kctwinmommy

We have cruised a few times in November and love it! Not as many kids, enough for my son to hang out with, but not be overwhelmed. He's in 7th grade now, and we went this year, and in 6th grade. And in 5th grade we went to Key West for a week. He was able to catch up with work when he got back. Although he needed a little extra help for math, as he's in an accelerated math class so they have homework every night, always moving forward. And the weather in November is great! We sail out of Port Canaveral. It was warm enough for my son to swim at the hotel the night before we sailed (but not me! LOL!). And then the weather on the cruise was perfect!

At the end of the year, they're most likely not missing anything beyond the fun things they might want to go to. My son enjoys those end of school picnics, the big celebrations, etc... So talk to your kids about what they prefer too.

Yes, we had all of that.

My trip report for the Magic has images of the Circle C activities. They do a lot of video games, or my son did. But not the same things he plays at home. On the ship they did Mario Kart a lot, those kinds of things. They would also meet there to get together with other kids, then go to the pool or walk around. It just all depends on what the kids that are there want to do.

Similar question being asked in this thread, and I gave my answer there. Short answer, possibly.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2474222

Yes, they will allow it. I know someone always shares the Carnival policy link, but nothing is set in stone. We've been on 3 cruises in a year and every one was different. On the first one, there was an 11 year old sibling for a Circle C kid. There weren't a lot of kids on that cruise (mid-November), so they allowed the 11 year old sibling to join the older one. No problems at all, in fact my son hung out with both of them a lot (he was 12 at the time). Our summer cruise to Alaska was much more crowded with kids and they didn't seem to have any issues. Although again, they were still able to make an exception for a 14 year old kid, who had a bunch of friends in the Club O2 group, and they moved him up on like the 2nd or 3rd day. The last cruise we went on, I'm not sure that it came up, my son didn't say anything this time. But again, being mid-November, the amount of kids was much less.

My advice, go there on the first night, to the Circle C, and talk to the counselors. Let them meet your kids and talk to them, see what they say. It will never hurt to ask!

Like someone else said, it all depends on your parenting. Our son went on his first cruise when he was 12 also. Although we did go with another couple who had a 13 year old son who had been cruising his entire life. So he was able to show him the ropes a bit, and it gave him someone to hang with, that we knew. But, they didn't stay together all the time, we'd see them with other kids too, and not each other.

We give our son limits and guidelines, he is told when he has to be back in the room for what reasons, etc... He also knows what he can and can't do. We haven't had any problems and he's been able to have fun. He usually just goes to Circle C to meet up with some of the other kids and then they'll go out around the ship sometimes or hang out there too. I know I was worried when we first went with him, but it will all be fine!

It has never worked for us, and I have tried on four cruises. I have read where people said they did it, but they would never do it for me. Here are two of our four scenarios: Three years ago my oldest daughter (a high school senior) had just turned 18 and was not allowed in Club 02 with her 17 year old senior friends traveling with us. So, none of them were able to do Club 02. Last year, my youngest daughter (a high school freshman) took a friend. My daughter had just turned 15 and her friend was still 14. They would not let her friend move up to Club 02 or let my daughter move down to Circle C. I went to guest services, talked with the staff and then the manager of each club on all four occasions. No one would make an exception and told me they had a very strict age policy. We were traveling during Spring Break each of the four times, so that could have been the reason they wouldn't budge. They really should change the ages for the clubs to elementary, middle, and high school groups and not worry about the actual ages. It never ruined our vacation, but it did frustrate us tremendously each time. My children always ended up meeting people anyway, but they never could participate in the fun activities inside of Club 02 or Circle C.

I've always heard/read they never allow an 18 year old into the clubs. I realize that she was still a high school senior, and barely 18, but they have to set those limits/rules.

And yeah, during the high volume seasons, we've seen them deny other people. We only have 1 kid, so it hasn't mattered to us. But we usually cruise in November, before the holidays, so way less kids. But when we did our Alaska cruise in the summer, the clubs were packed. They only allowed 1 kid, who was a couple days away from being 15, to move up.

It will all depend on how many kids are registered in each group. I've seen them move a 14 year old up into the higher group and other times, they can't make any changes because it's so packed with kids. Definitely go on the first night to register and ask about it right away.

I was looking at the info for our cruise to Europe, and I saw how they allow that if the weather conditions are such that they need to open it to kids.

However, I have a swimmer as well (competitively in fact), but he only used the pool on the first day in Seattle, and the hot tub one other time. The pools and weather just didn't make for a good situation, and we actually had decent weather. No rain, mid-50's quite a bit of sunshine, etc...

I'm sort of confused on how MY Time Dining works ? Do you just make a reservation every night at your preferred time?

Thank you !

I had to get that clarified too. We ended up making reservations for the nights we're at sea, since I figure things we'll be busy at the MDR. But the days we're in port (for our cruise) we're there really late, 12-15 hours/day. So we most likely won't be around to eat in the MDR on those days, so we didn't make reservations for those days.

Not only will any card work, so will a folded piece of paper. The steward on our last cruise hooked us up with one.

I learned this when I pulled the piece of paper out and our lights wouldn't go back on. I had no idea what it was though, so I ended up calling the guest services! LOL! I promptly put that piece of paper back in.

We spent 4 days there before our cruise last year. We stayed near the Space Needle because it was definitely cheaper than downtown and we wanted to see several things in that area. Then we just took the quick monorail to get into the city every day. I'm pretty sure I have my trip report in my signature with the details. We stayed at the Four Points Sheraton on Mercer St.

