Cdncruisefam

Hi

We’re looking at the Serenade or Ovation to Alaska this summer but are wondering what route Ovation takes up to Alaska?  The Serenade sails the passage between the mainland and Vancouver island but we haven’t been able to find a map on the RCCL website (nor were they able to tell me on the phone) if Ovation just sails out of Seattle into the Pacific and then to the Alaskan Inside passage or takes the BC inside passage route as well.
 

Hope the above makes sense and thanks for your help!!!!

Thanks for the replies!

Hi 

We’re thinking of cruising to Alaska this summer and have been told that smaller ships that cruise the Inside Passage from Vancouver (Serenade) have the best itineraries to see wildlife/ Alaska vs the ones that cruise from Seattle (Ovation). But we’re travelling with our 12 and 8 year olds so I was hoping others could share their thoughts about the Serenade in Alaska for young kids?
 

TIA

Very helpful review, especially since my kids are around the same age. Do you think the Cabanas in Labadee would be worth the cost with young ones like that?

Thanks for reading along! It's hard to say about the cabana. We aren't really sun worshipers :). We love to relax a bit and swim but my kids would never last long enough at a beach to make a cabana worthwhile :). They look great though and I kinda picture myself at a different time in my life lounging back in one with a good book!

Love your feedback on the trip. We will be on Indy in April. First time cruisers.

Thanks Cruiser1128. You're going to have a great time in April! The ship is beautiful and the crew is so friendly.

Day 7 Labadee

We decided to head to the dining room for breakfast this morning. We were up in enough time since we didn't want to head to the beach too late. The Windjammer has a lot of selection and is quick and convenient but there's a lot to be said for having your hot plate of food brought to you rather than you finding a table while juggling your own plate of lukewarm food! We really enjoyed our breakfast. Our table had the smoked salmon plate, the pancakes, scrambled eggs and the French toast. The cereal and fruit buffet were very good also. I was wishing we hadn't waited until Day 7 to head here!

When we left there was quite a line for the dining room.

We quickly gathered our beach gear and headed out. We'd heard that another ship would be docking at Labadee today and we wanted to find a nice shady spot to hang out in before the beach got too crowded.

It was a perfect beach day. Last year in March it was so hot the walk to Nellies beach seemed very long. Today was just right. The weather was perfect, the beach attendant found us loungers in the shade, not under coconut trees (yay no danger of falling coconuts!) and we remembered to bring tip money this time. Things were starting just great! Last year I didn't spend too much time in the water with the baby since she doesn't like waves and my DH had to hold onto my daughter most of the time. Not this year, the water was calm and warm. The baby and I just sat in the water and relaxed. I could've stayed there all day.

The beach started filling up but not too bad. We kept looking for the other ship wondering why it was so late arriving......but happy that it hadn't shown yet because it would've felt crowded.

Around 1 we made the tough decision to leave the beach and head back to the ship for lunch. This was the best beach day. I love Labadee. As I'm writing this it's -24C outside. It's nice to be thinking about the beach!

The Windjammer was very quiet since most people were at the beach buffet. I really enjoy the Windjammer like this. It's easy to find a table by the window and you don't feel rushed. Today I was so looking forward to having another veggie burger. I really enjoyed the one I had yesterday and the moment I showed up at the grill the chef knew right away what I wanted and took one out for me and handed me some peanut butter and jam for the girls sandwiches. I love service like that. Unfortunately he wasn't at the grill the next day because I wanted to give him a well deserved Wow card :(

We asked one of the crew members why the other ship Explorer of the Seas hadn't shown up at Labadee. He told us it was due to technical difficulties but we now know that it was due to the noro outbreak! I feel badly for those who got sick but I'm very happy that Royal made the call to keep the ship away from the island and Indy passengers!

off to nap time and then up to the pool.

Had fun at dinner that night as we did every night but I ordered the filet of sole and it was only so so.

The family event tonight was games in the Labyrinth. Our DD loves when they have kids events in there so off we went. Unfortunately we were the only family to show up! But DD got to join in and watch her mom and dad dance to the YMCA just for her. The baby enjoyed playing with the balls and hula hoops.

