Ditchdoc

Packing cubes seem to just make it more complicated than it needs to be.

My wife and I each have a soft sided duffel.  We chose North Face Base Camp model. It has something like 4,000 cubic inches of storage. They are airport tough and last many trips.. They come in a multitude of colors so you can pick something that stands out on the airport carousel.

We weight them at home and make sure we are under the travel limit. A carry on bag with what you want close and you are done.

Dare I say ..... the KY ..... I guess I dare.

We like to buy Sheridan.

Sheridan's Coffee Liqueur is essentially two liquors in one with the bottle divided into distinct sections. On the right is black liqueur made from a blend of coffee and whiskey and on the left is white liqueur flavored with milk white chocolate.

You just don't find it at the typical liquor store.

Pouring carefully from the bottle into a shot glass, the two liquors separate into two layers. It makes for a great toast at celebrations and holidays. It is also great over ice cream or cake.

Maybe your husband will be nice and tell you to get a nice massage and spa treatment.

Onboard I have always felt safe. If we are going to spend time at poolside, we generally carry some kind of small bag for seapass cards, phones, e-readers, sunglasses etc. Most of the time, one of us is there with our chairs, towels, shoes, hats and personal items. If we both want to get in the Jacuzzi or what ever, we don't leave electronics and such in plain sight. We might toss a towel over items or over the bag with items. We have never had an issue.

Going ashore, I never really felt unsafe anywhere we have gone with one exception. In Colon Panama, security police were stationed around the perimeter of the rather small tourist area at the dock. We started to leave the area to walk around town and were advised not to by the security police.

On shore I would carry the minimal. Seapass card, passport, some cash, maybe a credit card if you intend to make a larger purchase like jewelry or watches. Keep these in a secure pocket that buttons or Velcros etc.

I have always been able to find a quiet area on board.

Inside the various night time dancing and music venues are often empty or nearly so during the day. Some have tremendous picture window views of the ocean.

Outside just walk around each deck and explore. You can often find smaller, somewhat isolated areas with deck chairs in sun or shade, protected from the wind and with very little foot traffic.

Its pretty obvious where people will gather around pools, food, drink, sports activities and so on. Just go where people are not attracted.

There are also great sitting areas around the main stairways that often have good views of the ocean and you can people watch.

Dress like you belong to the human race and you will be fine.

Search for:

TaoTronics Bluetooth 5.0 Transmitter/Receiver, Wireless 3.5mm Audio Adapter (aptX Low Latency, Pair 2 at Once, for TV/Car Sound System, Volume Control)

Available on Amazon for about $33. Note you can find other similar devices by searching for 'bluetooth splitter'.

It uses the AUX audio output of phones/computers etc and splits the signal to two Bluetooth broadcasts so two wireless headsets/earbuds can listen to the same audio.

It can also work in reverse, so to speak, by plugging in a wired headset and then Bluetooth to a compatible device like a phone.

My wife and I both have our own Kindle Fire and Amazon Prime. We can download several movies to each  Kindle and watch them inflight as we wish. Of course there are books and other activities as well. Just know that use in sunlight is marginal to impossible and some applications require a WiFi connection.

There are a number of shaded areas, typically along rail further from the pool. As you might expect,  some shaded areas can change dependent on the time of day and the direction the ship is headed.

There are no doubt all kinds of scenarios where people could potentially get out of hand. Obviously the sad drunk that starts throwing up to the stone cold drunk that no amount of alcohol seems to put down, instead they just loose their mind and any sense of civility. Then there are groups that tend to feed off each other like young people or a themed cruse where a few hundred people that ride motorcycles, play banjos or work together in some capacity are cruising together.

A more low key event that makes people uncomfortable could be as simple as a half drunk that joins in on karaoke, dedicates a song to his wife and starts singing "You've lost that loving feeling" .

There are people with psychological issues. There was one very large man that carried around a stuffed toy monkey, he often talked to it and offered it bits of food.

All these cases can lead to discomfort among other passengers and they would all be handled in different ways. Ships can literally have hundreds of cameras in public areas monitored by security. No doubt security would like to be discrete in its handling of unruly passengers but ships do have a brig and passengers have been known to spend time there.

