Pima1988

I would contact your TA or RCCL, depending on how you booked your cruise. My assumption is that RCCL is using a private tour company, so you will skip the line and go in via the "other" entrance. However, I would contact them and ask for specifics. IE notice @MikeK they booked it through their TA and not RCCL. I am not saying RCCL's tour will be bad. It might actually be better because you know for a fact you don't have to worry about travel. I would assume that the groups will be not huge, but they will be bigger than the private. Plus you need to think about the cost. Personally for me, I loved the private, but if I were on a cruise, and knew that we would go through the private entrance, I probably would do RCCL. My Mom on the other hand would want the true private, which I get. I think the details were well worth the extra cost. ~~ The story behind the Jubilee doors. The info regarding the mosaics in the Church. The nooks and crannies that a group of 30 can't get into, thus the tour guide avoids that part. You have to ask what exactly is your goal here. If you are okay hitting the high points, than do RCCL. If you want to learn more than go with a private guide, but expect to spend more, and make sure you give yourself wiggle room to get back to the ship on time.

That stinks for me. I wanted to sail on Oasis

Don't expect too much. AK is amazing. I just don't want you going in and thinking you will see all of this wild life. The sceanary will be breath taking. However, if you expect a Moose, a Bear, Dall Ram on land at every port you will be disappointed. Same for whales. Take some binoculars with you.

@JerseyJoe, Anthem sails out of Bayonne all yr. I would think Oasis will be the same itinerary, but they will not make Bayonne their home port until 2020. As I have stated we will be going out of Bayonne in 10 weeks, and to say I am insanely excited it would be an understatement. Adventure does not have the bells and whistles like Wonderland, Bionic bar, I Fly, 270 or kummelwreck sandwich etc. It does have the ice rink, the miniature golf, the promenade and water slides. Things I have yet to enjoy. My big thing that I can't wait for is the sail away. I get that Adventure is not as tall as Anthem, but still going under the Verrazano is OMG amazing. Anthem only clears by @ 30 ft. Guessing Adventure is 50-75 ft. Anyone from NJ knows this is a WOW moment. You can hear the roar of the cars speeding over your head as you stand on the pool deck listening to music. Adventure is a summer ship. Come Oct. she will transition to the south and return back to Bayonne in May. Until now only Anthem was there yr round. Again, I think Oasis will be yr round out of Bayonne starting in 2020. I am not a betting woman, but I am willing to bet that Oasis will be booked solid as soon as she hits Bayonne since this is a new ship to the port, and on top of that she will be coming out of dry dock for renovations. For me 2021 looks like when we will sail on her...family wants to take the Explorer in AK for 2020. I get the stress. I get your review. You did a ton of research, and to me it was like seeing a movie where everyone says YOU HAVE TO SEE IT, IT'S THE BEST MOVIE EVER. You walk out and say it was EH, because you built it up to this idea that it can never match. Our 1st RCCL was on Enchantment we booked it out 60 days prior, spur of the moment. Had I known about the amenities on larger ships, I would have been upset and said eh!. However, I wasn't. To us, we loved everything about the cruise. It was port intensive. Only 2 of us sailed, MTD. I would agree that the tables were close, chairs butted up against each other, however, our waitstaff was amazing...by day 2 they had jack and coke for my hubby, and jack and ginger ale for me within 5 mins of sitting down. Had a read posts I probably would have had a negative view before I stepped on the ship. My point is knowing too much could hurt you as much as knowing nothing. I would also say, that use a TA the next time. A TA company usually books cabins in bulk. They can do wonders. Our 8 day cruise, Outside Balcony on Adventure was 2248, ports and taxes for 2, I look on the RCCL site weekly and I have yet to see anything close to it when I do a fake booking. Better yet, the TA threw in OBC and a specialty dinner. @JerseyJoe you know in July, there is no way on earth you could rent a decent beach house for that amount of money. I hope you give RCCL another chance. If not, depending where you are in NJ. NCL sails out of NY also. Maybe NCL is more your kind of thing.

