melski94

Would you ever get adjoining balcony rooms and open the balcony divider to go between the 2 rooms?  That may be outside your comfort zone.  We had to do this once when my kids were much younger and while I didn't love the set up, it still worked for us.  

Good luck teachers!  Thank you for all you do!
School started 11 days ago for us!  Don't judge me because I did a happy dance!  
Now for the oldest to be off to college tomorrow.

Verizon's $5 Travel Pass does NOT include cruise ships.  Here is from Verizon's International Travel page.  The Travel Pass would cover many of the ports but not while on the ship nor does it cover data.  Now if you are only going to send and receive only a handful of texts, even using the pay as you go rate would be cheaper than VOOM.  The following is copied from Verizon's website.  
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For cruises: Use your phone on more than 400 cruise ships with pay-as-you-go plans. Visit the Trip Planner and enter your ship or destination to check availability.  
Cruise Ship Rates
You can talk and message on more than 400 cruise ships.
Cruise ship Pay as You Go pricing Voice Pricing $2.99/min Text Messaging $0.50/message sent$0.05/message received

I wanted to give a few thoughts on my recently completed Royal Caribbean cruise on Majesty of the Seas, departing from Tampa on August 20 for 5 nights, sailing to Costa Maya and Cozumel.    This blog was a TREMENDOUS source of information and helpful tips for a RCI newbie so THANK YOU!
First, we had an AWESOME time.  Probably the best vacation we have taken as a family!  We are still talking about the cruise and the people we met a week later.  
Embarkation: We got to Tampa the night before (thank RC Blog for that tip) and stayed at a hotel about halfway between the port and the airport.  Arrived at the Tampa Port at around 10am.  We parked in the official deck across the street.  I got lots of great parking tips, but went with the deck for convenience and that it was covered and secured.  Believe me, I'm the guy that always looks to save a buck, so thanks for the other options that were given.  Took about 30 minutes from arrival before we could board the ship, so not bad at all.  Tampa Port could probably use a refresh, but everyone was friendly and helpful and the process seemed under control.
The ship/stateroom:  I know Majesty of the Seas is an old ship, perhaps the oldest in the RCI fleet, but it showed us a great time.  I think RCI has done a great job keeping it clean and updated to the best of its ability.  In some areas (Viking Lounge), the carpet looked dated, but otherwise I thought the ship was in great shape.  It doesn't have the bells and whistles of the newer ships, but it made up for that with service and hospitality.  Our room was small, and again, I knew that going in.  But the four of us (51 yr old Dad, 49 yr old Mom, 17 yr old son and 10 yr old son) made the room work for us.  The key was putting our stuff away and storing suitcases, which was a switch for us because we usually just live out of a suitcase when we travel to a hotel.  What also helped was buying and using magnetic hooks (another tip from this blog!) to hang up clothes to dry and be out of the way!  We had room 2506, which is a porthole room.  Decks 2 and 3 on Majesty have portholes for oceanview.  The room had plenty of spaces to store our luggage out of the way and 2 fold-down beds for our boys.  The bathroom was small, but very clean, and honestly, had one of the best working showers in terms of pressure and constant flow of hot water.  One indulgence I give myself on vacation is extended shower time and this one didn't disappoint.    Our stateroom attendant was solid and anticipated our needs. We asked for ice the first night and never had to ask for ice again!
