cmason

Here is a pic of the pullman's. This is in an interior stateroom. As you can see, there is a decent guard rail, and the pullman's are over the queen bed below, so even if they did fall off, they would land on the bed.

Six year old on the bed. We never had and issue with them even remotely coming close to falling out of the bed. In fact, we had a hard time getting them OUT of the beds, as they loved them. It was a highlight of the cruise.

Well, a cruise ship is NOT assisted living, and I suspect anyone in assisted living does not go on many cruises.

I have family in a retirement community, and his costs are about 3 grand, including meals.

Think of an inside cabin as the size of a basic dorm room, and then you can picture how four adults would do in it.

Think of the cabin divided into 1/3rds. At the far end 1/3 (opposite end from the door) are the two beds. The middle 1/3 is a two seat sofa across from a built in dresser/desk with chair. The remaining 1/3 is the bathroom and a closet, as well as the door.

An inside cabin will have two twin beds they push together to make a queen, plus two pullmans, which are basically bunk beds that pull down from the ceiling. These are typically over the other two beds. They pull them down at night.

This means that you have four individual beds, and seating for three (including the deck chair). The cabin space is quite small. To picture it, imagine a twin bed, with head of bed against far wall. There is about two feet of space before a two seat (love seat) sofa, and then the wall of the bathroom. So your cabin area open room for four adults is the space of a love seat+2 feet, by the width of two twin beds + 2 feet.

Can four adults stay in this space? Of course they can. Are you great friends that will find the close quarters great fun, or do you need space a quiet time alone? If the later, your vacation might be more enjoyable with two cabins. If you would spend a week with four in a typical dorm, then you would be ok with an inside cabin.

They have the four wooden horses. Teams are formed (I think the horses are 'bought' with a fundraiser), and they are dragged out each day for a "race"...based on trivia or votes from the audience, cant remember which. They dress the horses, and there are contests, etc.

It looks like fun if you are an owner, for the rest of us, it was mildly entertaining.

We did Western Med (Rome, Sicily, Turkey (Ephesus), and Greece), and surrendered our passports on boarding in Rome.

It felt weird at first, but remember, you don't need your passport between other EU countries, so you don't need to go through passport control until you fly home.

I simply made a copy of my passport and kept it in my wallet. I didn't need it, was never asked for it. At ports you simply needed to show your SeaPass.

In an interview with the virtual balcony designer, he says:

"Another good question from our readers was why the virtual balcony shows a view forward or aft but not sideways, like a real balcony does.

Mattison responded, "There was no place to place a port or starboard screen. If you have a forward screen, you want have it face forward. There were some concerns about sea sickness and things like that. There may be port and starboard views eventually, but that's about all I can say."

http://www.******************.com/2014/02/20/inside-look-behind-the-making-of-royal-caribbeans-virtual-balcony

That's Royal Caribbean blog dot com

Two cameras: one forward, one aft. The Virtual Balcony views are aligned to the cameras: bow views on forward facing screens, and aft views on stern facing screens.

The screens are NOT where the mirror is in an inside stateroom (ie port and starboard). They are on either a forward or aft wall.

There was some mention of the difficulty of putting the screen on a port or starboard wall, and also that more cameras would be needed to provide a proper view for port or aft.

I imagine the primary reason is that you need to match the view with the motion of the ship. If you have a forward screen with an aft view, the motion of the ship would not match that of the view out the virtual window and you would get sea sick. This is also why you can't change the view.

A port or starboard view would need multiple cameras to match a port forward or starboard aft view, to keep the motion consistent with the view.

I think the Bucket of Beer is the best deal: buy 5 get 1 free.

At the pool bar, order a bucket of beer. It is an ice bucket filled with six beers of your choice: when you order them like this, its buy 5 get one free. Its not always published, but universally available on all the RCCL ships I have been on , just ask!

Yes, there is sushi in Jade, but it's "buffet sushi", not fresh, hand made rolls. I don't recall it being raw either, but I could be wrong. Jade is simply an Asian section of Windjammer, so no charge.

