rimmit

I use insuremytrip.com to supplement my CC insurance. Insuremytrip will give you multiple company options and you can compare coverage. I filed many claims recently and can attest to my experience with several. I will say my experience with Travel Insured has been less than stellar. I am 9 months into waiting on a 55k dollar claim. Arch RoamRight paid out a 2k claim when got stuck in the Galapagos with Covid very quickly. Like 2 weeks. Broadspire which is what my CC uses, takes about 2-3 months to process a claim but they do pay out, including one for a cruise I missed back in October and some plane flights related to when my wife was run over by a car in Zimbabwe. Travel Insured did well in the moment when we got them involved and handled the botched repatriation from South Africa and then the and air ambulance once we got back to the US, but have been terrible with processing my claim. I would not use Travel Insured again if that is what insuremytrip gives you as an option. The rest have been fine.

I think this is likely a regional thing on the travel. We live in the middle of nowhere KY “down in the hollers”. Out of the 20 people I work with only 1 other person has a passport. Most have not been on a plane. Most have not even crossed west of the Mississippi. They just have no desire to travel. For me, I would say most people I know do not like to travel, they sometimes go to Disney or Florida or NYC but that is the extent of the travel. They don’t like the uncertainty and stress that comes with travel. This is just a snapshot, but is pretty representative of my area as a whole, and it doesn’t get that much better among my friends in this area. A couple have at least been Europe once when they were younger but definitely nothing in the last 15 years. Most just like the comfort of home. I can easily see where if you live someplace more cosmopolitan there would people who travel more, but in my area, there just isn’t much interest other than an occasional beach vacation, Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge or Disney World.

We do a ton of travel with our kids. People always say must be nice. And Exactly as you say, these are the same people that drive luxury cars (I drive a 2011 Honda CRV) eat out constantly, and just in general are always blowing money random stuff that they value, that I do not. I am glad they like that stuff but don’t complain about not traveling. I also agree that 20k for an RCI suite would never provide the level of luxury I would expect for that price. I would spend that if they truly offered an incredible unique experience but an RCI cruise is not one of them. We have taken some higher end trips, but for me to fork out that level of cash it has to be a “unique” experience. Not some high end suite in a main stream cruiseline in the Caribbean. But that’s me. Some people want to have that experience on an RCI ship and I’m glad they get to have it and enjoy it.

Yes, the majority of people I know that can afford a suite with no impact are typically taking bespoke luxury vacations or expeditions and more catered and exotic travel. Or they just don’t travel. Many people don’t like to travel. The ones that can afford with no impact sail RCI because they have kids, and then typically do not book the 20k suites but typically two rooms or a single jr suite a single grand suite. Not the 20k suites.

Oh people I know that are willing to spend 20k for 4 people to fly first class, will sneak candy into the movie theater, just wears standard Hanes white t-shirts as their daily wear unless they have to dress up, and own no designer clothes. They do own decent cars, but nothing someone who is middle class couldn’t buy (40k-60k cars). They will sometimes buy things second hand. But they will spend BIG on vacations and travel. I personally just play the miles and points game to fly biz. Much much cheaper that way. Ultimately, if you have the means it’s what your prioritize. I applaud your FIL. I also am frequently returning items to save a dollar, if my wife bought it somewhere and I know I can save a buck or two buying it elsewhere. With gas prices it depends if I am going in that direction as I may not come out ahead with gas and car depreciation. It is not ridiculous at all. A dollar is a dollar and many dollars compounded over many years leads to wealth. Your FIL got to that point because of that mentality and I applaud him for it. Many people don’t understand that.

I am not GF but our tablemate on our recent cruise was. I will say the waiters were very difficult. In the past they have been very accomodating, but this most recent time, they had no clue what was gluten free. What they could do to make it Gluten free and really minimal accomodations whatsoever. It was very frustrating for them. There was also another at our table that was Vegan and that was just as challenging. Quite a contrast to previous cruises and when you go to Disney World, where you are asked 50 times if you have any dietary restrictions when you go to one of their restaurants.

It’s really just how you choose to spend your money. I know people that spend spend 20k for biz/first class flights, but won’t even buy a pop at a restaurant because they view the 3.29 too expensive. They only drink water in the airport unless there is a lounge they can access where drinks are free but they won’t travel long haul unless it’s lie flat and preferably a Q-suite on Qatar if possible. Highly recommend if you ever have a chance, especially for a family of four. I refuse to spend money on specialty restaurants, but will spend extravagantly on shore excursions or tours. It’s just your preference’s.