Activities/shows:  Again, I know Majesty is a old ship, without the Flow Riders, water slides, Central Park, etc, but there was plenty to do and see while on board.  Our Cruise Director was Patricio Honores, who I believe has been on some bigger RCI ships.  He was great!    We did trivia, scavenger hunt, relaxed, used the pool, wife had a spa treatment, exercised, watched the incredible blue ocean, went rock climbing and shopped while the ship was at seas on Tues and Fri.  We also made sure to be on the deck when we sailed under the Tampa SkyWay Bridge and when we sailed away from Costa Maya and Cozumel.  We  saw the headline show each night.  This cruise didn't have the regular Majesty shows (Boogie Wonderland), we had featured guests for entertainment.  The comics were excellent!
Excursions:  In Costa Maya, we did a trip to the Chacchoben ruins via The Native Choice (thank you RC Blog for the tip) and also had a lunch with a Mayan family during the same excursion.  Extremely well done and it was great learning about Mexico history and visiting with a current Mexican family.  The family enjoyed it.  In Cozumel, we followed the advice of Matt and other RC Bloggers and took a trip to Paradise Beach via taxi.  It was great!  Snorkling, paddle boarding, kayaking, and the ocean inflatables along with great food and drink in a terrific and scenic location.  Paradise Beach is lovely.  I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a beach escape.  
Dining (and drinks):  This really made our trip memorable.  The food was really great on our cruise.  The Windjammer offered such variety, Sorrentos pizza whenever we wanted, soft serve ice cream, Compass Deli for snacks as well.    We got a Coke beverage package for one of our kids, and we ended up buying a 10 drink card on Thursday when that was offered.  We didn't get the alcohol package because we knew we were going to be off the ship most of the day for 2 of the 5 days.  The main treat was the dining in the Main Dining Room (for us, the Moonlight Dining Room).  Our server was named Made, from Indonesia, and he was truly spectacular.  He welcomed us, made us feel like family, was charming and engaging, all the while providing outstanding service.  The food was excellent.  I'm not a foodie, but I thought the food was a clear cut above a nice chain restaurant, with plenty of choices to satisfy everyone.  Both my sons tried dishes they had never had before, and that made it fun as well.  But again, the service from the RC team is what made it so enjoyable!
Overall:  As I said, this was a fantastic vacation.   We loved cruising and I personally think it is one of the best values in a vacation because of everything involved.  We took a Disney cruise 5 years ago, and RCI matched Disney on most items, except the Dream was a newer ship than the Majesty, so the rooms were bigger and ship had more bells and whistles.  HOWEVER, the cost of  this 5 night Western Caribbean cruise for FOUR was the SAME as the cost for just ONE person to have taken the 3 night Bahamas Disney cruise!    If anyone has any doubts about the Majesty due to its age, I would put those aside.  Yep, it doesn't have all the latest, but it is a great ship and if it fits your itinerary and budget, I wouldn't hesitate to book it.    We became huge cruise fans and Royal Caribbean fans and look forward to our next cruise.
MANY thanks for Matt and the RC Bloggers for the tips and info along the way.  This is a fun community and I am glad I discovered it - it made our vacation so much more enjoyable!

