gikkeroo Posted April 19, 2016 #1 Share Posted April 19, 2016 Sorry for the delay, real life hit us very quickly once we returned. I had such an enjoyable time, I can't wait to go back. About us: mid 30s, married, traveling with our 2 boys, 6 and 4, and my husband's parents, late 60s. Life has been a bit hectic lately and we were so ready for the break. We only brought 1 cell phone and no “devices” of any kind. We couldn’t wait to relax, unplug and just reconnect. Cabin: 9524 & 9526, adjoining family balconies. 1 large bed plus a double pullout couch (and 1 pull down bunk that we didn't use). Our booking promo choice was UBP. I would've loved UDP but we weren't sure how our kids would be in the specialty restaurants. The last thing I wanted to do was disturb other passengers. Turns out I could've done UDP because they were angels, but we were more than happy with the main dining rooms. We live on Long Island, but due to the terrorist attacks in Brussels the morning of 3/22, NYC was on high alert. The traffic was terrible AND our limo was stopped and checked before we entered the tunnel. Our ride to the pier took nearly 3 hours! We got to the terminal at 12, checked our bags curbside, and got on line to check in. The check in process was smooth, I was surprised how fast the lines move, and that's where we were told that due to the extra sanitization, boarding would be delayed. The time escapes me, but I want to say we boarded around 2pm. At one point after we were checked in, an announcement was made that the terminal was full and those that had not yet entered and checked in had to wait outside until boarding began and the terminal emptied out a little bit. I felt badly for those people, but we were seated and comfortable and I had packed snacks for my kids so all was fine. Once we finally boarded, rooms were not ready yet so we headed to Grand Pacific to eat something. Chicken Nachos...amazing. While we were at lunch, there was an announcement that rooms were ready and we could proceed. We liked the location of our cabin - just a few cabins forward of the FWD elevators. It was very convenient for my in-laws because they spent a lot of time in the casino. We also frequented the Magenta dining room for dinner, as it was a closer walk for them. We loved the ship, it was just the perfect size for the kids and the grandparents. I thought this was pretty strange - our cabins (we had 2 adjoining) had little red dot stickers on the top of the door frame. No other cabins on either side of us had the stickers. This had me wondering if people had been quarantined with the noro virus in our rooms on the prior sailing... eek. Before my family walked through the door, I wiped down every flat surface with hospital-grade germicide wipes, and I repeated the wipedown process after Puerto Rico and Tortola as well. My kids had every meal in the dining room with us and often ordered from the adult menu (we preferred Magenta over Grand Pacific, the service was faster) and attended all of the evening shows with us too. I had UBP and all drinks were great. I stuck mostly to bellinis at breakfast, bahama mamas in the late morning, frozen melon coladas or Miami vice in the heat of the afternoon, wine at dinner, crown & ginger for the shows, and baileys & Kahlua as a nightcap. (Now you all think I have a drinking problem!) After reading so many mixed reviews about the food, I was pleasantly surprised with how good it was. I had one less-than-stellar meal, it was a strip steak that wasn't trimmed well and difficult to eat... but the appetizers were all amazing. Did anyone else try that chorizo & potato cold salad appetizer? I loved it so much, I'm trying to recreate it at home. The dessert was nothing spectacular, except for the bread pudding. That was SO good. We enjoyed the shows and my 6 yr old took a liking to Chloe, the blond singer. He was on stage with her at one point and that pretty much made his life. One of the singers caught us after one of the evening shows to say how they all noticed that we never missed a show and we were always together as a family, and how nice it was to see that. I thought it was really sweet that he took the time to say something, and that was really the underlying theme of our whole trip. We spent time with each other and it was everything. Overall, the staff was really great to the kids. They had extra special surprise desserts every night and napkin animals. One of the Magenta servers learned that my son liked red jello and brought it over before he even had the chance to order it. I'm