This is not bad advice based on how your child handles things, but it can go both ways. The first night can often be when cliques form. Albeit, at the age of 5 it’s less likely, but my advice for older ages, for sure is to NOT miss the first night as then your child may feel left out as people are already starting to make friends. As someone that grew up going to kids clubs on ships and now send my kids to them, that first night is so important in making friends as everyone is new to each other.

Totally agree. Their new policies are just bizarre. They’ve come a loooong way from the bend over backwards service to where they would do ANYTHING to make you happy, to “no substitutions”and can’t have more than one entree at a time. Before they would make special meals for you just because they wanted to surprise you. I am Filipino and there were many times WITHOUT ASKING, they’d surprise me with a native Filipino dish. It could have been pulled from the crew galley potentially, but there were also times when they specifically wanted to make me something just to be nice. Now we are lucky to get a baked potato subbed for fries or a dish served at an appropriate temperature and not still frozen.

This is the most bizarre thing to happen I’ve heard in a while. That being said, given all the cutbacks lately, and the fact that pretty much everyone on CC has been harping on the unsustainability of the C&A for sometime as the only way to cull the members is literally through death, I would not doubt this maybe the first step toward them making it harder to keep your C&A status. It already amazes me there isn’t some type of you need to cruise once every X years to maintain status or something, like any other travel status program. I sincerely hope not, and doubt they changed the rules, but I could see a consultant coming in and being like “Why are you letting kids keep their status when they turn 18?!? This makes no sense, you should cut that And make them earn it.”

Yes. And donuts, croissants, cereals and fruit.

I responded in the other thread. There are cribs. They can fill up fast based on how many babies are on board. I recommend reserving the times you want the moment you board. As long as you reserve the moment you get on board it should not be an issue. If you wait till an hour before you stand a high chance of it being fully booked.

It is 7.95 if you want a warm breakfast. Free for continental breakfast.

Babies and toddlers from 0-2 years and 364 days go to the nursery. Based on the boat it can fill up very quickly as some boats only can hold 4 babies at a time, on the larger boats the capacity can be as high as 16, and fills up less quickly. We used to go straight to the nursery when boarding and wait until it opened so we were first in line to guarantee we got our main must have times for childcare. When our kids were younger Formal night was still a bigger event so we always booked formal nights, and some daytime during sea days with our initial allotment as those are by far the busiest times for the nursery. We have definitely been on ships where you are definitely scrapping for nursery hours if there are a large number of babies on board and limited capacity like on the Grandeur. I see you are on the Independence. They likely have 10-12 or so spots in the nursery which is my guess, but those can definitely fill based on kid load especially on a shorter cruise as most parents will be looking to maximize baby free time. I definitely suggest going there first thing to ensure you get your must have times.

