dawnelda

I have a 14-night cruise scheduled on the Anthem departing from Southampton in August 2022. It will be myself, my husband (hopefully, if he can get holidays) and my then-9-year-old daughter who is the pickiest of picky eaters (on previous cruises, she ordered "noodles with butter and parmesan cheese, NO GREEN THINGS" every night for dinner). If my husband can't make it then my mother and step-father will come with us which would be awesome too. I wanted a test cruise before bringing our daughter to Europe so hubby and I did an 8-night on the Brilliance in Sept. 2019 AND IT WAS THE WORST. He lured me to Europe with visions of wine and delicious food and all he wanted to do was go, go, go on self-guided tours of the ports which was basically walking around in traffic-congested port areas. Bleh! But now I know. When I bring DD9 in Aug. 2022, there will be: 1. Premium airplane seating (I'm a princess and so is DD9) 2. No walking around aimlessly. A few organized tours and that's it. 3. If DD9 won't eat the local cuisine then she can stay on the ship! Haha. We will be stopping in Gibraltar, Malaga, Valencia, Palma de Mallorca, Barcelona, Ibiza and Lisbon (2 days). I intend to bring her to the top of The Rock, the Alcazaba in Malaga and a bit of Las Ramblas in Barcelona. Any thoughts for the other stops?

Taking the RCL shuttle from the port to airport in Fort Lauderdale. Taxis are way faster.

I read somewhere that kids won't be able to be vaccinated at first because the trials were all on adults so the dosage/administration to children is unknown at this point. This means that if the vaccine is required before cruising then kids wouldn't be able to cruise for a while yet. Anyone have thoughts/insight on this?

Oh and on the Liberty it's only 1 deck away from the nearest bar (the R Bar on Deck 5). LOL!

Only the Liberty at this point. It's not Star Class but it's cheaper and the balcony is twice as wide. ?

I booked the Harmony 4-bedroom for Oct. 2022 for just 3 people, over the phone with a RCL agent. Hoping to add more family members later if I can get them to commit to the cruise. ? Question: the suite is definitely overkill for just 3 people so if we can't get more family to come along, can we move our deposit to a different room (e.g. balcony) on that same cruise? Can we move the deposit to a different cruise? Note that the suite deposits are non-refundable.

I'm hoping to pick your brains for ideas on Coco Cay for a group of people. We have a family cruise booked for March 2022 for 10 people ranging in age from 9 to 77, all with different interests. Our common goal is that we'd like to spend (most of? part of?) the day together without breaking the bank. However we can't land on anything that we all agree to which is where I'd like to get your help. We all like the idea of having a cabana to use as a "home base" for hanging out, putting our bags, etc. My 2 nephews (who will be age 17 and 14) want to do Thrill Waterpark. I'm a princess and want to be treated like one! (lol). So my interest is the Coco Beach Club, preferably with a cabana. Quiet, shaded and not-crowded. DH wants to relax in serenity in the shade and not spend too much money DD (9) has stars in her eyes for my niece (16) and will follow her anywhere. The niece is an angel who is happy to have DD by her side. She is interested in the Thrill Waterpark but would be happy pretty much anywhere. My mom wants the family to be together and to have someone serve drinks to her. My step-dad doesn't want to spend too much money. He also wants shade. My sister and her hubby like the Oasis pool with the swim-up bar. One constraint: we want the kids to be able to access us throughout the day e.g. if we are in the Beach Club, then we'd need to get Beach Club passes for the kids as well in addition to Thrill Waterpark passes. Can anyone solve this unsolvable puzzle?

I don't know much about European cruising, but I do know that getting from the Barcelona airport to the cruise port is very easy. I am not a good foreign navigator so getting from the airport to cruise port would be important criteria for me. Perhaps a B2B to make the cruise longer if that's what you're looking for.

You sure take some gorgeous pictures, @twangster My extended family and I are booked on a B2B in 2-bedroom Grand Suites on the Mariner in March 2022 (both 9394 and 9694; 10 passengers in total). Would you happen to have any pictures of those suites? To build excitement, I've (loosely) committed to sending them a picture a day of what our cruise might look like e.g. Mariner pictures, Coco Cay, Labadee, etc. Only 581 pictures left to send, LOL. Looking forward to my first B2B!

One more thing that I thought of: I feel very safe on a cruise ship. Years ago when I was a cute blonde 20-something-year-old, I would go to land-based resorts and be "propositioned" (if you know what I mean) by the local resort staff. Made me feel very uncomfortable and I wouldn't go anywhere on the resort property by myself. Contrarily, the staff on RCL ships have always been extraordinarily courteous and polite and not leering in any regard. Now that my nieces have grown up to be beautiful young teenagers, I am thoroughly comfortable with them walking to/from the cabin by themselves without worrying about them being approached in an inappropriate way.

I like being pampered as much (or as little) as I am willing to pay for. I also like that my daughter loves Adventure Ocean so it gives me a break, and I can actually have a conversation with my husband without being interrupted 1000 times. I like that my extended family all enjoy cruising, so it's an easy, easy way for a large group to enjoy a vacation together with someone else doing the cooking, cleaning, etc. and not having to worry about where to stay, where to eat, how to get around.