melski94

While I haven't cruised with an infant (youngest was 3 at the time), I'll attempt to answer some questions. 1. Yes, infants are welcome. The staff tends to love infants as most of them have families at home. Make sure you or your TA ask for a high chair. Now the question is: do you want to take your infant? This is a personal decision and while I take my kids to MTD and restaurants in general, not everyone does. Some questions to ask yourself: How does he do in restaurants at home? Dinners can be long (90 minutes). Are you willing to just leave if he can't handle it or skip dessert? Do you have MTD so you have a table to yourself? I hope so, (if not try to get MTD) you can try to manage the speed of your order. Also, you may have to decide on dinner on a daily basis...did he take a good nap and can handle dinner or not? Another suggestion is to use nursery hours for quiet dinners some nights and other nights eat as a family in the Windjammer (there is a great recent post about dinner in the Windjammer). 2. Yes, the nursery costs extra. Not sure how much but I've read you need to sign up for limited hours (15?) on a first come basis. After your initial hours, you can sign up for more if available on your sailing. 3. Infants won't be allowed in pools (must be potty trained). Bring an inflatable pool and fill with water on your balcony. Bring all food, extra diapers, etc. Make sure you bring medicine. 4. Yes, bathtubs in Jr suites. As a mom of 4, the biggest key to a great vacation with kids is to be flexible. You may have the best plans for a perfect vacation but your little one will have other ideas. Just go with the flow and you'll have a great time.

And most tours are near Ocho Rios which is on the other side. If you read the travel advisory, it recommends not to go to Kingston, Montego Bay and Spanish cities. There are quite a few resorts in Montego Bay and I think those resorts are who are most affected plus the ships that dock there. Also, if you look at the country as a whole it is a Level 2 advisory...the same as Mexico (Mexico has more "do not go" cities). By the way, Level 2 is Exercise Increased Caution. RC will skip the port if they feel it is unsafe. I think in recent years they skipped and replaced Turkey. Also, Labadee was cancelled for about a month due to political protests last year. Even if they go, you can decide to stay on the ship if you feel unsafe. I've been there and loved it and we are looking forward to going back in November but would look at the political environment and make a decision at the time.

I see a similar thing on my Harmony cruise in March...you can book the Bogo for $40 and Jaimie's Italian for $35 and come out a little cheaper than the $80 3 night dining package. Doesn't work if the 3rd night is a more expensive restaurant like Chops.

Another option is the beach bungalows at Columbus Cove...they hold 8 so may be more forgiving with a party of 11. It's also cheaper at $250.

That is great to know. I was looking at the details of the policy and really like that there is something like a future cruise credit in the form of 75% and you can cancel up to departure. The biggest downside to this policy is medical evacuation is limited to $25,000 and the cost is more than private policies. Now it says, the future cruise credit can't be used during blackout periods. Does anyone know what are the blackout periods? Would it include spring break? Also, of course I just purchased private trip insurance (not Cancel for any reason) yesterday for the family before I saw this. Debating on the cost/risk/reward of buying additional insurance. Does anyone know what would happen if someone had a 2 policies? I wouldn't buy for the entire family just the 2 people who could cancel.

Another Relaxation Artist. Not really surprising to me especially as I vetoed the idea of spending Thanksgiving week at WDW (again) and booked a 5 day cruise.

66! Also 304 and 422

We only had 1 set sail pass for the 6 of us across 2 rooms on Liberty. I only printed out one and had no problem but I needed to wait for my DH as he parked the car after dropping us off with luggage as he'd have no way to get in without us. All our names were listed on the Set Sail pass. Never even thought we'd have a problem and we didn't. I'm reading that your kids are listed on your pass. If I read that right then I wouldn't worry about it. You could print out the first page 4 times so everyone has their own copy. If you do a search, there are several images of set sail passes with multiple names on it.

You may have to call to book the entertainment. I couldn't book any entertainment online with multiple reservation numbers. Now, looking at my cruise planner on Harmony it says for adult audiences and that 17 and younger must be accompanied by a parent...so not sure how family friendly. Also, you can book only 1 night of the comedian (according to the phone rep).

Thanks for the tip! I just started following him on FB. We'll be on Harmony for Spring Break.

If at a beach club, then I will rent a locker and put stuff in there. However if you look at amazon there are lockable tote bags where you can lock a bag to a beach chair. I haven't tried one yet so can't recommend but they do look like a good option. I typically don't take passports with us but do have a picture of them on my phone and I'll keep minimal cash and put everything else in the locker. If snorkeling at an excursion, I don't worry about it. The tour operators have much more to lose than the minimal cash they could get out of my bag.

