FSU Girl

I cruised alone with my 16, 14, and 10 year kids on RCCL. They loved it... until they cruised on Disney. We cruised after Thanksgiving and there were hardly any kids. The pools were SO cold. And there was a serious amount of drinking on that cruise and my teens were not fans of sitting in a hot tub with drunk, old men. And we had to choose to walk through the bar or walk through the casino to get places. So these are all issues when cruising with children, at least for us.

 

As the kids will know, DCL has heated pools, no unlimited drink package, no casino, and A LOT of kids. In July you should have warmer water and more kids.

 

Now, we thought that the food was better on RCCL than on the Disney Magic. And the comedians were surprisingly clean at the main shows. But we felt that there was more down time on RCCL than on Disney.

 

We did find that we had sea legs worse on RCCL but we all used motion sickness patches.

So all the pools are all ages nothing specific for kids? I figured since it’s a cruise over July 4th there will be a lot of kids on the sailing. I would have gone with the Disney cruise except it was double the cost for only 4 nights and it was just too much.

Congratulations! You are going on a cruise :)

 

We sailed Harmony last year with our adult children (18 & 24) whose first cruise was Disney (but we have done mainly Royal since that time) and my parents. My husband and I had a balcony ocean side, my kids had a Central Park balcony (no ocean views at all) and my parents had a Boardwalk. From their state room they could see the wake and they had an excellent view of the shows happening in the Aqua Theater. Was it a bit loud? In the evenings when there was a show, but often they sat on the balcony and watched the show. Yes, they got the soda package (where our kids got a bottle of wine and lunch for four at one of the restaurants:D ) it was waiting for them in the stateroom upon arrival.

 

We had early seating and have never done MTD on any of our trips but many have told me just go to the MDR upon boarding and set up your reservation if the cruise planner is giving you issues. Yes, you can have a standing reservation each night with the same staff if you would like.

 

We did not use the ap for texting, even with our older kiddos. We always just made sure we had check in times. With younger kids that might not be an option.

 

Hope you have a ball.

I’m ok with it being loud when I’m awake, it’s just when I’m sleeping I like it a little more quiet. That’s great to hear they could see the wake, how far back was their room from the end? The texting with the kids could be problematic since they don’t have cell phones.

Can’t you book mtd dinner times each night in your cruise planner? I have in the past I think. This should minimize any wait times. First night can be busy but after that it often gets better.

 

 

Where is your boardwalk cabin? All the way aft or more front of the boardwalk? Also deck number? This will make a difference in your view of the water.

 

 

The harmony has a big dry slide in the back and that does block a good bit of the view from baordwalk cabins impacting your view of a show or the water. But even on oasis or allure the show can be viewed from many of the boardwalk cabins but really only the most aft have views that are good enough to feel like you can see the whole show. You def want to watch it from down in the theater. Then just enjoy partial views throughout the week as they practice during the day or even a second show later.

 

 

We have done several BW balconies. Yes there can be some noise but not much inside with your balcony door shut. We like them a lot as you can see the ocean and the action going on bellow. But they aren’t for everyone. I would think kids would like the cabin view a lot.

 

 

Overall your kids will love this ship. There is zero need for you to switch ships and quite frankly no one should be telling you what ship you should be going on. It is your choice not their choice.

 

 

Go noles!

Go Noles :)

I looked at the website and it looks like we can prebook our dinner times so I’ll do that. Since I have all the shows booked it should be easy. Would two hours before a show be enough time for dinner? Most of the shows are at 8:30 so I was thinking dinner at 6 or 6:30.

The rooms are on the 8th deck so I think that’s the lowest balcony level and we are about four rooms down from the end with the water show, so would that have a good view? We have the show booked for the first night so we’d probably watch for bits not to get the whole show effect. And you’re able to see the ocean from these rooms?

Surprisingly the ocean is hard to find on that boat. Seriously get out of my time dining. It’s a disaster.

 

 

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If they put me in it doesn’t that mean the other times are full? I don’t see on the website anywhere to switch would I have to call?

If I can’t switch and I make reservations every night will it be okay?

If you can, cancel immediately and rebook with Disney. Far superior experience for families.

 

If that’s not an option, get out of my time dining immediately. It’s the worst. No matter what they tell you, you will wait. For a long time.

 

I don’t understand boardwalk balconies. You’re going on a cruise! Especially on oasis class you barely see the ocean. Get ocean view balconies.

 

Prebooking everything was smart.

 

 

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You’re scaring me lol. I don’t think switching Disney will be an option. Are there not places where you can see the ocean?

When I booked the guy mentioned that the soda package is included in this type of room. But I don’t see that listed anyone on my confirmation email. Is this standard for all boardwalk balcony rooms? Or should I call to double check we have this perk?

