southern cruising couple

My kids have both enjoyed the Royal and Tots nursery. Our recent cruise on the Allure was the first time my son was old enough to participate in Adventure Ocean. He loved it! And asked everyday to go to Aquanauts. All the activities are cutely themed and the staff was very energetic.

Ok, so this is a glitch happening to others too? I will wait then. Thanks!

I was about to PrePay for the Beverage Packages fr my Sept 7th cruise on the Allure but when added to my cart it shows a higher cost than the $55 or $65 a day bc it is adding a service charge. If you wait until you get on the ship do they still add the service charge or is that just a charge for ordering it online?

I have cruised much more on Carnival because I grew up taking Carnival cruises. But now that I have a family, we prefer Royal much more because of their food, entertainment and the babies/kids programs.

Overall, they are similar in many ways. But I think the ships are nicer on Roayl and since we eat healthy as a norm, we have an easier time finding food we enjoy on the Royal ships.

Tough question because in my opinion Royal Caribbean has the best kids program.

I cruised long before I had kids, so I got spoiled with having a balcony. So my kids have only had rooms with balconies. But it is a complete personal preference. Many times closer to sail dates you can find a deal where balconies are cheaper than oceanview or insides because there are so many more of them left.

No harm in trying but in the end your son will dictate whether or not he is ready. If he and you don't feel pressured it will be easier and just a bonus come cruise time. But if you are still in the middle of training while cruising that can be difficult because you don't him to backslide because it was inconvenient in the vacation situation. We tried when my son was a little over 2 but he was not ready at all. So then we waited until our daughter was born to ensure no digression, and at 2.5 years old he basically trained himself in 3 weeks (pee and poop in the potty with only occasional night accidents). Now he is about to turn 3 and goes standing up. So it all comes in time and if allowed to let them do it on their own time with no stress or pressure I think they do best.

We enjoyed having a cabana but mainly because we have a little one who needed shade and a place to nap. It was nice being able to invite our non-suite friends to join us in the private beach area. Plus you get 2 floating matts, water and depending on how awesome your cabana attendant is, you may get a free drink or two!

Does anyone know the price of Absolute on the Rocks? That is basically all my husband drinks, but he can consume alot of it on vacation. Wanted to make sure it was within the price restriction of the package...

I haven't been on Disney Cruise because I live in Orlando and worked for Disney, so on vacation I wanted to get away from it not be immersed in it.

But I have taken my son on 2 Royal Cruises (Freedom and Allure) and we are going back on the Allure in September.

I can say the ship is awesome! So much to do for everyone. Your kids will love it. And the kids programs are amazing with great staff!

So happy you uploaded all these! We are sailing on Allure in September and this will be the first time my son get to participate in Adventure Ocean!

(1) Does RCI offer KSF other than in March?

 

(2) If yes, is it ever a particularly good deal, or should I expect the rate for the first two guests to be significantly inflated like they were a few months ago?

YES! We are booked on the Allure of the Seas for September 7th under the Kids Sail Free Promo. This promo was good for sailings Sept - November. Saved us over $1400 for a Boardwalk Balcony.

Now that we have two kids we will definitely try to seek out these promotions and be prepared to book quick because usually the promotion must be booked within a short time frame with sailing not too far off.

We took our son on the Allure when he was 15 months old. He enjoyed the Royal Babies & Tots nursery. And he was not used to daycare environments so I was nervous how he would react. But they took great care of him and on the few late nights they had him fed and in crib sleeping.

We are now going back in September. He is 3 now and we have a baby girl that will be 9 months. I have talked up the Adventure Ocean Program so he is excited about all the fun activities! Can't wait to see if he really enjoys it like others kids seem to.

We just went on our first Halloween cruise and had a BLAST! Carnival did a great job getting everyone in the spirit by having decorations everywhere, there was a pumpkin carving contest, costume contest, specialty portrait backgrounds, a haunted house, themed desserts, and themed drinks. My favorite was the sharktini-it had a gummy shark in a blue martini with a splash of grenadine at the bottom that looked like blood, creepy but cool. The staff got all dressed up and I would say at least 80% of the passengers wore costumes too! We were pirates! ARRR!!!

I'm already researching which ship next year....thinking about the Sensation!