Just so you know.  Supposedly, if you remove gratuities and then tip on your own, the staff is required to turn those tips in to the "pool".  While you may think you are doing certain staff a favor, you really are not.  Staff may keep any additional tip on top of the daily gratuities.
If you really want to help the staff that deserve it, get their name and use their name on the post cruise survey or any compliment card you find.  This helps their long term career and they really appreciate it.
 

At 13 and 14, you would be paying adult prices for the kids.  If you don't feel they would enjoy the food, especially at that price, I would let them eat at Windjammer and you enjoy a date night. 

Just so you know.  Supposedly, if you remove gratuities and then tip on your own, the staff is required to turn those tips in to the "pool".  While you may think you are doing certain staff a favor, you really are not.  Staff may keep any additional tip on top of the daily gratuities.
If you really want to help the staff that deserve it, get their name and use their name on the post cruise survey or any compliment card you find.  This helps their long term career and they really appreciate it.
 

Good luck teachers!  Thank you for all you do!
School started 11 days ago for us!  Don't judge me because I did a happy dance!  
Now for the oldest to be off to college tomorrow.

Just so you know.  Supposedly, if you remove gratuities and then tip on your own, the staff is required to turn those tips in to the "pool".  While you may think you are doing certain staff a favor, you really are not.  Staff may keep any additional tip on top of the daily gratuities.
If you really want to help the staff that deserve it, get their name and use their name on the post cruise survey or any compliment card you find.  This helps their long term career and they really appreciate it.
 

This was answered in the other post but I'll try again.
Yes, you can go to guest services and ask to have them removed.  If you choose to tip on your own, supposedly the staff needs to turn in those tips to the pool.  If you paid the daily gratuities and then give additional tip the staff may keep it.
Don't forget the daily gratuities are split among many staff not just those you personally see.  For example, the dining portion of the tip doesn't only include your MDR staff but also the staff in the Windjammer or those who serve breakfast and lunch.  There are many people working behind the scenes to make your cruise incredible.
If you really want to reward outstanding staff members, the best thing you could do is use their name on compliment cards and the post cruise survey.  This goes in their file and is best for their long term career.

This was answered in the other post but I'll try again.
Yes, you can go to guest services and ask to have them removed.  If you choose to tip on your own, supposedly the staff needs to turn in those tips to the pool.  If you paid the daily gratuities and then give additional tip the staff may keep it.
Don't forget the daily gratuities are split among many staff not just those you personally see.  For example, the dining portion of the tip doesn't only include your MDR staff but also the staff in the Windjammer or those who serve breakfast and lunch.  There are many people working behind the scenes to make your cruise incredible.
If you really want to reward outstanding staff members, the best thing you could do is use their name on compliment cards and the post cruise survey.  This goes in their file and is best for their long term career.

This was answered in the other post but I'll try again.
Yes, you can go to guest services and ask to have them removed.  If you choose to tip on your own, supposedly the staff needs to turn in those tips to the pool.  If you paid the daily gratuities and then give additional tip the staff may keep it.
Don't forget the daily gratuities are split among many staff not just those you personally see.  For example, the dining portion of the tip doesn't only include your MDR staff but also the staff in the Windjammer or those who serve breakfast and lunch.  There are many people working behind the scenes to make your cruise incredible.
If you really want to reward outstanding staff members, the best thing you could do is use their name on compliment cards and the post cruise survey.  This goes in their file and is best for their long term career.

Just so you know.  Supposedly, if you remove gratuities and then tip on your own, the staff is required to turn those tips in to the "pool".  While you may think you are doing certain staff a favor, you really are not.  Staff may keep any additional tip on top of the daily gratuities.
If you really want to help the staff that deserve it, get their name and use their name on the post cruise survey or any compliment card you find.  This helps their long term career and they really appreciate it.
 

Just so you know.  Supposedly, if you remove gratuities and then tip on your own, the staff is required to turn those tips in to the "pool".  While you may think you are doing certain staff a favor, you really are not.  Staff may keep any additional tip on top of the daily gratuities.
If you really want to help the staff that deserve it, get their name and use their name on the post cruise survey or any compliment card you find.  This helps their long term career and they really appreciate it.
 

I am recovering from our brief but abruptly ended recent trip to Paris.  We were supposed to stay in Paris 11 days and then board a Viking River Cruise of the Seine.  To make a long story short, we had been in Paris 5 amazing days when we got a call from home with an emergency involving our 15 year old daughter.  While I won't get into details, we had to get home immediately.  I placed a call to Sharla at MEI and she did everything... Changed our tickets, notified Viking, re-sent our invoice and Allianz policy number and gave us piece of mind.  If you have ever doubted the necessity of buying travel insurance or the usefulness of an agent...DON'T!!!!!  While I am still waiting on the claim to be processed, I'm hopeful we will get closer to $10,000 back on our dream vacation that now we might be able to do again in the future.
   Feeling a bit sad and glum, my fifteen year old and I decided to look at spring break cruises to surprise my husband with.  Sharla looked up 3 cruises for us with nary a complaint, put holds on them while we waffled, and booked us on Allure of the seas for next march.  Of the Oasis class, I was the least interested in this one, but the price was equal to Oasis and my daughter liked the ports better.  I'm excited to finally go to labadee and she is thrilled to go to San Juan, even if the port hours aren't great.  The cost was significantly more than liberty out of Galveston when you consider plane tickets to Miami but travel cancelled induced yolo is real and we are excited!
   The only thing that will change this is if my college sophomore studies abroad in Germany next winter/spring.  If so we will try Europe again and I will have to wait to see royal until our vision of the seas med/Greek isles trip in July!!!
   BUY THE INSURANCE!  USE THE AGENT!  ENJOY THE PEACE OF MIND!!  Jane

