KristenM

We are on the same cruise as you! We have a beach bed for tomorrow, I’m curious to see the setup. I can report back for you after tomorrow! I plan on taking my camera for some good pics.

I also suggest a USB charging hub for any devices needing to be charged. I am just bringing our charging "station" from home since it is compact enough, but below is an example of what I am talking about. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01FX8GF5M/ref=sspa_dk_detail_7?psc=1

@Kelz they only allow non surge protectors, and even the non ones can be confiscated depending on the crew. What I mean is, surge protectors are prohibited and on paper the non surge protectors are allowed. Every once in awhile someone reports that a non surge was taken (you pick up anything that was confiscated as you get off the ship). I was going to ask you what kind this is, but from the picture I see the word “protected” with a little status light above it so I’m going to guess it is, and likely crew would also. I would suggest a product that specifically says “non surge protection” and “ship approved”. There are many options, but here is one as an example. Cruise Power Strip with USB Outlets - Non Surge Protection & Ship Approved | Travel Accessories and Must Haves by Cruise On https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07BHVKPC3/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_-y.dDbT7499HF

@Whizbank I’m so glad you enjoyed your cruise!! I totally agree with longer sailings when you have to fly, it’s a lot of work for just a couple of days and we are only a family of 3 traveling (9 year old) so I can only begin to imagine how tired the two of you must have been! Navigator was my first ship back in 2004 and Viking Crown was one of my favorite spots for the exact reasons you mentioned!! Thanks again for the write up, I really enjoyed your recaps even though I didn’t catch it live. You both sound like amazing people and I wish more people in this world shared your same positive outlook. Happy belated birthday also!! ?

I was going to respond to your question about leaving for airport later with my personal experience with this happening (delayed, then going back to on time = running thru airport like a lunatic), but looks like you’re all set! Looking forward to following along! I enjoy our cruises with child and sans child equally since, like you said, they ate very different vacations. Enjoy!!

THIS!!!!!! You said exactly what I was getting ready to say!

Where is the ship leaving from/what is the itinerary? If it is leaving from somewhere in the US I would guess yes since they typically have something for most holidays. If it’s a Europe/Asia/Australia sailing that could change things. I would say anything red, white and blue, maybe some glow sticks and beads are always a safe go to. And if they don’t, you can always use the stuff at whatever party they have; 70’s night, 80’s night, White night etc. Not sure which one(s) Ovation does but all cruises usually have at least one “party” night. Hopefully someone else has some first hand experience for you! ?

Have a great cruise!! I still get giddy the day before. ?

I’ll be happy to report back after our stop in July and let you know. I believe the South Beach area (I think it will have a new name?) is opening in December 2019, unless there is a delay in construction. Yours would also be dependent on if the bungalows and beds are going back where they were. I’m guessing, and this is total speculation, but if they work well over on Chill Island for the next 6 months I wouldn’t be surprised if they had them in both locations. More to rent, more revenue for them! I am thinking about my first live blog for this cruise since we have a lot of firsts. And some interesting family dynamics that could provide some entertainment. If I do, I will give you a heads up so you can read my thoughts on CocoCay and the beach beds/Chill Island! ?

Thank you to both of you, @WAAAYTOOO and @StayFrosty I look forward to hear both of your thoughts! I’m mostly curious about the setup, it’s my understanding the beds weren’t originally planned for Chill Island. I want to make sure they aren’t squeezed into an odd spot or over crowded etc. I figured we would secure one, and worst case is we cancel if we change our minds. Enjoy your cruises!!

