scoutfinch72

I'm probably asking the wrong folks (enablers!) but DH told me today that I could switch to a balcony cabin on our Carnival Liberty sailing 12/17/16 if I really wanted to. I'm struggling to pull the trigger since it's an additional $370, bringing our 6 day Western Caribbean sailing to $2450 including taxes and tips. We only booked last week so I expect that we aren't getting a fantastic deal. However, this would move us from an OV on deck 2 to a balcony on the Lido, deck 9. Worth it?

 

This is our first cruise, 5 years after we cancelled a planned family cruise because of serious pregnancy complications. That baby is now 5 and we are finally getting away without our 3 kids for the first time, other than a few long weekends.

I have rang RC again today to enquire about transfers and was again told that there are none available and that I have to make my own way there.

 

I have also been in contact with Galveston limos and spoke to the lovely Connie who has given me quotes of $50 round trip each from airport to port. Very happy with that.....just need to sort transfers from airport to hotel the day before cruise then back to the airport to pick up shuttle. At the moment the lowest price I've got is hotel transfer which is $120 (that's more than the shuttle to port!)

 

Still Very excited [emoji39]

 

 

 

Are you set on staying at the Omni? It's nowhere close to either of Houston's airports. I wasn't clear whether you are flying to Hobby or IAH. If IAH there is a Marriott Hotel right in the airport and there is a tram to get there from baggage claim. We are either staying there or one of the closer airport hotels with a free shuttle back to the airport to catch our shuttle to the port on the morning of our cruise. I would rather stay overnight in Galveston but we arrive after the last shuttle of the day.

My December cruise on Liberty also shows no spa treatments available. I thought that was strange too.

 

 

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We return on Carnival Liberty on 12/23 and the itinerary says the ship docks at 8am. Our flight choices were noon or 6:35pm and we had to choose the later one as there is little chance we'd have made the noon flight.

 

Should we choose the 11:30 or 1:30 shuttle back to IAH? I guess the question is would we rather be waiting around at the port or waiting around at the airport? Is there somewhere to leave our luggage and go eat lunch while waiting for the shuttle or should be just take the 11:30 and plan on eating at the airport?

Ack, so many differing opinions! I talked it over with DH and showed him the 360 views of both rooms on the Carnival website and he preferred having a slightly larger room with a couch, and really didn't like the idea of people walking by the window. The walkway rooms really do look kind of cramped on the 360 view. We are currently in an OV on the Main Deck, so at least one deck higher, lol.

 

As it turns out, I was clearly losing my mind yesterday, as we are sailing on LIBERTY, (6 day) not Freedom (7 day), lol. I was looking at 2 cruises that leave from Galveston on the same day on those 2 ships. We preferred the ports on the Freedom cruise, but our kids are staying with some great friends while we cruise and we really need to be back the day before Christmas Eve. This has all come about at the VERY last minute. We were at a school fundraiser Saturday evening with friends and we were looking at some travel packages up for silent auction. They asked if we were going to bid on any and I replied that we really didn't have any family nearby who are in a position to stay with our children, and they offered. I thought they were just being polite at first, but they brought it up again yesterday and we were able to find just a few cruises that fit our tiny travel window.

I'm sorry, I misspoke. The Walkway view is $30 LESS. It's one of the cabins that overlooks the forward deck, so there isn't a lifeboat in front of it or anything. It's cabin 7202.

If the price were almost equal would you choose an Oceanview cabin on the Riviera deck or an Interior walkway view up forward on the Empress Deck? The obstructed is $30 more for the cruise.

[quote name='boulders']Carnival is the only cruise line that will change diapers in their kids clubs. Many RCI ships will have nurseries - but those don't have structured activities.

The waterplay area for diapered children on RCI ships is a small wading pool. Fine for toddlers, but I don't think a 3 year old would like it for very long. Carnival doesn't allow diapers at all in their water areas.

You might want to check out Disney. They have more water areas for diapered children and they are more flexible on the potty training stage in the kids clubs.[/quote]

Thanks for your input. It helps to know that it's such a small area on RCI. Unfortunately Disney has consistently been way out of our price range when we have priced sailings. Being a family of 5 drives the costs up so much, especially because we have to fly to FL from the west. We may just need to wait until DS is fully potty trained before we cruise.

Sorry to disappear for a bit. To answer some of the questions, DS will turn 3 in December and is not yet potty trained. We are working on it but he has some language delays that are making it very challenging right now. I'm honestly not sure if he will be potty trained before April, so we need to make that a serious consideration.

So, RCI has water areas for diapered kids on Freedom and above, but my understanding is that if he's 3 and not potty trained he wouldn't be able to participate in the kids' programs. Am I right about that? That might be a deal breaker for us. I imagine it would be hard to keep him entertained for 7 days in an unfamiliar setting without some structured fun for him. He does love to swim, though, so ugh. I never thought we would be facing him not being potty trained by then.

Hi all! I haven't been around for a while, but back in 2011 we had a first cruise planned that I had to cancel because of pregnancy complications with baby #3. Well, that baby is now turning 3 and we are looking at another cruise!

We are a family of 5 and the kids will be 3, 7 and 10 when we cruise in April We are considering the Western Caribbean out of Galveston, either on the Carnival Magic in 2 interior cabins or the RC Navigator of the Seas in a family oceanview cabin. Pricing is almost identical. I know that a lot of this comes down to personal preference, but which would you choose with a young family?

I'm leaning toward Carnival right now, primarily because of Waterworks and the option to have 2 cabins.