jticarruthers

Dont recall the disney doors, pretty sure RCI typically has a handle at "mid-door" level that has to be turned to open the door. Think that is basically standard across the fleet. I think a small child would have a hard time with turning it (its not really a door handle, more of a large bar that has to be pulled) but i know our son was able to do it by the time he was 10 or so. He would sneak out onto the balcony to read a book without "waking us". Railing heights probably about 4 feet or so ? My 5'3" wife can see over easily so it cant be up at 5'

We had one changed on us a couple of years back .... it was never mentioned either ahead of time or on the ship ... we just ended up at a different port :) I had noticed it ahead of time when printing or reviewing something in the paperwork and didn't really care but thought it was interesting that it was never "mentioned". From memory I think it was St Kitts instead of St Thomas or something like that and we hadn't been to either one so no big deal, just strange.

Seems like the sales are getting more desperate on the specialty dining front ... sign of ongoing weak bookings or just a push to lock in as much revenue pre-cruise as possible ? We don't really have any interest in Specialty but on the rare occasion we have gone we have had our pick of times and they never look full walking by .... just curious if they are struggling.

Done both, if price were equal we would do Disney everytime. price is never equal though and so we almost always do Royal.

Yes, Indy is definitely one with an electronic system. Its basically a counter probably four and a half feet high or so, with a "gate" that is electronically locked. The staff pushes a button to open the gate and let kids in or out.

I think it largely at the discretion of the "head" of the club when you are on board and will depend a lot on how busy they are overall, etc. We have asked on two different occasions and both times they were able to accommodate a "crossover".

Specialty dining is cancellable, so worst case they tell you no, you rebook them all under the new promo to make sure you get the restaurants/times you want and then cancel all your original reservations and get refunds.

Be interesting to see if they end up with 4 in Florida, I think they are pretty well locked into 3 with the expanded/custom terminals in Canaveral and Lauderdale and now talking about putting a terminal in Miami (think that is definite but I could be wrong and don't recall the completion timing). I think the ships are great attractors for new cruisers but the itineraries are really tough for me to get excited about having been to all the ports they offer multiple times. If they did end up with 4 here hopefully it dilutes the pricing a bit to where taking a turn on one makes more sense :)

The ones we have used all have an electronic entry/exit door of some kind that should keep him from getting out without being checked out.

Basically it would be a nice perk if you could ever use it.

Heading off topic a bit but we had a bunch of small "bad reactions" through the course of the cruise that built up to a generally less than wowed end point from Allure. Our general takeaways were: 1) its not a cruise ship its a floating mall ... no water views anywhere except the top deck. We typically like to spend time in various bars and venues and be able to see light/ocean, it felt like we could have been in an office building, shopping mall, etc. and not known the difference. 2) minor attitude .... had a handful of very minor customer service issues but the response to almost all of them was "shrug, your on the biggest cruise ship in the world, things happen" ... not necessarily a bad response but we were annoyed by it by the end of the cruise. (No limes onboard, "shrug", no nuts at the bar "shrug", etc) 3) limited itineraries ... one eastern, one western, no other options 4) higher prices ... premium for O class generally sepeaking

Like Jerel said, everyone else is wise and all knowing so I think all I would add is to sketch out what you think you might drink and compare to the cost. On our last few cruises I have done the package about half the time and skipped it about half the time, don't think I made the wrong decision on any of them because I was comfortable with the plan. 7 night southern Caribbean with 5 port stops .. no package needed, in port almost every day, minimal drinking. 4 night western with 1 port stop and an alcoholic buddy ... package required, doing shots all the time, wife greatly amused at our antics. 7 night western with 4 port stops (1 Labadee) and a bunch of family along for the ride .... package required (did you not read, I said a bunch of family along!!) ... quit drinking by the last day or so but got my moneys worth out of the package anyway. Upcoming 7 night southern again with 5 port stops ... pass, see above. It really really depends on your plans. Do the math based on $6 a beer, $12 a drink, consider coffees/bottled water and see how it looks. If its close give it a shot, if you cant see anyway to make it work, skip it.

If you like Voyager you will like Freedom, basically the same ships with the same layout and a couple more options in terms of shops/bars/activities. With you on not loving Oasis class although I think we will give Harmony a try in 2017 depending on itineraries and pricing. No interest in Q class, enjoyed Radiance and Vision class but would only do them again for a specific itinerary / short notice sailing.

Our go to for Cozumel the last couple of times has been just to stroll the main drag ... as long as you can stand being asked to step into every store you can buy beers and margaritas for about $1 a pop and window shop to your hearts content. We usually give our son a few dollars and between that and the "free charms" that almost every store offers he ends up with a bunch of cheap gifts for his friends who may or may not be girls but are definitely not girlfriends (ah 12 its a fun age) and we get to have several drinks a piece. Total cost including cab fare to/from downtown is usually about $20-$30 dollars ... just remember to be very clear in saying no .... I slipped up on this rule last year when my son proudly announced to the Diamonds International staff that it was our 15 year anniversary. This resulted in me being invited to enjoy the "complimentary" bar upstairs while he and my wife took an extensive tour of the store. I had actually planned on getting her a piece of jewelry at some point but that decision was made for me several drinks later.

I would call the next release the 2017/2018 schedule .... should encompass the rest of the 2017 and the spring of 2018 right ? Regardless I am eagerly awaiting it as well ... booked out through spring 2017 and itching to get some cruises on my calendar for summer and thanksgiving before my wife decides we should do an all-inclusive or something sacrilegious like that !! I would love to do a cruise with the blog group unfortunately my cruise windows are limited to Springbreak , Summer and Thanksgiving due to child/job commitments, so I am always itching to book those time slots as early as possible and the blog cruises don't fall in the windows :(

As noted by others Freedom definitely does have the soda machines. The Freedom class is probably our favorite RCI offering ... they are big enough to have more options (multiple pools, flow rider, mini golf, sports court, etc.) but still have places to sit and enjoy the water views. Haven't really had issues with crowding on any boats except when a show lets out or there is a parade something along those lines. Definitely notice the same people more often on the smaller ships. Having done both Vision and Freedom I don't think you will be unhappy on Freedom, pretty much everything is a plus on Freedom compared to Vision.

The freestyle machines are on Allure.

I would guess it has more to do with weather being an "act of god" scenario vs. labor relations than it does a Labadee vs CocoCay policy.

Its been a few years since I was last on Liberty but I didn't think she had any reservable entertainment.

Beers are typically $5-$6 range so that covers pretty much every beer except the ultra expensive Belgian one. Not a big wine drinker but i think most of the glasses of wine are going to be higher than the $8 level.

Did Central Park Balcony on Allure, if I had it to do over i would either upgrade to Ocean view Balcony or drop to Oceanview Room (No Balcony). Did not care for having a wall of balconies across from me. Boardwalk Balcony might be different as you could watch the Aquatheater but still not crazy about the wall of balconies, If i have a balcony i want to sit, relax and enjoy the water not look at other people on their balconies looking at me :)

Freedom at Thanksgiving was also scanning at pool and gangway on sea and port days.

We did the white boards on our last cruise (Several cabins of family) it worked well for the most part .. Certainly cost effective, couple of crude messages appeared overnight from passing drunks but not a big deal.

Towels are available for all activites, not limited to RCI excursions

I think the best answer is : Per the rules - no you are not. However, RCI is notoriously inconsistent in enforcing their own rules, so , if you try there is a good chance you will get away with it, but be prepared to have them take it away from you.