This got me thinking, at what point did this change? I know it has been changed for awhile now but I have always been curious as to how long ago this changed. In 2004 on my first cruise (Navigator), I was 21 but my girlfriend with me was only 20. She had to get something signed from her parents (I think? this part is vague) allowing her to drink beer and wine only. She had a little sticker on her Seapass card indicating this. I mean, of course we strictly obeyed those rules and I at NO point in the cruise bought any shots for anyone other than myself ? I am sailing next month with my nephew who is 18 and I am bummed I can't secretly... make my sister REALLY mad hehehe

Any of you lovely peeps going to be in CocoCay over the next few weeks? We reserved a beach bed last night and see they have been moved to Chill Island, and I am just nosy/needy and want to see where they are located. They weren't showing available before so we decided to reserve just in case, we still haven't decided 100% what we are doing that day. Our clamshell/lounger was cancelled on Wednesday, looks like South Beach is closed until Dec? Although I am surprised they are moving beach beds to Chill Island but not the loungers? We will be there on 7/17 (the 7/12 Adventure sailing). I think Anthem GC is the week before me but anyone going like say... next week? If so, please report back on Chill Island and I will ever be grateful! ?

Oooh no!!! They just reappeared on my planner and booked it. I found this thread trying to figure where they were located since I can’t find on map ??

I am so with you. I am actually surprised by MANY people’s responses here. Including ones I would never expect it from. Thought this forum prided itself on being bigger people than those who critique their cruises on that other forum??

@Matt come on, even you wouldn’t pass up a free cruise!!! PS can you make the boards more Kristen-friendly? I have no idea what I posted above, or how to delete! ?

Thanks @mpoole3 !!! I had a feeling the hotel itself wouldn’t love the idea of willingly giving out a ton of details. I’m going to reach out to Resort for a Day. Someone in our FB group for the sailing said it was sold out which I found odd, because it definitely is not! I’m glad I stumbled upon that post the other day, glad it helped you out! Have fun this weekend!!

You’re welcome! I never like the bearer or bad news, but I’m glad it at least saved you from disappointment! Did they happen to say how long the construction will last? I’ll be there mid-July. Was thinking about giving them a call today.

Are you aware of any construction currently going on at BCH? I read on that other, extremely inferior site earlier, but I can’t seem to find any other info online! They specifically mentioned pool construction ?? PS.. I think the costs of Thrill Waterpark are extremely reasonable and much lower than I anticipated... but my opinion still stays the same haha

That is exactly where my son saw it too!! I was planning on biting the bullet, but only if we would have a full day there. Considering how late we get into port it just doesn't make sense for us this time around.

When are you going? We are going in July and are thinking about it. Price doesn’t seem terrible, and a unique experience, but I’m not ? yet.

TLDR; This is a very subjective subject, but curious on people’s opinions. What would YOU do in Nassau from noon to midnight? My 9 y/o has been begging to go to Atlantis. I’ve never been, mostly because I can’t justify spending that money. I ended up booking a room at the hotel next door (Comfort Inn?) that gives you full access to Atlantis. With taxes and fees, it’s a little over $300 for 3 of us. Not terrible compared to buying the Aquaventure passes at $160 each. But, I forgot we don’t arrive until noon, and I think I read the waterpark closes at 6. Realistically, by the time we get off ship, get a cab, check into hotel and all that fun stuff, I doubt we would get to Atlantis before 2pm. That leaves 4 hours, lame! ?? I have been openly anti Thrill Waterpark at CocoCay since the announcement, but now I’m debating doing the waterpark there (as a “compromise” with our 9 y/o). It will cost half the $ and we have the full day. I am so torn! If you have been to Atlantis, did you find it worth it? Especially from a kids perspective. And if we don’t do Atlantis, any suggestions for Nassau for this time frame besides staying on the ship?

