PinkSand26

2 minutes ago, Badfinger said:

 

NEED?  No.

maybe I should have used the word required … sounds like wine for one is something that has to go in your carry on. Just wondering if anything else. Thanks! 

21 minutes ago, sgttami said:

I cruise with just a carry on so everything I need is with me at all times. So much easier.

 

Haven't checked luggage on a cruise in about 20 years.

That would definitely be easy! But with a family of 4 and young kids I’m not carrying all that! 😂

we are going on the pride for 8 nights and see you have cruised the pride a lot! Any insider tips? Lol

Good call. Also, can you pack the wine you bring or do you have to carry it on?

Is there anything I need to actually carry on with me on the ship versus keep in my luggage? (Other than travel docs and meds.)

Anyone know of a boat excursion with snorkeling that doesn't go to stingray city(we have done this 3 times)?

Hi! Trying to decide between these two: 

Daniels Monkey/Sloth Park - $200 for 4 of us

or

West Bay plus Monkey/sloth Add on through DiscoverRoatan.com for $289 for 4 of us

Has anyone ever done it through discoverroatan.com and thought it was a good deal?

Thanks!
 

Has anyone done this with a company they recommend? 

Thanks!

On 8/18/2022 at 9:44 AM, ninjacat123 said:

If you don't know what to do in Costa Maya, I have been twice to The Krazy Lobster.  Very relaxing, nice beach with barriers to keep seaweed away and $20 hour long massages on the beach!  Margaritas are yummy too! Take a taxi ($4 per person) and in about 10-15 minutes you'll be there.  The person getting massaged is my daughter.  Lunch is lobster.

Sold!!! 

I think you have all convinced me - when in doubt - take more days! lol! Thanks all!!

Hi! I'm agonizing over which cruise to book. Can you help? LOL 

So we are going over Thanksgiving either

• Carnival Paradise out of Tampa 5 nights(2 stops Cozumel/ Grand Cayman)
• Carnival Pride out of Tampa for 8 nights (Intinerary below)
• Day 1:

  Tampa depart 4:00 PM
  Day 2:

  Fun Day At Sea
  Day 3:

  Cozumel arrive 8:00 AM - depart 5:00 PM
  Day 4:

  Costa Maya arrive 8:00 AM - depart 5:00 PM
  Day 5:

  Belize arrive 8:00 AM - depart 5:00 PM
  Day 6:

  Mahogany Bay arrive 8:00 AM - depart 3:00 PM
  Day 7:

  Grand Cayman arrive 10:00 AM - depart 6:00 PM
  Day 8:

  Fun Day At Sea
  Day 9:

  Tampa arrive 8:00 AM

I love the sound of 8 nights/more time and its not significantly more expensive, but we have two kids 6 and 9 - who do love cruising(they have been on one RCCL small cruise ship in early 2020). 

Do you think the Carnival Pride ship has enough to offer my kids won't get "bored"? There are 5 itinerary stops, so that in itself im sure will keep it going! 

Just wondering if anyone has been on either of these and has any thoughts on pros/cons for either with my family.

Thank you!
 

Hello,

I'll be in Cozumel for our stop with 2 young kids 3 & 6 - trying to decide what to do and this place looks the best. Open to any other suggestions.

Do we have to book anything ahead of time or can we just take a taxi from cruise port there? We are on the RC Brilliance of the Seas. How long is the cab ride?
If we bring our own snorkel gear, is there snorkeling from the beach available? 

Thanks!

Well we will make it work one way or another, love the idea of keeping the bottom beds separated. Thanks!

5 minutes ago, Ourusualbeach said:

Something similar to this.

 

chances are probably better than 99% you will get an inside bow that people bid and pay for upgrades. 

 

 

Oh wow lol not sure I’d feel safe with two small kids above me, are there rails at least!! Haha this will be an adventure 

Hello,

Wondering if anyone has an inside cabin picture from Brilliance or similar showing what it looks like when it sleeps 4(2 adults 2 small children).

We did the guaranteed inside stateroom sleeping 4 and they said there would be a queen and then 2 pull out beds but i can’t picture how it all fits. 