Don't worry about the size of the ship. The first thing you'll notice is it doesn't feel "that" big or overwhelming. And since it's laid out in simple "neighborhoods" - getting around the ship is as easy as can be.

 

The boardwalk isn't that noisy with the doors shut, and offers more "people watching" than other balcony cabins would. Plus you can watch the water shows from your balcony.

The sales guy on the phone mentioned being able to watch the water show from our balcony so that’s pretty cool. And I know the kids will like people watching so that will be entertaining. That’s good to know the ship doesn’t feel too big and is easy to navigate

The water shows are awesome. The whole family will enjoy and something unique to RC. I would not change your reservation. Occasionally the water show is canceled and rescheduled for later in the week - primarily because of sea or wind conditions. It is best to see it when you can.

 

I believe the meet and greet is an ongoing open house type of thing so you should be okay. Register the kids when you board. They should be able to tell you the meeting time. Personally would let the water show take precedent.

When will we be allowed to board the ship? On Disney they have specific times you can show up, is it the same with Royal? I think going to the clubs early on would be good so they can get a feel for them and the people there. Are the younger kids club close by the older teen one? Or are they on different parts of the ship?

I know for us it was important for them to go to the first night To meet the workers and get a feeling for how it worked. Then we had no problems the rest of the week. I have a friend who took her four kids and didn’t make the older ones go to the informal get together the first night and they never participated all week. They never cruised again. You know you child better than anyone, mine needed to ease into the idea and they loved cruising. Sometimes we would have to make them spend time with us!

I know when I cruised as a teenager my parents never saw me I was always at the teens club. I’m going to encourage her to go, hopefully she’ll spend some time there on the cruise

After the original sign in , I can’t remember the age but if you feel comfortable they allow the child to sign themselves in and out. We didn’t do this until ours were in middle school and always insisted on the buddy system.

 

 

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I think 9 is too young for signing out privileges, but the older one could.

Right now I have the water show booked at 8:30 on the first night. Should I change that to a different night so the kids will have time to go to the kids club or does the first meet and greet happen earlier in the day?

I would encourage your 14 year old to go the first night to the meet and greet...my daughter always made friends that first night even though there was no scheduled activity per say. Seems like if that age doesn’t connect soon they wander around feeling unincluded. Royals kids and teen programs were the main reason we have stayed loyal to Royal.

Ya we are going to try and have her go on the first night. I read they have video games which she really likes so that might draw her in

The only question I can answer is the kids club registration. In my experience you don't sign them up until you board. Once signed up you are free to drop your kids at the club anytime you want when they are open, but it can and will fill up. They only allow so many kids at a time in. The only time that really was a problem for us was on formal night after dinner when everyone dropped their kids off.

So we have to sign them in every day? We would probably bring the kids with us to dinner, but we did sign up for an adult only comedy show so we’d need them to go then. That show starts at 9 so should we drop them off way earlier to make sure there is room? I’m guessing there will be a lot of kids since it’s over 4th of July

So I just booked the Harmony of the Seas over 4th of July week and it will be my first cruise taking kids and I’m a little lost and have lots of questions! The kids have sailed on Disney before so they aren’t strangers to cruising, but it will be my first time taking kids on a cruise. It will be me, my fiancé and his two daughters (9 and 14) Here are some of my questions and thank you in advance for your help and guidance :)

• How do we stay in touch with the kids on the boat? The younger one will go to the kids club, but the older one probably won’t and I want to make sure she’s able to reach us whenever. On Disney they have an app where you can text one another without the internet, does Royal do something similar?
  
• For the kids club, can we sign the kids up ahead of time or do we do it once on board?
  
• We were assigned My Time Dining and when I booked the guy on the phone said we would never wait more than 15 minutes. The last time I sailed on Royal (over five years ago) I had this and if we didn’t make a reservation we could end up waiting hours for a table. Is there a way to book tins we’d like to eat now or do we wait until we are on the ship? Or will we really not have to wait when we show up?
  
• I’ve never been on the huge ships Royal has, my last ship was Liberty of the Seas, which I thought was pretty huge at the time and I know Harmony is bigger. What’s a good way not to get overwhelmed by the size?
  
• We have two balcony rooms booked overlooking the Boardwalk, will these be noisy because they are so close? Our rooms are the first row of balconies above. Should I change to a different part of the ship?
  
• I’ve prebooked all the shows. When we get on the ship will there be something that has these listed out or tickets for everything? Just want to make sure if there isn’t I print out the itinerary.
  
• Any other tips on things I might not have thought about?
  

Sorry for all the questions!

Hi

 

I am sure you will have a great time. My only issues with a three day cruise, is that just as you start getting into it, it's over. At least, since it is your first cruise, if you find that it is not something you enjoy, it won't be for very long. Just realized, it may not be your first cruise, just your first Carnival cruise.

