Itchy&Scratchy

me too. 🙂 I hope that we at least like it. We are pretty low maintenance, but if the onboarding takes several hours, or dinner takes over 2 hours, or the food is inedible or the smoke smell inside is overwhelming (looking at you, NCL, for the latter two) - then yeah, we may not like it.

it just means they won't fall apart or be otherwise ruined by being in the water. Not that the feet will stay dry.

on our very first cruise we went on this excursion. Unfortunately, I forgot to bring flip flops on that cruise, let alone water shoes.... I went in my sneakers and completely ruined them by soaking them in the river water during the tubing ride...

if you do a search of this board with words Regal Balcony Obstructed, you will find a ton of threads with links and pictures. https://www.cruisedeckplans.com/DP/deckplans/ov.php?ship=Regal-Princess&cabins=E401-E445

instead, they raised prices by $500-1,500 pp and you still get a reshuffled and truncated menu.

we are not big on coffee and the only coffee machine we have at home is a tiny one serving french press. It would be very easy to bring it onboard, but why? Hence, the instant coffee if we are on RCI. Theirs was simply undrinkable to us. 🙂

oh, I see the prices went up and it is now $15 pp pd.

if you want soft drinks, just get an $11 pp pd sodas and mocktails package instead. If you don't drink alcohol, then neither the Plus, nor the Premier packages are worth it, imho.

here is our all inclusive essential list: we travel with 2 40# suitcases for the 3 of us, and all of the meds, electronics and very essential items (1 swim suit/rashguard/trunks, 1 pair of flip flops, 1 sun hat, 1 pair of shorts, sunglasses, goggles) go into the carry-on backpacks: Passports, wallet, credit card, cash, itinerary printouts Masks Medications (stomach, echinacea, cough, ibuprofen, prescriptions, diarrhea, laxative, cold, thermometer, children’s meds, afrin) Lysol wipes SPF lotion and spray Swimming suits, trunks, rashguard, sunhats, beach bags Sunglasses Swim ring, floaties, nose clip and goggles Water masks Sand toys Shoes: flip flops or crocs, sandals, sneakers, proper MDR shoes, water shoes Charging cables, phones, tablet and tablet holder, night light Truvia, thermos cup, water bottle, zip lock bags for snacks Shorts, underwear, pjs, t-shirts, pants, sleeping stuff, MDR clothes (1 pair of pants each, a couple of tops, buttoned shirt for DH) Toothbrushes and chargers, hair brush, toiletries Gloves and tall socks for skating and instant coffee if on RCI Water and heat on vacation, unplug everything, turn off computers, take out trash Books and download movies/books non-essential for others, but needed for us: magnetic hooks for masks and their lanyards, some cute magnets for the door, and a stuffed animal for DS to sleep with instead of his beloved live doggo.

Europe is kind of far, and I doubt that I can fly to Europe for $300 RT. But a RT from ATL to FLL or MIA is quite doable for $300-400 RT or even drivable. Plus, we are originally from Europe and don't have any desire at the moment to vacation there. wait, how is it comparable to a 10 day Princess Caribbean cruise for $2K total for the 3 of us without airfare? Or a $2,200 7 day cruise on Seascape with all the drinks and wifi included? You said "a European vacation for cheaper than $2,200 with 6 total people" and then you said "My friend and I went to Portugal for 10 days and without airfare spent around $2k total." So, which one is it - 6 people for less than $2.2K or 2 people for $2K? Because I got a latter right here.... And remember, I cannot stuff all 6 of us into the same room, because it's not 2 adults and 4 kids, it's 5 adults and 1 kid. Oh, and we have to work, so we can't take off for 2 weeks straight.

oh, nice, we haven't been on Quantum class yet, it's probably even better than Oasis class. My kiddo was 8 on his first Allure cruise and 11 on his latest Allure cruise (Oasis class) and he loved it. Oasis class does have a Park Cafe which is his favorite (triple cheese grilled cheese sandwich and chips), but he also loves Sorrento's pepperoni pizza. I am sure Ovation will have some similar smaller venues as well in case the buffet is too overwhelming and crowded. On our first Allure cruise we never managed to get into the Windjammer for lunch because of long lines. It was much better on our summer 2022 sailing. DS is not a foodie, though, and is very set in his ways (aka, very routine oriented), so he doesn't want to try anything new food wise. We developed a system for cruising which saves us all a lot of grief: he eats whatever he wants for breakfast and lunch, but I order his dinner to make sure that he gets fruits, veggies and something remotely nutritious. I am sure your son will have a blast!

