TravelMommyof2

For anyone who has had a beach cabana (not overwater) in the Coco Beach Club:

The description on RCI's website says "There’s plenty of room for up to 8 of your favorite people on 4 lounge chairs and a sectional sofa — plus enjoy your own dining area, a personal slide into the ocean, a ceiling fan, shower, lockable storage, Bluetooth speaker, and charging outlet."

What does it mean by "personal slide into the ocean"? This is not an overwater cabana. Has anyone rented a beach cabana know what they're talking about?

I re-checked the description and it is for the beach cabana...the overwater one has a different description.  

Thanks!

Thank you so much cruisemom42!!!

What a wonderful amount of advice we desperately needed!

Taken Uffizi off the list and we may just pass by the Duomo depending on the line.

Thanks!!!!!

Hi everyone,

I'm trying to figure out what exactly to plan for during the Florence part of our Pisa & Florence excursion from La Spezia.

Our tour van is dropping us off near Santa Maria Novella. We have 3.5 hours to see Florence then get back to the van. I want to purchased timed tickets beforehand to Accademia and/or Uffizi Gallery.

There is so much to see in Florence including the Duomo (we don't have to climb up to the dome), Ponte Vecchio bridge, and Piazza della Signoria.

What would you do with only 3.5 hours there?

Thanks!

official RCL email

“Due to a berthing conflict in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, we've made some modifications to our itinerary planning. As a result, the December 17^th, 2022 through December 31^st, 2022 departures for Odyssey of the Seas have been revised, and we've adjusted its itineraries. This means that our upcoming December 17^th, 2022 Odyssey of the Seas sailing will now return a day earlier than originally planned. We know this news is disappointing and apologize for the impact to your cruise.”

It is now Dec 17-23! No Coco Cay. 
 

Not sure. I have not received an email yet nor has my TA.  When I log into Royal Caribbean to look at my cruise planner it shows the word "Canceled" next to it and says I will be receiving an email soon.

The last day was Coco Cay.  Hopefully they are not cancelling that stop.  Let me know what you find out. My TA doesn't have any information.

Popular blog says that "There's a bit of a log jam in Fort Lauderdale, Florida this fall, which has necessitated a few Odyssey of the Seas cruises to be changed."

Learned about this in facebook feed.  Anyone get an email yet with what options are?  I'm really bummed and just bought plane tickets a couple of days ago.

Just received RoyalUp email for March 7 sailing Symphony of the Seas...

Currently in 1D oceanview balcony

2 adults and 2 kids (4 and 9 years old).

Don’t know what to do! I know the amount is just for the two adults.

Spacious balcony $150pp min bid (we are not doing this one—no way)

Ultraspacious balcony $200pp

Jr Suite $300pp

Grand Suite $700pp

2bedroom Grand Suite $900pp

Owner’s Suite $1000pp 

I don’t think we can splurge on the Owner’s Suite, but the 2 bedroom suite would be great even though almost same price. I just don’t know...

@Tall-Cruiser you’re right! I don’t think anyone really knows about these staterooms yet. I DID notice there was no mention of Spa Junior Suites whatsoever, only Spa Oceanview balconies. Also from RCL website all Jr suites have only one bathroom on this ship.

I guess we have to wait for either RCL to put a video up of these rooms or at least a real life video of the aft of the ship when it’s nearing end of construction. I’m excited! 

40 minutes ago, Tall-Cruiser said:

Has anyone seen the cabin configuration or layout for any of the aft J1 Junior Suites? The description on the RCI web site is a general one and mostly for the J1 on deck 6 of other Quantum class and Spectrum OTS. In looking at the deck plans, I don't think the J1s on deck 6 are the exact same size as those on the aft of decks 10, 11 or 12.  By the way, Spectrum OTS has similar J1s but I couldn't find a single photo or video of any. So if you have any info on these J1s that you could share I would appreciate it. Thanks 

So funny cause I called RCL about this very cabin yesterday! It was missing from their website for the 3/26/22 sailing, but was visible on many other websites. Anyway, she was showing available J1 rooms in her system but did not understand why they were missing from RCL website.

I did ask her for more info about these Junior Suite Aft cabins (can hold up to 4 people). These are AFT CORNER Jr J1 suites...there are also aft regular junior J4 suites. She said J1 will be 276 sq ft room size plus 161 sq ft balcony...as opposed to 267 sq ft of regular junior suites. She even said RCL OWN’s WEBSITE had the regular junior suite square ft wrong! Their own website says 301 sq ft. 
 

Now, I don’t know whether to believe her or not...

24 minutes ago, stellgod said:

 

I'm having the same issue with getting my kids passports! Post Office only open 9-2 M-F in my town ha!

You can go to the State Dept website and search by your zip code for passport application facilities. In many cities, the Clerk of Courts title offices can also do them. You should look up your municipality and call one of the offices to see if you can schedule a passport appointment with them. Maybe better hours for your schedule.