not going to get into the islands, I'm sure there is already tons of info out there about PR, St Thomas, St Maarten and Tortola. Puerto Rico: We just explored old san juan on foot. My husband and kids had never been there and the kids were really into the gate and the history of the island. We walked the along wall and read them all of the historical info signs. Stopped in Starbucks for a clean bathroom and a taste of home. ;) Facetimed our family back home. My in-laws stayed on board. St. Thomas: (Easter Sunday) Took a cab into town with the in-laws, hit a couple of the stores. They went right back to the ship, but we hopped in another cab to Magen's Bay and stopped by an outdoor church service on the way. Spent the next 5 hours floating around, drinking the amazing rum punch, enjoying my family in our beautiful surroundings. It was one of the best days of my life. The beach wasn't crowded at all, as we were the only ship in port. Just incredible. St. Maarten: In-laws booked an excursion for us - the SeaWorld Explorer glass-bottom boat. Nothing too exciting, I probably would not have booked that myself but they seemed to enjoy themselves. They went back to the ship, and we took a cab to Maho Beach so the kids could see the planes. SO COOL. Definitely something to do once in your life. They didn't enjoy this beach as much as Magen's Bay, because they're still young and the waves were too much for them. I did some snorkeling right off the beach and saw lots of great things off to the left on the rocks. Sting rays, a sea turtle, lots of fish, urchins, etc. Tortola: We did the dolphin discovery excursion. The kids loved it, again, something to do once in your life. The trainer was very nice and extremely patient. My kids didn’t need his patience, my in-laws did. They were nervous and couldn’t follow directions! LOL The place is a fortune but we were able to get some photos without being yelled at. I was in Tortola almost 15 years ago and can’t believe how much has changed there! The pier is going to be great once it’s all done. Note to anyone that forgot to buy duty-free in St Thomas: buy it in St Maarten because there’s nothing in Tortola. A duty-free shop is due to open at the pier but they don’t have a date yet. SPLASH ACADEMY: We kept very busy on sea days and the kids only went to Splash Academy for 80 minutes the whole trip. My 6.5 yr old is never bored, he brings the party with him. He made friends but was happier hanging out with us vs. going to Splash. The 4.5 yr old was bored. They Turtle group is 3-5 yr olds and there happened to be more 3 yr olds than 5 yr olds. He didn’t want to sit around and color. He wanted to go to Splash on circus day but they were at capacity and he was wait-listed. In my opinion, a max capacity of 25 in the 3-5 age range is ridiculous. I didn’t feel like there were a lot of kids on the ship so I was surprised it reached capacity. We participated in all of the family events on the ship (scavenger hunts, intensity, the Easter Hunt) and even caught some of the movies. We spent plenty of time on the pool deck and have a couple of tips: Deck 13 is very windy and makes reading a paperback difficult. We preferred deck 12. DON’T sit near the ping pong tables (deck 12 FWD, port side) because let’s be real, no one is very good at ping pong and the balls go flying. We were stuck there 1 day and I counted 69 rogue ping pong balls in a 90 minute period. People were smoking in Bali Hai so we avoided that area too. On the nice warm sea days, you better be out there by 7:30am to reserve chairs, otherwise you’re going to have to deal with ping pong balls or wind. LOL The chair hogs are early birds. Our travel agent gave us towel clips and these came in handy to keep our chairs marked. The towel clips also double as clothespins for drying bathing suits out on the balcony chairs! It went WAY TOO FAST. This was the 1st cruise for my kiddos and only the 2nd cruise for my husband. A great time was had by all. I didn’t take too many photos – less than 200 – and I didn’t take pics or save the menus or dailies. I want to thank everyone that set up and had a hand in the M&G, the prizes were so nice but the people were nicer. We really appreciate you taking the time to get everything all set up, and thank you for including my kids. We couldn’t have asked for a better trip and I owe all of you a big thank you for preparing me so well. Pics to follow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gikkeroo Posted April 19, 2016 Author #2 Share Posted April 19, 2016 Once I figure out how to upload the pics ... just tried from my phone and it didn't work. :eek: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gikkeroo Posted April 19, 2016 Author #3 Share Posted April 19, 2016 Tim Kaminski. Funny guy and overall good person. