TwinMamainMN

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.

I just wear some sort of casual sundress. Over a swimsuit, to breakfast, to get coffee, in port if we are DIY sightseeing and shopping, to lunch on a sea day, whatever. Always appropriate, lightweight and easy to pack.

We've surprised our kids a few times with a vacation of some sort. We did clothing and books for our kids for an Alaskan cruise, a "boarding pass" I bought on etsy dot com for a Disney trip, and a puzzle with photos and words that I made myself on cardstock. This year at Christmas we are revealing a Spring Break trip, but since our kids are older now (11, 14 and 14), I want to make it hard to figure out, so I'm going to do map coordinates for one kid who loves maps, a secret code (Pig Pen - google it, it's fun!) for one kid, and probably a puzzle for the other kid. Each kid will get part of the trip details (we're going on spring break; the locations; and the mode of transportation). At least that's the idea I have so far. We will give them vacation related gifts, but I want them to figure out the clues first before we open gifts.

We bring some small bills and use a credit/debit card for everything else. The vendors on Coco Cay take credit cards, and so do shop owners in all the ports we've been to so far.

I think it looks amazing! Sign me up!

We sat under a beach umbrella in the rain on Coco Cay in September when on Odyssey and it was lovely. Memorable, pretty, and actually quite fun. Kids and some adults weren't bothered by the rain and still swam on South Beach and built sand castles. The rain shower was done in under 30 minutes, maybe even 20. Friends of ours were on a jet ski excursion, saw the dark cloud and didn't get rained on at all. We were just in the right place at the right time. A rainy day on Coco Cay is better than any day at home!

We did Radiance northbound, Vancouver to Seward, with our kids in 2018 and loved every second of it. Alaska is about the ports and doing unique excursions IMO. I personally would book the one with the best itinerary (aka Radiance) and use the money you saved towards excursions. Alaska is an expensive cruise no matter how you figure it, but it's not "worth" going if all you will do in each port is walk around the shops and have lunch. Seattle RT didn't interest us because of the short but required stop in Victoria in the late afternoon. Limited time to do anything and the Buchart Gardens are not very close, so travel back and forth eats up a lot of your port time.

What is it? A dust collector. We aren't anywhere close to having one, and wouldn't want it anyway. We collect memories and have photographs, but very few tchotchkes or knick-knacks in our home. To each their own.

I've been on both ships this year, but not with our kids. We have 3 kids, ages 14, 14 and 10. They would have loved either ship. SeaPlex and Playmakers on Odyssey are fun and a great place for pre-teen and teen kids. Harmony has 2 Flowriders instead of just one, a short zip line, basketball courts and mini golf, the Abyss dry slide, plus waterslides. Odyssey has a better Solarium IMO with both a pool and several hot tubs. If the kids are old enough to go off on their own that means you could get Solarium time. Different restaurants on each, so consider if you want to eat at any of those places. Hubby and I preferred the options on Harmony (more of them) and we made good use of the UDP for both some incredible food (150 Central Park!) and amazing service. With a family of 5, you likely are not doing UDP, but if you are going to one specialty dining venue, make sure the ship has what you would enjoy.

My favorite lotion, chap stick and sunscreen are my must haves.

That's true. I forgot about that. I was a few drinks into the DBP by then. 😆

The current muster station video is really short. A couple of minutes max. We watched that and the 60 second or less audio clip of the emergency signal while in the cruise terminal. Just got off Harmony on Sunday. I love the new muster station requirements. So much faster and more convenient than the old pre-Covid way. Also: no loud alarms to hear on the ship and no waiting in line for an elevator before/after if you need to use one.

You don't need internet access on the ship, just connect to the ship's wi-fi. We just got off Harmony on Sunday and did both the Muster Station videos and booked some of our shows while sitting in the terminal waiting for our group number to be called.

Sailing with you and I am hoping for the same thing! Assuming we miss Coco Cay, I hope we make the other ports. Fingers crossed, but making the most of the DBP and UDP either way. 😉

My lord, that Virgin ship is ugly. Tinkertoy is a great description. Looks like something a young child would construct with little concern for style, aerodynamics, or gravity.

An accessible balcony room will have space to park 2 scooters, a small ramp into the bathroom (so no need to step up over the threshold, a fold down seat in the shower and an adjustable shower head (on a pole and removable). I haven't been inside an accessible interior room but would imagine it to be similar.

Staying the night before we cruise. 4 people, no kids. We need some dinner recommendations and will have a rental car. Casual places only. Mexican or Cuban would be good. Not against burgers or fresh fish either. Help, please!

FYI - I just googled to see what it was, and the website says it's closed for a maintenance project. Exploration Tower | VisitSpaceCoast.com

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