Itchy&Scratchy

granted, we are limited in our choices and haven't been to many destinations, but I must say Bonaire and Aruba beaches and water are our favorites. Aruba was very prim and proper and "civilized" so to say, and Bonaire was a total opposite, but it awed us with its natural beauty (Luc/Lac Bay). They are usually referred to as ABC islands (Aruba, Bonaire, Curacao). We picked a so-so beach in Curacao, so we weren't impressed.

I would 100% skip Cozumel. Been there twice. Next time we won't even come ashore.

Would also skip Falmouth, Jamaica. You can accomplish/see a lot more if you go to Ocho Rios, Jamaica, but it's still not one of my favorite destinations.

In Belize we loved a cave tubing adventure (not through a cruise vendor, though).

Beaches in Grand Cayman Island were nice, but what we really loved was a Stingray City + snorkeling excursion.

Labadee private island in Haiti, is lovely and nice. Also has a zipline ($100+) for adventurers.

I'd also consider cruises on Princess out of FLL/NY. We always pay no more than $2K for the 3 of us on Princess - we wait for the $99 sale for the 3/4 passenger.

I too would have taken Carnival out of the three above and used the difference on another trip. We love cruising! And so does our kiddo who started cruising a couple of months short of his 4th birthday. He, however, does not go to kid's clubs - not because he doesn't like them (they are fabulous on Princess and our friends' kids love going from morning till night), but because he has separation anxiety.

I slept on that bed for a week last year. We had a deluxe balcony cabin. I actually liked the sofa bed a lot more than the standard Regal beds since it was a little softer. DH and DS slept on the regular beds.

It was a tight fit as it was touching the chair in front of the desk when it was unfolded, but we didn't have a problem with it not fitting when opened.

In the morning I didn't wait for the steward to come in and fold it back in, so I did it myself. He unfolded it in the evening.

Now I am totally aiming to get a deluxe balcony cabin again, because I really liked the sofa bed instead of having the bed come out of a ceiling.

I must have upset the Princess gods as the S'n'S is not showing up when I am looking first at the cruises I have booked and then at any cruise to find out what is being offered. :confused:

I must have as well, since I don't even see S&S on the Princess website.

since we are limited to school breaks and Princess itineraries doesn't actually shine in the choice of ports during said school breaks, we are simply forced to repeat cruises..

Which is very said when the destinations are limited to princess cays, Falmouth and Cozumel...

We got very lucky back in 2016 because the Spring break itinerary included ABC islands instead of Cozumel, Falmouth and Princess Cays.

You planted yourself smack dab in the middle of the deck 11 smoking section:

 

 

so, what you are saying that a non-smoker is not allowed to use a loveseat in the middle of a smoking section? and if a non-smoker is using a loveseat in the middle of the smoking section, he or she must yield to a smoker and share said loveseat with a stranger?

I apologize for my unintended choice of words and for making you feel saddened.

my interpretation was that she/he was saddened by the response to your post. Not by your post. I sure hope so.

Ok, I may have given the wrong impression and chosen the wrong words when starting this thread. All I wanted to know if there was Special Assistance on cruises in the same way there are offered by airlines. I cannot stand in line for too long and I can't walk a long way to get to my cabin because of my polio. For the above reasons I have a disabled car.

I'm not there to get special favours, just some assistance to facilitate my moving about.

I apologise if you misunderstood my original intention.

Have a nice day!

in this case, you should check out Disabled Travel board for more pointers on traveling with disabilities. Your disability will not help you with any discounts, though.

We traveled with my dad last year on his first cruise. He could barely move due to severe mobility issues. We got a non-accessible cabin for him, since he was well enough not to use the wheelchair, but he was in constant pain and couldn't walk more than 30-50 yards, and very slowly at that. No discounts or anything, but he did enjoy the cruise a lot.

Do try to get a cabin close to the elevators. My mom and dad both appreciated having a cabin right next to them. It was very close to MDR as well - which was very helpful, because by the evening dad got a lot worse (physical pain) and could barely sit through dinner, let alone walk the length of the ship back to the cabin.

Check out Belize board: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=109

We don't care for ruins or snorkeling/diving, but we enjoyed a cave tubing tour through http://www.coralbreezetours.com/.

But how could anyone know you were referring only to parents of younger children? You didn't specify that. Also, you choice of the phrase "pawn off" is very judgy. Word choice is important on a forum.

 

I'm sure you didn't mean to be rude, but not hard to see why it came off that way.

what else will you be offended by today? She didn't call anyone bad parents, she didn't judge anyone - you took something very personally for some reason. She used the word "pawn off". Big deal. I use it all the time.

Also, the 8-yr-old thinks she's a teenager, and although most of the time she's absolutely lovely, occasionally she can get moody and everything is BOR-ING. So I think being able to go and do crafts and hang out with kids her age for an hour or two each day will be a good thing.

Comparing a moody 8 yo and a non-verbal 2 yo who hasn't been in a daycare setting before? Not quite apples and apples.

I have been on the Regal 3x in the past year. I don’t know what kind of mattresses it has but they can’t be more than 4 years old at most even if original and when the topic arose everyone agreed the beds were very comfortable. Mike

 

 

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My kid and my DH didn't care either way, but I found Regal's beds to be awful - they are very firm to the point of being rock hard. We were in the inside cabin the first time, and deluxe balcony the second time. I found the pull out sofa in the deluxe balcony cabin to be more comfortable than the regular bed.

