kctwinmommy

We spent 4 days there before our cruise last in 2016. We stayed north of the city. It was close to the north area, with the space needle, Chihuly, and EMP museum. And then we could take the cheap tram to get into the downtown easily.

I wrote up info in my review, it's in my signature.

The aquarium there has a lot of hands on things to do. And it's not very big, but a lot of things. I would also say the butterfly conservatory. We had a great time at both those things.

Through the shark's mouth by Cindy, on Flickr

They have beautiful birds at the butterfly conservatory as well!

Untitled by Cindy, on Flickr

Another thought is to take the train over to Portsmouth to see the historical naval yards. When we stayed in Southampton this past summer, we were planning to see the maritime museum. However, our driver suggested we might have more to see and enjoy Portsmouth more. He drove us there, then we took the train back.

My son has been on 4 cruises, and all have been while he's of the 12-14 age, so in the middle kid club. He can come and go as he pleases, he does a variety of activities, etc... We always go on the first night so they can check in, get signed up and meet other kids. But after that, he meets up with the group of kids he enjoys and does a variety of things. They usually play video games, or go to the pool, and eat! He loved having some of that freedom to hang out. We did have rules on when he needed to check in, where he could/couldn't go, and he knew there were consequences.

When we went in July for our cruise, I saw maybe a handful of small kids on the cruise. We did Carnival. Like others have said, there are just so many limitations on what you can do with a kid that age. We wanted to do big things, and our son was 13 when we went (well, a few weeks shy of 13). But he'd already been on Caribbean ones, so he knew what to expect for the cruise itself. So we were able to do the helicopter onto the glacier, canoe over to another one, etc... There were a lot of teenage kids though, that's for sure! Including an entire group of high school students on this awesome month-long trip! They did the cruise, they were going to Hawaii, all this biology/ecology type stuff they were working on/learning. My husband talked to a group and said he hoped they knew how lucky they were that their parents sent them on this trip, and they said they certainly knew they were.

I am looking at the same thing for the following summer on Princess. Since the Le Havre port is a two and a half to three hour drive to Paris (each way), I would book the Princess excursion for two reasons: 1) if there are any delays (i.e. traffic, bus mechanical, accidents, etc.) on the way back to the ship, the ship will wait for you; and 2) if the port is closed because of a labor strike, which happened several times in Le Havre this past summer, then you will get your money refunded back to you, guaranteed.

When we were there last summer, many people said that was why they booked with RCI. We were also there on Bastille Day, so it was going to be extra crazy in the city. We didn't want that, but we talked to people who were planning that trip. It's just so far from the port, they wanted to be sure they were covered.

We didn't sail the Jewel, but we did sail the Indy, in Europe. I wrote a Pros/Cons report (it's in my signature). It will give you some idea of the things we noticed between the two lines. We enjoyed our time on Indy, but I also feel that a cruise is what you make of it.

I'm sure people can chime in, who have actually done it. But I would be a little nervous taking a trip that far away on my own, in case something was to happen. On our cruise, it seemed a lot of people skipped it because we happened to be there on Bastille Day. So Paris was going to be beyond crazy and packed. Now we did talk to people who went on their own because they were staying in Paris. France was our last stop, so people stayed there for a few days on their own.

I'm in Chicago and I get cold easily (remind me again why I live here!? LOL!). But, yes, I feel that it does get chilly on the deck at night. And it's windy, so that doesn't help either. I always have a sweatshirt, or two, plus cardigans for over my sundresses in the dining room.

I have a Pro/Con report (in my signature), comparing RCI and Carnival. So it would give you some idea as to the things we enjoyed, or didn't, on RCI. We did the shows, our son did their teen camp thing, whatever it was called. And we did a European cruise, so some of the things we did might be different if you're going on a Caribbean one.

We never needed to contact anyone outside of our Carnival PVP, since we used one. Or just contact Carnival. As long as your cruise reservations are linked together, you can have your dining options together too. We've traveled with a group of 7-9 almost every time. We always had a table for all of us together.

Do you mean Overlord Tours? Great outfit.

You can check out Operation Overlord if you want to book a private D-Day tour. We did that and it was awesome. We shared it with 2 other groups that we found in our roll call. So it was 8 of us all together. The company is who the cruise ships use, but they have the big charter tour bus, we were in a nice van, could get into more places, saw much more. It's in my review in my signature.

