madeline236

FOOD AND DRINK bar tenders didn't know many virgin cocktails / mocktails. My kids had a printed list that included not just the name but the ingredients/flavours and that was very useful for them to try new drinks service in the main dining room (MDR) was lacking but I think that was just our waiter and assistant. Food in the MDR was also subpar. On lobster night for example, DH got 2 tails and one was over cooked but edible. I got 2 tails and one was so overcooked it was inedible. DD had 1 tail and it was inedible. It was replaced and the second was only marginally better. I saw other tables with the same problems. IMO RCCL also needs to mix it up in the MDR more. Why not include salad entrés with great, fresh ingredients like roasted beets and cheese (like goat) and nuts/seeds etc? Why not include some ethnic dishes that have some spice in them or at least flavour? Why does the cheese plate for dessert include the same cheeses every night and very boring ones like cheddar? service was excellent and many bar tenders/servers knew our names and what our 'usual' order was by day 3. ACTIVITIES the band that played off and on all day and the piano bar were great fun and took requests. cruise director staff were high energy and great Games were hit and miss. The 'majority rules' had mostly the same questions the second time it was played. The Quest and 70s night were great fun for those who participated. Belly flop was also great. EMBARKATION/DISEMBARKATION embarkation was slow and lines were long. This was a surprise for Baltimore as reviews always said people were on the ship 20 minutes after arriving. We spent closer to 2 hours getting through the lines to disembark we self-carried and it was easy although we were told we couldn't use the elevators so had to take our suitcases down the stairs. No big deal for us but for others, it could be difficult/impossible to do. EXCURSIONS the transport to/from WDW at Port Canaveral was excellent. We were in port from 6 - 6 and this excursion was first off the ship, border control was fast and efficient and we were on our way. Drop off/pick up was easy too. we purchased a day bed at south beach at Coco Cay and as south beach had a delayed opening, it was moved to a temporary spot on chill island. Turned out ok but would've liked RCCL to communicate this (they never did). Also meant location wasn't at all exclusive/private/quiet but right in the middle of the regular crowds. KIDS kids were allowed in the solarium pool at pre-scheduled hours when it was cold outside and the main pool was too cold to use they easily let kids change age groups in kids club (adventure ocean). They combined the two older age groups to be 6 - 11 together and I know of 2 12-year-olds who went in and a 5-year old too. That said, my kids enjoyed it and I had trouble keeping them out of it. They got lots of prizes too. most family-friendly games/activities were during the early seating for dinner bar tenders didn't know many virgin cocktails / mocktails. My kids had a printed list that included not just the name but the ingredients/flavours and that was very useful for them to try new drinks with their drink package SERVICE / OTHER We didn't get towel animals but others did. it seemed to depend who your cabin steward was. [that "8)" turns into an emoji no matter what I do lol[ photographers were great. They learned quickly that we had pre-bought the package and went out of their way to offer us pictures I found it odd that we never had to sign receipts when getting drinks. We had the drink packages but on other RCCL ships we always had to sign still even if hte bill was $0. This allowed us to add tips but now we had to have cash for tipping. That also lets us see that the drink is 'free'. In this case, we were billed for 2 drinks and have no idea how that happened. One we noticed that night before when I went to guest services for something else and noticed it on her screen and she took it off. The other we didn't notice until we got home so now we're stuck paying for it. we had been on larger ships before but the small ship ended up fine. I was worried about many sea days (3) and lack of stuff to do but we were never bored and the small ship was more intimate in a good way. It was actually nice to see the same people over and over and get to know them.

We were at Port Canaveral last week and did Disney. It was worth it in our opinions as we were in port for 12 hours and love Disney. We booked the transport with RCL and then took an uber from the drop off location to Hollywood Studios to see the new Star Wars Galaxy's Edge.