We have used KSF and mostly travel during school one week per year. Much cheaper and less crowded. Here in Ohio, everyone does it and it’s not taboo to take time off, especially for parents with kids in elementary school. When kids are older I am sure we will no longer be able to travel in February anymore.

They absolutely do sail free (just have to pay taxes/port fees $122 per kid on our Symphony 2020 early March sailing).
 

Before the discount, our two kids fare was $574 each in 1D balcony. With KSF that fare went to zero. I will add we called our TA to get KSF discount months after we originally booked.

The above posters are correct, you can’t do a mock booking for two people then a mock booking then add a kid. Technically you are still in a balcony but no longer the 2 person room. The website automatically put you in the more expensive 3/4 person room...the kind with a sofa bed.

A few things to note...you might find the price of the 2 bedroom grand suite to be close in price to booking two balcony staterooms. The 2 bedroom grand suite is in Sky Class...see the perks listed by person above.

The 2 bedroom grand suite can go quickly depending on sailing/ship since not many of these rooms. Also, the different ships may have that 2 bedroom grand suite located ONLY aft. On Oasis Class it’s midship. Please check deck plans of that ship to be sure.

Also, there’s not too many connecting rooms on a ship, but you can connect balconies by asking your stateroom attendant.

There are many videos of 2 bedroom grand suites on YouTube.

Has anyone ever registered their kids in Adventure Ocean Club?

 

 

 

For those who don't know what AO is here's a decision from RCCL website:

 

 

 

 

 

 

If so can you leave the ship on an excursion if your children are in the club?

 

Are there any hidden fees I'm missing?

 

Do you tip the counselors?

Yes, you can leave while you are in port. It is up to your sensibilities if you want to stay close to port or do a day long excursion. Remember without your phone on, you will not be able to be contacted. It is totally your decision. I have done it on Disney before. Plenty of people have done it on many cruise lines.

No extra $, except unless you have non potty trained kid under 4 whom you’re putting in the nursery. The nursery is extra $6 or $7 per hour.

There may be a late night program where they do AO (Late Night Party Zone...check with your particular ship) during 10pm - 2 am $7/hour

No tipping needed for staff. But, again I’m sure if there was someone who went above and beyond for you kid you can do that...

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For our next cruise this August that I have been tracking since this January (on the Oasis but I also track the Allure cruise over the same week), the best price I have seen for both ships was towards the end of February when a whole bunch of inside, OV, neighborhood balcony and JS GUAR fares started showing up, maybe over a period of 5 to 7 days. I saw a price so low that I had to call my TA on a Sunday and make them work to secure the price. That particular fare stayed for one more day on Monday and then went up on Tuesday. It has never gone back to that level since then and lately fares of all cabin types just keep going up, GUAR or not. My lessons learned here is that I don't really care about what promo they are calling it (BOGOHO, WOW or 30% off) ... just keep monitoring frequently and look at the final price + OBC.

You are absolutely correct! Just decided to book Symphony sailing around this past February for about 1 year out (Jan 2019). There was a sale where everyone in room was 30% off. Two balcony staterooms.

I signed up price drop alerts on a major TA’s website. A few days later got price drop email and called Royal directly (had not transferred booking to my TA yet). There was some other promo that the agent found and added that decreased total price of both rooms by $1400.

Since then have received many “price increased” emails. With the new prices that have gone steadily up and even with Kids Sail Free & 50% off 2nd guest promo, our total for both rooms has increased $2500! I think we booked at the right time and are very happy with what we paid for both staterooms now.

I think the sales are more geared for new bookings than for those of us who already booked.

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Has anyone ever had a problem adding more people to your stateroom closer to sailing date?

We booked 2 bedroom Grand Suite Freedom (7 night Southern Caribbean) March 2020. Can hold up to 8 people. Currently have 4 booked. Invited a family of 3 to sail with, but they are still deciding. Sailing is non-refundable for suites, but we can add them with a deposit.

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OP...next time if you are looking to cruise on Oasis Class, there are rooms called “Spacious Oceanview with Large Balcony” (all are on Deck 11 forward-ish Port side, with two on Deck 7 aft). Category A1. Holds 6 and would be perfect for your family. Has regular bed plus sofa bed PLUS a closet-like area with a set of bunk beds.

There also are some of these in the interior and oceanview(no balcony) categories as well.

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On Symphony of Seas booking for next Jan...our two year old was only $465 as 3rd person in our balcony cabin. There was no Kids Sail Free only the 30% off that they ALWAYS run.

There are KSF promos multiple times during the year. I am pretty sure one will be back later in the year for 2019 sailings.

BUT...please note that 30% off all guests may be a better deal than the 50% off second guests or no discount on guests 1 & 2, but a KSF. If you only have one kid in room 30% off all guest is probably cheaper! The real savings come in when you have 2+ kids in your room on the KSF.