Sorry can't help with a hotel, but don't miss the Sagrada Familia, and walking, eating and shopping along La Rambla.

I don't recall there ever being tables by the pool. There are tables by the windows on the pool level, basically behind the lounge chairs by the pool.

I doubt Johnny Rockets uses any filler of any type in their burgers, including bread crumbs. Like any franchise, RCCL would be expected to use the ingredients from the parent company, so you can be assured the Johnny Rockets burger is the Johnny Rockets burger.

The Johnny Rockets burger ingredients include:

Hamburger Patty

USDA inspected 100% fresh ground beef.

You can view the ingredient list here on their website:

http://www.johnnyrockets.com/menu/ingredient-allergen-list.html

To be sure, ask to see the package the burgers came in.

Enjoy my Soda Stream as well, but would never consider taking it on a cruise. In any case, you would NOT be allowed to fly with the CO2 canister.

TSA prohibits all compressed gas cylinders except for small cartridges attached to life vests (? I dunno either).

See here: http://www.tsa.gov/traveler-information/prohibited-items

Also, Soda Stream says:

"SodaStream carbonators, whether used or full, are considered hazardous material by the US Department of Transportation and are subject to special handling rules."

My guess is that you would not get them thru security on the ship, even if you didn't fly.

I like the Surfcomber on Miami Beach. Its a nice hotel, used to be a nicely appointed Doubletree. I have not stayed there since is became a Kimpton hotel, but other Kimpton's I have stayed at have been nice.

This hotel is right on the beach, has a nice pool, and is a stroll down the street from shopping and nightlife. We like it. Its usually not to pricy, and a good deal for Miami Beach. Beats being downtown in my opinion.

http://www.surfcomber.com/

My kids that age LOVED the pullman beds that came out of the ceiling of an inside cabin. The room was perfect for us, and they could not wait to get back to the cabin at night, to climb into their bunks.

I know its not on your list, but a single cabin is great with kids that age,

Price on cruise lines (and airplanes etc) are driven by supply and demand: there are only so many cabins available for a given cruise. If there are lots of empty cabins, prices will go down till they fill. If there are few empty cabins, prices will go up.

So, if the norovirus thing has caused customers to stop booking RCCL cruises, prices will so down on some cruises.

The ships make their own water from sea water, by basically boiling it and filtering it. (some use a super fancy filter called reverse osmosis). Very clean.

Top tip: as a father of two daughters... tell your husband to shower in the gym...works great (personal experience)

Our family of four was quite comfortable in an inside cabin for four. It was a queen and two pullmans. We are also comfortable in a D1 balcony, with a queen and sleeper sofa. My two girls (13 and 16) are just fine on the sleeper sofa. Having another in the pullman would be fine, especially if its a toddler.

Sure it will be cramped, but its a ship cabin...that's part of the fun. Plus, no one spends much time in the cabin anyway.

Ignore the suite crowd.... enjoy your vacation

If you would put a baby in the top bunk of a bunk bed, then you would be comfortable with the pullman. Personally, I would not, out of fear that they would roll off. The pullman bed is perhaps 5 ft off the ground with only the most rudimentary of railing to prevent you from falling. My 6r old loved it, but she was never in danger of falling off (jumping off...yes, but falling, no)

Pullman is in the ceiling, I think it is above the sofa in these rooms. Kids LOVE this bed.

Tuxes are rare, hell ties are rare, even on formal nights.

There are some views through a few large circular windows, but nothing like the expansive 180 degree views you see on Voyager or Freedom class. You're also on deck 5 on Oasis/Allure as opposed to deck 11 on Voyager/Freedom, so much lower on the ship.

Didn't know this. I think I would prefer Deck 5. On Freedom (and Navigator), running on the treadmill when the chop was up was a very frustrating experience: very difficult to keep proper pace and often I feared I would step off the tread, as the ship's movement made running very challenging. Perhaps a lower deck location would make it less difficult.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/announcement.php?a=360

Thanks

Having a son with Autism I do not find your comment clever of funny!

http://autismontheseas.com/