Todd W

my boys first cruise they were 12 and 14. we gave them firm but relaxed rules to follow such as checking in every X amount of hours. if they couldn't find us, they needed to leave a sticky note on the mirror in the room to let us know where they were at. told them the first time they missed a check-in time, they would be glued to our hip the next day. much to our surprise, they would actually find us more frequently than we had expected so our check-in windows for them got longer and longer to which they still would hunt us down sooner rather than later. The boys had a blast and have made tons of friends they still keep in contact with 2 years later. We found by easing up on them a bit, it gave them the opportunity to "adult" and they never had any issues at all during the cruise which made it MUCH more enjoyable for us also.

@Matt i just priced out a 2020 cruise using new WOW sale and it looks like Royal is giving more OBC than what your post lists. i'm seeing 125 for interior and OV, 225 for balcony and 300 for suites. verbiage in your post shows 75, 125 and 200

Several years back my wife and I did the Belize bus tour (our first cruise as well) and really enjoyed it. At the time it was a bus tour and rum tasting but by the looks of it they've split that excursion into a few separate tours now. That being said, we really enjoyed the tour through town. The guide on the bus was very informative keeping things interesting along with being very funny also. It was interesting to hear about the history as we rode through town. All things being said, I don't honestly know how much your kids would get out of it though. At that age, they may enjoy the shorter 1 hour Calypso train tour through town more. The fun of riding on a "train" and with it being shorter, would be apt to hold their attention better possibly.

heck my parents were very frequent cruisers back in the 70's and 80's and i NEVER got to go on a cruise with them. In fact, my wife and I didn't first cruise until about 7 years ago after we got married and paid for it ourselves.. We took our two teenage boys on their first cruise a couple years back and they loved it. Our biggest issues isn't the cost necessarily but rather finding a reasonable rate to take them along when it doesnt interfere with school. Subsequently, when we first took them it was in October and i pulled them out of school. Our 7th grader at the time didnt have any issues but our Freshmen son struggled horribly (his own fault) with making up what he missed. Long and short of it all, i don't feel guilty. Parents need their alone time as well.

Sounds like a possible new port in the DR. per the article, several cruise lines have shown interest ; RCCL, NCL, MSC and Virgin. Article states, once complete, will be able to handle the "largest cruise ships in the world". Hey i love the Caribbean so i'm all for a potential new port! http://www.seatrade-cruise.com/news/news-headlines/costa-maya-s-parent-to-develop-new-puerto-plata-cruise-port.html @Matt if this violates any policy of the site, please feel free to remove this.

also if you bring your allotted 2 bottles of wine per stateroom, it doesn't just have to be drank in your cabin or the dining room. Feel free to pour a glass and walk around at will with it.

wow! surprising to Mariner on that list for 7 times over the next year. you would think after all of the hoopla of it's dry-dock revamp, they would have held back on charters for it. Certainly makes it clear that money talks,,,

i grew up in Missouri and spent many many summers in the Ozarks and can certainly appreciate what you guys are currently going through. Here's hoping for a speedy recovery!

Unless something has changed, the rental car places on the island will not typically shuttle someone back to the port. that being said, I would give them a call to be 100% certain that hasn't changed.

that makes sense. i knew 23 actual pools would be an impossibility. hadn't thought of all the water features being included in on that.

23 pools??

great photo! love the shirts !

when we took our 12 and 14yr old boys on their first cruise our initial rules we set for them was to check in with us every 2 hours, no question asked. we always made sure they knew of the potential places where we would be. if for some reason they couldn't meet up or couldn't find us, then they needed to swing by the cabin and leave us a sticky note on the mirror as to where they were and what time it was when they left the note. Some may think this was extreme but we just prefaced it to them with the understanding that if they missed any of our expected check-in's, they would be glued to our hip the next day. I'm very pleased to say that we never had any issues. In fact, they actually ran into us much more frequently than was expected. as they showed the responsibility, we gave them longer windows of time in which they needed to check back with us. i believe that they loved the freedom and wanted to prove to us that they could do it, which they did. They had a blast and in turn, because of they behavior, we had a much more relaxed time knowing that they were being responsible.