Outside the gate can be very aggressive so I wouldn't venture far. That being said Falmouth still has our all time favorite excursion so I wouldn't worry about leaving with a tour or private driver that you vetted prior to your cruise. We've eaten at Scotchies on our excursion too. Very good jerk chicken however every driver and their cruise passengers will be there.

I understand that 5:30 as it is too early for us too. If you change to MTD, make sure you get reservations...I wonder if there is a way for your TA to see availability for reservations before you make the switch. There are several large tables but not that many and I'd hate for you to make the switch and then not get the table or times you'd like. Just an FYI, for my last cruise (Liberty) and upcoming cruise (Harmony) I was not able to make reservations between 6:15 and 7. Some people say they can but I've found I couldn't online or in person.

My insurance company (also USAA) only covers pre-existing medical conditions and CFAR if you purchase it within 30 days of the initial deposit. I did not see an annual plan but then coverage is based on state laws so it might be available to you.

Does anyone have experience with "cancel for any reason" trip insurance? We normally have regular trip insurance on all our cruises but I'm looking at a November cruise where 1-2 family members may cancel at the last minute after final payment...DS plays HS football and while not expected to go far in playoffs this year it would be just my luck not to protect this vacation and they make it to quarterfinals. If he goes into the playoffs, either he'd be left with a friend or DH would stay with him. So I could be looking at cancelling 1-2 people within days of the sailing. What I'm reading through my insurance company (USAA) is that they cover up to 75% for cancel for any reason 48 hours in advance. We'd be in 2 staterooms so if 4 of us could still go, would they still reimburse up to 2 people (1 person in each stateroom) or is it an all or none scenario? What about airfare? Probably will go with Southwest so no change fees. What other things should I be looking at or questions to ask for this type of insurance? Are there better companies that deal with this type of insurance than others? Do other companies allow you to cancel with less than 48 hours? Thanks for any help you can offer. Just trying to figure this out before I put a deposit down on the cruise.

I've heard various reports whether the walkie talkies work due to size of ship and others being on same frequency so have a back up plan just in case. My kids are 17,14,11,6 and have been cruising for almost 4 years. My older 2 have always been able to roam the ship. At 12, your oldest could be in the teen club and the 11 year old could have check in and out privileges on his own at AO but it sounds like your boys will hang out together...my kids go to the teen club and then hang out at night with their new friends. We have some strict rules about curfew, never going into anyone's stateroom, never climbing any balcony, etc. We've only cruised Freedom class ships and on those we decided to get the internet package. Too many times of trying to catch up with them and they moved on. It's expensive but works for us especially for Harmony with it being so much bigger.

I can't quite tell but based on size and passengers I'm thinking this ship is between a Freedom and Voyager in size (please tell me if I'm wrong). So I guess I'm comparing prices to those ships. I look for cruises based on my family of 6 and here are a few of my concerns. The Family Staterooms are connecting rooms and there are only 13 on the ship and they sell out fast during school break. Those rooms sleep 3 per room so in my case one of the kids would be sleeping in my room (no thanks). I also don't like how spread out the pools are and I can't tell if the kids pool while looks amazing is covered or not (which means very little sun for me). I was looking for Spring Break 2019 and I saw a price that was about $500 less than Adventure for 2 connecting balconies but the Seaside's family stateroom sold out the next day. I think the biggest advantage is the low deposit but if I can't get the staterooms I need then the price doesn't matter. Now if DH and I ever try a trip on our own then I might be willing to try this but not for the family.

I agree about a beach resort in Cozumel. The ships usually have excursions to Playa Mia. I've done Playa Mia several times on our own. Its a really fun resort with an aqua park but the food is terrible (I'm not a foodie by any means). The last time we went was only because my DD5 wasn't tall enough for the big slides on Liberty and she really wanted to do water slides and she will do those for about an hour. The ship excursions cost more than on our own and we get almost 2 extra hours (an hour on each end) extra by doing it on our own and we still get back about 2 hours before the ship departs. Next time, I plan on trying Mr. Sanchos. Falmouth, we hired a private driver that was highly recommended on both Trip advisor and CC. He took us to Blue Hole. It is my kids all time favorite excursion (they were 16, 13, 9 and 4 at the time). If you look at trip advisor or CC, you will see a ton of reviews about excursions. I usually chose an operator that has a lot of reviews. We've never done a ship excursion as we don't like being in the herd and having to do what everyone else wants to do. I like to pick and chose an operator who will cater to my family and their interests. The good ones will not risk you missing the ship as their business would be over if you left a review that you missed the ship.

