croozymooner

35 minutes ago, neverbeenhere said:

The letters in first name were transposed once without issue. But I won’t tell you that it might not be a problem. I didn’t mention it on check in, no one noticed it (or didn’t mention it) so I sailed through. 
 

boy that was about as good as milk toast. 

Well it’s good to know you weren’t denied boarding. Maybe with him being a kid, they’ll be less strict. Been on the phone with royal Caribbean and no one seemingly can do anything because we booked through an agent. Can’t exactly get my agent on the phone at 11pm on a Friday. Sigh. 

We are scheduled to sail Sunday.  Just realized my 11 year old's name is misspelled on the reservation--Issac instead of the correct spelling, Isaac.  Trying to get in touch with my travel agent and on hold with RCCL.  Freaking out that we're going to be denied boarding.  Anyone else have this happen?

We’re sailing on the Oasis tomorrow as a family of five. When we went on the Harmony, the junior suite had a pull down bed from the ceiling and the sofa could turn into a trundle bed so each kid had their own bed. Is the Oasis the same layout or is the sofa a real sofa bed such that two kids would have to share the bed (I.e. not a trundle)?   Thank you!

2 adults and 3 kids would be fine, and we've done this twice before.  But no way in heck would I bring a 3rd adult into a cabin for privacy reasons alone in terms of dressing/undressing/showering.  

I have sailed twice while breastfeeding, once in 2013 and once in 2018 (different kids, obviously).  The nursery will take pumped milk and give you back the used bottles dirty.  I used the bathroom sink (the bathroom with the shower, not the toilet) and a tiny portable drying rack for washing parts.  I never brought the babies to adult only areas.  I nursed freely everywhere else I felt like it-- sometimes with a cover and sometimes not.  I'm pretty small chested so easy to be discrete and relatively modest.  I never had anyone notice or care.  I never had an issue in ports but we were always just at beaches.  At dinner, the assistant server (female) cut my food for me once or twice when she noticed I was having a hard time eating while nursing which was cute (she volunteered...I never asked).  Honestly, I think this is a very non-issue if you've made it to six months of nursing.  

We prefer dinner.  We finally tried brunch on our last seven day cruise, and it was very good food, but we felt overly stuffed for the rest of the day.  I also prefer the general ambiance of dinner as opposed to serving myself from a buffet.  

We dialed to Alaska last summer with a 4 and a 6 year old. Only bad part was dealing with the time change coming from the east coast. The kids, especially the six year old, had an awesome time. Many excursions required a minimum age of five, so as long as six is your youngest, you should be fine. Cost is pricey. No getting around that. But age a six year old can definitely get a lot from that trip. We did four excursions total and brought the kids in all of them. Happy to answer any specific questions. My kids also preferred the Wonder kids club to the fantasy (which we’ve sailed three times) in case you’re wondering. Less crowded and chaotic.

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We used the nursery in both the Magic and the Fantasy when my boys were younger and never had any issues. Never left them more than a couple of hours and never for sleeping (just my personal preference). They were perfectly able to handle breastfed and formula fed infants and were great with my kids when they were two as well.

Early March 2013 we were unable to dock sailing on the Magic. I think late winter is very iffy.

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March 2013 we were unable to dock on the Magic due to high winds.

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Last month we couldn't get a signal in our mid-forward cabin on deck 7 which was very frustrating. When we got a signal, it worked well. Haven't had that problem in aft cabins.

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Thanks for the review. My family is going next January and considering a Harrison's Cave excursion. It is quite pricey though ($75 per adult, $39 per child so $228 for the family). I may look into arranging it myself.

Totally agree about the airport situation for Galveston and the not so pleasant drive to and area around the port. It's not a very accessible area. New Orleans would be much more fun.

We did not like the dawn at all. Poor layout, not enough public areas, too crowded, poor food quality. The only good thing about that ship was the cabin. And the staff were pretty good too.

Just another perspective here. We've done that three times before without any trouble. The first two times were when I was in medical school and then resident when getting even a few extra hours off to fly down the night before was simply not possible. The last time was for an eight night cruise so again, impossible to go the night before. Also, the last time we went with a baby and a two year old so with needing car seats and cribs an whatnot, getting a hotel one night before wasn't such a simply feat. We always get insurance so that we can at least be financially whole if we miss the boat and acknowledge ahead of time that missing the boat is a small but real possibility. We also live in atlanta though so weather is usually on our side and the next flight out is never a long time away. Also, we never have connecting flights.

We took out oldest on the Norwegian dawn at 11 months and our youngest on the disney magic at 5 months. We find that so many of the crew members really seem to enjoy seeing babies because it reminds them of their little ones at home. We always let them hold the babies or play with them when they seemed like they'd want to and we'd get talking about the crew members little ones back home. Tough what some people do to support their families.

We sailed the magic for 8 nights in march with five of those being sea days and two being port days. I will say she is a beautiful and well maintained ship but definitely has a smaller feel. The cabins are slightly worn feeling (this was before dry deck). Five sea days was a bit painful with two very young children but if it was a typical 7 night cruise with three ports and three sea days, I'd do it again in a heartbeat. Incidentally, I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the food. While we're not "foodies," this was our 7th cruise and probably one of the better ships we've sailed food wise.

Before having a child, the one thing we did not skimp on was shore excursions. We have done some very exciting, once in a lifetime type shore excursions. I have almost never regretted spending money on a GOOD excursion. This requires a bit of research to know what a good excursion is.

After having a child, I will say the one thing we don't skimp on is the room. A balcony is a must have so we can sit outside and talk while the baby sleeps. I'm also willing to pay a bit more for a nicer balcony room (e.g. concierge class on celebrity or mini-suite on NCL) though I have not brought myself to upgrade to a real suite just yet.

Things we do skimp on?

-Never ever have been to a specialty restaurant. The MDR suits us fine.

-Alcohol. Between the two of us, we drink about one drink a day max.

-Gambling. I don't like to burn money.

-Spa treatments. These are ridiculously overprice compared to on land (which seem overpriced to begin with), and I have no desire to have someone try to sell me crappy body products.

1. As a VERY rough guide to how much extra you'll spend--pretend like you're taking a 3rd passenger. In other words, if your 7 day cruise costs $700 per person, budget roughly $700 for tips, excursions, drinks, parking at the port, souvenirs, etc. Obviously very inexact (and probably on the low side for many if you drink more than one drink a day gamble, use the spa, or fly to the ports). I think some people with a $2000 vacation budget might blow their budget significantly when they book a cruise at $1000 per person thinking everything is included.

2. Don't hesitate to switch tables at dinner if you don't like your dining companions. It's your vacation.

3. Research the ports ahead of time. Some places are excellent to do on your own (Key West, San Juan). Other are not (Belize, Jamaica). Others have superb private tours (Costa Maya, Grand Cayman). The ports of call boards on cruise critic are an excellent place to start. Frommers and Fodors also have excellent guidebooks to the ports of call.

4. Don't hesitate to cruise an older ship, especially if it's your first time cruising. Our upcoming cruise will be the first time we take a ship that was built in the new millenium! They're almost all beautiful in their own ways. The only time we were ever actually disappointed with the ship itself was the Norwegian Majesty.

5. Skip the formal photos. They're way overpriced. And beware that some are not standard sizes. On our honeymoon in 2004, we bought a photo (the only one we've ever gotten), and didn't realize it was 6 x 8. We only found an appropriate size frame a few months ago!