klc317

Thats pretty much ours too since we usually get interior rooms. I always bring a mini LED flashlight and a multi-tool/knife too. I'm strangely OCD about things like loose fasteners on cabinets and things so Ive fixed minor things in our cabin before....lol....wife thanks I'm nuts! We also bring a pack of the Clorox healthcare grade hydrogen peroxide wipes that kill noro-virus and wipe down the room when we first arrive before we "move in"...things like door handles, light switches, faucets, shelves, remote control, etc. Oh, and I always bring a 16oz stainless Yeti since I drink beer and they serve the 16oz wide mouth bottles onboard. The bartenders always remember me cause I'm the guy with the metal can cooler....lol! Another thing since the bathrooms are so small and have very little air movement is a small can of air freshener. Unfortunately when you take a #2 it may be necessary in that tiny space for a few minutes afterwards.

We generally eat dinner in the MDR but sometimes we don't have time from getting back in from a port or if we embark at the beginning of the cruise and its during dinner time (we always get early dinner) I'd rather watch the ship leave/sailaway so we will go to windjammer. We don't partake in specialty extra charge dining. I'm sure its good but theres always plenty of food, way more than we can eat at the regular venues. We have learned to appreciate the MDR breakfast though....much less chaotic and crowded than windjammer at certain hours in the morning.

Hey man, sounds good to me!! Enjoy the extra time!! Nothing wrong with the little ships......we always have a good time....its vacation after all.

Awesome! Id be so thrilled with that but I understand some people have to get home....cant control the weather! We are going on empress in about a month, Oct 5th sailing. Have been on alot of cruises with RC but not on Empress yet. Hopefully things are calm when we go...just a 5 night with myself and wife. Looking forward to it.

Our daughter has been on 4 cruises with us, she's now 7 but we took her when she was three. Adventure ocean is great, she loves going there. We usually take her for a couple hours after dinner so we can do adult things. She enjoys hanging out with other kids her age and they have all kinds of activities and crafty things to do, the staff has always been awesome. We don't leave her there all day, would rather spend time with her during the day and experience things. We usually eat dinner in the MDR and she has always gone with us, wherever we ate she ate there as well. Being 3 they might still need naps so we would take turns, I'd stay in the cabin with her for a couple hours in the afternoon one day and the wife would handle the next day and so on. I can suggest getting a compact/lightweight/foldable stroller to take on port days. As for excursions when she was younger we would just do tours and things that didn't involve a ton of walking or exhausting activities. Now she does things we like to do like swimming with dolphins, stingrays, etc that are a bit more involved. One thing we learned quickly back then is that stroller wheels and deep sand like on a beach don't play well together....lol. Obviously things like lots of kids sunblock and waterproof toys to play with on the beach.

Empress on Oct 5th (5 night coco cay and key west), just the wife and I and then Rhapsody next april (7 night western caribbean) with our 7 year old daughter.

We've never had any problems. I just pack them in the daily container thing and keep in my carryon for flights and cruises. Nobody has ever said a word and I travel alot.

We got that email saying they would honor it too. I really didn't expect them to and wouldn't have been upset if they didn't but we will take it.....its for our cruise next April. We were looking at taking a short vacation this fall and ended up booking a 5 night cruise in October yesterday with the 4th of July sale. There generosity and owning their mistake was a factor in that decision, I appreciate that!

We are booked on an April 2020 cruise on Rhapsody. Have never been on the ship but have been on Enchantment which is close to the same setup albeit a longer ship. We enjoyed it

Yea, the sports teams are a disastrous disappointment lately I'll give you that. But I sure do love a cheese coney and a 4-way from Skyline. Some LaRosas and some Graeters aint too bad either.

Interesting discovery we've made over the past several cruises. There are several Skyline chili locations in Florida not far from the ports. One very near Ft Lauderdale and one in Clearwater if you're cruising from Tampa. Seems to hit the spot if you have time before your flight home after a cruise.....we usually have evening flights home to works out for us.

We've used SAS transportation several times for the same trip and have been pleased and happy with their service and prices. They have some big newer Ford Transit vans and have plenty of room for luggage. Usually when we get back we have flights later in the evening so we rent a car and drive up and down the A1A and check out some beaches and sights in between Miami and Ft Lauderdale for the day. Lots of really beautiful homes, exotic cars you don't always see, and beautiful beaches.

Thats one of my favorite things about cruising. Finding a dark/isolated spot up high on the ship at night.....the stars and views are so much more vibrant and visible way out at sea.

I would love to try that itinerary sometime, looks so interesting. Just the cost of the flights is kinda out of our budget and makes it unreasonable.

I found it at Walmart actually. Cant remember the brand name offhand but they work as well as a Yeti and look just like them. Just get the 16oz can size (they are taller) and work just fine with the screw top 16s they serve on the ship.

Ive never ordered one but I'd think they give you the same type of screw on top aluminum bottles if you are getting main stream beer brands

16 oz aluminum screw top bottle are what they serve for your main stream beer brands. I bought an off brand aluminum Yeti type can cooler for the 16 oz ones and have had it on several cruises now. Its like a taller 12 oz can Yeti but holds the odd shaped 16oz AL. bottles just fine. Its funny because I walk up to the bar and because of that the bartenders always recognize me immediately and know I'm the guy with that can cooler and like Miller Lite...lol. They've even asked to hold it and check it out which is fine with me.

Yes....lol We went through two on our last cruise. I just hit up the guest services desk on an off hour with no line and got new ones....twice!

2016

We will try one of the Oasis class ships in the next few years....hopefully!

A couple weeks ago we used Barnards Tours and there was a 45 min or so stop there. Perfect time of day....got to see an Air France A330 landing, a United 737, Delta 757, and an Air Canada 767 takeoff. It was part of the whole island tour. I'd recommend it. I'm not sure I'd be thrilled with spending an entire day there as it gets very crowded (we were one of 7 ships there that day including Harmony) and besides the bar area theres no shade anywhere. We've taken a taxi there before several years ago. I cant remember the cost but be aware its quite a drive back to the port area where the ship is and the traffic can really add up the time it takes to get back. Make sure to leave plenty early. We managed to get right behind the 757 spooling up and taking off and thats always a thrill. Got sandblasted and soaked from some ladies cups of drinks she was holding blowing all out......funny stuff!

Geez...what a mess. I'm wondering how bad the underside and the azipods look. Not good.

Wow, looks bad. Thoughts go to the injured folks.

April fools I'm hoping??

When we were there for the first time ever last year we chose Maya Chan. It was great! A couple from the states own/operate it and it is very nice. They have free drinks all day, chairs and umbrellas, ocean kayaks, make a delicious taco bar type lunch, very friendly/family type atmosphere. One of the best places for an all day type relaxing place we have found. They have a few friendly dogs and cats there too which is nice if you are missing your 4 legged friends back home. We are going to Costa Maya again next year and will definitely try to go back for our day there. Unfortunately last year the area was dealing with an unusually high amount of sea grass coming in from the ocean and piling up on the beach areas and such so swimming wasn't much fun but that was no ones fault. They do offer transportation included and the driver at the time of picking us up informed us of the sea grass issue and was offering to refund our cost if we didn't want to go because of the mess. I'm glad we still went, had a great time! We booked it on our own and they made sure to have us back to the ship in ample time before departure. I have some pictures if anyone would like to see but I'm sure if you look it up theres plenty there. They have showers and changing areas, a place to get a massage if you wish. When you first arrive and are presented with the entry/port area it can look a little intimidating as if you're going to be swamped with pushy local vendors but it isn't bad at all.