I can't answer your specific questions, but... I would bet they're like Carnival. Moving kids between the groups typically depends on the number of kids enrolled. We've seen them move kids up to the next level if there are fewer kids.

As far as sailing with kids that age, our son loves it! I don't know that he was actually nervous about it beforehand. If he was, he never said anything. Once he was on that ship, he found the freedom of hanging out with the other kids great! He was given boundaries and limitations, times he had to be back, etc... We would check the schedule to verify what time he had to be "home" by, and he followed the rules we put in place. It also depends on what we're doing. The Alaska trip - we had more restrictions in place due to long port/excursion days. So no midnight curfews the night before those trips. But on the Caribbean cruises we've done, it's usually hanging at a beach - doesn't require a ton of sleep the night before! ;) I just think it's important that our kids, at this age, know what they can and can't do, and where they should be at what time.

I hope they have a good time! :)

Very nice start! We're sailing on the Indy this summer, although in Europe, so the itinerary doesn't matter much to me right now. I like hearing more about the actual ship! Thanks for the photos of it! We have a balcony on deck 8.

Thanks for sharing this info. We're going on our first RCI cruise this summer, after mainly Carnival. I'm not sure if this is common on all of their ships/cruises, but that would be annoying to me too. We mostly cruise to go see things, not so much for the fancy dinners or extras. We're fine with the main dining room food, buffets as needed, etc... We never pay extra for the foods either.

We were on November and didn't have any of these problems either. There were always people going around cleaning things up. Is it going to always be perfect, no. But we didn't see anything like that. Our friends who sail with us usually, just went on a RCI cruise. I talked to her about it since we're doing one this summer. She said the RCI ship they were on felt much dirtier than any Carnival one she's been on. She never saw anyone cleaning like we do on Carnival. Now, the RCI one was a much smaller, older ship, but still...

I say don't worry about how they felt it was. Just go and have fun!

On the main Carnival board, it's on the right hand side. There's the entire list of ships, just click on the one you want.

Edited to add - it's even here on the post.

On Royal you'd want to get the classic soda package then if anything, it is unlimited soda. We found that Juice and milk was served in all dining rooms, buffet etc. for free. The current soda package on Royal is 8.50 per person per day.

No, ours is almost $11/day for our cruise. And it doesn't include juice, which defeats the purpose since we only go to the dining room for dinner. I've also read that there isn't quite as much free juice around as on Carnival. Again, it's not a big deal, we will survive. ;)

We liked the soda package on RCCL a lot more than what we're offered on Carnival. The Carnival soda package is pretty much just that, soda and water. On Royal depending on the package purchased it also could include non-alcoholic cocktails, milkshakes, specialty coffee etc. We liked that it was flexible.

See, and I don't like that it's nearly $30/day for that. I just need soda and juice, which is what I can get on Carnival, all for less than $10/day, and even cheaper for my son (since he only drinks juice and an occasional soda). Considering we're going to be in ports 4 of our 7 full days, with those port days being 12-15 hours, that's a lot of time not on the ship, meaning it's not being used. So the $200+ for some sodas and juice just isn't worth it at all. And that expensive package is the only one that includes juice, which again, is too much for my son, he'll never drink that amount of juice.

That is correct. I was under the impression that they were trying to put them eventually on all US based ships but I have no idea how far along they are or if this is still the plan.

That's what I thought! Which seems odd to me! As far as I know, they're not on the ship we're cruising this summer. Although their soda/refreshment packages on RCI are crazy expensive anyway. We're not going to buy them for this cruise.

Am I correct though - not all RCI ships have this either?

I use the robe all of the time. lol I love it when I get out of the shower and then go "dry off" on the balcony before I start to get ready.

 

We are on the Magic in June, so if we don't have them, I will request one.

 

Thanks!!

That's exactly what I do too!! I love doing that! Which was the one thing I didn't like about cruising Alaska, it was just a little too chilly for that! LOL! But I can tell you when we were on the Magic in November, we had them.

It's true about the robes on RCI. I was on Grandeur last May. Wasn't a big deal, I knew in advance and brought my own. They have the shampoo/conditioner combo on the shower wall along with the body wash and bars of soap. I heard the Suites got some of the good stuff in bottles, but can't confirm that. I bring my own shampoo and not worry what they supply in the dispenser

Well, we're packing for Europe, so I have to be a little more careful in how much/what I pack. We're doing the 8-night cruise plus another 6 days in the UK, so I don't really have room for a robe. But at least I know in advance, and so hopefully I can still snag one. ;)

I just found out that they're not on RCI regular cabins. We're doing Royal this summer and someone posted about robes, as well as shampoo/conditioner, not being standard in regular rooms. It sounds like suites get everything still. But I commented how much I enjoy having them on a cruise. I was told to ask when we get on our RCI cruise, they may have some. Now, on Carnival, I wouldn't be opposed to them bringing them if requested, but maybe in a little more expeditious manner. Like if you filled the card out on your first night, when they did turn down service, something like that. I can see the savings, not a cutback at all, IMO.

It really can happen anywhere, anytime. We were in the Caribbean in November, 2015, and when we got to the airport in Orlando, my husband starting getting these emails from Costco. Obviously, we weren't checking emails on the cruise. We only used my CC in Grand Turk, but it was his CC that was compromised. It was actually done before I even used mine in GT. And yes, they're completely different numbers. Luckily, Costco (and Amex at that time) were great and reversed everything immediately.