festivalfrau

my 5 year old DD had fun. She is very travelled though and we were not in it to be in the top 3 teams. She had fun running to the "pit stop" at the end even though we knew we had not won.

We were on the Pride in March. The Waterworks area is GREAT for kids and is at the back, so is sheltered from the wind. The Green Thunder waterslide is really fast if they are more adventurous. My 6 yo DD was not ready for it, but she enjoyed the Twister slide.

They have the Seuss at Sea brunch and activities as well.

The camp staff is really great on that ship too. They even took them up to the basketball courts to run around once in a while (scheduled)

One thing I will mention is that the camp itself is right at the front of the ship, so when it was wavy, there was some puking.... just beware! If they puke at camp, they are barred from attending for 24 hours just in case it is gastro...

I would not highly recommend my friend Mario. He seemed like a nice guy, and would do anything to make things right. HOWEVER when we got off the boat, despite our confirmation in hand, we were put in the wrong group. There were a lot of groups with him that day hat had all been organized with one lady from our ship and he over sold most of them. So, while we ended up in the right spot, he had to grab another bus and guide off the street for us and the 6 other people that didn't fit on the other tour. Our "new" guide was good, but he didn't know where he was supposed to be taking us. Thankfully I had everything printed. We did the locks and beach break. Nice surprise was waiting for us at the beach break as they had lunch for everyone that was not advertised. So while it turned out ok, I wonder how much better it might have been if a) we didn't stand around waiting forever at the start and getting on and off 3 different busses, b) the guide knew where he was supposed to take us...

We did the 6 in 1 with Your Lucky Tours in March 2015. We were told the wildlife sanctuary was closed, so we're given the option to go to the Jaguar centre which is an hour away, or a jungle hike. We opted for the jungle hike. Unfortunately one of the ladies got sick so the guide stayed with her instead of pointing out stuff to us. Was not his fault. We had a great tour with Rey and Eduardo met up with us a couple of times during the tour. He was great to deal with. I have no complaints at all.

We just returned from our cruise. Eduardo and I decided to substitute a jungle hike instead of the wildlife sanctuary. It was hot, but good. Not for those who don't like to exert themselves. We still did the canal cruise, the banana plantation, a fruit stand, and ended the tour at a lookout point where there is a restaurant.

I spoke with Eduardo and he indicated that the wildlife sanctuary won their legal challenge against the government (but I may have understood him - it could have just been that they have FILED a lawsuit).

I would highly recommend Eduardo.

When DD was 3, my sister and I took her on the Dream. Even the early sitting was "late" for her, and she usually fell asleep before the end of dinner. The staff was super helpful and always brought her 3 chocolate chip cookies "to go" that she ate the next day. One night DD knew the camp was serving grilled cheese, so tried to order that in the MDR. Technically, it was not on the menu, but the assistant went all the way to where the camp kids were eating and made DD a plate.

On our last cruise on the Conquest, we had the BEST dining room staff ever. Fernando and his team were awesome with DD (who was then 5). The one assistant worked at Guy's during the day and always offered to make her French fries and burgers (because they knew that was her favorite at dinner). If they noticed she didn't like something, the brought something else (even though we protested). They brought raw veggies every night after they noticed I brought some from Lido for her to munch on while we were waiting to order. They were also awesome with my dad who is diabetic, and they always made sure he was taken care of. My DD was smitten with Fernando and even named her new pet fish after him. "King Fernando" the fist is well taken care of for sure!

We have lots of great memories of the Carnival staff. This is a great thread! Keep it going!!

At lunch, my DD will eat "normal" food, which has to include fruit, protein and vegetables.

At dinner, I'm less fussy - we're all on vacation! But she is only allowed to eat a hamburger & fries a couple of nights. She doesn't like chicken nuggets or hot dogs, so we order her the plain chicken breast off the "every day" menu. She also has to order a salad or raw veggies as her "Starter". A Caesar salad with no dressing is her favorite. :P

This time, she tells me she is going to try steak (she likes it at home). Her big thing is the sauces and different spices, so I'm going to try to order some stuff "plain". She does eat spices at home - but nothing too exotic. We've got her eating souvlaki, etc.

It might be nice to have a "chicken on a stick" (kabob) on the kids menu like they do at TGIFridays.

Once, the staff concocted a grilled cheese sandwich as the kids were eating that at Camp and DD really wanted to eat there, but didn't want to miss the MDR.