My kids were blessed as military brats to live in AK for several yrs. We took them camping every weekend between May and Sept. They will not be bored. You can entertain them with finding wildlife they never see in the lower 48. That is what we did with our kids during camping weekends. Now for you, as parents, this is probably the only time I say get an interior cabin. There really isn't any darkness in AK in July, until about 3 a.m. and it is rising by 5 a.m. If your 6 yo needs a room totally dark, than maybe an interior is a better option. I would also say, that it will not be as cold as you may think on land when it comes to July. Caveat, the glacier tours. I would dress them like an onion. A nice polar fleece, with a short sleeve polo should work. We lived in Anchorage. Our kids would wear shorts, and polos during the day. At night time they put on a sweatshirt. My last piece of advice for dressing in AK, is AK is known to SPIT aka misty rain. Pack jackets that can do both. Outer jacket is water repellent, but has a zip away polar fleece interior lining. Right now you probably can find them on sale since winter is ending. Again, it goes with peeling like an onion. If it is going to rain that day, but warm, you are going to want that outer shell. If it is going to be sunny, but chilly you want the polar fleece.

Congrats on the adoption. I agree with the previous posters. My other advice would be if she is on good terms with the father of your step daughter, have him on speed dial. A few yrs back Discovery channel did a show on how they flip a ship. In this series, they showed the terminal and how they deal with passengers that have issues such as yours. 1 couple got married, and were bringing aboard a step-child with a different last name. The Mom had to call the child's Dad. He faxed over a letter stating she had the right to take the child out of the country. This took time, and they just squeaked aboard on time. Point being, it will be much less stressful for you, if you have every plan A, B and C in place to hand to them when you embark.

@JerseyJoe, Just a few thoughts and than throw them in the circular filing cabinet/can. 1. MTD The thing with that is many people book their times on the cruise planner, especially for bigger ships where they have the broadway style productions. We have done both MTD and traditional. Typically we do MTD on port intensive cruises where we have excursions planned. IE we know our excursion won't get back until 5 p.m., so we may decide that 7 p.m. is the prefect time for us and we will see the late show. If it is a sea day, we may decide that we want to eat at 5:30 to see the early show, or 8 and see the late show. If our plans change from when we booked on our planner, than as soon as we get on the ship, we go and ask to change the times, it can be a hit or miss that they will do it, but at least we had that popular time locked in. Honestly, we tend to like traditional better, but we also purchase some specialty dinners as our splurges. The specialty allows us that MTD option. 2. 5 day cruise out of NJ Just out of curiosity. Why didn't you sail on Anthem to Bermuda? Anthem is bigger, and maybe for your kids ages they would have liked it more, the Flowrider, NorthStar and Ifly, plus it docks overnight in Bermuda, which impo is a much nicer port. Anthem will be replaced with Oasis in 2020. Same size ship, just different amenities. My husband and I prefer going out of NJ, because we can drive there. We will be doing an 8 night on Adventure in July out of Bayonne. We just feel that it is less stressful and less expensive to drive to NJ from VA, than fly to FL, even if the sailing costs more for the cabin, once you add in the flights, and a hotel, plus more days off from work, we are usually better off. Granted you won't get Coco Cay on a 5 night, but it is a nice sailing. On our 8 night, we sail on Friday, and arrive back home Sunday. As a NJ resident you would only need to take 6 days off from work because you will be back at your house Sunday by noon. When we did the 5 night on Anthem we got on Sat. and debarked by 8:30 a.m. (not self assist). We were back at my brother's home (exit 7A) by 10. He and his wife work from home, but they went straight to their offices in their house to start work for the day. My 2 cousin, reported to work at noon for their jobs. My hubby and I were back home in VA by 1 pm. Just saying that there are perks to sailing closer from home, even if the cabins cost a tad more. 3. Sorrento's and ice cream As others have said Sorrento's is just what many people call the pizza on board. IE on Anthem there is an actual Sorrento's pizza parlor, however, on other ships you will just find it to be with the café promenade. The ice cream as far as I know it has never been 24/7, just like there is no 24/7 dining options, unless you consider room service. I have noticed in some recent posts that it appears that they maybe moving away from self serve, but towards an attendant doing this at the machines. For me I hope this is the way they are going to go in the future. The main reason is what I typically see happen is a child will try to make it as big/tall as they can(think 4-5 inches high), and inevitably as soon as they turn to leave the machine, it collapses, and they start the entire process all over again. Repeat this with the next child. Than add in Mom/Dad getting 5 ice cream cones. Add in a couple of singles in front of you. So although when you entered the line and you thought there were only 5 people in front of you, it could take you 5 mins to get to the ice cream machine. Plus, now when you get there the machine is empty, so no ice cream for you. Having an RCCL staff member be in charge of this, it will impo make customers happier.

