letscruise

Personally, I would snag the $83.99 Deluxe Beverage Package now if that is even a maybe for you. That is the best price I've seen for our Wonder 2023 cruise (and the price I locked in). Seems like that is a package that could easily go up over time and be considered a real deal today.

Thanks for commenting! I will be sure to ask more directly on our next cruise (Wonder) and raise my coffee mug to you if I'm successful!

Has anyone successfully found half and half (cream) onboard?! I swear I will almost drink any coffee presented to me, but do not give me milk to add to my coffee! I really want my half and half creamer. It's definitely a pet peeve of mine onboard, but if anyone can share if this is a special request item or just simply not provided (I would be surprised if I've somehow overlooked it), that would be helpful.

My kids are 15 and 12 and I don't do the water rides. For the past 2 visits, we've purchased either a half or full day waterpark pass for three and then I go off and find chairs at the beach for when they need a break. They usually spend a couple hours in the park, come find me for lunch and a little ocean swim, and then hit the park again on the way out for a little while. This works for us and I get some quiet time at the beach. If this is your first time at Coco Cay, I say spring for the 3 passes. If you go back a 2nd time, you can probably just buy them passes as they will know generally what to expect and where to go. This does get me thinking about what I'll do when we are there in July and if I will buy the 3rd pass this time or let my kids go in on their own. I just don't like sending them with their phones stored away in unattended bags while they are in line and otherwise having fun (and I don't like the idea of them not having access to their phones in case there was a problem). So, I'll be thinking about this now, and will likely spring for the 3rd pass.

Not sure if Pinnacles would agree, but it's a great conversation starter! For lower-tiered C&A members like myself, I can really learn a lot from avid cruisers and have enjoyed any conversation I've struck up with someone at Pinnacle. I say wear that pin proudly! Heck, even I'M proud of your achievement, you should be too!!

I agree with the observation. I wish there were different stores on different ships and that the main store had more variety of merchandise (think Disney-type store with tons of variety). I also wish there were more options of snack foods for purchase like chips, candy bars, gum, etc. Would LOVE a RC fleece or berkshire blanket and had they been an option on our Mariner sailing, I would have bought 1 or 2 (one kid packed a blanket and one kid didn't, so lots of drama there!). Would also like RC to partner with Under Armour or similar athletic brand for additional merch options. T-shirts in a quality brand would also be preferred.

There is now a banner posted that the site is down for maintenance.

Personally, I would rather repeat a ship that I liked than do the same ports, but if the only choice for a cruise was to do the same ship and ports, I would definitely do it and be sure to choose new/different excursions. I would also be sure to build in different activities onboard that you didn't have an opportunity to do last time.

My recommendation would be to try as much as possible for family members to "quarantine" (restrict unnecessary activities) in the 2 weeks leading up to the cruise. We did this in advance of our July cruise just to do our best to be sure to test negative, but there is definitely a chance that someone in your group will test positive and impact the trip (or get sick while traveling). That's just reality right now. I wouldn't let it keep you from booking a cruise b/c chances are everyone will be fine and you'll all have a great vacation.

As an extra measure, you could move the desk chair in front of the door each night. While the 5 yo could perhaps move the chair, there might be enough noise generated doing that that the 13 yo would wake up. Unless there is a history of sleep walking or "escaping", I really don't see the 5yo wanting to leave the room at night. To me, it would be pretty scary as it's just a long hallway. Discussing the importance of staying together and never leaving the room alone is also something you'd do well in advance and on repeat. As you mention, you can leave the door open so you can hear what's going on--if the sacrifice is alone time, well, that's just what parents endure on occasion (you can send them to Adventure Ocean during the day for that!) I don't think this concern is enough to not book a cruise and keep your family from a wildly fun time!

I like this response. In addition, I think you should begin planning now the next vacation the two of you will go on together! That way, you both have something good to look forward to that you each will enjoy, yet you also get to take this cruise and enjoy it in the moment and as a reflection point of how far you've come and how different your life is since you first booked it. Congratulations on your marriage! I think you have a solid partner that is encouraging you to stick with the plan; you'll both be so happy to see each other once you return home.

Speaking of Guest Services, I'm curious why this location isn't "staffed up" during peak times. Our recent cruise had only 2-3 employees at peak with the line a mile deep. Seems like there is an opportunity for cross-training so that additional workstations could be open on the busiest days. This would both alleviate customer frustration with the long line and also make the job a little easier on the staff. It's something I just don't understand, but maybe others have insight. This is a big pet peeve of mine and the fix seems relatively simple. Whenever I see no line, I always wish I had an issue to address--seems things always come up when there is a line!

This is so true, why do I do that?!? Coming off our last trip in July, I did make myself a few notes and one of them was to bring 1 less swimsuit and coverup (I never go in the pool, so why do I pack multiple?!) and pack fewer shorts and less jewelry. I seem to have grand ideas of wearing fresh, cute, and accessorized outfits, but then re-wear b/c it's usually just easier to grab off the sofa (aka laundry pile) and go! To answer the actual question, I would say my special hairdryer is the last to go in. I will definitely consider the good suggestion of placing an itinerary at the top or general contact info.

Thanks for your thorough review, and it's refreshing to read your positivity, given all the negatives you encountered on this cruise. I've never done Royal Up, but you've presented a side of it that I hadn't thought of previously; another good lesson from your post--be happy with what you have, grass isn't always greener, yada yada!

I appreciate that you want to "save the waves" on vacation, CrimsonCruiser! I'm actually the opposite, I "save the waves" year round at home reusing towels a couple times before reaching for a fresh one, so while I'm on a cruise, I throw caution to the wind and enjoy the fresh towels and never reuse. I love coming back to our room and finding all fresh towels and a re-made room!

We booked two connecting balcony rooms for a cruise we took in July and it is definitely the way to go for our family of 4 (kids 15 and 12). It really seemed to go well with them in their own space--own bathroom, own beds (king was converted to two twins), own TV, own keys, own closet, own everything. We crammed into a balcony room 3 years ago on Symphony and between stepping over their beds (barely!) getting back and forth to the balcony plus their different sleep schedule, it was not the best situation. So, highly recommend opting for the connecting rooms--the breathing room is welcome. We booked the same setup for our cruise next year.

I learned on our recent cruise that there needed to be 15 minutes between swiping drink orders on the sea pass card. I think I ordered a drink and really didn't like it and tried to order another drink. The excellent server jotted down my room number to run my sea pass later, but I was informed about the timeframe between drink orders, though I appreciated the work around.