KamiKake

I'm in LOVE with my packing cubes! I would agree that I'm not so sure about space savings, but you can't beat the organization of cubes, IMO. Even on short trips, or overnighters, it allows me to pack in a duffle bag or backpack and still keep everything neat and tidy!

Thanks for the wine diaper suggestions! I know we are bringing tequila back from Cozumel, so these will be great for the flight home! DH thought I was a genius! lol

We live south in the Norfolk area and drove up the night before. Got a cruise hotel that would shuttle us to the terminal in the morning and had a chill dinner and relaxed evening on the inner harbor. The variables of driving that far the day of the holiday would stress me out.

We just did a price comparison on Lyft, Uber and cab fare and they were with in about $2 of each other. Probably just do cab so we don't have to call ahead.

Unless something has changed, if it's a close looped cruise starting and ending in the US, you do not need a passport. We were in Roataan 18 months ago and no, it was not a requirement. If in doubt, call the cruise line.

Yep...I do it every time! I can deal with the cruise line's regular coffee as long as I take my creamer! I even take a few to breakfast with me! lol

Play up the romance part of it and get him to look purty for you! You are worth it! We can belch beer breath, and yell at sporting events all year long. How many chances does he get to take you to a nice dining room, all fancied up, and live out the White Knight night with his future wife? :hearteyes::hearteyes::hearteyes::hearteyes:

This is all I ask of my sweet husband too. He's pretty game for anything, but we are on vacation so I try not to torture him too much! lol The last 2 cruises have been over the Christmas holiday and all I asked is that we do the "formal formal" nights in the MDR. Other than that, I was game to just relax and hang out. That seemed to suit us both well! It was fun to get all dolled up for just that little bit of time!

About 45 days out you will be able to print your tags.

We did the RCCL ship sponsored Kayak & Snorkle tour in St. Maartin and had a blast! My teenage boys were with us and loved the activity level. The guys that ran it were Dutch and an absolute blast. We would definitely do it again, but now that we know they are great, we would probably book privately.

As we book, I put everything in a 3 ring binder that stays on the desk next to the computer. On the outside clear pocket is a piece of paper that has written whatever I've decided to call the vacation, dates and any usernames or passwords I've had to create. On the inside is the confirmation of said cruise or vacation, airline reservations, hotel and car rentals, excursions, etc. as we make them. The week before our trip, that all goes into a zippered 3 ring binder (a tip from another CC member!) along with our Passports and any other odd documentation we may need. In final packing, that goes into my carry on bag. When we get to the cruise terminal, it all comes out, then goes right back into my carry on bag and never leaves again. (We also put our car keys in it!)

I found I lived mostly in maxi dresses and swim suit cover ups on the ship. I took several cute dresses and a pair of heels that went with both dresses for formal nights and dinners, and shorts and tank tops for going off the ship. Be sure to look at any excursions you are doing as they might have specific attire requirements (tennis shoes, long pants, water shoes etc.). Unless you are the type to change clothes 10 times a day, I honestly wouldn't stress it too much! A cruise is for chilling and relaxing! (Oh, and depending on where you're coming from, be sure to pack warm clothes for departure day! We learned THAT the hard way! Pretty mild when we left, but 12 DEGREES and windy on the day we got back! lol)

We had an aft cabin on the Grandeur at Christmas and LOVED it! Great views leaving Baltimore and ports and plenty of room for the family to gather. Would do it again in a heartbeat!

We are traveling in a balcony cabin on Independence in November and are wondering if there is a way to hook up our laptop (via HDMI cable) to the TV so we can watch movies?

Thanks!

My girlfriend ordered one of the packages for us on our last cruise. It was a great surprise and the streamer things that hang from the ceiling are magnetic! I took the decorations off the clips and used them to hang our tour tickets, hats, day planner etc. I brought it home and it will be going with us on our next cruise!

Find an online travel agency that specializes in different types of discounts. That's how we've always done it. Unfortunately we aren't allowed to mention TA's on here, but you are welcome to message me!

How would you compare HAL's Veendam to the Grandeur?

I can't speak to the Veendam, but our first cruise was HAL's Oosterdam and to us, it's not even a close comparison. (I will probably get lynched by the Grandeur loyalists, but this is just my opinion) We LOVED our experience on HAL and were a bit let down by our experience on RCCL. We were still on vacation and are pretty laid back, so it's all good, just comparatively, we would go back to HAL in a heartbeat. The room service, drink service, food service (we really liked on HAL that even the buffet was hands off, vice serve yourself), everything seemed just a bit higher end with HAL. We honestly aren't sure if we just got lucky with the staff on HAL, or whether it's indicative of the over all cruise line, so are trying RCCL again in November, giving it a fair shot. I can definitely see us going back to HAL in the future though.

