irial77

We have travelled in one stateroom when kids were 2&4, 4&6 and 5&8. The first two cruises were in suites though, very much because the smaller the kids are the more they’ll want to spend time in the stateroom and the more room their play takes, also you’ll need more space on the evenings as they turn in so early.

This year we did a cruise in a normal balcony and it was ok, and we’re planning to do another one in 18 months. After that I’m planning on connecting staterooms (they’ll be old enough to sleep in the other one together).

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Yes you can. We emailed Denzil beforehand and got a quick reply to our questions.

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We have an 11:00 flight booked out of FCO on the day of arrival to port. Ours is to Athens, though, so within the Schengen area, and we are EU nationals. We are planning to do self disembark at 7 and have a car pick us up at 7:30. Civitavecchia port has actually been pretty straight forward for our previous cruises so I’m not worried about the schedule at all. Naturally something can always go horribly wrong but that’s always a possibility in life.

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My GHD flat irons have always worked. Mine use 220-240V.

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We’ve been using Pro Packing Cubes which I got from Amazon. They have various sizes but I prefer the medium and small, although the bigger ones are good if you meed to bring winter clotging or snorkeling gear.

We’re a family of four, so it’s pretty challenging to fit everything for longer trips, especially if you’re going to be facing different climates during one. They are so helpful in keeping our suitcases, hotel rooms and staterooms in order!

https://propackingcubes.com

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They have tables set up for cards and puzzles in the library on deck 7. It does get crowded esp. on sea days though.

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In the UK we have had to take all electronics out of carry on luggage for ages. I Pad, I Phone, Kindle.

Same here (in Finland). Also no laptops whatsoever in checked luggage, the security will remove them and you must pick them up @ the airport after your trip.

In Europe we've had this security practice for years. Once you take it into account when packing, it's not a big deal (you can't stow them into your checked luggage either because of lithium batteries).

I didn't realize it wasn't mandatory in the States and I've taken them into a separate bin there as well.

And I travel w/ a MacBook, two tablets, a Kindle and two iPhones plus spare chargers [emoji51]

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When I changed our cruise dates, RCL informed me I would lose our OBC. However, the OBC showed up in the new booking as well. They were as surprised as I was. I guess all variations are possible.

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The Next Cruise people often aren't automatically aware of different booking terms in different countries. We book under the European terms which also don't allow fiddling with prices after booking (without cancelling and rebooking). Still, the Next Cruise people always use that as a selling point. We always ask them to check all the facts under European terms and then come back to us with their offer before we make any down payments.

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We stayed in that stateroom last summer. It's great: the shape didn't bother us at all, but as a perk there is more glass and less frame in the balcony wall compared to the other GS's.

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I would also leave my luggage at the hotel: the Copenhagen port is (in my opinion) a significantly further distance from the city centre than many other ports and the taxi there is really expensive. Lots of traffic, too. Getting there and back will easily take almost an hour.

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We sailed with a 2- and a 5-year old last summer in a balcony stateroom. I had exactly the same worries before the cruise, but our kids weren't the least bit interested in climbing the balcony rails in the stateroom or the decks. I guess it's easier for them to understand the height when it's all open, vs. a window.

For us adults the balcony was a lifesaver in the evenings! Somewhere to sit and talk and share a glass of wine after the kids had gone to sleep.

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Dorky... Ok, yeah. But I'm woman enough to own it.

I wear a lanyard.

There. I said it.

I "misplace" everything. It's more of a need for me. It is what it is. Call me a dork if you want... But I'm not going to misplace that card or have it fall out of my pocket!!

Same here. Also, have wiped the sea pass magnetic strip out enough times by carrying it in the same hand with my iPhone. On our last cruise did it two times on the first night :D

My husband once had things (cooking knives he bought in Miami) taken to "safety" by the ship security at boarding. At debarkation they were nowhere to be found. We were in contact with the lost & found at Miami offices MANY times, and the thing that finally got the knives sent to us was the oldest in the book: "now can I please speak to your superior about this?"

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Here are my suggestions that haven't yet been mentioned

- Baby wipes

- Collapsible travel scooters for the bigger kids for getting around at shore

- Something to do for the moments you have to wait, or when passing time ar dinner table etc.

- Most importantly: don't plan on a too tight schedule!

