Itchy&Scratchy

We left DS with his grandparents to go on a cruise when he was 9 months and 2 yo. My parents were already his day care providers, so it didn't change much for the kiddo. He stayed in his house, in his bed, so, at least the surroundings and the timing of the routine didn't change for him.

We didn't purchase either the data plan or called home with intl roaming... They were fine. If something happened, they would have called my cell and left a message.

We missed him terribly, though (he is not super active, like OP's kid), so when he was 3, he started cruising with us. :) It's been great, and he doesn't even go to kid's club. He is 7 now and has already been on 4 cruises.

P.S. A tablet with games and cartoons is a must in MDR if you want to enjoy your dinner and adult conversation. :)

We have too many different meds for the 3 of us, including liquid meds, to actually make "a multi brand medicine case from a typical pill case", but what a great idea!

I take 3 gallon sized ziplock bags - one for each family member. The kid gets everything from a thermometer and cold meds to various size of bandaids. Hubs gets a ton of meds for his stomach and allergies. I usually get the cold meds and ibuprophen galore + echinacea.

-Perhaps simply another feature of the inside cabin, but we couldn't get the bathroom light to turn on without flicking the master cabin lights switch. Fairly annoying during sleeping hours. Hoping someone can offer a suggestion for you on that.

Thanks for great info. What are your thoughts on Labadee - I have seen a couple of video clips and read several reviews about rocky beach under zip line, very crowded at Columbus cove and lots of comments about the market !! There are lots who say it is brilliant and others who would rather stay on the ship. I know everyone is different but just curious as to your view and what you did.

 

Thanks Gill

we've been to Labadee twice and loved it. DH did the zipline the first time and then we went to the opposite side to the beach.

The second time we already had a kid so we did the beach time at the same place, which is the side opposite of the zipline, and loved it. So beautiful and the water was actually warn the second time.

Three of us use 2 large suitcases, which we usually store in the closet, side by side, opened. I usually hang some clothes in the closet, but the rest of it doesn't wrinkle, and we find it more convenient to just fish out what we need out of the suitcases.

I’ve never seen a cruise bunk say not recommended for children. Who else sleeps on them but children??

My kid started sleeping on a bunk bed at 5 on cruises and never fell down, but he sleeps like a log and the side rail is enough to hold him in.

But yes - the bunk beds say Not Recommended for Children exactly because young children tend to fall off these bunk beds and break their bones.

The shower must’ve been the smallest I’ve ever seen on a ship. I didn’t like that the shower head wasn’t detachable. Never been on a cruise where that wasn’t a thing.

my friends with two kids were in R715 on our last cruise on Regal. The ship is so huge, and this being the cabin in the back - you won't feel a thing. The front of the ship moves a little more.

They didn't complain about any noise or soot on the balcony, but my friend said she rarely used the balcony anyway.

hippo:

we've been on Regal and Caribbean Princesses (see signature for details).

Regal has a much bigger and better buffet (by far), but we found MDR food to be the same quality. Adult menu, that is.

Caribbean Princess had a regular buffet. If we went on a Caribbean Princess first, we would have thought it was great, but since we went on Regal first, we were disappointed because we didn't expect Caribbean Princess's buffet to be much smaller and to have fewer choices.

The food on the children's MDR menu on Caribbean was simply inedible in 2016. Our kid is not picky, but even he couldn't eat it. I didn't believe him when he said it was bad and tried it for him, and truly - it was awful.

We never ordered from a kid's menu on Regal, so I can't compare.

In 2016 Caribbean Princess was a bit more worn and tired than Regal, but it went to ABC islands which 150% made up for any age related difference.

yes, at 36" no booster will ever fit her. If she is equally lightweight, Evenflo Chase will do the trick instead of Maestro. They are identical, but Chase harnesses to 40# and maestro harnesses to 50#.

It’s your vacation. Do as you please!

 

because the laws of physics are also on vacation!!! yay!

To OP: are the parents of the children NOT coming on the cruise?

I'd bring Cosco Scenera NEXT for the 14 mo and depending on the 3 yo's height and weight, I'd bring an Evenflo Maestro (harnessed) or at least a no back booster, like Harmony Youth booster. Now, if the 3 yo is shorter than 45-46" (most of them are), he/she won't have a good seat belt fit in the Youth booster. My DS didn't have a good seat belt fit at 43"/43# even though he has a long torso, but it's better than nothing at all, especially if you use the seat belt guide on the booster.

IN case the vehicles don't have latch or locking seatbelts, I'd bring a locking clip for each of the harnessed seats.

