Sk8ermaiden

Does anyone know which cupcake class they're doing on Harmony right now? My daughter and I generally enjoy them, but don't want to end up doing the dog again. 

Out itinerary had a shake up and now we're in Cozumel tomorrow from 9:30-midnight. We wanted to hit a beach after our excursion, but it was pushed later, which rules out most of the traditional beach choices that close at 4 or 5. Is there anything open late? We're traveling with young kids. Thanks

I asked this on my roll call, but there might be more prolific cruisers here on the main board.

If embarkation IS at 5 pm...when would final all aboard likely be? Will they tell us that in the email tomorrow?

We did Disney with our daughter when she was 4. It was very nice. We got an excellent deal because they came to Galveston for the first time, in the off season, and did not advertise that they were sailing out of this port at all. No one knew! We got a great deal because they were having a fire sale to fill cabins. Never seen anything like it from them since.

Since then we've taken the (then) 6 year old daughter and 2.5 year old son on a Royal Caribbean cruise. We're headed on another in 3 days.

Disney is really nice. But Royal is very nice too. Whenever I think it would be so nice to take DS on a Disney cruise since he IS so into the Mickey crew, a quick price check is enough to bring me back to reality. It is a little nicer. It is NOT, in any way, shape or form, 3x the price nicer.

This is a personal opinion, based off observing the two kids' clubs. RC's kids clubs are better than Disney's. Or I should say, they are VERY different and which is better is based off of your child's personal preferences. Disney's looks like Disney. It's a beautiful wonderland. You drop them off there and they are basically left to their own devices, with babysitters standing around to make sure no one bites anyone or breaks an arm. The "counselors" do not really interact with the kids. They run some cool events, but they're announced in a moderate voice to a room of crazy kids and my DD missed more than one thing she had wanted to do because she didn't know it was happening.

RC's kids clubs look like a conference room! But they are run like a summer camp. The counselors know the kids (we sail in the off season, so this may be easier with less kids), they run activities and games and try to engage all the kids personally. DD was always excited to be there, whereas at Disney she would get bored and had a hard time meeting people (because: free for all.)

RC's kids swim area and slides are also the best at sea. Disney doesn't have anything like it. Disney DOES have more family stuff going on during the day. Hit a dance party in the lounge, crafts in the promenade. I do miss that on Royal. But not so much I'm willing to pay $4K extra for it.

And yes, the RC boats have Dreamworks characters, meet and greets, and a character breakfast.

I'm not bashing Disney, it's an excellent product, but having done both lines, we're more than happy to stick with RCI. A handful of things are nicer on Disney, but not anywhere near enough to make me consider the price jump.

Thanks, that's kind of what I thought too. But I did call...

I hate calling call centers, but did discover the problem. It shows as available, but can't be booked because...there is ONE spot left for FNDR on our cruise. Boo. Thanks

I’m not sure where you are reading that kids are not allowed in speciality dining. As I understand it, many of the speciality restaurants have kids menus and kids pricing.

I said kids ARE allowed in specialty dining. But that they won't let me book my children in first night done right in the cruise planner.

We're on the Liberty next week, and I was interested in booking first night done right. But it won't let me book it in the cruise planner with the kids. Only for my husband and myself. In reading the FAQs, children are allowed in the specialty dining, so I'm not sure what's up? The kids club generally isn't open the first night. Wondering if this is an issue online, but perhaps not in person upon embarkation.

Just wondering if anyone has experience with this before I attempt the RC call center. The answers here are usually faster and more accurate...Thanks.

A friend of mine in Houston echos your sentiments. His motorcycle shop was open for business yesterday, even though 2 miles away areas are under still 5 feet of water. He said there was work to do, as well as bills and employees to be paid. Life where he is has returned to a "new normal".

One of my good friends owns an aerial (cirque de soliel stuff) studio. And she said the number one thing that helped her after the tax day flood, was that all her students came back as soon as she opened the doors. Small business owners, especially, take such a huge hit every day that they're closed.

I agree that our local news has been doing an incredible job of covering compared to the national news.

We just had to drive into downtown today from the far Northwest side, and it was perfectly fine and we got here ridiculously early. Google Maps is doing a good job of routing through the fastest way possible that doesn't involve high water. I'm sure Google Maps doesn't know every small side street that has water, but it knows all the major ones you would be taking to drive through the city.

I'm in Houston, and indeed, people who can are moving back toward normalcy. My husband has a regular appointment in the med center tomorrow and is back to work downtown. Most of our major freeways are dry or heading that way. The regular deliveries to stores and gas stations have resumed. The museums are reopening. I know people are worried about their hotels but remember, roughly 70 percent of the metro is NOT flood damaged (and Galveston not really damaged at all.) Chances are that your hotel is fine. :) I am sure a few Houstonions will end up in hotels, but most are either returning home as floodwaters allow, or staying with friends and family.The above poster was right that this has some similarities to Katrina, but this is not Katrina. With some major exceptions (some bridges and roads) our infrastructure is OK. The economy has taken a hit. I am sure the hotels and touristy places are eager to get back to business.

