melmar02

Thanks! No, we'll be on Enchantment in Feb. We're taking my MIL on her first cruise and it embarks on her birthday. We're going back on Liberty in November, 2020.

+2 Ick

It has to be! 😃

If the sailing you are on when you book your NextCruise was with a travel agent, it will automatically go to that travel agent. If you want to change, let the NextCruise agent know. If you do not have a travel agent when you book with the NextCruise office, you can call the travel agent you want to use once off the ship. They will take it from there.

Thanks @CGTLH and @AshleyDillo. I didn't even think about the double points! Thanks also for the tip about the train rides.

We're starting to research Alaska for 2022, and we are planning on some sort of land tour as well. Just out of curiosity, are there any suite benefits that extend to or are part of the land tour portion of the trip?

When you check in online, you can enter a credit card number for your on board purchases. At the pier check in, you are issued your Sea Pass card which functions as both your room key and is used to buy things on the ship, including drinks. Except for the casino, the ship is cashless. At the end of the cruise, the balance is charged to your credit card on file.

We were at Paradise Beach in September. The beach on the left side, by the pier, is rocky in the water, and it is sandy in front of the inflatables. It was a nice day for our family. Our kids are a little younger than yours, 11 and 7, so we didn't want a "spring break" atmosphere. There was music, and it was a fun atmosphere without being raucous. We're going back in February. My husband and I have dived in Cozumel in early January, and the water was fine. I wore a short wet suit, but didn't really need it since we only did two dives. The water was perfect at the surface. If you're sensitive to water temperature though, you can't beat the heated pool. Have a great time whichever you decide on!

I've never seen this as a suite privilege, was your sailing maybe partially chartered?

This too. Any OT DH works we immediately transfer into a vacation savings account. His thought is he has to take time away from the family to earn that money, so it should be spent on something that we do together.

I home school our kids and don't work a 9-5 job. I do live in a state that has a generous cottage food law though, and I make wedding cakes from my home kitchen. I've been in business for 10 years now, and while I don't produce what a commercial bakery does, I generally have a wedding 3 weekends of every month and run my business like a business. DH's salary covers the ordinary expenses (bills and savings), so we can use my business profits for fun stuff like cruising. Since I set my own schedule (and the kids for that matter) we can cruise when it's cheapest. We took a long 9 year break from cruising and started back just this past September. We want to cruise twice a year now that we've started again, and we like to stay in suites, so I don't see me closing shop in the foreseeable future. Right now we have a 5 day booked for February, a 7 day in November 2020, and are for sure doing Alaska in 2022 for DH's 50th birthday. We want to save for flights, excursions, and a land tour in Alaska, so we think will do just do a 5 day sometime in the spring of 2021 as well. If those plans all hold, we'll be diamond after the Alaska cruise so we can take advantage of greater discounts too.

I must drink faster than you guys! 🤣🍹 We brought silicone straws for everyone in our family on our cruise back in September, and stopped using them after the second or third drink. We didn't have any issues with the paper straws. My son is a very slow drinker and had no problems with the paper straws disintegrating, and my "super taster" daughter even said they didn't change the flavor of the drink at all. It became a hassle to keep up with the silicone straws, so they were taken to the room, washed, and packed away. Turned out to be a waste of money for us.

We're 91 days out from our next cruise, and I'm patiently waiting for online check in to open tomorrow. Ok, so it's more like that old Mervyn's commercial where the lady is standing at the store window chanting "open, open, open". 🤣 We're bringing my MIL, and we're all staying together in a 2 BR suite. It's her first cruise, and she's very excited and wants to experience the process of check in as much as me. I've created a monster, and she hasn't even set foot onboard yet! My question is, can I check in myself, DH, and our kids tomorrow and then walk her through check in when we see her at Thanksgiving? For pricing purposes, she's on the same reservation with me, DH, and one of the kids. I would think this is the same as checking in and adding your passport number at a later date, but I didn't want to assume. Is there anything different about the process when people on the same reservation don't live together and need to check in separately?

Here's an extensive drink list - scroll to page 6. I don't remember who originally posted this, so unfortunately I can't give proper credit to the author. I love this because it includes what is typically in the drinks. Make sure to ask for a specific brand of liquor in your drink if you want something other than what's listed. Drink list - page 6.pdf

Bring your patience. Some people will act rude, but go into the trip with a vacation state of mind, and any absurd actions from other passengers will roll easier off your back.