Also check out Travel with Children board on www.babycenter.com and many threads in this subforum, which discuss using car seats during cruise travel.

Probably not.

you were right. I priced the same cruise today, and it's $2,330 as opposed to $1,654 I paid for it 2 weeks ago.

we usually arrive on a ship around 1-1:30 pm, and by that time the room is usually ready for us. We traveled with a car seat (not a stroller) on a Magna type cart and took it directly to the cabin.

1) go for a week

2) go to the Caribbean - it will be nice and toasty. Skip Cozumel, if you can.

3) Go at the end of Jan or beginning of Feb. Prices will be lower, and there won't be thousands of school aged children all over the place.

4) since you are 60 or so, I'd take a good look at Princess (Regal and Royal Princess to be exact). Both have a very relaxing atmosphere and the food is great. Beautiful ships too!

P.S. We always sail out of Miami or FLL, so I am good with these ports. Fly in a day early, since you are in PA.

I'd skip Cozumel and stay onboard that day.

For those who offered information thank you so much. And, yes I know I could spend time looking through all the posts but was excited because we just booked our first Princess cruise. If I offended you I'm sorry but never imagined someone would take the time to write a snippy response. In fact my husband just asked if we were making a mistake with cruising with Princess if this is the an example of Princess cruisers. That's not what we had understand from friends but certainly makes me wonder.

Sent from my iPad using Forums

no reason to get all offended.

Also, this information could have been easily found on www.princess.com. Without any snippy replies. :)

I've never even been awakened by an unruly child (but have been awaken plenty of times by adults fighting in the cabin next store

And on one of our Princess cruises, there was a kid (about 3 yo) in the next cabin that screamed bloody murder every night about 10 pm, when his parents tried to put him to sleep. That went on for about 30-40 minutes. Thankfully, our kid slept right through it and we weren't asleep yet.

Neither episode RUINED our vacation, and I completely forgot about both of them, until PP brought it up.

Play Yard's specifics:

For use by children unable to climb out, less than 24" tall

I have been on 7 cruises, including 4 with my kiddo - which means school break sailing. I honestly NEVER saw any misbehaving kids.

This one is part of their famous "WOW" sale

is it going to be even better than the KSF I booked 2 weeks ago?

The next KSF will be 7/25 - 7/29 on select sailings. As usual there will be lots of black out dates.

https://secure.royalcaribbean.com/cruise-deals/offers/kids-sail-free?icid=rtlfrt_conten_4th_dealsp_sec1ti_2412

Our first cruise with the offspring was on RCCI when DS was 3. It was great! It was on Independence, so it wasn't ancient (you get what you get when you pick an old fart of a boat), but it wasn't brand new either. It was still clean and shiny.

DS does not do kid's club or babysitters, so the entire cruise was family time galore, and thankfully, there is plenty to do for a family on RCCI ships (unlike Princess).

We had an inside room and paid a reasonable price for it. We expected to be treated just like anyone in an inside room gets treated, and our expectations were met and exceeded in a positive way.

We are looking forward to being in an inside room once again on the Allure next year. So much to see, so much to do!

We are now limited to school breaks, but do not sail during summer (hurricane season and it's too hot).

They are designed with families in mind - having things that will appeal to all ages. And compared to taking my family to WDW with several hundred thousand other people, spending an entire day and maybe only riding 5-6 rides, and paying twice as much, the mega ship is very appealing and intimate! You need to put things in perspective.

same here. We'll be sailing on Allure for the FAMILY activities. Princess doesn't offer anything like that (carousel, slides, rock climbing, ice skating, flowrider, kiddy pool area, Central park, promenade), and cooking demonstrations and bingo hold no interest for either me, my DH or our 7 yo DS.

Sure, Princess food is better (subjectively), but I am sure we won't starve on Royal Caribbean.

Oh, and the shows are better on RCCI!

Why don't you visit RCCI board and see what people THERE think of megaships?

my 7 yo does not do flip flops, so we have generic crocs ($6 at Marshalls) and $5 water shoes from Walmart. The water shoes are usually used only at destinations with rocky beaches. Other than that and on board he uses the crocs.

Has anyone stayed in E335 on Royal? We just agreed to switch staterooms on our upcoming sailing and now we are wondering. Thanks for any info that you might be willing to share.

we were in E332 and loved it.

OF course, it was our very first balcony cruise, and we got upgraded for free. :) But I loved having a balcony (even though some people complain that it's small). I also liked the sofa bed - it was more comfy than the regular bed.

I've recently looked up some all inclusive trips and they were all sooo much more expensive than cruises we take. Am I looking in the wrong places? Some didn't include food and they were still more expensive than the cruise.