aidansaunt2004

I can't lie. I'd do this. I'm hoping to be able to take our 3 year old daughter on her first cruise next year. Anything to see her smile. The boutique seems equally expensive.

Would the Disney bus work? We are wanting to cruise next year when my daughter is 3. I definitely don't want to drag around a heavy car seat. I'm guessing that car seats aren't used in the buses?

I haven't encountered one. It can cause me to go into anaphylaxis. I can't be in the same area as a dog, horse, etc. In order for us to eat in the same area, we'd have to be on opposite sides of the room.

This hasn't been mentioned, so I thought I'd bring it up. I haven't seen a dog on a cruise before, but it honestly freaks me out. I can't be near them. I'm highly allergic to dogs. What would happen in that instance?

I won't buy jewelry on the ship or at any of the ports. I've found that everything is generally cheaper either on sale in the US or online.

I wanted to buy cosmetics on our last cruise. Supposedly there were some great deals (at least the internet and sales people on board claimed so). What I did find, was that the cosmetics being sold cost more than what you'd pay at Sephora by $5-$10 for an eyeshadow quad.

We looked at cameras and laptops as well. You can get them for less money at your local best buy.

If there's something in particular that you're looking for, check for it online. You might find a deal. I live near an outlet mall and we have handbag stores, watch stores, sunglasses, etc. where you can find some pretty good deals. I bought a Fossil watch for $20 at our outlet and I bought a large Coach bag for $80.

I'm so jealous that I actually want to cry :o I'll blame it on the hormones :)

We had the "mini suite" on the Sensation in 2010. The balcony was ridiculously small. It had 2 chairs and a table. It was impossible to sit in the chair with it facing out toward the ocean. The chair itself was shoved up against the wall and the railing. In order to sit down, we had to turn the chair sideways which left no room for the table.

The mini suites also have obstructed views on the Sensation.

Overall, we learned that it wasn't worth the extra money and we know not to make that mistake again.

By "priority boarding", they meant that we were able to sit in chairs while we were were being checked in. We arrived pretty early and still weren't the first people onboard. We boarded at the same time as everyone else.

I don't have children and I'm annoyed by badly behaved children, but there's an easy answer. People bring their children along because it's a FAMILY cruise for them. Everyone goes on vacations for different reasons and they go on different types of vacations. I don't think a cruise is anymore inappropriate than a land vacation. I don't plan to stop cruising when I have kids and I certainly wouldn't feel comfortable going on vacation without my children. It's all about balance, doing what's right for your family and knowing when it's time to take a fussy or tired child elsewhere.

Some people love spending time with their children and would give up "adult time" any day of the week to spend time with their kids. I know I feel that way with about my nephew.

I hope I never have to encounter a dog on a ship. I've had allergies my whole life but over the last year they've gotten worse. I start to sneeze uncontrollably, wheeze etc. when I'm in the same room with a dog for some reason and that's with allergy pills. I can't imagine having to be miserable on vacation due to allergies.

I was in a horse barn yesterday for two minutes and spent hours in misery so I can't imagine there being a horse onboard lol.

I believe there is a photo of 9200 floating around. 9200 is a corner cabin and it looks AMAZING! I haven't seen photos of the middle cabins but they will all have floor to ceiling windows and they're above the bridge. I know you'll love the cabin once you see what it's like. I wish it was available on all ships. Search cruise line rooms in a search engine. Select the first site that comes up. They will have a photo of 9200 there :D

They removed them :(

I really like the idea of floor to ceiling windows. We called Carnival to see if they had any of the scenic ocean view cabins available for a specific cruise on the Valor, but they're sold out :(

They really do seem unique. I wish all ships had a few of these cabins! I would take the "scenic" room over a balcony. What you can see from a balcony is pretty limited, but these windows look huge.

I know this is an older thread but I was wondering if any of these "scenic ocean view" cabins were put on the Liberty during it's dry dock? I saw a few mentions of the Liberty, but I didn't see a definite answer.

