melski94

I've been curious about the all-inclusives but prices keep me coming back to Royal. I really appreciate the review!

I think the big question is where are you going and is this an RC excursion or not. For example, I'd never take my passport to CoCo Cay or Labadee. Some beach resorts have lockers and I'll put our passports in there. There are bags on amazon that will lock to a beach chair.

My husband will wear a sports coat, button down shirt and slacks but no tie. My boys wear a button down shirt and khakis,, no tie. You will see a wide range of dress including t-shirts to tuxedos but I would say what my guys wear is similar to 75% of the men.

I just came off Adventure last week. While not my favorite ship, we still had a great trip. We've also sailed Brilliance in the past. I prefer the promenade over the Centrum. The ice show was pretty good and the entertainment was typical cruise ship entertainment. With the price being equal, I'd go with Adventure for the longer cruise.

We have had good luck with the travel router especially on Harmony where are iMessage worked for free. However, we do purchase multiple device plans when we aren't on Harmony. My lesson learned was to double check phones after going to San Juan: "Mom, what does cellular at sea mean?" The same 12yo decided Voom was too slow so turned off wifi. ? Luckily, it was quickly caught without any extra charges.

In Labadee, my 19 yo, 15 yo and I participated in the Dragon Fire Flight Line. We have done Dragon's Breath Flight Line in the past and we were eager to try something new. The biggest difference between the two zip lines is the position going down. The Fire has one in a Superman prone position and in a seated position on the Breath line. While both were fun, we all agreed that the Dragon's Fire Flight Line was superior to the Dragon's Breath. We pre-booked this excursion in October for our March spring break on sale at $79 each. You can pay as much as $129 each. I find that the earlier booked, the more choices of times. The weight for this excursion if 75-275 lbs. If you are close to either end, I suggest you book earlier in the day as the wind may pick up in the afternoon and weight changes could occur. I also like booking early as we have time to spend the rest of the day at the beach. Minimum height is 48 inches and all participants need to wear strap sandals or shoes, shirt and shorts. I booked an 8:30 time and our ticket had a meeting time of 8:00. After signing a waiver, each of us was weighed and given a wristband. At 8:20, we boarded the truck to go up to the mountain. This is different than Dragon's Breath where you get your gear and head to the practice center. No practice on Fire! Up top, you notice the two different platforms. In a typical RC move, Fire is slightly longer than Breath however Fire only has 2 lines whereas Breath has 5. The line on the left is the Fire, on the right is the bridge to the Breath and you can see the fence for the uphill section of Dragon's Tail Coaster. Now we put on helmets and the gear. You are essentially hooked up to a mat (for a lack of better words) that starts at your upper chest and ends at your feet. Your arms are out and can move freely up, sideways or to your hips. The guide explains the 2 positions: Rocket with your arms at your hips or Superman arms out like at T. Landing position is to tuck your chin to your chest and cross arms. The guide will tell you which position based on your weight and break people into groups. Climb to the top of the platforms and here is the hardest part of the excursion: the trust fall! Logically, you know you are hooked up to the safety line as well as the back line but it is still scary to allow yourself to fall forward into position. Now your feet end are hooked up and you are actually quite comfortable. There is something about stepping off a platform that freaks me out and in this respect I prefer the Fire and Breath compared to land based zip lines as someone else starts you. No backing out once you are hooked up. All clear! 3-2-1 and I'm off flying like Superman over the trees and beautiful ocean. The landing was very smooth and smoother than the Breath line. There is a ladder to help get you down by unhooking your feet first and then your back. I was the last one down and done by 8:52. Overall it was an amazing ride! If you have done the Dragon's Breath before, try this as well! If you only choose one zipline, then I highly suggest the Fire!

Pinging @Matt I'll say while I've never traveled with an infant, I would strongly suggest you bring whatever you think you'll need. There is a possibility that they could make stuff for you and you could try that and bring home the jar stuff. Better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it.

I think there is some confusion on how Traditional and My Time works Depending on the ship there are multiple MDR restaurants (say on deck 3, 4 or 5). Your assigned restaurant will be on your Sea Pass card. So Traditional diners would be on Decks 4 and 5 and My Time would be on deck 3 (examples as it could be different on your ship). They are usually not mixed together, with the exception of if My Time is full and traditional isn't they may send a few My Time diners to a traditional dining deck with many empty tables so they don't have to wait. You will be able to make reservations on the Cruise Planner for My Time Dining. I book anywhere from 6-6:30 for my family of 6. I highly suggest you make reservations as like a land restaurant it can fill up at popular times and you will have to wait. If you want to get the same table and wait staff every night, reserve a time about the same time each night. It does make service a bit easier as then the wait staff learns your drink preference and the meal goes a bit quicker.

In Roatan, we snorkeled with Eco Tours. We were happy with them but the meeting place was a bit confusing. I wouldn't mind using them again as it was great snorkeling but I'd also be willing to look at other companies. I suggest you look at Trip Advisors for companies with many positive reviews.

Many people will have their younger child nap on a pool chair with a towel over them. Also, you can split up and one parent takes the 3yo for the nap and the 5yo gets special time.

For my sailings the Chill Island Cabana and full day waterpark prices are $649 and $699. Wish I could see prices in the $471 range.