A few cruises ago, we were seated with a 9 year old and she ate EVERYTHING. She ordered the escargot, shark.... she was very adventurous. I hope my DD will get there someday (she is now 6).

we were supposed to be on the usual 6 in 1 with Your Lucky Tours in 2 weeks. See my other posting with information from the owner, but the short versions is, the Wildlife Sanctuary has been forced to close because their land is being expropriated.

it was upstairs in the Lido buffet area when were sailed her last year.

I just got the following message from Eduardo of Your Lucky Tours:

Currently they are doing some construction work in various sectors of the area of Moin, with the purpose of building of a new Mega Port, the Transnational APM Terminals (Dutch Company)are planning to build and artificial island in the area.

All the lands that were in the area where they planning the build are being expropriated and sadly one of them is the Costa Rica Wildlife Sanctuary.

So the problem for us is that we have to change our itinerary - and we sail in 2 weeks!!

Just wanted to post as a FYI in case others are supposed to visit the Wildlife Sanctuary.

I was sure John Heald had talked about a trial on the Sunshine that went over so well they were going to expand it to other ships..... any one else know?

The search I did came up with very old posts... since the announcement of adding Zumba to Carnival ships, anyone know if they added it to the Pride?

If so, how much are the classes?

Thanks!!

is there a pool with a retractable roof? and if there is, is it adults only?

Has the camp been converted to Camp Ocean? Did they have Seuss at Sea brunch?

Thanks!!

What makes me mad is that I originally had the cruise on the 5th booked and decided to move the date up a few months. They charged me $150 ($50pp) to make the change and then a few days later they cancel the original cruise. Any chance I would have an argument to get that $150 as OBC for the cruise I rebooked? (Wishful thinking)

If it was only a few days, I would definitely argue it!

there is space on the form for 4 names... for security/safety the person picking them up has to have the phone that they give you. You have to show them the phone every time you drop off too.

For any family considering using a cruiseline Kids' program, I have a few tips.

 

First, it is really important to sign up your Kiddos and go to the opening mixer/party on embarkation day. Friendships and groups are formed that first night. It can be hard for a kiddo to 'break in' after that. Go even if the kids don't think they want to attend the rest of the week.

 

Second, pay attention to the schedule of activites and ask early on how closely the cruiseline follows them. My DS (10) likes to go to the clubs when there are activities he is interested in. It has been our experience that Carnival sticks to their schedule more rigidly than NCL. This can be both a plus and minus depending on your kiddo. It helps avoid disappointment if you have a son like mine, but it can also limit the staff's ability to alter activities if it is just not working with a particular group of kids that day.

 

Third, if a kiddo is reluctant to go to Kids' club at all, get them to go with you to one of the family activities hosted by the kids' club in different parts of the ship. . .cup-cake decorating, water games, pizza making. This can be a less stressful introduction to the other kids and staff and may change their mind about trying the kids' club.

 

Fourth, pay attention to the make-up of the kids on the cruise that week. One cruise, we had a hitter in our son's group. The child never hit our DS, but he still would not go to kids' club if that child was present, no matter how much he liked the activities! There is no way to control a variable like this nor would I have thought of it beforehand no matter how many cruises we've been on.

 

I think knowing that the kids' club on any cruiseline can be 'hit or miss' is a reasonable and valid point made by the OP. There is nothing wrong with kids or their families if they don't like/use the Kids' club and nothing wrong with kids or their families that do like/use the Kids' club.

 

Happy sailing!

I second all of that advice!

Specific to Carnival (at least up until recently) they had a color and take home shirt that my DD loves doing and we always avoid the "build a bear" (extra fee) times!!!

On our last cruise, the staff did a great job of circulating during the registration time, so it wasn't the usual boring presentation. DD got to meet the staff and interact 1:1. I think that made a huge difference this last time.

When I emailed sea cow said they work directly with the cruise line. Celebrity offers an excursion with sea cow. Who are you sailing with?

 

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We are cruising with Carnival. That makes sense that there is no chatter on these boards about them if they are a cruise-direct company.... though I thought they only took a small group! :eek:

We are also booked in a GS on the Pride next March. I told John Heald to feel free to remodel the bathroom when then do the 2.0 dry-dock. :)

I can't wait! It is our first time in a suite!

I was also looking at Sea Cow... it has the highest ranking on Trip Advisor, but not much chatter about them on here.

Monreale!

We went on a private tour with Don Saro and spent the morning touring, he even took us to a local food market where we tried eating a few things... yum! then we spent an afternoon cooking with an Italian chef. It was quite the experience and we were quite glad for the indoor activity it rained all day.

