letscruise

Wow, I thought the casita rental concept was something new for Wonder. I must have missed the option on prior sailings (Symphony and Mariner) if it was there, but I will be looking closely going forward.

Glad you had a great time! You have reached my next parenting milestone--leaving the kids at home, alone, while we travel!!!! I am envious, but just a few more years!!

We stayed at the SpringHill suites in July 2022 and really liked the property. We were able to walk to a nearby large beach/souvenir shop and also walked to the Caribe brewery. The hotel offered a shuttle to the terminal, which was great. We lucked out by randomly inquiring about it the night prior to leaving and paid $10 per person. The shuttle was sold out by the morning. Rooms were very spacious; large seating area for the complimentary breakfast in the morning. Highly recommend.

This thread made me realize I should check to see if I could book MTD in the cruise planner. When I get into the section to reserve, my family member names come up as "Not a flex dining guest". What does this mean? Does this mean my reservation was made with a reserved dining time (not MTD)? How do I find out what time we're scheduled for?

https://mommymouseclubhouse.com/royal-caribbean-johnny-rockets-menu/#:~:text=Johnny Rockets Lunch %26 Dinner Menu&text=For %2414.99 you can choose,a drink%2C and a dessert. I found the above article that states lunch and dinner are $14.99, breakfast is free. We've never tried breakfast at Johnny Rockets, so I hope to remember to try it out!

Same! We are definitely going to Sabor! Not sure we will get to Giovani's; we have Chops+1. Plus, we'll end up at Johnny Rockets at some point too, I'm sure.

I ended up booking a Peggy's Cove tour (one of the shorter ones) to lock in an excursion. I was going to stick with Hop On Hop Off, but so many of the comments are about wait times and full buses and I don't really want to deal with that on this trip when we only have 1 port day. I'm getting excited as I also purchased dining and drink/internet packages. Not much else to do, but wait.

This doesn't sound like a cruise. Was it? Your post is scaring me a bit b/c I am taking my minor son on a Canadian cruise and I have given no thought to the fact that my husband/other parent won't be along (in terms of paperwork). Has anyone run into an issue taking a minor (no divorce or other circumstances--just a parent and minor child) on a cruise and is there special paperwork necessary that I need to be aware of?

Too funny! This is a mom/son (13) cruise for us as well!

We were on Mariner of the Seas last summer and loved the ship! For ages 4 and 8, the ship has plenty of activities, pool, and Adventure Ocean to make for a great cruise. I've never driven to a terminal, but will cruise from Bayonne in June and I'm excited to experience something different. Granted, it's an almost 4 hour drive, but at least I don't have to worry about overweight luggage.

Yes! Just booked this cruise and getting excited for it! What are you planning to do while in Halifax? I'm leaning towards the simplicity of the Hop On Hop Off option.

Thanks! I think I know what to do, which is cancel. There was "only 1 left!" when I was shopping the Black Friday sale, so it was an impulsive buy. I do wish I was early enough to purchase it for the sea day, but I made myself a note for the future. I appreciate your input, thank you.

Sounds like you and a few other posters have been on multiple cruises previously and have "been there done that", so deciding not to eat at a specialty restaurant or do an excursion doesn't really have quite the impact as it would to a newer cruiser who decides to not do anything beyond what's already paid for (I would say they would be really be missing out!). I'm not being discouraging and I think its a great idea to be able to divert that money into a future cruise or other expenses, I'm only saying it's easier to cut the cord when you've already experienced something or done it enough times to decide you won't miss it. I don't think those who take a cruise as their annual vacation are all that interested in stripping out the extras like excursions, specialty dining, and a drink package. Like others, I'd enjoy hearing how your next, trimmed back cruise goes--my bet is you will have an awesome time! What I'm currently debating cutting out on our Wonder cruise is the casita I was able to book, but it's on a port day and I would only get use out of it in the morning hours. Not sure what to do, because in the spirit of this thread, it's an extra $200 that I've spent that I could easily get back, but since I've never rented one before, it would be a new experience that I'm sure I would like. Decisions, decisions!

I don't think so--I received the email and have a measly 8 days!!! Way to go, @Matt, putting up impressive numbers!! Wish it was more, but maybe this is just he motivation I need to bump up my number in 2023!