It may say $xxxx per person on some booking websites, but when you go to end of a draft booking you should see kids are much less than 1st & 2nd Guest price

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I’ve sailed on all 3 cruise lines and I agree with the majority of the categories.

 

The one thing that was disappointing about Disney was the dining room experience. Yes, the themed rotating dining room concept is clever, and keeps things fresh, but we absolutely HATED the fact that there’s no open seating. And even though we booked a year and a half in advance, first time seating was full and never became available (even after we were on the ship). Second seating would’ve been OK except for the fact that we were traveling with a 5 and a 7 year old. Most nights ended with dinner cut short.

 

About the food: We’d read and heard so much about how amazing the food would be on Disney, that when we sailed on them, we were not impressed. It was pretty much the same as the other lines. Some things were good, some were not. But nothing was memorable or stood out in terms of quality, presentation, or uniqueness.

 

We also ate at Palo, and although ambiance was indeed a notch above what we’ve experienced on other cruise lines, it failed to meet expectations as well.

 

We thoroughly enjoyed sailing on Disney, and do consider them a notch above other mainstream cruise lines, but we paid almost $8K for a cruise that on Royal or Carnival would’ve been more in the $2K-$3K range. Yes, Disney overall offers a better product, but it doesn’t justify the considerable difference in price.

 

 

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Completely agree with this assessment about Disney. First time we went we were like “WOW!” Second time we went it was more like “This is boring”. Our son had a blast and our balcony rooms were great, but food choices seemed limited in the dining room rotations and besides Paolo and Remy, didn’t think the dining room food was all that. Didn’t feel like there was a lot to do/see on board for 7 nights (we DID have a 3 yr old which occupied most of our time).

Decided to not go cruising again until just recently and booked two with Royal Caribbean (Symphony and Freedom). I am hoping with a 3 yr old and 8 yr old, we will have a better time. Plus, we are going to different ports that Disney does not go to.

From all the posts I’ve read on here, I’m excited to try Royal.

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D1, D2 vs. D4, D7

Ok. Makes sense now. Those are not the videos for rooms you’re considering. Technically, the A1 is called “Ultra Spacious Oceanview with Large Balcony”...these hold 8 people and are only located on Deck 11.

I think you are correct for the D1/2 vs D4/7 not much difference.

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I left off that I was looking at oceanview balcony vs. spacious oceanview balcony After doing a little research on youtube, it doesn't look like it's a noticeable difference. Or am I looking at the wrong rooms??

Wrong again. Sorry. The Spacious Oceanview (aka Family Oceanview with Balcony) with Balcony is almost size of Jr Suite.

Vs. Regular Oceanview with Balcony

https://youtu.be/6d981hbQy4Y

Again, BIG BIG difference.

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The Spacious Oceanview (aka Family Oceanview) video from YouTube

Vs. A regular Oceanview

BIG DIFFERENCE

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Are you talking about the “Ultra Spacious Oceanview with Large Balcony”? These are on Deck 11 (Staterooms 11158, 11162, 11166, 11170, and 11172) on Harmony and are the “1A” cabins. There are also 2 aft on Deck 7 as well...7730 and 7330.

If these are the ones you booked, there are only YouTube videos of the aft ones with super long balcony (video someone posted above). There are no videos of Deck 11 ones...if that’s the one you have. All of these have Royal king plus sofa bed plus a set of twin over twin bunk beds in closet like area. These are size of Jr Suite without the bigger bathroom and hold up to 6 people. You should be just fine in that.

There are some videos of Allure and Oasis versions of the Deck 11 ones on YouTube.

I’m not sure about a regular balcony that holds 5...

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Yes, they will provide a Pack n Play, but I would tell your travel agent or call RC (if you don’t have a TA) and put in a request for one. That way, it should be there in your room when you arrive...if not just ask your room steward when you see them or call down to Guest Services.

I’m not sure if you mentioned if you are traveling with another adult...as that may make the balcony room seem more crowded. In that case, you may want to go with a Jr Suite to give you more room to walk around the pack and play. Plus, there’s a tub in the Jr Suite. Also, there are Family Jr Suites (have 1.5 bathrooms), Jr Suites (just a regular Jr Suite), and Spa Jr Suites (have tub and shower)...not sure which one you were looking to upgrade to.

On Day 1 after settling in, you can register kids in Adventure Ocean (5 yr old) and Nursery (2 year old) and get and idea of their daily schedules. You don’t have to use both at the same time either, but it is a way to have some alone time.

I would say to take it easy and don’t feel like you have to do too much. If you are ever overwhelmed, just order room service and stay in your room one evening or afternoon.

Also, if your kids have favorite DVDs, bring your laptop to help wind them down after a long day. If you have VOOM, you can stream Netflix, etc to your iPad or computer.

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