We went to the production show since we thought it was going to be a group performing music from the Temptations. My mom was really looking forward to it. Instead the show was Centre Stage with the ship performers. There were a few good songs but it didn't catch my DDs interest so we left early. We were wondering if the other show was cancelled because the group was supposed to come over from Explorer that day.

Then we left the kids with granny because tonight was The Quest!! I've seen the Quest several times, this was only DHs second time since we do not bring our kids to these kind of things. It started off a little slow. I was surprised by the new rules: no running; handing things down instead of throwing; a safety zone around Joff. Breaking the rules meant point reductions. When I've watched and participated in the past the fun about the Quest was how everyone (myself included, but what happens at the quest stays at the quest :eek: ) really got into it and went a little crazy. Made me very curious as to what must have happened in the recent past that caused them to tone it down!! Must be some stories there... We left halfway through.

Snacks and night night.

Next up....last day at sea

San Juan continued...

After swimming it was time to get ready for the second formal night of the cruise. Tonight was Fisherman's platter night and my DH couldn't have been happier. We all enjoyed the lobster.

Tonight was another scheduled family event we didn't want to miss - the family scavenger hunt - kind of a Quest junior version. Five families showed up so there were 5 teams. Each team needed a team captain under 21. Our DD was the youngest team captain by at least 5 years and of course also the tiniest. The captains would be given a task to do or something to find and either they or one of their team members would have to fulfill it, similar to the adult version. Well we learned something about our DD that night...she has a bit if a competitive streak! The littlest team captain won the game!! The Adventure Ocean leader renamed our team the 'Daddy Daddy' team. The next day our DD handed out medals to our team. She had us stand in line at the Royal Promenade in a semi-official medal ceremony :). It was a lot of fun. A great family memory.

My DH and I had decided that tonight we wanted to relax for awhile in the hot tub and see how the baby would do in the nursery. We made a reservation for 9pm before we left for dinner that night. There weren't many children on our sailing so getting in wasn't a problem. If you sail during spring break you might want to reserve the times you want on Day 1 when you register your baby at the nursery. They gave us a bag for the baby when we registered her the first day where we put a diaper, wipes, a snack and her baby. She was playing when we left her. We then dropped DD at Adventure Ocean and off to the hot tub! It was lovely for 45 minutes :). The nursery gives you a phone and if the baby can't be calmed down, after 15 minutes of them trying to soothe the baby, they will call you. That was fine with us. We didn't want her to be miserable. Our baby got fussy and started looking for us and crying so we got the call! We walked across deck 11 and up to deck 12 and picked her up. Those complimentary robes for platinum members came in handy :D One of the carers was cuddling the baby and walking her around. They were lovely with the babies. We picked up our DD at the same time.

We got the kids changed into their jammies and watched the Mad Hatter parade on the Royal Promenade from the lookout on deck 9. The lookouts from deck 6 to 9 are great places to enjoy parades and things going on down on deck 5.

Bedtime snacks while watching Monsters University then lights out.

Next up....beach day Labadee.

Day 6 San Juan

We docked in San Juan very early but we intentionally decided not to book a tour here because:

- we didn't want to get up that early on vacation 3 days in a row!

- the kids wouldn't be very interested in a historic tour of the city.

- there was no way they'd have the patience for a tour to the rain forest.

So we planned to walk around a bit and then enjoy the ship. We started at the Windjammer for breakfast and then headed out. I think old San Juan is beautiful. I love the cobblestone streets and the beautiful buildings and the forts. I could just walk around here for days.

That was another great thing about this cruise itinerary. Each port was so different. We really enjoy the touristy part of cruising so this was perfect for us.

We were still searching for a watch for DH (didn't happen) but we had another important stop to make here. My DH collects mugs - not just any mugs, but Starbucks mugs and San Juan has a Starbucks that carries souvenir San Juan mugs. It even made it home intact! Then we bought a few souvenirs but it was hot out. So hot in fact that our DD told me she'd changed her mind and liked snow better! So back to the ship.