16-17 year olds can get a 10 year passport!   

I love wearing summer dresses like you but without the sweater.  Restaurants where I live are very cold in the summer and will bring something there but I don't need it on the ship.
My last cruise I wore my Reefs around all day and I'm still paying for it as my plantar facitis acted up.  My favorite pair of sandals are from vionic.  They have some platform wedge sandals that can be worn around the pool or to dinner.   They are so comfortable and I can walk forever in them.
 
 

I'd still argue this point, since the cabin gratuity, as noted, also goes to the staff in the Windjammer, Cafe Promenade, and other eateries on board that are complimentary. You'll almost certainly be eating at one or more of these establishments for breakfast and lunch, even if you never set foot in the MDR, so refusing the cabin gratuity for dining is stiffing all of those folks, not just the MDR staff (unless you plan to pass a few singles and fives across the food stations to the chefs / servers working back there, or hand some off to the staff clearing the tables...)

I'll add a few things as most have been answered. 
If you have the 5:30 traditional dining but will use specialty restaurants most nights, I would ask to switch to My Time Dining.  You certainly don't have to do this and not show up but as the 5:30 seating typically has a wait list, it would be nice.  With My Time Dining, you can show up in the MDR if you want but if I had the ultimate package I would only go to specialty restaurants.
If I chose to tip extra, I tip at the end.  Since you will be at different restaurants, you could leave extra tip money as you desire each night.  It is not necessary to tip every bartender, etc.  However, if one pays special attention to us, they may get a few dollars extra towards the end of the cruise.  While money is nice, the best thing you could do for a favorite waiter or bartender is to get their name and give them a special "shout out" in any surveys or comment cards. Those positive comments can help their career.
 
 

Your 9 yo will be in the Voyager AO club.  You can allow them to be a self signer, which means they can sign themselves in and out of AO except on port days.  On Harmony,  I had an 11 yo and he could sign himself in and out but then he had to tell us where he'd be.  He could go to the stateroom or if during the day to our pool chairs.  We allowed some freedom but not complete freedom as he is a bit immature.
The 12 yo will be in the teen club.  Since you are sailing in August and many schools are still out, I'd assume there will be a bunch of teens on the ship.  In that case, the teens are split in two groups 12-14 and 15-17.  Its very important for your teen to go the first night as they will form their own small groups and I found they were typically formed by age.   After all, not many 8th graders want to hang out with a 6th grader ? My kids have always found kids they liked there and stayed away from the ones they should not hang out with.
As I said before, we set rules regarding curfew.  You may hear that their new friends have a later curfew or could do xyz.  I always purchased the voom plan and used what's app or another texting app to keep in touch and they had to text me where they were going.  We always ate dinner together. As @KathyC aka KathLuvsGH said the penalty for breaking the rules was pretty severe so they didn't.    

We just returned home on Monday night from the best Alaska cruise and land tour ever!  We had great weather the entire time.  I will do a review when I have a little more time.