Ports I apologize for the lack of pictures of the port area, transportation, terminal, that I would normally take pictures of when I do a review. I was not planning on doing a review, and only decided to do this after we returned so I did not take as many pictures as I normally would We had been to Cabo San Lucas, Mazatlan, and Puerta Vallerta previously in 2008 on a Vision of the Seas cruise prior to RCI pulling out of LA during the 2010s, and been to Cabo again in 2017 on a Disney Cruisee with the kids so we didn’t really care much for the ports. Originally we had not planned to get off the ship due to my wife’s inability to walk, but she has made great progress in physical therapy, so she said she wanted to see what she could handle. On embarkation day we did some last minute shore excursion bookings via shorexcursion.com, and directly with a tour operator. We traditionally do not book through RCI due to the 30% markup on excursions. Also RCI had minimal excursions offered it seemed and the majority were sold out at this point so it was not even an option. In the past ECP has offered celebrity led excursions, where there is a celebrity on your excursion, but since the pandemic these have sadly not yet returned. Previous cruisers say they were a ton of fun going on excursion with the celebrities and it’s something they hope returns. Cabo San Lucas The last time we were in Cabo we booked a zipline tour in a canyon. Due to Kendall’s current limitations we were obviously not going to do any significant hiking, so in Cabo we booked a quick 2 hour boat ride to the arch and a short snorkel with a pickup about a 10 minute walk from the pier. It was a little pricey at 89/person for a quick two hour tour, but they did provide a lunch after snorkeling which at least added some value. The lunch was a ham sandwich with some chips and some juice. The sandwich was tastier than expected, and the juice was good as well. We boarded our boat about 5 minutes late as we were waiting for 2 more people, that never showed up.It was a short ride out to the arch where we stopped for a quick photo, and then started the short ride to the snorkeling location which we passed on the way to the arch. We were then taken to the snorkeling area, which was just 5 minutes away. The guide stated most people only stay about 10 minutes in the water this time of year due to the cold. The water was pretty cool but not too cold that it was intolerable without a wetsuit, but it was 68 degrees. Not nearly as cold as the 57 degrees we encountered in the Galapagos a little over a year ago. We snorkeled for about 25 minutes before we decided to get out and get back to the ship. There were a reasonable amount of fish, but it was nothing spectacular, but it was about what I expected. The guide did take pictures with his GoPro throughout the excursion and emailed them to us for free later, which definitely added some value to the tour. It was nice not to be nickeled and dimed for the pictures. It was exactly 2 hours, and I don’t think I’d do it again, but it was something than involved minimal walking and Kendall managed herself well. Mazatlan In Mazatlan we booked a shore excursion via shoreexcursion.com and went horseback riding on the beach. It was only 65 bucks a person, included transportation to and from the port, and also included some chips and salsa and complimentary drink and an hour horseback ride. The pickup point for this tour was in the cruise terminal which was very handy, and there was minimal walking to get to the terminal and within the terminal. It took a little bit of logistics to get to the horseback riding location as it was on another island. We initially got in a van to get to a two level party boat in which we were the only people on it that was used to transport us to the island. We then got on a truck to get to the location. Which was actually a restaurant on the beach that had the horses. All in all it took probably about 30 minutes to get to the beach with horses. The restaurant area was very clean, and seemed like a nice place to spend a couple hours, but we were there primarily for the horseback riding. The horseback riding experience was pretty minimal. There was no orientation, or getting to know your horse, or telling you the horse’s name. They had no helmets. They basically had you climb onto your horse, and you took off, while the guide was in the rear. The guide spoke minimal English which led to some confusion on where to go on multiple occasions as I was the one in the lead and the guide was in the rear. The horses are pretty well trained, but they still need some guidance. You do not start out riding the horses on the beach. In order to ride the horses on the beach, you have to travel on several roads until you have passed the last restaurant on the beach. Then you can take the horses onto the beach. I definitely took a couple wrong turns and had to turn my horse around to get back on the right path. Once we got on the beach it was very relaxing and beautiful. The weather was perfect and the breeze just right. We were there pretty early in the day, and as such we basically had the beach to ourselves which was really nice. Overall, it was a very relaxing ride on the beach and for $65 dollars/person was very reasonably priced. Afterwards, we were allowed to stay at their restaurant and beach for as long as we wanted and have some chips and salsa and our free drink. It was a very nice location and very relaxing and the weather was perfect today in the mid 70’s with a light breeze. We did stay to finish our chips and drink but chose to have them take us back to the ship after we were done so we didn’t miss any of the entertainment as that is the whole reason we took a Star Trek Cruise. Puerta Vallarta Puerta Vallarta we did a Razr (side by side) excursion. This was an absolute blast and I absolutely would do it again. We booked this directly via the operator, Canyon River. This was $300 for both of us so it was a little on the pricier side. It included pick up from their office which is a short walk from the ship. “Short” being a relative term based on your ability to walk efficiently. My wife is still recovering, and it really is relatively short IF you didn’t have to walk some obscure mile long walk to get out of the port. You can see the road from when you get off the boat not even 40 yards away when you get off the ship, but due to the way they make you walk through the port and the attached shopping area, it takes 20 minutes to get out of the port walking if you are mobility challenged. She definitely got in her physical therapy for the day for sure getting to their office which ended up being a 30 minute walk when all was said and done. It was then 45 minute drive to the canyon where you do the excursion which was a blast. We had three other stops to pick up other tourists on the way to the canyon. Once we got their, they handed us our goggles and bandana to keep us from inhaling insane amounts of dust, as it has been very dry lately, and the Razr's kick up a lot of dust. This was before.... Needless to say, I should have picked a different colored shirt. LOL Despite the very rough terrain the Razr has an amazing shock system making for relatively smooth ride. The trail was very long, and I'd say we spent at least an hour actually driving in the Razr. While there were some turns that were a little harrowing I never felt unsafe. I did have to slow down to almost a stop sometimes as the dust was so thick I could not see even 2 feet in front of me. Some Razr's did get stuck trying to get up some areas and took a little backing up and going at the hill again to get up it. There were several areas with water you had to cross that definitely made for some good pictures and some big splashes onto the Razr. Midway through there is a stop at a waterfall that you could hike to. We were a little concerned Kendall would not be able to make it down the short 100 ft trail with about 40 ft in elevation change to get to the waterfall but she made it! The waterfall water was nice and cool and we took a quick dip. There was a small cliff you could jump off of if you wanted. I did jump off it, and it was definitely a fun experience. Right before the end there is another stop at a bar to get some tequila that overlooks the final bridge you drive on before being back at the home base. Drinking and driving is OK there apparently as they were definitely downing the tequila shots before the final stretch. After we were done, we had about an hour to chill at their base camp area. They have many tours that start here, such as zip lining, ATV tours, and several shows. The area is very nice and developed and has a very large restaurant a pool and a stage for shows and much more. We did have some chips and queso while we waited to go back. At this point in time the photographer who was taking pics during the excursion found you and showed you your pics and offered to sell them to you for $25/pic or $60 for all. They took about 15 pics of us of varying quality. I am not normally one to buy phots as I take my own, but for safety reasons, you cannot take pics while driving obviously, so I did spring for the photos this time. We eventually left and took their provided transportation which dropped us back off at the pier rather than their office this time which saved us some walking. Overall, this was an excellent excursion and if I ever go back with my kids, I will definitely take them, as it is only marginally more to take them as you pay for the Razr rental, and it holds 4 people, so it's not much more to pay for 2 more people. So instead of $300 for 2, it would be $400 for 4. Much better bang for buck if you can fill your Razr. Unfortunately, I don't have much from an actual Port report. Due to Kendall's mobility issues, we were unable to roam around as freely as we normally do and just explore the ports on our own. Next time on Star Trek: The Cruise The Celebrities Cabin Ship Service Overall

