First Family Cruise Questions

[zarf99]

Hi,

 

I'm looking to book our first family cruise to the Canaries from Southampton in October 07 for my wife's 40th birthday. The ship is the Navigator of the Seas and I have a couple of questions I'm not sure about before I take the plunge and book.

 

1) I'm looking at a superior Oceanview stateroom with balcony and sofabed. I have 2 sons who will be 13 and 10, does the sofabed sleep 2 - there is no mention of pullman beds for the cabin I'm looking at, but it does sleep 4.

 

2) what will the boys have to wear on the formal nights?

 

3) does anyone know what the wine & dine package costs?

 

I'm glad I found this forum, its already given me loads of great info so thanks to all contributors

[Sue L]

Hi,

 

I'm looking to book our first family cruise to the Canaries from Southampton in October 07 for my wife's 40th birthday. The ship is the Navigator of the Seas and I have a couple of questions I'm not sure about before I take the plunge and book.

 

1) I'm looking at a superior Oceanview stateroom with balcony and sofabed. I have 2 sons who will be 13 and 10, does the sofabed sleep 2 - there is no mention of pullman beds for the cabin I'm looking at, but it does sleep 4. If it sleeps 4 and there is no mention of a pullman then they are planning on 2 for the sofabed and depending on the size of the kids could be a tight squeeze. Are there any other rooms available that have the pullmans or have you thought of putting the kids in an inside across the hall?

 

2) what will the boys have to wear on the formal nights? Dress code is the same no matter the age, for formal night suit or rent tuxes, think of the great family picture. NO shorts in the dining room at night!! dockers and a polo shirt is the norm on non-formal nights.

 

3) does anyone know what the wine & dine package costs? Don't know

[squarepants]

We cruise with 4 kids. We've been on the NOS.

 

The sofa beds on these ships will not sleep 2 kids. You will require a pullman for one child and the sofa bed for the other. Our pullman in this size cabin was located directly above our bed. There was one pullmen in the room. I've had inside staterooms that have had two pullmans.

 

We had our children wear shirts and ties (no jackets) on formal nights and polo shirts with dress pants on the other nights. My girls had dresses for formal. They loved to get dressed up. We made an event out the it. Polo shirts and Docker's are fine for the kids.

 

I don't remember the wine package prices but it did pay to get a package if you plan on having a bottle of wine every night. I recommend the package if you are at a table with just your family and both you and your husband like wine.

 

Square

[ChristieNJ]

If you go on RC's website, I believe you click on DEALS & GIFTS and the wine prices & gift packages are listed.

[cb at sea]

Since this is your wife's birthday, try and get 2 rooms--so the birthday girl (and you) can have some private time! The kids are old enough to be either across the hall (in a cheaper cabin) or adjoining you. Plus, there's the added benefit of 2 bathrooms!!!

[nichb0]

We cruise with 4 kids. We've been on the NOS.

 

The sofa beds on these ships will not sleep 2 kids. You will require a pullman for one child and the sofa bed for the other. Our pullman in this size cabin was located directly above our bed. There was one pullmen in the room. I've had inside staterooms that have had two pullmans.

 

We had our children wear shirts and ties (no jackets) on formal nights and polo shirts with dress pants on the other nights. My girls had dresses for formal. They loved to get dressed up. We made an event out the it. Polo shirts and Docker's are fine for the kids.

 

I don't remember the wine package prices but it did pay to get a package if you plan on having a bottle of wine every night. I recommend the package if you are at a table with just your family and both you and your husband like wine.

 

 

Square

 

If the sofa bed doesn't sleep two, then why do they list these cabins as sleeping four? RCCL thinks the sofa bed can sleep two. I certainly hope so as we are going on the Mariner next month with the same cabin the OP is talking about (D1) with my wife and two kids so it better sleep two. I think all of the D1's that sleep four only have the two beds that can be pushed together and then the sofa bed that is intended to sleep two. Did you have a D1 on NOS?

[monoptn]

You might also want to check out the Family Oceanview Stateroom. There are two on each deck at the front of the ship and they sleep 6. We had this room with our two boys who were 7 and 11 at the time. There is a pull out sofa which we didn't have to use and a separate area with bunkbeds where the boys slept. Sometimes RC won't release these until closer to cruise time, but we wanted to book one for this April (back in Sept). The RC agent told us we could book it for 5 then cancel the 5th person later if we wanted, once the rooms opened up. I've been checking the prices on the internet and the FOS has been available for almost a month now.

 

As for formal nights, my boys wore dockers, shirts with a tie and a nice blazer. On the other nights, they just wore polo shirts with nice pants.

 

Have a great time!

Lori in TN

[raina*faith]

First time family cruises are fun, Enjoy!

[zarf99]

Thanks to you all for your helpful replies, I've looked into getting an inside room opposite a balcony room, but there don't appear to be any left, so my options will be either to go for sharing the D1 or get 2 PR promenade rooms next to each other, which is not much more cost than the single D1 stateroom.

 

My youngest has already decided that he would like to wear a kilt outfit on the formal nights and the older one fancies getting a tux so there shouldn't be a problem with the dress code.

 

I've now got another concern, we all hate the smell of cigarette smoke, and as smoking is allowed in all staterooms, do other non smokers think that there is a noticeable smoky smell in the staterooms.

 

thanks again for your replies

[Chocochip]

Thanks to you all for your helpful replies, I've looked into getting an inside room opposite a balcony room, but there don't appear to be any left, so my options will be either to go for sharing the D1 or get 2 PR promenade rooms next to each other, which is not much more cost than the single D1 stateroom.

 

I'm not sure where you're getting your info, but we are first time cruisers as well, and we looked on a few online sites before we called a Travel Agent. The Travel Agent listed rooms we'd never seen available online, and I've read here that none of the online sites will give you a complete listing of all cabins available. If you don't want to use a TA, I think you can call or book through RCCL directly.

[zarf99]

I was checking out my travel agent's online site last night and it listed stateroom 1388 as available - after looking on this forum it turns out that its larger than most of the D1 rooms, so I've taken the plunge and booked it today.

 

So 8 months today we'll be off :) :) :)

 

thanks again for your replies

[dozeydon]

Hi There...

We were on Radiance of the Seas and had a Balcony room - that had no pullman - but the couch openned to be the size of a double bed. It was not very big - and low to the ground - but I am 6'2 and fit no problem. If you have the same type of room you should be fine.

 

Smoking - I have only ever had a problem with smoking on Carnival. Normally - smoking is not allowed in the cabins - although people will try.

 

Enjoy the cruise!

D

[negc]

Hi There...

Normally - smoking is not allowed in the cabins - although people will try.

 

Enjoy the cruise!

D

 

I am not a smoker and while I might wish that what the above post claims was true,it just isn't. There are no non-smoking staterooms on any RCI ship and there is no prohibition against smoking in the staterooms on RCI or most other cruiselines.