eskiemomo

wanted to add also that most nights either we ate in the Dining Room or had dinner at Palo, never had to eat in our room. mid way through dining room dinner we'd have a Nursery reservation for the under 3 child so they can go there and we finish up dessert and drinks. Or just reserve nursery through the entire dinner if we're dining at Palo's

Cruising with kids is a big reason why we changed over to Disney Cruise lines. we have cruised with kids as young as 8 months and 18 months and really enjoyed the vacations because of how much Disney caters to parents. Pack-n-play crib set up in the room at no charge if your little one is young enough to need a crib. Nursery rates for the 3 and unders (actually it is for any child before their 4th birthday) are very reasonable around $6 - $9 per hour with excellent ratios and we felt very comfortable going to Palo for adult only dinners with child in the nursery because you are provided free Wave Phones to carry so they can contact you. Now you can also get free smart phone messages via their app at no extra charge. For potty trained 3 and up their kids' clubs (Oceaneer lab etc) are free of charge and come with RFID bands (Magic Bands) allowing them to pinpoint the child's location exactly at any time.

Request a Diaper Genie in the room at no charge cleaned by room attendant. We even had diapers shipped directly to our cabin through a vendor, the name esacpes me now. I booked all ground transfers through Disney thus avoiding the need for any car-seats because their big tour size buses legally do not require carseats for young children.

IMHO we would not cruise on any other line with young children, never paid for a veranda they either napped in stroller while out and about or napped just fine at the nursery.

we must have been on the same Star Wars cruise and we loved it! So much better compared to our last RCCL cruise on one of their smaller ships and we have cruised about the same times with both lines at 5+ cruises each line. We are cancelling future RCCL cruises after the comparisn. I would say Disney puts out a fairly consistent product regardless of ship while RCCL seems to have gone downhill at least for non-Oasis or Allure cruises.

Love to see a itinerary that runs from Hawaii to Australia could stop at all the island like Bora Bora, Fiji Vanuatu , New Caladonia. Could be a nice long 14 nighter.

 

 

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there is already such a cruise...on Royal Caribbean. DCL's limited itineraries are getting so repetitive and main reason that's driving us to look at other cruise lines....

this is not a cruise question but knowing may year cruise with DCL I would like to know if anyone here has tried Adventures by Disney land vacations?

they look fantastic excep for the price tag :eek:

are there similar type of kid-friendly vacation tour packages anyone can recommend?

I am looking for recent information on how to get a short taxi ride from the Galveston cruise terminal to a nearby hotel approximately 4 miles away. It is too short of a distance to be worth renting a car or a limo/towncar service.

On the morning of disembarking the Royal Caribbean cruise, will there be plenty of taxis out there willing do to a short ride?

We have not sailed on Royal Caribbean ships for about 9 or so years and so I'm interested in any tips to get off the ship quickly.

In the past, it seemed like every RCCL sailing regardless of ship, we were herded out of cabins and into public areas on the morning of debarkation and can wait for a long time with our luggage until our group/number is called. In order to avoid this I discovered if I booked an excursion the morning of debarkation we were given priority and therefore quickly whisked off the ship and onto a tour bus. This is a MUST because of traveling with small children who cannot wait in ship lounges for hours with luggage.

Is this still true for RCCL? We're sailing Vision of the Seas out of Galveston, but in my experience the debarkation procedures are the same fleet wide.

thank you for any tips!

Didn't DCL change the policy about cruises that get the 10% discount when booked on board? I cannot recall the details or find them on the web site.

Was a time limit imposed? Meaning if you book some cruise on board and get the discount, you can move/change it later but must travel within 18 months of getting that discount?

anyone else remember?

depending on the size of your child, you can use one of these safety vest type of devices. Ours was a petite 18 month old so we took her Graco carseat, but on later trips when she weighed more/was bigger we got this:

http://www.amazon.com/Safe-Traffic-System-Travel-Booster/dp/B00KBWZM3C?ie=UTF8&keywords=safe%20rider%20travel%20vest&qid=1465410291&ref_=sr_1_1_s_it&s=baby-products&sr=1-1

we have cruised Alaska a few times, once on Holland America and twice on Disney with 2 year old and later with a 8 month old. Hands down I would cruise Disney with young children in tow.

There is a nursery on board for those under age 3, it's not free used to be $6/hr now $9/hr but I actually prefer it for the little ones! The nursery it's like a small daycare versus the large Kids Club that has a mix of older children.

we are on board Disney going to Hawaii this September, and while I can look up average temperatures for the islands what is the temp like actually crossing the Pacific Ocean?

For those who have cruised to Hawaii, was it warm enough to lounge by the pool, hang out on deck, watch movie under the stars and so forth or was it too cool to really do much of that? I am talking specifically about the sea days spent sailing west from Vancouver BC to Hawaii. TIA!

I posted this in the Disney forum but didn't get too many responses, so I'll repost here and hope to hear from cruisers who've recently cruised RCCL.

we had cruised RC about 5-6 times in the past (Monarch, Navigator, can't remember other ships names) but ever since kids we have cruised Disney because of the services available for young children such as a nursery, splash pool for kids in diapers, bus transportation to the ports, etc.

Kids will be ages 3 and 6. Royal Caribbean has a huge fleet, and we're open to different itineraries for 2016, so I need some help in narrowing down choices! Which specific Royal Caribbean ships would be good choices in terms of offering childcare for those ages, good kids clubs, adults only areas, and are there any cabins with bathtubs in the staterooms? A split bathroom with one that has a smallish bathtub is standard on Disney.

We are open to different itineraries so picking the right ship/cabin category is more important. Any suggestions?

we had cruised RC about 5-6 times in the past but ever since kids we have cruised Disney. After sticker shock this morning trying to book a DCL Europe cruise I'm thinking perhaps the kids are old enough now to try RC again?

Kids will be ages 3 and 6. Royal Caribbean has a huge fleet, and we're open to different itineraries for 2016, so I need some help in narrowing down choices! Which Royal Caribbean ships would be good choices in terms of offering childcare, kids club, adults only areas, any cabins with baths in the staterooms?

we didn't sail to Hawaii with Disney when it was available a few years ago, but we're going next year :D

for those of you who have sailed with Disney do you have any tips for us? For example we'd normally never leave kids (age 5 and 2 at time of sailing) onboard at the nursery/kids club while we go on an excursion, but since Hawaii is the USA and our cell phones work we are wondering if we could try it.

I can't see any port excursions right now on the site, but do any of you strong recommend for or against anything? I'm hoping they'll offer a day pass to Aulani as one of the choices when in Honolulu.