The nursery hours can book fast. On the smaller boats they really max out on the formal nights and day time sea days very quickly. We always waited for them to open up to be the first to book. The smaller boats maxed at as low as 4 (Grandeur). The bigger boats could go to 12-16 if I remember. They only allow you to book an X amount of hours on the first day depending on length of sailing. Sometimes it was just 10, sometimes 20 hours initially. Then after a day they let you book as much as you want after everyone is given a chance. If you want formal nights or sea days I suggest you book those first. The nursery will always give you a Dec phone (phone that works on the ship) or a pager. AO only if you ask, although there was times they randomly gave us one. It was random for AO if you got a pager. The staff all had training and is well educated. Many have childhood education degrees. There was a splash pad for babies on Liberty when we went on it last on a TA when our son was 15 months old back in 2012. I assume it’s still there. If you want some more info, we used to run a nonmonetized ad free blog with lots of kid traveling info especially on cruises. Has lots of good tips. https://thesmallworldfamily.com/2018/09/19/how-to-take-a-cruise-with-a-baby-and-have-a-great-time/ We just didn’t have time to keep it up but there are some good articles for traveling with babies on cruise ships.

Yes. ECP in their Q&A specifically said they will never cruise out of cold weather again as it just makes the deck parties very difficult. Being my first Star Trek Cruise, I was sad not to have that first day deck party as everyone said that was the one that was not to be missed, and it just got cancelled. T’Goat? Goatvak? Tugoat? B’illy? G’oat?

Anson Mount was on ST: TC IV. As was Ethan Peck, the guy that plays Spock The only Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Actor this last time was Jess Bush w(Nurse chapel). She definitely was out and about the ship a bunch. It’s basically like Vegas. Wear whatever you want when you want. No one cares. No debates on MDR dress code here. Based on the theme. I’d say anywhere from 70 percent to 30 percent participation on the night. The highest was the Captain’s Gala (Starfleet uniforms/formal wear) and the Costume Party. The lowest was the Bajoran Gratitude Festival (most people unsure what to dress up as, but many went tropical) and the Knights of the Holodeck (Ren Faire stuff). You wont feel out of place no matter what you wear. Just like a regular convention there are paid photo ops and autographs. They release these many many months in advance with a price list. There is notable discount for pre buying these photo ops and autographs. Like 20-30 dollars based on the celebrity. The times that the actors sign are not released until you get on the ship, and they do photo ops starting Day 1. So if you have a specific outfit for a pic, you need to be ready on Day 1 and bring it onboard manually in case a photo op lands before you get your luggage back. While they say you shouldn’t take selfies with the celebrities many did and most don’t mind. Just try to be respectful so it doesn’t turn into a selfie-a-thon.