We had lunch in the Windjammer and I finally remembered someone on cc mentioning the veggie burgers. So I asked at the grill and they made one. All I can us Yum! The cook at the grill also found us peanut butter and jam since sometimes all a 5 year old wants is a pb and j sandwich. She was thrilled. Back to the cabin for a nap. And then the highlight of the kids day, the pool:

For those of you still reading along - thank you :). I hope you've found a few tips or ideas. Feel free to ask questions.

St. Kitts continued...

Now to the beach!! The sand in Frigate Bay is partially volcanic and black. Which means that on a hot sunny day...:eek: it was hot!!! Big tip: bring water shoes!!! Also there are a lot of rocks in the water just past the beach and the water is a little rough if you have little ones. You can see the waves in the photo below. Even Granny had a hard time standing up in the water!

We saw people just out past the rocks where it was probably better but this wasn't the best beach for kids. My DH played with our DD in the sand with her toys and the baby stayed under the umbrella with me. Note the beach chairs were included in this tour but umbrellas were $5 each. We were happy with our tour but if beach time is what you want there is a similar tour that goes to the beach at the Marriott Hotel, I think this would be a better option for kids. Anyone go there who can comment?

After an hour and a half at the beach we returned to the ship. We were hungry!! Sandwiches, pizza, cookies and brownies from Cafe Promenade and Sorrentos and back to the cabin.

We were docked right next to a Celebrity ship and from our window you could see right onto their bridge since their ship was smaller! That was cool but if I could see them than they could see me eating yet another brownie in bed so we made sure the curtains were pinned closed! My DH took my daughter for her swim while the baby slept and while they were up there it just poured again. It was still sunny out but pouring. My DH said everyone ran for cover but that they loved swimming in the rain!

Dinner was a great one tonight. I'd seen this dish often on the menu over the last few cruises but never tried it so gave it a chance tonight. It was the eggplant parmigiana and it was lovely. Granny had the chicken Marsala and said it was very yummy. Since this is a dish she orders out often I trust her word on this :) DH had the shrimp but wasn't overly enthused.

Tonight was Pirate parade night and would also be the first time our DD would go to Adventure Ocean this cruise. Last year she watched them parade to the theatre and up on stage. She'd been too nervous to try but the longing in her eyes was heartbreaking. I was so happy that this year she was brave enough to do it! My DH took her up early from dinner to get ready for the parade. After dinner we wandered around, looked at some of our photos, browsed the shops and stayed close to the Royal Promenade since this is where the parade would happen this year. Finally down she came. It was so cute, they had one of the kids from the 6-11 Explorers group holding the hand of each 3-5 Aquanaut. Her face was painted, she was wearing a pirate bandana on her head and she was right into the pirate chant that took over the Royal Promenade. She had a great time. They didn't go up on stage this year though which I think she missed. But you could tell she really got into it since the next day in a jewelry store in San Juan my usually shy DD asked a store clerk if she could take a treasure from the cash register!:eek:

Tonight was also the Once Upon A Time production show. We missed it last year and since my mom and I love shows and I was sure my DD would love the stories and costumes off we went. My DH isn't a big fan of shows so he took the baby for a walk. It was a cute show. It held my DDs interest better than the first one.

This guy was waiting for us when we got to the cabin. The doll in the darker pink is the one that the plantation owner gave to the baby :)

Late night snacks and bedtime.

Next up...San Juan

St. Kitts

We had an excursion planned for today. We decided on something that we hoped wouldn't have the kids cooped up too long - we were going to visit a plantation then head to Frigate Bay for some beach time. I have to say that we had a hard time finding out which excursions would be best for our kids. This being only my second time in St. Kitts in a very long time I was doing a lot of guessing.

We started off with breakfast at the Windjammer. It was very busy this morning. Service was ok but not as great as usual so we quickly ate and then left to get off the ship. One of the great things about this cruise itinerary was that there were no tenders. A great thing with small kids and a stroller!