For THIS year's spring break I managed to snag a KSF sale which put me at $2,300 in an inside for the 3 of us. But I snagged it over a year ago when prices were still decent. Next year's spring break make it a $2,700 on Oasis in an inside or $2,900 on Ody in an inside. This Thanksgiving make it a $5,200 for the 3 of us in a balcony on RCI and $2,200 on MSC's Seascape. The choice is quite clear. Why pay over $5K on an RCI ship when you can pay $2,200 for a balcony + drinks and wifi on the newest MSC ship? Of course, just like people are paying $300 pp for the Beach club on Cococay when it's not really worth more than $70 pp, RCI will charge as much as they want as long as people keep paying it... But some of us will definitely start looking elsewhere.

well, I beg to differ... You may be talking about non-school holiday sailings, but unfortunately, having a non-home schooled kid, we are limited as to when we can cruise. I priced several cruises on RCI for this and next year and they are basically unattainable. So, yeah, I started looking at other lines and even booked MSC for less than half the price of a comparable RCI cruise. And that price includes drinks and wifi. Will the entertainment be worse than RCI's? Yes. Am I bringing 6 people instead of 3 for this price? Also a yes.

how old is the kid and which ship?

mine has hated kid's club with a passion since his first cruise at 3. He is 12 now and hasn't gone back. Nothing to do with the club itself - DS is NT, but really dislikes school and kid's club on cruises. Our friends' kids (one with ADHD) love it. So, DS and we are attached at the hip on cruises, which is just fine with us - we welcome it very much.

omg, the funnel cakes were amazing! We are so looking forward to having them again in April. Last time we got two each! And the chicken sammiches were great. We also got mozzarella cheese sticks (wonderful!), fries and cold grilled veggies (called a grilled veggie salad, but it wasn't exactly a salad). Oh, and I ate the second funnel cake while floating on a floating ring in the ocean. That was quite something - very relaxing and enjoyable.

that's what we did with 1 plan and 3 devices.

don't know. We usually get to the port anywhere between 11 am and 1 pm and are onboard within 15 minutes - and that's before reaching Platinum. How much faster can Platinum status get us there?

we never have anything like that. Been cruising with DS since he was 3. Dirty laundry goes in a big plastic bag and it stays there till I pack it into the suitcase for the return home. There are three of us, so a large walmart bag or two is sufficient for a week's worth of dirty socks, underwear and undershirts, plus whatever else got dirty. We started using small magnetic hooks post pandemic to hang a mask and a lanyard on next to the door so we don't forget them. Other than that - too much work for a vacation.

Not really. We've only been on 5 Princess cruises and are already platinum. Didn't spend all that much money or time at sea to get here.

judging by the videos of the Virgin cruises, they are full of feral and unruly adults... Just a fair warning.

Please try Princess off the west coast instead. They are practically giving the cruises away in the next 3-4 months. I would not START my cruising with MSC. 🙂

like others already mentioned - Yeshiva week.... But not expecting "so. many. kids" on an RCI cruise is kind of unreasonable. I hear you on everything else. It's certainly not good when the cruise is chartered and they don't even tell you about it. It's equally not good when they tell you about it at the last minute and cancel your cruise in favor of the charter group.

it was actually quite comfortable (I took naps on it during the day). The sheets didn't move at night at all, and you got a nice thick matt cover under the sheet. Which I cannot say about Enchanted Princess's sofa bed - it was uncomfortable as a sofa and not all that as a bed either. They didn't even take plastic off the mattress - I had to cut it off. And nothing between you and the matt besides one thin sheet. Now, Allure's sofa beds are much worse in terms of taking up space than Harmony's. Also, looked a bit more used up...

this. I bid on an upgrade from interior to obstructed deluxe and won last november. We ended up in E324 on Enchanted. Loved it. None of the standard balconies or standard obstructed were available, so my bids for those went unanswered. Our sailing was full, and there aren't many cabins for 3 people to begin with. We really like the obstructed balconies, because you still get a balcony (better than interior), but the price is usually much lower than a regular balcony.