" If I wait to print the tags until my room is assigned "

One the room is assigned, then it will show up on the tag. If it is on the the tag, that is what will print.

Stomp was the first thing to come to my mind.

Other than that … there are a lot of really good tribute bands out there though most music after the 70's is pretty much lost on me

The 'points issue'  that irritated me was a cruise I paid for 3 cabins (six people). I only got points for my cabin.

Only way I know is spend more nights on board. Think about a Panama Canal trip. That was 15 days I think. Go both directions back to back for 30 points.

Like I said ...

Then  again, I guess I could think of some reasons.

The tour we took lasted for 8 or 9 hours. We were driven all over the city in a modern bus. A very nice traditional lunch was included. That evening we did the Tropicana excursion. We were packed in like sardines but the show was fantastic. It was about as much as we could pack in for one day.

The architecture is phenomenal.  I hope our government gets it act together. The cruising related income is helping a lot of people and needed reconstruction is going on. 

Customs going in is a bit antiquated and slow but once your passport is stamped its easy peasy to come and go.

Guess I never though of being separated from my spouse. When I joined C&A I signed my spouse up as well. We have separate cards, numbers etc. We are both D+ members and our seapass cards both show our C&A levels. We both get cruise points. We both get drink perks etc. Not sure why couples would not do this. Then  again, I guess I could think of some reasons.

I like to 'bundle'. That is .. if I am going to spend all this time and money going all the way to [fill in the blank] I'm going to spend as much time and do as much as I can.

That being said I would consider the following.

Orlando has a ton of things kids would enjoy.

Port Canaveral is only 2 hours or less away by car.

That being said, perhaps combine them by spending 3 or 4 nights in Orlando and follow it up with a cruise.

Since it is your first cruise, consider a shorter, 3 or 4 night, just to test the water so to speak and see if you like it. Out of Port Canaveral there are a number of cruises that go to Bermuda and back. You have a good choice of cruise lines and ships to choose from. I am a RCCL fan and Royal has certainly upped the ante with being child friendly.

A shorter cruise will cost less and allow you the time (an money perhaps) to spend some time at one of the Orlando parks.

Don't overlook the Disney Springs area. You can spend an entire day there with no admission with a lot of things adults and kids both would enjoy.

The last time we were there we used Uber quiet a bit. It was reasonable, quick and convenient.

Hope you find the perfect vacation and build lasting memories with the kids.

Take care.

I sometimes like having this app called 'Countdown' I think. You put in a date(s) and it tells you how many days till a birthday, Christmas, your cruise etc. Its fun when something gets below 100 days, then its in the 60s, then the 40's and so on ….

2 hours ago, JLMoran said:

How did you get a second bag? I thought there was a limit of one bag per cabin. Was this a regular bag where you paid the normal prices for those larger items?

 

Now you are going to tax my memory. 

I think there was one 'special' bag that was the 'all you can stuff in it' for a fixed price. There were additional bag(s) you could use for the normal rate. I don't remember for sure but we may have asked the cabin attendant for additional laundry bags, especially for the longer 15 day cruise.

I would also check the C&A perks. There just might be some laundry relief there.

Take care.

I was going to say this is an excursion. We were going to do this several years back before CoCo became an amusement park. At the time it was limited to about a dozen jet skis and was structured with a leader you followed for a tour up the coast. Unfortunately , just as we were about to head out, a heavy rain started and the excursion was cancelled.

10 hours ago, JLMoran said:

For my family of four, the bill for a week's worth of clothing at the prices I vaguely remember (e.g., $3 for a single set of undergarments or a single pair of socks; $6 for a t-shirt; $9 for a button-down shirt or women's blouse) would probably be closer to $750 using the full laundry service. That's assuming undies, socks, t-shirts, shorts, and evening wear (pants / button-down shirts / dresses) for MDR on a Caribbean cruise for each of us.

Count me among those who'd be happy spending a sea day pumping quarters into the on-board laundromat.

Wow … that would be hard to swallow.There is a bag price of $34.99. We carefully, tightly rolled every small item (mostly shorts, T shirts etc.) as well as any thing else we could fit in the bag to overflowing. There was a second bag that contained a few larger items like evening wear we just could not fit in the $30 bag. There was just 2 of us, not a family of 4. Still, most cruise clothes are smaller, light weight items that can be packed tight, especially if dirty and wrinkles are not a consideration. I am not denying you could spend $750 on laundry but I would have to send every thing I brought with me every day to spend that much.