Thanks for the feedback everyone. we've got some info on a few different tubing excursions and can hopefully pick a winner.

For what it's worth, i asked about reserving a palapa at Nachi last week for my April cruise and I was told "Unfortuantely we cannot guarantee a palapa this service is subject to availiability upon arrival, first come first serve. " I'm hoping this is similar to so many of the "policies" that RCI has. even though Nachi is unaffiliated, I'm going to keep reaching out to hopefully get the answer I want lol

I second this. doesn't have to be a big expensive one. something to cover you just "in case". bandaids, tweezers, antiseptic, a few motrin a few ibuprofin, maybe $7.00 at walgreens. will not only save you money, but will save you TIME running around on the ship to buy this stuff. we always take some downey wrinkle release spray for any wrinkled clothes. works pretty good considering you cant have an iron or steamer travel sunscreen ziplock bags. - great for wet clothes or carrying snacks out to port and it may seem like overkill but i always take copies of all health insurance stuff as well as a list of any meds with mg descriptions that my wife and I are taking. i barely remember my own meds but have no clue what the mg's are and even more clueless on her stuff. we had an instance on our first cruise where i had to go down to the sickbay and was glad i had that information. made it much easier for the medical team to assist us.

sorry to hear about this, it sucks. primarily why i put all of this in the hands of MEI because if there's something that can be forgotten, I'll forget it. For what it's worth, i've never received notice for any other cruise line either. It's always been on the paperwork they provide when you book as well, X amount of days final payment is due. best of luck on rebooking. keep us posted.

thanks for the awesome pics @twangster had my wife sit down with me last night and showed her everything in this thread. This live blog of your pretty much sealed the deal for her in wanting to cruise to Alaska now. Thanks!!!

From the kids perspective, they're are going to have a blast on any of the ships you choose. Independence and Mariner both just got updates they would love but obviously there will be more for everyone to do on an Oasis class. When we took our kids on their first cruise they were 12 and 14 and absolutely loved it. We started them out with tight restrictions (requiring them to check in with us every couple of hours or leaving notes on the mirror in the cabin as to where they were). as they proved their level of responsibility, we loosened up their reigns. We just set the expectation that if at any point they broke a rule (within reason) or missed a check in time, they would be glued to our hip for the next day. Happy to say we never had any incidents. It was a real pleasure to see them in their own element on the ship enjoying everything with other kids their age. Surprisingly they checked in with us more frequently than either of us expected which was great! Lots of tears from both of them at the end of the cruise but many of their friends they stil keep in contact 2 years later.

while we haven't cruised on NCL yet ( looking into it) , my humble opinion is your 50th birthday is a big deal man! I'll hit that milestone this year myself. With that in mind, i would tend to lean more towards having a great time on a familiar line that you're already comfortable with. This helps to avoid any whoopsies in case NCL just isn't for you. Save the NCL cruise for another time when it wouldn't be as big of a deal or tarnish the memories of your 50th if something was out of sorts.

Curious to hear thoughts on the Belize cave tubing excursions. I've read a ton of reviews and they all seem to be hit or miss. Lots of negative stuff on RCI Jaguar paw tubing excursions about disorganization, lots of hurry up and wait to get started or rushing everyone back to the ship after their float and not allowing enough time for lunch. Interested in hearing about some reliable 3rd party tubing excursions (no zip lines or stuff like that, just tubing). Do they all pretty much require a 45 min or more drive to the camp spot and then additional walking through the jungle? Please feel free to share any info on your good or bad experiences and what companies you'd suggest. our group is really just looking for a relaxing tube float and some good lunch and/or drinks afterwards with possibly some time left over for port shopping before sail away. thanks!

Great information! Thanks for the write up @DunkelBierJay

you've found your happy place among others just like you. I've already been building my research "stuff" for my Harmony cruise in 2020. been doing that since i was 700+ days out and doing the same for my Liberty cruise which is still a year away (which i started doing a year ago) as i know many others here do the same thing. Welcome aboard!

never heard of this happening myself. Just out of curiosity, does this most typically happen with GTY rooms? i guess in a sense, is a reserved room most likely to "guarantee" your passage?

following along! can't wait to see some of your photos from Alaska