jbrinkm

I like to sleep in a fairly dark room, and especially not get woken up early on vacation, so I use a few magnets around the edges and then either clips (clothespin type) OR one of the pants hangers to fasten the two panels together in the middle. I leave the magnets in place during the day and just remove the center clips to open the curtains. The curtains themselves are pretty good at light blocking - it is around all the edges where the light can come in.

I wonder if this is why the zipline has not shown up in my planner for Labadee (March 2024 sailing).

They usually offer Mamma Mia 2-3 evenings and one matinee. We were on Allure for Spring Break 2021 and again in 2022. They offered one additional evening of the show in 2021 than they did in 2022. The matinee in 2021 was on a sea day and the matinee in 2022 was during the port day in Cozumel, which I found very strange. The days and times changed from 2021 to 2022 so the only advice I can really give is to maybe see if you can get an idea from the app in a similar sailing that is earlier than yours, and then stalk the reservation page at the beginning of the month, the month prior to your cruise, to see the exact days and times. I don't even remember there being Cabanas by the pool on Allure so no clue about that. They DO open the tennis courts for pickleball, usually every morning from 8-11am-ish (some variations on some days). I remember this past April, pickleball was available on embarkation day.

Not an answer, but every time my eyes pass by your title, I read "Hall and Oates" instead of Hall on Oasis...

We loved Roatan Getaway Tours. We booked an excursion with them through Viator in 2021 and enjoyed it so much that we used them again for a private tour in 2022. They were always waiting for us on that weird sidewalk next to the crowded busy road (no good meeting spot in Roatan for non-ship excursions at the Royal port) and their policy is to have you back 2 hours before all aboard time. When we did the private excursion, we ended cutting that back to 1 hour because we wanted to go to the chocolate shop which is fairly close to the port and didn't feel super risky. They are also responsive via email. Here is some of what they offer with a private tour:

Royal's Ovation and Quantum also do Alaska, but round trip from Seattle. They are much more family friendly ships.

Royal lets you have kids in own room (next to or across) if you call or use a TA. But if you just want to book online, also very easy to get more door cards. They can't be used for charging.

Maybe stay active on your roll calls and see if there are any kids around the same age with similar interests? You could meet up with them to see if kids get along and then maybe they'll be more likely to have fun together in the kids club?

Us too for both of these. My teens also still liked good ole Shirley Temples. There's a really good watermelon mint mojito on Royal Caribbean.

We're always tight with space and weight in our suitcases because we fly. I like having a hamper - first because my teens are more likely to use it than something under the bed (they put in bathroom); second, it allows us to selectively pack dirty clothes where they fit (and even organize them by load for different washing when back home); and third, I like the smaller footprint of the hamper. I read in a trip report that someone actually brings a small vacuum seal system to put dirty clothes in and I loved that because the dirties ALWAYS seem to take more room in my suitcases than when they were clean. How does that work 🤔? The battery powered candles work well for night lights too and you can get them at the dollar store usually. I took one of these along and it was really helpful. I'd hang wet stuff in the shower until it stopped dripping and then attached this to the ceiling via 2 strong magnet hooks. Allowed 2 hooks to hang a bunch of stuff. https://a.co/d/diLodSm

As long as the two grandmothers get along!

Some operators will have inflatable/life vests you can use when snorkeling if you want to try that route.

Harris has recommended Happy Divers: I'd love to hear back about your experience if you are willing when you return! We are doing our certification now and will dive in Aruba in March.

We had fun at Ecoparque Cuzam on the ATVs but it is not an easy activity. We went up and down steep (small) hills, over lots of rocks and roots, and it was very, very dusty. Most was through trees but some was on a flatter, gravel road for going a little faster. I would highly recommend it for people who like rough adventure excursions, but not if you just want a leisurely drive around to view scenery. (I found it much easier to half-stand/keep my weight on my feet for the rougher parts of the trail and that saved my spine from getting jolted around. The people before us complained about how bumpy it was.) My 16 year old opted out of the activity after trying the trial route around the property before heading into the woods but my 14 year old absolutely loved it - he drove his own ATV. I've attached a few pictures. The course is very dusty - I'd recommend long pants (hot engines), closed-toe shoes, plus face and eye coverings. We wore cloth masks we had laying around and they worked as well as a bandanna would have. I wish I had had goggles - the dust really got into my eyes, maybe because my son was doing fishtails in front of me... My husband said that the dust even got around his sunglasses. They have a zipline course, a paintball area and a small pool there as well. The paintball was regular, not the airsoft. It hurt! My 16yo and I both quit after getting hit once each. They kept offering the pool but we hadn't brought swim suits. If you decide to go here, make sure you know the accurate cost each way for the taxi. It was about 15-20 minutes from the Royal Caribbean port, but not down the coast like the beach clubs - it was further into the town. We were rushed into a car and didn't look at the board ahead of time and got way overcharged. We ended up getting our money back after complaining at the port when we returned. In April, it was $16 each way. Ecoparque Cuzam is listed as one of the destinations on the board. Happy to answer any other questions!