Oh no!!!! I've been giving them the benefit of the doubt and waiting, but I also canceled a deluxe drinks package on that same date. Was really hoping to avoid a call, but I guess I have to suck it up and ensure it's in progress. Thanks for posting your update; so frustrating.

August, getting off of Wonder. I will opt for the private shuttle option, so hopefully that would help us save time and make it. We do have pre-check, yes.

NP. I'm going to look into Cruise Control for pricing, thanks for the recommendation. We have used Skippy Transportation in the past and were pleased with their service. It will be interesting to compare pricing. We are going to attempt to make a 10:20 flight. It was either that or wait until 3:30 and that's a heck of a lot of time to kill for us.

This really stinks, but I would book at the $182 pricing to lock into the excursion (you may have done so already) and then try again if the price should drop, even though it's a lot of headache and hassle. You still saving a little and money in your pocket is better than theirs!

Last Black Friday I was on hold for 4 hours! Finally I somehow was routed to someone who picked up and was surprised to find me waiting so long. That was insane, and I hope to never repeat that.

Would someone help this newbie out? How do you reprice a trip? What does "get in there" mean? Where am I getting into?! I booked our July '23 cruise using Next Cruise and it's linked to a TA, so do I need to call the TA to check? Sorry, I don't know how/if I can check this myself or if I need to reach out to the TA and hoping you all can guide me. Thanks!

If this is your last spring break trip for a while, I would do the Allure for the extra night and $2k cost savings. I would use the cost savings to put towards a summer cruise (2023 or 2024) when you can plan on a different ship with different ports. Stop by Next Cruise to pick up the flyers and have fun at dinners talking about what everyone wants to do next, then book it while onboard! There is also winter break, so certainly other alternatives to spring break exist for cruising (though I get it--school-age parents are pretty restricted calendar-wise, myself included)!

@Jill Thanks for posting the link, I've saved it too! I'm curious if you notice much change in the departure port or if it's usually always Florida and usually always the same cruises/ships. Of course, a December cruise I'm currently debating is not listed on this sale flyer--I wonder if it may end up listed and if so, then it may be time for me to book it. I'm still unsure if I'm willing to commit to a 4-night cruise that involves airfare at the current rate. Again, thanks for the link!

We walked away from our first cruise in 2008 saying we'd never cruise again! Kid was 2 and does anyone recall--was Adventure Ocean not a thing back then?! We were on Freedom of the Seas and I recall having a conference room set up with some toys for parents to take their kids and stay with them to play--no drop off that I remember or that we utilized; the trip was exhausting!!!!! I hated not having a Diet Coke with meals b/c we refused to pay for additional drinks out of principle (Stupid, I know, we only made ourselves suffer!!). Flash forward to 2019 and kids were older at that point and we went on Symphony and had just the best time and went on Mariner during Summer 2022 and had an equally pleasant time. Now, cruising is the only vacation our kids will agree to do and we have Wonder scheduled for Summer 2023. Unfortunately, kids won't go to Teen Club, that's my only complaint. Oh, and with age comes wisdom, and we now purchase the Deluxe Beverage package!!!

Our approach is to generally know what we'd like to do each day and I get immense satisfaction from reading my cruise compass before going to bed each night thinking about the next day. Something along these lines for a general daily plan with lots of hours to fill in on the spontaneous side: Day 1 = get familiar with ship, dinner main dining room, show Day 2 = X excursion, dinner main dining room, Schooner bar, show (if up for it) Day 3 sea day = would be nice to hit the pool at some point, bingo at 3pm, dinner at chops, show A general outline of the day, but aside from paid excursions and dining reservations, we easily adjust as wanted/needed.

Oh my, this does really suck and I'm sorry your cruises needed to be canceled. I don't have much in the way of recommendation for the $800--I would probably look into the cheapest cruise I could reserve to utilize the money, knowing I may need to book an inside cabin or older ship or non-peak sailing time. This is a good time of year to watch the sales and get in touch with a travel agent to help you price all of your options and see what may be financially possible. I hope others have suggestions for you too, but know that I'm thinking of you and your wife and wishing good health to you both.