Bcshur

Thank you so much! 

Hi everyone,

We’re on Oasis on July 7th. We just got an email at 5:30 about reserving our seats for shows and three hours when we saw the email, all shows were completely sold out. Is this true? As a long time royal to loyal customer, this will be a deal breaker for me. While I understand Oasis is massive, I’ve never had to prebook shows and then within three hours have them all filled.

Thank you advance for your help! 

Hi! I’m so excited for you and your wife! My husband and I (both teachers, me being a Special Ed teacher and my husband a high school teacher but certified Behavioral Specialist) cruised for the first time with our 5 and 6 year olds this summer. We used Adventure Ocean (kids club) daily for our daughter (5); our son is more shy and reserved and wouldn’t go. I will do my best to answer your questions. I do apologize for any grammatical errors as my iPad has a mind of its own! 
 

1) What are the check in and check out times? How does it differ on day one and any days in a port? Are the check in/out times flexible?

This varied daily. We typically would take our daughter from 7pm-10. After 10 there is a charge. During sail days, there was three separate sessions. I believe they were 10-1, 2-5, and then 7-10. During these times you could drop off and pick your child up as you please. One thing I enjoyed was being able to pop in whenever to see my daughter. You use your Sea Pass to drop them off as well as pick them up so there’s no chance of them leaving on their own.

2) Are there any limits or restrictions we should know about for their age group?

The children are grouped by age. The groups were 3-5, 6-10 (or around there), and an older group. 

3) How can we communicate with the Kids Club if necessary? Or, more importantly, how can they communicate with us?

We continually popped in to see our daughter. I saw them give one family a walky type device to communicate. We didn’t request one, but I believe they will give you one upon request to get in contact. The whole room is open so you can just pop in whenever and check. This was never a burden to the staff! I would do this about every 30 minutes (or less). 
 

4) What does a day in kids club look like for their age groups?

This varies immensely. Everyday was different. My daughter did everything from coloring, games, and science experiments to free play and movies. It was very well organized! I saw the older groups playing camp type games. 

5) The people supervising the kids - are they super young or are they experienced adults? Do they have any credentials? How many are there at any given time? Are they attentive?

I would imagine they have credentials based on their interactions with the kids. I would say they were all mid twenties. Although I wouldn’t say they are certified teachers, they likely hold the credentials of a 2 year degree. There was a great ration! I would say one adult for every 5 kids. Every time I walked into check on my daughter they were always attentive with thr kids. I never once saw someone on their phone or just chatting with another staff member. 

6) Is the program crowded?

This depended on the day. One night there would be 3 kids, and the next 6. The most I ever counted was around 9. We had a very full sailing with about 700 kids. One thing I will say is the staff to child ration was fantastic! I would say for every 5 children there was 1 adult. 

7) Are there consequences for misbehavior (e.g. time out, loss of activity participation, call the parents, etc)?

Yes! You have to sign a behavior contract with them before your child stays. This contract states that they deserve the right the not take your child if negative behaviors occur. I heard them telling one parent (child wouldn’t listen) that they would give him one more chance but then he could no longer come. 

8. For their age group, do they do any swimming activities?

No! Thank gosh. My daughter wouldn’t have been attending those. 
 

Our experience was fantastic, but I am sure this varies per ship! My daughter truly loved going. I should note that I’m a parent who puts air tags on her kids when they’re not with me, and who has never had someone besides my parents watch them. With that being said, I felt confident sending my daughter there. The fact I could go and check on her whenever I wanted was wonderful. She loved the staff! They would see her in other venues and always would be sure to talk to her. 
 

I hope this helps! 
 

Just off Adventure last week, you are not allowed to have a GoPro or any other recording or electronic device. My husband would just put his sea pass in his pocket and my son would record him as he came out. Our experience is you really couldn’t have anything on you, no sunglasses, jewelry, water shoes…nothing. They were pretty strict with this. 
 

I hope this helps! 😄

Yay! First time cruising post Covid with two kids who drink a lot of water! Thanks so much!

Hi everyone,

Leaving on Adventure on Saturday, I was curious if we are able to bring our yetis to refill with water? 

This may be posted elsewhere and if it is I apologize.

We are cruising to Bermuda in July with our two kids, ages 4 & 5. Both kiddos and myself and my husband will all be fully vaccinated by our departure day. 
 

Are we able to book excursions through private parties? I keep hearing different reports on this. 

This may be posted elsewhere and if it is I apologize.

We are cruising to Bermuda in July with our two kids, ages 4 & 5. Both kiddos and myself and my husband will all be fully vaccinated by our departure day. 
 

Are we able to book excursions through private parties? I keep hearing different reports on this. 

Hi everyone, 

Perhaps someone could kindly advise, I have a visa Royal Caribbean card with a boat load of points accumulated on it. After 5 years from your last cruise you start to lose some points every month you do not travel. It’s been 5 years for us as we had two children between then and now. My question is, will they start taking those points or does anyone know if they are revamping that policy due to actually not being able to cruise? We have enough points for a free cruise and then come and I just want to ensure we’re not losing and being penalized when we can’t travel due to the pandemic. 

Any input would be great! 

