gander24

It was open today! I took the tram to Chill Island and we rode by it and the tram driver pointed it out, said it had just opened yesterday.

Hey there! I am going to follow this post because we just booked Oasis - LO will be just over 2. Can you explain this whole magnetic hook thing to me? Is it just so the little one can’t look over and get distracted from sleeping? (We had this issue at Disney one day when our daughter realized at 3am that we were in the same room as her. We heard, “Hi..... hi!!!! Hiiiiiiii!!” Lol. :)

Thank you, everybody! Great information all around!

We are contemplating going on a cruise with our daughter after she turns 2. Hubby and I have been on a boatload (pun intended) of cruises before her, and are excited to experience a big boat through the freshness of a child’s eyes. We know the vacation won’t be relaxing but hey, neither is life at home these days! But we are looking forward to making some good memories and helping to instill a love of travel in our girl. She did fabulous at Disney earlier this year when she was only just over a year old - we did not expect to have as much fun as we did, but she thrived on the change of pace.

I can’t really find any clear-cut answers on what the best Royal Ship would be with a toddler, particularly one that is not potty trained. There is a chance she will be by the time we go, but I don’t want that to be a limiting factor. There is mixed info on the baby splash pad on Oasis vs Harmony, for example. Can anyone share their recommendations or experiences in cruising with a toddler?

I'm interested in this too. Widowed friend and I are going out on the Pride (Carnival, but I'm on this site because DH and I are scheduled on the Explorer in August) next month. She is a school teacher and never cruised, and has been through quite a lot in the past couple of years as well. We booked inside as well, to save money. I got an upsell call for an extended balcony for only $150 for the entire cruise so I jumped on it, thinking it would be a nice way to make her cruise experience even better. She has no idea so I want to surprise her.

That is so kind of you! I am sure it will mean a lot! There is something about a cruise ship balcony out in the middle of nowhere with nothing but water for miles to help restore the soul.

Why tell them? Why not let them be surprised when they walk in the stateroom?

This is the top way I had in my mind! I can just picture where they have keys in hand and they are looking on the wrong side of the ship, unable to find their room. Then suddenly they realize their room number is on the "outside" side of the ship... :) :) :)

Other ways I've considered:

- Pretending to put their keys in an inside room and them not working. I can totally picture my MIL getting frustrated then pow - turn around and access the balcony room behind us. But my DH suggested that a) they would realize it's not their room number and b) whoever is in that inside room may not appreciate people trying to access their cabin :-x

- Showing them to their room then saying "oh wait! This is our room!" then a pause.. then "....just kidding! Welcome to your room for the week!"

I have sailed several times on both lines and love them both. Each cruise is a different experience and it is what you make of it. I like the extra features that some of the RCI boats have like the promenade, the ice skating rink, and the flow-rider. I love the water slides on Carnival. The American Table menu that we had on the Carnival Liberty last year was the best food I have ever had on a cruise before. On the flipside, I liked the break we took from Carnival cuz watching the waiters dance to "Get Low" in the MDR got old after several trips! I absolutely love the RCI ships that have access to the helipad for the best view on the ship.

If you do choose Carnival, I would advise going with ships that have been fitted with the 2.0 upgrade (with Blue Iguana, Guy's Burgers, the comedy club, etc) in order to keep up with the more modern vibe of RCI.

My husband and I are going on a cruise in March on NOTS. We are going with his mom, dad, and 86 y/o very spunky grandma. It'll be Grandma's first cruise and she is BEYOND excited. Our family has been through a lot personally in the last 2 years so we are all ready for this trip.

Hubby and I will be in one cabin, the in-laws in another. When we booked the cruise, his parents elected to do an inside cabin to save money. DH and I knew deep down they were bitten by the balcony bug several years ago on their last cruise when it was the highlight of their trip. But we went along with their decision knowing it would allow them to sail with us.

