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Shannon

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I am planning our first cruise. We were going to do summer 2020, but we are now thinking 2021 instead. We have narrowed it down to a Caribbean cruise, and from what I can find, RC is the way to go with my family of 5. Me, my husband, and 3 daughters. They will be 20, 18, and 15 by the time we go. I have so many questions, but don't want to be the annoying newbie asking questions you all have answered 1000 times. Is there someplace that has all the FAQ's or someplace you suggest I look?

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Also being a new wanna be cruiser I'd highly suggest using a travel agent. Can't go wrong using MEI, a sponsor of Royal Caribbean Blog.

Even as well experienced cruiser I book with a travel agent (MEI). It is great having someone else doing the leg work with the booking.

 

Finally, this is great community. Don't worry about gnawing our "ears" off. Ask away!

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12 hours ago, Shannon said:

I am planning our first cruise. We were going to do summer 2020, but we are now thinking 2021 instead. We have narrowed it down to a Caribbean cruise, and from what I can find, RC is the way to go with my family of 5. Me, my husband, and 3 daughters. They will be 20, 18, and 15 by the time we go. I have so many questions, but don't want to be the annoying newbie asking questions you all have answered 1000 times. Is there someplace that has all the FAQ's or someplace you suggest I look?

Royal has its own FAQs, but nothing substitutes for your own analysis of the vacation objectives for each traveler, what they enjoy, what they can't live with out, etc.  Managing expectations is an art.....Somewhere in your analysis you will consider how important $$ are, because some amenities are pricier than others and may not get family members closer to their vacation expectations.  I am sure you will have a great trip, whatever you choose to do.  I echo the advice to get a travel agent and see a few of Matt's videos.

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13 hours ago, Shannon said:

I am planning our first cruise. We were going to do summer 2020, but we are now thinking 2021 instead. We have narrowed it down to a Caribbean cruise, and from what I can find, RC is the way to go with my family of 5. Me, my husband, and 3 daughters. They will be 20, 18, and 15 by the time we go. I have so many questions, but don't want to be the annoying newbie asking questions you all have answered 1000 times. Is there someplace that has all the FAQ's or someplace you suggest I look?

Please, ask away!  There are SO many different ways to take a cruise vacation and a lot of it is tailored to what your family expects, how they're used to traveling, what they like to do, what they are into, etc.  Royal Caribbean has a very big product offering, even when you're just limiting it to a Caribbean cruise.  There are options out there where the ship is more of the destination than where it goes in the Caribbean and then there are smaller ship offerings that can go to interesting and unique places.  Then there are some itineraries/ships that offer a good balance between.

I highly, highly suggest that you work with a travel agent that specializes in Royal Caribbean cruises.  They can help you assess what would work best for your family and your finances and it doesn't cost anything extra.  You will have a single point of contact and not have to call into a call center when you have a question.  A lot of us, myself included, use the travel agency that is a sponsor of this blog, MEI Travel

If you go to the main blog page by clicking HOME at the very top left of the screen and fill out the yellow form on the right side of the page, someone from MEI will reach out to you to start helping you plan.  There is zero obligation and zero cost to you..the agent works for you in navigating the process!

 

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Thank you for the warm welcome! And thanks for the travel agent tip. I contacted a local one, and they just really weren’t very helpful. I’ll definitely check out MEI. I’m sure they will be able to answer a lot of my questions.

My main ones right now are about the booking process. I really would like to get connecting balcony rooms, but as look at cruises even as far out as spring 2021, connecting ones seem really hard to come by! I’m hoping that by booking pretty quickly after they open up the summer ones, I’ll have better luck. 

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9 hours ago, Shannon said:

Thank you for the warm welcome! And thanks for the travel agent tip. I contacted a local one, and they just really weren’t very helpful. I’ll definitely check out MEI. I’m sure they will be able to answer a lot of my questions.

My main ones right now are about the booking process. I really would like to get connecting balcony rooms, but as look at cruises even as far out as spring 2021, connecting ones seem really hard to come by! I’m hoping that by booking pretty quickly after they open up the summer ones, I’ll have better luck. 

This is EXACTLY where the TA can help you.  They have access to a much more robust cabin search feature.  

If you tell them what you are looking for they can find it and get back to you with what they've found.  They can place courtesy holds on cabins and report back to you on pricing.  They will work with you via email or over the phone, Facebook messenger, whatever is the easiest for you.  

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