Hey Oliver! Sorry for a delayed response, I forget to check these boards often, so thank you @Matt for the heads up! My son also has ADHD with ODD and is also boarderling on the spectrum (he has many characteristics “above the line” but is lucky enough to not suffer from some of the “key” traits of people on the spectrum) I’m sure we share in many of our struggles and triumphs with our “awesome in their own way” kiddos. If you listened to Royal vs. NCL podcast, that was me so hopefully I can help a little! I will say, my son is 8 so some strategies may not apply but they may give you some ideas that would work for your son. I am a firm believer in every child is different, whether they are “mainstream” (I hate that word) or have any diagnoses. Every child (and adult) have their own areas of life in which they accel and struggle in. Each person has their own, but the thing we all have in common is what also makes us all so different! For my son, routine is HUGE. He needs a schedule, and even acknowledges it. I try to keep as many parts of our day to day routine in tact, while also making vacation a special time. For example, he doesn’t have his usual bedtime like we were home, but he still has a bedtime that is discussed prior, so there are no surprises. We usually let him pick one night to stay late at AO, usually the Pajama Party. I also pack certain cereals for the morning, so his morning routine is fairly unchanged. We keep our bedtime routine as close as we can with taking the tight living quarters into account. This is one reason we do a balcony when sailing with him. The balcony gives us a little extra space, especially when he’s falling asleep. Setting expectations ahead of time is a huge factor for us as well. This helps limit (doesn’t eliminate) meltdowns although as he is getting older those are getting much better. At the same time, since he is getting older (will turn 9 in November), setting expectations with known consequences and rewards ahead of time often makes him think twice about his actions. As I am sure you know, this isn’t easy for one with ADHD and ODD, and I remind him we never expect perfection but that he try his best. So, knowing if we get a call from AO to tell us he is not behaving as expected (for example, throwing a block across the room because he lost a game of Connect 4 ??) means he would be missing the Aqua Show often makes him stop, maybe with the block in his hand and arm in mid throw stance, and say “oh crap, maybe I shouldn’t do this” LOL. I also give him a few goals for the week. For example, if we go X amount time without {insert a struggle you son has}, then in return he would get $5 for arcade, or a half hour longer at AO that night, etc. I try to set some very easily attainable goals for him so he doesn’t get discouraged, but at the same time I set a few “stretch” goals for him to really work towards. I don’t know about your son, but mine thrives on positive recognition and feels really proud of himself when he accomplishes his goals. My son luckily has a very outgoing personality, so I do not have much trouble getting him engaged. It’s actually usually the opposite, he gets too excited and forgets about personal space and other people’s needs or wants. However, there is one more thing we do with him during the planning stage and also while on the cruise that helps make him feel part of the planning process and that his “likes” are also taken into consideration. I am thinking this could potentially help you out with getting him more engaged since he would be making some decisions. We let him make some of our choices for the week, within reason! We will let him pick our “excursion” for one of the ports, although after zip lining in Honduras against my will, I will now be limiting his choices to a few options! ? At the beginning of the cruise, we take a look at the kids activities for the week and let him pick his favorite activities he hopes to participate in. This not only helps in making him feel part of the decision making process but also just helps in making sure his time spent at AO is spent doing activities he enjoys, he would much rather go to Pirate night than a princess hat party (I totally made that one up, but you get the idea lol). Are there certain themes or activities your son enjoys that would help make him more engaged while there? For my son, when it is something he is serious about, currently dinosaurs, you will have his undivided attention! And, when he is telling you the difference between a Velociraptor and an Indoraptor, he best have YOUR undivided attention. I feel like I rambled on but I am not sure I fully answered your question. If you have any other questions, or would like more specific info from our experiences I am more than happy to answer them as best I can! My biggest suggestion would be choices. It doesn’t have to be wide open choices, even if it is a choice between two or three options he feels more involved and he is also doing activities he is most interested in and skips the ones that don’t peek his interest. Happy Sailing!!! ~Kristen

Besides the customer service issues on the last day, it wasn’t a horrible week, and I think traveling without a child I would have had a different experience. I wouldn’t be nervous, just have your expectations set at ththe right level so there isn’t any disappointments.

I was getting tired last night and wrapped up quickly, I didn’t realize I had so much to say! Royal Caribbean just delivers a higher quality product, that I think I maybe took for granted prior to this sailing. Besides the issue the last day, I didn’t think anything was “horrible” it’s just seemed like something was missing all week. I never had that “omg I’m on a cruise” excitement, and I wasn’t even sad to pack up and head home