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Niffernay Posted April 19, 2016 #4 Share Posted April 19, 2016 Thank you for the review. Looking forward to our cruise on the Gem in December. :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pathubia Posted April 19, 2016 #5 Share Posted April 19, 2016 Tim Kaminski. Funny guy and overall good person. We LOVE Tim Kaminski!! I wish he would come back to the DAWN!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clarea Posted April 19, 2016 #6 Share Posted April 19, 2016 Nicely written, thank-you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gikkeroo Posted April 20, 2016 Author #7 Share Posted April 20, 2016 On line to check in! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gikkeroo Posted April 20, 2016 Author #8 Share Posted April 20, 2016 From our balcony Chocolate pancakes in the grand pacific! Quick downpour in San Juan Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gikkeroo Posted April 20, 2016 Author #9 Share Posted April 20, 2016 Brownie a la mode EVERYDAY! BEAUTIFUL Magen's Bay, St Thomas Does it get any better than this?!? https://vimeo.com/163492094 Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gikkeroo Posted April 20, 2016 Author #10 Share Posted April 20, 2016 Sent this back home, we missed our family on Easter I asked them to smile. Asked them for 1 nice photo. Pffffft. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gikkeroo Posted April 20, 2016 Author #11 Share Posted April 20, 2016 The end of the Easter Scavenger hunt! St. Maarten excursion KINDER SURPRISE EGGS!!! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gikkeroo Posted April 20, 2016 Author #12 Share Posted April 20, 2016 Maho Beach https://vimeo.com/163492629 Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gikkeroo Posted April 20, 2016 Author #13 Share Posted April 20, 2016 Kids were pretty excited about the bridge viewing room Tortola- dolphin discovery Towel clips! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gikkeroo Posted April 20, 2016 Author #14 Share Posted April 20, 2016 In the Stardust Theater Tom Kaminski in the spinnaker https://vimeo.com/163493030 Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gikkeroo Posted April 20, 2016 Author #15 Share Posted April 20, 2016 And finally, our morning view [emoji2] Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Keith1010 Posted April 20, 2016 #16 Share Posted April 20, 2016 So glad you all had a great trip. Thank you for your report. Keith Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scaredcrazy Posted April 22, 2016 #17 Share Posted April 22, 2016 So im supposed to go on a cruise next week with my children. Im worried about the Zika virus. We r visiting the same ports. My question is did u see allot if mosquitos. Should i be worried about that. Most if our excursions are to the beach's.. Sent from my LG-H811 using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gikkeroo Posted April 22, 2016 Author #18 Share Posted April 22, 2016 So im supposed to go on a cruise next week with my children. Im worried about the Zika virus. We r visiting the same ports. My question is did u see allot if mosquitos. Should i be worried about that. Most if our excursions are to the beach's.. Sent from my LG-H811 using Tapatalk Surprisingly, we saw NO mosquitoes. I guess they're always out at dusk/nighttime and we were already back on the ship by then. I am a mosquito magnet and didn't get 1 bite. Unless you're pregnant, I wouldn't even be concerned. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scaredcrazy Posted April 22, 2016 #19 Share Posted April 22, 2016 Surprisingly, we saw NO mosquitoes. I guess they're always out at dusk/nighttime and we were already back on the ship by then. I am a mosquito magnet and didn't get 1 bite. Unless you're pregnant, I wouldn't even be concerned. Ok. Thanks. Ill make sure i put repellant on kids to be safe. That makes me feel better that u didnt even see mosquitos. Sent from my LG-H811 using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gikkeroo Posted April 22, 2016 Author #20 Share Posted April 22, 2016 Ok. Thanks. Ill make sure i put repellant on kids to be safe. That makes me feel better that u didnt even see mosquitos. Sent from my LG-H811 using Tapatalk my best advice for traveling with the kiddies: 1) pre-package their outfits and label with their initials. I use gallon sized ziplocs from the dollar store. I put all of the day time clothes (mesh shorts & tee shirts) in 1 drawer and all of the dinner clothes in another drawer. It was SO EASY to just say "Grab an outfit from the top drawer and get dressed" and have no questions about matching or if that shirt was his or his brothers, blah blah blah. Saved a lot of time and aggravation. 