The airport/rental car is what might concern me logistically if I were cruising this weekend; I'd probably try to change to fly into Dallas and drive in. 45 is totally clear all the way down, and then Galveston will be fine. Right now they're discouraging normal traffic on inbound lanes, but I suspect it will be business as usual for Houston traffic by the weekend.

It's something that has been hard to fathom. That evacuations are still going on on the far northwest side, but normal daily activities are resuming as much as possible. That friends who back up to the Addicks reservoir may have standing water in their homes for months, but that their daughters will be at gymnastics with my daughter tomorrow. All anyone wants is a glimmer of normal. For many people, it will be a long time before anything is normal again, but people staying away to be "respectful" and therefore hurting the local economy is not going to help anyone. There's a reason every business that can is opening their doors as soon as they can!

I would think most of those workers and employees may have lost their homes and every possession and loading peoples bags onto a cruise ship etc. may be the last thing they are thinking about. How are they supposed to get to the port? their cars are flooded. I'm sure the cruise company warehouses are flooded. And how can semis get to them to deliver goods? I think its going to be a few cruises before they can sail again. I'll be surprised if its sooner.

Galveston is not really in bad shape. As I understand from where I sit they had some street flooding. They didn't get hit by storm surge or winds.

The interstates in Houston clear after a few dry days. The city will be recovering for years, but the biggest roads will be navigable soon. They are already drying out.

I could be totally wrong, I don't know where all the workers live, or where the warehouses are (but if the answer is Galveston, then they're fine), but I know cruises resumed almost immediately post-Ike which, unlike Harvey, was actually devastating to the island. I know that getting back to normal business is crucial for the city's economy. As I sit in my home tonight, praying the bayous in my neighborhood don't go out of banks, I still would not be surprised, at all, if the cruise sails this weekend.

I think we brought bedbugs home from Liberty in Feb 2016 (my husband could also have picked them up on the bus, no way to know). It was AWFUL and expensive and time consuming and difficult to get rid of them. It was a total nightmare. I do check beds in hotels, but my main defense is on arriving home. I don't care how convinced I am that we are in the clear, all the luggage is dropped just inside the front door (our downstairs is tiled.) Everyone strips down in the dining room and heads to a bath/shower, and clean clothes that were not on the trip.

Any clothes that came home clean still go through the dryer on hot for a cycle, and all dirty clothes go straight in the wash. We now keep the luggage in the entryway closet instead of the master closet. This routine makes me feel reasonably secure. As long as my husband doesn't bring them home from the bus. For a while we were really vigilant about him changing clothes when he got home every day, but that was impossible to sustain. I still don't let his work backpack in past the entryway though.

Same for us. Booked under Kids Sail Free last week in a balcony, two adults 2 kids, one room, thousand dollar deposit.

We sailed Liberty about a year ago with our (then) 2 and 6 year olds. We were in the off season though, and not when school was out. But we enjoyed it! My daughter had fun with the kids clubs, and rock climbing. We found the atmosphere great and not too adult/party at all. We were able to spring for a balcony and we looooved it. I don't remember the exact room, but I think we were in the vincinity of 6330? I actually really liked that location. It was really easy to run down just one flight of stairs to guest services, coffee, pizza, and I think the main dining room. Windjammer was directly up a few levels with the pools, and kids club up a few more.

We were just looking through our pictures and the kids can't wait to go back this December!

Thank you guys! I'll keep an eye on it.

I booked a cruise under the kids sail free promotion. I've been in and out of cruise planner over the last days, and all of a sudden today, it listed us as owing significantly more than yesterday. The kids sale had been removed and the kids were listed at ~$600 each.

I had a minor panic attack and called. The first thing out of the rep's mouth was, "Oh yes, that sailing has been re-priced." Which did not help my panic attack. She unlocked my reservation and had me log out and back in and it was fixed. Though she was very nice and everything is fine, thank goodness, English was not her first language and I couldn't tell whether SHE fixed it or it was fixed by logging in again (which would be weird.)

Does this happen a lot? :eek:

Just the area left of the glass wall.

These are all the actual babies-with-diapers area. It was great, and miles beyond such areas offered by other lines! And, bonus, the water heated up nicely as the day went on. The big kids' Splashaway Bay was pretty frigid!

"Standing room only" actually means that all chairs in a venue are occupied, so latecomers who wish to see the show would have to stand. I did find this to be true, even for earlier shows! But we got there about 10 minutes before the major shows and were able to find seats, though not super desirable ones.

Thanks for the review! We leave Easter Sunday. We have 2 girls - just turned 9 and an older 5. They would LOVE to be together, but the other RC ships we've been on have different rooms for the different ages and would not allow them to be together. I expect they will have more children this week than on your cruise. Any idea if they are allowing them to be together - at least for the after hours party?

We had very few minors on board and even though they could have combined all ages and kept their ratios, the did not. It was 6-12 combined and 3-5 was separate. Even for the after hours party. Even though there was only one child in the younger group most after hours. I would imagine that the more children are on board, the less likely they are to bend. And the fact that they would have o bump one up and one down to meet in the middle? It seems like a long shot. It never hurts to ask though.