DH booked us a beach bed on South Beach although I'd prefer one on Chill. We are there Jan 29. yesterday I was trying to find out if the Oasis Lagoon is heated so was googling stuff about Coco Cay and discovered that the fine print of the brochure for Coco Cay says the South Beach ones won't be ready until Jan 31 now. I don't know what this means for my booking but for that reason alone I would strongly suggest that for Jan 28, you book chill island.

it is also faster if you order the same thing every night. We've been on cruises where the waiter knows what my family will order before we even sit down as no one is adventurous and likes the same thing again and again. If you change what you want on night 5, it will take longer. Especially drinks as drinks take a while for some reason.

it depends on the drink. My kids have found that if they ever ask for something on the alcoholic menu and just say 'but no alcohol' or the 'virgin version' they don't have much luck. many times bartenders say it's not worth making without alcohol as it would only be 2 things mixed instead of say 4. If I'm there to say 'but that's what they want' then the bartender will usually do it though. Maybe it's just that kids are treated differently. We have found it's best to know the names of mocktails and order them by name. Here is the list of virgin cocktails or mocktails I have made for our upcoming cruise (and what should be in it): Miami Vice (1/2 pina colada / ½ strawberry daiquiri) Lava flow (banana, coconut, pineapple) Mango lava flow Strawberry lava flow Papaya lava flow/passion colada Bahama mama (pineapple, grapefruit, grenadine, cherries, sprite) Bloody mary (tomato) Pina colada Peach colada Mud slide (my kids love these as it's close to a chocolate milkshake - chocolate syrup with pina colada) POG (pineapple, orange, guava) Frozen strawberry daiquiri Frozen mango daquiri Papaya passion Love connection (1/3 pina colada, 1/3 mango/ 1/3 strawberry) Flavoured lemonades...can be frozen or over ice Pineapple blast Mango tango (1/2 pina / ½ mango) Arnold palmer (1/2 iced tea / ½ lemonde - can be available frozen or over ice Virgin coco loco / labadoozie Mojito (can be frozen) Roy Rodgers (coke and grenadine) Atomic cat (OJ and tonic water) Singapore sling (lime, mango, pineapple and pomegranate juice, tonic) - this one bartenders sometimes say cannot be made without alcohol Mint julips (mint, lemon juice, ginger ale) Millionaire sour (sour, ginger ale, grenadine) Cherry bubblecake (cherry juice, simple syrup, lemonade) Pink cooler (grapefruit juice, lemon juice, simple syrup, club soda) Virgin rum punch Caribbean cooler (OJ, grenadine, sprite) Fuzzy navel (ginger ale, OJ, peach) Island fusion (pina colada, passion fruit, OJ) Lemon drop (sweet/sour mix, club soda, sugar) Purple haze (pineapple juice, passion fruit puree, granadine) - this one bartenders sometimes say cannot be made without alcohol Sparkling sombrero (lime juice, passion fruit, agave syrup, ginger ale Berry banana colada (banana, strawberry, pina colada, grenadine) Bora bora brew (pineapple juice, grenadine, ginger ale) Passion papaya crush (papaya and passion fruit, pineapple juice, sprite)

you can get mocktails at most bars but I've found that it pays to know what you want. Most bartenders don't seem to have creative mocktail options if you let them pick. You will end up with lots of punch, pina coladas and strawberry daquiris if you don't know your mocktails.

Our last cruise, our MDR waiter regularly brought my son and his cousin (both 9) food off the adult menu just to encourage them to try something new/different. I loved that. We also had heard that we could ask for adult food but kids portion size and tried that, but it didn't work. The waiter just said not to eat it all, which is not always easy to do.

I've loved it on cruises when the staff really seem to enjoy it and passengers get into it. Then on other cruises the staff have seemed embarrassed to do it, weren't really into it, and then it's been awful - almost painful to watch.

you can book fastpasses 30 days beforehand. Depending on which park you go to, there are tiers so you can have one for a tier 1 attraction and 2 for a tier 2. They also have to be at least an hour apart so if you have one at 10am, your next cannot be before 11am. With them though, even at busy times, you can get more done and they're totally worth it.