When we got off the ship it was already hot. This would be our southern most port on this cruise. You hate to complain when you've just heard that another snowstorm was hitting back home, but...whew I was glad it was only 9 in the morning. It must be crazy hot in the afternoon.

We met up with our tour group and headed out. They were using a small bus van which was a little scary with no car seat but the roads weren't as busy or crazy as St. Maarten but if you have young children keep this in mind. The rest of us used the seat belts. We had a young guy as our tour guide. Only 22 years old and he was great. Knew a lot, very friendly and funny. Very impressive. He drove us around Basseterre before taking us out to the plantation. I visited St. Kitts on a cruise about 10 years ago. I could see a real change since that time. Lots of building and investment. It was nice to see.

Our first stop was the Clay Villa Plantation. It has been in the owners family since 1763. Her family heritage is Carib Indian and as such the plantation had no slaves. It was a beautiful place. They give tours, use it as an animal refuge and take in troubled youth giving them an opportunity to work in their extensive gardens. We talked with one of the girls and now she wants to go into horticulture. Very impressive.

At the end of the tour the owner gave each if my girls a brand new baby doll as a gift. She said that was how they were raised - to welcome people into their homes and be generous. There was an elderly man on the tour as well and I think he had to sit out most of the tour due to health issues, she gave him a free tshirt as a souvenir. I was pretty impressed by this generosity. It's not something you see everyday!

After the plantation we drove up to Timothy Hill. What amazing views. There were some guys with baby monkeys wanting you to take a photo but they weren't too pushy. We saw them in port too.

St. Maarten

We wanted to be up early so we put out our room service breakfast request the night before. They called us to let us know it was coming and it arrived right on time. Nothing fancy but it would get us through the morning. We packed up everything we needed including granola bars, a box of Cheerios and my brita water bottle. Thanks to the ccer who suggested the refillable water bottle! My kids don't like the taste of bottled water so we were able to drink cool (fridge didn't get it cold) water during the day.

Now recall I said I was taking a more laid back approach to things? Well, we decided to wait to book our excursions on board to use up some of our OBC. We decided on the Seaworld explorer tour. Well with 6 ships in port this one was long gone by the time we got around to booking anything. On to plan B.

I love St. Maarten so I was a little disappointed in the tour thing not working out. I was reluctant to travel with the baby unrestrained in a taxi van and we wanted to do some shopping anyway so we decided to take the water taxi to town. The line wasn't bad at all given the number of ships in port. I think it was $7 for adults, $5 for our DD and the baby was free. You get a bracelet and that price covers you all day. The water taxi lets you off right in the centre of town. And right beside the dock is this:

What better way to start the day than at the beach on such a nice hot day? There were a few thoughts about those poor souls back home. This was a nice beach. The water was calm, it wasn't rocky. Great for kids.

After spending some time here we walked one block away from the beach to the main shopping street. It was busy but the roads were closed to cars so getting around was fine. My DH was looking for a watch but didn't find what he wanted. We then went to Del Sol and had fun buying some souvenirs for the kids and friends back home.

We were hungry by this point so back to the water taxi. Maybe it was because it was only early afternoon, but we had no wait to go back to the ship.

We decided on a light lunch at Promenade Cafe. They have nice sandwiches, and of course those brownies, so when we wanted something quick to take back to the cabin this was our go to place. Then nap time. We woke up to the sound of rain. It just poured for 15 minutes and then stopped. Very cool to watch. It finished just in time for our swim before dinner.

Tonight for dinner I only had appetizers since none of the mains really interested me. The mushroom soup was nice and I followed it with the crab cakes. My 5yr old had a few different things for dinner this week. Macaroni and cheese, chicken strips (so so), pasta with Parmesan three times (the favourite) and grilled chicken and fish. The baby enjoyed chicken, turkey or fish every night. Our waiter went out of his way to make sure they were happy. Everything was set up waiting for them when we got to the table including the kids menu to colour on and crayons. He brought them fruit right away and made sure my 5 yr old had jello for desert every night. Both girls received a lot of attention from the wait staff. It was very nice and everyone was so sweet to our kids.

