Singer4Him

We've been in 2337 (our friends were in 2341) on both the Breeze and the Dream. The partition between the two balconies will open and it makes for a nice, big balcony. Even without the partition open, we would still be hooked on cove balconies. We enjoy it much more than the regular balconies.

Old Menu: Cream of sun ripened tomato soup (the BEST) and American navy bean soup

American Table: Fried calamari, cream of ripened tomato soup (which tasted exactly like the one from the old menu), fried oysters

On our last cruise, I didn't see the American navy bean soup so I was somewhat disappointed...until one of the last nights when I ordered the Pasta E. Faioli and it came out American navy bean soup. Not sure what happened but I was very pleasantly surprised!

Well, that stinks! Here's hoping that it will fizzle out before you guys get anywhere near it!!

September 25th on the Breeze out of Galveston was our first experience with staggered check in and we absolutely LOVED it! The longest wait we had was for our friend to return from parking after dropping the rest of us and our luggage off at the terminal. From there on, there were NO LINES anywhere! We did have to wait for a bit in the terminal before boarding but that was fine, too. We were inside the terminal where it was cool and we were on vacation!!

I can't speak for how it was for those who had check in times later than us (we had 10:30 a.m.) but for us, this was the absolute best boarding experience ever! So far, we are a fan of staggered check-in.

Our first cruise was probably between a month and two months in advance. However, since then, most of ours have been closer to a year in advance. This gives me plenty of time to save and plan.

So far, my favorite is, hands down, the Breeze. It felt light, fresh and airy. I'm glad they're getting away from all the Vegas style interior.

Warm fig, date & cinnamon cake on the old menu. In September on the Breeze we had the American Table menu and I found that the warm date and fig pudding was the exact same thing. I wasn't sure since it called it a "pudding" but it was most definitely a cake. Yum!! Also, the S'mores parfait on the American Table menu is very good, too.

I don't think I've had a single WCMC on our past four cruises. There's nothing wrong with it but I always seem to find something else on the menu that I'd rather have. ;)

Old Menu: Tender braised beef brisket in gravy and bacon mac & cheese

American Table: Dual of Filet Mignon & short rib

I also enjoy the lobster and shrimp from both menus on elegant evenings

Eden Rock Dive is within walking distance of the port and is a great option and is a very inexpensive excursion. You can bring your own snorkel gear or rent from them. You can find out more about there here: http://www.edenrockdive.com

We've been to Paradise Beach three times; once with the kids (teens) and twice without. We have always had a wonderful time there. They have a lot of the big water toys for the kids (and adults) to play on. There is an added charge for this, I believe, but it's still very reasonable.

Its been several years since we sailed on the Triumph but I would sail on her again tomorrow if I had the chance! Before sailing on her, we had only been on the Fantasy so this ship seemed huge to us and now that they've added the 2.0 upgrades, I think you will thoroughly enjoy your time...especially with no kids! :D

I don't recall 2337 or 2341 ever being that wet. We were always able to enjoy them whenever we wanted to.

Would it matter or would I notice something if I was on the 2nd floor vs the 7th floor?

What type of room are you considering? If it's a balcony, I would suggest deck two which would be a cove balcony. We've had both regular balconies and cove and I would book cove anytime it's available in a good spot (not below the galley).

We've sailed two times with a cove balcony. Same room (2337) but different ships. The first time on the Dream and this last time on the Breeze. I absolutely LOVE these balconies, especially sailing out of Galveston. We saw so many dolphins, it was unreal! I've never seen that many before when leaving any of the other homeports.

I really enjoyed the app on our Breeze cruise in September. Some of my favorite things were:

1. The chat option ($5 per person, per cruise). This helped us keep up with one another and was a lot better than the walkie-talkie days.
   
2. Fun Times were readily available. You could mark your favorites and it would give you a reminder 15 minutes prior to that event. LOVED this part!
   
3. Photos preview. Although the facial recognition software wasn't the best and we did end up with people that we didn't recognize on the app (this was a little comical), I did love that I could look at my pictures and at the end of the cruise, go through and pick the ones that I absolutely wanted instead of having to go and get them off the wall and hope that they would still be there at the end of the cruise. I also downloaded all of my 8x10's instead of purchasing them on the ship. $17.99 to download them vs. $22.99, I believe, to purchase the actual print.
   

One suggestion that I would have as an addition would be to have the nightly menus available on the app.

All in all, we loved it. I had downloaded it a few months before our cruise and would check it regularly to see how many days until our cruise. Loved that option, too.

We used it with our friends who were traveling with us on the Breeze in September. It worked pretty good but you could tell that it was still new.

Finding you friends will be easy. They can look at their profile on the HUB app and let you know what their number is. It's different from your folio number, I believe. You put that number in where you request friends and it sends the request to them to accept. Easy peasy!