A few people have asked to hear about my thoughts so here it is.. although this isn’t really a live blog but we just got off the other day A little background on me... I went on my first cruise in 2004 on Navigator of the Seas, and then in 2006 it was Mariner of the Seas. I went on these in my early 20s. Flash forward about 10 years, now in my early (almost mid) 30s and have an 8 year old son. I was a single mother for some time and cruising wasn’t even something that crossed my mind. I worked my a$$ off to provide a wonderful life for my son, and 4 years ago I met a great man who is also a great father to my son. I was now finally in a much better financial situation and in early 2016 we were ready to book our first family vacation!!! After doing some research I was debating between Norwegian and Royal Caribbean. Considering I took a 10 year hiatus from cruising, I felt like everything was brand new again. We ended up booking Harmony of the Seas for November 2016. At the time, I didn’t even know Harmony was a brand new ship and that we were booked on her first 7 day Caribbean sailing!! Talk about a steeler cruise to reintroduce myself to cruising!! I started googling and more googling until I stumbled upon Royal Caribbean Blog! After I had booked our Harmony sailing, but prior to actually sailing, a friend mentioned wanting to book a cruise for 2017. I was in!! They were celebrating their 10 year anniversary and only request was they didn’t want to visit Jamaica (bad experience on honeymoon). Since we were sailing an eastern itinerary in 2016, and all the western itineraries I could find for the time period we were looking at and leaving out of Florida, they all had a stop in Jamaica. My friends found an interesting itinerary on the NCL Getaway. It came with their “perks” of the unlimited beverage package and 3 nights specialty dinning. In the meantime, more people joined the group and I was out numbered in the vote to go RCI. I said, what the hell, let’s do it! You don’t know if like something until you try it, right? Well flash forward again to November 2017... and I tried it, and know if I like it or not! I am going to do a comparison by category comparing my Harmony sailing to my Getaway sailing. Now, I know this isn’t exactly comparing apples to apples since Harmony was brand new, and larger. But Getaway is only a few years old, and still holds well over 4,000 passengers I feel they close enough to form my opinions. Pre Boarding/Cruise Planner - Prior to sailing on Harmony, Royal’s cruise planner drove me nuts. Several different glitches, and it that it never worked properly on my phone. I hate having to get my laptop out! But, I was able to browse and book Shore excursions right away, they ran several different sales and everything was easy to find. NCL - I couldn’t even view most excursions until about 120 days out. I am a HUGE type A personality planner and this drove me nuts! I don’t book most excursions through the ship so this wasn’t a huge deal except for the fact that I wanted to book a Beach Villa on their brand new private island in Belize called Harvest Caye (more on this later). So, needless to say I was checking on a weekly basis and finally around the end of July (we were sailing in November) I was finally able to book the Villa. I found the website lacking and a little hard to navigate, and I was unable to link our dining between our different reservations. Because of this, and the timing of them releasing their Shore excursions, Royal wins for pre cruise planning. RCI 1 NCL 0 Embarkation - We were lucky to be one of the first sailings on Harmony, which you entered your credit card info, uploaded your picture etc all ahead of time. It is my understanding not all RCI ships are this way, so I’m not going to take that into account, although I definitely liked that better. Embarkation was fairly simple on both, fast and effecient. On NCL we were traveling with my elderly grandmother who needed wheelchair assistance, we were one of the first people on the ship! This also happened to me on my first two sailings with Royal (my grandfather was with us), moral of the story, if anyone in your party can justify a wheelchair, take advantage! Lol. Overall embarkation is a tie with very little issues on both RCI 2 NCL 0 First impressions on board - Royal ships are just gorgeous!! I have not sailed on one without a Promenade and I really missed it! That giddy feeling when you first walk on board was missing. We boarded NCL on deck 7, and got to see the stairwell.. talk about underwhelming. Luckily my TA had given me a heads up so at least I was prepared RCI 3 NCL 0 Staterooms - We had a standard balcony room on Harmony. It was my first time on a balcony and I was officially hooked! We are a family of 3, so 2 adults and a child. We had more than enough storage and closet space, including room for my 15 pairs of shoes (don’t judge). NCL, because my grandmother was traveling with us, we had connecting staterooms. One a Family