I have attached a photo of St. Maarten in 2011, a photo of my husband on the Valor in 2009, a photo of a bird standing on a turtle in Grand Cayman in 2009, a crab in Grand Cayman in 2009 and a conch shell in Nassau in 2010 :D

Thank you everyone for posting your photos! We are planning on going to Alaska this September and these photos were really exciting :D

The teen years are always kind of awkward years. You're trying to figure out "who you are".

I doubt she'll have a hard time making friends with someone. Won't she be of age to enjoy the spa amenities as well? She'll be able to do everything except consume alcohol.

I would try to make it a "relaxation" cruise and maybe do some mother-daughter things together. Maybe get spa treatments together.

We enjoy the comedy shows, the theater shows, the spa and some of the bars.

As far as drinking goes, someone said the legal age on ships should be 18. I disagree. As a teen you're typically more likely to try to impress people so that you fit in. When I was a teen I thought I was mature but come to find out... I wasn't. I had a lot to learn. I can't imagine mixing alcohol with some of the bad decisions I made with a "sober" mind. I still to this day am not a "drinker". Neither is my husband. Not all teens are interested in "partying" and neither are all adults.

I believe you can get a photo package if you have your photos taken. I can't remember specifically. We just purchased one 8 x 10 and it was over $20 per photo. The photos they take in the dining room are a bit cheaper and the "random" photos they take with characters and signs are smaller and a few dollars cheaper.

As far as the elegant nights go, I know the first one is the day after you board and I thought the last one was the last day onboard. I could be wrong. It could be 2 days before you disembark.

We were on the Dream in September as well. They still post the "paper" photos but you can also scan your sail & sign card on one of the monitors and it will pull up your photos. Some of our photos were missing (we never did find them) and we had at least 10 other people included in our "photo viewer". It was a little weird but it provided us some entertainment.

There will be two elegant nights. I believe the first one is on Monday and the last one is your last night of the cruise. We had our photos taken in numerous places around the ship and the photos with the piano turned out really well.

If you're interested in buying your printed photos do it as soon as they're posted because if you wait until the end of the cruise you'll be sorting through thousands of photos sitting in boxes. :)

I was in cabin 11232. It was a fairly quiet area. We had an inside spa cabin. We did notice a little bit more movement in this cabin.

I'd recommend trying the new Macaroni dish served at dinner. It was delicious! Other than that, I'd say the Chocolate Melting Cake is something you don't want to miss!

We never encountered any nudity (thankfully). Everyone had on swimwear. Shorts for the men and bathing suits for the women. People can walk by the glass windows looking in and down on the thalasso pool so it's not necessarily private. I personally would find it horrifying for a person to get in the "pool" with me if they were nude. The steam room isn't so steamy that you can't see others as well. The rooms are not huge either so in the thalasso pool you'll be within a few feet of others. I think it would pretty awkward for other people who unexpectedly show up to relax. That's just my opinion, but I think many other people will share the same one. Bathing suits are the norm.

DH and I are booked in a cove balcony on the Dream (and are excited about that), so we plan to get week spa passes as soon as we board. I am not really interested in treatments or massages (overpriced and I want to avoid the hard sale), but plan to spend time in the T-pool, on the loungers, and in the steam/sauna.

 

I have never spent much time in the spa on a ship, do people generally practice discreet nudity/toplessness like you see in land-based spa? I usually "do as Romans do", but didn't want to be the only one. ;) You know- wear the robe until just until you slip into the pool, or towel only in the steam room. Is that the norm?

We had a spa room on the Dream in September. The spa amenities are awesome. We actually won't cruise without the spa "package" again.

We had a couples massage and it was terrifying. The lady I had was extremely rough and it ended up being very painful. I told her it was too rough and she lightened up a bit but it certainly wasn't enjoyable. My husband had the same experience. After our massage they came back in with a postcard full of items they felt we should purchase. They wanted us to buy products that totaled $200-$300 and it was a high pressure sale. We declined.

Sorry, I wouldn't go on a cruise without my husband. I consider us to be our own little "family" and I can't imagine going without him. I would miss him every day that I was gone. I guess I always prepare for the worst and couldn't imagine something happening to one of us when the other one of us was away. That would be the worst of all feelings :(