First and foremost, book this trip! My husband and I did two European cruises in the last two years and it was worth every penny. If you're going over there, I recommend extending either your pre or post cruise. We flew to Paris and then to Rome to get on the ship one time, and the other time extended our stay in Rome. If we could do it all over again, we would have added London in there. We just had a baby in March and I'm already trying to convince him to travel the med. with him next June!

Don't worry about laundry. We traveled for two weeks and didn't need to stop and do laundry. However, I do know some people will use the laundry services offered in port (like a laundromat).

Book all your excursions through your roll call and you will save a ton.

On the European cruises, we didn't find ourselves drinking as much on the ship so that was a big cost saver too.

We did what another poster suggested, got an interior cabin. This was worth it for us as if we just used it to sleep and change. We mostly spent time on deck.

Remember this is a trip that doesn't happen often, so do it up! We tried to stay conscious with our spending but not enough to not allow us to enjoy all the things Europe has to offer. :)

Looking to book a 5 day cruise to Bermuda in June of 2017; does anyone know when they will be posting the itineraries and prices? I am quite surprised it's not up already. Thank you in advance!

Thanks for the information!

Having done two med. cruises two years in a row. We hit all the ports we want to see over there. Maybe we will have to consider doing another cruise line for Hawaii.

Thanks again for the information! :)

I may be missing this somewhere, and if I am I do apologize. But does anyone know why RC does not cruise to Hawaii in the summer? My husband and I are limited to traveling from mid June-early August. We would love to book a Hawaiian cruise in June 2017 but it appears as if there is only one other cruise line that cruises from Hawaii that time of year, and unfortunately it's not one we want to try.

Anyone have any input on this?

My husband and I were on Rhapsody at the beginning of July. We left on a Tuesday and the Friday prior there were two things in the news about unsafe travel. We were extremely concerned as we were flying into Istanbul for two days prior to the cruise. We really liked Istanbul! We wouldn't necessarily go back, but we also wouldn't not plan a cruise departing from there. We called RCI numerous times prior to leaving to just confirm all was safe. They assured us over and over again. Our trip was in the middle of the "crisis" in Greece and we found that what was being stated on the news was completely not true, or at least grossly over exaggerated. Don't watch the news until you come back! Haha.

You will have a fabulous time! :)

Last year RCI did not take our passports when departing from Rome. This year, departing from Istanbul, they did take them and gave them back to us about 7 days in (it was a 9 day cruise). Be prepared to give them up. I would just make sure you have your driver's license with so you have a form of identification. Also, make a copy of your passport just in case. :)

I have been looking also ...for weeks. Everything I find does NOT coincidewith our ship, the Constellations , schedule there. I explored 5 different sailing excursions..all no good. Then last night found this great wine tasting and cooking class tour but it starts at 10:30 so if you ar docking early, look into that one.:):)

Could you tell me where you found that cooking and wine class? Was that through your ship?

All these posts are amazing!

We are contemplating renting a car perhaps, or even an ATV. It doesn't seem very difficult to explore on our own.

Anyone have any ideas of what to do in Santorini? My husband and I will be there in July. We'd like to have a leisurely day by hitting up some wineries, but not sure of the best plan of action to take. Any help would be great!

Hi everyone! I have this posted on our roll call as well but trying to find a few more people to join in on a boat tour to the island of Capri.

Let me know if you are going to be in Naples on July 11th and would be interested. :)

Love it! Thanks for the feedback, that is what we were considering. But then we would need to watch ourselves closely as far as drinking and driving. Not that we would be gulping wine, but we are wine lovers and we would be in Santorini! :)

Does anyone know of any drivers or tour companies?

I sent them an email as well. Does anyone if they still have the 30 euros per per package? My husband and I are looking for just a relaxing day and would rather the choice of ordering beverage and food ala carte if we do want them.

Does anyone have any input to this? As of now we are thinking we need to take the cable car to Thira and then get a cab to Santo Winery? Does anyone have any input on this or an easier way?

Thank you so much everyone!

We definitely don't want to miss out on anything. But, since this is slightly spur of the moment we know we need to make it more cost effect than last year. Keeping that in mind we also know we are early 30s and if we don't do it now, we may not be back until retirement (we don't have children yet).

Does anyone have the most cost effective and safe way to get from IST Airport to our hotel as well as from the hotel to the cruise line?

I have the transfers set up in Rome, which is where the cruise ends but Turkey I am still a bit confused.

Thank you again so much everyone!

Well, our Med. cruise last year was just so fabulous we decided to book another one this summer! We originally had a 9 day Caribbean out of Bayonne, New Jersey booked for June 18th but when I priced a 9 day European Cruise out of Istanbul it was unbeatable! So, we went ahead and booked.

Having been in Europe last year and spending some pre-cruise days in Paris and some post-cruise days in Rome we spent a lot of money. We are thinking this time around we can it much cheaper using frequent flier miles, onboard credit, as well as being more conscious of what we spend and how we spend it. I mean who really needs to try gelato at every place who advertises to have the best? :)

I'm here to ask if anyone has input to share on how to do this trip pretty cost effective!

Any help is greatly appreciated!

My husband and I looking into the most cost effective way to do transfers from the airport to our hotel in Istanbul and then from the hotel to the cruise port. We're early 30s so don't mind walking a bit, but are definitely looking for ease in a cost effective way. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!