Mini Suite and the other an Angled Balcony Room. The balcony room was their standard balcony room, but our balcony was where the ship “jutted” out, giving more room. We had planned on opening the divider for one large balcony. Well, “they don’t allow it for safety reasons” a quote from our room steward. My question, why was the ship built with opening dividers if it’s a safety issue and they aren’t allowed to open them? Major disappointment number 1. We were warned the balconies were going to be tiny, but were not cocnerned as we thought we would have one long one. I am an average height woman at about 5’6”. When I sat in ththere chair that was all the way back, my knees touched the glass on the standard balcony of the mini suite. Slightly more room on the angled balcony, but because of th angle we could only look forward not aft.. without hanging over the edge with someone hanging onto you so you don’t fall. No thank you! Bathrooms in both balcony rooms were fairly similar in size. The Family Mini Suite is a glorified balcony with a larger bathroom. It is NOT similar to a Junior Suite on RCI. It did come with a full bathtub with a double sink which was nice. The only closet in the room is very close to the couch and you had to shimmy in sideways to get in. I definitely did not have room for 12 pairs of shoes (I tried to pack lighter this year). Decor was only meh.. Royal wins for staterooms hands down RCI 4 NCL 0 Food (the best part!) - I was actually disappointed with the overall food on Harmony. I was used to the old style cruising of one specialty restaurant and set dining time with the same waiter each night. Traditional dining was booked so we had to go with My Time Dinning. We ate in the dining room 3 times and 4 Specialty (Chops, 150 CP, Jamie’s and Wonderland). All our specialty dining was amazing, main dining room not so much, including service. One night the food was just disgusting. And another night our server left much to be desired. NCL has 3 main dining rooms, they have named theirselves “Freestyle cruising”. At first I thought I wouldn’t like this. I like traditional cruise dining, I enjoyed getting to know your waiter and your table mates, I enjoyed formal nights. When else as an adult do you have an excuse to get all fancy?? We decided well in advance we would be doing our own formal night. To our surprise, many people did the same! You would see eveverything from evening gowns to shirts and tanks and no one judged. I even wore shorts and sandals one night and I loved it! The food, I didn’t have one bad meal, including complimentary. There is a pub type place called O’Sheehans that is complimentary, we are not big buffet people so this is where we ate most lunches. Everything was at minimum average and at best, delicious! There is also a Margaritaville onboard (for a charge) because of the fact they had so many choices for complimentary dining and literally didn’t have one bad meal, topped with the relaxed dress code, NCL wins this one. I’m even going to give them 1.5 points since I am combining dinning and dress code.. it really was nice being able to go casual without any glaring eyes RCI 4 NCL 1.5 Kids Club - I should start with saying, my son has slight special needs being diagnosed ADHD with ODD (oppositional defiance disorder) basically, he does whatever he wants and doesn’t care about consequences. He was borderline on the spectrum with Aspergers, but was just under the line. I didn’t know at the time, but RCI is endorsed by the Austism Research Institute and even has sailings Autism of the Seas. I was so nervous about dropping him off and having behavioral issues. He had so much fun there!! Everything was structured and organized, what he thrives from. He wanted to be at the kids club any moment he could. He was just as excited to try the NCL kids club. NCL was much smaller, but I had expected that knowing Harmonys was the newest and best with a science, art and theater room. 2 out of the first 3 days we had behavioral issues. Now, I know more than anyone that my son can be a handful, and he defiantly did wrong, I felt the staff on RCI was just better trained to accommodate “non mainstream” children like himself, and were able to see certain behavior be triggered and able to redirect prior to meltdowns. We took 2 days off from the club then went back for short time periods and with a track phone. He still had fun! RCI 5 NCL 1.5 Ship Activities/Overall layout - Harmony was so easy to navigate, it didn’t matter it is the largest cruise ship in the world. I never got lost once, things made sense. The neighborhood concept is amazing and makes you feel comfortable and at home. I enjoy having the promenade and almost a “central main location” the hub of the ship sort of speak. I never had that feeling on NCL, it always felt like something was missing. The Atrium was just not the same, I am not sure if I would feel the same on a RCI ship with an atrium instead of a promenade. I may need to stick to Voyager Class