Momof4crazytocruise

I highly recommend taking advantage of the reservation option in the cruise planner, and the earlier in your planning the better. Essentially My Time is now more 'when I feel like eating not at the early or late seating times' and you have way more control over it. I honestly wouldn't bother going to the MDR without a reservation - if I didn't have one it would be because we are planning to eat somewhere else that night. I study the itinerary, estimate what time we'll be back on board on port days, put some cushion in there for a shower, etc, and set a time. I set them up for the whole cruise, and then make adjustments when I get on board.

Typically breakfast in Chops is reserved for suite guests and I assume pinnacles. I have never seen it open to the general public.

In my experience, most people wait until the staterooms are open to go change for swimming, and closer to sail away time because that's when the activity on the pool deck starts to pick up. So it won't be super crowded right out of the gate. I recommend, after completing muster check in, going directly to Adventure Ocean and getting paper work filled out and time to tour - you little one will be excited about that too. Then eat, make all your dinner reservations if you need to. But then your room will be open and you candrop off your stuff and change and head to the pool deck. My kids are always excited to explore the ship before getting in the pool.

Check the cruise compass for the time each day they set up toys for toddlers - usually in the morning in the teen area. If your child won't be potty trained yet, the nursery is your only option - so make sure you visit right upon boarding and get the paperwork filled out and make as many reservations as they will let you - usually 2 or 3 to start off (this does cost like $6/hr whereas Adventure Ocean has no cost). Bring bags to put dirty diapers in, and take those to the hallway or public restroom trash cans - those are emptied much more frequently. If your little likes specific dry snacks, take a good supply. Bring WAY more diapers than you think you will need. I recommend an entire box. If you're travelling to the port, have Amazon deliver a box to the hotel and then just check it with your luggage. You can get milk in the Windjammer and all sorts of fruits, etc. throughout the day. Call and and ask them to put a pack n play in your room. Children under 3 are not allowed to sleep in the berths. Do NOT bring your giant stroller on board, there will be no where to put it. Invest in a collapsible umbrella stroller. I never used the stroller on board, but utilized baby wearing everywhere because it was much easier to get around not having to wait for elevators or be a nuisance to other guests in hallways. Be prepared for interruptions in sleep patterns and pack a big bag of patience! We liked to order the free continental breakfast room service with fruits and pastries to let our littles get something while we got ready to go to breakfast - it bought us time and peace. Also, be prepared to be somewhat isolated from your group to manage nap times - I was caught off guard how isolating it can be to manage nap times and bed times and found that it usually fell to me to manage. Make sure y'all make agreements on expectations for coverage otherwise you'll find it always falls to mom, and it feels like everyone else gets to have all the fun while you're stuck in the cabin at nap time and in the evenings. If you're planning to go to the beach, I found packing some collapsible sand buckets and a few sand toys was useful.

So sad I am sure there will be a lawsuit if RC was serving this underage gentleman. I expect it will come out that the brother was purchasing for him though. I hate that Liberty has been tainted with this. She is a fantastic ship and having been on her 3 times, she's close to my heart. So unfortunate.

We finally made Diamond (along with everyone else - LOL) - and our upcoming Alaska cruise will be our first as Diamond. We typically always cruise with the deluxe beverage package, but we're thinking we'll forgo it this time around since it's A) not the Caribbean, B) it's port intensive and we plan to locate the craft breweries in port, and C) we have the 4 drinks. If by some reason we go over 4, we'll just pay by drink. My question is - everyone keeps talking about the coffee machine in the Crown/Diamond Lounge - is it as good as getting a latte from the coffee shop? Do I need a phD to operate the darn thing? Do they have any of the flavor syrups (not for me, but Mr. Mom enjoys a shot of sugar free vanilla in his latte) I am debating if I should get a Coffee card for my daily americano - or if I can skip that and hit the lounge for a decent coffee instead?

That is a question for the cruise line. Maybe put a call into guest services and see what they say.

Honestly, no one can be certain - but I know from me and mine we wouldn't think twice about it. People are people are people. Be kind, be polite, be respectful of the crew, and I don't care, male/female, purple/green - if you're there to have fun, you're all right with me. As far as weird looks or judgement - none of that you can control, but I will say most people I have met on cruisers are very accepting, or are more worried about the people in their own party than to even notice anything like you describe. Cruising is what you make of it - if you're bored or unhappy, that's of your own doing. Go into it deciding you will have a great time, and you will have a great time.

It's a beautiful ship. I was on the sailing after the storm that flooded it in January. It really wasn't a huge deal, the mitigated what they could before we even left the port, and continued to work on it. Totally safe. It was just a freak storm that rained too much too quickly and the balconies don't drain well enough. The rough water caused the pooling water ion the balconies to slosh up onto the sliding glass doors which evidently weren't sealed well. They changed out the carpets or used wet vacs and fans - and we never smelled anything. And keep in mind, the Carnival Dream was caught in the same storm and had much worse flooding than Voyager did from what I have seen.

We used ours at Chops on embarkation day with no issue. We called and asked them to make us a reservation, however that really wasn't a problem as it wasn't terribly crowded. I imagine you can just walk in at any of the open specialty restaurants after boarding and it will be fine.

No, I am not getting the mixed up, unless it is semantics - and honestly - what does it matter what I call them? There is a 'supervisor' waiter that takes care of several tables along with an assistant who manages the drinks and other items. They both get tipped.

Yes, you can make a reservation before you get on the cruise via the cruise planner. If you don't have the unlimited dining plan, I recommend booking and paying for the reservation on the cruise planner. You get a better price than on board. You can select a date and time when you reserve it. If you do have the unlimited dining plan, then you will need to make the reservations once you are on board.

There are rental car agencies at the port. We have only dropped off a car (we had a return one reserved, but hurricane Nicole delayed our return to port, and then we had to scramble to get on a shuttle to MCO instead of renting a car) - and it was super easy. My understanding is there is a designated area to catch the shuttle. We used Enterprise/National and it was very easy. Also, I found that they didn't really charge a premium for one-way rentals like you usually see. It's like MCO treats Port Canaveral as a partner or satellite office. It was much more cost effective than an Uber.

I would LOVE a private tour. Maybe I can sweet talk the crew into letting me see those engines! LOL

As an engineer - I am chomping at the bit to have a look at that engine room! I will ask the concierge when they email us ahead of time. Thanks!