Also, what are the chances we would actually get an ocean view or higher doing the guaranteed inside? The rcl rep says it happens more than you think but I am skeptical on that! 
 

thanks!

52 minutes ago, legaljen1969 said:

We just did a Christmas Cruise on Brilliance and we saw lots of families with small children.  I asked several of them what they thought of the ship. Most seemed to like it.  They said they thought 5 nights with a good length cruise and they thought the time to try a smaller ship with a friendlier budget was a good choice while the children were small and didn't know about all of the bells and whistles of the mega ships. So many of the kids on the Brilliance seemed to think they were in heaven on a grand adventure anyhow.  Little ones tend to think being a ship sailing in the ocean is a good enough adventure even if on a smaller ship if they have not already done something big.  
We played trivia with a family traveling with a 13 year old, 10 year old and 7 year old. The 7 year old was tuned out on his iPad or tablet most of the time.  The other two kids were enjoying playing trivia and having that down time to do something with their parents.  We talked about whether they had been on a larger ship. They had- the Allure.  The two kids actually said they didn't think it would have felt like a "Christmas" vacation on a large ship because they would have been running all over the place doing different things and wouldn't have seen mom and dad very much.   Both seemed to very much enjoy the "Team" aspect of their family adventure. They even did the "amazing race" themed excursion in Cozumel. They were so excited to tell me about it when we were sailing on Friday.  
I asked them what they thought about all of it.   They said they liked both things but they really did enjoy having a "family" vacation on the Brilliance.   
Since your kids are not old enough to really get away on their own anyway, and they haven't cruised before.  I feel certain Rhapsody will be a huge adventure even if it's a small ship. 

 

Ah!! I love this, thank you so much! I think you are right - they are young and have never been on a ship and will be very excited! 

18 minutes ago, 3monkeys4me said:

 

I don't think you are crazy, but I think I would stick with the 5 night cruise and see how it goes before doing a longer cruise or a b2b. Where is your cruise leaving from? If I was looking to extend the vacation a little I would add time pre or post cruise (or both).

 

I agree with the posters that said your cruise will be what you make of it. Your kids don't know about the big ships with all the bells and whistles so they don't know that they are missing anything. Ocean Adventure and the pool may be enough to keep them occupied. When my kids were younger we always traveled with a easily packable game or two,  a couple of easy activities to do and a few movies that I knew would keep their attention on a laptop (or ipad) if they needed a little downtime.

 

I'm sure you'll have a great time. 

Thanks! We leave out of Tampa and are 45 min from home there. I think we will stick with the 5 day and I’m sure we will have plenty to occupy them for this short time. With them being so young i kind of think it’s awesome to start small like this so we don’t wow them with a huge ship and then they are just over it for when they are older lol since we are so close to home we can pack some toys too! My 6 year old is really into games right now so I’ll that’s an easy pack/idea. 🙂 

So we decided on the Brilliance for 5 nights actually! However I’m debating doing another 4 day b2b on it! Am I crazy with 2 kids to do this? Lol

3 hours ago, retired dude said:

we live in clearwater and like the brilliance. Very comfortable ship and great staff...We have not sailed the  rhapsody for that reason and the fact the brilliance is much more reasonably priced  if you break down the rates per day....We are doing a back to back on brilliance for half of today's published rates,,,,,just a matter of buying at the right time which for these ships is many months in advance...I never see the rhapsody for less than $1000 for the 7-day balcony and the brilliance can be an absolute bargain compared to those rates if booked in advance....Don't know what to say about the kid experience as we have no kids..I am still trying to figure out how parents take their urchins out of school whenever they want to for cruises.  When i grew up you needed an edict from the president take a child out of class for a single day.....liked it better then.

Thanks. We decided on the Brilliance.

My "urchins" are allowed up to 10 days out of public school for time with family such as this. For us, this is 3 days out of school of invaluable family time. I think our Kindergartner will manage in the long run with these few missed days. :) 

4 minutes ago, Host Clarea said:

 

Yes, there is a penalty, you would lose the fares for those two people not showing up.  However if those 2 people are cruising for "free" via KSF, then there's no fare to lose.

Thanks!

3 minutes ago, Ourusualbeach said:

I dont think it would be the same category. Same cabin type yes but there are usually different categories for 2 vs 3 or 4 and different prices. 