or above! The casino was in the middle of the main deck and we had to walk through with children to get to the main dining room and if it wasn’t for all the smoke I probably wouldn’t care. There is no mid bank of elevators, only forward and aft. You have to walk outside to get to ththe buffet... did I mention it was downporuing in Honduras?? I was warned ahead of time the pool was tiny, and it was. There is only one main pool, and it’s adults only. There is a glorified hot tub squeezed between the slides and the splash area that they called the “kids pool”. Because it’s in th middle, there is no wherno for chairs. Since I am one of the parents that watches their child, unless I wanted to go in I had to sit on the side. They should have planned better and thought of parents. The splash area looked good for small children, but did not interest my 8 year old. We was luckily tall enough to do some sides this year which was a plus, although we only did them once. Mini was gold was average for a ship, but the sports complex area was impressive overall. The ropes course and plank over th edge was pretty sick, in addition to the bungee trampoline for anyone under 90lbs. The sports complex is really the good thing I have to say about the ship RCI 6 NCL 1.5 Private Islands - I have only been to CocoCay, not Labadee but I need to make it happen. I loved CocoCay, water was beautiful and it was so relaxing. Loved everything was included like the ship. Tendering is a downside although that is now changing! I was so excited for Harvest Caye in Belize. They just built it and it looked amazing. As time went on I found out it wasn’t your typical private island and everything was run by locals not the ship, so nothing was included. After some time I became ok with the idea that it wasn’t truly a private island, instead just another port stop. There were some people on board who hadn’t done their research and were not pleased which is understandable. It is also why you do a little research first. The island landscaping and water was beyond beautiful. I felt like we were on a pacific island. We had the last villa on the beach so it was nice and private and service was amazing. I defiantly enjoyed my day there more than CocaCay but I think the villa had something to do with that.. I will totally be looking into one for the 2019 GC. Since to me it’s not truly a “Private Island” I’m giving NCL .5 points, making the total RCI 6 NCL 2 As you can see by the scores, it wasn’t all bad. I found the ship not as family friendly as Royal Caribbean, and if you are traveling without children you may have a very different experience, and until the last day I was thinking I would maybe sail them again, just as an adults only cruise, until... I was looking over my bill the last sea day and noticed a $300 charge from the Tempanyaki night. My sons birthday was one night on board and 9 of us went to dinner there. 6 of us had the specialty dinning package and I was paying for the other 3.. I promise you it’s not $100 per person. I went to guest services to correct and she insisted we used all the nights and that’s why we were charged. After arguing for 20 mins and a few phone calls, she finally figured out that they not only charged me for all 9 but thwas dining was applied that night. Now, to issue the refund she had to get the manager of that restaurant to do it, she couldn’t. We waited abou 15 mins and he argued with us and didn’t even understand the receipt from HIS restaurant. It clearly said “9 @ $29.95” then the service charge the and the total (around $310). He was an asshat (can I say that on here?) and said I was “wrong” and he needed a calculator. Needless to say I got my refund. Did I mention I am an accountant? The last night of the cruise we went to get our pictures. My mother and I split a 30 print package for $250 prior to sailing. There was a special onboard for that price plus a USB of all the images. We asked a girl if ours had that and she said yes. We went to order our prints and another asshat (I can say that, right?) said it was $20 extra. He called the girl over and proceeded to argue with her, she was insisting it did and he did not. She ended up apologizing saying she was mistaken and it doesn’t come with ours since we bought ahead of time. So basically they penalize you for buying ahead even though the falsely advertised you were saving money booking ahead. More importantly the horrible customer service from Jovan in the photo studio who not only argued with me but also very rudely with a coworker right in front of us. Over a $20 USB after spending $250 on pictures!!! I walked out of there with my free USB and someone who will only be sailing RCI from now on!! Did I mention my son and grandmother who shared a room both left with rashes? They decided to check for any infestation on disembarkation day I feel like I may have rambled there at points and also probably forgot to touch on something so if you have any questions please feel free to ask!