If you have a child under 5 in care you get one WHILE they are in there. Every time we dropped DS off at the nursery we got one. But it was due back when we picked him up.

I could absolutely do it and for a week on Disney did our family of 3 in 2 carry ons. Couldn't do it for RCI though since there's no public laundry. I didn't even try on our recent week and still ended up washing things in my sink and drying them on the balcony. Not how I want to spend my vacation! (Some don't want to do laundry on their vacation at all, but 5 minutes to do a load never bothered me and I far prefer it to bringing more luggage).

 

 

 

So what was RCI's name for that excursion. It sounds interesting.

Lamanai and the New River Safari

Playgroup or playdate or open house, whatever they call it. Many toys did not have working batteries or all parts.

The diaper baby area. Yes, it's small, but so much more interesting than the shallow puddle the rest of the lines offer. Also to note, the adjoining big kids splahaway bay was FREEZING much of the time. The baby area typically warmed up as the sun climbed, and was quite comfortable by afternoon. Which was nice.

The closest walled-in area.

Slides!

They have these guys (you can spin them)

And these guys

And these spouts

I attempted to spoiler these. Does cruisecritic not have that capability?

Thanks so much for your review! We leave in just over 2 weeks on the same itinerary. we have 5 kids ages almost 2-12. I'm pretty nervous. (Lol). How was the tendering in Belize with kids? I've heard you have to get a tender ticket and wait in line??? Don't want to be doing that. 😊

 

We've been deciding if we should eat in the dining room or windjammer. Sounds like the windjammer would be a lot easier with our group. What about the nursery? You said you had pictures of it? My email is briannef24@hotmail.com if you don't mind sending pics of it, and anything else you think I'd be interested in. Did you have to book a time for the nursery way in advance? I was hoping to bring my toddler there whenever seems like a good time. It's hard to plan how our days will be with kids and that makes it hard to plan ahead. Did you take your kids to any shows? My husband and I went on freedom of the seas last Fall and many of the shows were questionable for kids.

 

And the pool area for diapered kids is good? I've been worried about that too. So glad to hear it!! Thanks for reassuring review. Oh, and any news on tidal wave? Thanks.

We did not have to get tickets in Belize, because we booked an excursion through RCI that almost always runs late. So we were on the first tender out and the last tender back. But I think if you do not have an excursion, you do have to send someone to wait in line for tickets. But then I think your party waits in the theater for their number to be called. The tendering itself though is perfectly easy and fine.

We ate in the MDR one night, and while lovely, it reinforced my decision to go for the buffet. Can I keep my children behaved and quiet in a restaurant? Certainly. Is it easy for a meal that takes THAT LONG? No. It takes a lot of work. And this vacation, in addition to giving us family time, was designed to give me a break. And so losing the elegance of the dining room in order to gain the laid-back noisiness of the windjammer was a good trade off for us. If you want to do the dining room, I would aim to get there around 5:30-6 and make nursery reservations for 7. The kids club opens at 7 too. Have someone walk the kids up at that time.

I do not have pictures of the nursery, only the "playgroup" which is in the teen club. If you google "royal caribbean liberty of the seas nursery", the first 4 pictures are very accurate representations. There are mats on the floor and lots of Fisher Price toys, big and small, that get changed out daily. There are rooms off the main one for sleeping. One night mine was sleepy, but not willing to go to bed, so they pulled out a cot for him so that he could hang out with his paci and watch TV. The thing I liked is they actually play with the kids. I walked in one day and they were pretend cooking. Yes, it's basically TV and toys, but all I wanted was to feel like my kid was happy and comfortable to be left there for an hour here and there. And he was.

Go the first night and ask how many kids are on the ship - that should give you a good idea I bet. We had very few children on board, and I was able to bring him whenever I wanted. They did warn me the morning of Saturday Night Fever that they were getting filled up for the evening, so I went ahead and booked for our showtime. Dinner times seemed busiest, with formal nights more so. But I bet on a ship with more children, reservations would be required. We liked to drop him off while E was rock climbing so he didn't just have to stand there. It was sunny and boring for him on that deck. You can cancel up to an hour before your reservation starts, so if they tell you it will be busy, you can book up all the times you think you might want and cancel later.

We only did SNF, Ice skating, and the aerial show. The latter were great for kids, the first not so much, and it was kind of boring for the 6 year old.

I do have pictures of the splashpads. I'll post them in a minute. My biggest complaint is that the height restrictions on the slides are just ridiculous. At 6 years old and 46.5 inches, my child can ride any ride at land-based water parks comparable to these, and the flow rider too. Here she can ride the smallest baby slide, and the bigger kids slide (depending who's measuring that day) and that's it. I prepped her ahead of time though, and she didn't mind too much. :)

If you take snacks off the ship, make sure they are prepackaged and sealed. You cannot take fruits, vegetables, meats, cheeses, etc. off the ship.

Yes. I actually brought Soft Baked Oatmeal Squares on the cruise just to take for this excursion.