Maybe the James Bond tour?

in Cozumel we booked The Amazing Race and it was fun. The reviews say it starts late and they're true - that was my only complaint. They tell you a fairly early meeting time and then wait and wait. It's for many ships so the last ship to arrives is the deciding factor and I wished they'd give the earlier arriving ships a later meeting time so you could do something else instead of waiting. that said, once it gets started, it is a lot of fun. You run all around solving clues and feel like you're on the real thing. In Costa Maya we booked an excursion with www.thenativechoice.com and it was fantastic. Seeing the ruins and getting a tour from a Mayan descendent, visiting their village now and eating their food. I'd highly recommend.

MagicBands are most useful if you are doing a Disney vacation as they are your room key, your charge card, your entrance tickets, your FastPass tickets - everything really. The benefit for a one day trip is smaller and they do cost something if you aren't doing a Disney vacation so it may not be worth it to you. The main benefit for a one day is if you already have them and they're connected to your ticket, you don't have to stop and pick up tickets at a wicket when you arrive (which may have a line) - just scan it at the entrance and you're in. So basically more time in the park. Also, if you are interested in going to Hollywood Studios, Star Wars Galaxy's Edge and riding the brand new Rise of the Resistance ride, you need to get a virtual FastPass (called "joining a boarding group") the day of once you're near the park. if you have a magic band linked to your tickets, you can do that before you're even in the park and increase the chances of actually getting on this ride. I have magic bands already from a previous trip and so I don't need to buy now. For a one day trip, unless I was planning on coming back, I'd likely not buy as it's already so expensive. If you go, regardless of whether or not you also buy Magic Bands, buy your tickets at least 30 days beforehand because on My Disney Experience you can pick 3 Fast Passes which you're going to want for having so few hours in the park. If you want sit-down meal instead of fast food/counter service, make those reservations beforehand too. You can make them before guying a ticket as early as 6 months before your trip. My final advice for Disney (I love Disney and have been multiple times), is to make a plan ahead of time of what you want to do and look at maps of the park so you know what is where. You don't want to waste time discussing it in the Park and missing time actually doing stuff. A great website for that is www.TouringPlans.com.

Rope Drop is so much fun at Disney World. I love the energy and excitement. I also love being first in line for my favourite attractions and not waiting. Sigh. Great memories. I emailed RCCL excursion desk and for my cruise we are expected to be in port from 6 - 6. They responded that we can expect the bus to leave at 7:30 to head to the park and likely the meeting time for returning is around 4. That would line up with what your calendar says for a 7 - 7 time frame since leaving the park at 4 would mean returning to the ship at around 5 - 5:30 depending on traffic. Strange that they wouldn't adjust the times for a ship that's on a slightly different schedule. You would think that my bus would leave an hour earlier than yours and return an hour earlier too. If you pre-buy your tickets to the park and connect them to MagicBands, you should get almost 7 hours in the part then assuming you go to Magic Kingdom or Epcot. Getting to/from the other parks would take more time sadly and I really want to do Hollywood Studios to see Galaxy's Edge. Oh well, it will still be awesome. If it showed up in Geoff's calendar, it must have been booked via RCCL as third party excursions never show up in the calendar on the cruise planner.

Crowded Disney is still great IMO, but I'm a huge Disney lover. We were there at Christmas before and found it not too crowded - more crowded than other times for sure but we booked FP, had a plan and enjoyed the experience. The decorations add to the atmosphere. Kennedy Space Centre is popular though and people like it.

how did you find out the times for the transport? We are on Grandeur sailing in January and are in port 6am to 6pm but I cannot find times for the transport anywhere. The best I can find is the duration for the excursion is 10 hours so I am assuming off the ship for 10 hours which translates into about 7 hours of park time. I'm worried though since I've read comments on other forums that people were in port for 12 hours but the bus got them back 3-4 hours before they left port so they missed several park hours due to the transport system/schedule.