GFamilySetsSailAgain

We probably passed in the hall! I have to say, your hall seemed to have a fantastic steward. He was ALWAYS working, and working hard (working up a sweat as a matter of fact). We spoke to him frequently--often he spoke first. Always smiling! Our steward was fine, but I think we only saw him twice, and there was little conversation. Not sure how much English he could speak. Yours, on the other hand, was one of the mostly friendly members of the crew.

 

I second the statement about children running free. I've seen much worse on other ships, and it does seem to get worse the longer the cruise because kids start to get bored. It does, however, always amaze me how some parents who would never let their elementary school-aged kids run free at the mall or at some event hosting thousands of people, don't think twice about letting them run free day and night in the mini city that is a cruise ship among a few thousand strangers who are often drinking too much and not always using the same kind of judgement they might use at home. Kids, too, start to use poor judgment the longer they are onboard. My least favorite is watching them alone in the buffet. I saw multiple kids (with no supervision) eating with their hands while in line, and then picking up the tongs to get something else. One kid was even picking something out of his teeth!!!--and then picking up tongs. :eek: Makes you want to scream, "Where are your parents?!?":confused: We always use the hand sanitizer AFTER filling our plate and before eating.

 

Forgot to mention in my review, on several occasions we noticed the hand sanitizer dispensers in the buffet were either broken or empty. When we were on Celebrity, you couldn't pick up a plate without first having to stop at a staff member holding hand sanitzier.

LOL... we probably did pass each other several times. You'd likely recognize my little one if you saw us... he's 3 with long curly hair and blue arm floaties, at the pool people kept calling him tarzan, LOL. And yes our steward, Jaime, was AWESOME! We used the Garden pool a whole lot... kinda surprised that we weren't in any of the pictures you posted. :D

Great review! I was on the same sailing (actually around the corner from you port side on deck 11 about 5 rooms up from the stairway) and would agree with just about everything you said.

I was on with my husband and 2 boys (who I had an eye or hand on at all times, kind of shocked me how many kids were around with no adults in sight). We had a great time. Ship, Stateroom, Entertainment, Drinks, Staff were all great for us and on par or beyond what we were expecting.

The biggest uncertainty was the food. I ate, and ate well. My husband wasn't a super fan of the food or the food options. My kids seemed to like the food, the oldest one is still talking about the pizza. I must say they did a GREAT JOB with food for my little one who has a Gluten sensitivity. The staff in the MDR were very accommodating. The gluten free menu is very 'adult', but they definitely were able to make adjustments for serving a 3 year old. And the staff at the buffet were just as pleasant and helpful.

All in all... I would agree with the B

I am setting up my prepaid items for our August cruise and hoped that someone could give me some more information comparing two of the photo packages on the MSC website. We always end up buying many photos [what can I say I like to scrapbook!!] and I am considering the $59 package with 10 photos of 25x35 cm or the $98 package which seems to suggest up to 100 photos of all types, but no mention of sizes. Has anyone purchased either of these packages or have any more information.

Thank you for any help.

Happy cruising

Jen

For us, the 10 photo package is for studio session photos only. We took several sessions throughout the trip and on the last night went in and choose our 10 favorite. It was well worth it.

-Jackie

What did you do about transportation in a taxi for your little ones? Did you carry a car seat along? Did they ride without one? How is the drive to Chankanaab? Do the drivers stay under 30 MPH or so, or do they go fast?

I didn't bring a car seat for my little one. I put a seat belt on him in the taxi (which actually a shuttle van), and I sat right next to him. It was fine, though each parent is different about those things.

The taxi ride itself was calm and uneventful. I remember being able to take in the shoreline sights and even get some good pictures from the taxi ride to the resort. He couldn't have been going very fast.