After dinner we were excited to go to the skating show 'Strings' which had gotten good reviews from other ccers. Granny had gotten up early the day before to line up for the 8.30 am distribution of tickets (thanks Mom) The rink was packed so we were happy to have gotten there a little early before the doors opened.

It was a wonderful show. We liked it better than the one last year. Very different to include a violinist in the show.

After this we left the kids with granny because the Love and Marriage Show was on! This is always a good laugh and tonight didn't disappoint. They started off differently from the other times we've gone. They first asked the audience who had been married the longest. When a couple married 59 years was found they were asked to join the show and they accepted. Then they needed to find the shortest married couple. These guys had to 'audition' from the audience. Hilarious what some people will do in front of strangers!

We only stayed for the first half since the show started late. But it was funny. We were glad to catch the rest on tv later in the cruise.

This guy was waiting for us in the cabin:

Snack time and night night.

Next up....St. Kitts

I love your review from the perspective of a family. The Indy is my 2015 cruise so I cannot wait to hear more.

Thanks dacsmom. This is a great ship for families. You'll have a great time!

At Sea

We woke up and left the kids with granny who took them to the Windjammer for breakfast. Hats off to her and my 5 yr old for successfully navigating a buffet with a baby!! My DH and I then headed up to the Spa. I was really looking forward to this!

This was my first time in a ships spa since before kids. The spa was lovely. Very serene and beautifully decorated. I thought I read somewhere that a lot of the treatment rooms had windows, ours did not but we were both treated to amazing massages. I am no stranger to deep tissue massage and my masseuse Silvia did a great job. My DH said the same about Denlamin. They were able to cater to my no scent request without a problem. Our backs were brushed, rubbed, massaged with an anti-inflammatory gel, feet and legs massaged, scalp massaged - bliss. DH even fell asleep a few times. They did try and sell us a few products at the end but we didn't feel pressured at all to buy anything and we didn't. We did tip beyond the already included gratuity. The 15% off given to Platinum members was a nice bonus too!!

After that, even though all we wanted was the hot tub and a nap, we missed our kids and breakfast :). We went up to grab something at Windjammer. My DH had the smoked salmon everyday here and loved it. I'm a real breakfast person and I thought there was always lots of choice. We also always grabbed one or 2 boxes of Cheerios for the baby to snack on. Very good to have on hand.

Then we had a bit of a nap but our 5 yr old was anxious to hit the pool so that didn't last long! Recall that when we were in Fort Lauderdale the natives were being told to wear hats and mitts? Well it takes a little bit of time to sail away from that kind of chill so on both sea days swimming outside was a little cold. Today was better than the first day, where I think we were the only crazies out there later in the afternoon, but still windy and chilly. My 5 yr old doesn't care. It's just an excuse to stay in the water longer because it's cold when you get out!!

After swimming time to get ready for dinner. This night might have been the Lobster bisque and artichoke tarts which I tried after reading that a few ccers really enjoyed them. And they were delicious!

After dinner we went back to the cabin to get ready for another family event - skating! My 5 yr old loves this. She just started lessons back home and has great memories of skating with Daddy on the ship last year. This year, with granny to keep an eye on the baby, I was joining in. It's only been 20 years - how bad can it be? Lesson learned - if you're used to skating with toe picks don't try to skate with hockey skates on your first time out in 2 decades!! They were able to switch out my skates no problem. It was busy but we had a great time. Boy you really see how small that rink is when you're on it. New appreciation for the ice performers!

While researching on cruise critic before our trip I noted a few things to do on Indy that I didn't know about the first time around. One of these was the karaoke booths. There are 2 of them in the On Air lounge on deck 3 just outside the skating rink. No one will be able to hear you sing but they can see you through a small window. We had to try it. My 5 yr old and I went in while my DH chose a song. Now you have to understand that my DH isn't really up on top 40 music since he tends to listen to all news or all sports radio. The song he chose was Sweet Caroline by Neil Diamond. We've sung this to our girls a few times. And the night before my DD and my DH had a lovely father daughter moment dancing to this song at the Captains welcome party. Well our rendition did not impress I guess! My DH and I were having a blast but my DD couldn't get out of that room fast enough :D. Guess I'm not lining up for American Idol anytime soon...

