haply

We paid $15 per person when we went last year. No time limit, was good for the entire day.

We booked our Oasis cruise months in advance. My room with 3 was $3500, and the other (connecting, same size, right next to eachother, etc) was $2200 for 2 people. We therefore paid more per person with 3 in a room as compared the price per person in a room with 2 people. Called and was confirmed by RC. This appears to be a RC practice, as it did not happen on the other cruise lines that we have sailed (or perhaps a very, large ship issue).

I must be cheap but I have always given the porter a $5 tip. Never have been asked to give $10-20......

Another consideration: NCL will not honor their drink package on Harvest Caye (private island in Belize). The drink prices on Harvest Caye are "New York" prices, and they automatically add a 20% gratuity. The walk from the ship to the pool/beach is about half a mile, so not realistic to go back to the ship to get drinks. Just a huge pet peeve of mine.........

FYI: NCL's drink package does not include bottled water like Royal or Carnival. NCL also does not provide any discounted bottled water (with Carnival you could order a case of bottled water, which is delivered to your room, for around $4). The soda brand on NCL is Pepsi, and you are NOT allowed to carry on any soda (therefore basically stuck with Pepsi brand). NCL also charges a corkage fee for the wine that you bring on (Carnival and Royal allow you to bring two bottles on without a fee. Carnival will only charge a fee if you bring the bottle to the dining room). I do agree that the drink package perk is a good benefit-just compare to the total price.

I have purchased both the Carnival and Royal beverage packages in the past. Most recently, I have pre-purchased the deluxe beverage package for my upcoming Oasis cruise for $47 per day (+18% gratuity) during one of their many on-line sales. This was a slightly better price than the Carnival drink package price. Mixed drinks and wines cost anywhere from $8 to $ 12+. I also like to drink one to two specialty coffees during the day, a soda, and get a few bottled waters for excursions/room/pool, etc,. It pays off for me, especially if the cruise has more sea days.

We usually do an AI vacation in the Cancun/Riviera Maya every year. Pretty much stay on the resort and relax, maybe do an excursion or two. Never felt unsafe. The Cancun airport has become very traveler-friendly. We always book a private transport right outside of the airport. We have consistently received the best service in Mexico. Personally have felt safer in Mexico as compared to Jamaica or the Dominican Republic.

Carnival usually has comedy shows every night. Royal has a smaller comedy venue, so definitely pre-book the comedy club ahead of time on Royal. I agree that the other Broadway-type shows are much better on Royal. Will be trying our first large Royal ship this summer. I did go ahead and pre-book all of the shows, which is a first for us.

I really liked the buffet/pool dining area on Carnival, including Guy's burgers, BBQ place, wok/stir-fry station, and the taco/Cantina place. I also really liked the chocolate buffet that Carnival had. It was nice to have everything in close vicinity. Looking forward to seeing how the increased choices on the larger Royal ships will compare.

The drink package is a better deal on on Royal, especially if you can pre-purchase when they have the $45-$47 deal. Carnival does have a 15 drink limit, which Royal does not. Never had a problem with the limit, however some have as every drink, even non-alcoholic choices such as bottled water, soda, etc, count.

The excursion "list" prices seem higher on Royal as compared to Carnival (catalog/on-ship pricing). You seem to get much better excursion pricing on Royal when pre-purchased ahead of time during one of their many sales.

Thank you for the update! Will rebook-kids will be very happy = happy parents!

Based on past posts regarding this issue, I will probably get slammed for my response, but I do not feel that it is fair to charge full gratuity for young children in the same cabin. Reasons are as follows:

*I am already paying a full, extra fare for the third person in the cabin (as compared to two people in the cabin). The cost for the third person in our cabin (child) on my upcoming cruise was actually a bit more than the first and second person fare. There are no discounted fares for children (I know, children do not generate "revenue" as much as adults....).

*The housekeeper still only needs to clean one bathroom, empty one trash can (so what if it is a bit more full), vacuum the same floor space, etc.

*When I go out to eat at a restaurant on land, I pay the tip based on the percentage of the total price. I do not pay additional tip if the baby/toddler does not eat/order any food, or a much lower priced kids menu (i.e. no extra cost of the final bill). I feel that I should be able to tip the same way on the ship. The tip guidelines in our restaurants are clearly based on the percentage of the total bill (although I will tip a bit extra if my kids are extra messy).

*I always tip extra on the ship anyway as I do not believe that the staff see any significant portion of the autograts. I would rather continue to take care of the staff this way vs. auto gratuities.

OK, so let the flood gates open..........

On our cruise last year we decided to wait and get off with the very last group. We checked out of the room around 8:15, then went up to the Cafeteria and had a nice, relaxing breakfast. Got off the ship at around 9:15 and no lines. Granted we were on a smaller Carnival ship out of Port Canaveral. We plan to again stay on the ship as long as possible on this year's cruise also-will see how it goes....

