TwinMamainMN

They did not have an espresso machine when we were on Harmony in September. I am fairly certain you could get regular brewed coffee but not lattes, cappuccinos, etc.

We sailed on Odyssey in March and Harmony in September. Loved them both for different reasons. On Odyssey, we really liked getting a latte and a light breakfast in Cafe 270 and watching the ship tie up at Coco Cay from 270. The venue was interesting with lots of types of seating. We enjoyed The Book. I can't explain what it was about, but it was cool and unique. We also really enjoyed The Effectors. We enjoyed dinners at Giovanni's Italian Kitchen, Chops and Wonderland, plus the MDR. We liked having cocktails and splitting a burger or wings at Playmakers and loved the go-karts. We watched some sports there too (soccer and basketball, I think) on the huge tv screens. Plenty of pool and hot tub space and a Solarium with hot tubs and a wading/shallow pool. On Harmony, we would get a latte at Cafe Promenade and then go to Central Park Cafe for breakfast. Having to go to 2 locations was kind of annoying, but Central Park Cafe has a nice "garden" vibe that we enjoyed. We enjoyed Grease and also saw "Oh What a Night" featuring songs from Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons. That was a really fun experience and I found myself singing along to songs I didn't realize where even his. We had UDP on Harmony, so we ate at Chops, Jamie's Italian (better than Giovanni's on Odyssey IMO), 150 Central Park (outstanding!), Izumi Hibachi and had lunch one day at Sabor Taqueria. Lots of pools and hot tubs. No regular pool of any sort in the Solarium, but several hot tubs. We didn't use iFly on Odyssey or FlowRider on either ship but enjoyed watching others use them. We did North Star on Odyssey while still docked at Coco Cay and thought it was really fun to get that view but wouldn't pay to do it unless maybe in Alaska. Either way, I don't think you can go wrong. We are sailing with kids on Oasis in March and are looking forward to it. I'd happily cruise on either of them again.

We didn't have Cherries Jubilee, and none of us like cherries anyway. 🤷‍♀️

We had Baked Alaska for the first time in 2018 on our Alaskan cruise. Ever since then, I make one every year for my family of 5 (plus my mom who comes over that day). We've had several flavors and it's easy to make, it just takes time to freeze everything. In 2022, we had pistachio and strawberry ice cream with a brownie layer instead of pound cake, and I made them in individual Bundt pans which was lots easier than making one big one. I'm a sucker for Creme Brulee or Tiramisu when we have a nice dinner, but also love a good carrot cake or layered chocolate cake. Truthfully, I haven't met many desserts that I don't like.

We had Lobster Thermidor at 150 Central Park on Harmony back in September this year. We had UDP, and normally 150 CP has an upcharge, but they do offer it. I enjoyed it prepared that way, and don't typically like lobster.

That is what I do as well. I have a navy and white striped one that has a zipper and fold over flap and another that is a large woven envelope with magnetic clasp that is made of some type of straw/reeds.

Our last cruise in September was Caribbean cruise. Ports changed from eastern to western 2 days before we sailed to avoid Hurricane Fiona. 7 night cruise plus one night pre-cruise. I wore one outfit on arrival day (shorts, flip flops, t-shirt, track jacket, underwear, bra). I packed the following: 8 underwear strapless bra 1 extra bra 2 knee length casual dresses (for ports, lunch, and swimsuit coverup) 6 summer/lightweight dresses (most of them long) pj shorts and tank top cropped leggings and tshirt for AM coffee runs and walks around the ship 2 swimsuits gold wedge sandals denim blue wedge sandals one other pair of flip flops 2 razor blades 4 makeup items sunscreen shampoo/conditioner (used ship shower gel - loved the scent!) leave in conditioner (to avoid frizzy hair) costume jewelry for dinner aspirin, first aid cream, bandaids contact lens cleaner and lens holder Kindle iphone (for photos) 2 small and flat wristlet wallets to hold my SeaPass card and iphone small tote bag that I used to carry sunscreen/Kindle/phone on the ship I wore all the clothes and used everything else. Wish I would have packed an extra pair of shorts and another tshirt, but it wasn't critical.

We have done Western Caribbean twice and have no desire to do it again. In September, our Harmony cruise changed from eastern to western to avoid Hurricane Fiona and I was just glad to go, but Cozumel and Costa Maya are just "meh." We vastly prefer eastern and southern Caribbean.

About a week out, I start a section in my closet for the things I intend to bring. Wash anything that needs to be washed and set it aside. I don't pack stuff into a suitcase until the day before we fly out, to avoid wrinkled clothes and we roll our clothes and use packing cubes. Hubby does his own on approximately the same timeline.

Just in case anyone else is wondering and/or looking for an exact answer, I emailed Paradise Point to ask if the skyride was accessible. Got a lovely response in just under 24 hours. "Unfortunately, the Skyride is not wheelchair/motorized scooter accessible because of safety issues for those who are reliant on them. The Skyride goes up over 700 ft above sea level and passes over a lot of wooded and different terrain. In the event of an emergency and guests needed to be evacuated, all persons would need to be able to move out of the way and walk out of the terrain on their own. It would be putting their life and safety at risk. There are 36 steps to reach the loading area. Once you are at the top of Paradise Point, there is a ramp, along with stairs, that make the entire property accessible. There is the option to take a taxi up to the top, unfortunately we do not have Uber or Lyft in St. Thomas."

We enjoyed plenty of cocktails and bottled water on Harmony (Sept.) and Odyssey (March) this year. All the drinks were served in plastic cups, so if there was an onboard shortage of plastic drinkware, maybe that's why they were restricting it on Ovation? Just a thought.

Thank you for sharing those links. Haven't looked into tours. We are traveling with our 3 kids ages 14, 14, and 11 and prefer to DIY our excursions. Although if we have to rent something to get to Paradise point, it might be the same cost-wise. I will look into it. Thanks!