Then we decided we weren't ready for sleep we were ready for...more swimming! Well I was ready for the hot tub while my DD and DH would swim so we headed up to deck 11. The H2O zone was closed but the main pool and hot tub were open. It was chilly and so windy my flip flops kept flying away! But we stuck it out. The pool was warm, the hot tub was lovely and the baby was bouncing along to 70s disco videos on the big screen while sitting in her stroller right beside the hot tub :). Great way to end another fantastic day.

Bedtime snacks from Cafe Promenade (love those brownies) and night night.

Next up...St. Maarten

Villahappy. Thanks for reading. It was a great cruise wasn't it! Also, for those times you may have bumped into us on the bridge - thanks for your patience a lot of fun was had walking and running back and forth and posing for pics! :D

At Sea

We slept in this morning. You see last year I felt a bit like a compulsive obsessive tour guide, cruise compass in one hand with one eye on the clock making sure we didn't miss anything. Well this year I tried to, uncharacteristically, be more relaxed and laid back about things. We'll see how well that turned out throughout the review...

So after finally getting ourselves up, dressed and up to Windjammer for breakfast I realized that the meet and mingle was scheduled for 10.30 that morning and it was past that (oops). Do we sense a trend?

After breakfast we made our way to deck 14 for the tots play group. I'll confess that this was the only time we made it here, but we have been to these groups several times on other sailings. There were only 2 other children there but the Adventure Ocean staff member was very nice, they had a good variety of toys too. Our youngest played with the toys a bit but seemed more fascinated by the amazing view of the ocean from so high up!

At 12.15 we had to meet up with Granny since she, my 5 yr old and I were doing a family activity together. Adventure Ocean had several different planned family activities during the week and we went to a few. They were always listed in the Adventure Ocean daily cruise compass. This one was creating stateroom door decorations. We, even granny, got our crafting on. We had a lot of fun just the 3 of us and here is the final result:

We had a light lunch in the Windjammer (good grief we only ate 2 hours ago!)and put the baby down for a nap. As you can probably already tell we are not out at 7am 'reserving' deck chairs. We aren't sun worshipers since the sun leaves us red rather than golden! It's also hard to relax while chasing an energetic toddler :) So our trips to deck 11 always had purpose - the pools in the H2O zone! This is where we headed after nap time.

The H2O zone is one of the reasons we love this class of ship at this time in our lives. Our kids can both enjoy it since they have a baby pool. Our 5 yr old loves loves loves the round pool! The baby pool and round pools are right beside each other so the girls could feel close together. This is where we'd head every afternoon.

After swimming it was time to get ready for the first formal night.

We went to the bridge for some photos and then headed to the dining room.

We had another great meal. Sorry I forgot to take note of this one!! Maybe the turkey roulade? If you see that on the menu I found it to be excellent. I also always had 2 starters since I enjoy their chilled soups. I always had desert too :)

After dinner we hurried to the Pyramid Lounge to get a picture with the Captain. I'm sure you're wondering why we were hurrying just for a picture and not a cocktail but last year our daughter really wanted a pic with him and, well, we accidentally left the baby out of the picture, just sitting in her stroller. Didn't want that to come back and bite me in 10 years!

Then we headed to the show. It was the same one we saw last year 'Invitation to Dance'. It's alright. Didn't capture the interest of either my DH or 5yr old though so we left halfway through.

Bedtime treats again then lights out.

Next up...another day at sea starting with the Spa!!!