Currently the bag price is $34.99

A few representative individual item prices are:

T-Shirt $3.49

Shorts $4.49

Underwear/socks $1.99

Dress $8.99

Swimsuit $3.49

Short sleeve shirt $3.99

Long Pants $5.49

For us, that is pretty much all we take. Suits and evening dresses are more expensive if you just have to dress up every night.

Barring accidents, most long pants can be worn 2-3 times as evening wear. Warm weather clothes are light weight and bundle small. Cooler weather clothes could no doubt cost a bit more but layering undergarments could protect them for multiple use. I know some kids can dirty multiple sets of clothes in a day so that could increase laundry cost.

Overall, good planning, mix and match, etc. can reduce laundry cost. Evening wear could potentially be dress shorts, a collared shirt for men, and 'dressy' boat shoes. The dining room attire is more casual these days. Even formal night, most people dress down more than they dress up. I typically wear slacks and maybe a tie with a dress shirt. Mostly I forgo the tie.

For a couple you can probably pack enough so laundry is not even necessary. If it is, a little planning and a $34,99 bag will go a long way.

laundry-service-price-list.pdf

I understand trying to save a few bucks … but … there is always a but …. that would be me ...

On almost any extended vacation much longer than a week end … laundry is just part of the expense.

We have spent three weeks auto touring and halfway through was laundry day were we spent a good part of the day in a laundry mat, pumping in quarters for a cost of at least $20 for machines and detergents etc.

We did 15 days cruising after flying to the port. Again, halfway through most every thing went to the laundry. I don't remember the bill exactly but it was probably in the neighborhood of $50.

Now my point is simply, if you are paying for airline tickers, for the cruise and any one of a number excursions, dinners, booze, gambling etc … what is the total cost of the cruise and what percentage of that would a couple of loads of laundry be? Probably one half of one percent if that much.

I say you are on vacation, bite the bullet, send a couple of bags to the ship laundry, let them do it and give up trying to save the 30-50 bucks you would probably end up spending on machines and time anyway. You are spending a wad of bills for a cruise and every minute of your vacation is valuable. Why do your own laundry when you cold be having fun?

19 minutes ago, SpeedNoodles said:

Or coming from Canada, since the cruise leaves out of Seattle   But yes, adding that in if it's an issue.

Oops … I made an assumption there. In which case, the number to Vancouver is useless. Sorry.

Airlines do not have the best track record about being on time. I'd be a little nervous about flying and embarking on the same day. I always fly out the day before just in case and spend the night locally.

Its optimistic thinking you will land on time and be able to board one hour later considering all the steps in-between. Deplaning, picking up luggage, going through Canadian customs (assuming you are coming from the US) finding a ride, travel time, curb check in of bags, check in with RCCL. Boarding usually starts almost as soon as the previous cruise passengers are all off and the ship has cleared customs. The ship typically does not leave until early evening between 4pm and 6pm. If the plane is anywhere near on time, you should be fine. At worst, you may have to sit in the terminal for a while and wait.

As for the late flight. I guess the issue is what to do and where to keep the bags. 

Baggage storage

CDS Baggage provides storage services at the Canada Place cruise terminal. For security reasons, short-term baggage storage is available to cruise passengers only. For more information, contact CDS Baggage, phone 604-683-3696

There are lots of things in Vancouver to do for the day. Have fun.

I find a big issue with energy.

We are retired. We both get up pretty early. I'm usually up around 5am, looking for that first cup of coffee. I enjoy walking around the upper deck and watching the sun rise. Its pretty quiet and serene before a few thousand people start milling about.

Now we spend an active day eating, doing excursions, engaging in various on board activities, going to dinner, a show and having a few drinks along the way.

We always have this grand plan of being up late, listing to music and dancing the night away.

The reality is that by about 10pm, we are sound asleep in our cabin.

This year we are scheduled to cruise on the same ship a week or so before you are. We will be at sea for new years. I am already promising my self I WLL BE AWAKE to see the new year come in