leaveitallbehind

We book this (and similar packages) often and we have always been able to change our reservation (if desired) for the first night and add the additional nights as preferred once on board with the maître d. We typically visit with them at the booked restaurant on the first day after we are settled in from boarding and make the arrangements then. The first night reservation requirement is more of a placeholder when booking the package on line through the cruise planner.

Agree. It certainly does depend on the cruise line and suite category. The suite benefits are typically scaled to the category level and without a doubt the lower category "entry level" suites often offer limited benefits. Example: RCCL junior suites are only marginally larger in size than the standard balcony categories with some enhancements (bathtub, walk in closet), but virtually no full suit benefits. But obviously as you scale up in the suite categories the benefits (and price) increase dramatically.

But as mentioned before with most cruise lines the suites also include a number privileges and enhancements to the cruise experience which need to be considered with the premium price when making stateroom comparisons. It always is more than just the stateroom when considering those staterooms defined as "suites".

You should take a look at some of the higher end suites on Celebrity and RCCL - multi-room, two level over 1,600 sq ft.

In addition to the physical descriptions of the space, which typically also includes more amenities and upgrades, suites usually include a higher level of service and on board privileges which often includes personal "butlers", dedicated lounges and / or clubs, upscale restaurants, and often segregated open spaces with private pools, etc. It's not just a larger stateroom (or rooms) but a different, higher, level of service and on board experience. And always at a significantly increased price over non-suites.

You may also want to ask this on the Carnival board to get better responses. Here is the link: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/133-carnival-cruise-lines/ You can also join your Roll Call for that cruise to talk with others sailing with you. Here is the Carnival Roll Call board to search for your sailing. If a Roll Call does not yet exist you could start one. https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/91-carnival-roll-calls/

You will most likely have much greater success asking this on the RCCL board here: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/51-royal-caribbean-international/ Enjoy your cruise - we did the reverse Hawaii to Vancouver in April 2019. (BTW all capital letters idicates you are yelling).

As inferred there will always be differing opinions on the appropriateness of wearing them outside of your stateroom in public venues. Certainly to and from hot tubs, spas, pools, and other similar venues should - IMO - not be objectionable, and in our experience we see done all the time. Naturally there would be other obvious indoor venues where it likely should not be done. But I would ask why someone would want to wear a bathrobe there in the first place? In other words, common sense should prevail.

No - as mentioned by LHT28. Wheelchairs are very common on board. But If for any reason you would decide not to take it there are motorized and manual rental options available for wheelchairs that are intended for cruise ship use. Just google the topic to see your options and port rental locations. This may provide an option to transporting yours to and from the departure port. This link to the Disabled Cruise Travel board may also provide additional information on the subject: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/114-disabled-cruise-travel/

Very little. Just enough to squeeze through to the bathroom.

Royal requires children to be potty trained for their pools. Can't answer for Disney.

Most 7 night itineraries leave on Saturdays and Sundays. 3 and 4 nights will typically leave on alternating Mondays and Thursdays following each other to net a 7 night total week sailing from the two. 5 & 6 nights departures will vary as tied into other itineraries to net out the same rotation, but maybe over a two week (or more) time frame. But the key is these itineraries are set by each cruise line and you will depart on their schedules depending on selected itineraries. Your departure preference will be dictated by that. The only way I know to determine these schedules is to reach out to each cruise lines website to see their varying days itineraries - or work with a travel agent who can coordinate this and search for you - to determine your preferences. But I am not aware of a public search engine that coordinates all cruise lines and itineraries by cruise length and itinerary destinations.

RCCL, for one, has several inside categories that offer a sofa along with the beds. In many cases they convert to a sofa bed for the 3rd / 4th passenger sleeping area in staterooms configured for those additional passengers. In fact the family interior stateroom holds up to six in a combination of standard twin beds, sofa bed, and bunk beds.

Sorry - it wasn't clear from your initial post that you were looking at a long transatlantic cruise. You did say you wanted to see the Caribbean and your focus was not being on a booze cruise, balcony safety, and on board atmosphere for children. That all describes shorter vacation type itineraries, for which Royal would be a good fit. BTW, none of the typical transatlantics would be a "booze cruise." Most mainstream cruise lines typically use transatlantic crossings as repositioning cruises to get their ships from one seasonal region to another, which would typically be offered only twice a year between Europe and the US. That all being said, Royal would still be a good consideration if a liner cruise such as with the QM2 would not be your choice. However, because of school conflicts, etc., very few families would be on board - mostly older travelers who have the time for that type of crossing. Curious why the hesitation with them?

