprised by the Allure's WJ selections and quality in June 2022. It could be the post pandemic supply problems, but it is what it is.