DH and I played travel agent and made all the arrangements. They think they are getting an inside cabin with a sofa bed. However, with everything we've all been through lately (and knowing it was Grandma's first cruise), we decided they deserved a surprise upgrade. They have paid us for an inside cabin but we booked them a balcony room instead and we paid the difference.

We were totally expecting them to uncover the surprise when they logged into the RCI website but they haven't realized it yet. We are trying to think of a creative way to tell them once on board, to make it that much more special. Any ideas?

I searched the boards for this question but came up short. We are going on a family cruise in March and bringing my husband's very animated, young-at-heart 86-year-old grandma. The whole family is so excited to share the "cruise experience" with her.

One of our favorite moments on a boat is when you pull away from the dock and start making your way to open waters. You know, the "point of no return." (Except when they kick us off a week later.) The Navigator is scheduled to set sail at 5:30pm on embarkation day, the same time as our early seating. Do they adjust dinnertime the first night to allow the early seaters to partake in the sail-away festivities?

We hope so, since we love that first dinner in the MDR as well. Thanks in advance!

Loving your review so far!

I would love to witness a conversation between your Conquest-worshipping tablemates and the person who wrote this "Brutally Honest" Conquest review... :p

Loved it!

We are sailing out of Port Canaveral. Before FTTF existed (I think), we would always take the first hotel shuttle between 10:30-11 to get on the ship. Should we arrive at the port a little later since we aren't doing FTTF, or do we still have an opportunity to board pretty early?

Thanks in advance!

I am a nurse and so I know, but you can go on many medical websites (can't say which ones here but one rhymes with Tiki :D) and get the standard dosing and what it is used to treat. The Mexican Pharmacist will also give you dosing, but Azithromycin (Zpak) and Amoxil are very basic antibiotics that most people have taken many times. It is important to note that many illnesses are viral and not affected by antibiotics and if taken needlessly too often it (they) will not be as affective when you really need them to be. With that said, most adults know when they have a sinus infection or ear infection and those are not viral. Throat, even pus pockets, can be viral, so that is not as easily self-diagnosed. Most people know themselves pretty well, though. Disclaimer: I am not a doctor nor a diagnostician and recommend talking to your doctor about it. You might be surprised to find him/her very understanding of your plight. I told my dentist when I went to Mexico to get some extensive dental work done and he was not offended at all and in fact said he knows many people that go there for their extensive work....again, sad state of our medical system.

Thanks for making the statement that I haven't seen made here yet, that most things are viral and will get better on their own. Unfortunately, this paragraph has some untrue statements. Amoxil and azithromycin are very common, but just because someone has used them before doesn't necessarily mean they can extrapolate those experiences to other sicknesses. It has been my experience most adults do not know the true definition of sinusitis is (with classic double-sickening) and instead think they have one on day 2 of a head cold. Also, the vast majority of sinusitis is viral in etiology... and people who are self-treating as someone mentioned above may not realize different bugs = different drugs even if it is bacterial. (For example, lots of patients always request "the z-pack" not realizing that azithromycin is not effective for s.pneumo or m.cat bugs, which are huge offenders. And then there are the complications of sinusitis people often don't realize, such as brain abscesses which are rare but do happen.) And with otitis media, the vast majority of infections are viral and get better with supportive treatment, but antibiotics are the mainstay of choice. The problem becomes when people start self-medicating without regard to current regimen recommendations, for example, high-dose amoxil vs. standard dosing for drug-resistant OM in kids or even weight-based dosing.

Be careful, folks. Think about what you would tell your patients if you were the healthcare provider, especially if the meds are not backed by a monitoring organization... & there's a reason more and more we are offering supportive care for likely viral illnesses because the numbers are getting scary, even locally, for antibiotic resistance.

I'm going on the Glory in a few weeks and we're scheduled to get into St. Thomas at 10 and St. Maarten at 8 a.m. I just wanted to know how soon we can expect to be off the ship. We are looking at tours that begin 1 hour after the docking time - is this feasible?