Snowbuddy

Can anyone confirm the below, which appears to have been pulled forward from the old thread with the caveat that they weren't sure it was still true...since she hasn't been to dry dock yet, I would assume this would still be true, but just checking...

• Our Dream cabin door was metal and a magnetic message board stuck to it just fine. On the Fascination, I don't know about the doors but we used a small amount of colored duct tape to decorate our door and it came off fine with no residue or paint removal.

Are most people outside the group even going to know what the number stands for Unless someone tells them? Maybe just me, but it wouldn't bother me if my shirt had 1 or 6 or 60. Actually 1 wouldn't be so bad, it just means they have started a lifelong addiction........

 

Another idea might be to put the same number on, the last two digits of the year you sail.

The first-timers are not at all "embarrassed", they are excited to have the chance to go. One of them is a young man, 23 yrs old, who has never even seen the ocean yet. Like you said, this may just be the start of a lifelong addiction for them, lol!

We had 2016 on the front of the shirt, so I didn't think about doing the year on the back; but I won't do anything that has a name on it, specifically because one of the shirt wearers is a minor and I refuse to broadcast her name on her shirt. So not sure if we could work the year in somehow or not. We have a couple of ideas that we are floating around to the rest of the group (yes, it is a democracy, not a dictatorship, like some seem to think). Thanks for the suggestion!

Quick question: we have a group of 8 going on the Dream in a few weeks...we are planning on getting matching shirts made for embarkation and have the front design all picked out. I was thinking about having something on the back, to indicate how many cruises all have been on? What do you think? 1/2 of our group are cruising for the first time. If so, any suggestions for a cute way to do it? If it matters, the front design is a crab with the words "pinch me, I'm Dream'n" above it and then just "Caribbean cruise 2016" below the crab. I debated a jersey-like concept of name & number, but instead of a name, put the words "cruise #" and then how many below that...??

Quick question: we have a group of 8 going on the Dream in a few weeks...we are planning on getting matching shirts made for embarkation and have the front design all picked out. I was thinking about having something on the back, to indicate how many cruises all have been on? What do you think? 1/2 of our group are cruising for the first time. If so, any suggestions for a cute way to do it? If it matters, the front design is a crab with the words "pinch me, I'm Dream'n" above it and then just "Caribbean cruise 2016" below the crab. I debated a jersey-like concept of name & number, but instead of a name, put the words "cruise #" and then how many below that...??

We will be in Cozumel in September via the Carnival Dream. My 8-yr-old daughter has her heart set on horseback riding this cruise...I know there is a Carnival excursion at this port for this. The minimum age is 9, though. Does anyone know if it will be a hard rule, or since she looks like she is older than she is anyway, will it not be a problem? Or does anyone have suggestions for other horseback riding options? TIA!

all really good advice (agreed about the not putting diapered kid in the pool though!)...here are a few more ideas/food for thought.

*bring benadryl, that is the only thing that will help w/ sea sickness that you can give a child.

*as much as i despise those leash/backpack things, we did borrow one for our DD when we took her at 18-months. there were times she just did NOT want to be stuck in the stroller while on the ship, and this helped.

*if you are so inclined, decorate your door--DD LOVED knowing which room was hers because of the decor on the door. Once we got close to our room, we would let her out of the stroller and she would run to our cabin door (we were in the middle of a long hallway, so she wasn't running past elevator lobbies or anything like that), and be like "MINE!!", lol!

*the carriers (baby bjorn, etc.) are good, but only if a) you & your child are used to it, and b) you are prepared for the added heat of another body snug against yours...in the caribbean. sticking an 18-month-old that is not used to being worn in a carrier is not a good idea. and, it is hot! very hot! and when you strap another person to your back...sweat city!

*Like others said, just as adults can order to their heart's desire in the MDR, so can your child. DD loved the mixed fruit every night, and after the first night, our waiter figured out she LOVED the cherries in it...so, each night after that, her mixed fruit came LOADED with the cherries, lol! if your child has good manners, and you treat your waitstaff with respect, they will take wonderful care of your family!

*make sure you & your spouse/SO agree on who gets cabin duty for naps/early nights. i love to read on vacation, so i didn't mind being the one to go back, usually (and DD is a night owl, so wasn't like i had to head back at 7:00 p.m.!), but there was one night that i really wanted to participate in a p.m. activity, so DH had bedtime duty that night!