There is nothing amazing in any of your categories at Princess Cay.

I agree. A tiny island, with some pretty fish, but nothing spectacular. Smoke from the giant grills completely enveloped the entire beach on our trip in November, and triggered a migraine.

Water shoes are a must. 2 years ago my feet were cut slightly in several places, but my kid sliced his foot on a rock really badly, so now all of us wear water shoes on Princess Cay. After that he refused to get into ANY water for the rest of the cruise, be it a shower or sea water or pool. Not a great vacation.

I was just there in March and am returning in September. It was a while since I was last there and didn't remember the rocky bottom on the beach.

the beach and water entrance are sandy, but the sharp rocks are hiding right under the sand.

Oh...here’s a good one...our daughter told us that her friends have asked her how she feels about us spending “her” inheritance on our cruises. Thank goodness she didn’t agree with them because she has seen how hard her dad has worked riding up the corporate ladder.

some people feel very entitled to someone else's money, don't they?

No.

We went on our very first cruise when we were in our late 30s when we could finally afford it.

My parents just went on their first cruise last year - late 60s. I paid for it.

My kid has been cruising with us since he was 3 (he is 7 now).

You should never feel guilty if someone else can't afford a luxury. Now, if your ADULT kids didn't make enough money to eat, then you should feel guilty for not teaching them to adult properly. If they have no money for luxuries at this point in their lives, it's ok. Nothing to feel guilty about.

My friends are doing the opposite. She pays to bring her parents on every cruise they go on and some cruises she isn't even going on.

we were on a Princess cruise a couple of years ago when noro broke out. Only 17 people got sick. I think Princess handled it very well in general - we did see a lot of changes in the buffet service and other food related places, etc.

However, some kid threw up in the pool! Yikes. I do think the Princess staff handled that poorly, because they threw a small net on top of the pool (which was about 25% of the size of the pool) and didn't put up any signs. I didn't know it was closed so I sat on the edge and put my feet in it. Another passenger informed me that it was closed - but it was not clear and no staff approached me to tell me this. I didn't get sick, though, so I don't know whether the kid threw up because of noro or just sea sickness.

I always bring Lysol wipes with us and wipe down the ENTIRE cabin right away.

Look at the pricing on the Princess website without logging in as you. The price could be more expensive. They are talking about past passenger rates vs. new customer rates.

I've been looking at the cruise on Royal in Nov 18 and the price without logging in is the same as price with logging in. We are Ruby level.

On our previous cruises we usually got rates $100 lower than without logging in.

When you were upgraded, did the room change in your booking at some point before the cruise?

yes, I got an email from Princess that we were moved from inside to obstructed balcony.

We fly from ATL to FLL the day of the cruise and land right about 12-1 pm. We always just grab a cab and we are at the port about 10-15 minutes later. Done.

it's ridiculous. I priced a cruise for Nov 2019 on that website and the price without the promo deal is $1,099 pp 1 and 2 and $699 pp 3, and with the promo deal it's $1,619 pp 1 and 2, despite the site telling you that it's only $347 more pp. And it's ridiculous that the "free drink package, gratuities and coupon book" are not FREE at all. They are more than $347 pp.

On princess.com site the same cruise is $1,569 pp 1 and 2, and $699 pp 3.

The sailings involved are for:

 

"summer 2019 through spring 2020 sailings".

 

My email stated that

"Book a balcony or above stateroom on select sailings"

 

in order to receive the list posted above.

The small print is "Valid for new bookings created and deposited June 21-23, 2018..."

aahh, that explains it. There was no information on their website about what sailings are involved. The one I want in Nov'18 is not affected.

we always bring an ipad in 7 year old's DS's backpack, a new set or two of Legos to keep him occupied and small water/beach cars and trucks. Plus floaties, since he cannot swim (taking swim lessons now!). He also brings a couple of his favorite stuffed animals to sleep with.

So, if your DS needs it - by all means, bring a backpack with trains and an ipad.

We don't bring books on the cruise, because 1) we fly and the weight restrictions are real, 2) he is so exhausted by the evening, he falls asleep without any books, 3) books can now be downloaded for free through our public library app onto our smartphones.

An ipad is the only way for our child to sit through an MDR dinner. He doesn't make a peep as long as he has his tablet (games and downloaded cartoons) with the headphones. We've been told that he was the best behaved kid during dinner... Well, duh, he is so engrossed in it.

Our kid doesn't do kid's club either (stranger and separation anxiety), so sea days and time onboard are always spent as a family at the pool and hot tubs (DS loves hot tubs), happy hour, watching TV (thanks to a wonderful Regal and Royal Princess FREE on demand movie selection), going to shows and kid friendly activities. He is tagging along with us everywhere... but at least he does well in crowded areas and it doesn't overwhelm him.

He loves cruising!

When I travel to Europe, I usually end up with a huge jet lag and literally fall down when I arrive. On the trip back to the US, I am just fine...

P.S. Also check out Travel with Children board on www.babycenter.com for more tips.

We were on the Baltic cruise on the Emerald Princess in 2009.

Up until this year it was often possible to be off the ship before most of the cruise line tours and the Russian authorities could have cared less whether you were on a cruise line excursion or a private tour as long as you had your Visa paperwork and Passport.