Thanks everyone for your positive feedback!! It's crazy how real life intrudes with review writing! :)

Once we got to the cabin our luggage was there so we unpacked everything including the following as suggested by other ccers:

Cloth laundry bag - very handy just threw it into a suitcase for the trip back home

Magnets - the kids loved them and we used them to post things on the wall

Clothes pins - can you believe that in 12 cruises this is the first time I actually brought them?! Great for hanging things in the shower, keeping the curtains closed and fort making :)

Once we woke up from our nap we realized 2 things, one, we missed the sail away get together for our roll call (a hint of things to come...?), and two, that we needed to move it to make it to our main dining time in the MDR.

We picked up granny and made the trek down and over. This was the only issue with our cabin. The dining room seemed a long way away.

Once we reached deck 3 the head waiter looked at my seapass card and with a puzzled look started making his way to our table. Well it turns out there was a hiccup with our dining arrangements. But Jose on deck 3 did some magic and fixed it all, ending up putting us at a table on deck 4 instead. I'm sure the people left at our original table were relieved not to have to share their dining experience with an 18 month old!!!

Our waiter was Joao and I highly recommend him. What a sweet guy. Always making sure we, and especially our children, were happy. He left the ship the same day we did as his wife is due to have their second daughter. He'll be back in April. All the best to him and his family!!

That night I had the horseradish crusted salmon. Fabulous!! Maybe the best meal I had all week. And no, sorry - no food porn from me. I usually had one hand playing tic tac toe on one side while the other hand was keeping the baby from winging the wait staff with fruit from her fruit plate ;). Once I got to the point of thinking of taking a picture, my meal was no longer photogenic!

We wandered around the Royal Promenade after dinner then went back to our cabins.

I ended our first day in bed watching my five year on the ships cam getting bedtime treats in her jammies with her daddy from the Promenade Cafe. It's one of her favourite things to do.

Next up...first at sea day!

Good question :). We only used the nursery in the evening so I had to look it up...

For our sailing:

At Sea: 9am - midnight

St. Maarten and St. Kitts: 7.30 am to midnight

San Juan: 6.30am - midnight

Labadee: 9am - midnight

We were given all the info when we went up to register on day 1.

Hi Webzila

We're just off the Indy (Jan 18) and used the nursery twice. Keep in mind that apparently there weren't a lot of kids on our sailing like there would be at spring break time, but we were able to call at 5.30 to reserve for 8 or 9pm that night.

$6/ hour is the fee untl 6pm and then $8/hour from 6pm to midnight. They were very sweet with our 18 mt old.

Thanks AL_M and pumpkin21 for reading along!

Pumpkin21 our shuttle was for Alomo customers only but my DH also checked National and they had a shuttle too. The car rental centre at FLL has a lot of agencies so there's a good chance others do too, but we asked when we reserved and double checked when we got there!

Hi Chica

Thanks for reading along! This is my first review and it's taking longer than I thought it would :eek:

I will try to copy over my posts later today but I have updated more here:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1981602

We love Indy and I would be happy to answer any questions you might have :)

So of course the moment we step foot on the ship we get hungry. ;) So we headed up to deck 11, but we needed to make a pit stop first. My wonderful DH surprised me Christmas morning with a pre-booked 75 minute Swedish massage. Yay!! But since this cruise was also a celebration of him turning the big 4-0 I wanted to treat him too. We were able to switch the appointment to a couple's massage no problem to enjoy on our second sea day.

The Windjammer was very busy as usual on embarkation day. But we found food (we always find food :)) and managed to find a table. I have to say that the service in the Windjammer this cruise was excellent. There was always someone helping us find a table or getting us a high chair or bringing us drinks. Much better than our cruise last March on Indy. It was just before she went into dry dock and the crew's attitude was definitely different.

After enjoying the buffet we went to the Royal Babies and Tots Nursery. This wasn't on the ship last year since it was added while the ship was in dry dock. We were anxious to check it out and see what our youngest thought of it. Well she went right in and starting playing with the toys. It has one room for playing with mats and toys scattered around and an alcove with cribs. We were hoping to leave the baby a couple of times so they gave us a bag to bring diapers, wipes, toy etc. Then my oldest chose some toys to borrow. I love this service at Adventure Ocean. It means we don't have to pack as much and they get something new to play with. And you can exchange toys during the week to change it up. They have a 'catalogue' you go through to pick what you like. We chose cars and off we went to a Adventure Ocean.