I agree with others, the sand is very fine., but than again I am a woman. Walking in very fine sand is the best pedicure you can ever get. My husband on the other hand prefers to wear sandals. Just because it is one less thing to pack in our bags.

Reservation date as when you reserved your cabin, or you purchased the cabana? I booked my cabana when I reserved back in Sept 2018. I am sure there were others that probably booked out in 2017, and waited for a sale @ Black Friday, months after me.. Thus, in my scenario if I booked later than the other, but purchased prior to them,, where do I stand from priority? Is it cabin reservations, or cabana reservation that is considered priority. If it is the cabana date than I am really not concerned, but if it the cruise reservation, than I am going to be upset with the change.

We shut our phones off completely. Hubby takes his tablet so that is what he uses to surf and stream. When we travel as a group, the night before at dinner we discuss what we will all be doing the next day.

Oh and they are also at the train stations too.

We didn't care for the WOW because not only was uncomfortable to wear, made your wrist sweaty (it is plastic), but we were told at that time you needed to take them off when you went into the water. It was just easier to walk around with the sea pass card.

We would stop there every a.m. for me to get my Starbucks iced coffee. Caveat they will not allow you to use a Starbucks gift card, nor redeem any loyalty points like a traditional Starbucks.

For us it was worth the extra money for the personal tour guide. I think it was only like 25 bucks per person more than the cost of tickets, plus we did tip at the end. I want to say we were at the Vatican for a solid 3 hrs., but we saw everything and our kids got to ask specific questions bc it was only our family. She was able to give even more tidbits bc the regular tour groups are large, so they have to move them along faster. With the Sistine Chapel, that is the only point where we had to go in with the tour groups, and it is limited amount of time you can spend in there. They basically enter you in one door and exited you out another door, once it is cleared out they allow the next group in. I want to say that there were at least 100 people with us in the chapel and maybe 10-15 mins. They have kept a small patch of the non-restoration fresco so you can see the difference from what it looked like before the restoration compared to today, at least they had than when we went.

There is so much to see in Rome, that I think you have to prioritize what are your must see attractions because impo there is no way you can see it all in 6 hrs. We spent 3 days there. Do you want to see the catacombs, or the coliseum or do you want to see the Pantheon and Trevi Fountain, plus do the steps? Now add in the Vatican. The Vatican if my memory serves me correctly is across town from the Pantheon, but the Pantheon is close to the Fountain. Personally I would skip doing the steps, all it is, is a photo op and filled with tourist trying to get their photo op. We hired a personal tour guide/driver for those 3 days since we were traveling with 3 kids. This is why I can't really recall how far away from a walking perspective. As an American it was neat to see the Pantheon because our Capitol dome is designed off of the Pantheon. The Vatican is well worth it, because of the artwork, and realizing how much the Catholic church stole. No flaming, I am Catholic, it is just a pure fact you will learn on the tour. You will learn so much. IE did you know there was a tunnel under the Vatican? Or why you will see bronze bee figurines throughout Rome? Plus, of course in the Sistene Chapel you get to see the famous gift (sarcasm) that Leonardo painted into the mural. The gift shop is next door, it is expensive, and since you are not staying in Rome, I personally would skip it. We purchased items there (saint medals for our confirmation names) only because that they will have them blessed by the Pope. However, the Pope only does the blessings @ 3 pm daily, and than they deliver them to your hotel. If you go to the fountain, there is a little church right around the corner. It is really pretty. The thing to note before entering are the markers with dates outside on the wall. The markers are set at specific heights. These heights show how high the water went during specific floods. They are hip high. One last thing about going to the fountain or the steps, is stay away from people carrying roses. You have to be really firm with them. A simple No did not work for us, it was more like NO, and keep walking, don't put your hand up to wave them off bc they will shove the rose in your hand and will not take it back. Hope that helps.

That is also how it worked with picking up the tickets. They were there waiting for us.