Is the Skyride to Paradise Point wheelchair accessible? I've been to the Paradise Point website and searched but found no information about accessibility (not even in the FAQ). Would love to go with our kids, but our daughter needs her manual wheelchair. Otherwise, I guess we need to find an accessible vehicle to hire for part of the day, so we can make the trip up there, enjoy the views, eat/drink, and return to the port area. Which beach - if any - has accessible bathrooms, restaurant, and beach wheelchair? We want to show our kids the amazing beaches, but not if we can't get her around. An accessible beach is not "make or break" as our cruise also stops in Labadee and Coco Cay, and I know those will be just fine. All suggestions appreciated!

Wow. So interesting! Thanks for sharing your expertise with us yet again.

Seems like they would be a good bag if you had a beach cart to carry it. They look heavy, stiff, and not suitcase packable. We honestly just use a backpack when its just hubby and me. Might not be the cutest option, but it works and you can keep your hands free. Plus, lots of pockets for organizing. We also have a Kyss bag that is a large tote size, and comes with a chain lock. We haven't used it much, but our next warm weather cruise is with all 3 kids, so we will likely use it then. SHOP BAGS | Kyss Bags

We did Alaska on Radiance in 2018 with our daughter who needs a wheelchair in a very similar way to what you describe. She walks with forearm crutches for short distances and uses a wheelchair out in the community or anywhere that is busy/congested. We booked all private excursions in Alaska, except the Bering Sea crab fishing excursion in Ketchikan. Private excursions meant we had time for her to transfer and we could make sure her wheelchair would travel with us. Cruise line excursions like to say a bus tour is accessible, but you have to be able to get on/off the bus and there is no guarantee they will store your WC or scooter below the seats. We did the crab fishing excursion in Ketchikan, private whale watching in Icy Strait Point/Hoonah (incredible service and a once in a lifetime experience!), private tour in Skagway that drove to Carcross (Caribou Crossing) to see sled dogs, learn about how they train them, see the puppies, and go on a sled dog pulled cart; and we rented a minivan in Juneau and drove to Mendenhall on our own. I used Trip Advisor and these boards to find the private companies. One bonus is being able to do what you want. A city bus tour looking out a window does no interest us. Ditto the long train ride in Skagway which would have interested our kids for the first 10 minutes and they would have been bored after that (also I think I recall only wooden bench seats). Our daughter wouldn’t have been able to walk on the train either from car to car, she would have had to stay in her WC. Happy planning! Alaska is incredible!

We have to fly to cruise, so I wear a hoodie or track jacket on the plane. I brought a slightly cropped jean jacket on the last two cruises thinking I would wear it in the evenings but only wore it once to a show at the main theater. I think one option that works with everything (or most things) makes it easier to pack. 4 is overkill IMO. pjs? Not usually, or just a cute set with a spaghetti strap tank top and short-shorts.

We saw small jellyfish at South Beach in September. Our friends on the same cruise went on the jet ski excursion and one of them got stung by a jellyfish toward the end of the excursion time (wherever they start and end).

We are a family of 5. A typical 2-bed hotel room doesn't give us all enough space to sleep. Kids are 14, 14, and 11. We rented a whole house with a private pool for about $240 per night. Since we are flying in a few days pre-cruise and renting a vehicle it makes more sense. If it was just hubby and me, we'd book a hotel but for a larger family, or those with teens, booking a condo or whole house could be a better deal for both lower price and more space. Just a thought.

We've never put door magnets up other than the one provided by RCCL (sleeping off the adventure) but our next cruise is with our kids and we will cabins side-by-side, so I bought some fun tribal-style magnets (sun, flip flops, sea turtle, etc) on Amazon. Santa will put them in the kid's Christmas stockings. 😉

After going on a full day excursion to the rainforest in Dominica in a small 8-10 person van with much of the day spent driving around to see lookout points and a "city tour" and limited time at the actual rainforest (which was beautiful), we said never again. We could have skipped all the other stuff and had more time at the rainforest had we done it ourselves. We vastly prefer a DIY island experience over a group tour. I search the ports of call boards here and the cruise planner excursions for ideas and suggestions. Then we discuss the things to do, decide what interests us, and we figure out how to do it ourselves. We get to do what we want while in port, it's less money, and we get to decide where to spend our time and for how long. Sometimes we still do an actual excursion but have found many great companies that are less expensive and have smaller groups of people simply by doing some online research.

A 4-year old like the original poster asked about isn't going to care at all about the naturalist. They will want fun kid activities, a swimming pool, video games and movies.

We did Royal Caribbean in Alaska when our kids were 10, 10 and 7. We sailed northbound on Radiance of the Seas from Vancouver, BC to Seward, AK. We had an amazing time, the kids used Adventure Ocean (kids club) in the evening after dinner and during sailing days, and we did private excursions in every port. Our kids wanted to see the glaciers, but once they saw them, they wanted to go to AO. Best of both worlds because we got some quiet/alone time and they got to do kid activities with other kids. Some adults like Princess because they get a Naturalist on board on glacier viewing days. Most kids are not going to give two hoots about what an expert has to say about how glaciers are formed, etc. They maybe want to see it and then run off to play video games, or tag or watch a movie. Alaska is ALL about the excursions and adventure. It's not like getting off the ship in the Caribbean or Mexico, wandering some shops, going to a beach, eating lunch and getting back on the ship. If you do that in Alaska (minus the beach-LOL!), you are missing some amazing, once-in-a-lifetime type experiences. Also, those excursions aren't cheap. Allow room in your budget to actually enjoy the opportunities they have (dog sledding, whale watching, fishing, bear watching, etc.) and make those memories.