You won’t regret it!! It’s so much fun! Originally I thought it’d be a one and done thing for us because it is pricey for a 7 day mainstream cruise, but if we can get child care we’ll go again for sure!! It’s so much better than a regular cruise! Thanks for thoughts! It’s so great to see her walking again and getting back to a normal life. At the rate she’s going she may be able to walk through an airport in a couple months!! If you asked me 5 months ago if that was ever gonna happen I woulda thought hell would freeze over before she’d be able to walk that far! A Star Trek cruise definitely isn’t for everyone that’s for sure as it’s an incredibly niche population, but if you are part of that niche it couldn’t be more fun!

The Galactic Starcruiser is 2 nights for not even 48 hours for 5,000 for two people or 1250/person per night. It is totally different in that it is a LARP experience (Live Action Role Playing). You see characters but no actors, not that you’d ever get Harrison Ford or Mark Hamill on a Star Wars cruise, but maybe some b-listers. It’s all in universe though so you get pretend you are in a Star Wars Adventure. Star Trek: The Cruise is a themed charter cruise. So it’s not like you get to pretend you are aboard the Enterprise, but the fun is in the entertainment and the actors. The price is $4960 for two people in an inside cabin for 7 nights. So that comes to $354/person per night. Much cheaper than $1250/person per night for the Galactic Starcruiser. I have wanted to do the Starcruiser for the last year but it’s just hard to justify that 1250/night cost per person for something that isn’t even out of the country. The ST Cruise was amazing though and well worth the premium price tag. Having the actors roaming around is great and the energy is much higher than a typical cruise. Having everyone on board with a similar interest really amplified the energy and overall vibe of the ship.

