wake74

We booked on Decent 5th a VGT on Magic on Jan 4th. We typically just book verandah but figured it was worth the risk of a less desirable room given the cost delta. Ended up with only a 7A but the room seems to be in a decent location with reasonable reviews.

Has anyone ever been successful with a polite upgrade request at checkin with a VGT on a ship that appears to have a good number of rooms left?

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Available pretty much anywhere. I think we bought ours at Dicks Sporting goods or a similar type place. We have had them for years. Amazon has a wide selection as well, or this place:

http://www.thewaterproofstore.com/cardcase.html

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1. Pack lite. Don't bring a bunch of stuff with you. Leave your passport on the ship. And yes, bring a towel from the ship. Depending on the cruise line they will supply you with beach towels for this purpose.

2. I stopped bringing my SLR camera on beach excursions as I didn't like leaving it up on the beach. I have now gone to an Olympus Tough that is pretty much indestructible and is waterproof so it goes in the water with me. I also love being able to just hose the sand off.

3. We carry cash, a credit card, driver licenses, and room cards in a waterproof plastic container that goes around my neck.

As far as clothes and towels and stuff, the chances of it being stolen are very slim, and the loss isn't that great if it does happen.

Have fun, pack lite and don't stress! :-)

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This is a link to my comparison of Disney vs. RCI.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1655634

Our last cruise was actually on Celebrity. As adults, we really liked Celebrity (food / service / atmosphere), however, our son didn't enjoy it as much as RCI or Disney. He actually really enjoyed the Celebrity kids club, as he loved the individual attention he received. All the counselors knew him by name after the first day and were great. Far, far fewer kids on board. He enjoys small group activities.

However, there wasn't really any other kid friendly facilities on board outside of the kids club area. The pools were over his head for instance.

Doing Disney again in two weeks!

Beaches Turks and Caicos is on the top of my list to try but my career normally prevents booking way in advance, and it is ALWAYS crazy expensive during school vacations on short notice.

That would be tough given the various restrictions countries have on bringing food into the country.

Just got off Silhouette with our 7 year old. Writing a family based review is on tap for this weekend.

Not sure what time exactly they open in the morning as we aren't morning people(7 I think). They are open (free) with the exception of 12-2 and 5-7 in the evening. If your child is there during those hours it is $6 per hour and they will bring them to the buffet to eat. After 10 PM is $6 per hour as well.

Out son loved it but it is entirely different experience than the kids clubs on DCL or RCCL.

These are as shot with no post-processing. Shot using the underwater scene mode mode, not the macro underwater mode.

Just got back from a Western Carib cruise and used the new Olympus Tough everywhere. Never took the Nikon DLSR out of the room. It was quite freeing to not drag the big one around. Besides the usual beach and pool stuff, I took it on a couple of a dives. I can tell you that despite saying it is rated to 50 feet, I had it to below 75 with no ill effects. It does start to flash nasty things to you on the screen when you drop below 50 :-)

I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the photos above and below the water. Like all underwater photos, close is good, really close is better.

Nassau is one of our least favorite places, but we did get off the ship last year and walked to the Pirates Museum with out 6 year old. We felt completely safe and did enjoy the museum. The tour won't take very long but it was informative and enjoyable.

I just checked on the availability of day passes for the Marriott for our cruise in two weeks. They are only available during their slow seasons. I even played the I am Marriott Platinum card and still no luck. Super friendly and professional in the responses and we corresponded back and forth about several alternatives.

Great timely thread as we booked a last minute family trip in just two weeks and there are multiple ships in port with us as well. Our son is 7. Nachi is already sold out. Buccanos would fit the bill if it doesn't get too busy. We are just looking for a good quiet beach with services at this stop. We were planning on doing Chankanaab on our own but that doesnt sound wise due to crowds.

Looking forward to more responses!

Thanks Rebecca for the detailed response, particularly the feedback on the kids program.

We are planning a last minute vacation in two weeks (March 22/23 departure). We are experienced travelers, and have previously been on both DCL Wonder and RCCL Oasis. Enjoyed RCCL but loved Disney. We currently live in Central Florida and visit Disney often, probably too often :-) Our crowd is more "Amelia Island" than "Myrtle Beach" if that makes sense.

We have ruled out DCL for this trip, as it is $6k verses about $2,500 for Celebrity and $3k for HAL (all in balcony rooms). The difference between two good vacations this year and one.

A bit about us:

1. I would consider us fairly experienced travelers, and have traveled with our son since he was fairly young, both internationally and domestic.

2. I would definitely say we have fairly nice tastes, and much prefer "fine" dining over Applebees, Chilis (service, food quality, clientele).

3. Our son is a single child, very smart, and is used to being around adults. Like most 7 year olds, he is currently enthralled with Wii, IPhone apps, etc, but also enjoys the classic board games.

4. He has no problem getting dropped off, and enjoyed the kids clubs in both DCL and RCCL.

5. On "at sea" days, we spend most of it together, perhaps maybe an hour in the afternoon at the kids club, but then typically we feed him at the buffet and drop him off in the evening so we can have a nice slow dinner together, preferably with a glass (or two) of decent wine.

6. Excursions will mostly be beach together as a family, unless I can get a dive excursion in while they are at the beach.

Anyone offer any thoughts who have done both and have similar tastes?

Thanks!

Glenn