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. 

44 minutes ago, barjpoe said:

both the head waiter and the assistant waiter.

Are you getting the Head waiter mixed up with the Waiter that serves your table?  The Head waiter oversees the Waiters & Asst. waiters in a particular area of the MDR.

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. 

11 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

Ask your concierge if there's a bridge tour. They don't publicize them anymore, but they still do them.

My last cruise my group got a private bridge tour, despite our insistence to the concierge that if there weren't enough people that we didn't need to be an inconvenience to security/bridge crew

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!

I have never been charged for an additional floater on the drink package - but we're big tippers. But to be honest, I have only ever ordered Kraken as a floater by the pool 

Hi all - I'm treating myself to a grand suite on my next cruise and in the list from Royal it says the benefits to Suite Class include 'Bridge, Galley, and Backstage Tours' - does this mean I can do that without having to pay for the 'All Access Tour' available in the cruise planner? Should I just ask the concierge to schedule it for me or is there a way to schedule ahead of time? Is it a private tour or are you lumped in with the paying customers?

I'll add one: people who are rude to the crew for no good reason. I can't STAND when I hear (usually elderly, surprisingly) people talking down to or making unreasonable demands on crewmembers just trying to do their job - and a lot of times with a language barrier. It's just really uncalled for and there is NO good reason not to treat crew with respect. 

Honestly, the KSF isn't always that great of a deal. In my experience they just adjust the fares of the 'paying' passengers to make up the shortfall, as well as you need to book a room that accommodates all said parties, which in general costs more anyway. So while there is some benefit, it's probably not as great as you think it might be. The cost for the 2 paying passengers sailing in a  4-sleeper cabin would not be measured against what it would cost those same 2 paying passengers in a 2-sleeper cabin, but rather those 2 passengers in a 4 sleeper - which the fares would be adjusted. If that makes sense. You have to the pay the rate for the larger cabin, which will be more than a cabin for 2, so it can seem a little deceptive when you 'ghost' book to price check what 2 passengers would look like because those bookings would be priced for a cabin that only sleeps 2, which are less in demand that ones that sleep 4. 

I have never found the staff at Chops to not bend over backwards to accommodate anything I ask for. Also, Caesar salad dressing has anchovies... so perhaps ask for a different dressing. But I am sure they will make sure your friend has plenty to eat. 

1 hour ago, PL8SWPR said:

Also, if you are in a situation where a portion of the meal is free (buy 1 get one free, food taken off because it wasn't right, etc) tip based on what the cost should have been.  The server is working just as hard regardless of bill adjustments.

^^This - always tip on the pre-comp total - your server still had to serve that food to you and wait on you regardless if the meal was free or not. 

So I would say in a restaurant the baseline is 18-20%. Personally I start at 20% or minimum $3 - whichever is higher (i.e if my lunch is $10, I will tip a minimum of $3 - since very likely the server needs that $1 more than I do). If my service received is excellent, I will tip 25%. This is for sit down service restaurants. Where it gets me is what do I tip on, say, a Subway sandwich? I pretty much keep dollar bills in my purse and will toss a buck in their jar if they were pleasant and polite and did a good job. Again, they will appreciate that $1 more than I need it. However I do NOT feel obligated to tip at fast food or anywhere else that has a jar. Or for like a pizza I pick up myself. If I do the work, I don't feel obligated to tip. If my to-go order is a bunch of stuff and I know they had to put it together, I will tip on that.  Also, there seems to be a trend where the restaurant adds a 'Service Fee' on to your order around 20% (not generally a fan of this approach), or in other cases if your party is large they will add 10% gratuity to the bill. If that is the case I generally do not feel obligated to tip more (unless we were extra high maintenance). Having been a server myself throughout college, I found that if I left the automatic gratuity off the bill, people generally tipped more than 18%, but if I added it, that's what they left. I made way more money leaving it off because then people don't feel obligated. 

My kids enjoyed it when they were little. We only booked it after they published a buy one get one in the Cruise Compass during the cruise itself. They had fun, the cupcakes were bleh. 

I have sailed both Royal and Carnival out of the Galveston terminals. For whatever reason, even though they are all the same port employees, the Carnival boarding process is a nightmare. I have never had an issue with the Royal Caribbean terminals, both on embarking and debarkation - very smooth, very few lines, on the ship within 10-15 minutes of arrival at the terminal. But Carnival, oh Lordy. Long lines, lots of waiting, took over an hour in line to get on the ship (and we can on time to our boarding slot). It's one of the big factors (among many others) that I likely will not sail Carnival again. So to answer your question, I wouldn't worry too much about it - and I wonder if you're hearing stories of the Carnival terminal vs. the Royal Caribbean. 

Cosmopolitan with Grey Goose and extra, extra, EXTRA lime is my favorite before dinner cocktail.