As far as Paris, I know some people did it, but it was a pain. We happened to be there on Bastille Day, so things were really crazy!

I thought $30 was a lot. So the circle C has free games? I’ll add that to my list. I’m also getting the bottomsless bubbles

Yep! They have Xbox & Playstation video games, plus other actual games. My son would rather play those with friends though, so that's why he doesn't need to play the Arcade ones.

$30 a day?

I honestly don't know what a kid could spend $30/day on!? I know some kids play in the arcade. Mine would rather skip paying for that and they hang in the Circle C and play the video games there. We always get him the Bottomless Bubbles package too, so he can get unlimited sodas & juices. Again, he may have asked to get some sweets at the candy store once, but that was about it.

We never have. Our son is 14 and he's never had an allowance. And he's never charged anything either. He knew he had the ability to, but just didn't do it without asking first. And there wasn't anything he needed to buy anyway, so it was just not needed. I think he may have used his S&S card in the gift shop maybe once, when we were there, or the candy shop, but he was with one of us and we just used his card instead of one of ours.

I went twice in May and loved it. The weather was very pleasant, and one day even went to 80 degrees.

My parents went at that time too, the first sailing of the season, and had amazing weather. My mom, who loves warm temps, was even in her bathing suit on the top deck one afternoon.

Now, we went in July of 2016 and it was nice, but not warm. We didn't have any real rain, which was great. But it was definitely jeans, long sleeve tees and sweatshirts every day. All except for the late afternoon we were in Skagway. It got into maybe the 60's, so our son was in shorts and I was in capri pants.

We had a great time on our private tour through Operation Overlord. They were awesome! They run the cruise ship tours too, but we booked a private one. It came out to like 300 Euros for the 3 of us, there were 8 in our tour. We found others through our CC roll call. I wrote about it in my review (in my signature). The tour guide was so informative and we were able to do the tour we wanted, see the things we wanted, and it was a nice pace. It was truly the highlight of our trip!!

I have to say, we hated the bunk bed thing on RCI! The first night they pulled it down for our son. He's 14 though, and he's a bit of a mover in his sleep. He climb up and lasted about 5 minutes! LOL! He just slept on the sofa instead. And then I forgot it was there and hit my head the first night too. Ugh!!

Yes, we've always had a balcony with 3 people and our son used the sofa. The steward would make it up each evening while we were at dinner, and then put it back as a sofa in the morning.

I have a review, in my signature, of our trip on the Legend last summer. Have fun!

I actually wrote up a Pros/Cons post comparing both lines. We also had only done Carnival until we did RCI this past summer. It gives you some idea of what things you'll notice between the 2. We also had our 14 year old son with, so an idea of those things too. The link is in my signature. Hope it helps!

I really like to stay at the Strand Palace Hotel - the location is great (right across from the Savoy)- and very close to the Tube.

I agree! I tried to get a room there though, and they were booked solid. Of course, our problem was that there were 3 of is in our party. And throughout Europe, it's not super easy to get a room for 3 people. We got a great deal though, we stayed at a military hotel near Kensington/Hyde Park. But you have to be a military member to stay there. But we stayed at the Strand when I came to London as a kid! And it's still one that's often recommended.

Oh, and we used Smith's to get to Southampton from London. We arrived super early, so it was nice to have a private car to just relax, and we had a great driver!

I'm also working on my review of our 3 days in London. It's in my signature, in case you needed ideas! :)

I'm almost done with my little review of our 3 days in London after our cruise this summer. It gives you an idea of what we were able to do on the different days. It's in my signature...

Oops! Apparently I didn't put it in there...

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2561970

I was surprised to hear that O2 machines are a part of the Club and were free.

This will be our first time using O2 and would appreciate hearing from someone that has recently been on Ship.

Thanks in advance for your help.

Which machines? The video games inside O2 are, but not in the arcade. They have like XBox & playstation there. My son has been in Club O2 three times in the past 2 years. I have some info I think in my reviews.

Mine will too! They would rather do that in the evening than go to shows. Thanks!

Haha! Yep, mine too! He plays them a bit at home, but honestly, his school and swimming schedule is so busy, he doesn't have much time. So it's a chance to just have some fun with it. And he gets to play with others. But he also goes to the pool, and eats! LOL!