Cam044

That’s just insane. Seriously. Where do they come up with these prices. Now life will be ruled for the next 330 odd days checking for sales on the cruise planner....lol

I just booked us away for Christmas too, just a different ship. My kids are a little older, but also had no problem saying bye-bye to the traditional Christmas when I thought they would be. Last year we were away for New Years which was pretty awesome! Enjoy!

I think my daughter would be devastated if we didn’t have the promenade. That was one of her favourite things about our last cruise. I may try the smaller ships on a shorter sailing and see how things go before booking a 7+ cruise. Thanks for your input!

The more personal experience definitely holds its appeal. Thanks, for your input!

Wow, I’m sorry you had such a terrible experience. The ice cream machines were constantly broken or out of ice cream on the Explorer we just went on too. Pretty annoying that I didn’t actually get to have ice cream until the last night. I just picked the wrong times to go have some I guess. Thanks for your input, it helps a lot! Enjoy your sailing on Harmony.

@Prince Valiant Quick but important question.... Is there a self-serve ice cream station on the Vision? What about the Coke machine as well?

Those are all great points; I think I’m going to look into these ports a little more. I’m hoping that I’d be able to do some sort of rainforest excursion if I go with this cruise. I love that their is an overnight in Aruba too.

Let me know how the Empress goes. I hope you enjoy it!

Really?? Yikes, that’s not a good thing. I had to bust out the gravol twice on the Explorer and that’s a bigger boat. I guess it depends on the weather and waves. There is actually two on Freedom we have on our short list now, both out of San Juan. Only wish they were longer than 7 nights.

The Enchantment I’m looking at is a 7nt out of San Juan, and it only has one at sea day. I definitely think we would have no problem on this and would enjoy ourselves. Juggling would not appeal to me either....lol.

Thank you!

Will definitely do that, thank you!

That more personal experience definitely appeals to me as does the not being in a mad rush. I’m on vacation, it don’t want it to feel stressful. The cruise I’m looking at has 3 sea days, but spread out so maybe that would be ok. I guess it’s time to go through videos of the ship with her and see if she’d like it. Thanks for your input!

OK, it sounds like you are about to do the one I am debating doing, just maybe a different date. The 11 night Vision leaving from Ft. Laud with stops in Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Aruba, and Haiti? I’m looking at the Dec 24th date, but the 3 at sea days are a little worrisome. Only one of my kids wants to come and she’ll be 16. She loves having the promenade and places to hangout. She’s definitely going to be who helps me make my final decision. Basically what it comes down to is longer cruise with a smaller boat or a shorter cruise with a larger boat. It’s great to hear all the positive experiences on vision and the smaller ships, even though I know one person’s positive might be another’s negative.

Vacation is about the ports when it comes right down to it. I guess the ship is more important when a lot of as sea day come into play. Explorer hadn’t been amped yet when we were on it, and it was still awesome. Honestly my teens favourite part (and really ours too) was that we were a floor above the promenade, and could just hang out in seats looking out over all that was happening, without going right down into it. Not having the promenade worries me.

That’s really reassuring to hear, thank you!

A major appeal of the smaller ships for me is less crowds. I typically tend to eat as many meals as possible in the MDR, and run to the promenade or buffet if I need some sort of snack, so a huge selection isn’t that important. As long as the food is good I’m happy! Itinerary is my #1 though for sure.

Hmmm.........I never really thought about that! That’s a great idea, I’m going to check that now, thanks.

Thanks, will do!

Thanks Geoff, that’s actually really helpful. The cruise I’m looking at for Vision is an 11 day, so if that’s one of the smallest ships we really might run out of stuff to do. Enchantment is a 7 day, so that might get a little rough then too. Really wish the Explorer was leaving one day later.

We just got back from a holiday cruise on Explorer (which was awesome), and we wanted to book the same cruise next year, but unfortunately it leaves on a day I can’t get off work. As we are looking for an 8-12 day cruise and my departure days are very limited, I’m not left with a pile of options. One itinerary that came up for me was an 11 night from Ft. Lauderdale on Vision of the Seas. After looking up this boat I’m a little underwhelmed and wondering if I might end up disappointed. Two others are on either the Empress or Enchantment. I’m looking for anyone who has any sort of input positive or negative. I loved the size of the Explorer. Not too big, but not so small either. The entertainment was a little lacklustre, but not terrible. I will be travelling with two older teens as well.

We stayed at Choice Hotel which is near the airport, and we had nothing but good experiences there. They offer free shuttle pickup from the airport, as well as free shuttle service to the port the next day. We took an Uber for $20 to the Dolphin Mall, but weren't exactly impressed with it. There is another mall nearby though, so not sure if you’d have better luck there. Also a quick note, there is a subway and McDonalds right beside the hotel for grabbing a quick bite to eat. Happy sailing!

I definitely like the more professional look to the photos, and maybe just maybe, my teenagers will pose for a family portrait. Guess it’s still cheaper than buying them all separately.

Thank you! The release form is a good heads up, as I never would have thought of that. I guess if you get a bunch of pictures taken it’ll make it worth it.

Looking for any advice on whether or not it’s worth it to pre-purchase a digital photo package. I’ve only been on one cruise before with Carnival and lets just say I spent a small fortune on prints (they just turned out so nice!). Not sure if RC’s are quite as expensive, cheaper, or about the same price. Right now it’s $232 CDN which seems like a lot, but could actually be a great deal. Any advice or previous experience stories are greatly appreciated. 16 days to go!!