I'll add a few things as most have been answered. 
If you have the 5:30 traditional dining but will use specialty restaurants most nights, I would ask to switch to My Time Dining.  You certainly don't have to do this and not show up but as the 5:30 seating typically has a wait list, it would be nice.  With My Time Dining, you can show up in the MDR if you want but if I had the ultimate package I would only go to specialty restaurants.
If I chose to tip extra, I tip at the end.  Since you will be at different restaurants, you could leave extra tip money as you desire each night.  It is not necessary to tip every bartender, etc.  However, if one pays special attention to us, they may get a few dollars extra towards the end of the cruise.  While money is nice, the best thing you could do for a favorite waiter or bartender is to get their name and give them a special "shout out" in any surveys or comment cards. Those positive comments can help their career.
 
 

Your 9 yo will be in the Voyager AO club.  You can allow them to be a self signer, which means they can sign themselves in and out of AO except on port days.  On Harmony,  I had an 11 yo and he could sign himself in and out but then he had to tell us where he'd be.  He could go to the stateroom or if during the day to our pool chairs.  We allowed some freedom but not complete freedom as he is a bit immature.
The 12 yo will be in the teen club.  Since you are sailing in August and many schools are still out, I'd assume there will be a bunch of teens on the ship.  In that case, the teens are split in two groups 12-14 and 15-17.  Its very important for your teen to go the first night as they will form their own small groups and I found they were typically formed by age.   After all, not many 8th graders want to hang out with a 6th grader ? My kids have always found kids they liked there and stayed away from the ones they should not hang out with.
As I said before, we set rules regarding curfew.  You may hear that their new friends have a later curfew or could do xyz.  I always purchased the voom plan and used what's app or another texting app to keep in touch and they had to text me where they were going.  We always ate dinner together. As @KathyC aka KathLuvsGH said the penalty for breaking the rules was pretty severe so they didn't.    

I think you could play around the numbers and make any vacation cheaper or more expensive than an RC cruise.  In both situations, a 3 night trip is not a great value on a per person per night basis.I think the value of both is that the longer you are there, the better the value.  A few issues with the comparison mostly for those who aren't familiar with WDW:
You chose the WDW regular dining plan which includes 1 table service meal, 1 quick service meal, 2 snacks and 1 refillable mug (which isn't refillable at the theme parks) per person.  To me that means you are missing one meal, we'll say breakfast.  On RC, you could have 3 table service meals per day if you chose and the Windjammer is much better than any quick service at WDW.  I feel that the food in general is better on RC and then you could have much healthier options.  
Tips weren't included in your WDW fee, but even with the dining plan you should tip 18-20% for table service even with the dining plan (meal for 4 probably at least $100+ for 4 so about $20 tip) and tip Mousekeeping around $8-10 per day so tips for the 3 days could be around $120.  
You don't have to pay for the waterpark cabana and considering you aren't purchasing a cabana at WDW that isn't a fair comparison as you could use the free lounge chairs just like at WDW which would put RC at about $300 less. I think this is subjective to make the cost appear the same and not a true apples to apples comparison.
While you say this doesn't include the night before cruise hotel, your comparison does include 3 full days at a theme park which is also difficult unless you plan to arrive extremely early on day 1 and head straight to a park or leave extremely late on the after a park day or you add in a travel day.  Both options should allow for a travel day or both allow for a very early morning on day 1.
My family loves WDW but I love the relaxing nature of RC.  At WDW, I need to make a reservation 6 months in advance for a restaurant or make Fastpass reservations at 60 days.  At WDW, I have to be up at 6:00 or 6:30 am to try to beat the crowds at the parks.  We are due for a trip to WDW but I chose another cruise instead.  One of these days, we'll be back to WDW but right now I'm just going to relax with the family on RC.  
Either way a little weekend getaway could be quite expensive for a family.
 
 

As expected, Sharla and her supervisor did their magic since my cruise cancellation, and put on hold the exact same room on Mariner. Same week, same port, just one day fewer. They are now talking with Royal to see about price matching back to when i booked my original cruise, as I shouldn't be paying more for one less day through no fault of my own.

Best case scenario it all works out, and we end up with an extra day before our cruise. Hopefully my girls will be as accepting of this result as I will be.