Someone posted that they thought it would look like the one that is currently in Australia.

My daughter will be on that thing every day of the repo!! :)

Mary, It blows my mind too! True story: SIL booked an Alaska cruise late last December because a co-worker wanted her and her husband to go with them. She told me about the cruise and BIL said, I though we decided not to go? I guess she decided they were.

 

I'm all excited for them because this is their first cruise. So I ask, what ship, what ports, etc, etc. She knew nothing but that it was in June and, they leave from Seattle! I'm not kidding. She pulls a magnet off the refrigerator and says this is the ship. It was Rhapsody of the Sea and I knew that was Royal Caribbean even though I've never sailed on them! I was more curious than her and looked up her cruise.

 

Fast forward to this week and their adult daughter (our sweet niece who lives near Seattle) was in the area and came over to visit us. Niece tells me she is going to Victoria for a couple of days with her parents just before the cruise. They picked Victoria instead of Vancouver because her Mom said they are going to Vancouver on the cruise. LOL...they are going to Victoria...on Vancouver Island. There is OCD planning and there is ostrich in the sand approach!

 

I'm sure my SIL and BIL will have a great time but it would be much more stressful to me to do it their way!

 

Utahtea

People say I must have been a TA in a previous life. My family has learned to deal with it. I research everything, send a list out of the potential excursions (usually narrowed down to 3) that are the best and whoever is coming with us can have input at that point. Binders, tabs, got it all! I then prepare a 2-3 page summary of each port for everyone's reading pleasure, usually passed around again when we read the Fun Times in the evening.

On our very first cruise we were seated with 6 other couples at dinner. We had the "take a ship tour" people, us and an "ostrich in the sand" couple. Every night we would compare what everyone did in port that day, and every night everyone was jealous of our day!

Our worst nightmare was spending the year planning for our Europe cruise and being told 3 weeks before we left that the Sunshine was not ready to sail.... DH and I took the next day off work and basically worked 24 hours to re-book everything and then I had 2 weeks to research the new ports. Thankfully there was some overlap!!

Good to know I am not alone!

I am so glad I am obsessed with planning!

 

About an hour ago I went to my Carnival account and started to enter our flight info. It could not find my 7:45AM flight, instead it as showing a 1:30AM departure for my flight #. I go to AA and see that they changed my flight back in April (booked in March for Oct trip) and they did not even bother contacting me :eek:

 

We chose to fly directly to Miami so we could spend the day there and have dinner with family that lives in the area. Now our direct flight options are depart at 1:30AM (arrive at 7:30AM) or depart after 2PM and get there after 8PM :mad:

 

Of course now I am looking for a direct flight with any other airline and there is nothing available (other than the flights that do not work for us) and even checked flying into FLL but that one is worse (4:30AM arrival). So now I have a connecting flight that will have to do - not that it'll be easy with a special needs child and a DH who walks with a cane due to knee replacements.

 

I just checked again and the agent assigned our seats in different aisles - DD is apparently in a middle seat with who knows who next to her and DH is all the way in the back of the plane. Gotta make a third call now :(

Oh no!!

But don't stress out about the seat assignment. They likely won't fix that for you until you arrive at the airport. That has happened to us more than once. All you have to do is smile sweetly and say that you don't mind someone else looking after your child for the flight...

One time I did tell them and thought they had changed it, but didn't look too carefully because we had already raced across the airport to catch the connection... got on the plane and realized the error and burst into tears. Needless to say people gave up their seats so my 5 yr old and I could sit together.

I would escalate that to a supervisor. I had a similar issue with our Sunshine 25% and it was resolved to my satisfaction.

I agree with the Rick Steeves guide. I carried it EVERYWHERE! We had 4 days post-cruise and divided up the tourist areas into quadrants.

The one day-trip I wished we had been able to do was Tivoli and Hadrian's Villa. Unfortunately it is not easily accessible by bus on Sundays and I believe it was closed Monday.

If you are looking for something different, try a cooking class!

I quite liked the reidsitaly dot com site for planning tips, especially for neighborhood groupings.

They list the tops sites as:

1) Vatican Museums / Sistine Chapel

2) St. Peter's

3) Colosseum

4) Roman Forum / Imperial Fori

5) Pantheon

6) Spanish Steps

7) Trevi Fountain

8) Piazza Navona

9) Catacombs

10) Castel Sant'Angelo

11) Papal Audience