On Allure in April, WJ had the same theme nights as the MDR. A few items were exactly the same, some were "variations" on the MDR item, and there were always additional items in the WJ that were unrelated to what was being served in the MDR.

Messi signed with the Miami soccer team which was a huge deal. I saw a picture of him with Michael Bayley on one of the ships.

I have no experience with Christopher Tours (and seems like that might be a good thing!) but Roatan Getaway Tours has a private, customized option. They are pretty responsive if you fill out the form on their website or email them with questions.

When we sailed Allure, they had a big display in the promenade when we embarked - they just scanned our SetSail pass and gave us cups. Maybe they'll have something like that on Navigator in the main common area?

We flew United and too an Uber to our Galveston hotel from IAH (used a private transport to return to the airport after the cruise). We came in very late at night, delayed first due to weather and then a medical emergency on our flight. The Uber line for United arrivals was inside the parking garage - it was a bit of a hike, but well labelled with signs and arrows. It cost around $150 with tip. I'm not sure if we had surge pricing due to the late time, but the drive was very smooth with no traffic whatsoever on a Saturday night.

You might be able to change to a fixed dining time if there is room. Usually somewhere in the 5-5:30pm range for early dining (if your app says 5-5:15, 5pm would be the time with a 15 minute grace period) and 8pm for late dining. I would highly suggest keeping your time change in mind - the early dining would feel like 3pm for you! If you used a TA, ask if you can switch to the 8pm dining if you want fixed rather than getting in MTD line without reservations - I can imagine that might be tough with a little one! Or call Royal, or ask in the dining room soon after embarkation. It also might be easier with 10 of you to eat together if you have the fixed dining - if that is something you were hoping for. The activities may also depend on how full the ship is. We were on Allure in April, on a sold out sailing, and the trivia/games in the bars and lounges were PACKED. We would get there 30 minutes early and not be able to find seats. The scheduled sports activities might be better - we didn't do any of those last time. I WAS disappointed that there seemed to be fewer ping pong tables on Allure than the prior year - my son and husband love to play. The comedy show is pretty fun if you want to try to get a reservation there as well one night. Make sure to take the little one on the carousel!

The connecting aspect is actually an upgrade now also! That can add a few hundred dollars to the total as opposed to just rooms next to each other.

Our dive shop is highly recommending that we do the OW dives locally (a lake in PA) so we can dive certified in our ports when we do our cruise and not have to worry about skills. We're torn, partially because it will cost more and we're already laying out a ton of $$ for additional equipment and the course (we're paying for our teens too, a family of 4). The actual dives will cost more locally than in the Caribbean, and also we'd pay for the certification dives here plus fun/recreational dives there. Also our summer/fall schedule isn't matching up well with their local dive schedule and we'd probably have to be in the lake one weekend in October. But I can also see the advantage! I'm wondering how restrictive the OW referral dives are in the Caribbean (Aruba & Curacao)? For referral OW dives, do you really just go into a shallow area and work on skills, or do you get to go exploring as part of the process? I imagined that the referral dives would be like our Discover Scuba, where we worked on things a bit for an hour and then had an hour to swim around looking at underwater wildlife. But our local shop seemed to indicate otherwise. It seemed like genuine advice - they are extremely busy with certifications so I don't think the recommendation is just a money grab...

When I cruised on April 2, our reservations opened up on March 4. It is not always the 1st of the month, just somewhere in the beginning part of the month. This is a screenshot from my roll call for that sailing showing the screen you'll get that seems like a glitch (but just check back later in the day because they should be available then):

The newest reporting on entertainment opening up is the beginning of the month before your cruise (Oasis and Quantum class only, I believe?). Since your cruise seems to be in August and today is July 1, I would anticipate it opening within the next few days. Check often! It will first show what seems like a glitch, saying reservations are open but not allowing any booking, and then a few hours later, the bookings will be available.

I did a lot of research for our spring cruise 2 years ago and ended up deciding to take advantage of the C&A deal instead once onboard rather than pre-purchasing at a discount, but then my teens ended up not using the arcade at all during the cruise so it ended up being a moot point. Some downsides of pre-purchasing credits that I read about, posted by people here on this forum and in another RCI specific one: 1. As others here have said, your kids may not use them for various reasons, like machines are broken or the hours don't work for your schedule. 2. As of 2 years ago, you had to go to the casino to get a print out of how many credits you had left. 3. The arcade can override a limit you set on your kids' spending. Once they run out of credits, they can just keep running up a bill on the account. The C&A offer - if your kids are Gold or above - is that if you spend $50, you get a $25 credit back on your account the last full day. So it could be used to pay off any additional charges or refunded back to your payment method. I thought it would be easier to keep track of the amount spent that way because it shows up on your spending account and you can see when it hits $50. Also it was a better deal if you're going to spend $50.