Our 5 yr old was very reluctant to go to Adventure Ocean last year. Finally on the very last day she went both morning and night she liked it so much. She already prepped us by telling us she would go for a few special events but that she preferred family time. Fine with us, this is a family vacation and we always have granny for backup :D. Once she was all registered we HAD to go to her favourite place. The bridge at the entrance to the Royal Promenade.

My kids love the bridge. We have so many pics of them here in every outfit with the bridge in every colour - crazy. For those who haven't seen the bridge. Here 'tis

So after running across the bridge a couple of times we went to check something else off the to do list. I wanted to sign my DD up for cupcake decorating at the Cupcake Cupboard. This is another new addition to the ship. I registered her but you only pay at the time of the class (good thing since we never made it!) and I didn't have to pay to go with her since she's only 5. The Cupcake Cupboard is very cute and had lots of yummy looking cupcakes and the ladies working there are very nice. They gave each of the girls a free cake pop to enjoy! But to be honest I never saw very many people there. It's located right across from the Promenade Café where you can get those really great chocolate espresso brownies for free so I never felt the need to pay for a cupcake.

After all that, nap time before dinner!

Thanks Canadian Tyler, CamaCama and KMagz for following along. This is my first review, but not last I hope :), so I may be a little slow.

CamaCama we love this class of ship for our kids. There is so much for them to do, even our little one. And having a baby pool really seals the deal for us!

We were onboard just a little before one. So after the check-in with Adventure Ocean right at the elevators we went to check out our cabins.

Our last 3 cruises have been on Freedom class ships, and we've always chosen deck three outside cabins since this location is close to the dining room and on the same side of the ship as Windjammer, H20 and Adventure Ocean. This time we tried something different. We wanted an outside and inside cabin close together so our TA found us a large oceanview on deck 9. Which was great and the inside was only 3 cabins down from ours but it was right at the front of the ship! I'd heard things about this location...had me a little worried, but vacation is all about new experiences right?

Well I'll tell you right now, I had nothing to worry about, we didn't feel the motion any more than we did on our previous cruises, there was no noise. We did however need keep our curtains closed at night so the crew on the bridge wouldn't catch us eating the brownies from the Promenade Café in bed at night:eek:

The space was great. Sorry I don't have a great pic of the cabin. It's just like a standard oceanview but instead of being against the window wall the bed was against an interior wall. It had a sofa, the desk/vanity area was a little longer and the bathroom was a little bigger than the one in my mother's inside cabin. But the best part was this:

Check out all the space between the bed and the wall. This was great to have with the kids! I put all their toys there, a few magnets on the walls and they had their own play space and we weren't tripping over each all the time. It would also fit a play yard perfectly.

I will tell you now that I didn't take a lot of pictures of the ship itself, too busy taking pictures of and chasing after kids. However DarthGrady has a thread on the same cruise with just amazing photos. Hope you don't mind the shout out Darth!!

Next Up...checking out the ship.

Yay cruise day!!

We woke up, had breakfast and headed back to the airport to return our rental car to Alamo. We dropped it off, took the elevator one floor up, walked right out the doors and there was the shuttle stop as easy as that! Our only worry was that with 7 ships in port it may take a long time for the shuttle to get to our ship. But this was really the easiest option for us, since it was a bus we didn't have to worry about installing the car seats. They did cram quite a few people and luggage onto the bus but people were kind enough to give us seats so we could hold onto the kids.

Tip: You need to show your rental car documentation to the driver before he'll let you onto the shuttle. One poor couple had packed theirs away and had to get off to find it and then get on the next shuttle.

Off we went and lucky us, we were the third stop. And there she was...

As Platinum members we had priority boarding and fortunately no one minded that my Mom who is Gold came along with us. In no time we had our sea pass cards and we're walking on board :D

Up next...our cabin.