RandomUser123

Update: We booked the cruise. It was a great deal and the price included Easy Plus Drink package for me and my wife and the minors drink package for my 2 kids and wifi (browse web, emails, chat, no streaming).

I am looking to book a cruise to Bermuda on MSC MERAVIGLIA in November. This will be my first MSC cruise (I have done other cruise lies in the past) and I have a few questions. 1) My kids will be 9 and 6 years old. What are the hours of the kids club on the ship? I could not find it on their website but I saw another site say 9AM - 11PM so just want to make sure. 2) How deep are the pools on the ship? Will my kids be able to use it? 3) Are there lifejackets provided for the kids? 4) Overall how would you rate the buffet and MDR food? We do not do specialty restaurants on cruises. 5) How are the evening shows on the ship?

Worth is a relative term. Do you want to drink several sodas, fresh squeezed OJ in the morning, specialty coffees, mocktails, smoothies each day. If so then get it. If you are fine and will live off of the water and whatever vitality juice they dispense then skip it.

Don't know about the food but if you enjoy an old fashion the that is the place to go! Because there is no playmakers on this ship this place becomes the de facto sports bar when there is a big game on.

My opinion is Johnny Rockets burgers should be included in the cruise fare. Guys Burgers on Carnival is included in the cruise fare and those are tasty. With that said my experience with Royal Caribbean when I pass Johnny Rockets is they seem to be doing alright with people coming in so clearly Royal Caribbean management knows what they are doing with having Johnny Rockets be an additional fee.

Coco Cay is a RC private island so you should not worry. San Juan is Puerto Rico so no passport required. St. Maarten should not really be an issue unless you were to miss getting back on the ship. You will be fine with drivers license and birth certificate.

When we did Anthem last month our 8 year old was in a 6-8 room so hopefully this was just an issue specific to your ship.

Worth is a relative term. My advice is if you want it just get it. Sure you can bring a 12 pack on board per passenger but you on vacation, get that soda package and enjoy some orange lemon cherry coke from the freestyle machine.

I was on the same cruise too. Absolutely ridiculous what happened. There were a couple moments where I thought it was going to get to a riot stage and had the phone ready to film.

The Solarium on Anthem was awesome. The problem is are the people who put a towel on a chair and then never come back.

Cruise I was looking at I was going to wait till Black Friday weekend to see if prices dropped and despite what Royal Caribbean advertised as their greatest sale ever, the price for the cruise I was looking at actually went up and it appeared to kept going up slightly each day. I should have booked this cruise a couple weeks back when it was cheaper. It is now $260 more than it was a couple weeks back.

As someone who has kids I think ICON looks great. Honestly other than Coco Cay or Labadee I would see no reason to get off this ship at a Caribbean port and have to shlep the family to the beach which may not be walking distance when ICON would have everything right there and if you get the drink package then why bother getting off the ship at a random Caribbean stop other than Coco Cay or Labadee. I get the feeling this would be the ultimate ship for a cruise to nowhere if they still existed.

I am looking at a cruise on Royal Caribbean with a stop here from 1130AM to 6PM. What is the closest free public beach from the cruise port and how long does it take to get there? Is there a shuttle from the cruise terminal that would take you there? From what I saw online it appears the beaches are 30 mins away.

Do what is best for your family and wallet. You do not need to be loyal to one particular brand. Carnival is really good too. When it comes to food I give Carnival the edge for the buffet (plus Guys Burgers is awesome and included compared to Johnny Rockets on RC which is extra) and overall desserts (Carnival melting chocolate cake is awesome) but I give Royal Caribbean the edge for MDR food. When it comes to evening entertainment I think Royal Caribbean has higher quality shows but Carnival does a great job too especially with comedians.

No, it will be just you alone on the ship 🙂

I will keep it simple. If you plan on averaging minimum 6-7 alcoholic drinks per day then get the deluxe beverage package.

No, you can use your phone. Simple and no waste of printer ink.

I would say a ship like Grandeur or any vision class is probably more suited for a Mediterranean cruise where the itinerary is more port intensive and you are really mostly on the ship during dinner and evening shows but for Caribbean or Bahamas cruises that tend to have more sea days and more relaxing in general I need a bigger ship with the bells and whistles.

Does Amazon Prime count as prime member 🙂

Formal night for me on a cruise ship is the equivalent of business casual. I will wear khakis and a polo shirt. Every other night it is Shorts and T-Shirt for me in the MDR, yeah I said it, shorts and T-Shirt.

The rule for the soda package is it does not include canned soda. Now not all bartenders follow that rule but if a bartender refuses to give you the can it is because the rules for the soda package indicate canned sodas are not included.

I had one from Cafe 270 on Anthem and it was decent. I was not wowed by it but it was not terrible. As a quick grab for lunch it is ok.

Thank you all for the responses. Most likely we will be booking it but will wait a week before doing it in case any black friday deals come up that drive the price a little more down.

I was in an ocean view room on Deck 3 and while there was some noise late night it did not bother me or my wife and kids. Of course that is just my experience and maybe that could bother others. I liked where we were because of the fact we were close to a lot of the action from our room. MDR was close by, could easily in the mornings take a quick walk to get Starbucks from La Patessiere or a late night bite at Sorrentos. I do not gamble but if you do the casino is right there. For me I liked it because I would grab a few cans of water from there quickly before bed to take back to the room.

Might be looking to book a 9 night cruise on Liberty of the Seas in May out of Bayonne (Bermuda, Labadee Haiti and a couple DR stops). Never been on this ship or class. How is the Solarium? From the pics I am feeling a bit underwhelmed by it especially after just being on Anthem. How are the pools in general? Do the kids like the splashzone area (kind of looks like a version of what they have at CocoCay from the pics). How is the food on this ship in WJ and MDR. What is the nightly activity like? Never been to Labadee, is the lunch provided similar to what you get at Coco Cay which I enjoyed.