2) Hanging shoe organizer with clear pockets on the back of the bathroom door was amazing. There was no clutter on the bathroom counter, the desk, the table. Everything had a home in the organizer. 4 people in 1 tiny room could've been a disaster but it was honestly OK. 3) I went through 2 bottles of sunscreen for the kids and I only applied 6 out of the 10 days, as it was too cold to use the pool deck the first 2 days and last 2 days. Make sure you have 3 bottles :) 4) Bring granola bars or something for the kids to munch on in the morning. Both of my kids were seasick that very first day at sea, 1st thing in the morning while we were seated and waiting for breakfast to be served. And yes, I had already given them seasickness meds. we quickly learned that the best way to avoid seasickness is to never have an empty stomach. Going forward, they had granola bars as soon as they got up (before showering/dressing) and they weren't sick again. HAVE THE BEST TIME! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scaredcrazy Posted April 22, 2016 #21 Share Posted April 22, 2016 Great advice. My kids are a disaster when it comes to clothes. Im prone to sea sickness too. Im packing plenty of meds for me and kids just in case. Granola bars great idea and kids love them. I do agree with empty stomach making it worse. Hopefully seas will be calm. Sent from my LG-H811 using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ilovetotravel1977 Posted April 22, 2016 #22 Share Posted April 22, 2016 2) Hanging shoe organizer with clear pockets on the back of the bathroom door was amazing. There was no clutter on the bathroom counter, the desk, the table. Everything had a home in the organizer. 4 people in 1 tiny room could've been a disaster but it was honestly OK. We did this as well for our recent Escape cruise. 3 adults and 1 child in a balcony room! The organizer was a gift from the heavens, I tell ya! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nena09 Posted April 22, 2016 #23 Share Posted April 22, 2016 What a great review! Beautifully explained. I'm going on the gem April 30th with my fiance and I feel like I'm gonna explode with excitement and anticipation lol. Going to be our first cruise ever so I'm overly prepared. The clear shoe organizer is on my shopping list but my fiance doesn't think it's necessary but now I'm gonna show him this review! I have long curly thick hair so I'm bringing lots of hair products. I know I will need the organizer lol. Glad u had a great time with your family and glad for no mosquitos! I'm a mosquito magnet lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gikkeroo Posted April 22, 2016 Author #24 Share Posted April 22, 2016 What a great review! Beautifully explained. I'm going on the gem April 30th with my fiance and I feel like I'm gonna explode with excitement and anticipation lol. Going to be our first cruise ever so I'm overly prepared. The clear shoe organizer is on my shopping list but my fiance doesn't think it's necessary but now I'm gonna show him this review! I have long curly thick hair so I'm bringing lots of hair products. I know I will need the organizer lol. Glad u had a great time with your family and glad for no mosquitos! I'm a mosquito magnet lol 1/2 of the organizer was full of my stuff LOL - hair products, makeup, costume jewelry. I brought my own hair conditioner, but next time I'm bringing my own shampoo too. I have thick hair too and I needed a golf ball sized amount of their lousy shampoo to get a lather. Def bring your own shampoo! The shower gel in the dispenser wasn't terrible, but I brought a pouf. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sizzlechest Posted April 22, 2016 #25 Share Posted April 22, 2016 Ok. Thanks. Ill make sure i put repellant on kids to be safe. That makes me feel better that u didnt even see mosquitos. I'm bringing mosquito repellent with me on my next cruise. This one was rated best by Consumer Reports: http://amzn.to/1U8Leo2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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