melski94

Sorry that was the abyss that needs a T-shirt. Not the perfect storm slides.

Sorry to tell you but RC is very strict on height rules. He won’t be able to ride the Perfect Storm. The first day has very low lines. I find that first thing in the morning has low lines too. My DD6 loved it so we’d wait in the line to go to the boardwalk for a hot dog and at the most the wait was 20 minutes. Make sure to have a T-shirt with sleeves on or they won’t let you down.

After a quick WJ lunch, we like to do some activities on the first day as the lines will be the shortest of cruise (it was a spring break cruise so lots of kids). My kids did the zip line 3x in a row right when it opened, played mini golf and went down the abyss several times with very short lines (wear a t-shirt, no tanks as shoulders need to be covered).

I used Etsy and had a door magnet made for my son's birthday and put it on his stateroom door on his birthday. They have lots of decorations and cheaper than Royal gifts but you need to do it yourself. You can use Royal gifts for a specialty cake but it is big (7 of us took 2 days to eat it). However, your waiter can arrange to put a candle in a typical dessert and sing. I agree with @ThyriC about telling everyone about her birthday and seeing what is possible.

I am really sorry this is happening to you. I know for my trip insurance through C&F required you to purchase within 30 days of deposit to cover pre existing conditions. Looking at Royal's trip insurance for my state (yours could be different) this is a copy of the exclusions: "*Please note the following restrictions: Royal Caribbean International will not waive their cancellation penalty and provide a cash refund, should you cancel your cruise vacation for any of the following reasons:  a condition that first presents, worsens, becomes acute or has symptoms causing a person to seek diagnosis, care or treatment, or prompts a change in medication, during the 60 days before you purchased this waiver;" So for your March cruise, I hope you booked insurance a while ago, you should be ok. I don't think you should buy anything right now for your June cruise as you won't be covered. If you do find something to cover pre-existing conditions without a clause like above, then I think it will cost more than the loss of the non-refundable deposit. Sending you positive thoughts that all will be ok.

Every ship has different souvenir merchandise (I'm assuming you mean ship specific merchandise like an magnet with the ship name/image on it and not general cruise merchandise) and that souvenir merchandise will not go on sale. You may want to buy something you like at the beginning of the cruise as it could sell out. The only discount that we've used is the C&A discount. There are sales on general cruise merchandise but those sales usually won't include ship specific merchandise.

Tons of activities. The formal program is Adventure Ocean. Here is an article from Matt about AO. https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2017/09/25/six-things-know-about-royal-caribbeans-adventure-ocean. Outside of AO, the slides, SKy pad and Mimi golf. My DD7 loved the Sky Pad without VR so she could do flips. We had a great time on Independence.

WJ always has milk but you need to ask for it at lunch or dinner. It is usually out near the cereal in both the MDR and WJ for breakfast. I've never had a problem with the crew grabbing a few cartons when I asked at lunch or dinner.

If this is an RC excursion, the ship will wait for you or it will be RC's responsibility to get you to the next port/home. On my last cruise, the ship left Falmouth almost an hour late because it was waiting for an RC excursion to get back.

The BOGO milkshakes are still on the adult C&A benefits but not the kids. The kids benefits are pretty disappointing, really a coffee discount?

Adventure

We've been to playa mia without the snorkeling tour. I'm fairly sure you can book transportation through Playa Mia too but it is very easy to get a taxi in Cozumel and easy to get a return taxi from Playa Mia. I'm assuming pre-booked is booking on the Playa Mia website (they do sell out of excursions over Spring Break). Some of your questions should be direct to Playa Mia directly especially since the snorkeling tour on the website seems cheaper than the beach, buffet and bar pass. I've found them very responsive over email. The biggest disadvantage to Playa Mia is the quality of food and the cancellation policy. Take a look at the cancellation policy before you book.

I’m pretty sure this was gold. It is really not worth it since you can get better/similar discounts online in the cruise planner. When on Harmony the loyalty ambassador told me if I wanted the arcade discount I had to track their charges then see her to apply the extra money to the account. Too much work to me and I had wished I just purchased it in the cruise planner. I just wish the kids could get a BOGO JR milkshake.

Our favorite is a JS but we need 2 and that isn't always cost effective. We tend to stay at an OV balcony at a minimum but I do have interiors and OV rooms booked on future cruises. Honestly the interior is for the kids...the interior connects to a balcony so a win-win for me. The next cruise the kids will be in a JS and we'll be in an OVB so it all works out in the end. I priced out our Harmony SB 2020 and 2 JS is $4K more than 3 OVB. CK isn't worth the $4K as I could buy us all the UDP and still have lots of money left over. I just wish I could get the double points to get to Diamond faster but I could take that $4k and take another cruise which is what I'd rather do if I can find the time for us. Price is a factor and my DH doesn't want to be a suite snob. There are lots of jokes on this site so it makes it sound like the majority is staying in a suite but thats not true.

If you are looking to pay for an upgrade to a suite, you can call Royal now. You would pay the current price of the suite. The idea of free upgrades has been gone for some time now with the Royal Up program more people are happy to bid for a suite.