Try to hire a private tour guide, it is worth every penny, make sure they are licensed. They will bring you through a private entrance, so there is no lines, and they will do it at your pace. We purchased this through the Amex concierge. I remember when we did it.. We got there @ 8:30 and the line was already very long to get into the Vatican.

I laughed at it on my planner. The Chops +1 is going for 65. 3 night dinner is 69. Who on earth is going to do the Chops, when for $4 more you get 3 dinners.

Yeah, you can buy a cheap level for $15. My hair is short, but thick. I use their hair dryer, but take the flat iron with me. I have done this for yrs now. My husband laughed at 1st, bc he knows I don't use one at home, so why would I take it on the cruise. Now, he is the one that makes sure it is packed in our luggage. We, as in all of our family and friends call him the 'pretty boy" or metro-sexual. Love that man, but the flat iron is for him. For me, I purchase my clothes from Chico's. They are expensive, but you can get great deals. Just like Jos. A. Bank they have what they call a travelers collection. You can roll it up in a ball and it will be wrinkle free. Target also has great sun dresses. If you are going to take a sun hat make sure it is foldable. I have 2. 1 is black and large brim. The other is khaki with a smaller brim, but it says in script on the back of the brim...talk to the sand. You want this impo from the aspect that it will shade your shoulders. You also want it if you are like me and have your hair colored...the sun will bleach out the color and highlights very quickly. I am a brunette.

I would def. do it again in a heartbeat bc of the itinerary.

We lived in AK and camped every summer. Camping sites were picked based on salmon fishing. I don't know when you are cruising, but here is my opinion, and with $2.07 you can a small coffee at Starbucks. 1. Summer in AK is not like the lower 48. The sun will just dip down and bounce back up. There is no difference in light between 7 a.m. and noon. Actually the way the fishing laws work you can only catch 1 salmon per day. Day starts at 12:00 a.m. Peak fishing season, people go out at 11 pm, because if they catch one at 11:30, 30 mins later they can catch another one. Obviously, for you that will not matter. ~ if you go with the belief of early a.m. before sunrise than you need to be fishing at 4-5 a.m. 2. WEAR sunglasses. Salmon fishing in AK is also called COMBAT fishing sometimes. Popular spots in the summer will be hip to hip with fishers in waders in the river. You want the sunglasses because you don't want a fly from another persons rod hit you in the eye. There are rules/respect in this aspect too. Nobody is allowed to assist you in reeling it in. When a person screams fish on, they may walk 50-100 feet to pull it in, everybody is suppose to get out of their way. 3. Halibut is ocean fishing. Salmon is river. 4. I would also check to make sure he gets a license. I am sure the tour group will do it, but they are very serious about this if he catches a salmon. Just curious if he does catch anything, are they going to ship it back to your house or is he just going to do release? Funny story, we were AF and stationed in AK. We would go as a group camping (8 families+). The guys and kids (8-12 yrs old) would go to the river by the campsite @ 11 pm. Wives would hang back and drink by the camp fire. 1 night, barely after midnight the guys and kids all returned. HUH? You caught something already? Nope. They left because a nice Brown bear with 3 cubs were also fishing and decided to get close to their side of the shore. They decided that no salmon was worth the risk. The wives, after imbibing wine, decided that the real truth was they knew the kids could out run them, so 1 of them would be the bears midnight snack and they didn't want to risk that they were the slowest runner!

We did the cheaper one, where you just pet, kiss the dolphin, it was still about 30 mins.. Our dolphin was named Marguerite. The swimming with the dolphins are still in the same lagoon. I don't feel like I missed anything by not swimming with them.

We have done the sting rays and dolphins, however, never with pigs. It seems to cheap to be good. $85 a pp. It is only 1 1/2 hrs., and we have to take a boat ride, so my guess is maybe we will be in the water for 30 mins with the pigs. I have no problem with that since for me I will use my OBC, so it basically a freebie. Just wondering if anyone can give me their opinions. IE they say you need water shoes, guessing it is rocky?

Chill Island

We did Enchantment about 2 1/2 yrs ago. For us, the ship was too small. However, our itinerary was port intensive so we didn't mind at all (Bahamas, Coco Cay and Key West). IOWS, I would do it again just for the itinerary. We did MTD and had no problems, just walked up and we were seated immediately. No problem getting a seat at the pool. The plus size of this size of a ship the staff really gets to know you personally. The negative were the shows.