FYI-The Blue Lagoon in Nassau, Bahamas no longer has the aqua water park (bounce/trampoline/obstacle course). Just to let people know who are considering this excursion. They still have the kayaks, paddle boards, and water bikes (additional charge), but our kids liked the aqua park the best.:(:(:(:(:( Also posted on the Bahamas board.

FYI - Blue Lagoon no longer has the aqua park/obstacle course. They still have kayaks, paddle boards and water bikes.

I also received a reply from Blue Lagoon. Does not sound like they have any plans to bring back the aqua park.

FYI-Blue Lagoon no longer has the aqua/water bounce/obstacle/trampoline park. This was a big plus for our kids. We have gone to the Blue Lagoon twice, however will not be returning (the dolphin swim is better in Cozumel and the Stingray swim is better in Antigua), so pretty much would go only for the beach/kids stuff.

FYI-Blue Lagoon just took down/discontinued their aqua bounce/trampoline park "until further notice" according to the resort. For us, this was one of the best part about the place (we have kids so the water bounce park would entertain them for hours). The lagoon side has very calm, crystal clear water however. We just cancelled our third, planned excursion though. Depends on what you are looking for.

I just noticed on Tripadvisor that there is no longer the inflatable water park/obstacle course at Blue Lagoon. Also don't see it on the Blue Lagoon website. Very bummed as our kids loved this feature. I did email them to see if they are planning on putting them back/timeline. Anybody has any information of this? TIA

Update on my post above. I just re-checked tripadvisor reviews and Blue Lagoon no longer has the water bounce park! I just emailed them to see if/when they are planning on putting back the water bounce park. This will be a deal-breaker for us.

FYI-I just pre-purchased $50 arcade credit for $40 on my cruise planner. Pretty good deal. I will have them load onto the kids sea pass cards (they will swipe to play).

Do you happen to know if there was a separate area on the island for the excursion called "VIP Blue Lagoon Island Beach Day"?

Thank you :)

We have never done/gone over to the VIP side as it is adults only. It is on a separate/other side of the island (I believe closer to the ocean-side vs. the lagoon side). We really like the lagoon side because the water is very calm, the sand is soft, and the beach bar/music is right there. Of course, also a lot of kids.

We were there last June and it still looked nice.

We have done the Blue Lagoon Deluxe Beach Break twice, and are booked for the third time on our June cruise. It is a very nice excursion to do with kids. The water is clear and calm (kid-friendly). Our kids LOVE the water bouncy-trampoline park (an additional $15 per person for whoever wants to do it). The water bouncy-trampolines are also very close to shore (unlike Playa Mia in Cozumel or some others where you have to swim a long way out). Lunch is included (very basic burger, hot dog or chicken). They do have a cash bar with pretty good drinks. Adults can relax, float on the calm water. Nice sand. They have multiple return times on the hour (they will let you know when the last ferry for your ship is). You can do it yourself however you will have to take a cab to the ferry dock (can only get on the Blue Lagoon ferry right at the cruise dock if on a ship's excursion). You will however be able to take the return ferry back to the cruise dock. When we looked at it, wasn't much of a savings when taking into account the additional cab fare. Our ship's excursion has a 8:30 leaving time (our other ship's excursion had a 10 AM leaving time), so no benefit doing it on our own to get there earlier. We purchased the June excursion during one of their "25% off sales" so got a really good deal. Highly recommend.

Just cancelled my RC cruise in 2019. Rebooked an AI in Mexico-2 bedroom family suite, included beach cabanas, included food and alcohol, included tips (although we tip extra), included on-site water park, kids club, pool entertainment, night shows (ok, probably not as good as the cruise shows), etc. $1000 less than my cruise in a 250 square feet family oceanview unit. Yes, excursions will be extra, but we don't have to rush back. We also spend most of our time at the resort anyway.

PS: I am reading this site as we will be on a RC cruise in June, probably my last if they run their ships like they run their website.

So you would prefer to stand in line when 4000 people decide to use the 10 water slides?????

 

Also, have any of you priced water parks in general?

I can go to most water parks in the US for $30 to $ 69. All of the water park excursions on our previous cruises have been over $100. Just saying.....

This is why our past few vacations have been to AI resorts in Mexico. All food & drinks included. No "add-ons" gratuities (although we tip on our own). No additional charge for the resort's water park. If we want to go on an excursion outside of the resort, much less crowded and no rush to get back. Too bad because I love cruising....but can't justify the added cost sometimes....

We used to sail Norwegian out of New Orleans that included their new private island, Harvest Caye. Unlike Royal, the Norwegian drink package was not accepted on Harvest Caye. In addition, they charged "New York" prices with a automatic/mandatory 20% gratuity for all drinks and food on the island. It is about a mile walk from the ship, down the dock , to the island, so not realistic to go back to the ship to eat/drink. Moved over to Carnival and Royal as their private islands honored the drink package (I know, we spend thousands on a cruise, so what is the big deal? Guess it was the "straw that broke the camels back". We shall see how Royal plans to make money on all of these upgrade.......