Minor (under 21 y/o) kids can't occupy a cabin without an adult (over 21 y/o).

Not true...we booked my two sons (18 & 20) in their own room at the other end of the ship, several floors down.

Oh, and as the parent of 5 boys, all teenagers at the SAME time, GO MOM! Trust but verify. I'm sure your kids are great kids, but a little fear never hurt anyone. I would also second the poster that said maybe to read the Contract of Carriage over with your teens. There are some pretty stiff penalties in there (like getting tossed off the ship) that wouldn't hurt the reality check either. Have a blast!

I have that same absolute fear. Just reading these stories is giving me anxiety! For us, as soon as we book a cruise, I get out a white 3-ring binder and write our cruise, dates and reservation number on a piece of blank paper and put it in the front plastic part. Then, I print out all the reservation info and add (as we do it) plane tickets, hotel confirmation, tour confirmations, luggage tags etc and put it in the binder. 2 weeks out or so, I put our passports in the front pocket. As I'm packing my carry on, that goes in it. I either have everything or nothing. (I'm getting a zippered binder soon after it was suggested by a fellow CC so we don't risk things falling out as my carry on gets moved around!) Once on the cruise, that whole carry on goes into the bottom of the closet. I've never put anything in the safe. Just to afraid I'll forget it. It's never been bothered and I know exactly where everything is.

I'm in LOVE with my packing cubes! Hubby was a bit skeptical at first, so we tried them out before our cruise. Now we use them constantly. Even if I just take an overnight duffel bag or backpack, it keeps everything tidy. I grouped like clothes together in cubes, then laid a sweater, sweatshirt,my hanging clothes, on top to make the most out of the room inside the cube. I loved that when we unpacked on the cruise, I just took the cubes out of my suitcase, opened them up, hung up my hanging clothes and outerwear and everything stayed neat and tidy on the shelves!

That's all we do when we cruise. We don't take any of the internet packages, so we just leave the cruise emergency number and all our cruise information (including cruise line, ship name and cabin number, along with our specific itinerary) with 1 or 2 family members just in case, and send out a mass text to the rest of the family letting them know who has it.

Nope, nope, nope! We take our last pics and post to Facebook as we're leaving our home port, then turn the phones on airplane mode and only use them to take pics the rest of the trip! Our first cruise we each approached the other independently about the idea of completely disconnecting. I gave emergency contact info and our itinerary to specific family members and told them not to use it unless the world ended. (And even then, we just might not care! lol) We've done it ever since. DH is in a job where they would never leave him alone if he didn't make this rule. It's now one of my primary reasons for wanting to cruise! lol

When we were on the Grandeur in December, we talked extensively to the LG Supervisor. We were often the only ones in the hot tub late in the evening watching movies and got to know her quite well. (We also had a son her age.) Being a lifeguard for RCL does NOT suck. lol They rotate pools every 30 minutes and take turns opening and closing the pool. They have no other responsibilities, so when the pool is closed, they are doing continued training or are completely off. They also take turns rotating their off time when they are in ports, so everyone gets can see different places. As a supervisor, she had a cabin to herself. They participate in crew parties and do have decent down time. Living at home in her off time, with minimal expenses, she was socking away about 6 grand a month. Not a bad gig for a young person, even if you only did a few rotations.

The zipling in Roataan is incredible and well worth it if that's something that interests you! 2 cruises and 8 ports later that is still our best highlight!

You will also see dress shorts in the MDR, but with some type of collared/Hawaiian shirt. We went out and specifically bought my husband a pair of slacks in a port (because he had forgotten to bring a pair) and he was irritated that it wasn't required. We saw several that night in fact.

DH and I have cruised twice and have a 3rd planned. All completely different experiences. The first time was on HAL, just the 2 of us for 7 days. (This is the cruise everything now has to live up to! lol) This passed Christmas, we took my 2 boys and DH's father for 12 days on RCL. Our next cruise is a charter with friends. The biggest "value" for us was in visiting new places, trying new things and having complete down time. We ate when we wanted, slept as long as we wanted, and met some incredible people. Having DH all to myself and being waited on hand and foot for the duration was priceless! I honestly think the value is in what you want out of your experience.