If you do a simple search on expedia for the Cruise I am going on Feb 22nd out of Tampa on the Brilliance and price out 2 adults and 2 kids for the guaranteed inside cabin and then 2 adults(no children) for the exact same guaranteed inside cabin - check out the price difference - I even called RCL to confirm it was true... 

6 minutes ago, Host Clarea said:

Not sure I understand how the same category stateroom can be less expensive for 4 people than for 2 people.

 

In any case, if there are no shows, then the taxes will automatically be refunded to the credit card used to pay them.

It's crazy but it's more expensive. I talked to the RCL rep and they agreed it doesn't make sense but is the deal they are running right now(beneficial to kids sail free, but not really a deal for 2 adults).  

That's interesting about the taxes.. and I guess there is no penalty for 2 people out of 4 in a cabin now showing up?

Hi All - I am booked on a 5 night cruise (my husband and I and our 2 kids). The kids sail free on this particular cruise, so we got a great deal.(Just under $1,000 for the 4 of us)

My mom now wants to join and book with a friend, but the rate for just her and another adult is over double than a family of 4 in the same size cabin. (Around $2,000 for 2 adults)

What would happen if she booked for herself and her friend, and her two other grandchildren(and got our same rate)... but then the grandchildren weren't able to go(last minute)? Hypothetically asking.... lol

OR do you find that the sales change a lot and that possibly next week the price for 2 adults in one cabin will be a lot less but a family of 4 could be the more expensive one? Trying to decide if we just wait it out and keep checking or if there is a way around it... 

Thanks!

27 minutes ago, nivek82 said:

What Bob said.... For the ages you listed I would do the Brilliance instead.  Now if you can move your weeks around you can do a B2B on the Brilliance.  You leave on a Saturday and depart on a Monday but if you're only 45 minutes away you can do express walk off and get to work by 9 (of course that is if there isn't a fog delay.)  We have done this many times and you do have to remember that second Sunday you have to "work" the next day so it has to be an earlier night than other nights but it's a good exchange for 9 nights instead of 7.

What a fantastic idea!

Hi All,

We want to take a last minute cruise out of Tampa next month(Feb)(we live 45 min from port and want to leave out of this port for convenience and timing with work schedules). Our options are the Brilliance for 5 nights(Cozumel/Cayman Islands) or Rhapsody for 7 nights(4 stops western Caribbean). The price difference is only about $250 total for the 4 of us(husband, myself and 2 young kids(3 & 6). I know I could get a better ship if I went to Miami or FLL but that is not in our plans right now so I am going to take one of these two.

Has anyone been on both or either and think one or the other would be better? I'm leaning towards the Brilliance because it looks like it has a better pool area for kids and is a little bigger ship overall but curious to hear your responses. Trying to figure out if the extra 2 nights and 2 stops is well worth it and we should go on the Rhapsody. I'm torn because 5 nights and two stops with little kids might be better... or will I be mad I didn't get one for the extra 2 nights once I'm on it? LOL

Thank you for helping a torn mom! 

10 minutes ago, GSRDPM said:

Sorry, we overlapped.  We were on Rhapsody in 2004 so I don't know how she has been updated over the years.

We enjoyed family Karaoke.  Both kids went to adventure ocean and enjoyed it. Both enjoyed eating in the Main DR where we shared a table with a senior couple who practically adopted our children. Both our kids have always been good travelers and enjoy new experiences including new foods. Cruises have been a great way to help them to build confidence around new people. What's funny is that when they were younger, we preferred larger shared tables where we could interact with others during our meals, but as the kids got older (Now 24 and 21!) we started to request smaller tables so that we would be able to interact with OUR OWN KIDS more effectively while they were still under our roof!

I remember on Rhapsody, we went rock climbing, slashed around in the pool, went to the shows, played games in the Viking Crown Lounge and played shuffleboard and ping pong.

 

What is nice on Royal's larger ships, there is the promenade which gives you a lot of  indoor space to explore should the weather topside be bad or too cool. 

 

Thank you for this info! Very helpful. :) I love the building confidence comment as well - this is a great and my son will benefit!