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You wait with other B2B'ers in a lounge with a crew member while the ship is cleared of other passengers, so no, you can't get off with everyone else. I'd imagine you can afterwards though.

We've done one B2B and it was a luxury to have all the ship to just ourselves for the few hours!

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[emoji851] [emoji28]

We first sailed with our son when he was 7 mo - 12 nights on the Mediterranean. I would say a cruise is a perfect way to vacation with kids: the adults get to see different things at different ports while everything else is taken care of at the ship. Vacations will always be different when travelling with kids than when travelling with adults, but I don't see it as a negative thing. Yes, it's true you willå probably have early nights in the stateroom, but I remember how it felt like a luxury with a baby to be able to have free time in the stateroom after he'd gone to sleep: we'd order in from the room service, sit on the balcony talking or watching movies. You really don't miss a late night dinner or a night club when you have a baby.

Also, the ships's crew were wonderful with him: we were able to have dinner on many nights at the MDR because they would keep him entertained, and he got to know the crew and loved them. If he got tired, the crew would arrange for us to have the rest of the meal delivered to our stateroom.

And no, they don't do discounts for kids.

I'd go with option one for two reasons:

1. Option two sounds quite tiring as to the amount of ports

2. This is just my personal opinion, but I'd rather do one long cruise rather than B2B because of the atmosphere on the ship. On a B2B, most of the other passengers come to the end of their cruise in the middle of yours and then you get a completely new crowd who go about learning the ropes. But that's just how I feel about them, and why I have only done one B2B, I know many people love them.

I'm sure I'm repeating some things already posted but:

1. Book a hotel at the embarkation port for at least one night (I'm a bit OCD and always worried for my luggage so I book 3 nights).

2. Have a good travel insurance (please see above, also if something happens aboard, it's not cheap but you don't have any options).

3. Book and pay for as many things as you can beforehand (excursions, gratuities, spa services etc.). Also, there's always a REALLY long queue to the shore excursions desk on the first evening which you want to avoid at all cost.

4. Check the daily planner for things you might want to do but don't get stressed: you don't need to go everywhere you're "cordially invited to". It's OK to just sit on your balcony and read a book.

5. Do as much of the ports on your own as you can. Excursions are often crowded and expensive compared to their quality. On the other hand, in some ports it makes sense to take a ship excursion so as to not miss the all-aboard. So research beforehand.

6. Always tip well!

1. We live in Scandinavia so a cruise usually means quite a bit of travel even to reach the first port. That's why we usually book minimum 12 night cruises with 3-4 night pre- (and sometimes post-) cruise stays and need a bit of time to make them happen budget and schedule wise. Booking early gives us the best price and choice of cabin. For example, the April 2017 cruise we're taking is already sold out on our type of cabin.

2. Once on RCCL: a port in Turkey was changed to a port in Greece after a terrorist threat in 2004.

3. A couple of times, if we've found a better itinerary at about the same time with the original booking.

4. It usually doesn't. We tend to book the next cruise aboard the ship which means it's usually a good price to begin with especially if you calculate the OBC you gain into it. Under European booking terms you might end up losing the OBC if you fiddle with the price later on so I wouldn't ask for a reduction if there wasn't a major drop in price.

We took our children to Chops and Izumi on the Serenade in June, both at around 7 PM. Children were very welcome. At Chops they politely asked (when making the reservation) to please mind the other diners, which to me was a reasonable request. Had there been any issues with our children acting out, we would've left the restaurant. We all had a good time :)

We have done the Mediterranean twice, once without kids and once with our son when he was 7 mo. We have always cruised with RCL.

Now that our kids are 3 and 5 I wouldn't do the Med with them: the ports are quite hectic and many (especially in Italy and Greece) need travel (for example from Civitavecchia to Rome it's over an hour by train, in Piraeus you need to take the underground to Athens etc.).

I think our kids would find it too exhausting, also the ports are pretty museum- and history heavy so not so easily interesting to younger kids.

I'd imagine the ports in Norway to be more easily done with kids, but you'd have to ask someone who's actually been there to verify this :)

As a European customer I've become very careful of booking onboard, as they sell you the cruises under US booking rules which may or may not apply once the booking is transferred over to (in our case) the Norwegian office.

I still book cruises onboard but make the booking early on to the cruise so I can go through the documents while still onboard. That way the NextCruise staff also have enough time to call the Norwegian office if there are any questions as to the rules.