 

have a great cruise

I agree three nights is short, but it’s the only thing that will work with everyone’s schedules. I’ve cruised a lot before, just never on carnival and also never with kids before. So it would be a first for both of those things :)

This is great to hear thank you :)

I’m trying to plan a cruise with kids for the first time. I’ve heard that the 3 night cruises can be more party ships. Would it be okay taking two kids on this? Or will it not be kid friendly? It would be everyone’s first carnival cruise and looking at the Liberty ship

It looks like I can book excursions through the cruise already even though it doesn’t sail until August 2019. When I book these, are they something I pay for right away, or are they added to the onboard account and I pay at the end of the cruise? Is there an advantage or disadvantage to booking them so early?

I’ve never been to any of the locations on this cruise (Ireland and Iceland) and want to make sure I see and do a lot in each port. It’s a honeymoon cruise so I’m okay with spending a bit more than normal since it’s a special trip. Any recommendations on must-dos? Also, the boat is in Dublin for two full days. Would it be crazy to rent a car and drive around a bit or Irleand and maybe stay the night in a castle? Would we have to let the ship know we aren’t sleeping on board if we do this?

Sorry for all the questions this will be my first Celebrity cruise.

Thank you :)

While cruising sometimes I like just hanging out in the cabin and watching some TV. Does anyone know what channels the TV gets on the Silhouette? Do the channels come in good on a sea day? Are there movie channels?

Do they show movies in the theater where shows are ever? Is there anywhere on the ship they would show a movie?

Thanks everyone! I straighten my hair every day and was a little nervous. That picture is super helpful!

Will I be okay plugging in my American hair straightener on the cruise? I know the cruises I’ve been on have had American outlets and were fine. I’ve never been on celebrity so wanted to double check. Had a bad experience once where an outlet in Italy melted my hair straightener.

For anyone who’s done this type of cruise (Ireland and Iceland) which side of the ship would be better to have a balcony on? It looks like Ireland would be on the left side of the ship going up towards Iceland so there might be more to see on that side? But at Iceland it looks like there would be more to see on the right side of the ship?

Do people have a preference? I know for Disney cruises people like to be on a certain side in the Caribbean to see the private island when docked. I’m just wondering if one side is favored more than the other. If we do go with the balcony we will probably hang out there on sea days a lot

There is (almost) no downside to using a (good) TA. Since you are going on your honeymoon, I will tell you my honeymoon story. In 2005, I asked my TA to keep an eye out for a good deal on a Mediterranean cruise for our Honeymoon. She found a 10 day round-trip Rome on HAL for an unbelievable price. That’s because it was a typo and the price was missing a digit. However, she called the cruise line, and they confirmed the price. She sent them a fax (faxes were still used back in those days) and they confirm the price in writing. Of course later when the mistake was discovered, they wanted to charge us the full price, which my fiancé (now husband) would never have paid. Because we went with a TA associated with a large agency, she was able to escalate through her management chain up to someone at HAL (a vice President of operations?). It was a lot of back-and-forth, and some crosswords were said to HAL, But in the end they split the difference with us and my fiancé agreed to keep our honeymoon plans. The first night in the MDR we were seated with a wonderful group of three other couples. Just before we were about to tell our funny story about how we saved so much money on our cruise price, another couple told their story about how upset they were because they got stuck paying so much more than they expected because of the same typo problem. They had booked their cruise directly with the company, and therefore had no one to intercede for them.

We learned our lesson, we are very loyal to our TA although I think she doesn’t get us many discounts or freebies. But she has proven her worth. Use a TA!

 

 

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Wow that crazy, I can’t believe the cruise tried to make everyone pay for their mistake. I could definitely see how having the TA would help a lot.

When you use a TA can I still book my own excursions? Or would I have to tell them what I’d like to book?

We are not allowed to mention specific travel agencies on the boards, but Google the internet and you will find some large cruise only agencies. They generally offer additional perks, sometimes a lower cabin price (if they have a negotiated group rate) and they can help you should you encounter any problems along the way. We always book that way these days. Very little downside (usually a small cancellation fee if you need to cancel)

 

As to rooms, I recommend the balcony because there will be some days you can go outside and enjoy it - even if only to stand and watch for awhile. Also, due to the large sliding doors the cabins just look bigger and more spacious which can make a difference especially on longer cruises.

 

Congrats and enjoy your cruise!

I didn’t realize about the travel agents, but thank you for the advice. And I agree the balcony would get good use.

One more question. When I book, should I do it directly through the cruise or through a travel agent? I’ve always booked direct because I like having control of my reservation. But I know you can sometimes get deals or OBC. Has anyone used a travel agency they like?

Thanks everyone! I’ll take a look into these cabins. This will be my first celebrity cruise I’m really excited