geneticsguy

Fun fact, the ONLY place to get Mangos on one of the cruises is at Coco Cay. They don't serve Mangos anywhere else on the ship, or in any restaurants. They strictly supply mangos from the ship just for Coco Cay day.

Family of 5 here. We submitted 2 renewal passports for my wife and I, and 3 new passports for my 3 kids, literally all the exact same day, at the same local office. We did not rush, as we had plenty of time. * My wife's arrived after 8 weeks. * My 3 kids all arrived within 1 day of each other at about 10 weeks. * My passport arrived almost 12 weeks later to the day. There was zero explanation for the time differences around this. The only power we had was to check the website and see it was still being processed. I would say we were notified fairly quickly that they had been received and were in processing, but there just is no timetable given, especially when not in any kind of rush, and no explanation why my wife's renewal came back 1 month prior to mine even though both of ours were literally mailed together.

Aside from how you get double if booking a suite, there was a promotion if you booked in 2021, as posted above. If you remember, the cruise lines were basically on the verge of bankruptcy with all of these Covid disruptions and being completely shut down in may places, plus many customers not wanting to cruise during Covid, as well as the more strict vaccine/mask requirements which put off some % of the population as well. So, they did everything they could to incentivize bookings. I think it's a one-time thing ever, for the unique situation.

I am on symphony in 3 weeks. Out of curiosity, regarding your poor experience with Wonderland, when you say dinner took 3 hours, do you mean you were seated at a table and it took them 3 hours to bring all courses? Or, was it you had to wait for a while before you got a table because they were full and overbooked or something and messed up your reservation? I am just wondering because I am excited to bring my 3 daughters here.

True, but what is the alternative? A state/government run economy that is socialist or communist would never even build the waterpark or a cruise ship industry because people have enough for their needs, that's it. Real capitalism will be that Royal Caribbean's management overpriced everything so much, trying to "Laffer curve" to the peak, and people realize the alternative cruise line that's more competitively priced and competing for your business is the more attractive booking in the future. RC is trying to be like Disney these days, where the previous Disney CEO had the philosophy of wanting everyone in the world to be part of Disney so didn't try to maximize the profits to the point of out pricing so many people, where the NEW CEO is 100% trying to min/max on the supply and demand curve to squeeze every last bit of profit out. It's the MBA way, more than anything. Disney has tripled in price in like 15 years. I've been getting that same vibe from RC in recent years.

I am on Symphony of the Seas in early October and TONS of stuff is completely sold out. I suspect that we are getting back to nearing full capacity.

Just a tip I could recommend. Kids tend to pair off and make friends right away, so DO NOT MISS the first day for your kids. While some kids are extremely social and can make friends at any time, this is not the case for all kids. I have seen people who bring their kids of the 2nd or 3rd day of the cruise and drop them off to the kids program only to find that all of the kids already have made friends and kind of paired off in groups, that to be the odd kid out trying to fit in and make friends with this new temporary group is harder. Just my opinion. I think 4 and 8 will be in separate groups, but they are not separated all that much. You still need to pick the kids up between meals. The only exception to that is if you have shore excursions at destinations there are special all day programs you can sign up for on those days so they might feed them a special limited lunch ONLY if you sign them up for the special program... This is only offered on days you disembark at some destinations. Most people usually take their kids with them, but it really just depends on your excursions and age of children, of course. While they offer a lot of fun activities, the biggest key is them finding friends to play with, so again, I highly recommend introducing them right away,. Just show up on the first day and sign up.

Specialty dining is definitely not worth it for first-time or early cruisers. I highly recommend getting a fixed diner time for dining and trying the MDR. You need to experience that traditional cruise ship experience first before making a judgement against. Imo, specialty dining is more for seasoned cruise people who want to change things up a little, or go a little classier at a slower pace, but it is rarely ever worth the surcharge, imo.

Not that I have seen on Royal Caribbean. I'd imagine they have a varied policy here though, if you are in a suite, but idk. Because of this, so the kids can enjoy the cruise right away we will wear our swimsuits under our clothes

Ping is a bit high, but for what you are getting, not bad. I have Starlink in Arizona and I am often as low as 60ms on the ping. I suspect out on the Ocean there is just less coverage so far. 60ms ping makes playing online gaming possible without noticeable lag. So, Starlink is really exciting for the future. I am excited to see where this goes in 10 years.

Like others have said, it's pretty casual. However, I'd say only about 60-70%+ dress up, and by dress up, I mean, not wear jeans and a t-shirt. Some will legitimately wear shorts and t-shirts. The culture is changing a bit on cruises. Even Holland America, a more upscale cruise line known for their older crowd is switching to more "Business Casual" dress instead, so they won't let you wear shorts and t-shirts, but nice jeans with a sports coat is perfectly acceptable. I think if you want the more traditional formal nights you are going to need to sail on ships like Vikings or Cunard for that experience. I enjoy it. However, be aware that a large portion of the ship still dresses up, still goes all out. On a 7 night sailing, my wife and kids and I will go all out. She wears and evening gown, I wear my nice suit (I don't do the tuxes), and my kids wear some fancy ballroom type outfit. It's a lot of fun. Then, on the 2nd formal night, we'll dress up, but go more the business casual/church type wear dress. You will fit in whichever you decide. Personally, I find the opportunity for these type of things to be rare in life, so I like to take advantage of it and make the most of it, so my family takes formal night seriously. I've never been offended because someone else didn't though.

Ya, I don't even like Johnny Rockets on the mainland. I definitely wouldn't pay for it on the ship. With that being said, their breakfast options are pretty good.

So, I have a sailing on Symphony of the Seas in October (about 30 days away) , and the RC app shows $9.95 + 18% gratuity per person, not $16. I've seen prices sometimes vary, even at the restaurants on different sailing dates... For example, in October, CocoCay is like $90 person, but a sailing that is around Thanksgiving is $130 each. I have always found the prices on the app to be accurate, so look up your sailing and dining options that way. If you haven't signed up yet. Of course, if your sailing is a ways away prices may change. You never know. It's been $10 person for a while now though.

Isn't it basically any cruise? Also, the fine print is that it has to be the 3rd+ person in a stateroom. If it is just you and a kid in 1 room, then you don't get a kid free. If it is 2 adults and 1 kid, then you get the kid free. If you have multiple staterooms, the same applies. Only the 3rd+. As such, the best deal for say a family of 5, is one of the very few 5 person staterooms. I am not sure if it is still like this, but when I booked my October cruise a few months ago with the "Kids sail free" option, it was a bit limited.