Plan, prepare and realize it won't all work out that way, and then go with the flow! it isn't the same as an adults-only vacation, but those don't always go according to plan either! have fun!!

flcruiser, don't get too anxious. It sounds like, for one, that you are used to travelling with her, which makes a big difference! We took our DD on a cruise when she was 18 mos old...she couldn't do the kids club, because she was too young. She was fine. Most nights, i was back in the cabin fairly early almost every night (thankfully she is a night owl, so it wasn't like i had to head back at 7:30 every night, though!), but that was fine, because i like to sit & read a lot on vacation anyway. DH likes to check out the action in the casino, the shows, etc., so he did that. The one night i really wanted to participate in a p.m. activity, we traded places! :D

Now, granted, we haven't taken her on a cruise since, but that was because we just decided that a more adult-oriented, couples vacation sounded better, and we let her spend a week with grandma & grandpa while she was out of school and could do so! We did disney world with her last year, at age 5, and she was PERFECT! Seriously! Even with a 14-hr drive there, and back. Soooo....the whole fam is cruising in 2 weeks, and she is looking forward to trying the kids club now that she is old enough. We shall see how things go this time!

There are pros & cons to travelling with each age, so just go with the flow and have a good time!

any suggestions for the best way to find out if the doors on the conquest are metal? if not, will regular scotch tape work?? the only other time i decorated was when we took DD along (she was 18 months old that time), but we have talked about it and she wants to me to do it again this time for her first "remember" cruise (she is 6 yo for this one, lol)...DH & I will be celebrating our 15 yr anniversary, and Natl Talk Like a Pirate Day is while we our on the ship, too...i am sure i can find something decor-worthy, haha!

Lonasue, can i see your pics of 9199, get your feedback? We are in 9199 on the conquest in just a couple of weeks.... you can email me at tnyfrgsn at gmail dot com, if that is easier...

Hi - I have a 15 month old. Does any one have any advice about how to treat a baby for seasickness???

Talk to your doctor, but when we took our 18-month-old DD, her doctor told us to take along Benadryl to use, if needed. the main ingredient in benadryl will alleviate motion sickness. Lucky for us, we didn't need it!

Can anyone give me some insight into the Camp Carnival activities/experience for a 6 yo? This fall will be our first cruise utilizing CC, so I am not really sure what to expect. DD takes a while to adjust to new situations, so we discovered role-playing/in-depth discussions ahead of time go a long way towards easing the anxiety! We obviously won't force her to go, kicking & screaming the whole time, but if we can get her to be more open-minded about it, and get her excited ahead of time, I will feel better knowing that we at least stand a chance of her trying it! TIA!!

Thanks everyone! I really appreciate the help! We usually drive to most vacations, unless we are cruising (and then we have always done the cruise transfers), so I wasn't even sure how to go about looking up the taxi fare. It looks like we are def much better off to just do a taxi pre-cruise. thanks again!!

Does anyone know how much it would be for 3 people from Miami airport to the Port of Miami (Carnival Conquest), or know where i can find that information? I am trying to figure out if we can get there cheaper via taxi than by the pre-cruise transfer through carnival. also, our flight gets in at 9:30 sunday morning...not sure what time the cruise transfers start running, but I really don't want to have to sit at the airport and wait for the bus when i could be at the port and waiting in line that much earlier (and getting on the ship that much earlier!). Thanks!!!!

Awesome! Thank you! OP, you must be a nerdy numbers person, like me, lol! This will be a big help, so that once i get my list of potential cruises (we only do 7-day cruises, and they have to depart on Sunday, so it gets me to a list of about 4-5 usually), I can have something else to help make the final decision!! Sometimes the ports of call are not a big deal to us, so this makes it easier to decide based on ship features. Thanks again!!

DH & I have had no close calls or scares, thank God, but we still enjoy cruising every chance we get. This October will be our 6th cruise in 10 yrs, plus a few landlubber visits to Vegas, the Smoky Mountains and Orlando. Neither of us really got to vacation as children, so promised each other when we got married that we would do what we could to have this time together. We are looking forward to exposing our DD to her first breath of salty sea air this year, and figure it's in her blood, so this will just be the first of many family cruises, God willing.

One thing that put it into perspective for us was our experience w/ a young honeymooning couple we met while on our 1-yr anniversary cruise. Due to complications from surgery, Mindy ended up on life-support, and Kenny had to make the choice to remove her, and ended up burying his lovely young bride just weeks before what should have been their first anniversary.

Time is too short, life is too precious...