Entertainment This is by far the highlight and the whole reason you book a themed cruise. Let’s be real, if you are going on a Star Trek themed cruise you are likely have at least some basic affinity for the Star Trek, or you know someone that does. You don't just randomly end up on a themed cruise. There were over 25+ actors/actresses on board including William Shatner, along with many production staff, make up artists, writers, and science advisors for the show. The entertainment and activities are basically nonstop while the ship is at sea with multiple things going at anyone moment, and you are constantly having to decide between doing one activity or another. While the ship is docked, they do their best not to have any entertainment so you can explore the port without missing things, but this was not always possible with some of the later departure times from the ports. Of note these upcoming pictures will likely mean nothing if you don't know some of the Star Trek Actors. Daily there was one main show in the main theater with two showings that typically involved anywhere from the almost all the actors on board to just one of the actors. The type of show would vary from a stand up comedy routine with Garrett Wang, singing with Robert Picardo, doing a stage reading of a classic episode of Star Trek, or a Radio Play, Variety show, etc. These were must see and were highly entertaining and enjoyable. Probably our favorite was the “Rat Pack” where 5 of the Star Trek actors sing parodies of songs in a “Rat Pack” style presentation. T The Match Game show was also hysterical and a highlight. The variety show had a good variety of acts with actors performing various arts, such as Doug Jones miming or Robert Picardo, the Doctor on Voyager, playing operation. For anyone that has ever been to a sci-fi convention, panels are also a highlight. As such there were multiple panels with the actors and actresses throughout the cruise typically based around a specific show, like The Next Generation of Deep Space Nine. Seeing the actors talk and answer questions is always a fun time. Especially when some of them are completely inebriated. LOL. I almost fell out of my chair from laughter in some of the panels listening to some them. Marina Sirtis, who plays Troi on ST:TNG was incredibly entertaining after some tequila shots. There are also many free opportunities to interact with the actors and actresses throughout the day just through sheer coincidence. Such as waiting for an elevator, walking by them on deck, in the hot tub, at the windjammer, in the MDR, etc. Some actors are out more than others, but you definitely see them A LOT, and I had several chance interactions with them where you can talk to them for a bit. As a general rule of thumb you don’t crowd the actors, and you don’t take selfies, otherwise it would become an absolute selfie-a-thon as you can imagine. But I can definitely say I ran into actors on a very regular basis. Typically interactions would be quick "Hi's", but if they were standing still waiting for an elevator or something, you had a good opportunity to chat with them. It is total luck as to when you see the actors though, and your interactions depends on your ability to be outgoing enough to talk to them. They were all very friendly though and seemed to really enjoy being there. There are also free activities to interact with them, as they run things like trivia, yoga, karaoke, and some smaller panels and game shows. There is no way you can remotely do it all. As you can see they really got in to Karaoke some nights. The actors also were the judges in a gong show.... Without a doubt, there were some absolute train wrecks which were just hysterical. I cannot even describe the insanity going on in the pic below where one passenger was doing a show with balloon art. There are also paid opportunities that sell out in minutes of going live about a month before sailing. These involve wine tastings, tequila tastings, cupcake decorating, cocktails, Christmas stocking decorating, and things where materials are involved or space limited. These sell out within 15 minutes of going live, so you have to be fast if you want to book one. I did not do any of those and found the free activities more than ample and if we signed up for any of the extras, honestly question how we could possibly fit that into our schedule. Since practically everything had to be booked prior to boarding, it was VERY refreshing to not constantly reminded to book this or pay for that. In actuality, outside of photos and autographs with the actors, ECP runs a very inclusive cruise. Reminds me of the old days of cruising. Also since this is a charter, ECP controls all announcements, advertisements, etc. So the beauty of this is that there is literally no advertising on board. No constant reminders to book a dining package. No DBP or UDP Table tents, no people walking around trying to get you to buy internet packages or DBP going table to table in the WJ. No advertising at all unless it’s Star Trek related and that is even minimal. It made it feel more luxurious and not cheap. There are no prices anywhere in the Star Trek Themed Cruise compass. Heck there is so little advertising, honestly, it is easy to miss things such as if you want a shuttle to the airport or that there is a bookable escape room to book on board based on advertising. It was definitely one of the nicest things of the cruise was the lack of continuous bombardments to buy stuff or upgrade. There really isn’t much to spend your money on once you board the ship which is nice. They do have a small merchandise shop on the Promenade in which they empty out one store (looked like a perfume or purse store) and sell merchandise starting on the Day #2. They don’t have much to buy other than some polos, t-shirts, hoodies, and a couple other odds and ends, but to be honest they really could use a more expansive merchandise selection. They ran out of a lot of sizes within hours. Thankfully, me and my wife are size small which was not a very common purchased size so we were able to get stuff, but sizes M to XXL were very picked over. The cruise has a theme every night but the last night. These themes are obviously Star Trek related. I’d estimate anywhere between 30-70% participation based on the theme. The theme parties are an absolute blast, and since the boat is chartered, ECP can use whatever venue they choose to hold the party. One night it was held in the MDR. First time I’ve ever had a full fledged dance party in the MDR. The moved all the tables to the edge of the 1st floor and cleared out some space. It was awesome getting to party in the MDR. Each theme night had a celebrity host, that was kinda the main MC of the event which added to the fun. They’d get down on the dance floor and really get the party started. My wife got to dance with Nana Visitor, Star Trek Deep Space Nine Actor, one evening for a while on the pool deck at one of the parties. Some themes were a Captain's Gala/Formal Night (Basically nice Star Trek Uniforms). Red Shirt Night G Costume Party (Anything goes basically) A Renaissance Fair night, Tropical theme night, and a PJ Night. The theme's vary every year, but some are staples, like the Formal Night and the Costume Night. The costume party was insane and the cosplay was quite strong in this group. ECP brings their own house band and DJ as well. Their house band and DJ were awesome, albeit I felt that the DJ tended to skew toward the 2015’s and beyond in music toward the end of the night. Given the demographic and the relative lack of millennials onboard, sticking to the 80’s and 90’s and typical wedding music would have been a much better bet and I know many cruisers definitely complained about her music selections as the night wore on. The house band did a great job and played a wide variety of songs. The deck parties unfortunately did not go well due to the weather not cooperating. This was our first Star Trek cruise, but everyone says the "opening ceremonies” which is held as the ship takes off on the first day on the pool deck when the actors are all introduced for the first time is just insanity and a ton of fun. Unfortunately, due to the 40 degree weather, 25 mph winds and pouring rain, that was obviously cancelled. There were two other parties, a tropical themed night on the day coming back on the return at night which was not cancelled but the weather was low 60’s with 20-25mph winds making it feel very cold. As you can see the wind was whipping here. Then there was another T-shirt party on the second to last sea day during the day again with low 60’s and 20-25mph winds which were very poorly attended due to the cold and wind. ECP states that after this they are no longer considering any cold weather climates for further charter cruises due to unpredictability of the weather. There was also a vow renewal done by Todd Stashwick, one of the actors, which was very fun to attend. ECP only utilized RCI Entertainment on about 8 different occasions. They had one session of Bingo on the last day. They utilized a schooner bar Elton John Impersonator who was AWESOME twice!!! I’d almost book a cruise for him alone. On the final day they had a different Schooner Bar player. They also had a singer in the Irish Pub who sang twice during the cruise. There was a latin band that played twice in Gorn's Mojito Bar (Boleros) Otherwise, any and all entertainment was handled by ECP. The cruise director, JT, is awesome and a full time ECP Employee. He is absolutely willing to go the distance to make this cruise enjoyable, as evidenced by the above picture. There was a museum of current props from the most recent season of Star Trek Picard as well, that was set up in the teen club. It had a large number of props and costumes and was definitely a nice diversion. The entertainment and youth staff are recruited to mainly do crowd control during the charter cruises as the kids club is closed and there are no production shows or RCI entertainment going on. I talked to the entertainment staff and love the charter cruises as it gives them a breather from the daily grind they also state the boat really comes alive for the charter cruises and it's just a totally different vibe than their regular cruises. Some other entertainment I did not have time to attend included science seminars, live art drawing, Shakespeare seminars, Makeup seminars, live music, and many more. Overall, I give the entertainment an A+. They really couldn't pack anymore. My main complaint is they had some overlapping panels which are a highlight, spreading out the panels more would have been great. Still to come: Ports Cabin Ship Service Overall

