CruiserLucas

I wouldn't greatly worry about it. But here are some practical tips, including one I've done when traveling abroad (not on a cruise, though). Old phone/burner phone. Bring a secondary device that is new or that you wiped and reset. I did this with an old phone in place of my regular phone when traveling to a country that has a tense relationship with the US and a large security state that I was worried could stop me, search me, and use even innocuous information against me. What can you remove from your phone that isn't needed on a cruise? You mentioned Google Drive information. Since that's cloud based, you don't need that on your phone, so removing the Google apps from your phone or other cloud based apps would reduce your risk of someone accessing it; same with banking apps and such. If your husband can get along without the information on his phone, you probably could, too. Install a security application. I use Avast for my devices, which has a built-in VPN. That can help detect and prevent threats, block malicious sites if one gets hijacked, etc.

Yep! It's Pizzeria Del Capitano. 😋 https://www.carnival.com/cruise-food/pizzeria-del-capitano

Nope. We were on a small RCI ship just a few weeks ago and didn't notice anything. No one jumped out of the pool when we were as affectionate as the straight couples in there. 😜 The cruising crowd tends to be more laidback anyways, so you won't get as many people as polarized or willing to be extreme as partisan politics stateside.

Interesting. Those explanations make sense - they can't fully limit notification receipts, so it allows some other unintended services through. And the service times out so that's why we lose functionality after a while until it reconnects. Again, we were on Royal for our previous cruise but I assume Carnival is using similar networking tech, thought it's never worked on any of our Carnival cruise or other prior Royal cruise. And while it worked for me, my partner never got or could send iMessages like I could, and he has the same iPhone and updates installed it was only my device that worked.

Maybe it's a recent technical glitch. We never had it work in the past, but on our cruise two weeks ago (on RCI) iMessage worked for me in Airplane mode with no internet package. It was intermittent on certain days, though. It also wouldn't send or receive picture iMessages, only text-based iMessages. I wouldn't rely on it being available guaranteed, probably just some network setting they'll patch at some point.

Just read the FAQ on their website. Ooops we took my partner's mother's ashes onboard twice - 2017 & 2018 and didn't tell them or bring the death certificate. They were in a small container in our carry on and no one asked or said anything. Not sure what the experience would be like now, we didn't do it on our last Carnival cruise in 2021.

Well, I might be wrong, but usually the one in the locker room is still free (if it's there on the specific ship), because you can go into the gym locker room without a spa pass. Just the nicer thermal suites are off limits. $50 difference from a normal balcony? Gonna depend on what you find valuable in your own cruise experience. But $50 is probably less of a price difference than the weekly thermal suites pass for two in a normal balcony. So likely worth upgrading IMO at least. I just don't think normally they are that close in price to justify wanting to upgrade for us.

As Ninjacat123 already said, you get access to the sauna and steam rooms, plus heated tile loungers. So yes, there is a sauna. Also of note, if your husband has a foot size larger than size 8 men's, he will not be able to wear the slippers provided. They are mostly sized to smaller feet. They weren't very nice IMO. We had a Cloud 9 balcony on Sunshine. The balcony, proximity to the Spa and Serenity Deck, and included access to the steam rooms are nice. But I wouldn't book a Cloud 9 room again. I liked just having the couple's week pass to the steam rooms that we used on Horizon while staying in a standard balcony.

It's been too long since I was on Carnival to recall whether the putt-putt balls were sturdy or not (I wager not), but I definitely remember they were very soft and light on our RCI cruise last year, so it's not just Carnival. As someone mentioned, could be they are "better" environmentally if they fall in the ocean (Seinfeld anyone? 🤣). But probably there is a supplier out there that cut the ships a great deal, and the bean counter buying replacements chose price over weight.

We're sailing on Vision in May. This will only be our second cruise on Royal, our first being in late February 2022, and at that time we thought the food was waaay better than what we were getting on our Carnival cruises, especially in the MDR. That time we were on Harmony. I'm looking forward to the menu for the MDR personally. The selection and themes look good to me. What I'm wondering is if the size of the ship will make a difference. With less specialty dining options on Vision, will that mean more attention is given to make the MDR food better there?

1) First, I wanted to echo the sentiment as well that you're an awesome parent thinking of how to keep your kiddo safe! 2) Miami for the most part, especially for a 14 year old in the care and supervision of the family, is going to be perfectly safe. If you're all going out together, shopping, etc. no one is going to care or bat an eye. I'd disagree on not getting off in the Bahamas. Just like Miami, your child under your care in the port/shopping area is going to be safe. This isn't you dropping them in the middle of the city alone to figure it out. Plus there are plenty of family-themed excursions in the Bahamas (I'm guess Nassau is where you'll be?) like Atlantis/Paradise Island that you can choose something that gives you a bigger group of other families to be around. Same with Puerto Plata (I think that was a typo when you put Puerto Playa). There are going to be very touristy and safe areas to experience - just find an excursion or stick to the port and you'll be fine. I've been to the Amber Cove area (Carnival's exclusive port) of Puerto Plata, and the people and other tourists were fine. There will be plenty of time in the day to head back to the ship early enough to enjoy it mostly empty. I think it would be a bigger regret to not get off and see new places, than think you missed out on an empty ship. Enjoy your cruise! Maybe come back and let us know how it went!

We didn't use lanyards for our first couple of cruises, but we do now. Love them. I prefer the kind that has the clip before the card - see example picture. That way you don't risk damaging the card extensively by removing it off its attach point or fiddling with removing it from the plastic protector if it has one.

I have used the laundry service but I don't remember it being $36 😱 As a couple, we fit a surprising amount in. For 5 people, I'm sure you could do it towards the later end of the cruise to replenish your clothes supply for a few days, each person putting a few things in the bag if things get unexpectedly dirty, sweaty, etc. The bag does hold a lot. This I have to disagree with in my experience. I don't know what Royal did to my old white undershirts, but deodorant stains, sweat stains, etc. were GONE and they were BRIGHT white. So unless they went out and bought me new shirts, they did miracles my washer at home doesn't do...

It's not a secret, but my favorite area of the ship and favorite bar on Horizon is the Havana Bar. They also have a small bites buffet lunch of Cuban food. Not as crowded for lunch it I thought versus other venues. La Romana has very nice beaches in my opinion. We liked it more than Amber Cove. Did a resort-for-a-day pass at the Viva Wyndham Dominicus Beach - all-inclusive. Was about $40/person at the time plus $20 per couple for the shuttle ride there and back (us and another couple went and shared one of those vans, and the driver returned to pick us up at the time we asked). Really sandy beach, very big resort with tons of loungers, and SOOO many fish in the water if you like to snorkel. Huge buffet, lots of drinks, many pools if you don't like the beach.

I did this excursion in Summer 2021, so not a super-recent experience; things may have changed. It was just ok... At that time we were given one side of the beach with loungers, another excursion group had the other side. Each side had a colored wristband so your guide can keep track of you. There was a drink shack in the middle with watered down mixed drinks, but they were included in the ticket price. They told us resort food cost extra and no pool use, but there was a free beach barbecue later during the excursion for the beach guests. It wasn't amazing, but it was included in the ticket. The beach/water was nice - water was a little murky. I've noticed this area of the couple times I've visited is more choppy, a bit more rocky, and more murky than the southern side of the island like La Romana. Still swimmable and enjoyable. There were some local "artisans" on the far right hand side of the beach, but also plenty of security, so it didn't feel unsafe. I personally wouldn't do the excursion again, though. Wasn't as nice as other resort for a day passes I've done.