If you get off the ship early, you could try to grab the first bungalow on the border of the rope which divides the bungalow area from the public beach. The kids could grab chairs on the public beach side near you. Anyone can swim in the water. I’m sure the attendants won’t mind the kids going back and forth especially if you are a decent tipper. Heres a picture of the rope that divides the bungalow area from the public beach. In the background is bungalow 1. It’s first come, first choice. Here is a picture of the public beach from the same spot. The loungers are free. There are people to move them for a small tip.

If you can get through the airport without a stroller, then I wouldn’t bring it. The ships are big but not that big. Storage is really tight in the rooms. You won’t see kids those ages in a stroller on the ship, babies and toddlers yes but not preschoolers. If you do chose to bring one, don’t bring anything bigger than an umbrella stroller.

Was just at the beach bungalow last week as well as twice last year. I noticed on the excursion ticket is says it isn't private which was the first time I noticed it. However, the attendants kicked off people who put their stuff on the bungalow side of the rope and told them to go to the other side of the rope. I have pictures but no time to post right now. I'll try to get them later.

In St. Marteen, you can walk to take a water taxi ($7 r/t) to Great Bay Beach. You will see the beach from the cruise ship pier. Rent a beach chairs for $20 for 2. Lots of places to eat lunch and if you are a Star Wars fan walk to the Yoda Guy's shop. That can be a very inexpensive and easy day.

For 3rd party excursions, I like to be back about 90 minutes - 2 hours prior to all aboard so in my opinion you are safe. We were just in St. Maarten and those excursions are a 15 minute walk from the ship. Those excursions are very conscientious of the time people need to be back on the ship and know they will lose a lot of business if they miss it even once. Accidents can happen but I would think they would have a way to get you back. Even with a 4:30 pm all aboard time, the ship won't depart until 5 (not that I would even want to think about cutting it that close).

@twangster I'm curious where you got the passenger numbers. I couldn't find them on the site. I find the outliers very interesting, where the number of passengers doesn't always create the most revenue. Take a look at Radiance where the number of passengers is extremely low yet revenue is very high. Wondering which itinerary (Alaska or S. Pacific) drives the higher revenue compared to her sister ships.

It was $3.84 on Adventure last week. Soda plan per day onboard is $12.99 +18%.

I would not wait to get to town and book an unknown tour with an infant. At the very least go to trip advisor where you can find many reviews of tours and private drivers and their cars. I like a private tour especially with kids as you can change it if you need to because of them. Cozumel go to a beach resort. I suggest Mr Sanchos especially if going with your nephew who may enjoy the beach inflatables. You can do this on your own but the taxis may or may not have seat belts. Jamaica you may want to keep it a ship day. Most excursions are not infant friendly. Grand Cayman is a tender port and typically a beach day.

I usually bring all of our passports off (I didn’t in San Juan or Labadee). You can buy a lockable bag on Amazon (bag locks to a chair) but I’ll rent a locker if available.

While I’m not a Diamond member yet, I feel I have some cruising experience. Yesterday, however, I made a huge cruising mistake. I thought I’d share my mistake so others can learn from it. It would be fun to hear if anyone else has made other mistakes. We were in St. Marteen and booked Billy Bones Snorkeling charter. I’ve been talking up this tour and my family is really excited for this excursion. We walk off the ship, down the pier when I pull out my confirmation for where to go and notice the date. It says March 27th! What? That’s next week! I booked the correct day of the week but the wrong week. That week is a week after our cruise. Quick phone one call and they are fully booked. In fact all the snorkeling tours are fully booked since for the first time post hurricane there are 6 ships in port according to the several boating companies we asked. Now what? Too late to do any research on a Plan B but I do remember many people talking about the beach just off the pier. We ended up walking to Great Bay beach and turned it into a fantastic beach day. Beach chairs, lunch, trampoline, jet skis, beach massage, hair braids and a trip to the Yoda Guy. I would have thought a beach day would cost less than a snorkeling tour but my family can spend money on food and Star Wars stuff! I only put a deposit down via PayPal and I already emailed the company. I should be getting a refund of my deposit shortly. I still can’t believe I did this. While I received a confirmation months ago I didn’t actually look at it. I printed out all my cruise documents however once again didn’t actually look at it. All I can say is that things have been super stressed and crazy over the past few months. With everything on my plate, mixing up dates is one of my fears and I can’t tell you the number of times, I check school calendar against the cruise dates and triple check my airplane dates. I guess if I’m going to mess up a date, booking a refundable shore excursion a week later is not too bad. Ok that’s my cruising mistake, anyone else have one?

My March 2019 cruise was $49 until a few weeks before sail date when it dropped to $46. I canceled and rebooked. Other cruises it’s running at $52.

Each Sea Pass card is linked to a credit card. Your cards should be set up to your credit card and your MILs card set up to her credit card. Gratuities and purchases will be linked to the sea pass card and then the correct credit card. You can ask for additional room keys. Do NOT trade sea pass cards! It all works out. Now I don’t know how room service works as we’ve never ordered it.

In my case, I found the cheapest prices on the cruise planner for 2 of my cruises in October. Black Friday was the same if not slightly more for those cruises. In fact the drink package for my current cruise held the same all last year and dropped a few weeks before sailing. I suggest you look at prices and if you see a decent price buy it and if it drops you can cancel and rebook it. You should see if your cruise has a Facebook page as people are usually good about informing the group about sales.

I am on Adventure now and it was 29. I usually go to the Port Everglades website the day of the cruise to verify.