IMO Royal Caribbean would check off the most boxes for you. They have larger inside family staterooms on some ships as well as flexible family dining called Family My Time dining. They are not a party boat - that would more typically be Carnival. I would suggest contacting a travel agent to assist you with your investigation but would again suggest RCCL as the first one to look at. By "ground floor" I assume you mean what would typically be called the promenade deck. Most cruise lines have their balconies typically beginning one deck above that which would still be a low deck. But that in of itself does not make them any safer - maybe just more convenient to different lower deck venues. Here is the link to the (US) Royal Caribbean website which will give you a lot of information: https://www.royalcaribbean.com/cruise-ships Good luck in your searching.

Agree as well. And just so you know, the balcony staterooms have a child door lock high on the frame of the balcony doors that the stateroom attendant will show you. If your children are young it is not likely they would ever be on the balconies unsupervised anyway. The balcony rails are also intentionally high and the outer barriers are solid metal or glass panels, depending on the ship. Very safe and typically only able to go over with intention. Dining is easy with families with menu items oriented to include the kids. No issues with common areas as well. RCCL's primary demographics are families and multi generation cruisers.

You would have to confirm through the cruise line directly or through a travel agent what interior staterooms have which bed configuration. But IMO the murphy-style beds that are extended from the ceiling or side walls are typically very comfortable. Agree, however, that unless two of the guests are children it will be rather crowded. Plus you will all share a single bathroom. Most cruise websites will provide generic stateroom pictures with a bed descriptor, although all four beds "opened" will not likely be shown.

LOL. By today's standards it was small enough to maybe get away with being called a "boat".

No, I doubt you were ripped off by your agent. But one way to be sure is to ask him for a copy of the Celebrity booking confirmation. They should match - if not line for line (as some agents may show different line items) they should show the same total. Celebrity (as do most lines) issues one with each booking to the agents. At least in the US they are always provided. If not by the agent automatically, then by request of them from the customer.

Have you ever been to the backside of Cozumel? Beautiful ocean scenery and five interesting bar / restaurants. Only open during the day. Well kept secret from most visitors.

Unless the port has a stated "curfew" type of restriction, which I am not aware of with Cozumel, then there should be no restriction other than logically when the shore venues would close for the night. When the ships are overnight in Bermuda, for example, you can come and go as you please. But typically everyone is back on board once the local bars, etc., close. But there is no ship-based restriction.

As others have mentioned, "offensive" is subjective and relevant to the audience and context in which it is said. IMO the more accurate descriptor would simply be "incorrect" based on the many nautical vessels defined in this thread.

Agree. RCCL / Celebrity are probably more like 14 inches space underneath the beds - not the 12 inches I originally said.

We tend to use the softer luggage as IMO it is more flexible in terms of variable packing amounts. I also think it is well suited for cruising as it easily fits under the beds, which is the ideal storage area. In our experience that space is typically about 12 inches from bedframe base to floor. Hard sided luggage may not fit as well and would then have to be somewhere in the stateroom, which is not ideal. But if hard sided is your preference, just keep that depth size in mind. Not aware of any Amtrak policies regarding luggage restrictions for carry on other than it needs to fit on the overhead storage, which most will. But maybe google Amtrak (or call) to see if there is any information available to be sure. One tip - as mentioned, we always store our empty luggage under the bed and at the end of each day we pack our worn clothes in them so that by the end of the week on the last night we are already 90% packed for the trip home.

Depending on your cruise line(s) of choice, a number now do offer a dedicated solo stateroom for solo travelers that typically are a little smaller than a standard double occupancy stateroom and designed for one person. On Celebrity Edge class ships, as example, they are a veranda category stateroom. They are also typically attractively priced as such at a pricing level that is somewhat higher than a one person rate in a double occupancy stateroom, but significantly lower than the usually double occupancy rate for a solo. You may want to look into this option for future cruises.