I was glad to have it for our cruise. It was better than trying to leave sticky notes on the door to let the others know where we were or wanted to meet up, etc. ;)

We just returned from sailing on the Breeze for the first time around the first of October. We absolutely loved it! Best cruise we've had to date. That being said, we've wanted to cruise with RCI for a while now and our friends that sail with us have wanted to do the same. RCI had a deal going last month offering second guest for 60% off, half off deposit and $100 OBC. We jumped at it and booked Liberty of the Seas.

I just did a mock booking with the Breeze; same ports (with the exception of Belize vs. Costa Maya), same deck; one week apart (to get the same ports since that can make a difference). After factoring in the OBC's offered by each line, it was a $48 difference to sail with RCI! I'll pay the extra $48 to get to experience a new port, Costa Maya.

I'm excited to get to try RCI and see for myself if there is that much of a difference.

I moved Chops to another night after another huge lunch at Sabor. I decided to go with something rather lite and opted for Johnny Rockets.

This may have already been asked but forgive me, I'm playing "catch up" with your review.

How much is Johnny Rockets?

Expand your search to Texas City as well. Just off the island but without the higher rates of the island.

This is exactly what we did. I kept finding that many of the hotels in Galveston required at least a two night stay which we did not need. After looking at these forums, I found Texas City. We stayed at the Comfort Inn and Suites in Texas City. We were only about 15 minutes from the port and it was super easy to get to the port from the hotel. We paid $96.05 including tax for our king room. It was very comfortable and I've already booked it for us for our cruise next year.

Here's a link to the hotel, in case you're interested:

https://www.choicehotels.com/texas/texas-city/comfort-inn-hotels/txa87

As a former homeschooling mom (mine have all graduated..WooHoo!), I think this would be an excellent idea. Not sure about the age restrictions though. My suggestion is go directly to the shore excursion desk as soon as you board to find out and to purchase your tickets.

Something else that I did was have our kids do a report of one of the countries that we would be visiting so that they would have an idea about it before our trip. They would cover things such as location, size, climate, government, history, culture, commerce, industry, religion, etc.

I also counted those days as school days. I figured if our public schools could take kids on a field trip to the zoo that they've been to a half a dozen times already, I could take mine on a week long field trip where they could get to meet a lot of people from various cultural backgrounds (cruise staff included) and count it, too. ;)

While we've never been to Ocho Rios, we have been to MoBay twice and would go again in a heartbeat. That being said, the first time we were planning to go, I kept hearing people, both on this site and friends that I know personally, telling us how dangerous it is, stay on the ship, etc. I kept researching and found Sunset Beach Resort (now called Sunscape Splash) through resortforaday.com and we enjoyed it immensely. I'm so glad we didn't just stay on the ship.

With their day pass (current price is $80 per person), they pick you up at the port and bring you back that afternoon so it's very safe. It's a short five minute ride from the port. You can actually see it from the ship and you get a beautiful shot of the ship when standing in the lobby. It's an all-inclusive package which includes a full buffet and all you can drink (even though we don't drink alcohol). They have a couple of water slides, a lazy river and three different pools. There are also not vendors walking around trying to get you to buy their wares. There's usually someone selling paintings but I've never had them approach me.

All in all, we love Sunset Beach and would more than likely return again. Here's the link in case you're interested: http://www.resortforaday.com/Sunscape-Splash-Montego-Bay-Day-pass-p/mbjassp.htm

Hope this helps!

I believe the Tortuga Rum store at the Grand Cayman port has free WiFi. We've been able to FaceTime from there.

There's also a coffee shop in Belize at the port where our oldest son and his wife were able to get on Wifi with a purchase. Not sure of the name but I wouldn't think it would be hard to find.

In Cozumel, we walked down the street from the Puerto Maya port to Carl's Jr (there's also a Hard Rock Cafe store and Harley-Davidson in the same shopping center) where we bought something to drink and was able to use their Wifi. It wasn't very busy and it was cool inside.

Hope this helps!

We have always purchased travel insurance for all of our cruises, however, we've always used Travel Guard because they had better coverage and cost less than purchasing it through Carnival. This is our first time cruising with RCI and it seems as though the travel insurance that they offer is considerably less than TG. For those who sail with RCI and purchase travel insurance, do you go through RCI or do you use another independent company? Is the coverage comparable to what you get through another company? TIA!

http://bluekaymahahual.com/en/snokel/

I believe that the price stated here is Pesos (MXN) and not USD. ;)

Is there an option for being able to just message the people that you're cruising with? The purpose of a cruise for us is to be able to disconnect. We would rather not be receiving texts from home/work during our vacation. Our family knows how to contact us in case of emergency and we always check in with them while we are in port.

We recently used the Carnival Hub app for this purpose and enjoyed it. That being said, what are our options while cruising with RCI?

I'm not sure where you guys live but there are passport offices located all across the country. Once she receives her corrected BC, you may could make an appointment and take an overnight trip. You would leave with her passport in hand. I'm not sure if this is even an option for you but I thought I'd mention it anyway.