Don’t worry, wasn’t responding to you, I left it vague as the people in the thread know who they are that don’t want kids on the boat. Totally agree kids arent the problem. Lack of control and respect is the issue. It’s always been an issue, but the pandemic and social media has definitely taken a toll. I do my best as a parent but you’re battling a tidal wave of endless social media and influencers and my kids don’t have phones, and only get their iPads sparingly. I get to hear “I’m the only kid in my class without a phone” pleas EVERY DAY.

First, I would just like to say, there definitely need to be consequences, both to the parents and the children involved. As a parent of an 8 and 12 year old if they vandalized the ship I would expect to be charged and disciplined if my kids were behaving that poorly. Second, to all the people in this thread who want the kids off the ship, because they don’t want to vacation with kids, I dont understand this. In 12 years of having kids, we have been on three vacations without our kids tagging along. One was to an Adults ONLY all inclusive in Mexico, one to Las Vegas, and one on a RCI Star Trek Charter sailing with only 12 and up allowed an even then there were only about 10 kids on board. When we vacation without our kids we SPECIFICALLY book kid free vacation destinations. It’s THAT SIMPLE.

I totally agree. Since 2017 when RCI started charging for room service, that was the straw that broke my back for my loyalty to RCI. We still cruise RCI and are D+ as the benefits are nice, but only when itinerary and price are right, where as before it was RCI or bust. Since 2017 we’ve been on Disney once, NCL once, X once, a Galapagos Expedition, Safari, couple road trips, city hopping in Europe, several all inclusive in Mexico, Disneyland and Disney World many times, several more RCI cruises and many other vacations. There are many choices out there all with positives and negatives. If you don’t like the product vote with your dollar. You may find something else you like even better or you may not, but blind loyalty is not gonna get you anywhere if you are unhappy with RCI. One of the best things I did for myself and my family was breaking free of the RCI bubble. It’s a big world out there. RCI is not gonna listen to people whining on CC. You have to vote with your dollar. Thats the only thing that matters to them.

There are charters on RCI ships that are either adults only or only over 12. Our Star Trek Cruise was only over 12. There weren’t more than 10 kids onboard over 12. Atlantis Events have gay charter cruises on RCI ships. Those are 18 yo minimum. Look into charter sailings. They are often adults only.