Itchy&Scratchy

It was full house on RCI ships Thanksgiving 2021 and June 2022, and our Enchanted Thanksgiving cruise is pretty much sold out.

Around Aug 18-19, I emailed and called a couple of times (CVP is on the phone, please leave a message), left a message, and she called me back within 30 minutes.

we are sailing on Enchanted Princess - 3 of us in an inside cabin for $2,500 total, Thanksgiving week, 10 days, Southern Caribbean. Not per person. Of course, I booked earlier this year. Right now this same cruise is pretty much sold out, except for some balcony cabins at $2K per person. Since all of you are older than 40, try Princess. Royal Princess and newer ships, please. If you travel outside of school breaks, you will find fewer children and much better prices.

we haven't heard any announcements on either Harmony or Allure. Even the ones we are supposed to hear. We only heard some in the WJ.

wow. It's all I can say. My DS loved Labadee on his very first cruise at 3 and on his latest cruise at 11 (this June). Didn't melt down or announced that the burger was disgusting and he wanted to go to summer camp instead of cruising. He even loved the Costa Maya pier walk...

what about Crowne Plaza compared to Embassy? I can book either for the same low price (corporate discount). I booked Embassy because it has breakfast, but Crowne looks way less shabby in customer photos, but it doesn't offer free breakfast. There are restaurants within walking distance of Embassy, but nothing around Crowne. We'll have to have dinner after our flight lands at 8 pm, and breakfast the next morning. For the same $$, I guess I would like less shabby even if I have to pay for breakfast and dinner at the hotel.

Are you saying that your wife is utterly helpless and needs help using a debit card? In that case, how would she even see the hold amount?

Cosco Finale is a great travel seat. With Cosco Finale (as well as Cosco Scenera NEXT) it's more about the torso height. The top harness slots are abysmally low on NEXT (13" with a 43" overall FF height limit) and somewhat average on Finale (16.5"). A short kid with a long torso will outgrow Finale faster than a tall kid with a short torso. Once a kid's shoulders go above the top harness slots - the seat is outgrown in forward facing mode. My kid (long torsoed and tall) outgrew Cosco Finale in harness mode at 4 (43" tall). But if a kid has an average torso length - 16.5" top harness slots are enough to get a kid to about 5. If a child is average in height, but light in weight - another good harnessed alternative is Evenflo Maestro (50#).

thanks to all of you, I booked Embassy. I hope it's good.

one must also remember that bubblebum has a min required weight of 40#. It will not provide a safe and proper seat belt fit for a child under that weight. Also, the child has to be mature enough to be responsible for their own lives in order to use a booster. When you stop using a harnessed seat, you pass the responsibility to the child, and the child needs to be mature enough for that. A good alternative is Cosco Rise or Harmony Juvenile (Youth) boosters with a seat belt guide. This is how we traveled with ours:

there won't be any transportation with car seats available in ports. Where will you be sailing to? Will you fly to port? Will the child have her/his own seat on the plane? The best way to guarantee a 1 yo's safety is Cosco Scenera NEXT. Very small and light, and will serve an average child till about 3-4 yo (only in rear facing mode, though, as this seat is outgrown in forward facing mode before rear facing). Best to bring a seatbelt clip with you, because if you are traveling in some countries, you may not have access to latch/isofix or locking seat belts you are used to in cars sold in the US. Practice using it at home so that installing it in a taxi would be swift. You can also just use cruise line's excursions - most of them use buses as shuttles, which would not require the use of a car seat. Traveling with Cosco Scenera NEXT is easy - you can attach it to just about anything with a bungee cord or two: Besides this board, here are a couple of additional useful ones: https://community.babycenter.com/groups/a10635/traveling_with_children https://community.babycenter.com/groups/a6680085/traveling_with_children_photos - images of using car seats on the plane or lugging them across the airport. Please remember to use your car seat on the plane - it's the only way to ensure its integrity and safety. If you MUST check it, do so at the gate instead of check-in with all the other luggage drop off.

you are fully vaccinated. Even better than me - my booster was last November.

one can always use a prepaid credit card.

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2847168-discovery-princess-obstructed-balcony-cabin-advice-needed-please/#comment-63074875 We were in E502 and E504 on Regal if that helps.

deluxe balcony cabins will have a sofa bed. Obstructed is fine. P.S. My kid absolutely loves pullman beds. Always begs for me to book the cabin with one.

perhaps, you should request a handicap accessible cabin if it's not too late.

in this case choosing to cruise during a school break and NYE at that is a mistake. Try a week later or the first two weeks of December - prices may be a lot cheaper and fewer kids as well. By ship, I'd choose either Apex or Royal Princess. By itinerary, Apex and RP have lovely destinations. We love both ABC islands (Southern Caribbean) and Eastern Caribbean itineraries. However, we love beach destinations now that we travel with a somewhat young child. HAL's itinerary is a very common Western Caribbean. By price, I'd choose Royal Princess, but I would try to get a Deluxe balcony instead, because it would provide a sofa which becomes the 3rd bed. Or HAL because it's over NYE and for only $4.8K for 3. Either way, all three ships/lines provide a great experience for older, quieter crowd. Since your child is only 9 years younger than me, I would estimate you to be between 55 and 70...

well, it IS our experience with Caribbean Princess vs. Regal Princess. Or NCL Jade vs NCL Getaway. Every time we are on an older ship, something happens. Jade broke down completely on day 3 of 10 and we had to go home... We now choose to only cruise in newer ships.

darn, Enchanted doesn't have it....

like Asian type noodles or Italian pastas?

did you find table tennis?

just prop him up with a chair and maybe use the sofa cushions. 🙂

here is what the sofa bed on the Harmony looked like. You can prop the kid up with the chair. That's what we did on the Allure - we decided not to roll the sofa out because it took too much space in an inside cabin (DS was 8). We used extra pillows to make a border on the other Allure sailing when he had a double sofa sleeper all to himself. But he was 11 by then. How old is the child? How mobile? When DS was 5 months old, we traveled with him and just the matt from the pack and play. Not the entire pack and play. He wasn't mobile at that age. Are you flying or driving to the port?

they are lowered when the ship leaves the port of embarkation. The top of the orange boats is then even with the floor of the balcony.

we have always got great service (except for once - on NCL - it was just ok), but we never prepay the gratuities.