-Jackie

I recently came back from our cruise which stopped in Cozumel. I was traveling with a 10 y/o and a 3 y/o. We ended up spending the day at Allegro Resort and it was perfect. There is the beach, of course, but there is also a number of different pools (including one kids splash pool), and several planned activities. Not to mention includes food and drinks while you are there. I thought the toddler would want to spent all his time in the kiddie pool, but he surprised us all and wanted to head straight "to the ocean with the fish". My older son enjoyed the pool and other activites as well (pool basketball, sand volleyball, a huge chess board). They even had a cooking demonstration poolside. And once the boys realized they could get virgin daquiris... well, we all were at the bars a lot.

All in all, i would absolutely recommend the resort for day guests. 😊

I had purchased drink tickets in advanced and went to pick them up in the Casino bar once on-board. I did notice a sign at the bar that said something about the ship having to collect a 7% sales tax while in port in Miami on beverage package sales. I didn't pay too much attention since it didn't apply to me.

But... if that is the case, purchasing the the coupons onboard (while still in the Miami) would come to $84.00 plus $5.88 (tax) plus $12.60 (gratuity) = $102.84 :eek:

Did anyone else see that sign?

-Jackie

You can stop and pick some up after your flight before you reach the ship.

I'm staying at the Doubletree Grand before our trip in a bay facing balcony room. It should be nice.

Yup... she answered my questions perfectly. 😊

Aixia... thank you sooo much. Sounds like my kiddo will be just fine! Glad they have GF pasta and breads since i know my older son will be ordering lots of it and didnt want the little one to be sad about his options (it is not easy since he is too young to understand). I was a little upset that they dont have GF pizza though. But, from what you are saying, their options are much more plentiful than we have had in other places so i am excited. Thanks again!

Aixia... sounds like you had a great week!

We leave next week for a short 4 night trip. Curious... what food was on your GF menu? My 3 y/o has a gluten sensitivity and i am a little nervous about what is available. He isn't very picky, which is a good thing.

Thanks.

I will be traveling next month with my 3 year old who has a gluten sensitivity. Great thing is that he's not looking for gourmet gluten free food and eats a great variety of foods anyway. I know that MSC will accomodate his diet in the MDR, but, i just want to be prepared in case I need to bring food onboard with me for him (i did fill out the special request form).

I have searched and found several pictures of the regular menus, but haven't come across a gluten free menu. Does anyone have any idea what is (or is not) available on board?

We are setting sail on the Divina soon and I am trying to get everything in order. Just wondering what can i bring onboard with me, specifically food and drink.

I am sailing with my husband and my 2 boys. My 3 y/o is gluten sensitive and while I know the ship will be able to accomodate his diet in the MDR, i'd like to carry on some snacks as well (chips, crackers, fruit snacks). Also, my 10 y/o tends to dehydrate rather quickly. We keep him with water and gatorade. I don't the the ship has gatorade onboard.

Does anyone know if i can bring snacks for the little one and/or drinks (bottled water, gatorade) for the older one?

THANKS!

I am curious is anyone has any insight or has done the following... booked a room at an all-inclusive resort for one day.

The resort I am looking at doesn't have a day pass option (or at least that is what the hotel staff said when i called). I can get a pretty great deal for a room for 1 night for the 4 of us (2 adults and 2 kids). It is cheaper than most day passes would be snd i'd have a place to shower and change before heading back to the ship.

I guess i am concerned about check in times. Would i be able to use the resort amenities before the scheduled check in time? I guess i could call the resort again, but wanted to check and see if anyone had done this before.

Thanks.

I did a short cruise last summer (on Carnival) and my youngest was 2. We only went to Nassau on that cruise. We just spent the day at the British Colonial Hilton in their pool/ beach/ tiki bar and then walked over to Arawak Cay to eat conch and headed back to the ship. My son did great. We did take his stroller (I think Divina has them for rental if you don't want to travel with one) and the walk was easy... you just need to really ignore the persistent vendors.

This summer we will go on another short cruise and will go to Cozumel. I'm still working out the excursion plan there. The stroller is a thing of the past, so this should be interesting.

-Jackie