There are a lot of options for all those ports. We never do ship excursions as they are more expensive than on your own and there is so much time wasted waiting for the group. My kids like going to a beach club in Cozumel. We've gone to Playa Mia on our own and while fun I really dislike the food. I'll probably try Mr. Sanchos next time. Taxis are really easy from this port. My kids like the aqua parks. In Falmouth, we hired Winston at Tour Jamaica Today. He's a private car, safe driver and we wanted to go to Blue Hole. It is a bit physically demanding but my youngest at 4 years old did it (other kids were 16, 13 and 10) at the time. Probably my kids favorite excursions but they are a bit adventurous. If you didn't want to go to Blue Hole, then Winston is willing to create a tour based on what you want to do. Haven't been to Labadee yet but will on our March cruise and I rented a beach bungalow and we'll go zip lining (adults and older 2 kids). This one it seems like you don't have to do any excursion if you don't want but if you do then it will be one of RC excursions.

I do my own flights. I'm not in your poll as I don't think anything applies to me. I typically book as soon as airlines release flights if at all possible and here's why: live in Nashville with limited direct flights (typically Southwest), I need 6 tickets, we typically travel during peak times like Spring Break and we aren't flexible with days to fly in or out. Your 90 day pricing didn't work in my case. I missed the Southwest release and when I looked in October (7 months out) all the "wanna get away" flights were gone from both flights. I saw that Jet Blue flew direct and was $358 pp (which I think it fairly cheap for a spring break fare). After all the 90 day talk, I did look at flight again at 92 days and Jet Blue was $100 more pp...I didn't look right at 90 as it was Christmas day...not sure if it would have been similar to what I bought if I did look at 90 days. Other airlines weren't direct and Southwest was about $700 pp at the 92 days. To me the bottom line is that I feel like I got a decent price for a direct flight with times that worked for us. The stress of not worrying about tickets outweighs the few (if any) potential savings.

Thanks @Sabrinaklai Its interesting what you found. I'm flying to FLL on the March 23rd and returning the 31st. So my Jet Blue tickets that I purchased August are $358pp, todays price is $468 but I think my 90 day is technically Saturday. Southwest "wanna get away fares" are sold out on the return and so those are crazy high ($750 pp). We prefer to fly direct when we can and those are the only airlines that don't have a connection. Although a quick search today, still shows even with a connection the cheapest airlines are $10 more than what I paid direct and only if I want to push the return time or stay really late. If we fly SW, I do buy the early bird for all of us. How do you keep track of it all the ups and downs of both the cruise fare and airlines? Spreadsheet or app? Do you keep track of it on a PP basis or based on the staterooms (we need 2 for 6 people).

It was Saturday Night Fever in March, plus various comedy headlines acts. If you aren't familiar with Saturday Night Fever, you should look up the story to make sure you are comfortable with the content if you bring your boys. While they gloss over certain parts, its not my favorite musical. There was another show called In the Air...an acrobatic show as well as an ice skating show which was during the day time both family friendly. I don't remember if the DJ nights were 18+ or not. I do remember them starting pretty late at night (after 10 or 11). Some of the late comedy (10 pm shows) were 18+. Not sure the ages of your kids, but if teens go to the teen club the first night. They have a great meet up for the teens and from there the teens form groups to hang out with for the week. You could try to find a Cruise Compass for Liberty to give you an idea but outside the main shows the other entertainment varies.

He'll have a great time. The busiest time in AO is the evening. We travel during Spring Break with a lot of other kids and like others have said we've never been turned away even in the evening. Day time in general and port days are much less crowded. My kids will beg to go there during the day and usually come back with crafts, etc. The evening tends to be group games due to the larger groups of kids. Just sign up sometime during the day of embarkation. For a 6 year old, you won't have to tell them when he'll be there.

How old is your son? Only in the nursery do you have to sign up for slots.

I'm sorry you weren't happy with your food or service. I do hope that your Ovation cruise will be better. I do have a few suggestions for your next cruise. Do you have reservations for your MTD? If not, it does help to make them. The good news with MTD is that you should have a table to your party only so won't have to wait for others to be served so hopefully you will wait less. It has been suggested to go to the MDR the first day and ask where your table will be and if you aren't happy with it change it then. For entrees, I tend to ask my waiter what are his recommendations for that night or if I'm thinking of something else, ask what he thinks of the dish. I've rarely been steered wrong on my selection but if you don't like it you can ask for another entree. They can get a 2nd plate fairly quickly if you are unhappy or still hungry. Unfortunately, IMO the dessert is almost always disappointing. I think the bar staff in the dining room is lacking...many tables, few staff...so we try to go into the dining room with a glass of wine or other alcoholic beverage...soda and milk aren't a problem to get quickly for the kids. If I'd like a 2nd glass, I usually ask well in advance. Hope your next cruise is better.