Essiesmom

On a 3/4 B2B on Seaside from Port Canaveral there was not a gala/elegant night. EM

Depends on the cruise. If it’s a Journeys cruise, with a lot of Plats and Dia on board, definitely. EM

These are pics I took of Carnival Pride in Nassau in 2011:

Yes you can. The panels swing out and are clamped to the railing, which will block part of the view for one cabin. There are a limited number of clamps so you have to request it early. They will not open the dividers for aft facing balconies. EM

On Seashore there were two EU plugs, and two US outlets separated by two USB ports, at the desk. One USB beside the bed. Since Seascape is one year newer I would think she has at least that. Standard OV cabin. EM

I have that problem, too. EM

To add to this, if you are approaching Cozumel from Roatan, Belize, Costa Maya, you will be arriving from the south and the port will be starboard. EM

I did Diamond in 2010 and Coral in 2013 (I side cabins both times). So either Coral or Sapphire for me. EM

Have you visited the Ports of Call boards here? Might be some suggestions there. EM

Because of the way the doorways are configured, alternating cabin balconies cannot be connected. If you are in a cabin with a balcony and the windows are to your right, the door to the balcony is by the foot of the bed. When you lay in the bed, you are facing a wall. If your friends are in the cabin that you are facing, if there was a window in that wall, they would be looking at you. Their balcony door will be adjacent to yours, when the divider is opened, it will swing one way or the other and block one of the doors, and that cabin will not be able to access their balcony. If however, your two cabins have the heads of the beds on the same wall, the open divider will swing over and block part of a window, but both cabins will be able to use their balconies. This is why you might have three cabins in a row but can only connect two. This does not apply to Spirit class ships which have dividers that open outward and clamp onto the balcony railing. EM

For the Greek Isles, I would go to cruisetimetables.com and either choose Cruise from…and maybe Piraeus, as it is the port for Athens…or Cruises to…and select some locations from the list of Greek ports. This will show you who sails from there, and their itineraries, and/or who calls there and their itineraries. July and August are going to be very hot in that part of the Mediterranean, so I would go before or after. I recommend getting a copy of Rick Steves’ Mediterranean Cruise Ports to see what there is to do and how much you can do in the time available. Also visit the Ports of Call boards here for ideas and advice. EM

That doesn’t look bad, humidity only 60%. My summers are worse than that…. EM

Island Princess exits, revealing Seabourn Quest entering the neighboring lock. She had to wait for the water Island was displacing to enter her lock, raising it to the needed water level.

Island Princess at Miraflores, completely hiding Seabourn Quest who will be in the other lane

This is a picture of A301 on Diamond, taken by me in 2010

I think you should also ask this on the River Cruising forum here. EM

I almost missed Quest at Gatun, and here she is at Pedro Miguel. And Island Princess at Pedro Miguel

You might ask on the Ports of Call board for the Bahamas…

Based on Seaside and Seashore, all of the elevators are press the floor you want to go to, once for each person in your party so the elevator knows how many to expect. Under the keypad is a circle that you swipe with card or bracelet if in YC, only at forward elevators. EM

I think it depends on the child and what you expect of the programs. There are some lines that accept children but do not have any programs for them. Most of them are luxury lines. There are mass market lines that have children’s programs but do not have outdoor facilities like waterworks or kiddie pools. These include Princess, Celebrity, HAL. Others have kids programs and water facilities. These might include Carnival, NCL, Royal Caribbean, MSC, Disney and others that do not market in the US. It depends on your child, too. If you have an outgoing child that has preschool or day care experience, she might enjoy the kids facilities and making new friends. If she is a bit shy, she might be intimidated, frightened off. And it depends on when you want to cruise. If it is during school holidays, there might be so many kids that the facilities are overwhelmed, and the line might limit the kids allowed into the club. (I’ve read this happens on NCL). Non holiday time on the same ship she might have a wonderful time. So, there are many things to consider. And then…there are families that say kids clubs don’t matter because it’s going to be family time and the kids won’t be using the clubs. But the kid goes once, loves it, makes a best friend, and wants to go all the time. And the opposite happens when the parents expect the kids to spend a lot of time in the clubs so they can have adult times…and the child hates it an refuses to go, is attached to their side the entire cruise. YMMV. EM

They are HC cabins. EM

Scanning the Regal deck plans on cruisedeckplans.com, the only minisuites I see that accommodate four are MB. All the others no more than 3. EM

Yes, I puzzled about that until I realized it wasn’t live, it is an after action report…. EM

If most of you have never cruised before, I would not go for the newest, largest ship. It will be plenty big on the Liberty of the Seas. Many of the attractions on the Oasis class are aimed at families, children…which you don’t need. I haven’t sailed Royal but on ships of other lines that are the size of the Liberty, I find a week is not enough to find all the different attractions. Go for the one that is easiest to get to. EM